Norwaylady

I received some really bad news today💔 My parents Gigant Schnauzer Alf passed away today. I was walking him the last 7-days before we left from home❤️ He had a massive epileptic attack😖 He was only 3,5years old🌹 Their old schnauzer past away in early January 2023. And their breeder asked if they would take in an adult schnauzer that they needed to relocate from a home asap. Due to the fact that the original owner had abused the dog and really treated him badly. So the breeder had collected the dog back after a talk with the owner+police. When Alf arrived he was so skinny and really scared. So he was so worried about everything the first time around in my parents house. But he learned that he was treated like a king 👑 and really loved from everyone❤️ So he turned to a very cosy and lovely schnauzer🐕‍🦺 So this was really sad news for everyone in the family💔

Captains Club Welcome toast🥂 CD Angela was leading the event. Captain George welcomed everyone and top cruiser was presented. A lady, 7000 points, 150 🚢 (so believe me, we have a loooooong way to go😂😂) No presentation of senior management. It followed the usual pattern, live music, drinks, canapés and sweets for dessert. They had a performance from the aerials. Really enjoyed the show and the atmosphere of the show. I shared a table by 2 couples from FL🥰 Lovely to meet them. Mr was supposed to be my wingman for the event. But he was occupied by work on the balcony😂😎

Seems like your up to a good start❤️ We are not suffering in any ways on EQ⚓️😎 What I miss is the walking track on Edge💪🏻 Enjoy NZ❤️🤩

This boots are made walking…. Out and about from 8 to 9 today😎 A little windy but all good for walking💃🏻 The winter has played hard on my back and joints in my legs. So this “engine” is a 6-gear tuned, but for the moment it’s only working well from gear 1-4😝 It’s like starting your car cold in 0 F or -18c. It’s not to happy about it😮‍💨 I have used my DEFA (aka therapy pool 3-times a week) Fingers crossed for a upswing the next week💪🏻🙌🏻 After my walk it was time to pick up Mr and go for breakfast. We went to Captain’s club breakfast in Tuscan. Mr had the salmon bagels 🥯 and fruit. I made myself a smoothie bowl of my pellets and mixed berries. Accompanied by some fresh fruits. Today is Captain’s Club welcome party🥂 12.00. Mr is parked on the balcony (it’s shade) and are doing some work until noon. I found a lounger upstairs in shade+sun. So I can read and feel the heat on my feet 👣😎

Cruise Compass Day 4 Sea Day clock ⏰ + 1h

My wishes has come true! Let the big band play more in the grand foyer🎶❤️🤩 New evening and they are back🎶 Really enjoying the live music from the Equinox orchestra❤️🎶 This is one of the reasons I truly enjoy X. Today’s menu We had schrimp cocktail, salad, escargot, lamb and steak & chips. Food tasted good and we had a nice dinner. I don’t know what happened tonight, but it was only us and another table in our area. All other tables was empty🫣🤭👻 in our entire section from the wall to wall it was only like 8 out of all the tables having guests. Dessert was ice cream and peach 🍑 After dinner it was straight to bed🤭😂😴 You see the party gang going crazy 🤪😜🤣😆

it’s a iced coffee, but not the usual style. It’s shaken by cream as a nice martini 🍸 non alcoholic. Very rich in flavour and cream😋🤭 So not a low-carb drink😝

After the Al Bacio stop, we headed upstairs to relax and prepare for the evening. Tonight’s show is comedian Mike Head. Did we test our muscles? 😂😂😂 YES

