On Board

Day Numero Uno, Embarkation

                   Position: Somewhere off the north coast of Cuba

                   Heading: SE 131.57 Degrees

                   Winds at 20 knots out of the south

                   Enough of that stuff!

          After all of the preparation, angst over what to pack, questions about how much room would we have, plans for surmounting unforeseen delays and roadblocks, I am happy to report…

                   Nothing.

          If you were waiting for an exciting story about transfers gone awry, Pre-Boarding Nightmares, or Official Snafu’s I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint you.

          EVERYTHING went about as smoothly as it possibly could have gone and as I sit up here in the extremely early morning, no one else here, Horizon Court buffet area, even the seas are uncomfortably calm.

                   What?

                   Yes, I’m one of those that revels in the pitch and yaw of a bow ploughing through a rolling sea!

                   But no worries! We still have 110 days to go so there is still hope! (I hope Paula doesn’t read this because even though she has come nautical miles from her early seasick days, she still harbors some motion issues) *

                   *(Please note how I deftly worked two marine-related words into that last statement!)

                    We did arrive about as early as we could, there were only a few others in front of us so boarding was a snap. Arriving at our stateroom we were pleasantly surprised that we were not surprised. It looked and felt just as it was pictured and described. Having steeled ourselves for the worst, this came as a nice realization and Paula was about as excited with all of the storage space as she is with our storage on the motorhome!

                   It took a while to get somewhat organized and thankfully Paula’s scouring of the internet for “Cruise Packing and Storage Hacks”, the results of which proved to be perfect. With two full days at sea in front of us, we will have plenty of time to fine-tune our mini-abode.

                   We went topside for awhile as the ship left port.

                   The “Sail Away” party as it were.

                   This is where you get to meet the Cruise Director for the first time and watch those Disneyesque singers and dancers that perform the production shows during the voyage. I say Disneyesque with all of the esteem and grand acknowledgement that I can muster.

It ain’t easy doing that stuff!

You will note from these photos our strategic location was on the second deck above the pool area where the production was staged. I say strategic for two reasons, the obvious one is the visibility of the show. The second one is that I have way too many cruises under my belt, and I know that one of those dancing cuties is gonna dive into the audience and drag me out kicking and screaming trying to get me to participate in some sort of dance routine.

          I can’t even do YMCA.

          But I can hear it now… “Attention everyone, this is the Captain speaking, please stop the ship and all of you crewmen and staff, along with any passengers not already up by the pool, please come up here and watch this bozo try and do the Macarena!”

          The next announcement would be for “Man Overboard” as I dove over the railing.

          Fortunately, I escaped the ‘Conscription of the Innocents’ because I elected to stand in line with everyone else trying to procure ‘Libations for the Festivities’. Twenty minutes later with a Pina Colada and Bloody Mary in hand, we strode to the bow and played Jack and Rose.

                   Not really, the bow is Off Limits to everyone except the crew. This is where their outside area is located, they even have a small pool up there. Well-deserved, I’m sure.

          Dinner last night was at one of the specialty venues, Sabatini’s, their Italian Themed restaurant. Think Olive Garden goes to Sea, but this wasn’t your average Chicken Parm type place. The menu was filled with unpronounceable tid-bits and sauces that were delicious! The Specialty Dining places fill up quickly during the regular part of the trip and Paula had heard that one trick was to book it on the first night, so that’s what we did.

          Off then to the Show, a comedian, he was really good, I can’t relay his act to you here because not only is this a Family Friendly Post, but he was a big Black man and there’s no way to do that justice!

          Today promises to be sunny and warm, not a storm in sight!  ☹