Oasis of the Seas Cruise

So I donated $500, in fifty-cent increments, under various aliases, to the Obama campaign for this Clooney thing.

Kidding.

It was $1000. ;)

OK, if I get to go to Mr. Clooney's bachelor pad with Kimberly, I will donate back my airfare, hotel, plus $50. That would be my first-ever donation to a political candidate. It's all about being involved in the process, folks.

Alrighty then---- The Oasis of the Seas. I must first say that the ship is utterly breathtaking. I've been on a lot of cruise ships, and this one is an engineering marvel, as well as a true beauty. You simply must take one cruise on this ship (or its twin sister, the Allure of the Seas) just to be awed and amazed for a week. TWO FlowRider wave machines... a zip line 9 decks over the Boardwalk... a Boardwalk with a working merry-go-round... putt-putt golf... two rock walls... ice skating rink...... a Promenade twice as wide as the Freedom class ships with the Rising Tide bar that floats up and down between it and Central Park three decks above... which is the green area of living trees and all kinds of plants and awesome restaurants and a wine/tapas bar...

Central Park. Real plants!

I could go on and on. You can see the ship's features in their full glory here.

It's just a week of "WOW" and OMG, from its passengers, and passengers on other ships docked nearby. The ship is a deck or two taller than the other super-huge ships, but more importantly, it's up to about 1.5 times as wide.

That's what she said.

The embarking/disembarking processes at the cruise terminal were pretty much flawless, which is an achievement in itself with 6000 passengers. The ship felt exactly as roomy as RCCL's others, seeming to have the same space to passenger ratio. You can always find open deck chairs, rarely stand in a line for anything, etc. That's one of RCCL's best features, with Carnival at the other end of the spectrum, having very little space per passenger and always standing in lines.

Our first stop ended up being one of our frequent mealtime hangouts- the Park Cafe. They have the best salads on board, because you walk the line, having them put in whatever appeals to you at the time, and they toss the whole thing in your choice of dressing and serve it to you in a huge bowl. They also have paninis and other sandwiches. The best is the roast beef, which is an incredible, melt-in-your-mouth experience.

After a few mealtimes there, we renamed the restaurant the Pissy Cafe, because unfortunately, passengers are frequently irritable in there for some strange reason. That is the only place we found anyone being rude to the staff. (RCCL staff are always exceptional standouts on the helpful/friendly scale. Best customer service on the planet.) One guy kept barking at a server behind the counter, "Hey! Get me my sandwich!!" I thought he was joking, but when I looked at him, he said, "It's my vacation, right?" I don't give a flip if it's your vacation, your birthday and your wedding day, buddy. You don't talk to anyone like that.

Anyhoo- at some point I figured out that most of the problem with passengers at the Pissy Cafe is the setup of the cafe itself. There are four lines- the salad line, the roast beef sandwich line, the hot sandwich line, and the dessert counter, which actually never has a line. You can get them to grab something from the refrigerated pre-made items in either of the sandwich lines. The cafe is small, so one line typically forms at the salad area on the left when it gets crowded. The people exiting the salad line naturally feed into the roast beef line, where inevitably a person walks in and appears to cut in front of salad guy to get a roast beef. When you're funneling through with a salad, it feels like you've been cut off.

They should have signs over each area that say they are separate lines. If you go in there, just enter the right door if you want a sandwich, and go straight to the counter to order.

As a second issue, there is limited seating at the Park Cafe, but passengers are allowed to sit at any outdoor seating they like, including the tables at Giovanni's and Vintages (you cannot sit inside either restaurant unless you are eating there).

In other food/beverage options that deserve a mention, there is self-serve frozen yogurt all over, mostly in the pool areas. Most of the machines are vanilla and chocolate, but they have strawberry at the center of the pools on Deck 15. The donut shop is very popular on the Boardwalk. Kids can get chicken nuggets and corn dogs at the Boardwalk Bar next to the Aquatheater and parents will find pre-made salads, sandwiches and terrific fruit options, like cantaloupe sticks and watermelon.

One of my favorite places on any of the RCCL ships is the Viking Crown Lounge. It's at the top of the ship and is usually practically empty. It's sophisticated and quiet and has about a 180-degree view from all the windows. Perfect place to relax and have drinks.

Entertainment-- With 6000 passengers, it's impossible to accommodate everyone with the traditional early and late headliner shows each night. The Oasis shows are done via reservation, and I recommend you make them early, as soon as you book your cruise. At most shows, there are long lines of people waiting to get in without reservations. At 10-15 minutes before showtime, they start letting them in, so get there in time if you do have a reservation.

