Cruise Days 5 & 6 - Two Days at Sea with a Behind the Scenes Tour of the Ship - Wed.-Thurs., Dec. 27-28, 2023

Wednesday, December 27: Today, we relax on our day at sea. The weather is cloudy and 82. We slept in.

At 10:45 am, The Local was our choice for breakfast. It is open 24/7. Bob had an English "brekky" with two poached eggs, bacon, sausage links, baked beans, grilled tomato, sauteed mushrooms, and breakfast potatoes. I had French toast, two eggs over medium, and orange juice. 

The Local restaurant on this ship is in a very awkward place. It is one of the MAIN arteries to pass through the ship, and it is a pinch point. Think of it as a 10' wide hallway with tables for four along one wall. On the opposite side of the hall, the bar is parallel to the tables and set back a little. Add in servers going back and forth across that hall and people standing in the hall chatting and drinking next to the tables. It was hard to get through. The only other passageway at that spot would be to go outside. That was not fun when it was raining, windy, or cold. There was also a separate area of the restaurant that was its own room, out of the passageway. We requested that room to be out of the hustle and bustle.

Bob spent time reading and napping in the room. I went up one deck to the Spinnaker lounge to read and work on the ship's daily crossword puzzle and trivia sheet. What a comfortable place. It had lounge chairs, window seats, and 180 degrees of picture windows to look at the ocean. Plus, there was a full bar if I got thirsty.

I went to The Atrium (a huge meeting space for passengers) to take photos of the Gingerbread Village the crew made. Daily Trivia contests, games, movies, and presentations are held in the Atrium, led by the ship's Cruise Director. It is more of a living room with lounge chairs than an auditorium or theater. It is also the hub of the ship with the cashier, concierge, Internet café, etc.

The pictures below are of the Gingerbread Village created by the NCL Spirit crew...

Did you see the WalMart?

Check out the penguin on the bridge.

The Gingerbread Village is under
the stairs in The Atrium.

There's a gingerbread Ross Dress for Less!

We had a buffet lunch in The Garden Café. The food was excellent. Depending on the day, we could get Italian, American, Thai, Indian, vegetarian, German, or seafood. The main drawback is that this restaurant is crazy busy!! It's hard to find a seat inside when it's raining or windy because the outside seating is unavailable.

The activity we chose to do this afternoon was "Bamboozled - Escape Game." It was held in the Social Club. We had nine teams. Each team had a Secret Envelope and a locked box. The box had four locks on it. Our task was to solve puzzles in the envelope which we could use to unlock our box and solve the mystery. We had 40 minutes to get it done. If we failed in our mission, we all died. 

No one died today, but our team did not win. We had a diverse team of six that worked together wonderfully. It was so much fun. We were close to solving the puzzle, but another team beat us.

For dinner, we went to the Windows Main Dining Room. It is larger and calmer than the buffet and it has excellent food and service. 

After dinner, we went to the Stardust Theatre at 7 pm to see the rousing "Blazing Boots" show. The Freestyle Daily newsletter describes this show as 

"a first-class tribute to pop country, showcasing songs from the...biggest superstars including Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, and many others...From tear-your-heart-out country ballads to barn-burning, up-tempo hits, this show is sure to get you fired up and your boots blazing. Due to the nature of this show, its content, and the rock concert volume level, it's rated PG-13. This show contains flashing and strobe lights extending into the audience."

"Blazing Boots" was certainly all that. It had music video visuals and innovative choreography. No photography or videos were allowed due to copyright laws.

When that show ended, we zipped from stern to stem for the "Yes or No Game Show" in the Spinnaker Lounge at 8 pm.

We skipped dancing later and called it a night. Tomorrow, we have a "Behind the Scenes of the Norwegian Spirit" tour in the morning.

Thursday, December 28: We got up in time to eat breakfast before our "Behind the Scenes" tour. Our tour started in the Stardust Theater where we were whisked backstage to see how they stored sets, costumes, and other equipment. Our tour guide explained how quickly cast members had to change costumes. Generally, they have 1-3 minutes. They changed in a big open area near where our guide stood in the photo below. She said there is no modesty doing costume changes in a live show.

