Friday I put a few hours at work to make up my 40 for the week and then I was outta there. I had a number of things I wanted to do before our planned departure from Portage around 5. I ran some errands, picked up some last minute items from the store and cleaned up the rest of the house and pet boxes. Around 3 I started packing. Around 3:30 Mike calls to say he’s late. Slightly annoyed, I try to be patient. Around 4:30, he calls again to say he’s “in transit”. I’m practicing patience but it’s not easy =) Finally around 5 he’s home and starts packing. Unfortunately we don’t make it out of the house until almost 8:30. At 8:45 we realize we don’t have cash so we make a pit stop at an ATM and grab something to eat. Finally around 9 we’re on the road to Detroit.
After a long, uneventful trip to our hotel, we arrive at the Detroit airport (hotel is inside) around 10:30 and drop off our car at the long term parking. Our hotel was surprising nice for the price we paid. We didn’t stay up late since we had to get up early the next morning.
Vacation Day 1 - September 5th
When the alarm went off at 6 it was hard to get up and get going. As always, we somehow managed to gather the strength and lug our stuff half way across the airport to our gate. We paid an exurbanite fee for our four (yes, four) bags to get checked. With that done, we made our way to the long line for security.
My trip didn’t start out well. I had my license and ticket in hand and I gave it to the security guy. He looked at it and then up to me sharply and asked for the “right” ticket. I freaked out thinking, “what the hell does he mean, ‘right’ ticket??” Then he pointed out I had Mike’s ticket. Whoops. At least it was just a mix up and not really a problem. Either way, just so you know, those guys really DO check your name at the gate!
Once we were off the plane we played this horrible stand-in-line-and-wait. First, we waited for our luggage at the baggage claim, then to board the cruise bus, and then finally at the port we waited in this ridiculously long line for customs and more security checks. Over all I think it was over two hours in line. Some guy commented that he felt like we were in line at Cedar Point and I think it was a good analogy.
First off, the cruise is awesome. The boat is the biggest thing in water I’ve ever seen and we were both impressed with how massive everything is here. It’s literally like a small city floating on water. There are shops, bars, elevators, escalators, pools, hot tubs, casinos, clubs, a spa, a portrait studio, gym, game rooms, kids clubs and pools and I’m sure many other things I haven’t seen yet. Our room is nice for what it is. I don’t think the rooms are supposed to be luxurious. It’s neat and well mapped for the space. The bed isn’t a rock so I feel confident I might actually get some sleep while we’re on the trip.
We are disappointed we can’t get unlimited Wi-Fi on the boat. As most things are on vacation, everything good is extra. I can get on for a little while but it will cost us too much to surf for long. We did pay for unlimited diet coke refills because, well, it’s us and we can’t live without diet coke and I can’t imagine paying $2 for a can for every one we’ll drink. Mike will cost me $5 a meal, minimum! The food is free and unfortunately for me, very good. When we arrived they said we could have lunch at this “café”. Yeah, the café is this giant gourmet-type buffet. I wasn’t expecting the choice or size of the place. We ate more than we should have. I am seriously going to gain 10 pounds on this trip.
So far, neither of us has experienced any motion sickness. It is a bit strange to have the occasional jolt here or there to remind you you’re on a boat. But really, you don’t feel much. It’s like small rumblings every once in awhile. Being at sea is very cool though. Just looking out and seeing endless ocean from the ground (as opposed to our plane trip to Hawaii) is far cooler. I will take lots of pictures.
For dinner here you have to dress up according to the day. I.E. It’s either business casual or formal. Tonight is business casual so we dressed up a bit and took off for dinner around 9. We have “our time” dining so we don’t have to eat at a specific time. It’s a bit of a joke though because even with our time dining they take reservations so you have to wait until there is a table available. We had the option to wait for a table for two or sit with a group. We opted for a group and it turned out really well.
We were sat with a couple from England and a couple from India/Minnesota. We managed to find things to keep the conversation going. We spent over two hours at dinner. Mike really wanted to go bar hopping and dancing but I was too exhausted. I talked him into turning in early so we could finally get some much needed sleep! Eventually he gave in but only after I promised tomorrow we would go clubbing.
So far, no animal figures made out of towels yet. Someone told me they do that so I’ll keep an eye out and take a picture if it happens this week. Right now we’re sailing to Haiti. Tomorrow will just be a day at sea. No excursions yet.
Vacation Day 2 – September 6th
Today we slept in until almost 11. I know it was almost 11 because Mike had a panic attack and made us dress at record speed so we could make it to the food court before they stopped serving breakfast. I am not a huge breakfast fan but Mike really loves breakfast. We managed to make it there just as they were shutting down and found some left over breakfast. With the crisis averted, we decided after breakfast we were find a nice spot on deck to get some sun and go swimming. 
I found a pretty nice spot and starting reading my other book. Mike decided he wanted to listen to his iPod but he didn’t have iTunes loaded on his computer. He left me in the sun to load the program on the computer. An hour later I was fairly roasted and still no Mike. I didn’t want to leave where I was because the ship is so vast you can easily lose someone. I thought it was about the time he should be back. I gave him two more pina colda’s worth of time and decided it was worth it to lose him rather than roast my fair skin anymore! Exasperated, I made it back to the room and found my husband plugging away at the computer – completely oblivious to the time. He seemed shock to see me so red. I retorted, “What do you expect when you leave me in the sun for over a hour??”
