Warning: this is a very long post. Some of the stuff is in answer to questions we have been getting or by request of friends wanting details.
A week ago we were FL bound to experience our first cruise. At that time we didn't know if it would turn out to be the stupidest decision of our life or one of the better choices. Now we know- and the verdict is we loved cruising!
This story starts back in late October-early November. Our 20th anniversary was coming up and we were scratching for an idea of where to celebrate. We have this thing going where each year we try to top the year before, which naturally is getting harder to do. A big number like 20 felt like it should be something extra memorable. None of the ideas we thought of struck us as being "right". We threw out a request for suggestions on FaceBook and some of you obliged. The suggestion of a cruise caused us to revisit that idea. It was something we've wanted to try, but we really didn't want to go alone the first time. (We don't "get out" much and feared making total fools of ourselves.) So we pitched the idea to Hillcrest friends of ours who have cruised before. Long story short- we almost went to the Smokies in November, but we got their email just in time that they were actually considering the cruise idea! It was too short notice for November and then it's the holidays, so we agreed on January. We selected the Bahamas as a destination. And the rest is history.
Right from the start we were so grateful for friends to spare us from making stupid mistakes. As a general rule, you get what you pay for. Therefore, on my own, I would have booked a stateroom in the mid-price range. There are those people who will tell you to spend the extra for a suite or at least ocean-view. We booked an interior stateroom - the cheapest category available, and here's why it turned out to be a great choice for us: we were advised that the lower you are in the ship the more stable it is [less motion if the ocean is rough]; we were all the way down on Deck 3 mid-ship and felt very little motion... with an interior room it stayed dark and we could sleep in as long as we wanted (morning persons won't get this one!)... if you get claustrophobic in small spaces, an interior stateroom probably wouldn't be for you, but it was as roomy as our camper, so we didn't mind the compact facilities at all. Being from thrifty German stock, we would choose interior stateroom again.
We were very concerned about getting seasick. I get carsick fairly easy and R has a history of "feeding the fish" on small boats. Those who know us well probably are familiar with my story of extreme carsickness en route to another anniversary get-away, so trust me when I say nothing kills the romance like feeling "green". I took ginger for about a week before the trip and we both wore wrist bands beginning the evening before we left. I kept thinking "how bad can it get? The Bahamas really aren't that far from FL so we're not spending much time at sea. It's a huge ship- surely it just glides along" But it seems everyone has a horror story to tell- if not their personal experience, they know someone who had a bad experience, and delight in sharing the misery, which had a way of eroding my confidence. Thank God we had smooth sailing! We removed our wristbands the first morning and never needed to put them back on.
In order to take a long weekend off, R needed to haul 2 WI loads last week. During the few hours he was home between loads, I took JS to take his driving test and get his license. As a result, we were home at the same time and awake all of
1 hour. If ever we needed a vacation together...! R & I were both awake at 1:30AM [Friday 20th], too excited to sleep, so we headed to the airport at 2AM. Fortunately we had clear roads and arrived in plenty of time. Funny how flights work these days- the cheapest tickets routed us north on a small plane before heading south on a nonstop flight to FL. It was a bitter 10* and the plane had to be de-iced up north. Orlando was a balmy 70*. We got a rental car for the drive to Port Canaveral, where their shuttle took us to the pier.
