It's incomplete, but I figured most of you who stalk me regularly are dying for details, so here's what I've written so far - keep in mind that I started it on the cruise and wrote over several days. Pictures to come in a separate posting - probably several, since we used two cameras.
Cruise Chatter
It’s hard to believe that the cruise is already halfway over - it’s late tuesday afternoon and we’ll be in Cozumel in the afternoon tomorrow. After a short drive to Miami from Sabrina and Brent’s house we made it through the maze of the port of Miami and got our baggage checked in - got through the security screening (which is always traumatic for our kids for some reason...) and checked in and got our cards. The boarding process was smooth and we were one of the fortunate people who had a room that was ready - so many people were dragging around their carry-on luggage. We just had to drag our kids around :)
The safety drill was also tedious - the kids were tired and that was just one more thing we were asking them to do. Wyatt fell asleep shortly afterwards - I unpacked our bags and put everything away while Mike took Maddie to go play in the splash park. (Not all the parts are working - which is a disappointment, but Maddie hasn’t seemed to notice.)
Dinner the first night was traumatic as well - Wyatt had been woken up involuntarily from his nap. We requested the late dinner seating and were assigned the early seating - which is not good for us really. Thankfully the staff were wonderful - they played with Wyatt - brought him things to distract him and one man even walked him around the immediate eating area.
I’ve learned that so many of these staff members have young children of their own - and seeing little ones reminds them of their own children. The man who was cleaning up the tables where we ate lunch on the first day told me he had a daughter who had just turned a year old and he hadn’t seen her yet. Apparently they only get to go home every 6-8 months and have 2 months off before their next tour of duty.
The woman who works in the “Formalities” shop is mom to a 5 year old girl and a 2 year old boy and they live with her parents in the Phillippines. I can’t imagine not seeing my kids but for 2 months out of the year. It makes me tear up just thinking about it. She has really taken to Maddie and gives her a tiny bag of skittles each time we go visit her - I think Maddie is more about the skittles now than she is about Michelle - but I could be wrong! She always wants to stop in and say hi to her when her shop is open.
I tell you what - the variety of people on this ship is something to write about! This morning we sat with 2 women (later joined by a gentleman). The woman on the end of the table ordered her eggs scrambled “medium” and then literally threw a fit about how she was going to be sick just looking at them because they were runny. It was ridiculous. Mike told me later that he almost said something to her! I mean - come on - she ordered them MEDIUM! Medium in scrambled eggs means juicy and wet! YUCK.
This morning we walked around Key West - It was a nice place. The water was the most amazing blue color- different than what we have in destin. Ours is more of a green color vs. a blue. We took these train shuttles (trams really) into the downtown area and I don’t know when she saw it, but Maddie talked about a pink necklace with a white heart and we looked all over that town before going back to the little diskplay where we’d gotten off the train. She went up to the display and immediately picked out the necklace she’d been talking about! That kid has amazing attention to detail - just like her mama :)
Tonight is formal night and we’re all getting dressed up. I’m hoping dinner goes over more smoothly than it did last night and that the food is better than what we had last night. I ordered the NY strip last night - medium rare. Not only was it way way overcooked, but it was so tough that after two bites I quit eating it.
Breakfast was just ok in the dining room and we remembered a little too late that it’s much better up on the Lido Deck where there is more of a buffet style to meals. It’s often fresh-cooked and there are many more options. Tonight is the Elegant Night - so we’ll give it one more chance. I think we may even take advantage of the babysitting. Maddie has yet to go to Camp Carnival, but I’m hoping she’ll give it a try this evening...
Elegant Night was nice - until we got to dinner, that is! The kids were uncooperative at best and something disagreed with my stomach in a very bad way and I had to leave the dining room rather quickly and unexpectedly. I only had 2 bites of my lobster - much to my dismay! I spent the rest of the evening in bed. I was fully recovered in the morning though.
We had a great time in Cozumel. This time around we went to San Franscisco Beach Club. We took a taxi there for $12 - for all four of us. No a/c, no seatbelts or carseats - it was an interesting experience to say the least - especially coming from a country so obsessed with safety. The beach club was free - they provided chairs and umbrellas - and asked that you spend $10 per person (Wyatt was not included) - in food and drinks. We ended up spending a whole $12 - so we had to come up with some more stuff to buy. We ended up carrying out two huge bottles of water and some sodas - still paying them more than what we spent - so we could meet their $30 minimum.
