Orlando-Miami-Cayamo Pt 1 - no pix

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Miami-Cayamo 13 Feb. +



Obviously there has been no blog due to outrageous cost of Net on the ship (70cents per min.) – via satellite and not v fast it seems I had neither the time or inclination to do anything. I was here for the music not compulsive blogging after all!

Rewind to Miami – left Orlando at 9.30am on 12 Feb. Greyhound – and after a TSA type security full open bag check (on the ‘Hound??) – with confiscation of open Southern Comfort – also joked about their potential worry about Cuban terrorists – and the guy pointed out he was Cuban – foot in mouth etc – apparently NEVER make jokes about Cubans in Florida! – yeah right). Greyhound from Orlando to Miami (6hrs) and discovered to my horror (I had not really checked) that the Greyhound depot (v small) was in the middle of nowhere on 27th St – and the hotel was very much downtown between 1st and 2nd Sts – miles away. It was almost at the end of the airport runway – and the cab cost the same $20 as it would have been from the airport. To the hotel which was the Continental Downtown Bayside – definitely not the Intercon. As it had resounding 1--- reviews I was not expecting much – but it was a pretty large room with 2 double beds – and a rather strange burn mark of an iron on the carpet! My cabinmate Tim finally turned up after about an hour so we repaired around the corner to an English style “gastro-pub” ?? for a couple of beers. We had real burgers there – where the chef asks how you want your patty done! (this you do not get at Macca’s).

A relatively early and quiet night – Tim was not game to venture across the road to the Bayside area/park at night where they have bands and casual food venues. In the morning we got a cab to the ship about 12.15pm – there is a very large passenger terminal area and about 5 ships tied up – they are certainly very big! Ours was the Norwegian Pearl. Found our way to the inside cabin 8613 (no windows) on level 8 which was to be our home for the next 7 days. Our ticketed shows were all at 10pm (choice of 6 & 8pm as well) in the Stardust Theatre which holds just over 1000 people I think (boat holds 2100). So our first show was John Prine at 10pm on Sun. 13 Feb. He had an episode of throat cancer a few years ago but his performance was superb and it was an excellent 1hr 15min. Managed to video one whole song on the compact Casio (they do not allow DSLRs in the room) before I was told no video. This augured well for the rest of the cruise. Not sure why I did not catch any earlier music.
Did eat at the Garden Café which is an excellent buffet with almost everything you could think of. That is free but a number of the other “specialty” restaurants required an additional charge of between $10-25 (for the Cagney’s NY style steak house). Almost certainly not generally worth it and my eating needs were well enough done by the Garden Café where you can eat as much or as little as you want. I also found the free a la carte restaurant the Summer Palace more than adequate in terms of quality and choice and all you had to pay for was a glass of wine etc which averaged all up about $7.50-8 – they annoyingly add an “automatic gratuity” of 15%!t(MISSING)o the drinks. It also had the advantage of being only down the stairs from our cabin on level 7. The room is decorated in Czar Romanov style with paintings of the Czar’s family adorning the walls and the crest on the back of the chairs etc. The staff were a little slapdash at times, particularly as it is the largest restaurant on the boat (500 seats) and most of the time there are hardly any people in there. People are here for the music and only dash in for a bite in between shows etc, which is somewhat different from the usual wrinkly cruise where the main attraction is the dinner – not on this boat. The NCL line style is “freestyle” so you eat whenever and wherever you like – no fixed dining companions etc. Must admit a lot of the time I did not even make breakfast before it closed at 10am but the Great Outdoors café on the end of deck 12 was open most of the time for early and late snacks.

Monday 14 Feb. – Tim was dying to see Loudon Wainwright who was in the Spinnaker Lounge at 4pm and said he would save me a seat in a cubicle. I got in there just after 3.30pm and despite looking for 15 mins could not see him (despite him having neon flashing lights to catch my attention) so then decided it was packed beyond comfort and would have had to stand the whole hour so abandoned it. Went to the other end of the boat and caught Scott Miller and Will Hoge – 2 Virginian boys just with their guitars - being recorded by NPR in the Bliss Lounge – sandwiched between the bowling lanes but quite a nice small venue. I particularly liked Scott Miller and bought his latest CD with band last night who I saw bits of on 3 or 4 occasions. Caught the end, standing, of the Colin Hay (yes that former Man at Work – now lives in LA) show after Loudon in Spinnaker. He has a good line in patter between songs and speaks in a very Scotty accent still, not noticeable when he is singing. And I am afraid he still ends the show with those huge hits from the Men at Work days.

The ticketed show at 10pm was Brandi Carlile (no not the one from the GoGos or whatever) who is likely the hottest thing on the boat – the Queen of Cayamo indeed as she has done all 4 cruises. Think she is big with the gay gals and she is kinda hot anyway so the guys would definitely not object. As 14th was Valentine’s Day some people were dressed up – Americans are such tragics about such things.

More later when its dark and I do not have daylight to explore on the bus pass....

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Comments

[Huddo]

Music Ahoy!
Hi Mike, Phew, what a "smorgasboard" of talent for you to peruse, which show and when! Colin Hay still going around, must still love it. Confiscation of Southern Comfort! Boy they are indeed vigilant. Cuban exiles and more to worry about. All the food sounded good, hope all went well with Tim. Love Huddo and girls.