🤩❤️😋 looking great! Seems like they have taken good care of you🥰😎⚓️

Today’s canapés

We anchored up in Grand Cayman 07.00. The ship was cleared and the tender was ready asap. We decided to go for breakfast in MDR. Mr wanted omelette. Menu: I had Greek yogurt with fruit and my cat pellets. Service was good and food fresh and delicious. After breakfast we went to get ready to go ashore. We walked to the priority tender meeting point in deck 3 mdr. 5.minutes wait and we went downstairs onboard the tender at 09.15. Today’s plan was 7 mile beach 🏖️ We walked to Westin 7 mile beach. It’s a good public stretch there, so easy to lay down and have a dip in the ocean😎🏝️ Do you think Mr had a agenda during his walk😂🤭 YES He did stop by a local liquor store to pick up a cold 🍺 or 🍻😝 Something for me? No🥸 After 2,5h of swimming and beach stay it was time to walk back home. We walked by the beach as far as possible before we walked up to the road and back to the tender spot. It was a line, but we only waited 5.minutes before they started to fill up the tender. We were back onboard 15.35. Then it was time for a Al Bacio stop😋🍓 Mr tried a Bicerin and had a Shakerato😋 Mr had strawberry 🍓 cake…

Welcome!

Cruise Compass Day 3 Cayman Island 🏝️ No paperwork for tender services regarding Concierge class or Captains Club priority status. But on our voicemail it was 2 messages. Identical messages. 1. Tender service concierge class 2. Tender service Captains club Elite & above Meet downstairs in MDR deck 3 whenever you’re ready to proceed ashore😎 This applies until free tenders are called publicly.

Tonight’s dinner was okay. The starters were very good, the mains, hit or miss😋 Crew delivered excellent work and great performances. We had salmon, treviso salad, cobia and lamb. The starters were great and good. The fish, cobia was perfectly cooked. But its swimming in this awful bbq sauce😩 Keep the bbq sauce on bbq only! 🥸 The lamb was cooked well and the meat was tender. Mr was a happy camper🐑🐑 For dessert it was my favourite ice cream, after eight😋😋😋 Perfect! Mr had the panna cotta strawberry 🍓 After dinner, it was time for bed 🛌 Our captain’s club flowers had arrived 💐 A rose and astromelia💐

So, elite & above event. They had closed off a part of sky lounge by ribbons to make an area for their guests. It was the captain’s club menu and nuts. Okey, it’s a start😌🤭❤️⚓️ We enjoyed the view and I had a club soda and Mr went for the harder stuff🤭🍸 Tonight’s show is production show Topper. We seen it several times😝 But, hey! It’s the first time we will meet the cast onboard😇 #showmewhatyoucan It’s the first evening of evening chic…. Can’t say I see a big difference from yesterday🤣😂 there are some dressing up, but it’s not the big bling cruise🙃 I feel like an overdressed Christmas tree😅 bring on the bling🤩🤩🤩 Before the show, captain George had the executive line out on stage. Topper delivered! Cast did a great performance 🎭 several familiar faces (same goes for the orchestra) The EQ orchestra is playing live in the grand foyer tonight between show and dinner🎶🎶 They are really kicking it🎵🎶 Please bring the orchestra back later to grand foyer this cruise😌🥰

Sea day! What do you want to do? I can hear a sun lounger calling me from the outside😎😎😎 I was holding stand in the sun until 11.30. (Pale Vikings should know the fine line of lobster 🦞 and finished for the day…) Then I moved to a lounge in the shade. No point risking lobster 🦞 roll of me😝 Mr was walking a bit up and down to our stateroom…. (Tell me he’s not clever all the time… he downloaded something he needed on his computer to move onto the cloud for the iPhone… he didn’t move the last upload and poff… he needed to do it onboard) Well…. This was a serious big upload.. so it took a little while for him to get it up😝 (and I had to sacrifice my WiFi login to him) At 1 o’clock it was time for a little lunch… Spa Cafe was the thing today😌 And a little ice cream for dessert 🍨🤭 After the lunch break, I was ready to move to our balcony. We arrived as the canapés was rolling in our door: No big changes there🤭😝😂🤣😜 We have taken it slow and just relaxed. Tonight is evening chic🥳 AND it’s one of three nights as the old captain’s club elite & above cocktail club🥳🥳🥳 I’m so happy to have it back! This was really a great way for us to meet & mingle before covid took it away😔 You know, it’s nice to talk to someone else then me, myself and Mr😜 So Mr&Mrs Norwaylady are now ready for departure to the event!

