Our Cruise, Day 1

So, because people seem to like reading about it, is a rundown of our Caribbean vacation. In brief, though, because there’s a lot of stuff that happened.

How about we start with DAY 1

From Caribbean Trip

This was monday, and we got in a little early to check in and enjoy the lunch buffet. They were smart to make the check in process as much as possible like an airport, because that way everyone knew what was going on. There was a pretty long line, what with 5000 people all trying to do the same thing, but they did a pretty good job of ferrying everyone through the process and before we knew it, we were on board and enjoying a lunch buffet. The rumors are all true, there is a lot of food on a Cruise Ship. There was different stuff at the buffet every day, and we had to be careful not to stuff ourselves to destruction every time we sat down for food.

We checked out our room next, and then we had to do something called a ‘muster drill’ where we all went down to where we would have to go in the event of an evacuation and put on our life vests. After ‘passing muster’ we come back to the room, where Jess took a nap and I looked over some options for stuff to do on the boat and in the various ports. And then it was time for dinner.

We had dinner in the Universe Dining room, and while understated, I have to say that dinner was the most impressive feat on the boat. Simultaneously serving 1700 people, in two dining rooms, with delicious prepared foods...while at sea. For a week. But they did it, and they made it look easy. We just had to sit down, order appetizers, entree, and dessert, and the food just started coming out. You could order whatever you wanted, as much as you wanted, and it was all covered by your ticket. The food was delicious, too. Jess and I would order food and then taste each others stuff to see who had the best dinner. I like being married. Jess also ordered the ‘Chocolate Melting Cake’, with extra ice cream. That became her favorite dessert on the trip. I generally went for whatever they were serving that I hadn’t tried before. With the exception of the one time I ordered the smoked salmon, because I love smoked salmon.

After dinner, Jess went off to get a massage, which is always nice because I ask her to teach me things she liked every time she goes. I’m slowly becoming a massage expert. While she was doing that, I consulted the ‘Carival Capers’ newsletter, which is this thing they hand out every day that details what will be happening on and around the ship. It’s a good summary of events, times, and places to go do things.

From Caribbean Trip

One of the things that caught my eye on the guide was a band called ‘Blood Power’. I had no idea what they were, but with a name like Blood Power, I had to go check them out. As it turns out, they were a rock cover band, four gentlemen of Phillipino descent. When I got there they were halfway through the solo to Freebird, and were doing quite well. I decided to stay until they played something I didn’t like, and I ended up staying for the entire first set. I went back to the room to get Jessie, and we came back and listened to them until 1 in the morning. We are big fans of the Blood Power Band.

While we were listening I also discovered that I like whiskey. My drink of choice for the tour was Jameson on the Rocks. I would get that whenever I ordered a drink, which wasn’t often. Jess liked the big fruity things with little umbrellas in them. It’s a cruise, what did you expect?

After a long night, we crashed in bed and slept. Jess loved sleeping on the boat, neither of us (evidently) gets motion sickness and the gentle rocking of the boat put us both right to sleep.

-N