Day Two

Our first full day of vacation, and we’ve been at sea all day. Although I l.o.v.e cruises, there’s something slightly odd about seeing nothing but water. After awhile, you crave the sight of land. Last night, the seas were especially rocky, sending everyone to bed early. I’ve never been seasick before, but I took Dramamine this morning to quell the queasiness a bit.

The morning, unfortunately, started very early. The Husband woke up at 6 am, not being able to sleep anymore, and escaped to get a cup of coffee. So, you know, of course when Nicholas woke up at 6:15 and didn’t see him, he started asking for him incessantly. I managed to get him to go back to sleep, but we were all raring to go at 7:30. Sigh. So much for sleeping in on the first day of vacation.

We spent the day alternating between pool time, meals, nap time and shopping on board. We went to the buffet for lunch today, a wonderful assortment of the widest variety of food imaginable … everything from creamy mashed potatoes with gravy, Seafood Paella and hamburgers to Vegetable Biryani, pasta salad, fresh fruit and roast pork; truly something for everyone. The kids and I always gravitate towards the fresh fruit on these trips – sweet, juicy cantalope, tangy grapefruit and apples as red as Snow White’s lips.

Dinner is another highlight – and the service can make or break the whole experience. We have fantastic waiters this time, with Peterson and Franky anticipating our every need. Wait staff on cruise ships are wonderful students of our needs, quickly picking up on our likes and dislikes and giving us what we want before we even utter our request. Yesterday, both kids had a Fruit Cup with their meal, and tonight as we arrived at the table, fruit cups were waiting for them at their seats. Sodas are refilled before you’re even halfway through your glass, and if they find out you like something in particular (chocolate or steak, for example), it will be brought to you before you even ask for it. Love that.

On cruises, The Husband is the King of Second Entrees; he finishes one and orders another. Sometimes it’s the same entree, sometimes different. Luckily for him, he has the type of metabolism where he can get away with this kind of eating; me, not so much. The Neighbor Husband has quickly embraced this custom too. A bonus about cruise dining is that if you don’t like something, it’s quickly replaced with whatever you want; beacuse of this, it’s a great opportunity to have something you haven’t tried before. I like to order “out of the box” when we cruise … I can have Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce anytime; this is my chance to try something different. Tonight they had Escargots with Herb Butter on the menu, and since I’ve never had them before, I wanted to try them. The Neighbor Wife and I split a serving (her first time too), and they were delicious… similar in texture to clams, they were tasty little morsels that were perfectly complemented with the herb butter. I honestly didn’t think I’d like them, picturing them more slimy than they actually were, but now that I’ve tried them, I’ll definitely be getting them again.

So what’s on tap for tomorrow? A visit to the spa, more relaxing and your first set of clues for Where in the World is Sweetnicks, as we arrive at our first destination Monday. You’ll be playing for copies of this – good luck! Until tomorrow…

PRINT