Today we are at sea sailing back to the port of Venice,
Italy. This gave us the opportunity to
sleep in. With nothing planned for
the day, I am looking forward to relaxing. We went up for a late Breakfast and to hang out
at the Garden Café Buffet. I took the
opportunity to start in on a new book, having finished reading the book I
started on our last day at sea. I chose “Party of the Century: The Fabulous Story of
Truman Capote and His Black and White Ball” by Deborah Davis
Our ship, the Norwegian
Jade, is an interesting ship. When
built, the ship comprised the third in a series of U.S. flagged ships operated
by NCL America for the Hawaii market. At a cost of over half a billion US
dollars, the Pride of Hawaii was the largest and most expensive U.S.
flagged passenger ship ever built. Her design was originally planned to be a
sister ship to the Pride of America,
utilizing parts from the Northrup Grumman Shipyard and the failed Project
America series of ships. Later NCL America decided that it would be better to
enlarge the Pride of Hawaii and make her a sister ship to the Norwegian
Jewel. After delivery to NCL, she joined the Pride of America and Pride of Aloha as the final ship in the
NCL America fleet.
On April 11, 2007
NCL announced that Pride of Hawaii would be withdrawn from the Hawaiian
market in February, 2008 and subsequently redeployed to Europe for the summer.
In a press release, NCL's CEO, cited
substantial 2006 losses that had been caused by downward pricing pressure in
the Hawaii market following the addition of Pride of Hawaii to the
fleet, as well as an increase in the amount of foreign flagged competition
entering the Hawaii market from the west coast as the reason for the vessels
redeployment. NCL did not commit to sending Pride of Hawaii back to
Hawaii until the other NCL America vessels reach an acceptable level of
profitability. On February 4th, 2008, "Pride of Hawaii"
departed from Pier 2 in Honolulu for the last time.
After several
repositioning cruises, name change, new livery, and an added onboard casino,
she made her debut in Europe. Despite the changes, "Norwegian Jade"
maintains much of her original Hawaiian themed decor. Tropical flowers,
Hawaiian landscapes, and Hawaiian names are throughout the ship's public
spaces. Additionally, Matson menu inspired artwork and a large statue of King
Kamehameha grace the main dining room. "Norwegian Jade" is currently
based in Europe year-round. There is little chance that she will ever return to
Hawaii, as it would be difficult to regain her former US registration. November
2011: The ship will undergo a dry dock in Marseille in France for two weeks.
The ship will receive new carpets and tiling throughout and the hull will be
repainted plus the usual annual maintenance will take place.
Having the Hawaiian
theme and décor throughout the ship is a little disconcerting on a Mediterranean
vacation. I feel like while we were on
land, I was vacationing in Greece but once I was on the ship, I was vacationing in
Hawaii. It was like having two vacations in one.
I spent most of the
day reading and quickly finished the book on Truman Capote’s Black and White
Ball and started my third book, “Rules of Civility” by Amor Towles. The book description from Amazon.com: The New York Times bestselling novel
that "enchants on first reading and only improves on the second" (The
Philadelphia Inquirer)
This sophisticated
and entertaining first novel presents the story of a young woman whose life is
on the brink of transformation. On the last night of 1937, twenty-five-year-old
Katey Kontent is in a second-rate Greenwich Village jazz bar when Tinker Grey,
a handsome banker, happens to sit down at the neighboring table. This chance
encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey on a year-long journey
into the upper echelons of New York society—where she will have little to rely
upon other than a bracing wit and her own brand of cool nerve. With its
sparkling depiction of New York’s social strata, its intricate imagery and
themes, and its immensely appealing characters, Rules of Civility won
the hearts of readers and critics alike.
If you are seeing a
pattern here, I love reading about New York City and its celebrities, artists,
writers, intellectuals, politicians, society and the city itself. I’m especially fascinated with the time
period from the Gilded Age to the end of WWII.
We dined tonight in
the Italian restaurant on board and had a delightful dinner.
We then went up to the Spinnaker Lounge on Deck 13 to enjoy
the orchestra playing the music of the Big Band Era. It was then time to return to our stateroom
and pack our luggage. All luggage is
required to be placed outside our stateroom door by midnight. Tomorrow we disembark and say goodbye to the
Norwegian Jade in Venice.
Goodnight!
