Kickin' Off Vacation!

Today marked day one of my Caribbean cruise. I'm aboard the Majesty of the Seas--a Royal Caribbean ship. It's an impressive size. This is my first cruise ever. Hubby is home. This cruise is exclusive to women only--no men; no kids. My cousin is turning 40 tomorrow and this trip is in honor of her birthday. She wanted a break from it all and she got it! We're a group of 14. The group consists of myself, my mother, my aunt, two cousins (birthday girl and her sister), my other cousin's wife, my aunt's SIL and her daughter, and 6 friends. Whew! I think I got everyone!
Yesterday my parents picked me up. My dad drove us to my grandparents' house--our flight would leave from Pittsburgh. We visited with both sets of my grandparents which was nice. We were up really late, though. We had to be up by 4:00 this morning! I have no idea how I got up, but I did. We checked in at the airport with ease. There was a little Irish pub place called O'Brien's beyond the security checkpoint. We ate breakfast there and saw members of our group arriving as well. At Pittsburgh International, the mall area is after the security check.
Our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:00. Dad dropped us all off at the airport (me, mom, aunt, cousin). Miraculously, our flight left a little early! We arrived in Fort Lauderdale a little after 10:00 a.m. Once at the airport, we had to gather our luggage--which made it--and then catch a bus to Miami. The buses didn't start running until 11:00. We had some time to wait. It was a long wait, but eventually, we were on the road to Miami. Let me just say, traffic that morning was attrocious! We were stuck in heavy traffic for some time, but we managed to get to Miami by about noon.
Once again we had to find our luggage. Mom had some trouble--it would have helped if she'd remembered her bag was green and not black! We did locate it and were off to board our ship! Before boarding we had to go through customs. This process was not quite the hassle I'd expected. Thank goodness! Once we had our room key--known as our "Sea Pass" we proceeded to board the ship! We were stopped by a photographer for a "Welcome Aboard" photo opp. It was charming, really. We all looked fabulous after getting up at 4:00 a.m. and being on a plane all morning! Little did we know this photograph business would be quite common.
Next, we found our stateroom. This room might be smaller than my dorm in New York City had been!
It has a teeny tiny bathroom, a small closet, a vanity, TV, and 2 sets of bunk beds! The bonus: we have a porthole! Yes, it's a room with a view. :) So, we boarded the boat right around 1:00 p.m. It would set sail at 5:30 p.m. Once we settled our things into the stateroom, we went up to get some lunch. There is a buffet on Deck 11 by the pool. It's called Windjammer. The food wasn't too bad. I wouldn't rave about it and say it's awesome, but it's good. I had some noodles and veggies and water.
After eating, it was time to get ready for vacation! Bathings suits were put on! We had to throw a suit into our carry ons from the plane. The checked luggage would arrive later. Fortunately, our bags were waiting for us when we were done with lunch--perfect! I didn't want to wear my one-piece anyway. I put on a two-piece bathing suit and we all headed up to the pool--also on Deck 11. We sat poolside and got our feet wet.
Around 4:30 we had a scheduled "Muster Drill." What's a muster drill, you ask? It's like a fire drill, but it's for a boat. We basically had to go to our staterooms, grab our life jackets, put them on and go stand out on deck. It was a lot of standing around listening to kids blow the whistles--annoying, not relaxing. It lasted about 20 minutes or so. Finally, it was over and we were able to return to Deck 11 for a "Set Sail Party."
Back at the pool the entertainment staff was introduced. Loud music was playing. There was singing and dancing. Line dancing ensued. I can't remember what the first dance was, but then they did the Cha Cha Cha dance (which I absolutely detest!) followed by the Electric Slide--which I like. I joined in on the Electric Slide. After a little dancing, it was time for a drink. I got something called a Miami Vice.
It was pretty good. At some point, the ship started to move and we were at sea. I took several pictures as we left port.
Soon I learned of the different activities on the ship. There was a spa and fitness center, multiple night clubs and bars, a casino, and a theater. Everyone was getting appointments for spa treatments and I want a massage this trip so I found the spa and now have a Ladies Pampering Session scheduled for 5:45 Sunday. That should feel good--it's kind of at the end of the trip. Good recovery plan, I'd say! I also saw the fitness center and the schedule for yoga classes--my other goal this trip is to take a yoga class or two! One was scheduled for 9:00 p.m. tonight which wouldn't work because I'd be at dinner at 8:30. Then I saw a great option--yoga on the beach at Coco Cay! It's at 9:00, but we are meeting in the fitness center at 8:40 to catch a boat to the island. I'm really excited about this--and relieved it's not on the ship. They say you can't feel these things move, but YOU CAN! I can feel it move and I feel like I might fall over sometimes. Showers are scary. Very scary.
Dinner was scheduled for 8:30--our group opted for the late dinner option. I went down to the stateroom around 6:00 or 6:30 to get ready for the show and then dinner. Ah the show. I've heard about cruise entertainment and how awesome it supposedly is. My mom always encouraged me to take my dance skills to a cruiseline and work on a cruise. It never sounded appealing to me. Tonight, I have never felt more relieved that I didn't follow that path! The show was OK. The dancers were not quite in sync. The costumes were not flattering for all wearing them (it's always sad when that happens). That wasn't much of a show. Not to sound negative, but I just didn't get too excited about that.
Well, it turned out that the singing and dancing portion of the night was just an intro. The REAL show was an Argentinian Gaucho known as "El Gaucho." El Gaucho entered the stage beating a large drum whle flamenco dancing. This guy was kind of Vaudeville meets weird. He was talented at what he did, don't get me wrong; it was just a different kind of show. His next "trick" involved boleros otherwise known as balls. Gauchos use lassos with balls on the ends. Essentially, the rest of his act consisted of swinging balls on ropes at high velocities while flamenco dancing. The balls were occasionally bounced on the floor for rhythm. I have to include a picture (it's blurry because he was swinging lassoes at high velocity) to give you the idea. The rest of his performance consisted of balls jokes and daring lasso tricks. It was funny. I was entertained; I'm just not sure what I was watching.
The show ended just in time for us to make our dinner time. We were introduced to our waiters for the duration of the trip. Dinner was quite formal. We didn't have to dress up tonight--that will come tomorrow night--but the waiters pulled our chairs out for us and set our napkins in our laps for us. Now that's service! :P Tonight the menu was pretty good. I ordered chicken marsala as my main course and my appetizer was a strawberry bisque soup--a cold soup. It was really good. It was very sweet. I love strawberries. The chicken marsala was good, too. Good, but not great. I guess I've had better. For dessert I had tiramisu. Yum!
Our waiter was from Tunisia. He was very nice. When I ordered my dinner he asked, "Where are you from? You speak perfect English!" Ha! How about that!? I told him Ohio. I wonder what he thought I might say!
Some of our group went off to the night clubs. Not me. I have a morning yoga class. I don't want to be too tired to wake up for it. Plus, I'm not liking the rockiness of the boat. I hope I get used to the motion. I don't want to be sick. Off to bed I go. In the morning, we will be anchored off of Coco Cay.