Norwegian Jewel – Day 4 Recap

Ahoy from somewhere between Belize and Honduras. We are sailing through quite a storm at the moment – hopefully the satellite Gods will allow today’s update to be posted. (UPDATE: We’re posting this early on Wednesday as the storm prevented fast internet access via satellite).

Today we visited the beautiful country of Belize. Since the harbor is too shallow for the large ships, we had tenders running all day long between the ship and shore. We’re often asked what a tender is – so today we shot a fun video explaining what they are and how they work. Unfortunately our internet connection is way too slow right now to upload videos, so watch for that fun little clip when we return on Saturday.

We also shot a video on how to make a towel animal. That one will also be uploaded upon our return. In the meantime, here’s a photo of tonight’s Towel Animal du Jour.

Today was a beautiful day despite the threat of rain in the forecast (we’re more than making up for that right now). In addition to a lot of fun things to do in Belize City, there were lots of great activities onboard as well, including trivia, a family deck party, Story Time with Dora for the little ones and so much more. The ship has a lot of great kid-friendly features including kids clubs, an arcade and of course the Nickelodeon characters and activities.

One of the cool things about Norwegian Cruise Line is the “Freestyle Cruising” they offer. Instead of assigned dining times (there are NONE of these) you dine when you want and where you want. There are two main dining rooms – Azura and Tsar’s Palace. Azura is always casual, while Tsar’s Palace has a dress code. This allows you to have formal night any night you want – or not at all. Plus, there are a ton of other free food options including the Garden Café buffet, O’Sheehan’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill, the Great Outdoors and Topsider’s Grill (both by the pool) and of course 24 hour room service.

In addition to these great free choices, there are a ton of great specialty dining options, including Cagney’s Steakhouse, Chin Chin Asian Fusion, Moderno Brazilian, Le Bistro French and even a sushi bar. Each has a reasonable charge per person (between $15 and $30). Tonight we decided to try La Cucina, the Italian option. Yum!

After dinner, it was time for the Broadway Cabaret we mentioned a few posts back. This featured four of the main showroom singers – and man did they deliver. They sang a ton of Broadway classics from Pippin, Les Miserables, Rent, Funny Girl, Jekyll & Hyde, Violet and Chicago among others. These were some of the best singers we’ve encountered on the high seas – and that’s saying something.

Speaking of shows, tonight’s main showroom entertainment was Duo Déjà vu, an aerial and floor performance similar to Cirque du Soleil and featuring some incredible acrobats and stunts. There was also a Battle of the Sexes game show where couples faced off to see how well they knew each other and a big rock ‘n’ roll party in the forward lounge.

Tomorrow we arrive bright and early in Roatan, Honduras. The forecast is not good but we’re hoping for the best. Today we uploaded even more photos to our Facebook page so be sure to check those out. Til then, good night from the beautiful (if a bit rainy) Caribbean.

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