Cruising Solo -- NCL Epic, Europe, Day 2

This is a continuation of DreamFinder Travel agent Kim Merrill’s trek into cruising solo, in Europe.  Follow along here on the DreamFinder blog, and check out more pictures on her Facebook page.

Cruising Solo—NCL EPIC—Day 2

When I went to bed last night I had every intention of sleeping in today.  I managed to stay up until 11:30PM, thinking that it would buy me at least 6 hours of sleep.  Well, at 2:30am, I was wide awake and could NOT fall back asleep.  I ended up watching a movie (Sully) and then tried once again to nod off.  Unfortunately, this time my stomach made itself known and I opted to head out to get some breakfast.

An omelet and sausage later I went to the outdoor running track and did 40 boring minutes on a one-ship-sided loop.  This is probably the MOST boring running track I have ever been on.  As I did not bring the daily guide with me I didn’t realize the fitness center had opened at 6am, otherwise I would have gone there instead.  (note—check your daily guide, it has great information in it, and you will benefit from knowing what is going on and when.)

I did head over to the fitness center after I ran, and was shocked to find the BIGGEST fitness center I have ever seen at sea.  There were way too many people in there for me to take a picture at this point, so if I can I will do so tomorrow. I was too late to join the “Fab Abs” class so I did some elliptical and weights before heading for a shower.  (so if you are so inclined, you can always get in your workout on the ship)

If you have never cruised, or haven’t done it to the point of extensive research and planning, you may not realize that there are groups and/or communities on the web, dedicated to specific ships and sailings.  Whether it be a Facebook group or other community board out there, somewhere there exists a group of cruisers who are gathering to chat about their upcoming vacation.  It’s fun to find these groups and get to “know” some of your fellow cruisers in advance of sailing.  Today there was a meet and greet for a group that had formed for this sailing of the Epic.  NCL is great in that respect, as they welcome these groups….they go to the extent of encouraging them and bring in their officers to greet the group. I met headed to the meet up, met some of my fellow cruisers, but then left to go grab a bite to eat and then….zzzzz…I NAPPED. 

It’s quite the experience cruising solo.  As today is a sea day, the ship is packed to the gills.  Remember I mentioned yesterday that there were 2 different embarkation points?  I found out today that 3800 people embarked yesterday with 1800 remaining from the previous Rome embarkation.  Wow.  So you can imagine that the sun decks were a bit full.  I don’t mind waiting for a port day to get some sun, so I decided to wander to areas that I hadn’t yet seen but ultimately ended up heading over to the Solo Lounge for some coffee (and later a glass of wine).

Tonight is NCL’s version of a “formal” night. They call it: “Norwegian’s Night Out”. For me, that meant changing into a sundress prior to dinner.  I had not planned my Dinner tonight, so I walked up to the podium at one of the Main Dining Rooms right after 6pm and was shown directly to a table. I was done with dinner in 45 minutes and headed to the theater for “Burn the Floor”, which I had reservations for but was thinking about missing as I had seen this on the Norwegian Getaway over the holidays. I’m glad I didn’t miss it….it was different from the one that I had seen before and it was worth seeing. 

I’m ending my day as I did yesterday, in the adult area with a glass of wine.  They play movies on the big screen here and “Rogue One” is tonight’s film (as a Disney fanatic this does make me laugh).  I’m hoping for a full night of sleep tonight.

Takeaways from today:  Cruising solo is an entirely different entity. More than once it dawned on me that I was beholden to no one and could do, well, absolutely nothing if I so chose.  Something that isn’t really an option when you are cruising with others and have to account for everyone’s wishes.  I have read nearly an entire book today, and hope to finish it before I go to bed.  Tomorrow we dock in Naples.  I have been here before, so I feel no particular need to get up and get off the ship quickly.  Part of my goal with this trip is to see as much as I can, as inexpensively as I can.  Stay tuned for the next installment to find out what I learn tomorrow!

Fino a domani....