While swimming in Horseshoe Bay, I felt a sense of calm wash over me. The late May water was refreshingly cool but not cold; warm ocean water for a New Englander. The blue bird sky was a deep blue contrasting with the crystal clear light blue of the ocean. I breathed deep, taking in the feeling of true relaxation. I submerged myself and swam underwater, coming up to the surface next to Sharon. I turned to her and stated “this is better than a powder day.”

Let’s back up a bit.

It was the second week of February and I had just survived yet another über stressful rush. As with the fall rush, I needed time off. Badly. Unlike my November “stay-cation” of early season skiing, I wasn’t seeking recovery through reflection via solo adventure. I wanted to detoxify my body, my mind, my life. I sought a demarcation line between what was and what could be. I needed to feel human again.

The hyper-vigilant news entertainment industry hammered the drama inconveniences caused by the drifting Carnival Triumph’s engine fire. Being a harsh media critic, I searched online for what was really happening rather than what was being reported. Sure enough, the media had blown things way out of proportion and only ran the most sensationalized and exaggerated stories.

The Triumph news blip got me reminiscing about my only cruise experience. Some twenty-five years ago, I cruised aboard the Premier Cruise Line Royale, a family vacation that I have fond memories of.

I played a ton of Castlevania; sneaking into the casino to snag quarters from my mom who had won a not so insignificant sum of them at the slots. Before the cruise, my dad bought my brother and I clip on ties for the dinners. After considerable pleading, dad brought me to my first ever nightclub one evening (the nightlife bug was instilled in me young). We swam with the fishes at a Bahamas out island. While waiting to disembark, we watched Dorf on Golf in the movie theater. There was significant ice cream consumption. We had a great time.

So the biggest cruise ship disaster of the year had me reflecting on good memories. I thought that a week with everything taken care of, no decisions to make, extensive amounts of time doing nothing, and a tropical beach might be just what I needed. I was aghast about having dreamed up this crazy idea. Vacations were supposed to be about excitement and adventure! Not laying out on the beach and doing *gasp* absolutely nothing.

I sheepishly broached the idea to Sharon. I didn’t even know how to form the words to ask her if she would be interested, I was almost ashamed for having even thought of it. Sharon would later tell me that my severity before asking made her think something was terribly wrong.

And something was terribly wrong. My life was a disaster. My mind was in shambles. A diagnosis of Depression probably would have been unlikely, but I was certainly exhibiting some symptoms. My November skiing stay-cation hadn’t cured what ailed my mind and perhaps only made things worse. Perhaps cruising far far away from my troubles would give me the distance and perspective to heal and recuperate. Or was I running away from my troubles, a temporary stop gap measure for a brief week of sanity and clarity? It didn’t matter, I needed it regardless.

We decided to cruise to Bermuda on the Norwegian Dawn (reviews of the Norwegian Dawn on CruiseCritic.com) out of Boston’s Black Falcon Cruise Terminal. Our proximity to Boston made the choice easy: no airfare, no extra night in a hotel, and the least amount of kenneling for our dog. Simply drive to the cruise terminal, turn off the cell phone, and walk onto the boat.

I favored the Bermuda itinerary strongly compared to Bahamas/Caribbean cruises since we could spend three full days in one port rather than only a few hours at three different locations. I’d rather spend even longer in port and minimize days at sea but three days is the longest port stay any major cruise line offers. Bermuda’s beaches looked incredible — I was sold and I sure didn’t need to twist Sharon’s arm either.

Itinerary: May 24–May 31

• Day 1: Boston (Depart at 4:00pm)
• Day 2: At Sea
• Day 3: Bermuda (Arrive at 11:00am)
• Day 4: Bermuda
• Day 5: Bermuda (Depart at 5:30pm)
• Day 6: At Sea
• Day 7: At Sea
• Day 8: Boston (Arrive at 8:00am)

After an easy embarkation process, we boarded the Dawn under an angry sky. We immediately made our way to the lido deck and took in the intense Boston skyscape. The weather looked fine over Boston Harbor which contrasted sharply with the intensity of the developing storm over the city. We grabbed a burger from the poolside sail away party, checked out our inside cabin, and then came back up to watch the ship set sail.

The ship passes under the take off zone for Logan Airport. I looked up at airliners taking off heading for destinations far away. I looked out over the Boston skyline at massive tech filled buildings of steel and commerce. And I looked up at the steam pipes bellowing smoke from the ship’s engine.

The Dawn, a modest ship compared to the latest boats, holds thousands of passengers and crew. We were sailing off into the Atlantic Ocean for a week of fun… a voyage that only a few hundred years ago would have required a hundred ships and would have been challenging with potential risks — hardly a party. I reflected on the amazing things that humanity creates, how quickly our species has changed the world and our lifestyles, and the costs that we extract from the world, and ourselves, to do so.

Aboard a ship that travels 30 feet per gallon and burns a thousand tons of fuel for just one cruise, I shrugged at our combined culpability and amazed at the power we have harnessed and developed. Another jet roared overhead at a hundred and sixty miles an hour and burning one gallon of jet fuel per second. Down the run way, I see another jet queuing up for a flight that will burn tens of thousands of gallons to transport people from point A to point B. We are an amazing and audacious species cable of incredible works of power and scale.

In typical vacation fashion for us, I began the cruise coming off a cold. Sharon caught whatever I had, got sick during the vacation, and was almost better by the time the cruise ended. Our best vacations always follow this pattern so I knew we were in for a great week week when I packed my cough drops.

The Dawn is smaller than the newest cruise ships but is still massive in my book. Over a dozen restaurants are scattered throughout the ship but we stuck exclusively to the complimentary establishments. Since we already paid for food with our fare, it seemed outrageous to pay an extra $20-30 per plate.

We found the complimentary food to be extremely good and well beyond our expectations. The marginal improvement on quality (if any improvement at all) was clearly not worth the extravagant additional expense. Norwegian’s dining philosophy is called “Freestyle” which basically means you can eat anywhere, anytime, wearing pretty much anything. It really fit our preferences. There was a completely optional formal dinner on the second night which we skipped.

The seas were moderate on our first day en route to Bermuda. While circumnavigating the lido deck, I sought out the windiest spot I could find. I soon found myself mid-ship above the pool where a wind tunnel had formed across the deck. I grabbed the railing and held on while wind fiercely buffeted me. The force of the wind felt like a ragging winter storm atop a mountain on an earned turn wind hold day, only eighty degrees warmer and without the snow. It was an incredible force of nature and a memorable part of the cruise.

We arrived in Bermuda late morning on the third day of our cruise. The dredged channel to the dockyard starts on the eastern side of the island providing a sail by of the island approaching the Dockyard at the western end. After breakfast, we hit did a few laps around the ship as we floated past the island. While the approach was exciting, the docking process was fairly boring so we headed back to our cabin to get ready for a beach day at Horseshoe Bay.

To be continued…