I'm on a boat!
After too many days of delay, I give you...
We started the party on Wednesday night, with yummy food and a bottle of wine (the first of many) and episodes of Leverage, which I have successfully indoctrinated Cortni into. Got up early Thursday morning, made any last minute packing decisions and headed out. We knew it would probably take us a good four hours to get to Norfolk, and we didn't want to be making any mad dashes for the boat at the last minute. So, since the scheduled departure time was 4, we wanted to get there around one. And aside from some traffic getting out of the city, we made good time.
Got to the Grandeur of the Seas, got through our check in with no trouble, and made our way onto our new home for the next nine days. It was very similar to the ship I had previously cruised on with my family, so there were several familiar things, but as our cabin was an interior stateroom, I think it took me a whole day to figure out where the hell our room was in the grand scheme of things. I finally just started using the weird ass artwork as landmarks. Our cabin was near the weird ass picture of lady's severed head on a platter. (Seriously, WEIRD ASS ART! Sometimes quite literally.)
Since our stuff wasn't in our room yet, we went exploring.
They were having a little scavenger hunt in the Centrum, so we went and met Colette, the Royal Caribbean Loyalty Ambassador, who would later become one of our cheerleaders on the trip. We met Courtney, the fruit carver, who was really cute,
we met Katrina, the wife of the cruise director, John, although I can't remember what her title was...she was fun. We went to the pool deck (and the pool bar, where we met Kirk, one of our bartenders) and the solarium and checked out the fitness center and spa. We also signed up for a special spa day when we were going to be in the DR (YAY!). Finally, we set sail and were on our way.
The first day was very laid back...there wasn't anything we were particularly interested in doing, as far as activities, and we had been in a car all morning, so we just chilled by the pool, and had a couple of fruity, frosty drinks in celebration.
Met a few cool people in the hot tub, and before we knew it, it was time to get ready for dinner. Cortni and I were of the exact same opinion regarding dinner. We were going to dress up every night, formal night or no formal night. So, we put on our pretty dresses and headed up to the dining room. We had the early seating, because we had wanted time to go to the shows and karaoke and stuff at night, so 6 PM was the appointed hour. We knew we were going to be sitting with other people, too, and we prayed that they would be cool. So, we found our table, met Raj and Arthur, our waiter and assistant waiter, respectively...and then we met Heidi and Tom!
Heidi and Tom very quickly became our favorite people on the ship. They became our Table Parents. (This worked out nicely, since they were telling everyone on the ship that they had adopted us, too.) Heidi and Tom are not married. They had each been married (I think) three times each, and weren't interested in doing that again, so they just lived in sin. :-p Heidi was going to be turning 70 in a couple of days, and we found out that their plans for her birthday were to go para-sailing!!! She's a total hippie, with a long braid down her back, and she just sparkles when she smiles. She makes jewelry out of natural things she finds in the woods (horn, bone, antler, stone, seeds, etc.). Tom is more conservative, but not much, and he also sparkles. We took to them IMMEDIATELY, and they us. It was totally a dinner seating match made in heaven. We had so much fun at our table that other tables were leaning over and trying to join in. Dinner was a smash...and dessert was, to quote the menu, luscious.
After dinner, we had a drink in the Schooner Bar, where we first met AJ, our other bartender, and Kevin, the piano player. He was very good, and we cheered loudly for him. We went to bed kinda early...we were tired, and planning on getting up for the Vitality Stretch at the gym the next morning at 7, so off to bed we went.
The second day was our first full day at sea. We woke up, watched the sun rise,
went to our stretch class, which was fantastic, and had some breakfast. The day was filled with steam room visits, hot tub relaxing, pool bar trips and trivia in the lounge. Our little team of two always seemed to lose by one question (to a group of six former teachers, so I think we can be forgiven). It was the first formal night, so we got especially dressed up, where Cortni made me take a silly, cheesy photo in my pretty dress,
and headed up for champagne cocktails before dinner, then wine with dinner,
and an after dinner drink in the Schooner Bar. We went to the show, and then off to the South Pacific Lounge for KARAOKE!!! The selections in the book were very paltry, but we each managed to find something we wanted to sing, and signed up. Let's just say that singing together for 14 years gave us an edge that the other folks didn't have. In fact, we pretty much became famous because of our performance. (Notably, the next day, one woman came up to us and called me a wiggle-worm...I turned bright red.) Then it was off the the Viking Crown Lounge for a little late night dancing, then off to bed.