Hairspray was terrific! We sat in the front row and tried not to sing along the whole time. We sat next to a guy who knew the cast (maybe a family member) who was singing along the whole time. Too funny. Ever wonder what happened to TV's Jim J. Bullock, from Too Close for Comfort? He's playing Edna in Hairspray on the Oasis. He and the girl who plays Tracy sang one night in the Viking Crown Lounge. SO great! He is hilarious.

Jim J. Bullock performing at the Viking Crown Lounge.

Don't miss the aerial show in the Opal Theater. It's amazing. There is a couple who do an act above the audience, where he's hanging from a hook or a scarf or something and tossing the girl around. Freakin' scary, but really beautiful choreography there.

The Aquatheater shows were so impressive. There are lots of jokes made about the shows being very obscure and artsy, which they are, but the world-class swimmers and divers are so talented. Don't miss them.

We enjoyed the comedy club so much- great comedians and also the improv show the last day on board. The improv features actors from Hairspray. And they are FUNNY! Recurring joke of the week- what a crappy place Nassau is. I have always thought that! It's time to take Nassau off the itineraries.

Leaving St. Maarten. Note one of two cantilevered hot tubs overlooking the ocean below. It was so nice!

Platinum Crown and Anchor members (and up) were invited to a champagne sail away party at Nassau, on the ship's limited-access helipad. One of the most fun events! We talked a while with one of the human resources staff there and she had tons of interesting info about the ship. Also met a couple from California there.

Everyone just HAD to stand on that H. What the heck.

Speaking of ship stories... we were talking with our stateroom attendant one morning on the balcony, asking him if he'd ever been on a voyage where someone went overboard. (What. We were curious.) The conversation wound around and he said it is more common than you think that couples drink too much, get into a huge fight and then sleep with other people on board to get back at each other. Wow! How many Mango Tangos do two people have to have to sleep with people at random- especially in a closed space like a cruise ship, where you're all going to be running into each other for the next seven days?

The Solarium has some fabulous, huge, round, cushiony chairs to lay in at the very front of the ship, looking straight out the windows. Don't settle for a deck chair when you lay out. :) Yes, I did get some sun. No burns!

I looked and looked online before I left to see the couch folded out in our stateroom floorplan, but couldn't find a photo anywhere. So for those who are curious...

Oasis of the Seas balcony room with sofa folded out.

The couch is folded up during the day, along the wall under the art. The sofa bed is very hard and bumpy (not that I ever slept in it), but you can request extra padding.

One fabulous improvement of this ship is that most of the stateroom doors open out into the hallway, so you don't have to squish around each other all the time at the crowded closet/bathroom area by the door. The doors are set back, so they don't actually swing into the hallway. Also, not sure if this is now common, or just part of the Oasis, but you do not have to wear your life jacket to the muster drill. There aren't even life jackets in your room at all. They are at the muster stations.

Overall, I had a great time. I'm sure I'll have more to say about the trip, and that I've forgotten a ton of stuff. And I also haven't gone through all my photos yet. But this has been your general review!

The ship is completely awesome. I do think that the number of passengers makes the personal experience very different from the typical cruise. Usually, you feel like you get to know a lot of people, even on a 3000-passenger cruise. On the Oasis, we rarely saw anyone twice, so if you meet people you want to hang out with again, set it up. You probably won't have a chance meeting in the next seven days. Dinner time is the only time we saw the same people every day. And the ship has an anytime dining option, where you could miss even that. We chose a main dining room seating for that reason. I definitely prefer a smaller number of passengers and would probably go back to a Freedom-class ship rather than taking this one again. Still, this super-enormous wonder of a ship is a must-do vacation if you enjoy cruising!

Read more...

Random Wednesday

The Bachelor cast went to Puerto Rico this week. They were in Old San Juan, going all around to places we were not long ago. It's so beautiful. The blue cobblestone streets... brightly painted houses... the ocean... gosh I can't wait to get back there and stay a while.

Lauren decided for her graduation trip she wanted to vacation on the world's largest cruise ship. So we are now booked on the Oasis of the Seas. (She carries just over 6000 passengers and almost 2500 crew members.) She didn't even care where it was going, just wanted to be on it. I'm very excited to hang out on this ship! We're still going to Boston this summer, and we'll visit my dad in New York. We've just deleted the Washington DC portion of that trip.

Song Lyrics of the Day

...All along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more...

