Eastern Caribbean on the Norway
By:  Doug
DougMacP@aol.com

When you sail on a legend, especially one that is 41-years-old (that’s about 123 in people years) you can’t expect it to be new and shiny. On the shady side of the bell shaped curve, The Norway prepares for an exit to the Asia market and Star Cruises.  Like a Broadway performer getting on in years, if you analyze her in the harsh light of day, you see the wrinkles, despite the nips and tucks. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t put on a good show. She does. She still has a magnificent voice, and stage presence that is unrivaled by the newer, flashier generation of ships she helped create. 

Pre Stay: Having read some rather negative remarks about the Miami Marriott, I booked at the Hyatt Regency Miami. Attached to the Convention Center it is a completely unremarkable hotel, in need of a coat of paint here and there. Well, actually everywhere. It was a touch shabby compared to other Hyatt Regency’s I’ve stayed at, although it was perfectly suitable for the purposes of arriving in town a day early so you don’t miss the boat. 

Embarkation & Fellow Passengers: I checked out of the hotel at 12:00 pm, and after a short taxi ride, was on board and in the room by 12:30 pm. It could not have gone better. When they say check-in starts at 1:00 pm don’t believe them.  Every cruise I’ve ever been on starts boarding an hour early, unless the ship was delayed in arriving. The embarkation process gives me the opportunity to check out some of my fellow passengers. What I had read in some of the Cruise Boards on-line was true, there are a significant number of college students on Spring Break.  I resolved myself to the fact for this segment of cruisers the hormone level would be high, and the alcohol consumption stratospheric. This was confirmed in the Muster (lifeboat) drill at 3:45pm. With eyes already glazed over and reeking of beer or the drink of the day they used the time wisely to find out what cabins the others were staying in.  I guess our colleges are teaching some life skills after all. The other passengers are a little bit of everything, with the possible exception of the elderly with poor mobility; this would not be a good ship for them with its small almost non-functioning elevators. Not only are all the cabins booked this cruise, but all the berths (triples and quads) are as well. The old girl will be playing to a standing room only crowd in the twilight of her career. 

The Room: S017 on the top passenger deck is a balcony "penthouse" category stateroom that was added in the re-fit of 1990. If anything, this stateroom should be in fairly good shape being "newish" to the ship. I was not pleased to discover the vinyl mat on the bed that says "for baggage only" was in better shape then the bedspread it was designed to protect. There were a number of curious stains on the walls, a  couple of lose seams in the carpet, an extremely uncomfortable sofa (pitched forward at an alarming angle), but they are only minor distractions.  Like vintage hotels, you appreciate the atmosphere and history (even in the new section), and it doesn’t seem to matter if things are less then perfect or thoroughly modern. The bathroom with a full size tub was well maintained and clean, the duvet/comforter (after the turn down at night) was of a good quality, the pillows were cushy and a small functional balcony contained a table, two chairs and a chaise lounge. The room also had plenty of closet and drawer space. Cherry, the room stewardess was unflappably pleasant and upbeat. 

The Ship {Positive} The Norway can’t overwhelm her audience with towering atriums, revolving stages and ice skating rinks. She doesn’t have them. What she has are fabulous promenade decks, some incredibly inviting lounges with comfortable furniture, a sense of dignity and a soul. The standout lounge on the ship is Club International, as all who have read any review of The Norway know, it was The France’s former first class smoking lounge.  In my opinion it may be one of the best rooms at sea with it’s soaring ceiling and two-tiered seating. The two promenades on the International deck are unrivaled. I wish they would do this on new ships, but it would take away precious space. The Norway makes good use to these ficus-lined boulevards that house all of the shops and three of the lounges. To stand at one end of the promenade and look to the far end is an impressive, even dramatic sight. Of all the ships I’ve ever been on, never has navigating the length of the ship been so enjoyable. They are a showstopper.

