Norwegian Getaway Review: Part 7 – Sea Dayfeatured
We have sea day routines down pat when we’re sailing through warm waters. Most of our days look the same, and we’re okay with that. But even though our Norwegian Getaway was leaving a warm port was sailing towards another warm port, the waters in between were downright frigid, vacillating between the upper 40s and 50s all day.
It was too cold to swim or lay out, and too warm to stay in the room and sleep all day. It was an in between we weren’t familiar with, on a ship we were still trying to figure out. But that was kind of exciting to me. Being on this ship where everything was different made cruising feel new to me again, like I was experiencing it all for the first time.
Our morning started up at the crowded Garden Café for breakfast. The choices were endless, but I settled on a made to order omelet, and I was pretty sure I could eat at the Garden Café for every morning of our nine-day voyage and still not get around to trying everything.
After breakfast, we wandered around the ship to see what we could find. There were activities planned, sure, but not many for Stephanie or I’s age group and most of the ones that did had an extra fee attached. So we wandered. We went into the shop to look around and we showed Mom the Waterfront. We watched a fruit and vegetable carving demo in the lobby and then we walked around some more, ending up in the shops to browse some of the Russian souvenirs they were putting on display ahead of our stop in St. Petersburg.
Since we only had two sea days, we wanted to try lunch in the dining room at least once, so we lunched at Savor. And I have to say, though small, Savor is a beautiful dining space with a ton of ambient sunlight. And the lunch fare was really good, too — a comprehensive menu of options that were solid from top to bottom (at least, from what we tried!).
Spinach Caesar
Hummus & Peperonata
Vietnamese Chicken Pho
Chicken Nachos
Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf
Philly Cheesesteak
Chocolate Ice Cream
Key Lime Parfait
Fresh Fruit
After lunch, we headed back to the room only to find that it still hadn’t been serviced yet, and we had put on the Service Room light over four hours prior. All we really wanted to do was sit on the balcony and nap, so we switched the light from Service Room to Do Not Disturb. Was it the most exciting sea day ever? Not in the slightest. But ahead of us was a free day in Tallinn, followed by a grueling two day, one night tour of St. Petersburg that would span two full days and a full evening, and I knew I’d enjoy everything all the more if I were as rested as possible.
(And, you know, it was my vacation and few things say vacation to me like day naps)
I woke up just in time to shower and get ready for formal night. Well, kind of formal night. Norwegian’s Freestyle mentality meant that even though they planned two special Norwegian Night Out nights during our voyage, there was no actual dress code. It was a get dressed up if you want to kind of thing, which is basically the same as any other night, but I suppose this was the night to get really dressed up – you know – but only if you wanted to. My workplace has no dress code, which means I roll into work in oversized tunics, leggings and a top knot at least four days a week, so these cruises are, like, my chance to put on something that didn’t make me look like I was on my way to yoga. We weren’t sure how dressy the rest of our fellow travelers would get and it really ran the gamut. It felt like most people didn’t get dressed up, and those who did wore simple dresses, nicer jeans or a little more flash.
We had 7:30 pm reservations to Burn the Floor, which meant a late dinner. Since we had an earlier lunch, we made a stop at the Garden Café before the show for a snack: made to order crepes. Nutella and cherry compote for me, Nutella and bananas for Stephanie and just Nutella for Mom. Best cruise snack ever? It’s definitely up there.
Unlike Carnival, you do need to make reservations for your shows ahead of time on Norwegian. Well, you don’t have to, but you should: if you don’t, you have to wait in a standby line that only lets in ten minutes before the show (and yes, they scan your card on your way in!). The theater was packed with no more than a handful of open seats before the lights dimmed.
Burn the Floor is a musical that went to Broadway and the West End after Elton John caught a performance at his 50th birthday party, and the original cast featured most of the current Dancing with the Stars pros! The performance we saw was extraordinary, featuring two vocalists and a full dance troupe of partners from all over the world. Everything from the choreography to the sets and the costumes were on point. I wish I had a picture or two to share, but they were adamant about no pictures or video being taken: not only was an announcement made, but an usher patrolled the aisles during the show to flash his light at anyone who didn’t comply!
We anticipated a rush to the dining venues after the show, so we ducked out during the curtain call, making a beeline towards the deck 6 restaurants. Taste and Savor face each other and we decided to go to whichever was less crowded (Savor won). We had a short wait before we were seated and thankfully, both the food and the service were much better this evening. The only thing throwing me was that it was 9:00 pm and the restaurant was fully lit with the sunshine from the port side windows! I swear, that daylight that persists through the late evening hours throws my internal clock more than the time difference itself.
Bread Basket
Spanish Chorizo Sausage and Fingerling Potato Salad
Fried Brie Wedges
Spinach and Beet Salad
Argentinian Skirt Steak Salad
Yankee Beef Pot Roast
We had a great view of the sunset from our dinner table, and it coincided perfectly with our dessert course, right around 10:00 pm. The only thing throwing me more than the eight-hour time difference was the late sunsets. With the late, post-show dinner and the late sunset, my body felt like it was 6:00 pm when it was nearing the late evening hours!
Warm Chocolate Lava Cake
Pistachio Ice Cream
Raspberry Truffle Cake
When we returned to the room, it was still bright out, and even later on, well past midnight, when everyone else was asleep (except for me, whose body was still convinced I was coasting through the early evening hours), it wasn’t fully dark outside. There was a late showing of Ferris Bueller on the big screen in the lobby at 11:15 pm, but we skipped it in favor of sitting on the balcony and marveling at the late night daylight. That pic below? Just before midnight. Thank goodness for curtains.
