Family Cruise through the Caribbean

Greetings!

I am writing this from somewhere in the Atlantic.

The flight down was long....we flew over on AirMiles, so the only flight available was the red eye...We left Calgary at midnight and flew to Toronto then flew from Toronto at 9:30 to Fort Lauderdale arriving at 14:00. The one bonus was that the only seats available through Air Miles were on first class...Before yesterday I was a first-class virgin...(Yes, that sentence sounds funny out of context) And although I can't say the seats were any more comfortable or reclined further than cattle class, we were fed meals..on real china no less...and the best part: First Class Lounge...I was aware such a thing existed but thought it was just a waiting area with some leather recliners or something...but no my friends...the first class lounge is a beautiful, beautiful oasis in the middle of the airport...television, comfy chairs, couches, open bar(yep, you read that right), cappaccino machine, buffet tables of food, free newspapers and magazines, a bathroom that rivals any 5 star hotel I've been to, a fireplace....I didn't want to leave, you could actually vacation IN the first class lounge, no reason to fly anywhere...maybe next year.

Florida is warm...mid-twenties and humid..I like it. Did a little shopping and I crash early after a night of no sleep...I dream of the first class lounge.

We boarded the ship at noon....I think it is best for me to describe the ship and my ship experiences in two categories...Non-mocking and mocking. There is much to mock but don't want it to sound like I have a bad attitude or am having a bad time by making all entries 100%mocking...yet, must mock......Can't. Keep. It. In.

Boarded the ship at noon...fairly efficient considering the large numbers of people boarding, over 1900 on this ship. There's not much to say about today...really just unpacked and ate...then ate...then showered...then ate...then internet....I would say the median age here is 55. Very few young people... a few kids (because of Easter break) and maybe a handful in the 25-35 range at most. Our rooms are pretty nice, I'm sharing with my mom. They have 2 single beds, a little desk and seating area by the window and a small bathroom. Small, but more than enough room..and who wants to spend any more time in their room then necessary when in the Caribbean? Got settled then ate at the buffet for lunch and suntanned a bit(my Egypt base is serving me well) and had dinner. We are in a plate serving dinner that eats at 20:15 every night, you sit with the same people. To eat you get a choice for 4-5 items for each category(appy,soup,salad, main, dessert) and they change the theme nightly. We are sharing a table with Kelly and Tony from London. They seem nice, Tony drives a taxi...I missed what Kelly does, and Dennis and Pat. They were on the other side of the table so I can't tell you much about them but also from somewhere in the UK. They all seem nice enough so probably no food fights.

Food: you can literally eat 24 hours a day here....There's a 24 hour buffet, plate service for breakfast,lunch, dinner, an all day pizza restaurant, all day hamburger/hotdog grill, bars everywhere, steakhouse, Italian restaurant, ice cream stand....it's a crazy amount of food. We had our lunch at the buffet and it was a bitter fight for supremacy..I mean, Lady, relax! The jello's not going anywhere!!! Oh, and the plates they give you at the buffet...not a dinner plate..oh, no...an oval platter..like the one you display your turkey on at thanksgiving, with raised edges for optimal food heapage...like 15inches diameter...and the "small" plates that they stack by salad/fruit stand were dinner plates.

-Funny Family's-

1. Matching Outfit Family: there is an entire family who are wearing matching red golf shirts...oh, wait it gets worse...you're thinking red golf shirts, how cute..Deb, why are you so judgmental??? You think that only because I have yet to mention...wait for it.... wait for it.....matching red velour track suits with white stripes down the side...there's like 8 of them...matching right down to the baby(I'll try to get a picture)...I wonder though....did they buy 10 days of red shirts to wear, or do they switch colors everyday?...and if that's the case, do they plan their outfit color the day before...or did they make a calendar before they left? ....I mean how embarrassing would it be to show up for dinner with a red shirt when the rest are wearing blue?

2. Walkie-talkie Family: There's a family on board that all carry walkie-talkies and communicate via these...For example: "What is your location, over" "I'm in the room, over" "Standby, I'm enroute to your location, over and out" I saw the dad talking on them and he was all intense like he was pretending to be on a secret FBI sting operation...he was throwing 10-4's and roger's all over the place...Again, will try to get picture...perhaps shoot a little video.

Fanny Packs : Fanny packs everywhere....I don't really have a good fanny pack story but will take some photos and perhaps piece together a collage for the BLOG...maybe a power point presentation set to music...hmmm...

*I'm still on the lookout for black socks and sandals...will alert you all ASAP.

Wow...just realized it is 12:30.....I will have to write more tomorrow. We have 2 full days of sailing before we get to the first island...so my next two days will consist of... Eat,tan,eat,tan,nap,shower,eat,sleep.. Repeat. (Attn:Order may vary)