{Negative} With the upcoming transfer to Star, it appears they are deferring maintenance in some areas. There is another theory on that, which I’ll cover later. The Astroturf on her outdoor top deck areas is stained and buckling in all areas. I hate Astroturf on ships anyway, but this stuff is a disgrace. She is called the SS Stairmaster for a reason. Her elevators are small, slow and seem to have a mind of their own when it comes to getting you to the proper floor. Because she was built as a two-class liner all the staircases and elevators don’t go to all the floors. For me, it is part of the charm, for many a nightmare. More of an annoyance, was trying to figure out why if they have space in the lifeboats for everyone, why not have lounge chairs for all the passengers? While this cruise was completely sold out, how much would a few hundred more deck chairs cost? They certainly have the open deck space for them. The constant stream of people wandering in search of an open lounge chair during the peak sunning times began to resemble a biblical epic on the first two sea days. 

The Food: Buffet’s The Great outdoor café on the International deck can best be described as an afterthought to accommodate the trend in buffet dining. They make good use of the available space in four main lines and several separate specialty positions. The seating is very limited, however if you’re the friendly sort, joining other passengers at their table is easy enough. You can also take your tray to the indoor promenades where there are several tables near the café. The food itself is perfectly acceptable.

Windward Dining Room: An amazingly beautiful room. We sat under the dome at the bottom of the stairs. Because of the density of the ship, the room is crammed with tables, which is not conducive to normal conversation. On the comment card I rated the food good, and that about sums it up. The first night I had lamb kabobs, which turned out to be ground lamb, and was not particularly tasty. After that I simply asked the waiter if an item was good or not, and he never steered me wrong. What surprised me was that soups and salads were very good. In a mass-market ship I didn’t expect that. The food presentation was unimaginative, but I wasn’t paying for, or expecting nouvelle cuisine. Overall I was extremely pleased by our waiter and assistant waiter. The service was prompt, polite and appropriate, other then the waiters tendency to deliver a little monologue each night at the end of the meal, which frankly none of us could really understand due to the sound dynamics of the room and his heavy Island accent.

Le Bistro: A group of us did the alternative restaurant after leaving St. Thomas. With a $10 cover charge per person, the food was somewhat better than the dining rooms. This is not a classy room by any stretch of the imagination, and is sandwiched between the rear pool area and the North Cape Lounge, but it does have more personalized service. Our waiter had a very interesting way of acknowledging any request, his line was "and why not?" For sixteen people, every drink order, or grind of pepper brought "and why not?" Frankly, by the time the main course arrived I thought the line was a way over the top, "and why not?" 

The Ports: I have two choices here, honesty or making stuff up about two ports I’ve been to before. I’ll take honesty. I didn’t get off the ship. I meant too, but it never quite happened. Having the pool to a few new friends and myself was too inviting in the end to sally forth on to the tenders. I do have a few observations however. The NCL port guides are actually very informative and list a decent variety of choices unlike many other cruise lines. That impressed me. NCL offers a fairly varied and extensive list of excursions, which most of the people I talked to enjoyed. The rest of the comments about the ports have to do with the tendering operation. 

St. Maarten:  The Norway has only been carrying one of her tenders for quite some time, relying on the 2nd tender being provided at the ports. Her other tender is kept at the private island where it assists the Norway and other NCL ships. While that is akin to a performer not being unable to use her own songs, due to copyright issues in some venues, as long as the tenders are available at the two ports things should be okay. The Captain announced from the Bridge that due to an "illegal strike" on shore a 2nd tender would not be used. From reading the Internet Boards some excuse as to why a 2nd tender is not being used at St. Maarten is happening often of late. Perhaps next weeks excuse will be "the dog ate it." The time to tender off all the passengers wishing to go ashore had doubled. Whether this is the result of bad contracts with tender providers on the Island I can’t say. It does seem to me, the odds of such failures occurring with such regularity should be lower. Because of her deep draft, The Norway must rely on its tenders, take those out of the equation and you disrupt flow or rhythm of the performance. Like a manager who skimps on a show’s production qualities (stage hands, sets, etc.) because their hand is in the till, NCL is damaging the reputation of The Norway. After an hour or so the Captain announces the "strike" has been settled and eventually the other shore tender arrives. Still, three hours before they went to "open tenders" (which means no required boarding card) was a very, very long time. 