Christina Perri- "A Thousand Years" (Christina's beautiful vid on the sidebar >>)

Oh, and... BOO-YAH.

8 million on Bookworm. A board full of errant V's and U's finally killed me. Next game, I'm going to work on the books. It's far less points than completing bonus words, but I'm hoping something super-awesome happens when you complete all of them.

Next game night... I'm so breaking out Boggle.

Read more...

Cruise 'n' Soccer Rant

I didn't take copious notes on this cruise like I did on our last couple. *crowd cheer* I'm sure I'll think of stuff through the week. Some brief recollections:

In the Austin airport before we left, I got up from lunch and walked into the restroom, where a pilot was adjusting his shirt in the mirror. Just as I thought, That poor guy is going to be really embarrassed when he realizes he is in the wrong... I realized I was in the men's restroom.

On the flights to and from Miami, the pilots pointed out the oil disaster below us in the Gulf, fires and all. Sad.

We spent one day cruising a way out along the coast of Cuba. That night, around 8:30 pm, when it was pitch black outside, Lauren and I were chatting out on our balcony. There were some lights on the water in the distance. About ten minutes later, the lights were approaching us, and they appeared to be three boats. A cruise ship officer got into our ship's side glass compartment, where the Harbor Master sits during docks in port, and shone a huge halogen spotlight on them. I thought maybe we should go inside our stateroom, but we just waited to see what would happen next. Nothing did. We passed them and eventually turned off the spotlight. Whenever we told that story, people would say, "Pirates!" Ahaaha.

Cruise Director Mike, on the PA system (during a skit), in his best Norwegian accent: Dis is Captain Charles from the bridge... because... vhere else would I be? I vant you all to know they serve the best strawberry daiquiris on the bridge. And... I'm not veeeearing aaaaaaanyyyyy paaaaaaants!!

A guy proposed to his girlfriend on the ship one karaoke night, when he got up to the microphone. We were there, cheering him on. It was great! She said yes. Then he sang.

Royal Caribbean's most traveled passenger, Mario, was on our ship! It was his 302nd cruise with RCCL. I had just read an article about him on the cruise line's blog about a week before we left. He had his own reserved table and chairs by the pool, with a sign and everything. Nice guy. He was walking by me during the Walk for Wishes on Saturday (a Make-A-Wish benefit walk along the track up top- there were two wish children on our cruise). I wonder what Mario does/did for a living to be able to cruise constantly like that. Nice!

When we got home, I was blissfully unaware of any and all world and local news of the past 12 days, but I can tell you about all the soccer games played during that time. We were at the Surfcomber lounge in South Beach for the US/Ghana game. :( Tough loss, but it's great we made it that far. Best game was Germany/Argentina in the Schooner Bar on the cruise ship. There was a great international mix of people, really into it. What a win!! Go Germany!

I now know the rules of the game, thankyouverymuch. A very exciting sport to watch. There are two things that make me nuts though.

Ahh yes.... I owe you a soccer rant.

The two things about soccer I think are ridiculous: Feigned injuries and fluffy timekeeping. Kenneth was telling us that a Comedy Central show (I cannot find this thing on YouTube- darn it!) had done a whole segment on taking dives in soccer, about how you can use that technique for everyday situations. Your girlfriend catches you on the phone with another girl? Fall to the ground and writhe around moaning, "Ohhhhh!!!! My LEG!!!!!" LOL. She'll be distracted trying to make sure you're okay.

Two subcomplaints about taking dives: 1) It makes those guys look like prissy princesses. 2) It really seems that for most games, the first person to fall to the ground and wince gets the penalty called on the other guy. So it's like a race to see who can fake it first. Some referees don't put up with any of that crap. I LOVE that. You tell 'em, refs. Get up already, and let's play some ball.

On fluffy timekeeping: Not only do they keep the clock running when teams like Ghana blatantly waste time dorking around, but they tack on this totally random extra time after 90 minutes. Then the referee can evidently blow the game over before the extra time runs out, if he thinks it should be over. Or, he can let it go past that time, if he's feeling charitable towards the losing team. WTH? Just stop the clock and start it again during the game. It would be so simple. Plus then newbie fans could jump up at 90:00 and cheer without everyone in the room rolling their eyes. :)

Read more...

Transatlantic Cruise DEAL

Holy baJEEbus. If only I had time for this cruise--- Royal Caribbean has a 12-Night Spanish TransAtlantic Cruise from Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale on Nov 10 that is specially priced from $399 per person.

