quercus alba

Day 5--Sea Day II

But first back to Day 4, because I remembered something. 
As we dragged our drowned butts and wet feet back on board at Curacao, we got dry clothes, then went up to the Latitudes cocktail party at Bliss. Just as it was getting started, the Captain announced that we would be skipping Grenada the next day. Apparently they had instituted stricter COVID restrictions which would have required another round of testing or some such thing to go ashore for excursions. I only saw one person express distress at the cancellation. I was ready for another sea day, as we were really starting to enjoy the music and food and drinks on board. 

Another thing that Latitudes party reminded me of was the band "Sabor Latino", who were playing there. I heard them first poolside on sail away day, and really enjoyed seeing them around the ship. All in all there was more of a Latin flavor to the music and themes on the ship, which we enjoyed a lot. Don't know if NCL had promoted especially to Puerto Ricans, what with Epic home-porting there this winter, but there were several I met on board.  

OK, so happily for us at least, we got a 2nd sea day. NCL did a nice job of adding some additional activities, and tastings. I did Comfort Zone Buster #3, by joining a Cha-cha dance class poolside after breakfast (though I ran to the poolside bar just before it started for a little liquid disinhibition). We went to the pool and hot tubs after that for the rest of the morning, got a so-so burger at O'Sheehan's (the other disappointing meal we had) and later there was a Margarita tasting at Shakers. Can't say enough about Judy C, the staff member who hosted most of these tastings--we really enjoyed chatting with her during and after each event. Then once again, we needed naps. Gave Taste a 2nd chance for dinner, and watched the Caribbean Party get started in Taste later that night. Couldn't get up my gumption to dance, though, in spite of my recent lessons. Someday, Mrs.Q, someday... Checked out the Beatles doing the Lonely Hearts Club Band era, with the costumes, in Cavern Club...they were OK...and we were done for the day. Fell asleep watching Thursday night football on the TV, just like home, but on Atlantic time the 2nd half wasn't starting until about 11 PM. 

20 minutes ago, UKWildcatCruiser said:

Is the Sheraton the one at the convention center or the one in Old San Juan? 

Convention center, I believe. (We didn't cross back into the OSJ area on the bus.)

Day 4--Curacao

Another unplanned day for us--except having our "Priscilla" reservations for the late show that night. Again, I dutifully brought Mrs.Q her Starbucks and fruit, and we went for full breakfast in the buffet. On the way the Captain announced that our departure time would be extended to 6 pm that night (it had been 2:00--pretty early, which was one reason we didn't bother scheduling anything, and were planning to just wander in town a bit. 

Willemstad is just as picturesque as, well, the pictures. We walked through the old fort, across the pontoon bridge, and took in the sights of the streets and markets. There were showers on and off all morning, and we finally sought shelter at "World's Best Mojito Bar". Bold claim, but someone has to be, right? Had a snack and a couple of local beers. (I'll rate the 2 on Curacao as best of the 4 islands' that I tried*.) Met a solo cruiser from the sail excursion last night wandering the streets and helped her find the synagogue, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and notable for having a sand floor, and made sure she got safely back to the ship as we all got caught in a heavy downpour. 

I think we decided to eat at the Buffet that night, then went into the theater for "Priscilla". What a great show! Ended up in the front row, center, too. After the show went back to Shakers for a martini, and Don Juan was playing. He was just great fun to watch, in any venue--but he'd played a couple of Queen covers at times, and we found out that he and 3 other performers had worked up a Queen tribute show that they would do later in the week--and that would be special. 

*Every island has its own signature brewery--My ratings:

1) Montana Black Beer, Curacao

2) Carib lager, St. Kitts

3) Montana Blonde, Curacao

4) Piton pilsner, St. Lucia

5) Balashi pilsner, Aruba

Don't agree? Conduct your own tasting!

Day 3--Aruba

Woke up to find ourselves already in port. Went out and got Mrs. Q her bowl of fruit and Starbucks order, and brought some coffee back for myself to enjoy on the balcony. 

We'd not scheduled anything for the day, but did have an evening excursion planned. She was feeling cooped up and sluggish, so wanted to walk after the buffet breakfast (she usually gets in at least 2 miles a day with the dogs, plus pickleball and stuff). Again, Epic's setup isn't good for that, but she decided to walk on a treadmill in the fitness center a bit, while I went to Spice H2O to finish my coffee and sit in a hot tub (because my masseuse had told me to, of course!) for awhile--which I had all to myself. 

We went ashore to see the town a bit and buy some trinkets for the folks back home, and walked about a mile along the shore to Surfside Beach. It's obviously not as famous or glamorous as Eagle or Palm Beach, but we rented chairs and an umbrella at Reflexions Bar there, and were quite happy with the choice for about 3 hours. Good drinks, good service, restrooms and full menu available. Beach was shallow, water was warm. All we needed. 