With the busy-ness of the holidays, getting passports slipped through the cracks. Till we thought of it, it was questionable whether passports would arrive in time. We were taking what is called a closed-loop cruise (beginning & ending in the US) so passports were
not required. We called the cruise line just to make sure we won't have any problems getting on/off the ship in the Bahamas and were assured "no problem". However, there was one minor detail that no one mentioned. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that a married lady's birth certificate with have her maiden name and her driver's license will have her married name, so why didn't anyone mention that a marriage license will be required to bridge the gap? When we were told at the check-in counter that R is being booked through but I cannot board without a marriage license, well, to say our hearts sank would be an understatement. I was escorted to a waiting area and handed a paper outlining my options. Not having a phone with internet access seriously limited my options. (Our friends had a phone with access but had already boarded and were not allowed back into the area where we were.) Our only hope was reaching JR at home and having him fax the necessary document. We were in good company- there were quite a few couples facing the same dilemma. I called home and walked JR through finding the document and how to run the fax machine- something he had never done before. The first fax was a strike-out but helped him figure out the correct place to put the paper. Interesting trying to coach someone when you can't see what is happening on the other end. The 2nd fax was also a strike-out because it was the invoice for purchasing our marriage license. The stress level notches up. I knew where our marriage
certificate was and said a prayer that would be acceptable. All things considered, the cruise staff had the process streamlined and called me to the counter immediately when the fax came through. The lady looked at it, commented "That looks different" (I didn't bother to point out it was a marriage certificate, not license), then shrugged and proceeded to book me through. Thank you, Jesus! If I could have reached JR at that moment I would have hugged him for saving the day! Here we are in all our post-stress glory... thrilled to finally be on board.
"We, us, the 2 of us, both of us, together" as my family would say.
This is a reception area just inside the ship. Someone asked me what is was like walking onto a huge ship like that. To be truthful, I don't remember much of it; I was still trying to get my bearings together from the near disaster of being left behind. I would have to say comparable to walking down the jet way onto a plane, an enclosed hallway, I think.
We only had time to unpack before the mandatory Muster Drill. I was amazed at the cruise line's ability to organize and move more than 2000 people in an orderly fashion. I was also amazed at the way a few guests were not paying an attention to instructions. It's those kind of people who cause mass confusion in a disaster. If you're not familiar with a muster drill it was a dry run for what we needed to do if there was a problem, such as a sinking ship. Speaking of which, we were asked several times if we're sure we want to cruise right after the Italy cruise sinking, but my opinion is that there is no safer time than right after a disaster.
We left Port Canaveral around 4PM. We were up on Deck 11 to watch the departure. A funny feeling- we didn't even realize we were moving until all at once we saw the land was "moving".
Once we moved out into the open water- the true test of seasickness- my stomach felt fine but I was dizzy. We decided it was lack of sleep. We were signed up for late dining at 8:30. My chilled strawberry soup, chicken marsala and tiramisu were excellent, but I was so exhausted I could hardly wait for the meal to be over so I could sleep. After all I had only been up for 21.5 hours.
While we cruised along at 17 knots all night (for everyone who has been asking- that's 19.567mph), I slept soundly and woke up feeling human again. We were wowed by the breakfast buffet in the Windjammer; so much food and it's all included in the price. Well, almost all of it. Again we were thankful for friends to answer our questions about what's included and what isn't. No $5 glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice for us when the regular variety is free!
We docked a little before noon Saturday in Nassau. We had spotted this sign on the wharf from the ship so we headed there first enroute to the beach. Shortly after we took this picture it started to rain. It didn't appear like it would blow over any time soon so we got back on the ship.
Rain is conducive to naps. Eating too much is conducive to walking laps around the promenade deck. Later in the day when the rain let up, R & I ventured back into Nassau to do some shopping. I had my heart set on a conch shell. We walked & walked until we found a street vendor selling some for a reasonable price and appeared to be someone trying to earn an honest living to support his family. We also got teeshirts from the Straw Market, but I didn't care for shopping there because it seemed they didn't want to you to touch anything unless you were buying but their stuff was piled in their booths to where you couldn't see it properly without picking it up.
Great photo opp walking back to the ship after dark!
Saturday evening was formal night. An evening to get all dressed up and pretend to be elegant. If ever there was a time it's interesting to watch people... Seriously, some of the shoes!! What are they thinking?! Can we say chiropractor bills, folks?
On this evening there were photographers set up at various places to take our formal portraits. No charge, no obligation to buy. So, of course, we went around to them all. Surely out of all those poses we'd find one good one. Here we are dining afterwards with our friends D & R.