Day Three: I have to say something about the captain, Captain Rob.
He was hilarious!! He had the driest sense of humor and his morning announcements were a lot of fun to listen to. His delivery was what did it. He had really good comedic timing. And was just really great. The third day, also at sea, was very relaxing. It became obvious that we had, by this time, already made a name for ourselves on this ship. People were coming up to us, saying they had seen our performance the night before, saying that they had heard about our performance the night before, or just heard about us in general from someone else. It was very strange and funny. Half the staff seemed to know our names already, without having to look at our SeaPass cards, and our bartenders knew what we were drinking. Quite a surreal experience. We were informed that we were full speeding ahead, due to a sick passenger, and would be in Puerto Rico earlier than expected. We also found out our excursion had been canceled due to lack of participation, so we signed up for the Bacardi Rum Distillery Tour the next day, instead. Once again, cocktails with AJ and Kevin in the Schooner before dinner (I believe this is when we acquired the nickname "The YAY Girls" from Kevin), and we finally met the third couple at our dinner table. And I think we scared them a little. Heidi and Tom and Cortni and I had already established such a rapport and closeness, that it was probably pretty intimidating for Jim and Kathie, who were from a fairly small town, and were a very religious couple. The four of us were sort of a culture shock for them, and they were pretty quiet that first night. It turns out that they hadn't brought any formal attire, because Tom couldn't fit into anything anymore. :-( But they did join us for most of the nights thereafter and warmed up quite nicely. After dinner was the Divas of Motown show, which was fabulous, and then off to bed.
More to come...Our ports of call: San Juan, St. Thomas, Samana, and Labadee.
We started the party on Wednesday night, with yummy food and a bottle of wine (the first of many) and episodes of Leverage, which I have successfully indoctrinated Cortni into. Got up early Thursday morning, made any last minute packing decisions and headed out. We knew it would probably take us a good four hours to get to Norfolk, and we didn't want to be making any mad dashes for the boat at the last minute. So, since the scheduled departure time was 4, we wanted to get there around one. And aside from some traffic getting out of the city, we made good time.
Got to the Grandeur of the Seas, got through our check in with no trouble, and made our way onto our new home for the next nine days. It was very similar to the ship I had previously cruised on with my family, so there were several familiar things, but as our cabin was an interior stateroom, I think it took me a whole day to figure out where the hell our room was in the grand scheme of things. I finally just started using the weird ass artwork as landmarks. Our cabin was near the weird ass picture of lady's severed head on a platter. (Seriously, WEIRD ASS ART! Sometimes quite literally.)
Since our stuff wasn't in our room yet, we went exploring.
They were having a little scavenger hunt in the Centrum, so we went and met Colette, the Royal Caribbean Loyalty Ambassador, who would later become one of our cheerleaders on the trip. We met Courtney, the fruit carver, who was really cute,
we met Katrina, the wife of the cruise director, John, although I can't remember what her title was...she was fun. We went to the pool deck (and the pool bar, where we met Kirk, one of our bartenders) and the solarium and checked out the fitness center and spa. We also signed up for a special spa day when we were going to be in the DR (YAY!). Finally, we set sail and were on our way.
The first day was very laid back...there wasn't anything we were particularly interested in doing, as far as activities, and we had been in a car all morning, so we just chilled by the pool, and had a couple of fruity, frosty drinks in celebration.
