Disneyland Halloween Half Marathon Weekend

March 16, 2025

Disclaimer: This is a very overdue blog post. I had started this last September when I came back from my trip and then things came up like planning my best friend’s shower and a whole bunch of life events and I forgot to finish this up. But better late than never, right?

I haven’t ran any races since the NYC Marathon in fall of 2023. The only ones I signed up for 2024 was the Disneyland Halloween Half because duh, Halloween! Being my favorite holiday and the Nightmare Before Christmas (my favorite Halloween movie) being part of the theming, how could I not? Plus it was an opportunity to go back to California, Disneyland and attend another Oogie Boogie Bash! I attended one 3 years ago (you can read about it on this old blog post) and I absolutely loved it. Plus Disneyland really does do Halloween parties better and let’s be real, I just wanted to go back and see Ernesto de la Cruz again because damn, he is so dreamy. So of course, I signed myself up for this.

This race weekend was my first Disneyland race weekend but also the first Halloween themed one ever for Disney. It was similar in structure to all the other half marathon weekends; consisting of a sunrise yoga, a 5k, a 10k and a half so 4 days in total of events. There were some similarities and differences, as well as pros and cons. And of course, I signed up for all 4 events. Oh yeah, there were also kid races, which obviously is the only event I did not participate in because obviously not a kid, lol. Well, physically, that is.

SUNRISE YOGA

I signed up for the sunrise yoga because I always love doing this before the start of a race weekend, even if it is an overpriced early morning event. I still love it. There’s something so calming and special about it right before the race weekend ramps up. And this time I got to experience it at Sleeping Beauty’s castle. Their check-in process for some reason felt a little inefficient with their one line system, because despite lining up at 3am (when it opened), it took much longer to finally get our wristbands and actually get in to the park. By the time I was able to get in, unfortunately the front spots near the castle were all taken up so we ended up with spots on Main street instead. It was still a nice view, but it would have been nice to get a castle view. Yoga began on time at 5am and lasted for about an hour. I liked that at this one, they had a few instructors placed at several points throughout the event, instead of one instructor leading the entire group and you had to depend on looking around the crowd to see if you had the pose down correctly like at Disney World. After yoga ends, there’s always a mad rush to the front of the castle for the stereotypical castle picture, and of course, I am JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER GIRLS, lol. We grabbed some quick photos around the Mickey pumpkin too and then went back to our room to relax for a little bit since the park doesn’t officially open till 8am anyway.

That same day was also the first day of the fitness expo and bib pick up. We grabbed breakfast in the park, did some rides and photos and then headed over to the expo around noon to grab my bibs before retiring to the room for a nice afternoon nap since LA was in the middle of a heatwave that week (of course, great timing, a heat wave during a race weekend🙃). The temps peaked at 106°F so I figured it was safest to rest in our rooms during that time instead. We came back out for dinner later that evening when it was much cooler and there was more shade so it was much more bearable. I did some more rides before calling it a somewhat early night because I had to be up the next 3 mornings at 3am for all the races.

Luckily, despite the heat wave, the races start at 5am when the temps are much more bearable in the 70s. There was one con though, for some reason, the humidity was at an all time high, despite California usually being desert weather, and ironically this humidity went away during the day but then you had to fight the rising temps so there was just no winning.

The 5K

This ended up being my favorite course to run this weekend! And that’s not because the distance was short, lol. This was the first time I ever started a race INSIDE the park. Disney World has all their races starting in the Epcot parking lot for logistical reasons since their number of runners is so high, I imagine. At first I wonder how they were going to pack us all in there but it worked out. Security went smoothly and I was in the parks, with even a moment to spare for a photo at the Mickey pumpkin before getting into my corral fairly quickly. I assume the number of 5k participants are much less than a Disney World race to be able to get us all in Main Street for the start. The start line was at the hub, and went through a lot of the parks - you even got to run through the castle, no streets, and minimal backstage areas but even those were very fun to run through and see. And then we got to finish inside the park as well, and at the other park so you got to run through both! And my absolute favorite part happened right near the end, when I saw Luca and Alberto as a character stop with a short and very manageable line that moved quickly so I allowed myself to stop for a cute quick photo. I usually don’t stop for these photos because the lines can get insanely long and I don’t like to stop for too long and risk my legs locking up and also losing time. But the 5ks aren’t timed and I was already near the end. I got lucky because the photo came out super cute too. Oh yeah, that’s another great difference between Disneyland and Disney World races. All your race photos were included complimentary for this race weekend, whereas in Disney World you have to purchase Memory Maker, which is usually an additional $200 cost. So you KNOW I hammed it up and took advantage of every photopass I could spot and passed on the course.

