LuvBNatC

11 hours ago, pcakes122 said:

Found a tribute site with a photo of Dazzles and the round porthole windows into the pool.  Also more great photos and info!  See, we weren't as drunk as we thought we were!

 

http://www.shipcafe.net/shipcafe/norway/norway03.htm

pcakes122, thanks so much for that link. Yes! There were portholes into the Pool Deck pool! But I had no idea the room's color scheme was pink and blue. When I was up late enough partying and ever found my way to Dazzles, my memories were sure to be fuzzy the next morning. As we used to say, "What happens at sea..."

I feel like I should break out in a chorus of "Memories" from Cats right now. 😃

1 hour ago, pcakes122 said:

Didn't the disco have the Saturday Night Fever light up floor?!  (Or is that the Pina Coladas clouding my memory LOL)  I definitely remember you could see into the pool from the dance club.

That was Dazzles Disco, which was the Tourist Class pool on the France. They put a floor over it that was lit from underneath. It was in the very aft of the ship on Viking Deck, which was below Pool Deck, so maybe you could see into the Pool Deck pool. I don't remember that. I didn't spend a lot of time in the disco, but whenever I did I was pretty hammered. 😜

15 minutes ago, Diver2014 said:

 

What memories!  Yes, I remember looking through the plexiglass into the pool.  I also remember that pool being covered in the evenings with a dance floor.  Does anyone remember the indoor pool way down in the 'basement' as we called it in the ship?

It was always so humid in there and the water sloshed quite a bit.  I scrounged up a few photos from October of 1987....remember skeet shooting on the back deck?  I actually hit one of my clay pigeons and was so proud of myself.

And the walkathon around the deck and aerobics classes?  

 

 

The basement pool was on Dolphin Deck and you could only get to it by a plain little stairway behind a door in front of the Windward Dining Room. It was always dank and deserted the few times I ventured there. During one of the major refurbs (1990? when they added the two new decks) they turned that pool area into the Roman Spa, which was 1000% more luxurious.

All these photos are giving me goosebumps! Speaking of the Windward Dining Room...

21 minutes ago, Kwaj girl said:

Remember the pool where yu could go downstairs, walk thru a hallway that had cabins with windows facing into the hallway and you could look into the plexiglas sides of the pool underwater?

I think those cabins were on Fjord Deck. I had one once. It had a window onto the circular hallway around the pool, and I could see the swimmers through a window in the pool. It made me remember to make sure my butt cheeks weren't sticking out of my suit whenever I was hanging out in that pool!

20 minutes ago, Corby114 said:

 I met singer Vic Diamone who was swimming in the pool nearest to the funnel.

The reason I took my first-ever cruise on the Norway was to meet the actor Jonathan Frid, who starred as Barnabas Collins in the '60s gothic soap, Dark Shadows. He was about 63 by now. It was a group arranged by a NYC travel agent who was disappointed to mail out thousands of brochures and get only about 30 fans. It was the beginning of my love affair with the Norway.

I spent the week playing cat & mouse with Frid, who was elusive whenever he wasn't performing (he did several dramatic readings for his group and anyone who wandered in -- he moved around the ship unrecognized, which I think disappointed him). I did have a few good conversations with him. On Thursday formal night he sat across from me at dinner. It was certainly the highlight of my life to that point. Poor Frid never found another role to top Barnabas.

Returned the following year with my mother on a Big Bands theme and she rode in the elevator with Helen O'Connell, who was performing that week.

11 hours ago, pcakes122 said:

The bow tip is now back in her home port of Le Havre.  😁❤️

http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/tip-of-the-bow-of-the-former-france-back-in-le-havre.html

 

 

 

Oh, wow, thanks! I hadn't seen this. I was on the Norway when she sailed to Le Havre for the first time after being sold to NCL, in 1996. Every boat around came out to meet us, a fire boat totally soaked all of us standing out by the funnels, and the whole city turned out to celebrate, streaming down to the pier all day. The shops were selling and displaying all sorts of memorabilia from Norway and SS France. I'll never forget it.

I see they've repainted the nose her original SS France black. I'm glad that one piece of her survives and is in a place where it's honored and protected. But if I ever saw it in person, I know I'd still lose it. 😭

I'm glad bits and pieces of the ship are still out there, although having her nose on display at that yacht club in France is pretty depressing. I would burst into tears if I ever saw it in person.

When NCL decided to abandon the ship, they left the grand pianos, the portrait of the King of Norway (tossed on the floor of Club I), and many other valuable items onboard so as not to raise suspicions about reneging on their promise to bring her back to service when she was towed from Germany under false pretenses to her doom.

