The cruise itself.

Our route. Map courtesy of NCL.com

The one and only towel creation that ever manifest itself in our room. Other guests ended up with entire menageries.


Passing through the Patagonic Channels.

The first of many glaciers.

Cruising through the Beagle Channel, something I would later do in a tour boat like the one pictured.

The legendary Cape Horn.

On the day we rounded Cape Horn, we had a ceremony where the Captain baptised us as honorary "Horneans" with ice cold water. Why I agreed to participate, I have no clue.

Our room was an inside cabin, therefore channel 22, showing the view from a mounted camera became our official "window".

Yup, I agreed to pour champagne into a pyramid of glasses aboard a moving ship. Not sure what I was thinking there, either.

I can see how it is possible to interpret my running tally, where I am keeping score pitting myself against NCL when it comes to shore excursions, as a sign that I did not enjoy the actual cruising part of the cruise. That plus, my stated expectation that I was sure to hate it. So, I thought this might be a good time to post some (!) photos and mention that, much to my surprise, I really thoroughly enjoyed it. The staff was remarkable. That they managed to stay cheerful and helpful for 14 days with some pretty difficult clientele on their hands is a true testament to their hiring and training dept. or to whatever drugs they had at their disposal or possibly to a combination of both. Andrea, the cruise director, was a marvel switching effortlessly between English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French and German. He and his staff were ever-present throughout the day hosting activities ranging from bingo to trivia competitions to theatrical productions and theme parties. The entertainment itself was about what I expected it to be, ranging from passable to nearly intolerable, the low point being a clumsy, asthmatic juggler who panted into a wireless mike while dropping everything in sight, so much so that I had to walk out mid-show. Same goes for the multi-instrumentalist with the pan flute and the electric drums. The two exceptions, a sexy tango singer named Daniel Bouchet and a powerhouse Cuban entertainer named Elvy Rose , were a genuine pleasure to watch and most of the others made up for in effort what they lacked in talent. The food, which I had so deeply dreaded was a very pleasant surprise. There was a buffet restaurant with the requisite bland food and an excellent salad bar, but there were also a number of specialty restaurants featuring very flavorful and inventive cuisine. Best of all, every menu I saw featured at least one vegetarian option. Also a huge plus was NCL's "freestyle cruising" policy, which allows you to eat whenever you want and sit wherever you want, something which sounds pretty basic but I am told is uncommon among other lines. The scenery I witnessed by virtue of being on a cruise ship was incomparable. It is going to be hard to top rolling out of bed, going out to the closest deck and watching six glaciers go by or rounding Cape Horn, the southernmost point of S. America in 60 knot winds (the Captain told us 64 knot winds are considered hurricane force). Of course, there were things I wish had been different. The stays in port were much too short and the alcohol policy, designed to force you to buy exorbitantly priced drinks, was absurd. But then again, I never feel as if I have spent enough time anywhere I go and I hear that if you buy beer in cans while in port, the security screeners on the ship will mistake them for sodas and you can easily bring in a 1/2 case in your purse and place them into your mini bar fridge. So while I am not ready to make the leap to labelling myself a "cruise person", I am more than willing to admit that I was really impressed with NCL and would not hesitate to jump on another of their cruises if the opportunity presented itself. That doesn't make me a "cruise person", does it?