Captain Sovdsnes (right) and senior staff of Norwegian Dawn at the Cruise Critic Rollcall meetup. P1170875
We enjoyed two sea days en route to Bermuda. the Atlantic was amazingly smooth. Hurricane Earl had blown the weather away and left calm seas. Norwegian Dawn was navigating the Sargasao Sea. This part of the middle of the Atlantic ocean is so named because of the prevalence of the brown sargassum seaweed in the water.
First on todays agenda was the CruiseCritic.com Meetup. Members of the Roll Call discussion for this cruise from that site had set a meetup for 10:30 a.m. Norwegian make a much bigger deal out of CruiseCritic meetups than does Carnival. Complementary refreshments were provided and the Captain, Cruise Director, and senior staff stopped by to say hello. We struck up a conversation with a couple from Culpeper, Virginia, who had sailed before on Norwegian as well a Celebrity and They had sailed on the S.S. Norway, which Susan remembered as the S.S. France in the Transatlantic trade.
An Ice Carving demonstration took place at the Oasis Pool at Noon. Rene from Haiti showed his skill at carving a dolphin ice sculpture.
auctions at sea, but was entertaining. The Port Shopping Talk with Shopping Consultant Persis provided tips on what to look for in Bermuda at Hamilton and St. Georges.
Trivia at the Pearly Kings Pub showed a difference from Carnival design. Norwegian Dawn has almost no public lounge spaces where one can sit or participate in an organized activity without being in bar. (This was definitely one thing we did not like about this ship.) So, Afternoon Trivia took place in one of the already crowded clubs. All of the other people around and the background noise made it difficult to play.
The evening production show in the Stardust Theater was Band on the Run. The Jean Ann performed a show based around music of the 70s. Of course, the audience knew the movements to
Dinner was at the Venetian. This was Dress Up Or Not Night. Norwegian has dispensed with traditional Formal Nights (its Cruise Like a Norwegian promo), so one can choose to dress up...or not. I have not minded Formal Nights on previous cruises, but I found I liked not having to pack and bring a suit along on this cruise.
On Tuesday, the second day at sea, we were definitely in the Sargasso Sea. The clear seawater and floating seaweed were very evident.
A second Art Seminar covered The Great Masters of the 20th Century. In lecturer Ericas opinion these were Picasso, Matisse, Marc Chagall, Juan Miro, and Salvador Dali. (She let us know she really did not like Jackson Pollock.)
The Dutch musicians were at it again in the afternoon. (Even though they were passengers, they had to perform!) Tziganes Gypsy Band performed at the Pearly Kings Club. This was traditional Gypsy style music, with strings and two cimbaloms. (Tzigane was founded in 1910, the first group in the Netherlands to play such music. Later they branched into salon music in the 1920s, and then into Le Jazz Hot in the 1930s.)
On board was a unit of The Second City troupe from Chicago. (Second City is famous for having been the starting point of performers such as John Belushi and Tina Fey.) Second City performed an evening show of improvisation and improvised scenes done in a comedy
cube. Perhaps well see the performers on TV or in film one day. Late in the evening Comedian Dave Heenan gave his adults only show at the Spinnaker Lounge.