The 10K

The 10K was also an amazing route! The first mile was running through the streets and by the second mile we were in the parks up til mile 5. Honestly, just the first and last mile was outside the parks and I’m not mad about it. I love that they had the mayor and his car stationed along the route too. This route didn’t seem grueling at all since so much of it is spent running through the parks. I really love this aspect of Disneyland races versus Disney World 10ks which can feel long because a lot of it is on the road after leaving Epcot before getting to Hollywood and then trying to get back to Epcot. The 10k starts and finishes in the same spot, outside of the park and ends just in time for the parks to open up. After the 10k, I took a nap and relaxed for the rest of the day. I got up around late afternoon to do a quick group shoot with Crowned Athletics before getting early dinner at Goofy’s Kitchen and settling in for the night. I laid out my outfit and packed everything else up that night since we had a flight to catch right after the half.

The Half Marathon

The half started and finished in the same place as the 10k. Luckily the hotel I chose was litterally a block away so it was very easy to get to and getting through security was easy peasy. Even getting into my corral was straightforward and quick, as opposed to Disney World where the start corrals are nearly a mile away from where the buses drop you off in the parking lot. Because of this ease of access to the corrals and starting areas, I didn’t have to rush or worry about transportation logistics like how you have to worry about getting on an early bus to get to Epcot on time. The hotel I chose in proximity to the start line and to the parks, was also very affordable, albeit being a no frills hotel.

This was the first runDisney race event in which I was in the last corral to start. I was a little worried but in the end, it wasn’t too bad. I made sure I was at the front of the corral, I trusted my training and ran as much as I could, but still slowed down and took a more conservative approach due to the heatwave. I ran through the parks continuously to give myself as much of a buffer from the balloon ladies and slowed down for a few walk breaks for the last few miles through the streets. After mile 5, everything was basically through the neighborhoods and streets which wasn’t as exciting but there were still a decent amount of cheer spots along the route. We got to run though Angel stadium, which was cool, although it would’ve been cool if they allowed spectators in to fill the stadium to cheer us on. The heat made it very hard to keep going as the sun crept up higher on the horizon on us but I remembered Jeff Galloway’s advice on keeping one foot right in front of the other and kept trudging on til the finish line was in sight. I was so happy to finally be at the end and dump water all over myself. Luckily they had plenty of cooling towels at the ready for everyone.

I grabbed my medals, made my way over the front gates of the parks to take quick medal photos as fast as I could before heading back to my hotel to shower and beeline it to the airport. I wish I had more time to stay an extra day and spend it in the parks for finisher photos but alas, PTO time is scarce and flights are expensive. If it wasn’t an issue, you know I would’ve stayed longer like I usually do post race.

PXL_20240908_163943154.PORTRAIT.ORIGINAL.jpg

PXL_20240908_163958915.PORTRAIT.ORIGINAL.jpg

PXL_20240908_164010788.PORTRAIT.ORIGINAL.jpg

Would I do this again? I would definitely love to come back and run Disneyland again, especially for Halloween. Unfortunately a trip to the West Coast requires more time and days off from work, and the flight itself is also cumbersome since heading home takes an entire day. For right now, I’m taking a break from running like I said in my last post, but when I’m ready to come back, I definitely would love to do Disneyland again.

I know I also said I’m retired from full marathons and it’s true, I am, but I also played with the idea of maybe going after another Dopey for my 40th birthday if I’m feeling ambitious. Who knows. I have the United Half on the horizon for 2027 if I can remember to do the qualifiers next year when they open up. I definitely do miss races as I watch all my friends crush it this year and I can’t wait to get back to them when I have more time and money.

Sleepy Hollow

October 30, 2023

We finally made it to Sleepy Hollow this fall! This was another stop I wanted to check off my Halloween list and this year I was able to make time for it and on my birthday of all days. We were able to make a nice day trip out of it since it was only about an hour and a half away. For some reason, in the past I thought it was longer because anything ‘upstate’ seems like forever. In reality, this isn’t that much upstate of Manhattan. It was an easy drive up and back, especially if you’re able to avoid rush hours.

