This is the first time that we’ve had two consecutive days at sea on a cruise. Half a dozen would be welcome, as it’s a time that you can truly relax. It also was the first time that we had sunshine available, although it was still pretty nippy out in the mornings.
As might be expected, the adults were up early and exploring what was about the ship. The kids opted to sleep in and awoke only in time to barely catch the end of the breakfast buffet or the beginning of the lunch ones. By that time the adults had all staked their turf on the sundecks.
You’ll have to excuse the posts as getting the two days mixed up; they were spent very much the same way and kind of run together, except that on Saturday EB and I got massages, a fathers day gift from the fam. They were the best cruise-ship massages that we’ve had; usually those tend to be kind of mediocre, to say the least.
There was enough sun to get a bit of color, which was welcome. After all, we had 6 bottles of sunscreen that we needed to use up! I think we made it through about 1/3 of the first one was all.
Dinner on Friday was “Lobster Night”, although the Prime Rib looked every bit as enticing. You can’t help but laugh at Jacob over the food – he’s seen some things that he hasn’t experienced before.
At the big seafood buffet before we left Los Angeles, we were amazed at the variety of sushi and all the seafood and other things available. It was almost obscene how much there was. What impressed Jacob the most? The individual cups of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream with the little spoon built into the top of the cup! On Friday, he reached into his jacket pocket at one point and showed us his “souvenirs” – plastic ice cream tasting spoons from Victoria.
He, along with the other kids, have accepted our challenges to try something new, though, especially since they can do it at no cost and get something else if they don’t like it. Escargot was kind of memorable, although it wasn’t especially appetizing with the kind of green gravy they had around it. Everyone tried it, though.
The funniest one (again, Jacob) was on Friday when some of them got a smoked salmon as an appetizer. It didn’t have nearly as much smoke as we’d normally expect, and looked about like it could have flopped out of the case at the Harris-Teeter. Jacob took a bite and began chewing – and chewed – and chewed – and chewed. It seemed to be getting bigger, and his color wasn’t looking so well. I think everyone has had a bite of something they didn’t care for seem to get bigger the more you chew on it! It finally went down, though, followed by his full glass of water.
We all went to the 7:00 show the last night. It was the same juggler we saw in the opening show, although the act was entirely different, followed by a comedian who did a hysterical stand-up show. So funny, in fact, that most of us opted for the 11:00 “Adult” show that he did. The early show ended with a production number which was loud and enthusiastic, if nothing else.
Dinner the last night is always fun, but you hate to see your waiter go. It’s hard to tell how much is an act or whether they really enjoyed working with you, but I think that Lyall and Gang both liked us. They said they did, anyhow, and they kidded with us and that’s always a good sign. We took their pic the last night and wanted the boys to scoop him up horizontally, but they never take hints – he’s such a little guy it would have been funny to catch him off guard. Eventually, though, we got something other than the typical “stand and smile” pic. Tips are given out (you get envelopes specifically for this purpose) the last night as well, and I would think that would make everyone working on the ship smile.
While waiting for the late show, we hit the casino for the last time. The slot-gods weren’t smiling on anyone, though, except Caleb, who managed to turn about $7.00 into $28.50, despite being busted and thrown out twice. After that, it was time to go to the late show.
Departure
Leaving the ship is the antithesis of arriving. All those smiling employees who were greeting you – want you to get the hell out so they can start over again. They got their tips the night before, when you left the envelope out and they made up the rooms for the evening.
If there was one part of this cruise that needed some significant improvement, it was our stateroom attendant. For those that don’t know, these people do the cleaning service in the room, clean the bathrooms, pull out the beds and turn them down at night, make sure you have ice water, etc.
It’s obviously much more than happens at home, where you have to do all that stuff yourself – but part of being on a cruise is being pampered a little and having those special touches. Benita missed the fact that there was no little chocolate on the pillow when you came back to your room at night.
Our guy, Hussein, who was from the Philippines, frankly sucked. He was always friendly, but things were never replenished, the ice bucket was gone most of the time (never mind being filled), and he just kind if did a slack-ass job compared to what we’d experienced on other cruises. Was this a company policy change associated with the fact that they undoubtedly lost their shirts on this cruise (after all, people don’t buy cold slushy drinks poolside when they’re wrapped in towels and sweatshirts trying to stay warm!) Who knows – but it did impact the trip some.
Anyhow, you pack all your stuff up, (thank you, PT, for that travelling luggage scale that went to Australia!), figure out what won’t fit and how you’re going to make it work, then you put your big suitcases outside your door before you go to dinner. They disappear in the night, to come back to you in an enormous warehouse where you can pick through the thousands of other suitcases to try to find it based on the color labels that you were assigned.
The last day, you’re supposed to get up and go eat as soon as you can. They want you out of there – after all, they’re not your friend any more and you’re in the way of the next crowd. So you pack up and then go sit in an assigned location, like one of the big bars, or, in our case, the ice skating rink, and wait for them to call your color to let you off the ship.
They have thought enough to put out coffee, and to have a “family area” with kid activities. In our case, we actually got off about an hour early, so we were leaving the ship by about 9 in the morning. There have been times on other cruises, though, that we’ve sat there for several hours waiting to leave. With screaming kids, that can be a very, very long time.
Two very full cabs to the airport (Mom and Dad were on United, so they had to fend for themselves at this point and caught a shuttle), and we were all ready to see what US Airways had to offer (3 first class upgrades, everyone else in the cattle car) and head back to reality, which we’ll reach about 10:00 Sunday night (local time, although our bodies will still think it’s 7ish).
All in all, a successful venture. Ten people out, ten people back, no injuries, few tears, lots of laughs and a good time.
