I am really amazed at how simple and easy embarkation is, even when the cruise line is dealing with 6,000 people getting off the ship and 6,000 people getting on the ship. The lines weren’t long, nothing was terribly crowded, and it was all very efficient. We could not take pics inside the building, so this is all you get—us waiting for our group to be called to board:
Of course, the shout outs to buy things starts before you even get on the ship, with your first pictures being snapped on the way to the gangway, and you have to stroll past a mini shop with lanyards and a random assortment of last-minute items. It was originally just me and Tom, and then more peeps strolled by and we pulled them in…and then a few more…and a few more. We eventually just had to take the pic and be done with it, otherwise we would have been there for a half hour gathering more people.
My first goal upon entering the ship was to see just how quickly I could get my first margarita. And as it turns out there was a bar not 10 steps from where the gangway spit us out! WOOT!
Drink 2, immediately following drink 1.
Drink 3, immediately following drinks 1 and 2! We were determined to get our money’s worth out of our unlimited alcohol package! š
While we were in there, random peeps strolled in and that was fun. We picked up our smart bands—I hate the nickel and diming aspect of it (they’re $5 each!) so I said I didn’t want one so Tom went and got his and I immediately succumbed once I saw how cool it was to order a drink with your wrist (it also unlocks your room). Then we just wandered the ship for awhile until we had our lunch reservation.
We may have stopped for a tiny bite of chili cheese fries because I LOVE CHILI CHEESE FRIES. Tom gave me crap about them until he tried them…and he went and got his own small plate.
More drinks! There are bars ALL OVER and there were really never any lines so it took less than five minutes to get drinks.
Signs on the elevator floors are a good way to know what day it is.
It started raining when we were heading to lunch on the Central Park level—it’s an actual open air park, so if it’s raining outside, it’s raining on the ship—and as we were lamenting the fact of having to walk in the rain, we noticed a box of umbrellas in the vestibule! Of course! They think of everything!
Lunch was at Jamie’s Italian (Jamie Oliver’s place).
We thought we were going to be eating by ourselves because we hadn’t been able to get a reservation with our group…but as soon as we walked in and asked if we could eat early (the place was almost empty), our group waved us over and we joined them! I think there were probably 25 or so of us in there! And add another drink to my tally—a peach bellini!
Then it was finally time to get in our room…so we have the obligatory picture of us on our balcony! And our view of the port!
And then Tom decided he needed a nap. I wandered the ship…
Then it was time for the sailaway—except we hadn’t planned too well for it and we didn’t have a big group together…but we all met up shortly afterward for our big group photo!!
Then there was a lot of wandering the ship and exploring… I was geeked to find Zoltar (if you don’t remember, it’s from the movie Big with Tom Hanks). I thought the kids would get a kick out of it, but it wasn’t working when we were there.
And then it was time for dinner.
Most of our group had some type of whiteboard on their doors so we could leave messages about where we were or what plans were…and people would leave you notes.
The rest of the night was spent hanging out at bars with friends…and then we called it a night pretty early since we’d been up since 4am!