It's weird. Aside from about 20 minutes of the New Orleans sail away from the pool deck, I haven't watched us sail in or sail out of any of these ports, nor have I caught the pilot boat. It's just not a priority this trip. This morning we arrived extra early. The ship was cleared long before our planned 7:00 a.m. arrival time.
I went down for breakfast at O'Sheehans around 7:00 a.m. This is a huge plus in my opinion for Norwegian. On some ships it's called The Local, on others it's O'Sheehans but it is always open very early for breakfast so people like me don't starve.
I had an excursion this morning with a 9:15 a.m. meeting time on the pier. It was called Mangrove Canal Experience & Seafood Boil. We had off and on showers today and so as I was debating when to go on shore as I gazed out at the Harmony of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas which were in port with us today and then it started pouring. I let the rain slow a bit before I headed down to the gangway on deck four. It was still sprinkling a little bit but nothing I couldn't handle.
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| Grandeur of the Seas - they had to tender in |
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| Just off the pier, this Great Egret sat |
We took a short bus ride to the location where we would board our boat for the mangrove tour. It was a boat with room for about 25 but there were only 16 or 17 of us so that left some room to move around. We didn't see tons of wildlife. It's the wrong time of year for it. But I still did get a great photo of a new bird to me and it was an enjoyable boat ride.
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Black-bellied Plover (non-breeding plumage) |
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| Black-bellied Plover |
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| White-crowned Pigeon - I had a chance to talk birds with another guy on the excursion who had brought binoculars and spotted this bird too. |
After the boat ride, we were shown to covered picnic tables and provided a delicious seafood boil lunch, although it was the kind of lunch you really have to work for!
The excursion also took us briefly to a coconut factory and a chocolate factory.
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| A Frigatebird on my ship! |
Back on the ship, I didn't even bother stopping at my cabin on my way to the Sail and Sustain Bar on the Waterfront. I've been working my way through their menu and so tried a few more. This one below is the Croissant Mai-Tai. I think this bar was first started on the Prima. I remember the hype about it when I was on the Prima three years ago and the cocktails all look familiar. The concept is to use sustainable and organic liquors and combine them with ingredients from the ship that would otherwise go to waste. I believe in this drink, they turn yesterday's croissants into a simple syrup. There is another drink that uses banana peels.
I met two women from Michigan while sipping these cocktails and really enjoyed talking to them.
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| Croissant Mai-Tai |
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| El Padrino |
I finally did make my way back to my cabin mid-afternoon to change and head up for some time in the thermal suite. While I was up sitting in the sauna, I noticed we were moving and so I actually got a chance to see a bit of sail away from the thermal suite windows which which is located just above the bridge so has great views.
After some time in the spa, I dressed for dinner and headed down to The Cellars Wine Bar. They have an expanded menu of wines by the glass including a number of nicer ones with an uncharge. I started with a glass of Brunello and then enjoyed a couple glasses of a brut rose Champagne.
At the wine bar, I got talking to a man who lives about 90 minutes from me. We decided to go to dinner together. I have really enjoyed my solo dinners but it was a nice change of pace to have some real conversation. We ate in the Manhattan Dining Room where they had live music playing and then we enjoyed some music by the guitar player at the District Brewhouse before calling it a night.
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| I actually got a table fairly close to the music. The last few times, I've been seated in a far back corner. |
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