Day One at Sea

Day One at Sea:

Wow it’s 11:38 P.M. and I can’t believe my day started at 4:30 A.M….that seems like five days ago!! I do indeed have cell service (so, everyone, I’m getting your texts! Keep them coming!!) and I will only have wi-fi when I want to pay for it so I’ve decided to type what I did every day on Microsoft Word and when I decide to pay for internet I’m just going to copy and paste it into the blog but I want to write daily so I don’t forget anything!

So all the boring stuff happened today like getting to the airport, flying to Miami, and then boarding the ship. We got on the ship about 1 p.m. and we all changed straight into our bathing suits and laid out for a couple hours by the pool (mom you would be proud, I didn’t get burnt….wore that sunscreen!!). Then Caitlin and I went and explored the pool…saw the casinos, theater, stores, restaurants, pools (indoor and outdoor), hot tubs, rock climbing wall, gym, spa, etc. After that, we all got ready for dinner and went to a “drill” for emergency preparation. I sat next to the sweetest little old British man and I taught him how to have a southern accent. I would say a solid 98% of this ship is old people but I don’t care because they love us and I love them. I LOVE older people. They’ve all been so sweet so far and so friendly and I already have like 10 new best friends over the age of 80. #sorryboutit

After the drill, we all went to dinner in the dining room. This area is completely free (as is most everything on this ship including room service and a few 24/7 snack bars) and my dinner tonight consisted of a wonderful hot and sour shrimp soup (Betsy would’ve loved it), prime rib and baked potato, and cherry and chocolate cake with a wonderful cup of coffee. Our waiters were WONDERFUL and we got to sit right by a window to watch the beautiful Atlantic ocean the whole time. I literally think I’ve died and gone to heaven. I’m never getting off this boat!

After dinner, Caitlin and Alyssa and Drew and I went to the opening night show. The cruise director was the host and I’m pretty sure cruise director is my new dream job. Yes please. They had a great band that dad would’ve loved, a comedian, and then the singing and dancing troupe closed out the night. And mom and dad you will NEVER GUESS who was in the singing and dancing troupe…remember the guy from Disney World in Liberty Square who told us he was from Tifton Georgia and wished Amber a happy birthday on the video? HE’S PERFORMING ON THE CRUISE SHIP! My mission this week is to hunt him down and see if he remembers me. I can’t believe it! SO funny.

So then after the show, we went and tried to teach Drew how to play the slot machines even though none of us had ever played them before. So then a huge group of us went down to the lobby where there was live music playing and tons of old couples dancing…this is possibly my favorite thing about the ship…there’s always a million and five things going on and there’s ALWAYS people dancing! I love seeing the old couples dance. It makes me want to be like that when I’m old. Thankfully, one of the guys on the trip, Caleb, knows how to ballroom dance so he and I started Tangoing and we cleared the floor and all the old people clapped for us at the end! Then I swing danced with Tyler and cha-cha’d with Caleb again and the old people were so excited to see young people dancing! Then we attempted to play trivia but the oldies killed us. Then…..we did something that most of us probably wouldn’t do in America…

We sang karaoke. That was probably one of the most hilarious and wonderful experiences of my life. We all just got out of our comfort zone and belted it out there. I sang Carrie Underwood’s “Inside Your Heaven” and got a standing ovation from a few patrons :P We made some new friends this way too. Our group is becoming quite famous on the ship at this point.

We then tried to go dancing (and by dancing I mean macarana style) at the “clubs” but weren’t allowed to because apparently you have to be 13-15 to dance at one, and over 21 to dance at the other…we learned this by trial and error haha. Another HILARIOUS experience. Just picture me going to ask the DJ if he takes request and having him ask me in his thick Jamaican accent “Um you have to be 21, baby” (which came out more like “bebe”)…guess it’s one of those “you had to be there moments”. Then we got some food from one of the all night snack bars and decided to call it a night after such a long day.

I’m sure there’s so much I’m forgetting and I’m sure half of these stories aren’t as great when you’re not experiencing them but I miss sharing my life with everyone back home!!! Miss you all!!

Until next time,

MC