Earlier this month, I went on a seven-day cruise with some
friends. We traveled to the Bahamas on the Norwegian Gem. At first, I thought
that I would spend a lot of time sitting by the pool or relaxing at the beaches. Instead, the trip was filled with lots of activities and entertainment. Activities included rock climbing, shuffleboard, mahjong, bowling, and swimming. When we arrived at Port Canaveral on the third day, I spent most of my time shopping at the Cocoa Beach Surf Company and Ron Jon Surf Shop. From there, I went to the Sandbar Sports Grill for some fish tacos.
The next day, we arrived at Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas. After taking the tender to the private island, we enjoyed an afternoon of snorkeling at the Fate of the Fancy Snorkel Adventure and riding the Hippo Water Slide. Before leaving for the day, we also played a few games of beach volleyball.
On the fifth day, we spent our morning shopping at Nassau in the Bahamas. By noon, we headed to the Blue Lagoon Dolphin Encounter and the Blue Lagoon Island Beach. As the others were waiting for their pictures of their dolphin encounter, I went over to the Beach for a quick swim in the clear water by the beach. Just as we got our pictures, we had to get on the boat and head back to our ship.
Our time in the Bahamas was ending, but we still had two more days of fun on our ship as we headed back home.
The Norwegian Gem was the newest vessel in Norwegian Cruise
Line's fleet until the debut of Norwegian Epic on June 2010. Construction began
on June 7, 2006 at the Meyer Werft Shipyard of Papenburg, Germany. She was
delivered to Norwegian on October 1, 2007. Norwegian promoted the launch of
this ship via her own website, "Gem It Girl", which in addition to
providing details about the ship, also prompted previous customers' of Norwegian
to submit an entry to be chosen as her godmother.
As with the rest of Norwegian's fleet, Norwegian
Gem utilizes the "Freestyle" cruising concept, which allows
guests to dine in any number of restaurants, in casual attire, at times of
their own choosing.
Ship Specifications:
- Passenger Capacity: 2,394 (double occupancy).
- Gross Register Tonnage: 93,530.
- Overall Length: 965 feet.
- Max Beam: 105 feet.
- Draft: 28 feet.
- Engines: Diesel Electric.
- Cruise Speed: 22.5 knots.
- Crew: 1,101.
Nautical and Cruise Terms:
- Aft - the back or near the back of the ship.
- Bow - the very front of the ship.
- Forward - the front or near the front of the ship.
- Port - the left-hand side of a ship as one faces forward: opposed to starboard. Port - so named because the side toward the port (dock), since the steering oar (see starboard) prevented docking to the right.
- Ship - You always cruise on a "ship," never a "boat."
- Starboard - the right side of the ship while facing forward (bow).
- Stern - the very back of the ship.
- Tender - a boat for carrying passengers to or from a ship close to shore.
Sorry to post here, but I couldn't figure out how to reach you on the school site. I saw your web page on Cortez Peters and thought you might enjoy this true story. When my father was in high school the world’s fastest typist, Cortez Peters, came to his school. He did demonstrations and tried to get all the kids interested in taking a typing class. Dad grew up in Warrensburg, MO. It was small, but included a lot of farm kids who lived out of town. Anyway, Dad was fascinated by the typist and took some classes. His father was a tailor and he traded some work to someone for a used typewriter. Dad practiced a lot at home and got really good at typing. He graduated high school a year early at 16 and then went to a local college in Warrensburg. After graduating college he went to Chicago and started to work at the U.S. Treasury. He wasn’t there very long when war broke out and he was drafted. The intake place in Illinois was FULL of guys who grew up on farms in the Illinois-Indiana-Missouri area and many had dropped out of school early to work the farm. Hardly any could type and a lot couldn’t even read or write very well. They put Dad to work typing all the induction forms. He did that for several months. When it came time to assign him, the guys knew him so well from working with him that they gave him a choice of which branch of the service he would prefer. He picked the Army Air Corp (today it is the Air Force). Anyway, most of his former classmates had been put in the Army and sent to Europe. Dad was sent to the South Pacific. It was still no picnic, but he did survive. I have often thought how we don't realize how our actions effect the lives of others. Dad never had a high school reunion because all the other boys in his class were killed in WW II. What a difference that one typing demonstration made in his (and my) life.
ReplyDeleteJudy, thanks for the great story--I feel honored that you shared it with me. Your story touches on so many issues—fate, education, and freedom. I hope your father’s experiences can get passed along so that we don’t take anything for granted. At first, I wanted to praise Mr. Peters for his skill and success. Typing skills and education have opened up a lot of opportunities for me. I also realize that none of this would be possible without the dedication and sacrifices by the brave men and women in our armed forces.
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