$399.

Balcony rooms are only $849 per person. Navigator of the Seas. It's a nice ship!

Read more...

NYC/Cruise Re-Cap, Part II

The funny stuff!

New York City: At Ground Zero, we were following signs around the area with arrows that said "WTC PATH." When Jeff wanted veer off to find the Visitor Center, I said surely it was on the WTC Path and I wanted to follow it to see what was there. Turns out, WTC PATH is the rail system station (the Port Authority Trans-Hudson train), not a path at all.

New York City: After Ground Zero, we wanted to go to Grand Central Station. I said, "I wonder if the subway goes to Grand Central Station." I wish I could say I was trying to be cute.

Cruise Day 1: The comedian remarked about Royal Caribbean's newest ship, Oasis of the Seas (omg), that "it's so big that it has it's own bad neighborhood. Don't go down that hall, man! Those people are mean!"

Cruise Day 3: Fogged in at sea. The Captain's Cocktail Party was that night. They have to blow the horn in heavy fog every couple of minutes. We said we'd know if the Captain had too much champagne, because the horn would go from "baaaaah baaaaah" to "buh-buh-buh-BUH-buh... buh-buh"

Cruise Day 4: Love and Marriage Game. Three couples- newlyweds married one week, a couple married 20 years and a couple married 61 years- play something similar to The Newlywed Game. One question was "Where is the most unique place you've made whoopee?" The 80-something wife of the oldest couple said, "last night in the back row of this theater." Everyone cracked up. When the husband came out, he gave the same answer! Mike the Aggie newlywed went over to them and did the "I'm not worthy" bow. Hilarious.

St. John, NB: McLobster (a lobster roll) is available at McDonald's seasonally. No lie.

Cruise Day 6: Royal Caribbean has a fun game called "Battle of the Sexes." Typically this is the large lounge divided into two teams- ladies and guys. The ladies answer trivia questions about "guy stuff" and the guys answer questions about "girly stuff." Anyway, Jeff referred to this upcoming game all day as "The Sex Show." I don't think that one is on the family cruises.

Portland, ME: There is a microbrewery called 3 Dollar Dewey's. The Duck Tour guide joked that it got its name when it used to be a brothel with "1 Dollar Lookies, 2 Dollar Touchies and 3 Dollar Deweys."

Cruise Day 7: The comedian tonight said that when our home port in New Jersey used to be called Bayonne, the people there were like "(grabbing crotch) Yo! How you doin'?" Now that it is called Cape Liberty, people are all snooty and "How do you do? Welcome!" He also did a dead-on Jack Nicholson impression: "We went into Halifax... Back into the fog... Went into St. John... Back into the fog... Went into Bar Harbor... Back into the fog... You know we're going into the same port every day. They're just changing the signs."

Boston: Nothing made this Texan giggle more than a family from New Jersey making fun of the Boston tour guide's accent. "She's trying to say co-ah (car), but she's saying cah! Ahaha!"

Cruise Day 9: During the "Majority Rules" game, they asked what people would most like to see on the new Oasis of the Seas ship. Our team voted for a roller coaster. That was the second most popular. Number one answer? A strip club. I guess it could go in the bad neighborhood.

Read more...

NYC/Cruise Re-Cap, Part I

Here's the very basic rundown of what we did. Except for three days of dense fog, we had amazing weather!

New York City: My third trip to the city. Kathy L and Scott K had both recommended the Courtyard Marriott Times Square. It was perfect location and price. Rode the NYC subway for the first time. It was great! Visited Ground Zero and the World Trade Center Visitor Center. Saw Legally Blonde- OMG, OMG you guys (a song from the show...) - it was freaking fantastic!!

Cruise Day 1 (Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas sails out of Cape Liberty, NJ): Spent the afternoon hanging out around the ship. The Statue of Liberty was right out our window at dinner as we left. First night's show the Cruise Director (Dave from Australia- yummy) came out to a smattering of applause. The show began with the same crowd reaction. Lauren and I were thinking, what's up with these people? When the comedian was performing, he said, "New Englanders are a notoriously tight crowd. You guys need to lighten up! It's a cruise!" Seriously, until the last day, the audience was fairly quiet, many of them sitting with arms folded like "go ahead, impress me." One-on-one, people couldn't have been nicer. Must be a group thing!

July 4th in New London, CT: Such a nice little town. We met the Mayor downtown in the square. Had clam chowder at a restaurant overlooking the harbor. Visited Nathan Hale's schoolhouse, even upstairs where the wood and everything is original. Jeff, Lauren and I tied with two other teams to win July 4th Trivia on the ship that night. Woo!

