We originally booked our cruise for the end of September, but it was canceled due to Hurricane Ian. We were able to rebook a similar cruise for November 8-18 using credits from the original reservation but had to book our own flights.
Day 1, Tuesday, November 8
Leaving from Cleveland to fly to Orlando, temperatures were in the low 70’s – the last remnants of our Indian Summer. We thought we had rescheduled our cruise late enough in hurricane season, but Tropical Storm Nicole had other thoughts. We received notice from the cruise line that the ship would be departing a couple hours early to beat the storm out of Orlando – we still had plenty of time factored into the flight. Then we got notice from the airlines that the flight was delayed an hour! Still enough time, but starting to make us nervous! After checking our bags (at the new limit of 40.0lbs exactly), and going thru security, we still had time for the required pre-flight drink at The Pub. By 9 AM, we were wheels up and the flight down was pretty smooth – they made up some time and we were in Orlando by 11 AM, but then had to wait 20 minutes for them to bring out the jetway. After being escorted through a maze at the airport, we boarded the bus to the cruise terminals at 12:30. An hour later, the wind was already whipping everything around at the cruise terminal, and everyone was receiving emergency weather alerts on their phones, making it a little nerve-racking.
After checking in to our emergency evacuation station, we went to our room and changed into warm weather clothes to explore the ship. We had a couple of hours to check out the ship and grab a couple of drinks before heading out to sea.
The waves were a bit choppy that first evening – later we found out that they were up to 24′ high! Watching everyone stagger down the hallways like a bunch of drunken sailors was amusing! The waves in the pool were almost as big as Cedar Point’s Wave Pool, so we decided to make the best of it and enjoy a soak in the hot tub – between the ocean spray coming over the side of the ship 15 decks up and the water sloshing out of the hot tub, it was quite an experience! Now we can check off “Hot tubbing on a ship in a Tropical Storm” from our Bucket List!
We had reservations for a fancy French dinner at Le Bistro restaurant on our first night on the ship, so we went back to our room and changed into our finest evening attire. The restaurant wasn’t very busy – we think many people cancelled their reservations due to the rocking of the ship! We both tried escargot for the first time – very good, drowned in butter and pesto! Betsy enjoyed a beet salad, while I had the French endive salad. We both chose fish as our entree – Sole for Betsy and Chilean Sea Bass for me – both delicious! For dessert, Betsy got a decadent chocolate raspberry cremeux, and I had the strawberries and cream. A bottle of Pinot Grigio went well with everything.
Day 2, Wednesday, November 9
Originally, we were scheduled to stop at Great Stirrup Cay, Norwegian’s private cay in the Bahamas, but since Hurricane Nicole pretty much went right over it, the captain decided to hurry on towards the next stop!
We started off the day with breakfast at the buffet and mimosas on the sun deck. We spent most of the day exploring the ship, including a visit to SKYY Ice Bar, where the furniture and cups are made of solid ice and the temperature is kept at a cool -15C (about 5F). We enjoyed a beautiful sunset from the 8th-floor balcony walkway, then dinner at Taste before the Howl at the Moon dueling piano show at Headliners.
Day 3, Thursday, November 10
Another day at sea. Pool party at lunch time, mojitos at Sugar Cane, some pool time, sunset on the deck, comedy show, and “Newly Wed, Not So Newly Wed” game show. Ya know, a typical lazy day. 
Day 4, Friday, November 11
Charlotte Amalia, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.
We took a converted pickup/mini-bus for a quick drive up steep, curving roads to Drake’s Seat – an overlook to Magen’s Bay, then down to Magen’s Bay Beach for a few hours in the sun, enjoying some local beers. Click the link above for the full post.
Day 5, Saturday, November 12
St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda
We took a guided “selfie tour” that took us to the top photographic locations across Antigua, then stopped at the beach before heading into town for shopping. Click the link above for the full post.
Day 6, Sunday, November 13
A beautiful Sunday morning in Castries, St. Lucia. Today, we hike up the Petons and take a dip in a waterfall pool. The drive out and back was a couple hours each way, up and down winding mountain roads! Click the link above for the full post.
Day 7, Monday, November 14
Since we’ve been to Saint Maarten before, we decided to rent a car and do our own mini tour to revisit some of the places we liked or hadn’t had a chance to visit the last time. We were forced back to the ship early by an incoming storm and rushed from the car rental shop back to the ship, accidentally leaving our shoes in the back seat of the rental car! Click the link above for the full post.
Day 8, Tuesday, November 15
We stuck to the Old San Juan historic area and used a self-guided audio tour created by 6-graders from an area school as part of a school project – it was excellent! It took us to about 20 different historic sites. Click the link above for the full post.
Day 9, Wednesday November 16
Amber Cove, Dominican Republic
We did a “Highlights of Puerto Plata and Beach Escape” excursion, then relaxed at Amber Cover before returning to the ship. Click the link above for the full post.
Day 10, Thursday November 17
Last day of the cruise – sea day back to Port Canaveral. It was a pretty lazy day, recuperating after the week of island hopping! We had breakfast at the buffet, took a nap, then watched a presentation of upcoming cruises and new ships. We grabbed some lunch before taking another nap! That evening we attended the Junk Dinner Show, where all instruments were made from recovered waste! The musicians were good and the routine had a lot of comedy. We made our rounds around the ship just to make sure we didn’t miss any of the 18 bars – then back to the room to pack.
Day 11, Friday, November 18 – Travel Day
We disembarked from the ship at 9 AM and made our way back to the airport, where we worked for most of the day before our 5 PM flight back home. We were treated to a beautiful red sunset on our flight out and a loop around the lights of downtown Cleveland on our way home.
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