March 31. Back Home.

After our epic 19 day adventure and a very long 30 hour travel day we got home at about 7:30pm last night. We were on American Airlines on the way home. Delay of an hour out of Sydney while we were on the plane, they had to fix a seat or something, but we made it into LAX on time at 7:30am (after departing at 12:30pm from Sydney... going back in time!) It took the rest of the day to get home. First through the chaos of LAX, though passport control was seamless. So stupid that they make you collect and recheck your bag, no other country makes you do that (at least that I have visited). Then we were on a flight to Dallas, short layover, then home!

The trip couldn't have went much better, I am so happy there were no travel delays or other issues. I can't wait to read back and see all the things we did that I probably forgot about since the trip was so action-packed.

I realize I didn't post much about the actual cruise... We basically just used it as a floating hotel to get to the next destination. Our room was nice, dinners were good, and wine and cocktails sufficient. If I had a criticism it would be that there were several bars but everywhere had the same drink menu, which is kind of boring. And I don't know why they had a wine menu when almost everything on it they didn't have. But the service was amazing, there wasn't an unhappy or grumpy person our whole cruise.

Our room was room 10608... Perfect considering I didn't get to pick the room. It was easy to remember - 10 plus Madison's area code 608! It was small, but it had tons of smart storage. I loved the shower water pressure and our little balcony was great, especially when we were in Milford Sound looking at the Fiords. 

 

And the carpets in the hallways had fish swimming toward the front of the ship to give you some frame of reference. 

It was really rocky a few nights. Especially when we were crossing the Tasman Sea. We wondered how rocky it has to get for the crew to put the puke bags out on the stairs. 

Fun abstract art was all over the ship. This was our favorite.

On the two sea days we just relaxed around the ship. I gambled in the casino a little bit in the morning. We played bingo. We had a wine and cheese tasting class the first day at sea. On the second day we did a margarita tasting class. The head mixologist on board had a funny toast before each drink. 

The toasts I thought were the best -

"May we all have the chance to prove that money can make you happy."

"Rejoice and be of good cheer. Because they are out there and we are in here!"

"Cheers to the floor. The only one who will hold you when no one else will."

Dinners are always a big event on a cruise. 

We ate at the free restaurants a handful of times. In "Taste" we happened to get the same awesome server Ni Luh twice, and when we came in the last night she was beating people back telling others we were her customers and she was waiting on us. The other main dining room "Windows" was huge and we only ate here once. Fittingly, it had gigantic windows looking over the back of the ship out to sea. There was also a complimentary Asian restaurant "Silk" which was pretty basic with small portions and only okay food... only needed to eat here once.

For the specialty restaurants, as previously discussed Teppanyaki was good food, but so loud. We ate at Cagney's Steakhouse twice and I had two delicious steaks. Onda Italian was delicious twice, especially the variety of flatbread pizzas we had for appetizers. And Le Bistro French Restaurant was too fancy for us... most of the food was weird, so we only ate here once. But the main dish of lamb two ways was tasty.

 

There was a show in the main theater every night. We made most of them. There was a comedian who was decent, a fun magician, and an acrobatic show that we missed. The two productions show on the ship were "Blazing Boots," a fun country music show and "Elements," a Cirque-like show that had SO MUCH dancing and was a bit boring. 

Our favorite bars were Spinnaker Observation Lounge, Magnums Wine and Champagne Bar, and Waves Pool Bar. 

There were just under 1900 passengers onboard and 889 crew members from 54 countries. 

Norwegian Spirit facts:

• Built in 1998, 100 million refurbishment in 2020.
• 908 feet long, 105 feet wide.
• Maximum speed 24 knots (28 mph).
• 9 passenger elevators, 8 crew elevators... we only used the elevator once, on the last morning when we were getting off the ship and had to get our luggage down a few floors.

I liked watching our progress on the tv in our room.

 

Thanks for reading, cheers until next time!