Backstory and
Embarkation Day
Prior to this summer’s family vacation, I had the
opportunity to add on a solo adventure while my daughter attends a camp in
Barcelona. I had planned on just hanging
around Barcelona itself, but after doing a bit of research, I found that a solo
cabin on the Norwegian Epic was actually going to cost LESS THAN a hotel room, and all of my food and drinks
would be included! Needless to say, I booked
the cruise and here we are.
On to Day 1,
Embarkation. After dropping my daughter
off I grabbed a taxi and arrived at the port about 2pm. I’ve never arrived that late before for a
cruise, the subsequent benefit being of doing so is a lack of lines! I handed off my luggage, immediately went
thru security and walked right up to the check in desk at the Latitudes
returning cruiser line. I got my key card, and walked right on to the
ship. I boarded on deck 7, and right
after scanning my key card, there is a small table, with a “NO BEVERAGES ARE
ALLOWED BEYOND THIS POINT” sign.
They are serious about beverages, there is shop in the port
building selling alcohol, and a reminder that there will be a corkage fee for
all wines and that liquor will be held until the end of the cruise. While some cruise lines allow some beverages to
be brought onboard, NCL’s policy is extremely strict and enforced at each port.
Staterooms were ready by the time I embarked, so I went to
check out my studio cabin. NCL is one of
the few cruise lines that are beginning to cater to solo travelers. The “Studio” is an interior 100 square foot
cabin with a porthole window overlooking the hall for those (me included) who
might feel a bit uncomfortable with an inside location. The hallway shown here to the left contains all studio
cabins. 
I headed to the Studio Lounge, which is a solo-cruisers only
area. In the lounge are TV’s, seating
areas, a bar, and a coffee machine! (The
coffee machine makes me extremely happy, as the stuff they serve on deck isn’t
very good. This gets me a stronger brew
and better cup of coffee!)
The unusual thing (to me) about this particular sailing is that
it has 2 embarkation points, Barcelona and Rome. So at the shipboard drill only those who
embarked today had to participate. Once
completed, I headed back to the stateroom and unpacked my luggage.
The good and the bad of solo cabins: Good: inexpensive and functional. Bad: A bit short on drawer space. However I do think the outlet situation was
decent. To the right of the shower there are 2 shelves with outlets:
One is a European “shaver” and the other is a US plug.
After getting settled, I headed to Spice H2O (which is adults only) on Deck 15 to
get a drink and watch sail-away while beginning to blog. It was a bit crowded
at first but it thinned out as dinner hour began.
I had made a dinner reservation for 2 (because one
isn’t an option online). I headed to dinner armed with my phone (a book loaded on it
for some reading), and interestingly I was seated next to a woman also
traveling solo. Not only did she have
excellent taste in books (Hemmingway), but food as well. We ordered the same dishes! As she had no reservations for dinner, I
invited her to share my next dinner “for two” as we had a lovely
conversation. We both noted that it was
a bit frustrating to get asked multiple times “is anyone joining you”, but I
also get that assuming otherwise on the staff’s part would be unwise. It was an enlightening look on how singles
may feel when traveling alone….
Tomorrow is a sea day.
I’m still jet-lagged and will sleep as long as I can. My goals for tomorrow are few: I have an online book, books from the library
here onboard, and sunscreen to spare.
Stay tuned for day 2!
There is no way for me to include all the pictures I’m
taking in a blog. For more content,
please visit my Facebook
page for more updates and pictures.
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