Sheepishly, Mike agreed to take me to get ice cream and stay in the air conditioned area for awhile. My luck didn’t last too long though because eventually Mike wanted to go to the pool since he hadn’t been all day. I finally conceded an hour later and he left me in a chair in the shade (total shade) and I read some more. It wasn’t too long before Mike found out that I did – it’s flipping hot on the top of the ship. He swam for about a half hour and then he was done.
About this time we had to get ready for the formal night. There was a Captain’s reception in the main promenade area and dresses/suits/tuxes are required. We got dolled up and went to join the party. We enjoyed some free Champaign and photo opportunities around the ship before we headed up for dinner. Again, our any time dining was a bit of a joke and he ended up waiting for awhile and then agreeing to eat with another couple.
This time we ate with a couple from Puerto Rico. They were super nice and spoke English very well. She was an engineer and he was a pharmaceutical sales rep. The guy and Mike talked for a long time about basketball and other sports I knew squat about. Eventually we talked about the places we wanted to go on the trip and later the night. Our exciting moment was when Mike decided to be very brave and order escargot – SNAILS! I had my camera ready in case he spit them back out. Nothing nearly as dramatic happen because he ended up thinking they tasted very good and had a texture like mushrooms. Gross. 
Once dinner was over we went our separate ways. Mike and I headed down toward the clubs but then I started to feel very ill. Too late, I realized I screwed myself. Some of you may remember that I’m lactose intolerant. Overall, it’s not too bad and I can consume a certain amount of dairy. However, my breakfast with yogurt, snack of Funky-Monkey ice cream, three cream beverages with Bailey’s, appetizer of cheese, dinner with cream sauce and dessert with extra cream finally caught up with me.
First off, Mike is real trooper. I was very ill and unable to do anything but cry. He really wanted to go out and I promised we would. In my defense, I did try a total of three times to leave after I felt sick but we didn’t make it farther than the end of the hall before I felt too sick to go on. Eventually we gave up and called it a night.
Pat me on the back for ruining a vacation night!
P.S. I admit I did smile a bit through my discomfort when this elephant was waiting for us on our bed when we returned to our room.
Vacation Day 3 – September 7th
Today I felt about 60% better. I really over did it so I’m officially screwed for about two weeks on milk products. Good news is I will not be gaining much weight on this cruise. Bad news, I will miss all the incredible desserts and foods that contain dairy! (Did I mention that’s about 80% of the food they serve??) Sigh. Someday I will look at this like a blessing. Just not today.
Today was pretty exciting beside my slight lag in energy. We arrived at Haiti sometime last night or early this morning. Not really such when we got here. Anyways, we got up early to spend the day on the beach. The process was a little frustrating because we had to get on a boat to get to the island. With as many people as there are on this ship it took awhile to get going. Eventually we got to the island and started exploring.
Haiti is very beautiful, or at least what I’ve seen of it. There are more mountainous areas than I thought there would be and the waters are so clear and sparkling. We walked around for a bit trying to find the perfect spot to pull up a chair. I almost stepped on a baby hermit crab! I was very upset about it. Mike looked shocked I knew what it was and I felt a pang of longing for hermit crabs again. (I owned hermit crabs in middle school through college). Anyways, I saved the little buy from the walk way he was in and put him in a better location to climb a tree and get food/water. Yes, I know that is very like me and I doubt anyone is surprised I found something living in my path =)
After our small adventure with the hermit crab, we found a nice spot on the beach and went swimming and sun bathed. On our way back to the ship we took a spontaneous trip on a waverunner tour. It was super, super fun. I haven’t been on a waverunner in almost 10 years. I talked Mike into letting me drive and I made sure we hit some pretty big waves. I’ve never been on a waverunner in the ocean and let me tell you, it’s far more intimidating. First off, the waves are bigger and more frequent. Second, there are JELLY FISH in the water just floating there taunting you to just try and come in the water – talk about warding you from wanting to fall off in any fashion. Third – the sun is far hotter here than any lake I went in. Fourth – I almost had a heart attack when Mike and I were supposed to switch drivers. I’m happy to report I am alive and he did very well as a driver. I only have a few scratches and grey hairs from the experience.
Oh, I bought a… box? or something from a Haitian in a canoe who came up to us on the waverunner tour. The guide said they would come up to us eventually and that we should barter for anything they try to sell us. Otherwise, they will laugh at us later for being such suckers. I talked the man own to half the price but then I didn’t have exact change for half so I ended up giving him $20. I’m not sure the box is worth $20 but it’s handmade, unique and I bartered for it in the middle of the ocean. How many people can say that?
Right now we’re back in the room and blessed air conditioning trying to get cooled down and cleaned up. I have some very uneven sunburn right now. Surprisingly, my makeup has better SPF than the stupid sunscreen I bought. Too bad I didn’t know that before I put on sunscreen instead of makeup this morning. Mike is finally getting rid of his farmers tan to a nice even burn. We’re waiting for the restaurants to open up so we can have a late lunch. I’m finishing up on the blog and Mike is going down to buy all the pictures they took of us since we got here. He really likes pictures.
We’re planning to go to a comedy show tonight and tomorrow we’ll be in Jamaica. We’re scheduled to go on a horseback riding tour and swimming in the ocean on horseback. It should be pretty interesting!
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