I wonder what became of the 2 enormous Neptune statues and the other millions of $$ in artwork that were onboard. Does anyone know if anything has surfaced on other NCL ships, or was everything left to the salvagers (bless them) and scrappers (they were just making a living, but curse them)?

It haunts me to this day that such a magnificent ship ended up being melted down into beer cans or whatever. At least QE II has managed to escape that fate -- so far.

Just came across this thread and it's given me chills to see all the photos. I didn't think anyone much remembered the Norway.

Took my first cruise on her in 1988 and sailed 22 more times, the last voyage about three months before the boiler explosion.

I wish she had sunk while she was being towed to India. For several years she was left wide open on the beach at Alang until the possibility to refloat her was gone and the scrapping commenced. I've seen photos of her stair towers buried under a foot of white mold and bird droppings everywhere, not to mention the nightmarish photos of her dismantling. I would have preferred to think of her lying on the bottom of the ocean in peace, intact.

I've got 3 storage boxes of Norway memorabilia under my bed because I couldn't bear to see the stuff around the house after her terrible demise. T-shirts, mugs, a jigsaw puzzle, keychains, pins, you name it, I've got it. I could open a shop.

People love to say the Captain is always to blame when things turn bad. Again, one man or woman and many onboard departments. That is why there are experts that are on Carnival's payroll in charge of security. I can't say what the root cause is for the breakdown of Carnival's security onboard Legend was, but don't blame the visible Captain. The people to truly blame are not onboard.

I've watched this video quite a few times now, here and on several TV reports. The sight of the captain sauntering away from the melee is disturbing, to put it mildly. There's NO WAY he should witness that level of violence to and by passengers on this vessel, putting his own crew members at risk of injury, and turn his back on it. No way.

None of the TV reports I saw mentioned that the stout man in white leaving was the captain. They probably didn't know. If they did, and reported that, Carnival would be having the worst PR nightmare on its hands since Costa's captain, Francesco Schettino, wrecked Concordia and abandoned ship to let everyone fend for themselves. It's the same concept, just to a lesser degree, since the ship itself was never in danger.

I was on the Escape's 10/15 sailing and did not get sick. Here's how I think I did it (with some luck thrown in)...

When I first got to my cabin before sailing, I wiped down everything with some disinfectant wipes I'd brought, including the phone and the remote and all handles.

I ate at the buffet only two times, both for lunch on port days when it was relatively quiet, and washed my hands with soap at the sink before entering. Also, I ate no finger foods.

I used the hand sanitizers before entering all public rooms.

I kept fingers and palms off the stair handrails, but used the side of my hand to steady myself, which I wouldn't touch my face with.

In the dining rooms, they removed salt and pepper shakers and baskets of bread and stopped handing out the bound menus, but only gave us the paper inserts, and then threw them away after we ordered.

The left the public restroom doors wide open so people wouldn't touch the door handles.

But I noticed on Friday night (last night of voyage), the bread baskets were back on tables and thought maybe they felt the outbreak was under control.

I'm sorry that people suffered and had part of their cruise spoiled by whatever it was.

I just saw you're from south side, go Rams.

If this was some sort of sporty put-down, as in VCU Rams, it missed the target. I'm totally oblivious.

But if I weren't, I'd say go Spiders. ;)

Go to your Roll Call and "advertise" there.

Could work, depending on the roll call. The solos on mine seem to be shaping up as a young male party crowd.

I'll scope out the situation once onboard.

You know, it was one thing to be seated as a solo at a big table of strangers with traditional dining in the good old days, and I was always fine with that. In fact, I prefer it.

Now, I'm leery of going potluck on dinner for two. Maybe I'm getting pickier with age.

I usually strike up conversations with other women I see alone, and that often turns into invitations to meals. Fingers crossed. :D

I like your thinking.

 

As a matter of fact....I like the idea of people paying thousands of dollars so they can be "elite for a week". That revenue allows me to book cabins for just about nothing (and thus my casino budget increases!).

And now I like YOUR thinking! Good point. :D

How about looking for another solo Platinum to share the two dockets?

That would work, too, but often easier said than done. :)

I've used hot-pink Samsonite luggage straps for years. Won't leave home without them. They're filthy now, but many times on a ship or at the airport during a flight delay, I've been able to get someone to retrieve my luggage from a huge pile because of the strap.

Not to mention they keep the suitcase together and your undies inside if the zipper or latch gets destroyed. It happens. ;)

Now I have a purple suitcase, so if I ask, "Please find the purple suitcase with the hot pink strap," it's a slam dunk. :D

The voucher clearly says dinner for two. With that in mind, I always ask the maitre 'd in Le Bistro during the first meal if (s)he is amenable to my coming back the next night for a second meal. I haven't been told "no" yet. BTW, the first time I asked if I could use the voucher a second time, I was told by the maitre 'd that I was more than welcome to come back for the second meal so long as I ate at his restaurant. As always, your experience may vary from ship to ship and from employee to employee. Good luck!