Rise & Shine I was awake early. So went for a sunrise walk from 06.30-07.30😎 Chair hogs out and about already when I arrived outside🫡 Front row seats by the pool all taken… Mr was awake when I returned😁 So we decided to go to the captain’s club breakfast in Tuscan. Only a few tables had arrived and we had a good table by the window. Mini bagels and salmon, coffee, OJ, smoothie and fruit❤️ I had my “cat pellets” in my smoothie bowl😂🤭 After breakfast we walked upstairs to change into swimsuits and hit the sun lounger😎 at 09.15 it was not jam packed on deck 14. I found to nice seats up on deck 14 by the railing, perfectly positioned for a little time in the sun ☀️ (remember 2 pale Vikings can’t stay in the sun all day after a long winter 🥶) We will not turn into a 🦞

Today’s cruise compass Day 2 Sea Day — Time change -1h back

We have sailed some cruises on X….. we have still never made it to concierge lunch🤭 We are always arriving at the later side for boarding😅 So we have something to try out! I think the reason is that we are not magically “sold” on the menu for the lunch. And when we do more “exciting” sailings, we do have a program in the morning to get the most out of the day🤓 yesterday it was a zoo and they decided to not close the buffet at the time set. It should have closed when we arrived. It was full of people and they were hungry! MIA airport was closed in the morning due to thunderstorms, until 10.30am and there was a VIP person visiting in Ft Lauderdale and port area. So everything was completely closed off/police watched for a little over a hour. Everyone was stuck in their Lyft/Uber, shuttle cars to/from hotels and parking lots. Several people on FB reported this and they were supposed to board the ship around 11.30-12.00 and they arrived like 10 minutes Before me & Mr🤯😳😖 It had just lifted when we arrived. So that’s probably why it was jam packed when we arrived. We saw several shuttle buses arriving, having guests carrying stickers saying departure time 11/11.30😳 They were not super happy in the security line🙄🫡 But on the bright side, it moved quickly!

Dinner We have set time 20.30 on this sailing. We are assigned table 133. It’s a 2 table by the window🥰 The location is in the back corner and it is a quiet place😁👍🏻🥰 We had no neighbours tonight. Tonight’s menu: We had beetroot, Thai coconut soup, Caesar salad, jerk chicken and seared salmon. For dessert ice cream and apple pie. Mr asked for a mocca & a sambuca🤭😂 Well well…. Look what arrived: I could tell from my side of the table…. Your not driving home tonight Mr🤣🤣 And for safety reasons, all sorts of flammable is strictly forbidden🤭🔥 Our service team for the next 9 days is: I think this will be a good time❤️😊

Tonight’s show is Electric Soul. We are seated in our “preferred” seats😌 ( don’t underestimate the need of habits) Mr has received a whisky 🥃 and has no reason to complain. Cruise director is Angela from U.K. Show was Motown, a dash of potpourri of newer and older songs. Demography of X on ordinary sailors😂🤭😜 Aka, perfect for me😁👍🏻

Sail away is a bit delayed⚓️🤭 So we have still not sailed away from port⚓️ We went upstairs to the buffet 14.45 and it was a full house deluxe. Mr found something to eat and I got a tuna sandwich. We found a table outside on the terrace. Lovely to have lunch outside😎 At 16.00 we went downstairs to see if our bags had arrived. Mr suitcase was waiting by the door and our housekeeper Angelo was walking the hallway to say hello 👋🏻 I started to unpack Mr’s bag. He was to busy to sit on the balcony with his binoculars to spy on the neighbours on SY and HAL😂😂😂 The captain announced that we would be leaving later then our schedule 16.00. Estimate 45-60.minutes late. As I finished up the luggage, the next suitcase arrived😊 So then it was just to continue to unpack😌 I can tell we have an overwhelming number of family’s onboard AND bed nr 3+4 in use🫣🤪🤭lots of them in OceanView…. We have several screaming children and kids already tired making their yelling sound loud and clear to all of us on the balcony 🫢🫥 Fingers crossed it’s just first day blues😜 Now it’s 17.15 and we have officially let go from port🥳⚓️🚢🍹 Happy Cruise 🐣🐣

