I could live on a cruise ship except for the fact my son would hound me continually about my environmental footprint. And I agree, in theory, but ship life is so pleasant it’s easy to be selfish and forget about social responsibility for a few weeks each year. I also rationalize my behavior by telling myself NCL isn’t as bad as many of the other cruise lines. You can see the ratings here. So, we continue to cruise but we try to be environmentally responsible in other areas of our life.
Seven of our 19 days aboard the Norwegian Jewel were at sea which suited us just fine. We enjoy many of the activities offered on board but when we’re in port we feel obligated to explore onshore. On this cruise, we looked forward to having plenty of both.
My friend, Lori, and I began our first sea day by attending the Morning Stretch class at 7 AM followed by Fab Abs at 7:30 in the Aerobic Studio. We liked both so much, we began every day with the two classes unless we had an early excursion preventing us from being there. Jim often joined us for the stretching class, then went off to do his own thing while we developed our fab abs. Rick had his own fitness regimen which began much earlier than ours.
Aerobic Studio in the Fitness Center
We fell into a routine pretty quickly. Following our workout each morning, our group met for breakfast in the area of the aft called the Great Outdoors, located outside the Garden Cafe. After a leisurely breakfast, we’d return to our stateroom to brush our teeth and change into swimsuits, then go in search of a deck chair in the shade. That was easier said than done with an aging cruise population, many of whom have also learned to prefer shade. At any rate, once we found a spot we settled in to read, people-watch, and doze. Often we could hear the musicians around the pool on Deck 12 from our lounge chairs.
The Great Outdoors
Lazing in the shade
I’m not sure why we donned swimsuits to sit in the shade
The pool area on the Norwegian Jewel
At lunchtime, we would join others in the buffet line at the Garden Cafe and find a table again at the Great Outdoors.
Some days we attended lectures regarding ports of call, excursions, or historical topics. A few of our favorites were the Great Barrier Reef, Darwin and Pearl Harbor, comments from the reef pilot, the Fukushima Nuclear Accident, and Indonesian History and Culture. Lori and Rick also participated in some trivia contests and Jim went on the Behind the Scenes Tour of the ship where he was especially impressed with the machine that folded the beach towels.
The reef pilot said the locals were friendly
Later in the afternoon, we would shower and dress for dinner, then rejoin one another to play bridge before we searched out our favorite table with a view at Azura for dinner.
There was a lovely view even though it doesn’t show in the photo
The food was always well-presented and it tasted every bit as good as it looks.
Following dinner, if we had time before the theater show, we sometimes stopped by the casino to throw away a few pennies. I was surprised to learn very few slot machines allow a penny bet anymore. I had a $20 budget for the entire cruise so I didn’t bet more than one line in spite of common wisdom which claims you have to bet more to win.
I had a hard time finding a slot machine which would accept a penny bet
If time didn’t allow, we headed directly to the show, which we enjoyed almost every evening. Generally, photos aren’t allowed during the show but I captured the few exceptions.
After the show, it was generally, back to our staterooms for bedtime where we usually found a towel animal waiting to bid us goodnight. Then, the following morning, we would begin our routine over again.
A few exceptions to our routine inevitably occurred. Jim and I explored the bridge on this cruise, something we haven’t done before.
Good to know someone is steering the ship
We never miss an opportunity to enjoy free drinks and appetizers at the Latitudes cocktail party.
Not all of those cocktail toothpicks were mine
Early on the morning of February 21, I encountered a woman on the elevator up to the 12th deck for my stretching class who asked me why the ship had turned around. I had no idea and inquired what made her think we’d turned around. She explained she’d seen it on the television channel which shows our route and progress. Sure enough, in the night we headed back to Cairns due to a medical emergency. 
We watched from the window of our stretching class as the patient was lifted aboard a hovering helicopter. Later, we learned the announcements we’d heard the prior evening requesting the reef pilot report to the captain were so he could safely guide us back through the Great Barrier Reef.
Then the following day, the starboard side of deck 7 was closed off. We found out a small fire had been extinguished in one of the lifeboats. Yikes! I suspected a flicked cigarette may have been to blame.
On the 25th, we celebrated Lori’s birthday with dinner in a specialty restaurant and birthday cake.
Without a doubt, however, nothing was more romantic and captivating aboard the Norwegian Jewel than sunrise, sunset, and a full moon over the water.
Sunrise on the Jewel
Sunset from the Jewel
One more sunset
Full moon
Come back and read about the port of Brisbane next time.
Based on events from February 2019.