Wow, this is good to know. It never hurts to ask, right? :) I never would have thought of doing this.

I had a voucher to Le Bistro on my Getaway cruise that went to waste because I couldn't get a reservation, but I was never turned away anywhere when I just showed up as a solo. This time on Escape I'm going to try being more strategic, especially if there's a voucher involved.

How "Titanic" this all sounds. Let's face it, with the Haven, NCL and other mass-market lines with similar programs resurrected the class system. Cunard never let it go.

I wonder... if the ship goes down, would certain lifeboats be behind red velvet ropes, reserved for Haven passengers only? Titanic passengers who paid a premium got saved first.

If I could afford Haven accommodations, I'd be booking on Crystal or Seabourn or Oceania with their entirely upscale ships and service, rather than be sequestered in one relatively small area prohibited from the common folk.

NCL is basically middle-class. Creating the Haven to make people feel otherwise seems forced IMHO, but I recognize their profit motive, and if they can sell it, more power to them.

Why does the ship leave so late compared to other ships/cruises?

I've wondered that myself. Seems like sailaway's going to be a non-event, since many people will be at dinner.

I've always enjoyed a late afternoon sailing (complete with daylight). I have a drink, wander around and watch the festivities, go up top to see the ship reach the open sea.

Then off to the cabin with a pleasant little buzz to freshen up before a leisurely dinner.

Whole thing sounds like a recipe for making hash of all your arrangements, with a dollop of uncertainty thrown in, and the possibility of ending up worse off while paying more.

It seems a dubious "opportunity." IMHO, if you're happy with what you booked, stay put.

I'm 19 days out from sailing and still without a cabin assignment on a BX. This nonsense may explain why.

Thanks to all who have verified that all solos can be included in Studio activities. I've always found NCL to be most attuned to solos, especially when they pioneered the Studio concept.

I'm looking forward to my Escape escape even more, now that I'm aware of all the ways to connect with other solos. Here's to no more lonely dinners for one. :D

To be sure you'd have to look in the Freestyle Daily for the solo gathering. I have read in other reviews that sometimes it is outside of the Living Room and in one of the lounges.

The solo gatherings in the Freestyle Daily are one thing, but my understanding was that they left the door open in the Studio lounge during certain hours so other solos could come in. Maybe we were told this at the first singles get- together, where they gave us a tour of the Studio accommodations.

Thanks for sharing your impressions. Did you know that even though you weren't sailing in a studio cabin you were more than welcome to attend the daily gathering for solo cruisers and go to dinner with the group. Perhaps this is something to look forward to on your next cruise.

I was on Getaway a few years ago and this was the case, but when I booked my upcoming Escape cruise, I asked the NCL agent about this, and she wasn't sure if singles in other cabin categories are allowed into the Studio lounge for happy hour.

Do you know for certain that it's doable on Escape?

Sounds as if RCCL is worried about crowding in these lounges, so they're omitting mention of them in certain communications in hopes they'll be forgotten or overlooked by some passengers.

My most recent cruise on Vision was my first as a Diamond member. I dropped in on the designated "lounge area" (a public room whose name escapes me) the first night out. Even though there was plenty of space, it felt kind of cliquey. Almost everybody was in little groups, so I spoke for a while to one woman who was sitting alone, and then never went back.

But having the 3 drinks on my SeaPass to enjoy at my favorite watering holes around the ship was lovely. :)

For a week in the Caribbean, I bring $300 in small bills for taxis, tipping, meals ashore, small souvenirs, and always come home with some leftover cash. Any large purchase, like a hotel room, would go on a credit card.

Several people have mentioned in interviews that they felt they should have been sent to their muster stations. Would that even be possible? How would they be able to launch lifeboats in those conditions? :confused:

The question is, WHY would they launch lifeboats in those conditions?

Those must have been first-time cruisers in inside cabins, unaware they had a bridge cam on TV.

How could any sane person look outside and think it would be safer to abandon ship for a lifeboat, and be tossed around by hurricane-force winds and 30-ft. waves, with no other vessel able to reach them?

Anthem's seaworthiness was never in question for a moment, and there wasn't even a power failure at any point.

I've read 1,000s (it seems) of these posts, and have to shake my head at some of the wacky blame games and conclusions being drawn.

Captain Andersen (Norwegian, the best, my favorite kind :)) and his officers took on the worst that Mother Nature could throw at them to save that ship and the lives of every soul on board. In my book, they're every bit the heroes that Capt. Sully Sullenberger was.

I hope RCCL sees it the same way.