It’s a relatively small town so it’s very easy to see everything in a day. We got there around noon so we were able to explore a little bit of the cemetery, see the famous town sign for a quick pic, take a tour of Lyndhurst Mansion and walk the grounds before having dinner at Horsefeathers. The town is well decorated and very festive, being a popular tourist spot. I didn’t get to check out the shops on their main street because we arrived later in the day but because it’s so close, we plan on coming back again next year because it’s just such a beautiful and easily walkable town.

The iconic Sleepy Hollow sign is on the side of the road right next to Sleepy Hollow High School. It was easy to spot, and conveniently marked on Google maps as well. And because we went on a weekday, it was easy to find a quick spot to park, get out and take a quick pic. You don’t want to loiter too long since it is a school zone area. Weekends during October I’ve read can get pretty busy. This comes down to pros and cons of what you want to experience though. Weekends are busier so it may be harder to find a spot to park and have to wait your turn for things, but it’s also when they have more festivals and fun special Halloween events. If you walk a few blocks over from the sign, you’ll find the famous Beekman Ave, where there’s a big clock and the Jack Skellington looking pumpkin display decorated right at the intersection.

Drive a little further down the road and you’ll be at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. The Old Dutch Reformed Church is right out front with a couple of parking spots inside the entrance but you can drive alongside the one-way road and park on the right all along the cemetery if you can’t find a spot, as long as you follow all the marked signs and rules. We didn’t get to see inside the church this visit because it was closed albeit coming during visiting hours. Note that the bridge right outside the church is the official “Headless Horseman Bridge” - you literally drive on it to get to the cemetery - but it has since been replaced by a more modern looking construction. If you walk through the cemetery to the Old Style Horseman, you’ll find a more iconic, traditional looking wooden bridge the town installed to fit in with the legend of Sleepy Hollow better, to appease the tourists and makes for a better picture opportunity. It’s very pretty walking through the path to get there during this time, seeing all the beautiful fall colors and the stream that runs through it. I came at just the perfect time as the fall foliage in this area was reaching peak. Driving through the cemetery as we left was also a very pretty ride. I know, it seems weird to describe a cemetery as ‘pretty’ but there’s something hauntingly beautiful about the mausoleums and different tombstones, especially during this time as the colors change with the spooky season. Speaking of spooky season, the hubby noted there were a lot of Hot Topic looking girls also visiting during this time. I imagine the weekends are even more packed with tourists and Halloween fans. They have day and night tours for the cemetery but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go on a long walking tour at this time but maybe next time, if the weather is comfortable, a night time tour might be nice to try. We actually got very lucky this visit and it was a pretty warm day and a cool evening. It was unusually warm for my birthday weekend this year.

After the cemetery, we headed to the Lyndhurst Mansion for a tour. It was either this or the Armour-Stiner Octagon house but the Octagon house sold out before I remembered to book it, and the Lyndhurst Mansion had a lot of good reviews and gave you access to the grounds after the tour for you to wander to your hearts content. If you’re a history or architectural/home interior design buff, I recommend the Lyndhurst Mansion as one of your stops. It goes through the history of its three owners, from William Paulding, to George Merritt to Jay Gould. They used to have a Halloween tour but our tour guide said people complained and preferred to learn more about the history of the mansion than ghost stories so they only offer the classic tours at this time. (Hopefully next visit, I can book the Octagon House’s Myth and Mysteries tour to fit in better with the spirit of the Halloween season.) The mansion was built and decorated in a gothic style. I found it beautiful to walk through as all its furnishings and decor looked so regal and grand. I’ve never seen any of the shows and movies that it’s been featured in but I can definitely see why they would choose this building for their sets. And the grounds are also equally beautiful and were decorated for Halloween in good fun. Our tour ended right before sunset and we walked out to this beautiful view overlooking the Hudson river. It felt like the perfect ending to the evening for my birthday. We took a moment to take it in before leaving to head back to town for dinner.