Met a few cool people in the hot tub, and before we knew it, it was time to get ready for dinner. Cortni and I were of the exact same opinion regarding dinner. We were going to dress up every night, formal night or no formal night. So, we put on our pretty dresses and headed up to the dining room. We had the early seating, because we had wanted time to go to the shows and karaoke and stuff at night, so 6 PM was the appointed hour. We knew we were going to be sitting with other people, too, and we prayed that they would be cool. So, we found our table, met Raj and Arthur, our waiter and assistant waiter, respectively...and then we met Heidi and Tom!
Heidi and Tom very quickly became our favorite people on the ship. They became our Table Parents. (This worked out nicely, since they were telling everyone on the ship that they had adopted us, too.) Heidi and Tom are not married. They had each been married (I think) three times each, and weren't interested in doing that again, so they just lived in sin. :-p Heidi was going to be turning 70 in a couple of days, and we found out that their plans for her birthday were to go para-sailing!!! She's a total hippie, with a long braid down her back, and she just sparkles when she smiles. She makes jewelry out of natural things she finds in the woods (horn, bone, antler, stone, seeds, etc.). Tom is more conservative, but not much, and he also sparkles. We took to them IMMEDIATELY, and they us. It was totally a dinner seating match made in heaven. We had so much fun at our table that other tables were leaning over and trying to join in. Dinner was a smash...and dessert was, to quote the menu, luscious.
After dinner, we had a drink in the Schooner Bar, where we first met AJ, our other bartender, and Kevin, the piano player. He was very good, and we cheered loudly for him. We went to bed kinda early...we were tired, and planning on getting up for the Vitality Stretch at the gym the next morning at 7, so off to bed we went.
The second day was our first full day at sea. We woke up, watched the sun rise,
went to our stretch class, which was fantastic, and had some breakfast. The day was filled with steam room visits, hot tub relaxing, pool bar trips and trivia in the lounge. Our little team of two always seemed to lose by one question (to a group of six former teachers, so I think we can be forgiven). It was the first formal night, so we got especially dressed up, where Cortni made me take a silly, cheesy photo in my pretty dress,
and headed up for champagne cocktails before dinner, then wine with dinner,
and an after dinner drink in the Schooner Bar. We went to the show, and then off to the South Pacific Lounge for KARAOKE!!! The selections in the book were very paltry, but we each managed to find something we wanted to sing, and signed up. Let's just say that singing together for 14 years gave us an edge that the other folks didn't have. In fact, we pretty much became famous because of our performance. (Notably, the next day, one woman came up to us and called me a wiggle-worm...I turned bright red.) Then it was off the the Viking Crown Lounge for a little late night dancing, then off to bed.
Day Three: I have to say something about the captain, Captain Rob.
He was hilarious!! He had the driest sense of humor and his morning announcements were a lot of fun to listen to. His delivery was what did it. He had really good comedic timing. And was just really great. The third day, also at sea, was very relaxing. It became obvious that we had, by this time, already made a name for ourselves on this ship. People were coming up to us, saying they had seen our performance the night before, saying that they had heard about our performance the night before, or just heard about us in general from someone else. It was very strange and funny. Half the staff seemed to know our names already, without having to look at our SeaPass cards, and our bartenders knew what we were drinking. Quite a surreal experience. We were informed that we were full speeding ahead, due to a sick passenger, and would be in Puerto Rico earlier than expected. We also found out our excursion had been canceled due to lack of participation, so we signed up for the Bacardi Rum Distillery Tour the next day, instead. Once again, cocktails with AJ and Kevin in the Schooner before dinner (I believe this is when we acquired the nickname "The YAY Girls" from Kevin), and we finally met the third couple at our dinner table. And I think we scared them a little. Heidi and Tom and Cortni and I had already established such a rapport and closeness, that it was probably pretty intimidating for Jim and Kathie, who were from a fairly small town, and were a very religious couple. The four of us were sort of a culture shock for them, and they were pretty quiet that first night. It turns out that they hadn't brought any formal attire, because Tom couldn't fit into anything anymore. :-( But they did join us for most of the nights thereafter and warmed up quite nicely. After dinner was the Divas of Motown show, which was fabulous, and then off to bed.
More to come...Our ports of call: San Juan, St. Thomas, Samana, and Labadee.