What a great weather! The vikings feel so at home🤣🤣🤣 You know us…. Not first to the port🤭🚢 Well, what to do… go for a walk. When we left the hotel around 10.00 it was not raining and it had not rained for the last couple of hours. Well well… we managed to cross the bridge to the beach and it started to drizzle 🌧️ But that’s not stopping us😉 So we walked towards “downtown” Ft Lauderdale beach. We turned at Doubletree by Hilton Bahia Mare So a decent walk in the ☔️ We had scheduled a Lyft for 13.00. Lyft picked up on time and we arrived at the pier 13.28…🙃 But what are all those people??? Normally it’s empty when we arrive and this time it was a full house🫣🤭 Is everyone lazy or is it the weather? Security moved and we did ping in at our muster station around 14.00. What I can say is that it’s Easter 🐣 and it shows on our fellow passengers. Younger passengers and families. Not a typical X age group😂😁 Fingers crossed for a great sailing⚓️ We picked up a coffee and climbed the stairs to our home away from home😄 Paperwork on arrival:

Our Italian 🇮🇹 friends have arrived Oslo🇳🇴 The purring mafia, aka Miss Marple & Hannah Hortensia was welcoming them🩷 They are so happy for guests and their cuddles 🥰

Numbers for this cruise 🚢 You all know el’cheapo Norwaylady cares about the numbers🤓💵💵💵 It’s a b2b booking. So we received som OBC. Our cruises was booked as all-inclusive Call, basic WiFi and tips. Both are in concierge class, deck 10, 12xx same stateroom for both sailings. So no moving😉 Sailing 1 is a 9-night cruise during Easter 🐣 so it was in USD 4602$ when I converted from NOK by today’s value of NOK-USD. It gave us 200 OBC. Nothing more or less. It was a decent price and compared to what the price has gone upwards, it was a decent rate. Our OBC gave us upgraded WiFi and an excursion. Since this is an Easter 🐣 sailing, it has not had any of the campaign offers like Black Friday, cyber Monday deals or anything else. Just the usual thing pre cruise. (Lots of FB on the sailing has said a bit grumpy that there are no good discount deals) 🐣🐣🐣🐣 hello? It’s Easter holiday🤣💛🤭 they don’t offer big discount deals on those days💛 So since this is an Easter sailing, worst holiday season, we are okay to have this price tag. Sailing nr 2. This is a 10-n sailing. Same cabin, same all-inclusive deal. And made at the same time as an onboard booking. The price is USD 4400 for both of us. We were lucky 🍀 and it gave us OBC 200 for the booking, but this sailing had a campaign ongoing when we booked and it gave us additional 200 OBC. So a total of 400 OBC. That’s very generous for us and we are very happy🥳💵🍀 And to continue the great news, this sailing is not a holiday sailing. So our cruise planner had different deals applied😊 (you know me…. Happy dance 💃🏻) So Black Friday/cyber Monday was a great deal for using OBC and giving me the opportunity of having good deals! WiFi upgrade was 50% off✔️ Lots of excursion was 50% off ✔️ So it gave us 3 shore excursion and upgraded WiFi. That’s one happy camper💃🏻😊🩷🍀💵 Upgrade on Call to Pall has not appeared discounted on the sailings. Just the usual 10% off pre cruise. We are elite plus and have some discounts available for the membership level in n different things onboard and pre cruise. But for us, we are okay on CALL. The majority of my drinks are club soda and water🤣🤣🤣 We are happy to be here and have fun in the sunshine ☀️