Ex-NCL

miznitic - That picture brought tears to my eyes! That wonderful ship was my "home" from March 1993 through March 1996. Sailed it across the Atlantic after it was sold to Air Tours in 1995. Final cruise out of LA was the Trans-Atlantic voyage to Palermo for retrofitting prior to going on our new itineraries in the Mediterranean. Wonderful memories and lasting friendships on that ship! One thing I will always remember was that voyage across the Atlantic. We ran into a storm that did NOT appear on our radar and we went up and down like an amusement park ride for several hours. Everyone on board was sick, including the ship's doctor. (Big help HE was!) Not feeling it too much, I spent a lot of time on the bridge watching the bow rise up and slap down in the water. It was fascinating to watch! My cabin was on the same deck as the bridge (right next to the radio room) and it had two small windows, together about 1 ½ times the size of a standard house window. I had ocean spray hitting those windows! You can get a feel of how much we were bobbing up and down by checking out the location of the bridge in the photo. Well, as the saying goes, "Getting there is half the fun"!

I joined NCL in May of 1992 and was first assigned to the Seaward then to the Norway. My time on the Norway was cut short (thankfully) as they needed someone on the Southward. When I saw the ship for the first time in March of 1993, the first thought in my mind (coming from the Norway) was "Where's the rest of the ship?". I served on her from that day until it left San Pedro on January 2, 1995. Luckily, when Air Tours bought the ship, they had no clue how to run it so part of the sale agreement was that NCL would furnish the crew for the first two years. I sailed the ship from San Pedro to Palermo, Sicily for refurbishing to Air Tours specs, and then on to Palma de Mallorca as our first home port. I finally left the Seawing in March 1996 when I was diagnosed as having cancer and was sent back to Miami. In all I spent 3 years on that ship and can honestly say she was the BEST ship I was on. I made many friends on that ship, both PAX and crew, especially in California, and mantain those friendships until today! This thread certainly brought back many, many pleasant memories!:)