Alas, departure day! The source of much anticipation and anxiety, the reason for purchase of my first winter coat since leaving maryland, the jarring sunlight peeking in the window as my alarm wakes us up at half past way too early after drinking that much!!!
I woke up to Taylor sleeping next to Sabrina, instead of in her play pen; and a room that looked like it had been tossed by burglars or trashed by rock stars. Our clothes, shoes, and Taylor's toys were everywhere. And I was quite hungover. Water, and ibuprofen to the rescue! I called for some room service breakfast for us all, except Rylee who had to leave early in the morning. After a quick shower, and some breakfast, the world wasn't quite as scary and painful. The excitement was back!!! We ordered an egg white omlette, and eggs benedict. Both had to be sent back. The omlette was all the eggs, and my eggs benedict eggs were closer to hard boiled than they were to poached. For $19 a plate, they'd better be right! Finally, we got our breakfasts made correctly. Getting packed up and out of the room was hectic, but we managed; with the help of the bellhop and his luggage cart. After a goodbye to the Delmos, we were on the van and on our way to the cruise terminal. As we arrived and the monstrous ship came into view, I thought I would actually scream in excitement! We'd arrived early to board, around 12:15pm so that we wouldn't have crazy lines to wait in; but it looked like everyone else had the same idea. They took pictures of us for their computer, and the videographer couldn't get enough of Taylor. A quick glance around noted that there were no other children in site, and at least fifteen walkers and hoverrounds. It made me think of the carnival cruise, with the hood rich guy, and I resolved that this would definitely be a different experience than our last cruise experience. We boarded the ship, and I noticed how unremarkable the lobby was. The ceiling was not giant and open, but rather like a regular floor. I'd expected vaulting grandeur. It was immediately apparent that this ship was not new, and that the decor had been lost somewhere between the 70s and 80s. Our room was great, though. Spacious, with a balcony the size of the room we'd had on Carnival. The bathroom was big, with room for someone to bathe in the actual bathtub and someone else to stand at the sink. Then there were three mirrored closets and a dressing area! My favorite part was the view of the Olympic mountains from our balcony. It was a fresh, beautiful day. Blue skies, a slight breeze. It felt like the perfect fall day. We went up to the lido deck for lunch, which was ok. I noticed that the outdoor space was more appropriate for the Alaska weather than it was for the Caribbean. On Carnival, we'd had quite a bit more open space. But, the pool on this ship was heated and the roof retractable. It kept the area temperate, and inviting even on the coldest of our cruise days.
Dinner presented more of a challenge than lunch. The kitchen is on the 4th deck. The dining room is at the far rear (aft) of the ship, and is deck 4 and 5. We took the elevator to deck 4 and proceeded aft, only to discover that in order to get past the kitchen you have to go up to deck 5, farther to the rear to the very last elevators, and down again to deck 4. Ugh! When you are travelling with a stroller, and a scooter and 4 other people, it presents quite a challenge. We eventually made it, and were seated immediately. It wasn't until the last day of the cruise that we realized that our suite number, which the maitre d asked for was our ticket to priority seating. We never had to wait for a table. We received a table far to the rear, next to the picturesque wall of windows. It was really warm, though, and Taylor wasn't feeling quite as happy as usual. It made it a little more tense, because dad kept trying to talk her into being quiet. It was comical, but frustrating. He also did a lot of sshing. I knew he would, but it was already driving me a bit crazy. I had anticipated a little bit of unrealistic expectations, and vowed to figure out a way to allow Taylor and dad to coexist at the dining room table. The service was appallingly bad. Never were our tables pre-bussed, and the entire experience took about 1 1/2 hours. We did enjoy the valet parking of the scooter, especially since the guys that "parked" the scooter near the wall enjoyed turning the speed up and zig zagging in between tables. After dinner, I noticed that the ship was getting more and more rocky as we'd entered the straits of juan de fuca. I put Taylor down, and Susan stayed with her in the room because her knee hurt. Donna and I grabbed a drink (hers was coffee, most of the cruise...she's not a drinker) and mine was a blue coconut mojito. We went down to look for dad in the casino, and it was about then that I had to excuse myself for the evening to the cabin. I was super sick. I took a dramamine, and layed down to sleep. I hate throwing up, and I know that if I do it once, it won't stop. The ship rocked me into an uneasy sleep, still feeling sick but without throwing up. I determined that tomorrow would be better!
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