Sea Day: Completely fogged in at sea. The ship's horn was blowing literally every two minutes. Very cold and could not see a thing off the ship. All sorts of activities on board.

Halifax, Nova Scotia: Went to the Maritime Museum to see the Titanic exhibit, and also visited the cemeteries where many Titanic victims are buried. On the way out of the port, drunk Canadians mooned us from their little boat. That was funny. Back into the fog...

St. John, New Brunswick: Saw the Reversing Falls Rapids. When the Bay of Fundy is at high tide, it washes into the river, reversing the flow several miles inland. VERY cool. Lots of harbor seals were in the river, chasing the fish that got washed in. Also took a tour of the city. They get the school children involved by having them plant marigolds all around the city, and also painting murals around town. There is virtually no graffiti or vandalism because of these programs. Back into the fog....

Bar Harbor, ME: Bar Harbor is so named because of the bar that appears at low tide. There's a road on it, and you'll be trapped on the other side if you don't get back before high tide. We just had lunch in Bar Harbor- lobster of course. It was really hot that day, but at least we were out of the fog.

Portland, ME: Took a Duck Tour here. Those are fun, if you have one in your city! It's an amphibious vehicle. Everywhere we went downtown, the kids were quacking at us. Very cute. 90% of the lobster in the US comes from Maine, and they are still catching the same amount as they were 100 years ago. Very strict guidelines as to which lobster can be caught and which must be thrown back. Saw a family of seahawks living on a big metal post in the bay.

Boston, MA: Lauren is into all things scary, so we did the Salem Witch Tour here. The Witch Museum is interesting, and we also saw the memorial in town. Salem is absolutely gorgeous. Went down the famous Chestnut Street, “one of the most beautiful streets in America.” So pretty.

Sea Day: Again, lots and lots of ship activities. Throughout the cruise, we were always attending Karaoke Superstar, which is like American Idol on board. This was Karaoke Superstar Finale day, and we were there with all the regulars, cheering on our favorites. (Our newlywed Dallas Aggie, Mike, didn't win. He did Eminem's "Lose Yourself." I think it was a song choice issue.) Took a thousand pictures of the Cruise Director while he ran the Belly Flop competition. Beautiful day!!

Last Day: Cape Liberty is horrible to get in and out of. Just saying. Allow a million hours. And there isn't much guidance outside of the cruise terminal. Just ask someone who looks official, and they are happy to give you info on where to go and what to do, to get where you need to be.

Read more...

The Famous "Top 10 Cruise Questions"

In honor of my upcoming cruise, I present the Top 10 Stupid Cruise Questions. These are rattled off by the cruise director at some point on every cruise. Still, they are funny.

1. Does the crew sleep on board?
No, the water taxi picks them up and drops them off each day. Hee.
I actually visited the crew's quarters on an NCL ship when I was 16, with a bartender I had befriended on the trip. (Not at all as racy as it sounds, I promise you.) Crew quarters are below the guest cabins. They have their own gym, dining room, club, etc. there.
2. What time is the midnight buffet?
Interestingly enough, more and more the traditional "midnight buffet" is at 11:30pm.
3. Which elevator takes me to the front of the ship?
If you're on ships as large as the one we'll be on, you'll wish there was an elevator to the front of the ship.
4. Do you generate your own electricity?
This is my favorite. The answer is, "No, we have a really long extension cord plugged in at the terminal and trailing behind the ship."
5. Is this island totally surrounded by water?
Ahaha.
6. Is the water in the toilet salt or fresh?
Do you care? (...It is fresh, due to the corrosive effects of salt water.)
7. Can I water ski off the back of the ship?
Most cruise ships do not go fast enough to water ski behind. Plus, it's a bit of a safety issue.
8. What do you do with the ice carvings after they melt?
Refreeze the water in the margarita machines.
9. Do these stairs go up or down?
Yes.
10. The ship’s photographer snapped our picture. How do we know which pictures are ours?
lol. It's funny how quickly you can spot your friends and family in a photo amidst hundreds of others in the gallery.

Read more...

Upcoming Vacation

Here's the land/cruise itinerary:
New York, NY
New London, CT
Halifax, Nova Scotia
St. John, New Brunswick
Bar Harbor, ME
Portland, ME
Boston, MA

We finally decided on a show for the night we're in New York. Wicked is sold out that night, so we're going to see Legally Blonde. I've heard great things about it. I even found half-price tickets online at BroadwayBox.com!

