The past week we have all been aboard the Norwegian Spirit setting sail to Cape Canaveral and to the Bahamas. It was a first for us, and the ship itself held quite a bit of a wow factor for us … and especially so for our nearly-two year old son, who could barely contain himself in one of the restaurant venues that had a copious supply of ceiling fans. Naturally, entering this particular venue resulted in him exclaiming rather loudly: “Wow! Fan!” and gesturing wildly at any one of the two dozen or so fans.

Of course, this only meant that he wanted me to pick him up and let him spin the fan(s) as is our habit at home. For whatever reason, these particular fans were not running, and I obliged him when there was an available fan without anyone sitting nearby (kind of rare, given the business of the place).

His other attractions were the driving-simulator arcade games (for the steering wheels) and of course, the mock-up of the old-style Captain’s Wheel on Deck 12 Forward, which actually had at times quite a bit of competition from the other toddlers on board.

We also got a kick out of the fact that the original name of the ship was SuperStar Leo, sharing a name (Leo) with our boy. This ship is itself several years old, and was launched in its original configuration in 1998 under its original Hong Kong-based owner, Star Cruises. It was transferred to Norwegian Cruise Lines around 2005 as a part of a trade deal in which one cruise line acquired 50% of the other’s stock, and was refurbished somewhat around that time.

Norwegian Spirit remains one of the larger cruise ships in service, although when we docked in Nassau (Bahamas) we were greeted by the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, the humbly named Sovereign of the Seas, a couple of decks taller, if not a tad longer. And apparently, that isn’t long by the standards of of Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, at a staggering 1100 feet long and 15 decks!

The excursions were quite nice, with a run on the famous Ron Jon’s Surf Shop at Cocoa Beach, and naturally, a visit to that beach for some body surfing and sand castle building, and clear sailing days between Florida and the Bahamas, where crystal clear waters and sandy beaches greeted us.

Docked alongside the humbly named RCI cruise ship and our own vessel in Nassau was a British missile frigate, the HMS Richmond, which sported a rather menacing-looking 114mm cannon and a pair of 30mm anti-aircraft cannons, along with a less obvious but devastating array of ASROC type anti-sub missiles and a sub-hunter helicopter on the rear deck… easily a third the length and a fifth of the height of the civilian cruise ships next to her, but infinitely more deadly, if she had to be put to the test.

The Brits weren’t the only folks showing off their hardware - on the way into Cape Canaveral we passed a USN submarine heading out on patrol (though it was at such a distance I couldn’t tell what sort she was — and I wouldn’t tell even if I did… heh! )

The Bahamas themselves were quite nice, with breezy days in the mid 80’s °F (about 30°C) and plenty of cheap and negotiable shopping.

Sadly though, Saturday (yesterday) saw us back in the gray-green waters of New York Harbour, and while knowing that Monday brings with it much work and many demanding emails to answer in the week I’ve been away, we will still have memories of this cruise and kind treatment by the staff and crew of the Norwegian Spirit and the friendly Bahamians to keep us afloat for the next year or two.