We went to Horsefeathers for dinner, which came highly recommended by a few friends, and reviews and blogs I read online. There is definitely a wait because it is a popular spot and the hostesses to seat you do work a little slow (we tried earlier in the day before the tour and again after the tour and both times, it took a bit of a wait before someone came out to greet us and gave us an estimate for our wait time), but once you’re in, the service inside is normal. The inside decor is really festive and cute, with writers on the wall like Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe and Washington Irving. The food though, for me, didn’t really live up to the hype. I was in the mood for fish and chips and the fish was a little too crispy and the chips were more like potato wedges than fries, which I would’ve preferred to pair better with the fish. The crabcake was good though. The hubby had ribs and they were fall off the bone good but a little too oversauced. I probably should have gotten a burger instead since that’s what they’re well known for but I wasn’t in the mood for a burger. There were a lot of other things on the menu so maybe I’ll give it another shot if we visit again. I probably should’ve tried a drink but I don’t really drink and I’m in prep mode for the NYC marathon so it wasn’t really a good idea anyway. Two other recommended restaurants I’m looking to try next time are The Bridgeview Tavern and The Hudson Farmer & The Fish. Hopefully they fare a little better. After dinner, we walked around the block a little to kill time and check out some decorations. The shops were all closed by this time but it was a beautiful cool night to just walk since we were waiting for rush hour to die down before heading home. I found Sleepy Hollow very charming and everyone very friendly and informative. Hopefully next Halloween season, I can experience a spookier tour and see more of the town. I missed the Headless Horseman statue but that just means I need to make another trip back, of course!

Norwegian Joy

May 15, 2022

This was our first time on the Norwegian Joy ship and our first time to Bermuda! We had an amazing time despite all the hiccups and I would definitely recommend this sailing if you’re ever interested in cruising and visiting Bermuda.

That being said, I do want to note the small hiccups we experienced though to be totally transparent for those considering booking a trip. They were minor inconveniences in the realm of first world problems, but they are worth mentioning so that you’re aware.

Boarding

They offer online check-in weeks before your sailing to help expedite boarding check-in at the pier. I did everything as directed when it came to the online check-in but their system glitched for some reason and my husband’s account got caught in the system and didn’t go through all the way. When calling the Norwegian customer service line, they reassured me it was fine, just a computer system issue and that it would be fine at the pier check-in. It totally was when we got there, but the pier check-in line was a different story altogether.

We arrived at the pier check-in around 1. The lines were unfortunately poorly managed and felt very disorganized. It took us about almost 2 hours to get on the ship, which is pretty abnormal. I’ve cruised several times before, twice with Norwegian, and it’s never been this disorganized nor took this long. Usually I’m on board pretty quickly within 30 minutes but no more than an hour.

The security line went fast and smooth but the other two lines were not. I’m not exactly sure what the issue was, but they had one line checking paperwork (passports, covid testing requirements and Bermuda travel authorization paperwork) and another line after that to process check-ins and give you your room card before boarding. Both lines dragged despite having several stations open to check everyone’s documents. We had the most problem on the second line; at one point it didn’t move for a good 20 minutes and everyone on line was getting restless. The staff eventually intervened and split the line, alleviating half of us into the priority check-in line, but their methods was pretty unfair because it screwed over the people who were already on line and were already waiting longer.

When I finally got up to our turn, our agent handled it smoothly and we got our cards within a few minutes so I’m not sure why the line wasn’t moving faster, other than the line being full of boomers who didn’t fill everything out online beforehand so the staff had to manually do it. Was every guest on line this inefficient at getting their shit together?!

Afterwards, we were able to walk onboard no issue. We were able to skip the usual muster drill due to covid and them not wanting to sequester everyone in one spot too long. We went to our room and because we spent so much time waiting to get checked in in the pier, our luggage was ready for us right outside our room. It was easy to spot too because my luggage is so obnoxiously pink compared to everyone’s boring basic black. There was an issue with our room though; we had originally requested a private room NOT having a connecting door. My travel agent had did the room selection part for us so we were confused at the mix-up but upon talking to the guest relations desk, it seems their system does not currently have their rooms accurately in the system to reflect which rooms had connecting doors and which ones did not. It took about an hour for us to get this squared up and find an available room since they had to call each floor and have the floor stewards manually check the rooms to make sure there was no connecting door. While that was getting done, I noticed we had left the dock and the boat was already heading out of NYC. It was a mild inconvenience but all this time spent in the pier and then waiting for our room to get resolved was rather annoying because it delayed the start of our vacation. I had to finish up all my online activities quickly before losing cell service. We missed lunch because of all the time spent taking care of everything and had to wait a few hours before dinner would officially open up.

