The first full day on the cruise ship was spent at sea.  We needed to travel from Barcelona, Spain to Valletta, Malta (the longest stretch between ports on our trip).  I survived…no seasickness involved.

This was the only morning that Hubby and I slept in.  For those of you who know us, this is a miracle because we LOVE our sleep!  Feeling refreshed, we enjoyed a relaxing day aboard the Gem, which started with the beautiful view from our balcony.

Then, we headed down a few decks to the theater for the class explaining all the different ports and tours offered in each.  It was quite informative and solidified the tour choices we selected.   Off to the dining room for some breakfast.  The white spot near the horizon is not the sunrise; just flash from our camera.  I already said we slept in!

After breakfast, we explored the grand ship and its 14 decks, 11 restaurants, pools, spa, rock climbing wall, theater, and the list goes on.  There was plenty to see and do.  In the atrium, they played Destino, a short 8-min film by Disney.  It was interesting, but not really my thing.

We spent some time on the sunbathing deck; however, we were fully clothed due to the cold weather.  It is amazing how in 50 degree weather, some people can still walk around in a bikini.  We did get to watch the sunset and take some pictures with Domo.

I guess this would be a good time to talk about this cruising experience.  Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) promotes freestyle cruising, which means that there are no assigned dining times, seating arrangements, or dress code (except for no shorts).  If you want to eat dinner at 5pm one night and 10pm the next night, you are welcome to do so.  If you want to eat at the Italian restaurant today and the Japanese restaurant tomorrow, go ahead and do that.  You can wear a t-shirt and jeans or a cocktail dress/full suit any day of the week (there were no dress up or theme nights).  Basically, you are in full control of what you do, when you do it and how you look doing it.  We really enjoyed this arrangement.  We were able to choose which dining room we wanted to eat in, and we had our own table for two instead of sharing a large table with others.  Also, we ate meals when we were hungry instead of at specific allotted time frames.  This was also a great benefit for days in port because we could enjoy the city and did not have to rush back for an assigned dinner slot.  The slight drawback to this dining freedom occurred during high traffic times, when everyone wanted to eat at the same time, so there was a wait.  The longest time we waited was approximately 20 minutes, but our ship was not completely full.  They give you a buzzer like a regular restaurant and have a special at the bar for buy one, get one 50% off their house alcohol while you wait.

NCL also offers specialty restaurants in addition to the dining room and buffet.  On our ship, the specialty restaurants included: Asian (Chinese and Thai influences), French, Italian, Japanese, Steakhouse, Tapas, and Teppanyaki.  There was an additional charge to eat at these restaurants that ranged from $10 to $25 per person.  We only tried the Italian restaurant, La Cucina, for $10/person.  The food and service were good, but not exceptionally better than the free dining rooms.  Not sure which restaurant, if any, we would have tried had our first experience been more outstanding.  Asian (too close to what we eat at home), French (too exotic for our taste buds), Japanese (Hubby does not eat raw food), Steakhouse (the dining rooms served plenty of steak), Tapas (just had it in Barcelona), and Teppanyaki (potentially not filling enough fo Hubby and too expensive).  So, back to our specialty dining adventure, we decided it would be best to try it on our evening at sea.  I will let the photos do the rest of the talking.

caprese, prosciutto with melon, and mushrooms from the antipasti trolley (I also had an insalta caesar)

calamari fritti

lobster ravioli

Tagliata Di Manzo Pizzaiola (rib-eye with gnocchi)

tiramisu

cannoli alla siciliana

With full bellies, we head over to the Stardust Theater for the nightly performance.  That night, the NCL production staff performed World Beat.  The theme were different types of songs and dance from all over the world.  It was entertaining.  Afterwards, we headed up to the Spinnaker Lounge for the White Hot Party.  We did not stay long, but we did find a giant bottle of Grey Goose.  Look at how happy Hubby is.

There ended our first day aboard the cruise ship.  Next up: Day 4 Valletta, Malta.