We'd booked the Sunset Sail Excursion because a friend told us it was what she thought of as a Must-do in Aruba. Since it was getting back close to all-aboard time, I booked it through NCL, and we were glad to have done that--were barely up the gangway and they were starting to page the folks who hadn't checked in yet. Good advice on any cruise--if it looks like there's a chance you'll be cutting it close to departure time, book directly with the ship so they wait for you! The excursion was fun, open bar with rum or tequila and various juice and soft drink mixers. Laid back time with views of the island's beaches on the west side of the island. Sailed close by Epic on the way out and back, blasting music on the trip home. 😁 (Yeah, we were THOSE people!) 

Taste for dinner when we got back--had the one mediocre meal of the cruise: flavorless roast beef and dry Pacific hake. Desserts were good though! 

3 minutes ago, thedoc29ca said:

Thanks for the information and the review.   
 

How full was the ship?

Probably <50% capacity.

I think I heard the number 2100 once, but those martinis, all that rum punch...math was getting fuzzy.
🤔

Actually, I'll say this--in basically all of the dining rooms, it felt like there were 2-3 people waiting on you at all times. It got kind of silly a couple of times, they were so NOT busy.

Cruise Day 2--Sea Day!

So our first item of business was that couple's massage. We were told the only prep we needed to do was to shower and show up. I showered and went to the buffet for a coffee for myself, and a bowl of fruit for her while she showered. We also started what became our daily routine--10 years ago *I* was the coffee snob on the ship. Since then, she's become the picky one. So I started my relationship with Carter, the atrium Starbucks barista, and went down every AM for what she wanted. He would start writing her name on the cup as soon as I stepped up to the counter by the 2nd day. That's NCL!

So up to the spa, with fear and trepidation. We were assigned our room and our masseuses, and they went to work on us. My gal kept hitting those "rocks" she called them, tender muscle nodules, and asked me when my last massage was. "Oh probably 58 years ago..." All in all a good experience, would do it again--but of course, then comes the NCL Upsell. I had no use for the $100 of custom products she recommended for my unique issues, but Mrs Q of course places a higher value on such things, so we did not leave empty handed. 

Next we returned to the buffet for some real brunch--always the best place for breakfast, IMHO. Omelets, bacon, pretty much everything. No smoked salmon, but did have salmon mousse. And yes, the muesli is available again too. The better, fresher ground coffee is in the Great Outdoors area, and we headed there anyway, as another tradition to keep up is Bloody Mary on first cruise morning. After brunch, we found the official Meet & Greet in the Cavern Club, which was well-organized, and pretty well attended.

Took quick spin on the big Plunge slide, hung out in the pool, then hit up a Scotch flight tasting and the Martini tasting. Then a nap. I think we did Manhattan for dinner--New York Strip is always a good bet here. Thought about, but passed on Karaoke, and I must confess never did that particular Comfort Zone Buster all week. Snuck in the back for a bit of Howl at the Moon before bed, but she was pretty tired at that point, and some of our fellow passengers were getting a bit too raucous.

One good thing to come of this though, was that the dueling pianists would break now and then to bring up other ship performers, and that was our first introduction to what Dan Juan could do with piano and voice--but more about him later.

Aruba tomorrow. 

2 hours ago, thedoc29ca said:

We are hoping (pre-cruise Covid tests pending) to be on Epic Dec 26.   Loved waking up to your review this morning to help get us in the mood.

 

Would you happen to have any dailies or perhaps do you recall what evenings Priscilla ran?

 

Thanks

For us it was only on Wednesday (7 and 10 pm shows), but that was the first week it was back on board, so I have no idea what they'll do on future runs. I'll see about scanning and posting Dailies but it probably won't happen before you're leaving!

5 minutes ago, Wildcat24 said:

We on on this itinerary in January. Did you leave from Pan American Pier?

 

Also did it appear we could just show up at the Sheraton to begin check in and for the testing? Id prefer to just walk over then get the shuttle to the pier, than to catch a ride around just to come back.

Yes, Pan American.

I really couldn't say whether that was just wishful thinking on those folks' part or if that was a real possibility. I suppose that once you got your wristband, you could go directly to check in at the pier, but I wouldn't take that approach without confirmation from someone. All we did before boarding the buses was drop our bags though--there was no paperwork checked to get on the bus.

