Cruise Day!

Monday January 9

We awake at 7 p.m. (I set the alarm) and I make a big breakfast of fresh fruit (including fresh grapefruit), pancakes with real maple syrup, bacon, coffee for me, and tea for Julie. I change out the litter, leave a note for Heather to eat the rest of the orange cake along with $40 for taking care of my kitty girls (2 visits).

We're out the door by 9:10, and Julie needs to stop for some sunscreen, so we're on I-75 headed to Miami by about 9:30. We make good time, arriving in downtown Miami at about 12:30. I've picked a  "park and shuttle" lot in downtown Miami because I don't want to pay $20/day for parking at the dock. It's not that I'm cheap; I'm just frugal. The parking downtown will run me $6/day, and I'd rather spend the difference on rum drinks aboard the ship! We have a little trouble finding the parking lot, but eventually make it. It’s outdoor parking; I was hoping for covered, but I guess for six bucks a day, you don't get much! (But the great thing is the six bucks a day covers the shuttle ride to and from the pier!). So the van gets us to dock at about 1:15 and I think we clear all the preboarding stuff and actually get on the ship at about 2 p.m. We are momentarily held up in the security line by a chick who is ahead of us and is getting her picture taken (and keep in mind, this is the SECURITY photo, and not any kind of souvenir photo). And before she gets her photo taken, her chick girlfriend steps in and tells the security officer to hold off on the photo a minute because her friend has a few hairs out of place. I swear to God  I am not making this up, the chick pulls a brush out of her purse and brushes her friend’s until it is to her satisfaction. I do an "oh my God" out loud to Julie and tell her I can add this to the list of things I’ve never seen before in my 55 years of living on this planet. And this becomes my "line" on the cruise ... I ask Julie several times a day if my hair looks OK!

Anyway, we finally make it past security and dump our carry-ons in our stateroom (2563 on deck 2) and head to the Windjammer Cafe on deck 11 for the "welcome aboard buffet," which is delicious, accompanied by a drink of the day which is "tropical sunset" or something like that, which has strawberries and vodka in it along with some other fruity flavors. We get our fill, and then head out to the pool deck to read and wait for the mandatory life boat drill. We get that out of the way, then head back to Deck 12, sundeck, and watch and wave to people as we leave the pier and head down the channel out to the ocean. Here is a photo:

Then, we head back to our cabin. Our luggage has been delivered, so we kind of get things squared away. Our tickets for tomorrow's shore excursion have arrived, along with a coupon book for me since I have reached the "gold level" in my Crown and Anchor Club membership (that’s Royal Caribbean’s loyalty program). There are several nice coupons in there, including a $5 match play for the casino, and a couple "2-for1" wine/beer coupons, and a discount for a coffee beverage at Café Latte-tudes. All good stuff, but nothing of much use for Julie.

We have selected 6:30 p.m. as our "my time" dining slot, so we arrive in the dining room and have a delicious dinner. I have the pork medallions, and Julie has the prime rib. We have a very nice waiter and assistant waiter. Everything is delicious. The only “issue” is a table-full of about nine college aged boys sitting right behind us who are a little (actually more than a little) rude, crude, and loud. This will become an issue, but our immediate dining companions to our right and to our left are very nice folks and we have nice chats with them.

After dinner, we go to the promenade Deck (Deck 7) and do a couple of laps around the ship. The moon is full in the sky, and we can see a Carnival ship in the distance we have been "tailing" since leaving Miami.

We go to the theater, which is standing room only, and catch the tail end (about 15 minutes) of the comedian who is performing that night, and he is quite entertaining.

I go to the casino, and prompty lose $22 at the blackjack table. I get back to the cabin, and Julie is already in her little bunk doing some knitting. I take a nice long hot shower, and jump in my bunk, and we turn out the lights and soon are both off to sleep.

Expenses today: $32 parking; $18 for rum drinks;  $22 at the casino.

Bruce