Cruise 2 - The Norway - Epiphany

 

S/S Norway

Norwegian Cruise Lines - 7 Day Cruise from Miami, Florida 

May 9 to May 16, 1992

• St. Maarten
• St. John
• St. Thomas
• Pleasure Island, Great Stirrup Cay – Private Island

The only time my wife, Ilse, and I got to sit together for any IBM function was a South Florida Trading Area meeting held at an auditorium in Ft. Lauderdale early in 1992. The trading area included every IBM branch office, both service and marketing, and everyone who worked for IBM in south Florida was in attendance. Ilse worked as administrative assistant to one of the trading area managers while I was a newcomer to the marketing division, having joined the consulting group in the marketing division after many years as a customer engineer in the service division. There were several hundred people in the auditorium, and while I knew many of them, Ilse knew most of them.

The event was a major, annual event and included area and divisional managers from Atlanta. The highlight of the event, for the employees anyway, was the announcement of a new award called “Most Valuable Player,” or MVP, which was to be bestowed to the best performers in the trading area. The announcements started and I dutifully applauded as names were called. I worked with many of them over the almost thirty years I spent in the Miami office and was happy to see many of them officially recognized. I was sitting slumped down in my seat when my name was called, and it took a few seconds to sink in. It was a highlight of my time in IBM to have both my old friends in the service division and my new colleagues in marketing stand and applaud with Ilse jumping up and down, clapping and screaming as I walked toward the stage.

The award included a first class, seven day trip on the S/S Norway. It couldn’t have been a better award.

*****

We watched the magnificent SS Norway sail out Government Cut, headed for unknown exotic ports of call, every Saturday evening for years. The beautiful, blue-hulled epitome of leisure cruising sailed out just the other side of the thin ribbon of asphalt known as MacArthur Causeway from the Miami Yacht Club, where from 12:30pm to dusk every Saturday, our daughter, Monica practiced sailing her Clearwater Optimist Pram, and eventually, her Laser Radial sailboat. When Monica dropped us off at the front door of the Dodge Island cruise terminal with the beautiful Norway in the background, we were as excited as we were the first time we boarded the M/S Sunward II three years earlier.

Once on-board, and politely declining the welcoming rounds of drinks with little parasols, we found our way to our ocean-view cabin. Our room was quite an improvement on the M/S Sunward II’s quarters, the first ship we cruised on, having a queen sized bed and ceiling to floor glass windows instead of just a port hole. We found two beautiful, white bath robes, embroidered with the ship’s name hanging in the wardrobe. We also had a safe for our valuables. We were pleasantly surprised to find a bottle of champagne and a welcoming platter of cheeses and fruit, plus the thank you letter from IBM.

It didn’t take long to put a major dent in the champagne, and after frivolously changing into our cruise finery, we took several time-delayed photographs of us posing on the couch. We had decided to skip the life boat drill, or as I called it, “the parade of new shoes” and soon changed back into our casual cruise shorts to tour the ship. We saw no reason not to just kick back and wait for the crowd to disperse. 

It didn’t take long before a staff member knocked on our door and politely, but firmly, asked if we would please follow them to the mandatory Coast Guard life boat drill. So, we gathered up our lifejackets and followed our forcefully smiling, but obviously disgruntled section leader to the rows of milling, shuffling, sober passengers, all with their life jackets on, waiting just for us.

I looked around the Promenade deck as I listened to the required safety lecture, and was astonished at the mall-style shopping and bistro facilities extending the length of the deck. I had to smile when the lecturer said our station would be on the starboard side of the side, the same side as the Fifth Avenue shops. She continued, “The Champs-Élysées deck is on the port side.” All I had to do now was look for the pointy end of the ship. 

Our dinner that evening started with a long line outside the dining room, waiting for photos with the captain. Ilse and I courteously passed by, excusing ourselves profusely, and skirted the line. We met the grinning Maitre d’ just inside the glamorous dining room and were escorted to our table. Dining was assigned seating, and we were added to a round dining table for six. Our cordial dining partners were a young couple on a delayed honeymoon and a recently retired elderly couple from the mid-west. We all exchanged pleasantries when we met each night for dinner, but rarely saw each other on the ship otherwise.

We stood in the incredibly long hallway after stepping off the elevator and looked fore and aft, without knowing which way was which. A Bahamian steward walked up and quietly said to look at the pattern of the carpet, the subtle waves in the peal blue carpet pointed to the bow. He asked for our room number, smiled and pointed to the other end of the ship.

