SATURDAY
I felt great. I showed no signs of seasickness because the ship does move. I would highly recommend taking medications or other precautions before traveling to avoid any unhappy moments if you're prone to air/seasickness. We flew into Miami from Atlanta. That was my first time on an airplane. I love the take off, not to happy with the landing. When the flight attendants gave the headphones, I immediately put them on and started singing into the plug-in piece. Hey, it reminded me of when I would play with my grandmother's stethoscope years ago. We went with Carnival's air/sea package which I highly recommend. The shuttle is waiting for you as soon as you get off of the plane. There's no need to bother with a taxi. Just be sure to tip your drivers. It's a short ride from the airport to the port, depending on traffic. When we finally arrived at the port, the driver takes your luggage off of the bus and you have to find it and get tags from the porters, who are waiting on their tips with their hands held out. Remember to bring lots of dollar bills with you. We put the new tags on our luggage and that was it. Also, be sure to pack an extra set of clothes and your bathing suit in your carry on. You will not get your luggage back until later in the afternoon. We got ours back around 5:30 or 6pm.
We were sent on our way to a counter to show our birth certificate/passport and credit card. You fill out all of your credit card information for the sign and sail card which is used throughout the ship. The only place you need cash is the casino. There are some games that allow you to play with money off of your sign and sail, you'll have to look for signs on the table.
There is a lot of walking through the gates. At times, we felt like cattle. Then you stop to take your picture for the sign and sail, which you have to look down at (yuck!) I hated mine. Be prepared to have your picture taken a lot by the ship's photographers.
When we finally approached the gangway to get on the boat, we were so excited...FINALLY aboard this beautiful, big ship. One of the greeters gave us a map of the ship, which you will DEFINITELY need. I wanted to get to our room and put down my heavy carry on but I was lucky enough to have a really strong friend, Cindy, who carried mine. I'll know better next time. We got to our room at 3:20 pm and the boat sails at 4 pm. But before sailing, we have to do a drill with life preservers fastened correctly. We had to walk up to the 4th floor and stand in line beside the lifeboats and wait. The elevators are turned off before, during and after this drill. So, be prepared to be hot and sweaty.
We were so hungry after this drill. We took our life preservers back to the room and went wandering around the ship. I was extremely tired. I hadn't slept all night Friday night. I calculated I was awake for 31 1/2 hours straight. We had missed our dinner in the London Dining Room at 6:30 pm. It was around 7pm so, we went to the Lido Deck and ate at the buffet. We walked around some more and then went back to the Rome Lounge for an opening ceremony for our cruise. Our cruise director, John Heald was very entertaining. He was a true comedic force and he set forth the pace of this "fun ship". We got the chance for introductions of several cruise guests named Yu Scru, Dick Wooden, Donald the feisty Scotsman, etc. It was a show I'll never forget. After the show, I was exhausted and decided to go back to the room to get some sleep. Beth and Cindy went exploring on the ship. Ahhh, perchance to dream.
SUNDAY
I love waking up with a migraine and seasickness. I was sick for most of the day and the very mention of food (thanks Bethie) made me run to the bathroom to toss my cookies or calling Ralph on the big white phone or hurling...whichever one you prefer. Cindy brought me a grilled chicken sandwich and French fries back from the Lido Deck later in the afternoon around 4:30. I knew I had to start feeling better because we had our first formal night tonight. After I ate, I wasn't as queasy but still had the icky feeling. We all got ready and looked gorgeous. Cindy and Beth had told me about this piano bar called the Big Easy Piano bar that they had stopped by last night. They said they had a great time there. So, after our lovely dinner in the dining room, we went back to the room and made some adjustments with hair and clothes and went walking around the ship. We strolled through the Big Easy and it was packed. It looked like a lot of fun but we wanted to sit down somewhere and drink. We went into Club Rio and watched people dancing then we watched this Japanese group lip sync songs. Around midnight, we went to the Big Easy and found some seats at the round bar and sat down. I had tried a Long Beach or Grateful Dead drink, it's similar to a Long Island Tea but cranberry juice is used instead of Coke. This one drink gave me a buzz. I don't drink that often, that's why it doesn't take me long to get a buzz. That buzz opened me up. We were all singing along and suggesting songs to Barry, the piano man. I think Cindy screamed Grease. So, he started playing "Summer Lovin" from Grease. There's a part in the song where Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta both go, "wonder what she's/he's doing now" and then they go "awwww". Well, all three of us did that "awwww" pretty loud just about the time Barry was spinning around in his rotating piano floor and he looked at me and pointed me out. He said that I had a sexy voice and I said some dirty things when he put his microphone in front of me. I wouldn't want to repeat any of the things I said on this website, because there might be children reading this one day. He asked me my name and I told him. He asked where I was from, I told him, "Georgia" and then he wanted to know about sweet Georgia peaches. So, I had to tell him "we were ripe and juicy". It was just a great night for letting loose because we were on a cruise. While in there, we met a lot of people. The Connecticut Gang which included Tony, Dominick (cute and shy), this other guy that told the same joke each night he was in there (it was too funny-not the joke, but that he told it each night), Laverne and Shirley. We didn't get there names but they hung out with Tony and the gang. The last night, they hopped and skipped around the bar as everyone sang the Laverne & Shirley TV theme song while Barry played. The Cleveland Crowd were on the boat for the wedding of Jim and Christy. Jim and his buddies were in there tonight celebrating. Jim was getting married in St. Thomas on Tuesday.
The bar is a very dirty minded place. Who would have known with some of the things I said and did in that room that everyone would chant, "Rachel! Rachel! Rachel!" Tony was Barry's man. Tony was the man! Barry had a goldfish bowl for tips and you could wad up bills and try to ring the bowl with a miniature basketball backboard taped on the bowl. If you missed, Barry would say, "To keep practicing." If you came close to ringing it or rang it, he would say, "He/she's MY NEW BEST FRIEND!" By this time the whole room would say it. Tony would hold up the bowl to make it easier for the shots. Barry would also say, "Help him out or Tony's GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS!" And the whole room would say that also.
It's a very fun place to go on a ship. You can request songs or tell jokes. I highly recommend visiting the piano bar. It made our cruise a lot of fun. The next time we book our cruise, it has to have a sing-a-long piano bar. Tonight was such a great night.
After the Big Easy closed, we went to the Hollywood Disco for a little while and I decided to call it a night and Cindy and I went to the cabin and we were kind of hungry. We ordered room service. That is so nice after coming in from a long night of partying . Beth stayed out that evening and watched the sunrise on the deck of the ship. Ahhhhhh...bedtime.
Then the phone rings around 3 or 3:30. Cindy gets up to answer it and it's Beth. Beth was up on deck and Barry walked by and she said, "hi, Barry." She told him, she was a friend of Rachel's. Then he asked her where I was and then she called the room and handed the phone over to Barry. We talked for a short while and exchanged room numbers. When Beth finally came back to the room she was telling me some of the things that Barry had said about me. He thought I was cute. Things like that make a girl feel great. Ahhhhhh...bedtime, now?
Copyright © 2004 roxydoodle