We'll visit Salem and the Witch Museum when we hit Boston and take a Titanic-related tour in Nova Scotia. We'll also see the Reversing Falls Rapids in St. John. In the other cities, we're planning to walk around and hit the places the Fodor's guide or TripAdvisor recommends. Must also get some great seafood!

Read more...

Royal Caribbean's New Ship

My favorite cruise line, Royal Caribbean, has at long last released official info about Project Genesis. The ship will sail from Ft. Lauderdale in late 2009.

Wanna see? It's really cool.

Royal Caribbean's Project Genesis

Read more...

Vacay

And the decision is...

Canada/New England!

*wild applause*

We'll hit New York City while we're in the neighborhood.

Myrtle Beach will most likely be our next trip, perhaps next Spring Break. (Oh my. Maybe not...)

Read more...

Back from cruisin!

First, can I please send a message to the universe that while everyone's cancer is making a return visit, I would like to keep mine as far away as possible? Thank you!

The Cruise was awesome!

First the most amazing thing- we had a 17-yr-old boy come down with appendicitis about midway back to Galveston, in the middle of the Gulf. We diverted towards New Orleans, and the Coast Guard met us a few hundred miles out. There was a CG plane circling us the entire maneuver. We were all evacuated from the top two decks. The CG helicopter made 4 intricate hovers over the ship (between the Viking Crown Lounge and the Windjammer, for those who are familiar with Royal Caribbean). They plucked out the patient and the patient's father and took them to New Orleans for treatment. I got video. It was unbelievable. Like a Bond movie- because we were moving all this time, and the helicopter had to match our speed and such. SKEERY. But cool!

As far as cruising, we had a fantabulous time. (Who doesn't?) This was my 4th Royal Caribbean cruise, my 6th total. Our dinner tablemates were from New Brunswick, Canada. I want to get up that way in fall sometime.

We were known around the ship's restaurants and bars as "Sarah and the three Kathy's." It was like a girl group- Sarah and the Kathys- and I had a feeling I was doomed to be that forgotten backup singer- "which Kathy was she?"- just a mere mention on Sarah's True Hollywood Story. Hahaha.

Cathy did the splits for the infamous Quest game, a raucous in-lounge scavenger hunt for adults only. ("I need a female team member doing the splits right now on this dance floor!") Who knew she still had that going on? Not even she knew!

We did a snorkeling excursion in Cozumel that was probably the best shore excursion I've ever been on. They took us out in a catamaran to snorkel. The snorkeling wasn't very good, but they were hit by that hurricane not long ago, so it'll be several years. Then they took us to a beach where we hung out a bit. On the catamaran, they played party music. The guys on the boat were very nice, very funny. There was free booze and other drinks.

The ship's own singers and dancers weren't very good, but amongst the seasoned cruisers at our dinner table, we all decided that the small ships and short trips must get the suckier company performers. The hired performers were great though. The comedians were hilarious.

I had an entire medicine cabinet with me, just in case of anything. The only thing I ever needed was an antacid (awesome roasted garlic soup gave me hellacious heartburn), and I didn't have that! LOL. Sarah had some though, so I didn't have to pay $10 for it in the ship's "boutiques." No wonder she's the front girl...

Minimal sunburn. No hangovers. Not too much dessert. I think it was a raging success!

Read more...

Getting ready

I'm in that mode that many of you know- preparing the family for mom to be gone for several days. Things like:

1. Meal planning. This may include preparing and freezing meals and/or making a list of places to order in, should meal prep go awry.
2. Letting DH know the morning routine so DD can make it to school. This involves a detailed minute-by-minute schedule, along with a map to all ingredients that come together to make her lunch. Pre-preparation of lunch items also comes into play here.
3. Obsessive lists of phone numbers and emergency info.
4. A briefing of the calendar items during the vacation period. Maps, schedules, secret codes as necessary.

After all that, mom is ready to prepare for the trip itself. Still trying to choose a snorkeling excursion for Cozumel....

Read more...

Cruisin'

Our cruise is next week! WHEE!!! Maybe I should buy the drink package... although people say that the wines aren't that great. Then again, I drink $5-a-bottle wine all the time. Who am I kidding.

The kiddo is in Indianapolis with the band, playing a national high school band event. They're the first-ever middle school band to be invited. They perform this morning. Wynton Marsalis is the event's featured guest, and he will be watching their performance. I hope she gets to meet him.

Read more...