Cruise Reviews
Cruise Line: Norwegian Cruise Line
Ship: Norway
Date of Cruise: June 24, 2000
A Stanley Cup and Hockey Cruise All in the Same Month
By: John (Teech)
Finally, after months of anticipating our NCL Hockey Theme Cruise we can now write a review of the classic ocean liner SS Norway. Many reviews can take the form of quite detailed diaries of the seven-day experience. I will take the vivid impression strategy, picking out those events, food experiences and the ship's environment that might inform future cruisers and update past Norway passenger alumnus.
The flight was non-stop from the Garden State to Miami and was fine, even ahead of schedule. We had the short coach ride to the pier and got our first glimpse of Norway. Beautifully well maintained in her updated royal blue, she truly reminded you of days gone by when white was not the color of choice for majestic ocean going vessels. We did notice the Latitudes line was much longer than the almost deserted general passenger check in area. We decided that shorter was better in this case. Our ticketing person placed our latitudes stickers on our boarding passes and we noticed that the people on the Latitudes lines were making little progress. Go for the quickest line.
When we boarded, we quickly discovered the necessity to learn "TOWERS"! You must learn the stairs that will take you to the decks that are important to you. This comes from the old two-class system in ship design and some decks were not meant to meet. Know this when you book, because this also affects stateroom size if space is a priority. We were on the Fjord Deck in two inside deluxe staterooms and had a view of the 'inside the pool' through some porthole-like windows and even had a kingside bed after some room rearranging. We did experience some noise from the deck movement early morning, not a big deal.
Food--Great Outdoor Restaurant was crowded with a sold out cruise, go early go late, or just do the dining room thing. The food was pretty good with plenty of choices. The ribs are not something you want to miss, barbecued to perfection outside on the biggest Webers you'll see! If it is just too crowed for you, use the dining rooms and the fare is top notch. The culinary experience in the dining rooms very pleasing, I did the two-entree thing and found all beef dishes were excellent, stay away from the skewered lamb, get the lamb at lunch, and the lobster is a must order! Le Bistro was also excellent and we had table #2, all glass view of the Caribbean. It is a table for four and we sat and said good-bye to St Thomas feasting on filet mignon! It was well worth the $5 dollar per person gratuity. The room service food was pretty good with the pizza getting high marks and the grilled cheese falling into the not so category.
The reggae band on the pool deck was first class and we danced to the Soca tunes till the band finally gave up! The jazz group in the Club International was big city quality and the room was an art deco treasure. Dazzles Disco was a big party hit for the younger crowd! I did not attend any of the show productions but heard only good things. The hockey events were hosted by ESPN announcer Darren Pang. He got to introduce NHL Hall of Fame players Gump Worsley, Yvan Cournoyer, and Brad Park. The four on four tourney was fun and the Panger Kid game was the best. A sudden death game watching NHLers as teammates with ten-year-old kids was fun. Many NHL players did not make the sailing and that was disappointing.
The fitness studio on board was well equipped -- Cybex, treadmills and cross trainers. There was a good variety of fitness classes offered each day (to work off some of the food we ate). If you participated in ten fitness activities, you won a "Sports Afloat" T-shirt. Each day they had a mile walk around the ship (approx. 3 times around was a mile). I can't think of a more beautiful place to walk a mile, Caribbean waters in all directions!!!
The SS Norway is a cruise experience not to be missed by novice cruisers and cruise addicts alike. She is in great shape, well maintained, and tribute to days gone by.
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