Embarkation Day, part 2

In any case, we were soon on board--but our "agenda-less" vacation was rapidly gaining agenda items! Remember, I said we were aiming to break out of comfort zones? Mrs. Q decided that the next one was to splurge on a Couple's Massage! Maybe not a big deal to some of you folk--but going from NEVER having a professional massage to this was a bigger leap than ziplining for me. We didn't even get out of the terminal, but stopped at the spa services table and signed up for the next morning. She wastes no time. Next stop was the box office, since we'd gotten the intelligence that "Priscilla" was back on the ship since New York, and wanted to make sure of reservations. Then Le Bistro, for dinner reservations  that night. And then a stop at O'Sheehan's for our first cocktails on board. (Have I mentioned that we haven't made it to our cabin yet? 😂) We also hadn't had lunch, but by this time the dinner reservation was only a couple of hours off, so we checked into our cabin, found 3 of 4 bags delivered (#4 had a defunct power strip with a forbidden surge protector--it got delivered without the contraband after our dinner that night, and I never bothered to go pick up the forbidden item in the end) so we made a quick visit to the buffet for a snack and went back to unpack. 

Dinner at Le Bistro was fabulous--Mrs. Q did everything seafood, I had the beef tenderloin. Everything was amazing, and the desserts took it up another notch.

After dinner we tried walking around a bit, but that raises my one big gripe about Epic--you really can't. There's no promenade encircling the ship, the jogging track is a travesty of a back and forth affair on one side of deck 7, with kitchen exhaust blowing at you, and lifeboats hanging between you and the sea air. One NCLer diplomatically commented that Epic is "one of a kind"--and we certainly hope so. The architect did not have cruising in mind when they designed this floating casino hotel!

Anyway, that's going to be my only complaint.

Our bed was comfy, and the ship was underway. First real vacation in 4 years.

Embarkation Day

We were scheduled for 1:30 check-in, so took our time, and still got to the pier before 1:00. This was the first departure from San Juan as a home port, so there were some things that weren't working well yet--for one thing, a severe lack of signage for things as simple as reassuring us that yes, this was where we take our luggage for Epic, etc. (An NCL-uniformed worker apologized and said that they hadn't been able to obtain them yet.) 

The lack of apparent structure was particularly concerning given what came next--after we dropped our bags, we were directed to board buses for the Sheraton (overheard at least two couples say that that had been where they'd stayed, and if they'd known, they'd have started their check-in there!) where we were moved through a series of conference rooms to get our COVID testing done, then seated in a ballroom to watch a giant "bingo board" of numbers to await our result. That took about an hour for us, though some went through in 20-30 minutes--probably had to do with how quickly their tests were batched and processed. 

After a negative test, we could get a wrist band and board a bus back to the pier terminal to wait in another line for the actual boarding and key card issuing, etc. The process at the terminal seemed pretty slow, too--I think they were somewhat short staffed, plus again the issue of it being their first run through in San Juan.

(As bad as this may all sound, I give NCL credit for taking us offsite to a reasonably comfortable, air-conditioned spot for the extra COVID processes. I know there are some terminals where folks have had to wait in chairless warehouse-like facilities with even less direction. I never felt like the system was out of control at least.)

Although the purpose of this cruise was to have no agenda for a week and to try to relax a bit, we also made a decision a couple of weeks before leaving that we were going to try some new things and get out of our comfort zones. So for our pre-cruise day, instead of going to the beach, or Old San Juan, we went...ZIPLINING!

Found a well-reviewed vendor (Rainforest Zipline Park) through TripAdvisor who would pick us up at the hotel, and off we went, for the first time ever. Well organized setup, with solid COVID precautions and safety briefings. We had a good time, and got back to hotel in plenty of time to enjoy a beer at the pool, then head to the hotel's beach area for a couple of hours. Again, the beach at Isla Verde is one of the nicest I've even been to--clean and not crowded, but plenty of options for food and drink, or for people watching. After that it was back to hotel for shower and rest before getting a taxi to OSJ for dinner with another couple from our roll call.

Unfortunately, OSJ was gridlocked this night--apparently there was a major rap artist performing nearby, and an annual boat parade with decorated lit boats in the harbor, attracting lots of spectators. The 20 minute trip took nearly an hour, but we did get our dinner (at Raices, one of the more popular spots for Puerto Rican food and drink.) After dinner, we found that there were no taxis back--but Uber was working well, though obviously with surge pricing. We got back eventually, and got ourselves ready for embarkation day tomorrow.

[I guess one last word about SJU--Puerto Rico has been pretty strict about COVID protocols relative to many US mainland locales. Everyone is supposed to register before flying in, though many don't which contributes to a general sense of chaos and lack of direction on arrival. Once we got to the checkpoint however, having our pre-registration done, and the provided QR code on our phones, we breezed through and went on out into the humidity. I'm also not fond of SJU as a departure airport, but that will be for another day.]

