Thanks to our chauffeur, Len, we arrived dockside in San Diego shortly after noon and immediately realized we were parking very close to our friends, Ron and Barb. A true sign of the great vacation yet to come!
Ralph had told me this morning that they had friends whose parents were going to be on the ship too so when we saw a guy in an Iowa Hawkeyes shirt as we checked our luggage we asked where he lived. Turns out he’s the guy we were looking for and we’ve seen them several times since. Small world!
We joined the cattle call inside the cruise terminal, went through security (just like the airport except we didn’t have to remove shoes), got our cabin key cards and waited some more before finally boarding about 2:30.
Our cabin is quite roomy with plenty of storage space along with a couch and chair in our “sitting room”. Since we have Ocean View we can look out the window and watch the ocean passing by us.
Burl relaxes after a tough day of cruising
We were told our luggage would be delivered later in the day so we dropped off our carry-on stuff and immediately started participating in the number 1 activity of cruise ships – EATING! The grill on the top deck was in full food mode and our main concerns were finding a place for 6 of us together and then deciding what to eat from the huge variety of options. Salad bar, Oriental buffet, deli sandwiches, pizza made to order, burgers, hot dogs, desserts. Option overload! But we hadn’t eaten lunch and dinner was at 8:15!
Before we could sail we had the required lifeboat drill.
Good thing we didn't have a final exam on the lifeboat drill!
Around 4:00 we went to the upper deck to watch us leave the harbor and head south to Mexico. The temperature in San Diego was around 64 but with the wind on the top deck we were glad we had jackets – and also found an exhaust fan putting out hot air.
Ready to sail away for a blissful week
It didn’t take long for us to leave land-sighting behind us and by time we got back to our cabin we had all our luggage. We unpacked and then Burl napped and I took off to explore our new “home” – had to find the gym, the spa, the library, the shops and of course, the casino with the penny and two cent slot machines! I figured I could buy some internet minutes but when I discovered they were $.75 each unless you wanted to buy 400 for $100, I decided a week without Internet works for me. Since I’m a cheapskate and in vacation mode (no phones or internet required) I decided I will just save my blog postings until we’re back in San Diego and then post all at once.
We had some time to kill before dinner so we went to a free liquor tasting and sampled some yummy flavored rum and some liqueurs. At the price of drinks on this boat, we love the idea of getting something free! Since we all like a glass of wine with dinner we went in together and bought a package of 5 bottles of wine and when we want wine, we just have to give our waiter a ticket with our selection and it’s ours. Certainly cheaper than buying by the bottle although we’ve now learned how we can bring our own without getting caught! We also found out that if we buy booze on board, we don’t get it until we disembark – that way they can keep selling us expensive drinks! This cruise line wasn’t born yesterday.
At dinner we discovered one of the true delights of cruising – menus with no prices! Ron said our food was all free – I consider it prepaid! Barb got to choose the wine and she opted for a Pinot Grigio which went nicely with my grilled mahi mahi. The fish was a bit overcooked but the crème brûlée was awesome! We had an excellent meal and after dinner, Ron and Barb went with us to the entertainment in the large theatre. Larry and Nancy were still adjusting to the time change so opted out for the rest of the evening. We saw a Vegas-style variety show with lots of singing and dancing followed by a very boring comedian. Oh well!
When we returned to our cabin, our steward, Henry, had turned down the bed and put chocolates on our pillows. We were exhausted but then Ron knocked on our door to tell us that their daughter-in-law had sent them a bottle of champagne and six chocolate-dipped strawberries. Being the true friends that we are we of course we helped them polish off the champagne and trust me; none of us had any trouble sleeping! We’re located in the aft part of the ship on starboard side and the gentle vibration from the engines just lulls us to sleep.
