Happy Tuesday, folks!
I am back with the NCL Joy cruise to Bermuda day two updates. On reflection, I could gladly go back in time and relive those cruise days (Except for a small mishap on day 3. Details in the next post! 😀 ). Â
The day 2 started at 6am. Apparently, vacations are not to stay-in, in the nice and cozy rooms and look at the expanse of the ocean and chill the whole day, according to my husband. I had gone prepared with a lot of plans to finish at least one limited series during the trip. Well, guess who spoiled my plan.. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
He is a clomper – he has to start exploring right away! I am basically a chiller. I guess my point is to keep everything slow and make the time enjoyable rather than squeezing it all in. However I do agree, when we put in so much money, time and effort to plan and travel to as far away place as this, we need to enjoy as much as possible. We have got to find a balance!
Browsing through the Freestyle daily (the NCL daily newsletter that has the schedule of activities and events for the next day gets delivered to our staterooms everyday), to know the happenings itself was a task for me. So, of course my husband did that everyday!
We got ready by 8.30, clicked some mandatory morning pictures and headed straight for breakfast at the Garden Café in deck 16. It welcomed me every time with a nice cup of coffee. I am not as adventurous as my husband when it comes to food, though sometimes I would attempt to try it. But, holy smokes! How can I even look beyond Upma and Poori when I had mentally prepared myself to not even get a glimpse of South Indian food for the next six days at least?
After the scrumptious breakfast, we started exploring again.
The deck 6 had an art gallery set up that had a display of selection of artwork for the guests to view and enjoy. There was also an art auction that happened during the cruise!
There was this huge model of a cruise ship aboard the Norwegian Joy. The details on it were amazing down to the chairs and tables!
We then participated in a trivia game at around 10am, which happened at the Atrium in deck 6. The atrium has a large open seating area with a giant screen for events as this.
By the time it was over, I wanted a little rest (6 am is toooo early for me!!). There was a Ladies Pamper Party at 12pm which we misread as 1pm and missed – there was going to be another batch of the same event during the return journey which I would later attend.
We wanted to have lunch at Savor or Taste restaurant located in deck 6, but both were closed and hence gladly headed to the Garden Café.
We then went to deck 17 to chill out in the sun deck. It was the most awesome weather contrary to the previous day. With no sun but not cold and just warm enough!
The deck 19 also has a sun deck that housed a mini-golf course and a go-kart track called Joy Speedway among other activities. The sun deck areas offered gorgeous view of the ocean. It was breezy and sunny at the same time which helped us spend more time under the sky and get some great pictures.
At about 4pm we went for another trivia game in the Atrium in deck 6.
This atrium is three-storied and has a lighted glass staircase which is where the the professional portraits were taken. We had our own photoshoot there 🙂
We tried our luck at the Casino and guess what.. I won $160 in a slot machine. And there was a silly spin the wheel kind of a game that my husband wanted to try from the day before. And he was rock-ribbed about trying that at least once!
We were entitled for two meals of specialty dining. We reserved ahead for the dinner with two different restaurants.
First we chose dinner in Teppanyaki which is a hibachi-style Japanese restaurant. We the diners sat around small, portable barbecue grills that are made from cast iron where on they cooked dinner right in front of us – while also putting on a show singing, tossing the utensils and food around.
The three course meal included a Miso soup, Seaweed Salad with Ginger Dressing, a main course and a dessert.
I got sea food Teppanyaki classic (Lobster, Sea Scallops, Calamari, shrimp)and my husband chose Chicken Yakiudon (Hibachi Chicken, Udon Noodles).
I liked shrimp and having never tasted the rest of the sea foods offered there (scallops and calamari) before, they weren’t my favorites and dint finish.
The most off putting thing was that it was too smoky because the chef charred the soy sauce and the fried rice. On top of the fried rice not being flavorful because for this, my husband was sitting right in the way of smoke that it became too much for him to bear – which spoiled our entire dinner experience. We finished the meal with the Green tea cake dessert.
The open space was all colorful and lit up. It was raining a bit. We called it a day after strolling for some fresh air after the dinner!