By 6pm, we were settled in to our new room assignment, all unpacked and headed off to our first meal on the ship, which made up a little for the start. The food on Norwegian is always pretty good and filling and I appreciate their portion sizes are always just right. Especially when you decide to order multiple items both off the appetizer and entrée menu. After dinner, we were able to freely explore the ship and all it had to offer and familiarize ourselves with the layout and where everything was.

On Board

It’s funny because in some ways the Norwegian Joy feels bigger than the Breakaway, the other Norwegian ship we’ve sailed, and in other ways it feels smaller. And in some ways, there was a lot of similarities. I enjoyed the layout of their buffet dining area on the Joy since everything was centrally located close to each other instead of having to walk a full circle on the Breakaway ship to see what the daily selections were. The Joy’s atrium area felt a little less impressive compared to the Breakaway and other ships I’ve been on, but it also felt like they were breaking away from the grand ballroom area to give more room to other things, like having more dining options and more entertainment, so that made sense.

For dining we had a buffet area for people who wanted to dine without being on a schedule or needing reservations. You could freely grab and go whatever you wanted here. They had a decent selection during breakfast, lunch and dinner but I do have to note I prefer the variety offered on the Norwegian Breakaway was better. They had themed food nights which was nice while the Joy seemed to center around the same dishes but cooked in slightly different variations and flavors every day. It was still delicious, don't get me wrong, but I would love to see more variety. My husband was fine with this though being the picky eater that he is. That and the love affair he has with cruise lines and their soft serve machines. He had one at least 2-3x a day, sometimes 2 in the same meal period. But as my brother likes to say, “It's a cruise! You can do whatever you want!”

There were also 3 complimentary dining rooms where you could be seated and order off a menu if you prefered everything made to order. They rotated menus here daily and all 3 dining rooms had the same menu for the day in case one room got full, you could always go to another and still get the same dish if you were dying for it. There was also a few nice complimentary areas for late night snacks and quick bites. The ship also had plenty of bars located all around the ship.

There were several specialty dining restaurants on board too; these are not included/complimentary but an extra fee if you chose to dine here. We stayed with the complimentary dining for the most part to save money since these can be pricey add-ons to a vacation especially when the complimentary dining on board is already pretty good, but we did have a free offer to try one of these restaurants and we used it on the steakhouse which was 👌. The other specialty restaurants available on board were a Japanese restaurant, a wine cellar, an Italian restaurant, a French bistro restaurant, a seafood restaurant, a cute American burger diner with cute vintage car booths, a BBQ smokehouse, and a global restaurant with little plates from all over the world.

My ship had a lot of entertainment and activities for all ages and interests. There was a nice arcade with tons of VR games, a theater for live performances on the ship, a go-kart track on top of the ship, mini-golf, laser tag, of course a pool area with 2 water slides, a spa and salon, a casino area, art gallery, and of course a gym and jogging track which I took advantage of and worked out 3 days on the trip. I spent two mornings on the jogging track and one morning lifting weights in the gym. The jogging track I found to be nice if you ran it in the early mornings when it was more free but later on in the day, they did it away with it by laying down more lounge chairs for sunbathers so it’s a little disheartening it wasn’t a dedicated jogging track like I’ve experienced on other ships. The gym was really nice though with a decent weights area and not just treadmills and bikes. Towels and even massage guns were provided in the area, as well as a fitness expert if you needed someone to talk to about nutrition, goals, etc. They even had a scale to print out your stats like weight, body composition, etc. I noticed behind the free weights they had a dark room dedicated with stationary bikes so it looked like they had their own soulcycle type class setup going on. I'm not a fan of this type of workout but I know a lot of people who do love it so it's nice to see the ship offered this.

We chose to relax, take our time and take it easy this cruise so we didn’t do too many activities while on board. I promised my husband we wouldn’t be rushing from one thing to another like my Disney trips, so I can’t report back on a lot of what my ship had to offer. We chose to spend our time in Bermuda on excursions, mostly in the water each day, since that was the whole reason we wanted to take this vacation. We were missing those beautiful blue waters and Bermuda absolutely delivered.

Unfortunately on the last day sailing back, we were caught in a storm towards the later end of the day and it caused me to feel a little sick because the boat was rocking so much. I do want to note that this was the first time this has happened to me in all of my sailings, and storms are not a common thing to sail through usually, but it did suck because we were looking forward to trying out the VR arcade that day since it was an at sea day to browse more ship activities.