We always asked cruisers, and crew-members as well, which rooms on a ship were best. To avoid engine noise or vibrations, we were told, go as high and as far forward as possible. Today’s advice is somewhat different though, as the closer to the center of the ship you are, the less motion or travel you feel. With the earlier ships that didn’t use stabilizers, the cabins in the center and closer to the waterline were recommended for those who suffered motion sickness. With today’s ship’s stabilizers, however, rolling at sea, the side to side motion, is incredibly rare. Another reason to go high is to have no one above your ship’s balconies are tiered like the M/S Star Princess. That odd story is in a later blog.  

The first night at sea was as magical and exciting as on the Sunward. We went back to the room after dinner and finished the champagne, then we went to the late show. And then we went dancing. I don’t think we visited all nine bars that first night as we didn’t get past the first one that had a really great band. While we were chatting with the performers during their breaks we found they usually gathered in one specific lounge on one of the top decks after they finished their gigs for the night. That’s were we usually ended up for the rest of the cruise, especially after midnight.

A fellow elevator passenger told us about the ship’s drugstore and the great selection of liquor available tax free. The drugstore opened as soon as we were outside the twelve mile territorial limit but we didn’t stop by to check it out until the second morning while we were well at sea. I bought a rather large bottle of Drambuie, the 1.75 liter bottle which today is a collectors item, and Ilse picked a similarly sized bottle of Amaretto, both for about the price of a fifth of Canadian Club back home. A great way to break the monotony of drinking piña coladas all day long.

We then found the fabulous on-board library, just like in the old movies, and checked out enough great reading to last the seven days, then we went to the sumptuous luncheon buffet which did not include hot-dogs.

The bane of every cruise: The ship's photographers 

All of the first and second days were spent at sea, enroute to St. Maarten, over a thousand miles away. This is when we really fell in love with cruising. I had always heard about the phrase “deep-blue sea,” and we finally got to see it. I had painted many model airplanes that deep dark Navy blue, but I had never seen it in nature until now. We were passing over the Puerto Rico trench, at over five miles deep, it is the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean. That may have helped with the richness of the color, but we’ve found any deep sea has that special color. A great day reading, lolling about, and drinking and eating. In other words, a perfect vacation.

*****

Phillipsburg, St Maarten 

The Norway carried two large tenders, both over 70 tons and each carried 450 passengers. They were big enough to be classified as ships themselves. They looked like modified WW II landing craft used in the Normandy Invasion, but they had two solid decks of excited passengers as they headed toward the many moored sailboats that dotted the harbor. Many of the harbors in the Caribbean can not handle the
Norway as she draws over thirty-five feet of water, requiring her to anchor off-shore and use the tenders as water-taxis to shuttle passengers back and forth to the shore.

 

We decided to tour the town leisurely on our own rather than take a packaged excursion. The main street was filled with modern shops with several famous haute couture logos tastefully visible. Off the main streets, things looked more normal and we soon found local stores and shops and drugstores.

The most memorable impression was Ilse stopping on the street and pointing at a wall in an alley between two store-front buildings and saying very loudly, “Look at that lizard!” I turned around to look and found myself staring into the terrified eyes of a local black fellow relieving himself on the wall opposite from the lizard. He practically ran out of the alley trying to zip up his pants. Ilse didn’t see him standing on the other side of the alley, she was really focused on the odd looking lizard. I never did see it. Another story for the lounge.

The people were friendly and the prices were reasonable, the shops were clean and not too crowded as we were the only cruise ship in port, but after a couple of hours, we decided to head back to the ship.

*****

St John

 “All Ashore for those going to St. John.” 

I groggily rolled over in bed and tried to focus on the island I could see through the open curtains. Again, the ship’s Public Address system blared its barely comprehensible message. I rolled over and looked at Ilse, who was sleepily trying to figure out what the noise was. We were supposed to have been on deck two hours earlier as we wanted to visit St. John, but obviously St. John would have to wait until another cruise. When they announced last call for boarding, we rolled over and went back to sleep. By the time we finally arrived in St. Thomas, just a slow, six miles away, we had showered and eaten, and were ready to take the tender into Charlotte Amalie.

Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas

We watched as the Norway again lowered the two shore tenders into the smooth blue waters of the Caribbean into position alongside the ship. We were well outside the harbor at St. Thomas and would again have to use the tenders to go ashore. As we boarded the tenders, we looked up at the massive side of the Norway and saw the lifeboats teetering over the sides above us as the ship was undergoing mandatory Coast Guard certification as we boarded the Little Norway II. I couldn't help but think of the life boat drill. 

