But sea days can be fun. It is also a great opportunity for me to tell some more Norwegian Jade stories.

There are a number of activities available onboard the Jade. There are 2 pools for adults, and 4 hot tubs (these are only the ones that are for everyone, there are others for people who are in the suites, and there are more in the spa). Josh and I enjoyed the hot tubs regularly, including one day where the wind was very strong and freezing cold. It seemed like a great idea, and was very funny in fact. We would be sitting, and suddenly a gust of air would whisk a large amount of water into our faces. Getting out of the hot tub was a terrible experience. The wind was so cold and strong, I grabbed my towel and ran towards the hallway yelping.

Josh and I also enjoyed playing some of the games in the Spinnaker Lounge. They had a pool table, a shuffleboard table, and a dart board that we used. It’s very funny to try to play pool or shuffleboard when the boat is rocking. We would go through whole rounds where our shuffleboard rocks would fall of the side of the table in the exact same place, no matter how we threw them.

Josh and I also liked to go to the game show activities that they had on board. I only did one round of Who Wants to Be A Bazillionaire, but I got my question right. It was about York – now Toronto. They had some very funny ones though. There was a couple’s game show, which involved a dance-off and popping balloons in very embarrassing ways. We were very glad that we didn’t volunteer for that one!

Another thing to do on a cruise ship is go shopping. Josh’s card actually stopped working at some of the restaurants, even though it would open our room door. He took it to the front desk, and the receptionist scanned it.
“There’s nothing wrong with your card,” she said.
“Well, I can’t buy anything with it,” Josh informed her.
“Oh! Well, here’s a new card!”
I did buy a shirt and some amber earrings, and we spent money on drinks and specialty restaurants as well.

The most embarrasing story I have begins at a specialty restaurant, in fact. We were eating at Papa’s Italian Restaurant. It was delicious, but I was getting very full (which happens every meal on a cruise ship). One of the Russian customer service ladies came by our table and asked how everything was. She asked us if we were finished with our plates. I had a lot of my fettuccini alfredo left, and I told her that I was finished. She asked if I had liked it, since there was so much left. I tried to help her understand, and said, while patting my stomache, that there wasn’t any more room in my stomache, it was very full.
She gave me a knowing look and smiled. “Oh! I understand,” she said, and took my plate.
Our waiter came by to take our dessert order, and as we were giving it, the Russian woman came back and told him. “For him,” pointing to Josh, “cheesecake. For her,” pointing to me, “double tiramisu. One for her, one for the other person.”
I tried to object, but I was brought 2 tiramisus.
“I think that she thinks I’m pregnant,” I whispered to Josh. He didn’t believe me.

A few days later, we were eating at another restaurant, and the Russian woman appeared again. We had our menus and hadn’t decided what to order yet, when she asked us.
“I haven’t decided yet,” I told her.
“Ah! You haven’t decided… or the other person hasn’t decided?” She smiled and patted her belly.
Josh finally believed me that she thought I was pregnant. It’s very embarrassing to be thought that you are pregnant though, when the only thing in your belly is a food-baby.

See Photos!

It was a pleasant flight, for the most part. I really like the upgrades that Delta has done to their First Class amenities. They have real feather pillows now, a real comforter as a blanket, and the amenity pack was very nice. I would have taken it with me, but I don’t want to carry any more things. Unfortunately, our plane didn’t have the flat beds, but the recliner-style chairs. I didn’t sleep very well.

Once in Barcelona, it was easy to take a taxi to the port. We were tired, and didn’t take any Barcelona pictures, but it looked nice. Basically it looked like Los Angeles and Southern California. There were a lot of beautiful old buildings though.  We’ll have to come back some time to see it.

Our check-in on the Norwegian Jade was simple too. There is a little bit of an effect from the Swine Flu, we had to fill out a little form. I was honest and had to answer “Yes” to one of the questions on it, so I had to talk to the doctor and visit the medical area when I got on board. I did not have a fever though, and I am fine, other than having a bit of an upset stomach – probably from the two red-eye flights in the row and not sleeping well.

We had lunch on-board. We also entered some drawings for free stuff, but didn’t win anything yet. I will say that either our travel agent was awesome and got us free stuff, or we got free stuff from being in the latitudes club (going on more than one cruise). We got a plate of chocolate covered strawberries delivered to our room, and we also got free dinner passes to 4 of the specialty restaurants, including the steak restaurant that we wanted to go to.

After our dinner, we went on a ship tour, and then we went to bed.

PICTURES