Luckily, we had already drove around on their go-kart tracks earlier in the week when we were docked so we got to experience that at least and it wasn’t dampered by seasickness. That was a pretty awesome experience that made me really miss my Maricar go-kart experience in Japan. I wish more experiences like this were offered in other cities I visit. We also played a round of mini golf on the ship which was really fun. On the last hole we were playing, some little girl picked up Dario’s golf ball and refused to return it til her dad saw and forced her to hand it back, lol. It was a nice time though. I’m thinking of looking for local mini golf places on the island for date nights with hubby now.

Itinerary

Our sailing had 2 ports of call; 1 day in Virginia Beach and 3 days in Bermuda. We chose not to go ashore for the first port of call, the day in Virginia Beach, due to the Bermuda travel regulations requiring a secondary covid testing before arriving if you go ashore anywhere else before arriving in Bermuda. There wasn’t much we cared to explore in Virginia anyway that we can’t just do on our own with a road trip one day. I wanted to spend my time and money in Bermuda instead, which we ended up really enjoying because of the itinerary for Bermuda. In the past, I’ve always been on cruises where the ship docks at a port for just a day and barely even a full day. It arrives in the morning and leaves that evening. This particular cruise, we had 3 days in Bermuda, which was really nice because it gave us ample time to try multiple excursions and even explore some shops near the dock. I picked up some souvenirs for my sister and even found something for myself. I’m absolutely in love with jasmine and found a local shop that made jasmine soaps, as well as oleander and passion flower and all 3 smelled amazing. I always find it hard to find jasmine scented body products by itself. It's always mixed in with another scent in my experience and usually overpowered by the accompanying scent, so this was really nice to find.

I would have explored more of the island inland but unfortunately the excursions we chose had time slots that didn’t work around a more flexible day schedule to take the ferry boat to a different part of the island and everything closes around 6pm. But alas, we had an amazing time with all our activities, more so than I’ve ever been able to experience on any other cruise simply because we were docked for a decent amount of time. I feel like this will be a big deciding factor in future cruises, as we enjoyed this itinerary aspect a lot.

Excursions

We did 3 excursions, one for each day in Bermuda. We went into this a little apprehensive because we weren’t sure what the temperature was going to be like. The forecast reported high 70s which we were at first hesitant about because we wanted it to be a little warmer for swimming. Admittedly the water was a little on the cold side at first when we dipped our feet in, but once we were in, it began to warm up and feel fine as we acclimated and we found it to be actually perfect. We lucked out and ended up with beautiful sunny skies all 3 days too! Perfect for all our excursions so nothing was canceled.

The first day was kayaking. This was the day my husband unfortunately lost his phone in the water while we were launching our kayaks. We ended up spending a decent amoutn of time trying to look for it in the water with no luck and then had to catch up with the kayaking tour at warp speed before the tour ended. Of course this put a bit of a damper on his day losing his phone but it was still overall a nice day as we had great weather and the water wasn’t too bad to swim in for a beach day. The tour operators were great and Hannah was fantastic, sympathetic to what happened and really helped my husband look for his phone, diving in the water with him.

The second day was supposed to be shipwreck and coral reef snorkeling but our tour operator reported that they found a lot of man o’wars (an animal closely related to the jellyfish and dangerous because of its stinging nature) in the water that morning around the sites we were supposed to visit and gave us the option of getting a refund or taking us on a glass bottom boat tour over the shipwreck area and then giving us snorkel time nearby a coral reef. One of the guests on my tour would later experience first hand what a man o’war sting felt like, as he got stung by a baby one near our coral reef site. Luckily that was the only one in our area and our tour group addressed his sting immediately with first aid and removed it effectively and treated his sting with antiseptic. They were pretty awesome guys taking care of everyone that day and making sure we had a safe but good time. If you ever go, I highly recommend them - our crew was Dylan, Jay and Zeke from Fantasea Diving and Watersports. They were so friendly and their energy was great.

