Here are two maps to show all the islands we visited or could see off in the distance. The top map is cleaner, but the bottom one shows more of the islands (those using red type are independent, while those in dark type are owned by either Britain, U.S., France, or Netherlands). The first four we visited were owned by other countries, while our final four were independent.
It's easier to follow our route and eight ports while looking at the top map:
Puerto Rico - San Juan (this island is not labeled on the top map, but it's right below where it says U.S. Virgin Islands).
St. Martin/St. Maarten - Philipsburg.
British Virgins - Tortola Island (among the U.S. Virgin Islands on the map)
U.S. Virgins - St. Thomas Island, Charlotte Amelie.
Antigua - St. John.
St. Lucia - Castries.
Barbados - Bridgetown.
St. Kitts - Basseterre.
At our farthest point to the south and east, Barbados, we were farther east than Venezuela and almost to Trinidad!
On this day at sea, it was still too cold to be outside, so we read our books while sitting in the empty Food Republic restaurant (which did not open for a few days while the staff was busy sanitizing and serving at buffets). Most of the lounge areas of the ship were crowded and noisy, what with 4200 passengers trying to remain inside.
We ate breakfast at good ol' O'Sheehan's, after finding a too-long line at the main dining rooms. We then attended an art history seminar. It was pretty good, except for the guy in the front row who couldn't stop interrupting to brag about his art knowledge and his own collection. (We later called him The Stalker after seeing him stalk a female performer.) By having to give our room number to attend this seminar, it meant we received formal notices at our room every night, for the remainder of the cruise, advertising art shows or auctions. Waste of paper!
Late in the morning, we heard through the grapevine that there were reservation sheets to use to book all the various shows during the entire cruise. We found one at the Box Office, but it was so complex with so may choices, we didn't really know how to proceed. So, we waited in the line, and just let the agent sign us up for everything. We just took his word that he was including everything possible for us. As it turned out, we agreed with everything he signed us up for - 1) theater shows that required reservations, 2) Headliner Comedy Club performances, and 3) Supper Club shows.
With a late breakfast, we ate no lunch. We took naps! In the late afternoon, we found The District Brew House and their fabulous selection of 24 beers on tap, and 50 in bottles. It was a nice lounge with a view, which turned out to be the closest thing to the forward lounges we had on our other Norwegian ships that we always enjoyed so much.
To beat the crowds, we went to the main Manhattan dining room at 5:00, and sure enough, we got seated right away. There was a group playing jazzy elevator-type music to entertain, which I liked, but Janet thought the volume was too high. They stopped at 5:45, so then it was nice and quiet.
After dinner we caught a few minutes of JR in the District Brew House, but shortly moved on to...
... an incredible theater show called After Midnight, using a professional cast (NOT a Norwegian cast). It was about "the sexy glamor of the original jazz age from Harlem's Cotton Club." The dancing and singing were stunning; it was like seeing a Broadway show.
We then stumbled upon the Headliners Comedy Club, which featured Howling at the Moon Dueling Pianos. The two guys and the gal were super fun and entertaining! All three would alternate among the two grand pianos and drums, and they did only audience requests. One of them would occasionally take a break, so they were non-stop for four hours. They played off the audience as well as any ship group we had ever seen, equaling Randon from the Norway cruise in 2017.
We ended by watching JR again play the piano, and when he asked for requests, I called out "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters", and by golly, he sang it!
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