Not seeing as many day-by-day reviews right now, but of course, not as many folks cruising again yet.

So I always like writing these (and reading them a couple of years later) to reflect, but also I hope to deliver some useful information. I always found folks' reviews helpful in deciding what we should expect from a booking, so I'll try to keep that in mind.

This was the December 12 sailing, scheduled to port at Aruba, Curacao, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts. 

We chose this on fairly short notice (for us at least) as I was getting burned out from the past 2 years of working in healthcare during a pandemic that a third of the country still doesn't believe exists, as well as running a training program, and trying to parent 3 young adults and a teen. Mrs. Quercus got tired of my whining and told me to just book something. My ForBidden social media memories reminded me that it had been 5 years since we'd been in San Juan, and I was looking for ideas around there, when up pops our old pal the Epic--our first cruise 10 years ago. I cross checked the schedules, cleared the time, and Boom--we were booked. Arranged for DD (now 27) to check in to make sure the dogs were fed and the remaining minor child ate and got off to school each day, and booked the flights and hotel. 

For pre-cruise hotel we chose to return to Isla Verde, where we'd been for a conference on our last visit--it's a great beach, and easy Uber or cab from/to airport or into Old San Juan. If you wanted to explore the island from there, there's a rental car agency close by. Or you could just stay at your hotel and the beach. We chose Embassy Suites this time--not quite as spendy as the beachfront places, but close to beach, and has nice rooms, really nice pool area, and free breakfast. Also has designated beach area about 3 block walk away that has umbrellas and chairs, etc. at no extra charge. 

We left two days ahead of the sailing to make sure we made it, and to ensure a day to enjoy PR. I picked the earliest flight out of MSP on Delta on a Friday AM--and good thing, too. By Friday evening, they were looking at a foot of snow, and 200+ cancelled flights--and we were visiting our favorite beachfront restaurant in Isla Verde (Alambique) and walking among the waves. (Modern pleasures--having a doorbell cam that shows the snow mounting, so you can show it to the disbelieving Puerto Rican bartenders!) Back to hotel in time for hot tub. Vacation starts in earnest tomorrow.

13 hours ago, jstraw89 said:

Priscilla played on the December 12th cruise along with burn the floor. 

...and it was...FABULOUS!

😁

TBH, we were ready for another sea day at that point! 😊

On 12/1/2021 at 3:53 PM, travelchic3 said:

I take a taxi to Reflextions beach bar, It is near the airport away from the tourist crowds. Its a cove that is easy to to walk in and out of the water.  They have great food, drinks and service.  The server called a taxi to take us back to the ship..

We had a nice afternoon at Reflexions last week. 

If you're just looking for a beach you can walk to from the ship, rent a chair and umbrella, have restroom access, and get drink and food service--there's nothing wrong with it at all. You do start seeing airplanes arrive (seemingly all together) in early afternoon, but we didn't find it overly annoying.

I don't know if they sell day passes, but we had stayed at the Isla Verde Embassy Suites pre-cruise, and they were very gracious when I asked to come and store our bags for a 4 hour stay post-cruise/pre-flight. Their beach attendant also was happy to let us use a couple of their chairs for a couple of hours. I think if we had planned more, we *might* have been able to negotiate a more formal pass.

ONE. 

😁

Anyone know of anyplace in Oranjestad that might rent electric bikes by the day/hour?

5 minutes ago, libtrek said:

Yes, this is for fun. Remember the midnight buffets with gorgeous ice sculptures? They let you in a half hour early to take pictures. Everyone had assigned dining room seating? You got chocolates on your pillow every night? Folks wore ball gowns and tuxedos on formal nights (and you got all the lobster you could eat)? AND rum running was an art? LOL

So you're saying we might not starve...

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I would plan on three just to be safe. 

You're the chief, Chief.

Now this is the kind of quality discourse I've come to expect from Cruise Critic, especially the NCL forum over the years. Like our luggage tags in the mail today, truly a sign that the world is returning to normal.  
 

Observation: federal guidelines recommend that adults eat at least 2 to 3 cups of vegetables per day as part of a healthy eating pattern. A standard "classic" Bloody Mary" contains 3/4 c. of tomato juice. Now depending on the number of olives and celery sticks used as garnish, it would appear that I should be planning on a minimum of two Bloodies a day for starters.... 

Downloading this to my ipad.

I should probably take pictures as I go. Have a feeling I may forget a few things after I get started on that.

It's not listed on Entertainment offerings for our cruise in December any longer. 😢

I was looking forward to it. 

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

Yeah!!!!

 

As it should be on every cruise line !  NCL is setting the example of a responsible vendor. 

And airline.