This is a lengthy review, and I will try to break it down into stages, we were travelling in our favourite Suite, 10500 at the very front so we would have a grandstand view of all the activities. We are Platinum Latitudes and had pre-purchased all our tours and the Ultimate Dining Package (UDP) of which more later.

We flew London to LA with Air New Zealand on the Hobbit Special and had a fantastic flight in Premium Economy, stayed two nights in LA then moved to the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro where we met up with some of the Roll Call members.

We moved to the ship around 1130 and following check-in were met by the Concierge, John D’Souza and were soon eating lunch in Moderno. Our cabin was ready and we were settled in with a great view of the USS Iowa moored ahead of us. I had written to NCL Corporate and offered to give six talks on a diverse range of subjects at no charge and soon met the Cruise Director, Ben Kitchen, who had lived near us and knew our town, most unusual. Ben said that he would give me a day’s notice, and then shook me a bit by telling me I would be performing in the Stardust Theatre, what an honour. I had expected one of the smaller venues and put on three presentations during the cruise, Genealogy, Interviewing Dogs, and Reading Body language. Read more