Current Location: somewhere between Florida and Mexico
Good evening friends! I am writing this to you from the boat on the first night of our cruise.
This morning was so stressful. This crazy husband of mine decided he didn't want to eat breakfast at the hotel because the lobby was so full. As a result, we went to Denny's for a yummy meal. Tick tick, tick tock is all I heard. We only had an hour before we had to be back at our hotel to board our van that took us to the port. Breakfast was fabulous but it took so long that we only had 30 minutes to get back to our hotel. Of course, I needed to go to the store to buy a container to put our camera in when we are finished to rinse it out. We put the store in our GPS and off we went. Well, kind of. Because there was road construction, it led us on a wild goose chase through town. We got fairly close to the store but when we realized that we only had 10 minutes to catch our bus back at the hotel, we decided we must forget about the store and get our hinnies back to the Quality Inn! We didn't even get to stop because it has taken so long. We rushed back to the hotel, threw our bag back together, and ran down the steps to the lobby with 2 minutes to spare.
When we arrived downstairs, the receptionist said that the van had already arrived and we could wait outside. We met the sweetest couple from Georgia on our van! They are from Swainsboro. They told us they have property where the closest neighbor is a mile and a half away! Wow! Now that is secluded! There was another couple on our van who was Hispanic and spoke to our driver in Spanish. I kept looking at the husband because he looked familiar to me. Where did I know this guy from? Seriously, he looked so familiar but where did know this face from? Then I figured it out. He looked like Ronald Reagan! Do you see the resemblance?
I definitely do! Ricky doesn't see it, but I think he is crazier. This is clearly Ronald Reagan's tan little brother!
Today has been a super crazy day! This Miami port is un-stinkin-believable! There were literally thousands of people waiting to board these boats. Thousands!!
First, I must tell you about the staff. As soon as our driver dropped us off, we were greeted by a guy who picked our luggage up and literally put them in a cart. Then he turns around, pulls out a wad of cash with maybe $500. Then, he said "this is where you take care of me for taking care of your bag." Ricky looked at me and then back at the bag guy. Now, normally, we are very good about tipping and making sure that we follow the typical etiquette. Apparently then, Ricky was not on board with the etiquette for this guy though because he fibbed and told him that we had no cash. The guy responds "I do have change if you need it." Then Ricky repeated himself... "Sorry, we don't have any cash."
As soon as we walked away, Ricky told me that he refused to tip someone who was so rude to ask in that way. As we stood in line for about an hour to get checked in, all I could think was "man I hope he doesn't so something to our bag to try and 'get a tip' anyway." I literally worried about our stuff until the moment it arrived back at our room. Well, actually, we have two bags and at first only one arrived. Of course, I then worried like crazy that the other wouldn't come at all, but alas, it arrived!
The actual staff on the boat has been wonderful. The sweet lady taking care of our room is super sweet. Her name is Ni Wayan. The staff in the main dining room is very nice too. One of my favorite parts about cruising is the fact that most of the crew comes from a different country. I just think that is such a great place to see many cultures!
Here is Ricky enjoying our stateroom!
My clumsy butt found the one glass on the railing on the entire boat. Less than 30 minutes after take off, I was running my hands across the railing, oblivious to everything in the world, and my hand came in contact with the one glass on the whole railing. Smash! It crashed to the ground and thus my first clumsy accident was over!
At dinner, our food was just delicious. If you have never been on a cruise, you may not be aware of the eating situation. All food is including in your purchase of the cruise. All. Really, everything is included except alcohol if you're in to that and the price of excursions on shore at the ports but I digress. Anyway, we get to the dining room and check out the menu. I try to get the healthiest thing on the menu because I want to stick to WW as much as possible while I am away. Last year, I gained several pounds so this time, I want to stick to gaining less than 3 pounds. I ate the strawberry bisque as an appetizer, vegetarian lasagna as an entree, and mac n' cheese as a side. Okay, I realize the last is not healthy BUT I only ate half and I am okay with going cray cray a little, just not the whole meal. For dessert, I ate 1/3 of an apple pie and one scoop of ice cream. Ricky had calamari as an appetizer, grilled salmon & mac n' cheese. For desert, he got chocolate melting cake. I can attest to the deliciousness of the cake -- yum!!
Then tonight we went to the top deck and tried to watch a movie on the big screen above the pool. It is a massive screen! I got about 30 minutes in and fell asleep. That usually happens to me though. For some reason, I cannot stay awake watching tv at night!
It was a pretty great day and we are looking forward to our fabulous trip! I will update you again tomorrow on our first at sea day. (:
See ya!
Amy & Ricky
No comments:
Post a Comment