What a long awaited cruise! When we booked this trip, the ship was still in the initial building stage in dry dock. Almost all of the public areas on the deck plans were blank and all we knew was that this ship would be a different NCL experience and that it would have a three level go-kart track. It was definitely the reference to a three level go-kart track that made my husband's eyes light up so we decided to give NCL a try again (our last NCL cruise was in 2009 on the Star to Alaska).
We are constantly trying out new room types and locations and this was no exception. For this cruise, we booked a forward facing club balcony with large balcony (which based on very limited deck plans I hoped would wrap around and give us both front and side views). The shape of the room is a very odd shape and didn't match the standard layout for this category so it would be many months before we would be able to visualize what the inside of the room might look like.
I was also excited to go out of Port Canaveral, our first cruise out of this port. As the cruise grew closer, I started looking at hotel options. We normally book Marriott brand hotels because of our loyalty and credit card benefits, but I couldn't pass up the Holiday Inn that was walking distance from Jetty Park, the point where you could watch all the ships enter and leave the harbor. So we made plans for a hotel Friday night on the way down so that we could be at Jetty Park Saturday afternoon to watch the ships leave for the day (and hopefully get up to watch the Sunday morning ones come in, including the Prima).
Paul picked me up from work and we were on the road before commuter traffic slowed us down. We made good time and got to the TownePlace & Suites in Albany, Georgia in just over four hour's time. We had hoped to do a late dinner at the Mexican restaurant just across the street from the hotel, a restaurant we enjoyed on our last visit but the line was out the door. So instead we just grabbed some quick food from the grab and go section at the hotel.
The TownePlace was very nice but the breakfast the next morning was pretty basic compared to other Marriott chains including other TownePlaces. It was enough to get us going though and get on the road.
We were in the Port Canaveral area a little before 1:00 p.m. and decided to first stop at Manatee Sanctuary Park which is supposed to be a good spot to view birds, turtles and other wildlife (and very occasionally manatees). At the park there was a short board walk and then a pond you could walk around.
 |
| One of our first glimpses at the cruise ships in port that day |
 |
| Little Blue Heron |
 |
| Double-crested Cormorants |
 |
| A turtle staring me down! |
 |
| White Ibis |
 |
| The brown ones are young White Ibises. They turn white as they get older. |
 |
| Great Egret |
Then we drove the last few miles and checked into our hotel, the Holiday Inn Club Vacations Cape Canaveral Resort. It was actually a resort with multiple buildings, open hallways, a restaurant, and activities (sports courts, pools including a lazy river, theater, mini-golf, beach access, etc.). Our room was in the main building on the top floor and was very quiet. We had a studio which was more than sufficient for our one night.
We could see cruise ships from the open hallways.
 |
| Mardi Gras |
We then headed out to spot some ships and wait for them all to leave Port Canaveral to start their cruises. We set up our chairs at the boat launch right next to the Mardi Gras. It was a very windy day and sand was being blown all over so not the ideal weather but it was worth it for the view we had (although my husband may not agree).
 |
| This juvenile Brown Pelican very quickly befriended us. He would get especially curious anytime I opened up my camera bag. |
 |
| A Wood Stork was guarding one of the boat ramps. |
 |
| My hair was quickly a mess from the wind! |
 |
| Victory Casino Cruises |
 |
| The Pilot boat was our first clue ships were starting to move. |
 |
| Carnival Freedom was the first to go |
 |
| Our pelican friend stuck with us for quite a while! |
 |
| The Carnival Freedom is the ship that had a fire in its funnel earlier this year. Carnival opted to not replace the funnel so it looks a bit strange. |
 |
| Mariner of the Seas was next |
 |
| A Sheriff towed a jet ski to the boat ramp |
 |
| One of the pilot boats returning after the first two ships went out. Each ship had a smaller pilot boat accompany it plus a larger one went out ahead of the first two. The next ships didn't start moving until those pilot boats returned so they may have each done two ships. |
 |
| The Norwegian Escape came next. It really is a beautiful ship! |
 |
| Here comes the Disney Fantasy! |
 |
| Time for the Mardi Gras to untie and head out |
 |
| So many pelicans and shore birds followed out each ship - the ships must stir up the waters enough to make for some good fishing! |
 |
| The sun was setting by now. |
With the ships gone, it was time to go inside and warm up and get out of the wind! We had dinner at the hotel restaurant,
Cape Grill & Bar where the food was really good and the atmosphere was nice.
 |
| There was lots of space related decor around the resort. |
 |
| We shared a chicken nugget basket and pretzel rolls which were amazing! |
There were signs about a presentation to be given on site that evening about a launch happening early in the morning and so Paul attended to get some information. Then we got to bed early in anticipation of a middle of the night launch on the beach.
