Summer vacation (2nd in series)

Norwegian Majesty

Greetings from the Norwegian Majesty (ship’s log mid day Sunday) enroute to Bermuda from the Port of Baltimore. Seas are calm. Weather is overcast. What follows is a re-cap of the first two days of our vacation trip so far:

Day 1: Friday Aug 22:

Gary met Taylor (who her parents dropped off up at his Downsview office) at approx. 4:15 by which time I was already enroute up the DVP to pick up Ryan and Claire from the final day of their Seneca Summer camp (Finch & 404). Gary arrived back home just ahead of us and had to water his terrace garden before departure. Ryan, Claire, Taylor and I used the opportunity to do a video and snacks run to Rogers (at Front and Princess) to pick up some DVDs to watch on the car-trip. We hit the road before 6 PM but had to stop to gas up and to pick up Cathy’s at her apartment on Queen’s Quay on the way out. We were on the Gradiner-QEW before 6:30. We stopped at a highwayside foodcourt in Grimsby to grab some dinner grub (quite an impressive foodcourt—a Tim Hortons, Manchu Wok, KFC-Taco Bell, NY Fries and Dairy Queen / Orange Julius. The interior design featured plenty of wood and stone. We hit the Queenston-Lewiston bridge before 8 and only had about a 20 minute wait in line. No issues with the border patrol. We stopped twice on the US side of the border for washroom breaks and managed to make our midpoint stop in Mansfield PA by midnight. Gary & I did the lions share of the driving tho Cathy did spell us off on occasion. Our Comfort Inn room was comfortable enough and came with two double beds, (anticipating this, we brought along our own inflatable mattress to multiply sleeping positions). Most of the group seemed to be able to get at least a few hours of shut we before we were up at dawn to continue our trip.

Day 2: Saturday Aug 23:

The Comfort Inn offered a “continental breakfast”. Then highlight seemed to be “make your own” waffles. Most of the group made those. The juices and coffee selection was unimpressive. We were back on the highway (after gassing up) around 6:30 AM. We arrived in Baltimore at around 11 but had a hiccough finding the route to the ship terminal. We checked in about 11:30 AM. The terminal’s check-in system was down so we could not have our security photos taken and credit card pre-authorized there (as usual). That process now needs to be completed on board the ship. Boarding calls were by colour coded sections. We were assigned gray tickets and waited less than half an hour in the comfortable lounge following check-in to be called to board.

We headed to the buffet immediately after boarding (with our hand luggage in tow) since staterooms were still under preparation. Indoor seating at the buffet is extremely limited. The steam table items were overcooked and the sweets unremarkable. There was a carvery station featuring roast beef, and fresh made to order pasta and deli sections out on the pool deck, which offered better alternatives. They also offered all day pizza slices and grille items on the forward section of the pool deck.

Overall the ship makes a good first impression for its age. The deck areas seem more dated than the common areas, where the décor is tasteful and restrained. Luggage delivery was fairly efficient so we were able to be unpacked mid afternoon. The muster drill was efficient and painless. Because of the systems issues, the check-in process was slow to complete and the muster drill and sailaway were both delayed by half an hour. Pre and post muster drill we hung on the top (sun deck). A reggae/calypso influenced band delivered the usual sailaway requests to line-dance to. It was extremely hot in Baltimore so we were relieved to feel the cooling breeze as the ship started to pull out. Sailaway was smooth and highlighted by the ship’s passage under the highway bridge span that guards the entrance / exit to Baltimore’s inner harbour.

As the evening wore on, we attended a team movie trivia event in the theatre and then reported to the Seven Seas dining room station for a table assignment. The Seven Seas is one of three full-service restaurants on board. We were assigned our own table for 6 with minimal wait. The dining room service was fine and there was a good selection of special and everyday entrée and app items. A few of the dessert items were notable, including a soufflé with vanilla bean sauce. Following our late dinner we opted to head straight to our stateroom beds to catch up on our sleep.

More to come…