I had the pineapple & papaya soup, followed by a seafood ravioli dish. R had oxtail soup for his appetizer and duck for his main dish. For dessert it was strawberry cheesecake and chocolate mocha mousse. The mousse was interesting- a waitress made a hole in it with my spoon then poured cappuccino in the hole until the whole thing started to float up out of the ramekin. Delicious!
After we ate, we went to the Love & Marriage game show in the theater. It was hilarous! They picked out a newlywed couple on their honeymoon, the longest married couple in the room (45 years), and a couple married 7 years to be the contestants. The wives were sent out while the husbands were asked 3 questions, then the wives came back and were asked the same questions to see if they'd answer the same, then the husbands went out and the process was repeated. The honeymooning couple won. We stayed to watch the next show which was a juggler; pretty amazing- knives and all.
Till that show was over, the midnight buffet was in process. This is only 1 table of many. There were 3 ice sculptures. I have more pictures of food; you'll have to visit us and see my scrapbook to see them. I only ate a strawberry; Richard sampled a few things. We soon left because the dance music on that deck was so loud. When we got to our room, the stateroom attendant had a towel folded into a swan on our bed. Awesome.
We left Nassau around midnight and arrived in CocoCay Sunday morning. CocoCay is Royal Carribean's private island. The ship was anchored in deeper water and we had to ride these tender boats to get to/from the island. If you can see the small dark spot near the center of the ship just above the water- that is where we went in & out via gangplank.
The weather was as gorgeous on Sunday as it was blah on Saturday. Sunny and 80*. What's not to like about that in January?! As I looked at this beautiful scene, I had to wonder how some people can not believe in a Creator.
R tried snorkeling here -his 1st time. The water was a bit cool. There was a BBQ lunch on the island for us; the meat wasn't as tender as we prefer, but we ladies enjoyed sampling the rum cake. (I thought it tasted like the cake in date pudding.) For the record- that was the only taste of liquer we had on the whole trip, unlike some other guests.
When we got back to the ship the formal portraits were on display. So many to pick from! You know how it is- I like me on this one, him on that one, and this background. Because of the price we only purchased 1 of us with our friends and another of us alone. When we were making our purchase, the photographer asked if I want a folio to put them in. I said no because I'll be putting them in a scrapbook, to which he responded "Ahh, scrapbook!" I told Richard "Uh, oh, I think I just said the magic word." He had a Carribean Cruise scrapbook/album package deal -actually for a reasonable price. I don't often "bite" for those offers but I did this time. I can't wait to scrapbook these pictures!
Sunday evening I had raspberry pineapple soup (I know, another cold fruit soup) and also spinach dip for appetizer, then a shrimp and mahi-mahi platter; Richard tried pumpkin soup, and had NY strip steak. For dessert- key lime pie and chocolate sandwich cake. Awesome, as usual. There was a chef's parade at the end of our meal but when we were supposed to dance the macarena with the waiters we didn't have a clue. Didn't even try.
We were back in Port Canaveral by 7AM Monday. Only enough time to eat that wonderful buffet breakfast one last time and pack before our 8AM disembarking time.
Like virtually everyone else on a short cruise, we wanted to carry our own luggage off and the line stretched across 3 decks. Fortunately for us, our friends got in line early and we could jump in with them. Again it was amazing how the staff kept everything organized and the line moving (nothing like Mennonite viewings/calling hours!) One last time to get our SeaPass scanned. A quick trip through customs and we were off on the shuttle to pick up a rental car.
Our 2nd flight was delayed an hour. I don't enjoy turbulance in any aircraft, but bouncing around in a little one is not my cup of tea. Glad to be safely back on solid ground. It was in the 40s when we got back, but that still feels cold. We got to our house at 7:30PM. Our children managed just fine at home alone, but I think they were ready to have us back.
In summary-- 1. it went by too fast. 2. I could handle having a staff at home to pick up after us 3 a day and cook for us 24/7; we had fabulous service. 3. We definitely want to go again. Before our 40th anniversary.