St. Thomas: The tendering operation was flawless and complete in a little over one hour. As I prepared to go ashore after they made the "open tender" announcement, something caught my attention. With the Explorer of the Seas, The Grand Princess, Costa Atlantica, The Westerdam, Disney Magic, and the Norway all in port, that meant there would be about 12,000 + people all trying to use the same shops and beaches. It was later confirmed that Megan’s Bay was absolutely packed. Since I wasn’t in the market for gemstones or other Island trinkets, what was I missing? I could get everything I needed on the ship anyway.

Private Island: Really I almost made it off the ship this time, but it didn’t happen. Once again having the ship to myself was too powerful. At the private island they used three tenders and the process was quick. Everyone seemed to enjoy either the beach or walking the trails and the barbecue lunch. 

Entertainment: I popped in for parts of a few shows. Standard cruise ship fare. As I’ve said in previous reviews, if you want to see a good production show go to Las Vegas or Atlantic City. The performers on the Norway are talented enough, in a second tier sort of way, and the choreography would work with the ship rolling 15 degrees in either direction. When it comes to production shows I’m a tough house, so take those comments for what they are worth. Nor can I give you an honest assessment of the comedians on board, since I give them a wide berth. Very wide. What was truly amazing about The Norway was the quality of her other Bands, and Lounge acts. They were some of the best I’ve ever heard at sea. This is not a ship that goes to sleep at 11:00pm, the entertainment continued into the wee hours, especially in the disco. I generally don’t name, names of performers but special recognition should go to Ms. Elvy Rose’s cabaret act. A high-energy performer with a strong voice, fabulous stage presence she had the audience eating out of the palm of her hand. I’m not quite sure why The Norway doesn’t have her do additional shows other than a short segment in the farewell variety show. They are wasting an opportunity and a talent. 

Cruise Staff: I found the cruise staff to be less saccharine then on most ships. Not overly perky they do their job of hosting organized activities (Bingo, Trivia games of all sorts, that sort of thing) appropriately.

The Future: This is my 3rd time aboard her after a 16-year respite, and I know it will be my last. The transfer to Star has raised many questions among Norway fans. The Asia market it not particularly big on old nostalgic ships, and the rest of Star Cruises fleet is modern. Is there a place for her there? NCL has been fairly tight lipped about anything other than the ship is being transferred. Some think that this is their graceful way of removing her from view then retiring her. Another theory  is she is to be converted to a gambling ship on short junkets. Since Star Cruises has not released itineraries for her in the future, even more sinister theories are floating (pun intended) about.  I heard one man say he wouldn’t be surprised if she meets with an (wink, wink,) unfortunate accident similar to Premier’s Sea Breeze, or the Sun Vista (Celebrity’s old Meridian). Scuttling or accidental fire aside, the reality of life is nothing lasts forever, and as the saying goes all ships evidentially end up at the bottom or the breakers (for scrap). At least they’re letting her go out of the North American market a star. 

Disembarkation: The Norway has no set policy that all guests must be out of their rooms at an ungodly early hour. That was a refreshing change. You do get the hint when at about 9:45am or so the service personnel start trouping in to bring the welcoming fruit basket, and complimentary (cheap) champagne for the next occupants of the room. Even then they don’t throw you over the side, but you start to feel like a voyeur of someone else’s cruise experience and realize it’s time to go. However, by then the wait to get off isn’t terribly long. This resulted in one of the best disembarkation I’ve had in my 13 cruises. 

And In The End: Some say she is basking in her former glory. I disagree, although I do admit her best days are behind her. The Norway has a song to sing and a story to tell. She delivers her product with good food, good entertainment, and comfortable accommodations at a very reasonable price. She set the standard for the cruise market in the early 80’s and the tonnage has been going up ever since. She is even spawning a new generation of fans in the twilight of her career. Many of the college students are falling in love with the concept of cruising from the comments I heard. It is bittersweet that their cruising future should be shaped by a ship slipping into the past. Like a great singer, she takes you to a different level during her performance. You transcend the everyday routine, and become more relaxed, more humane, and more in touch with the fact that there is more to life than the nine to five grind. 

In the final analysis, The Norway exceeded my expectations, and she delivered a solid, perhaps even great performance despite her age. So, as the curtain fell on my trip I took a long look at her knowing it would be my last. Brava.   

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