3days down and #4 in port

Royal Caribbean finally made up its collective mind and let us board in New Orleans at 1O’clock on Saturday, April 14. It really did not matter to us since we are here to just have fun and adventure.   Our stateroom was ready and the ability to see things going on --like spying --is really fun!.  We went to the pool area, ate, and conversed with others about the odd notices we had been receiving from the cruise line. Some took it so seriously but it was all part of the adventure for us.

Dinner was served, muster drill was had, and the fireworks from the New Orleans French Quarter celebration were heard & seen.  We retreated to our room after 9Pm and finally heard the ship begin to move away from the dock and down the Mississippi River out to sea.   Unfortunately, we never did get to see the scenery of the voyage for we fell asleep and woke up the following morning in the gulf of Mexico.

Day 2 is mostly a blur.  Lots of waking and sleeping.  Marshall got to see Cowboys and Aliens; i saw bits and pieces, slept much of the time. Slept, read and ate.  Not much else.  Went to the evening show, too.

Day 3  Woke early.  Waited for coffee delivery.  Went to yoga class--introductory.  Think I will go back again.   We went to a Cruise Critic meeting and a cabin  crawl. Formal dinner tonight..  Ate and  back in the room in jeans.  Waiting to go to the entertainment for the evening.  

Our dinner mates are very nice. The  service and conversation are , unfortunately,better than the food; but,   believe me, we never want for  choices.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, is the first port.  we are to be in Nassau from 8 to 4:30.  Not sure what we will decide to do.  Maybe nothing. We’s been to beaches many times--not a thrill; know we will get to an internet cafe to post this.  @ 65 cents per min. on board, we can barely log on before the first 2 mins. are up.

It is now that tomorrow I wrote about n the previous paragraph.  Got up to answer the door for room service @ 6:30  and hopped back into bed to sleep until 8:00.  Very lazy after entertaining time at the Pig and Whistle Pub last night.  First real “night out.”

Sitting on a bench watching the throngs of people flow from the 6 or 7 gigantic ships in port.  Every one of the people anticipating a wondrous day exploring the delights of Nassau.  Hopefully everyone is saturated with sunscreen.  We will know who did and who didn’t at dinner tonight.

Off to our own glorious adventure! 

PS.  Starbucks is $3 per hour in Nassau and packed with people avoiding ship prices.

New OrleansApril 14

Today is the day we go to the ship and finally set sail.  They have changed the boarding times so frequently that even CurCon, the tour seller, has gotten miffed.

Never made it to the festival.  Maybe after we board ship we will get off , we'll see.

Just ate a yummy southern breakfast complete with cheese grits and applewood bacon with lots of piping hot coffee. 

Next we will take some of the bags to the cruise ship. Marshall will wait there while I return to get the last of the bags and check out.  That eliminates the 14$, 2 block taxi ride.  That is an outrageous fee.  Will spend it on a couple of beers on board.

If we stay on the ship today, there is suposed to be a sail away party BUT when, we don't know.  Departure has moved, again, from 5 to 9.  Will report back as to what really takes place. 

Oh, forgot!  Met some of the message board authors last night.  Seems like a nice group of folks from a vast variety of places.  More on them, too, as the voyage progresses.

Bon Voyage!

Ready, set...Not packed; but writing random thoughts?

After months of planning and looking forward to our "adventure" it is down to less than 48 hours. .  . and there is not a packed suitcase in sight!  We vowed in July that we would not wait until the last minute to pack, but here we go again.  Hopefully we will not be putting in the last items as the driver is loading our bags, like we did going to Mexico last summer.

How do you put things for this  much time and variety into 2 or 3 suitcases?  This is really packing for several different climates.  The Atlantic will be very mild and somewhat nippy at times.  Once we hit Egypt, it will be hot; from there it adds humidity! On top of that, we need clothes for "formal" evenings.  **Picked up this nifty "skirt" in Las Vegas that converts into several different dress styles--even has its own dvd--those printed, easy step directions never work for me. Maybe it would be best to stay in on those nights or visit the arcade.

Luckily there is laundry service or we would be stinking like the  explorers of old  by the end of this journey.  Oh,  can you imagine! No, I do NOT want to think about it; too foul.   (**That was another side trip! Old folks brains work that way; oh, mine has always done that, never mind.)

Honestly, I have packed my bag once and then dumped it out.  Now need to sort and re-sort  it before being ready to repack; then, I will need space for the things I forgot and have to buy along the way.  Besides clothes there are all of the other things one needs to be maintained on a daily basis. Ugh! So much to do and think about and so little time. 

 I will just have to get a cup of tea and contemplate this problem; then, we had better get busy with the job or can I delay some more?  Hummmm, we will see.

READY, SET . . .not ready!

Our adventure is about ready to start, but we are not ready for it to happen. WE got the necessary shots--no really biggie since we have gotten them regularly for other travel.  NOW!! How do you pack for being away for 52 days? 

Besides clothes, there is the pharmacy we need to take along.  Put on our scout "be prepared" hat and pack for all of the "What ifs?"  It is better to take stuff along than do charades trying to explain your needs at a foreign pharmacy. Been there and done that before.  I'm sure it looked comical to the other shoppers.

We've tried to cover all of the possible things that could be needed.  It is too bad that we will not have different outfits for all of the formal nights but we are not there to be style setters--just adventure and a good time. If there were not so many people going on the cruise for the entire trip, we would look fresh every 12+ days or so.  At least the laundry will keep us in clean underwear so we don't need that many pairs.  Disposables  would be really great! Bet they itch.

Light bulb just went off in my head!  Guess I need to be monochromatic  for the trip.  Make everything go together.  If all else fails, I'll buy needed things and jettison the old stuff.

Ideas, get them to me F A S T, please.

Getting ready for adventure

*Tried to access the other blogspot, but gmail would not let me in; therefore, this new spot was made.  Hopefully, I can do it correctly this time.
*Contact during the cruise will be @ gmail and not comcast--name is the same.  I do not want to spend time sorting through ads and jokes to find important correspondence. I will check Facebook for updates when we hit land and free internet.   It is very expensive on the ship.
*Now I need to learn how to  get photos on to this blog.  I hope it is easy and does not take too much time.  Would like to be able to do with ipod and not computer.   I NEED to get the ipod to do all. Can you see me carrying a computer along on a tour of the desert? Not!
*I'll see about a trial run on posting with our little adventure in a week or so.  Until then, be happy.