Our guide showed us the backstage 
area where performers change costumes.

There is little extra storage on a ship. The sets, etc., are stored in big trunks piled high backstage.

From the Stardust Theatre, we headed to the ship's laundry. This is where towels, bedding, restaurant linens, napkins, etc., are washed, pressed, and folded. There are completely separate washers and dryers for laundry from the medical clinic. If you want to have your personal laundry done, there is a separate area with dedicated washers and dryers for that as well. 

There are top-of-the-line industrial-sized washers, dryers, and sheet-folding machines. We got to watch them work. It's amazing.

Sheet folding machine,

The personal laundry area for guests' laundry.

The crews' uniforms.

We did not go into the engine room, but we did go into the room with the computers that monitor all systems, including engines, propulsion, and cameras on the ship. There are 417 surveillance cameras; 100 of them are in the casino! We were there while a staff member explained everything that they do.

Next, we saw how all garbage and recycling are dealt with. There are huge bays with room for flattened cardboard. Garbage takes up a lot of space!

The bridge was fascinating. The views are fantastic. We saw the radios and navigational control charts, steering console, maneuvering panel, charts, gyro and magnetic compasses, anchor and windlass controls, and the Safety Center.

The crew have their own rooms, hallways, and elevators. We walked through the crew section of the ship. All crew dine in various messes located on Deck 5. There is also a crew internet café, Crew Recreational Area, and gym.

The Norwegian Spirit crew is comprised of approximately 920 men and women from over 58 countries. The ship's personnel is divided into three departments, all of which are under the Captain's command:

1. Deck: (led by the Staff Captain) includes Bridge Officers, Deck, Medical, Security, Safety, Finance, Human Resources, IT, and Surveillance Departments.
2. Engine: led by the Chief Engineer who maintains all mechanical and electrical aspects of the ship.
3. Hotel: (led by the Hotel Director) includes Stewards, Cruise Director, Galley and Bar Staff. The Food and Beverage Director is in charge of the entire food operation in all the outlets throughout the ship. The Executive Chef is responsible for all food production.

Next, we toured the Galley. It is huge and comprises the 

• Main Hot Galley: Here, all the menus are prepared for the Windows Dining Room and Garden Dining Room. All entreés are cooked and plated just before serving.
• Crew Galley: All meals for approximately 920 crew members are made here.
• Specialty restaurants have their own individual galleys.
• The Pantry: In this section, all the cold appetizers, salads, sandwiches, canapés, and cold food items for the lunch and dinner buffets are prepared. All ice, vegetable, and fruit carvings are created here as well.
• Fish, Meat & Poultry Stations: Specific preparations for these items are done individually at different stations. Strict cleaning protocols are followed for handling the meats.
• Bakery: All bakery products are made onboard. The Bakery is in operation 24 hours a day.
• Pastry: All desserts and pastry items are made fresh here daily. They gave us samples of many different types of cookies. Mmm! FYI, they use over 180 pounds of white chocolate and 350 pounds of dark chocolate per cruise! 

We enjoyed seeing the food prep areas. Recipes were posted for each dish along with a photo of how the dish should look when it was served. At the end of the tour, everyone had their picture taken with the Executive Chef.

For the rest of this day at sea, there were activities. We chose to play the Music Mania Game Show and the QuizShow Game Show. Our biggest complaint is that these popular activities were held in The Atrium and there was not enough seating. The staff didn't set up extra folding chairs. We had to ask them each time.

In the afternoon, we watched the Extraordinary Journeys Presentation. They were trying to sell back-to-back cruises. We saw gorgeous destinations, but we're not ready to do back-to-back cruises...maybe in a couple of years.

At 9 pm, we went to the "Edwin Sims: the Gift of Soul" concert in the Stardust Theatre. He put on a great performance.

At 10:15 pm in the Magnum Lounge, we sang along with Tito Torres's "Beatles Tribute." He played the piano and we were in a front-row seat! Very cozy and personal.

Tomorrow, we sail through Fiordland National Park off the southwest tip of South Island New Zealand.