Yes, folks, we are off on yet another cruise. This one is “only” 7 days, to Belize, Cozumel and Grand Cayman, on the Norwegian Encore. We booked this cruise because both Marlene and I were each given $800 credits from our trip to Alaska in April (NCL2). That credit could only be applied to a future cruise. This is that cruise. Because of the credits this is pretty close to a free cruise for us: total cost is $150 or $75 each.
The day started early. We rose at 5am with the intention of being on the road to Miami (via Coral Springs to drop Becky off with Marlene’s brother) by 7:30am. We had to get up early because we hadn’t packed. It was a rushed morning, but Marlene is pretty good at packing. We actually got off at 8am. We got to Coral Springs around 10:15am and were back on the road to Miami by 10:30am. We got to out parking lot (actually a parking garage) around 11:30am.
Then the fun began. This parking lot and cruise parking provider was new to us. Apparently it was new to them too. Total chaos. There were over 50 people congregated at the entrance to the parking garage, waiting for transportation to various ships. One guy was handling everything and not handling it well. After checking in we got in the queue for the ship. And waited. And waited. We saw one small van leaving. And a lot of taxis. We finally figured out that the taxis were Ubers – people were giving up on waiting for the free shuttle and were arranging for their own transportation. We teamed up with two guys who were going to the Encore and I arranged for an Uber. The Uber showed up about 15 minutes later and got us to the ship just about when we were expected to be there.
I think if we had waited for the “free shuttle” we would have missed the ship.
We had to check our large bags (too large for the X-ray machines they said) which made me a bit uncomfortable as my shaving kit and all my pills were in my bag (I usually put them in my backback but we brought only one backpack for this short trip). But the bags did show up at our cabin as we set sail.
The good news is that we were able to carry 10 cans of cola on board, in direct violation of Norwegian’s policies. We brought soda on board for the NCL2 so it must be a policy that they don’t enforce.
Check-in went smoothly and we were on board by 1:30pm.
We had a late lunch in the buffet and didn’t have dinner. We spent some time in the casino, of course. It was spacious, large and generous. I won $200 and Marlene won about $100.
So far we have made money by taking this cruise. But it won’t last.