Monday, March 3, 2025

Today was our second sea day on the Norwegian Sun cruise ship. Maybe it was the drowsy effect of the motion sickness medicine, or our restless night of sleep, but we were all slow to get out of bed this morning. Last night was one of those nights where our bodies never truly relaxed as the ship rolled back and forth with the ocean waves.

The captain of the ship came on the loudspeaker this morning & announced a change to our cruise itinerary. Tropical Cyclone Alfred is set to make landfall in Brisbane, Australia on Thursday. The storm is predicted to be one of the most destructive cyclones to hit the state of Queensland in decades bringing 30 ft waves, high winds, and as much as 30 inches of rain to the area. Burleigh Beach and Byron Bay, two towns we visited in Queensland a few weeks ago, are expected to be in the storm’s direct path.

Fortunately, we are currently north of New Zealand and a safe distance away from the cyclone. The ship’s captain announced this morning that the Norwegian Sun will head north to Cairns, Australia. It will take 3 1/2 days to travel 1,000 nautical miles to get there. Cairns was always on our cruise itinerary; now, we’ll arrive there two days earlier than planned, and skip visiting Brisbane altogether.

At breakfast this morning in The Garden buffet, people were buzzing about the ship’s new itinerary. There had to have been at least 50 people queued in line at Guest Services waiting to talk to someone about their excursion bookings. I felt sorry for the people with booked activities in Brisbane and Cairns, and were scrambling to cancel them. Although Cairns has always been on our travel itinerary, we are now arriving two days early.

Fortunately for us, we didn’t have anything booked yet. Just like this cruise, our family tends to book things at the last minute because we’re never quite sure where we’re going to be.

After breakfast, Aden went to Splash Academy kids club for the morning session. Tory and I did her school work in our state room. She is learning about unit rates, percent discounts, and interest rates.

The four of us had lunch today in the Seven Seas main dining room. We passed by a dance class taking place in one of the lounge areas, people on computers in the Internet cafe, a wine & chocolate tasting, and several trivia games being played on the ship. None of those activities are of particular interest to our family, but it’s nice that the Norwegian Sun has so many different things for people to do during sea days.

I did school with Aden after lunch, and then he went to the afternoon session of Splash Academy. He loves all the games and activities they play in the kids area, and hanging with his new friends. One of Aden’s best qualities is his ability to make friends wherever he goes.

Andi and I walked on the outdoor walking/jogging track mid-afternoon, and then did a workout in the ship’s fitness center. Andi still felt a little sea sick today, but the rolling of the waves wasn’t affecting me nearly as much as yesterday. The sky is bright blue and sunny, but the ocean waves are still quite choppy from the cyclone swirling to the east of us.

For dinner, the four of us ate in The Garden buffet again. I haven’t tired of eating here yet because it’s quick and there are a lot of different food options. Tonight’s menu had several mediterranean dishes on the buffet line including roasted zucchini, kafta, and tzatziki and pita bread. We discovered that there’s a crepe station in the evenings, so Aden, Tory, and I all had one for dessert.

After dinner, we went to the evening show in the Stardust Theatre. Tonight’s performance was a comedian and juggler named James Bustar. He was very entertaining! Aden complained about having to go to the show, but I think he ended up liking it the most of all of us.

One of the best things about cruising is how convenient it is to be entertained. We walked in for the show at 7:00pm, got great seats in the balcony, and were done by 8:00pm. No extra cost, no hassle to get there. After the show ended, Aden went to the evening session of Splash Academy and Tory, Andi, and I watched Schitt’s Creek in our stateroom. “Tired of hanging out with Mom & Dad yet?” I joked to Tory as the three of us sat together bingeing episodes. She just smiled.

Tomorrow is another sea day — third one in a row — as we push north to get ahead of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.