Day 50: At Sea Sailing through the Strait of Boniface

by Jeff J on June 23, 2007

Today was our 50^th consecutive day on a cruise ship and we enjoyed it to the fullest while at sea between Civitavecchia and Barcelona!

Up early, Janis scored the perfect sunning spot by the adult pool, in a quiet corner near the waterfall. The only issue is that even at 8:15 am, every lounger on the pool deck is reserved with a towel – mind you few chairs have bodies in them – but this is NCL so the chair hogs are in full force.

Undaunted, Janis carries one down the stairs from the next deck up, and later scores a second deck chair for Jeff in the same manner.

We meet a nice woman and her son from Cleveland. The morning passes quickly – chatting, reading and the occasional pool immersion to cool off. (Jeff doesn’t get in the pool, but he finds some shade.)

While the ship is sailing through the Strait of Bonifacio between the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, Janis is having a burger from The Grill. It would be interesting to hear port lecturer commentary about this Strait, but this is not a strength of Norwegian Cruise Line (not for this cruise anyway; more details on that in another post.)

Who needs commentary when you have a Caribbean-style band playing nice tunes, the sun is warm with refreshing sea air, and the cocktail of the day is so delicious? There is a little movement of the pool water – the first sign that we are really at sea in 12 days.

Later, happily sun-broiled, we return to our wonderfully frigid stateroom for a late afternoon nap. All too soon, it is time to start packing for tomorrow morning’s disembarkation. Folding and muttering about why we have so much stuff!

For our last dinner aboard the Jewel, we head for a “happy hour” dinner at Cagney’s Steakhouse. This is our favorite “extra charge” restaurant, and between 9 and 10 pm the cover charge is reduced to $20 for 2 people. Our menu choices include shrimp cocktails, clam chowder, Caesar salad, filet mignon with port reduction sauce, au gratin potatoes, mushrooms and creamed spinach. We enjoy an excellent Malbac wine from Argentina.

After dinner, surprisingly, there is an open machine in the free laundry (which is just across the hall from our cabin #5074) so Janis starts one last load. She is not alone in the midnight laundry on the last night of the cruise. Luckily, this laundry room has an impressively solid door, and we don’t hear the people or the machines, as it is quite the popular place throughout the cruise.

Tomorrow morning, we plan to sleep in a little and get off the cruise as late as possible, since we have no flights to catch.