 After a short, unique, open-air trip on one of the smaller "Norway's" to the closest dock, we quickly separated from most of the other passengers. We made all the obligatory stops at the main street stores and tourist shops before we headed across town just to see what we could see. The main tourist area doesn’t extend more than a few streets and we were soon off the tourist trail. 

The first thing I noticed was, even though St. Thomas is a US territory, the drivers were on the left side of the road! The old left-side system from colonial days prevailed even after the United States bought this portion of the Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917. The U.S. Virgin islands include St. Thomas, St John, and St Croix, which all still drive on the left, which means look both ways twice before stepping off a curb. I think they may be the only place in the US that drives on the “other” side of the road.

We decided to strike out on our own and after an hour or so in town, and walked up through a residential area on the hill behind the city. It was filled with many beautiful gardens. We were well up the main hill behind the city, far beyond the synagogue, when we were soon warned by a passing motorist that we were in an area of high crime and should head back to the port area as soon as possible. She then drove off down the hill in her Volvo station wagon leaving us wondering if we would make it back alive.  

We did, feeling a little foolish for looking over our shoulders the whole way back. 

St. Thomas is famous for its tax free shopping – it’s in the U.S. Virgin Islands – but we found the jewelry prices about the same as the Service Merchandise store back home. After a local lunch of familiar foods, we visited the open air flea market and toured the 320 year old Fort Christian. We soon headed back to the Norway.

Back on the ship, we continued our quest to empty both of our respective liqueur bottles before the cruise ended and had another great dinner and saw another great show. We found our favorite piano bar was the after hours hangout for many of the ship’s musicians and we got to hear some really fabulous jams with some really great musicians. The bar didn’t close down until three or four in the morning, and we usually stayed as long as they played.

Our fifth day was again spent at sea as we headed toward the Bahamas and NCL’s private island as our last port of call. We visited the island with Bill and Ingrid on the M/S Sunward II.

Pleasure Island, Big Stirrup Cay, Bahamas

We sailed slowly up to the private island on the morning of day six, a beautiful, brisk warm day, but slowly rolling seas. The tenders had breaking waves dramatically breaking over the big, flat bows - yes, I know, the exception to the rule - as they headed for the beautiful, protected cove and the private beach. Ilse and I decided to stay on board while most of the passengers were shuttled to the private island for hot-dogs and snorkeling from the pristine beach. We donned our bathing suits and headed for the top deck with the few passengers who didn’t go ashore, and surprisingly, many of the ships “outside” crew. Most of the ship’s dancers were already sunbathing by the time we got there, but there were still lounge chairs scattered about. We stayed as long as we could stand the full sun, then decided to tour the almost empty ship.

We remembered to return our books to the library. We ate a relaxed lunch at the incredible buffet which once again did not include hot dogs.

We got to see the “Hot! Hot! Hot!” routine after our last dinner, with all the waiters doing a conga line through the dining room with Baked Alaska flambe balanced on their heads. Again, real candles with open flames, just like on the Sunward II.

The shows were great and the dining no less than superb. As we packed our suitcases for the disembarking in the morning, we noticed the two beautiful, white bath robes had been discreetly removed.

I stood on deck as we sailed slowly into Government Cut in the predawn hours of our seventh day and watched a beautiful sun rise out of the Atlantic Ocean behind us. I have watched every sunrise on every cruise I have done since, weather days excepted, and have seen sunrises so dramatic they could not be captured on canvas. The colors wouldn’t be believed.

The standard procedure or protocol back then was to quietly slip your charge sheet, the tab, discreetly folded in half, under your cabin door late on the last night of the cruise while you were sleeping. We checked ours on that last morning as we slowly sailed into Government Cut and were surprised by a bar tab over 300 hundred dollars! Ilse immediately pulled all of our receipts out of the safe and for the next ten minutes we added everything up, and, yep, we must have had a really good time! We in fact did. The music and entertainment was simply outstanding. We listened to some really great singers and musicians, many retired or simply no longer active on the regular circuits, but just having fun, especially after hours when many of them gathered for impromptu sessions and songs.

We were docked soon, and within hours, we were standing on the curb outside the terminal. They have the loading and unloading of well over two thousand people down to a science.

Our daughter picked us up at the port and within hours of docking, we were stretched out at home, reliving great memories. And yes, the old rumor is true: I gained seven pounds in seven days.

Next: The Norway - A Very Personal Memory

Previous Blog