The third day was an easy, relaxing beach day at Horseshoe Bay in the morning before our ship left port at 3pm. It was an early morning but really worth it. It was absolutely beautiful and perfect because there was barely anyone there at that time in the morning, except for a few families. We found a nice nook on the side of the beach to lounge in all morning. It was just really serene and nice. It was pretty much what we were looking for in this vacation, summed up in a perfect photo. I booked a shoot with a local photographer for a quick shoot on the beach that morning and he showed us how to climb up a cliff for some epic views and amazing photos. If you ever go, I highly recommend Dion. He was a pleasure to work with, friendly and accommodating on such short notice and and flexible with my last minute location changes. And as a local, he knows all the best spots!

Special Offers

Because of covid, obviously cruises are not selling out like they normally would, so a lot of cruiselines are offering incentives to cruise. Our booking came with some nice offers, but I definitely recommend you looking into the fine print of the offers before booking to avoid getting surprised like I did. Our offers were still a good deal, I just had different expectations than what was given because the way they word it in the package is vague but makes you think you get more than you actually do.

Our offers were:

FREE open bar - this is their regular beverage package, not the top shelf stuff which is a different package. This didn’t affect us too much since we’re not big drinkers to begin with but since we got it for free, we did take advantage of it some days. It was nice to have, even for soda and coffee.
FREE wifi - this makes it sound like free unlimited but it’s actually just for 150 minutes, which isn’t a lot especially since they throttle their internet, making it slow. This is the fine print shit I’m talking about. And when you log in, it tries to upsell you their unlimited plan. Sneaky, sneaky.
FREE specialty dining - this was actually a good offer but also another fine print thing. It’s just for one specialty dining meal per person. We picked the steakhouse and it was a great offer covering $200 worth of food including appetizers, steaks, salads, dessert and drinks. The food was really great too here compared to the steaks on the main dining room.
FREE excursions - this is another fine print item. It’s just $50 off and not a lot of excursions are $50 besides the beach day transfer.
FREE on board credit - again, just $50 on board credit per person.

Overall, the offers were still a good value and great for our trip but again, the wording is just very poor to obviously entice you in to booking. I wish they wouldn’t do that because then you’re a little disappointed when you find out the stipulations/fine print. I’d rather them be transparent and upfront so my expectations are correctly aligned.

Overall we had a great time on this cruise and I would love to return to Bermuda the next time I’m itching for another getaway to crystal blue waters. I thought you had to go all the way to the Bahamas and be further South to see them but alas, Bermuda is just as amazing and beautiful. And bonus, it's closer than the Bahamas too! I really enjoyed how empty this cruise felt too, not being a full capacity. Although I do have to note that Norwegian has always been really good with their cleanliness and preventative healthcare/safety on board even before covid. I sailed with them for my honeymoon back in 2014 and going through old photos, back then they took care of everyone making sure health surveys were filled out prior to boarding, had hand washing stations everywhere and always encouraged you to wash your hands before entering a lot of areas singing the “washy washy” song. Honestly they are pretty damn good when it comes to cleanliness and customer service. Everyone makes you feel like they'll take care of every issue you have while on board. There’s nothing they won’t do to make sure you get what you need. Our cabin steward incessantly checked on us a million times every time we passed him in the hallway even though I kept telling him we didn’t need anything. It started making me feel bad, like are they flogging you back there if you don't ask me a million times?! But seriously it was nice to receive that level of service. We’re not extraordinarily needy people but I can imagine other guests can be more difficult and that's why they try to give 300% to make sure you're happy.

And also a big thank you and shout out to my travel agent Jill Kuritz of Never Grow Up Vacations. She booked this sailing for me 34 days out and took care of everything and even sent a nice fruit basket up to my room which was a nice surprise as well as provide additional cruise credit in addition to the special offers I received. Of course you can always book the same trip yourself but if it comes with extra perks and you don’t have to be on the phone booking it yourself and calling them every time there’s an issue, it’s a no brainer letting someone else take care of it. It makes for a much more stress-free vacation and it’s one less thing to worry about. I love booking all my trips with them because it gives me more peace of mind knowing everything will be the way I want and expect it to be.

I can’t wait till my next vacation but unfortunately I’ve run out of vacation days from work so we’re going to have to cool it for the next 4 months. Hopefully by fall, I’ll have accrued a decent amount of time again and I’ll be able to head to the West coast for Halloween this year! I’m looking forward to Oogie Boogie Bash if all goes well and living out more of my Malibu Barbie dreams as well. Until then, I’m going to try and have a fun summer on the island here at home. Cheers!