Snoozing While Cruising
As a first timer, I was completely apprehensive about the entire prospective cruise experience. I was worried that something might not go according to plan. After over-planning and over-packing for my vacation at sea, I realized that I had not planned to rest, relax or sleep.
My mom and I planned for and enjoyed the cruise together. Mom dug up all kinds of great advice from blogs about cruising. She took care of securing documents and providing lists of must-have items. I handled all of the reservations and internet-based stuff that we needed to do be cruise official.
If it can happen... from the beginning of the first leg of the trip, things did not go as planned. However, everything worked out anyway. We left an hour later than anticipated but arrived just in time to board the ship early. We booked the park and walk option but my mom brought vintage luggage, i.e., no wheels. The Park & Cruise guy drove us to the crosswalk in a golf cart and a porter grabbed our luggage at the front of the terminal. I forgot the wine on the kitchen cabinet at my house so I drank cruise ship lemonade which was quite tasty. Our cruise shirts were cute and small, but they fit my girls so no love lost.
Odd room key situation... with all of the planning and research, we missed a very critical piece of information. When you are cleared to go to your stateroom, your keys are left outside of your door in a sealed envelope. To me, this was bothersome. What if someone decided to enter my room and pretend to be me? Or worse, someone decided to violate me or steal all of my stuff or buy drinks for the entire deck on my tab. Well, luckily none of that happened and later on I learned that every time I purchased something my photo popped up and was verified by the sales person.
Mustering was too close for comfort... once we were on board, we were quite entertained by all of the people and all of the music and all of the chatter and all of the food. Like everyone else, we hopped into the buffet line and tried to find something we could enjoy. As noted earlier, we also found the community ice, water, tea, lemonade and coffee dispensers. At this point, I was absolutely fine with the cruise. Once we went to our rooms, we went back out to be mustered or to learn what to do in case of an emergency. It felt like being on Bourbon St. except everyone stood in rows, no one could drink, cell phones weren't allowed, and someone scanned your room card to prove that you attended.
Sailing away... Past the muster and we went up to a higher deck to get ready for take off. It was nice to see the ship move away from land. Of course, the sight of seaweed, dolphins, pelicans, and thousands of potential new friends gave me butterflies. Once we were sailing, we got lost and walked what felt like literally a fourth of a mile. Then we went to our rooms and took the first of a series of naps. Between the walk, the heat, and the anxiety caused by breathing other people's air, I was worn out.
Casual dining was a treat... then there was dinner in the dining room. It was no doubt some of the same food served on the buffet. However, to eat on non-melamine dishes, to drink out of glasses, to have whipped butter at our table, to have your appetizer served to you on a fancy plate... made eating in the dining room worth the hassle of a designated meal time and dress code. The staff was super attentive as well.
Wild and crazy nights... After dinner, I had a list of things to do. Club, deck party, movie night, world series game were all on my list. However, every night after dinner, I went back to my room and slept. Every night I was in bed by 9pm. My mind said it is time to party. My body said "girl you need some rest." And so we napped. We slept-in every morning, had breakfast. Did a bit of cruise strolling and had a drink. Then we napped and got ready for the PM dinner. Then after dinner, we napped again.
Who says you can't recover from life on a cruise ship. The ship helped me to relax. I spent my days people watching and snoozing.