Day 1 out of Miami

The ship was scheduled to depart at 5:00 and it was a tight connection. We landed in Miami at 3:15 amidst Bears and Colts fans gathering for the Super Bowl and were greeted by the Royal Caribbean welcome wagon. It was all very organized and there were a number of others in the same time crunch situation, so I became much less concerned about our fate.

As we gathered for the bus ride to the Port terminal I got my first indicator as to the age group that would be on the cruise. It was a small sample set but telling, as I found myself not just a little younger but a lot younger than the rest of my riding companions. Assisting with luggage was clearly going to be in my future, all I was missing was the name tag. It was refreshing being referred to as “that nice young man” of which I am sure I am neither.

The ship sailed all of 15 minutes after I cleared the gang plank. 10 more minutes and the ship would have been moving and I would have needed a running start to board. I made my way to my 9^th floor cabin conveniently located near the elevators. This I like, because it makes it easy to navigate the floors and the various activity centers. I am also one of the only people to take the stairs rather than the elevators so I had a clear path as I began my self guided tour.

The state room looks exactly like the pictures on the web site; small and comfortable with lots of little drawers and cupboards to store goodies like my cigars. The balcony is a must, because it functionally adds a room and you can enjoy the sounds and smells of the sea as the ship moves through the water.

Conversations on the balcony are not a private affair. My neighbors are loud talkers and a little hard of hearing who are at this moment discussing real estate buying strategies in great detail. If they get too annoying, I figure lighting a good cigar and some strategic direction of the smoke might chase them inside.

Dinner for us was a 9-top: Us and a traveling family of 6 from Winona, Chicago, and Appleton. Very nice people who are now on their 7^th family cruise in as many years. When introductions were handed out my sister was the retired Karate instructor and my mother was retired royalty from Scotland. Rather than bore folks with the coffee business, as fascinating as it is, I took on the role of newly retired Army Colonel whose specialty was armored tanks. I always wanted to play that role and felt a George Castansa delivery might be fun. Reading military stories does enable you to assume these roles with a straight face, at least until you actually run into someone that served in the unit you are pretending to have been in. I eventually shared my real identity and will be interested to see if they have already put in their request for a table change.

I explored the ship bow to stern last night. That’s ship talk. Most places were dark since people, weary from travel, were unpacking and crashing early in their state rooms. There was one location that was booming and that was the Casino. It looked pretty much like what you would expect in Hinkley on the reservation except with an abundance of cocktails.

From there I peeked in on the karaoke crowd. Not enough Scotch on board to get me up there for that little show. I left when a 60 year old woman started singing “Dancing Queen” by Abba. It was too painful.

Staff is very friendly and outgoing as are the passengers. There is not a country that is not represented on the payroll and they have great attitudes and are eager to please. They understand hospitality and the guest experience.