At the end of July, the entire family (5 Bauman men, 4 wives, 1 nephew) celebrated my in-laws' 35th wedding anniversary with a cruise to the Bahamas. (Two vacations off the mainland in two months!) My MIL had been planning it for about a year and a half. I had never been on a cruise before but figured now was the time to go since we don't have kids.
Since I'm a bit of a psycho, I've had about a million visions of falling overboard a big ship (usually other people, not me - hence why I will never take my children). I wasn't really worried about the boat sinking or getting stuck anywhere, but more about the falling thing. My family had some personal things going on too, so I wasn't all that excited to leave, but Andy talked me into going on the trip last minute and we made our way south.
We left early Sunday morning from my in-laws' and our bus headed to Midway airport. The baggage check-in was crazy busy - nothing I had ever seen before, but we made it through and were on the plane. I took naps here and there and we landed in Orlando. We met up with my BIL and his fiance coming from Mississippi, waited FOREVER for our baggage to come through, and went to Hooters for lunch (the difference between all girl and all boy families definitely shows in where you go to eat). I will admit that I was a total sourpuss during this time, but we got to our hotel in Port Canaveral, and spent some time by the pool. I lightened up a bit before we headed to Cocoa Beach to find a place to eat. We ended up seaside at Captain J's I think? The food was alright, but the service was awful. I think we were there for like 2 hours overall, but we had a good time laughing and enjoyed the ocean view.
I remember sleeping gloriously Sunday night. I had been extremely sleep deprived for weeks leading up to the trip, so I think my body was grateful for the rest. Andy and I got a late breakfast at the hotel buffet (it was suuuper crowded since it was so close to the Port), showered, packed, and we all loaded up for the ship. Boarding started at 11am, and we were there first thing. We had to pass a few check-ins and security points, but the process was fairly easy and quick. We were on the boat at maybe 11:20am, but we couldn't access our rooms until 1:30. We dumped our things at a few poolside tables while we waited.
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| Exhibit A of the matching family shirts. Not a great picture but the only one I have of them. |
Arranged from the front of the ship to the back..
Decks 2 and 3: all staterooms (mostly for workers I assume)
Deck 4: staterooms, Centrum (aka lobby area) and My Fair Lady dining room
Deck 5: Orpheum theater, Casino, Boleros Lounge, My Fair Lady dining room
Deck 6: Orpheum therater, Centrum shops and galleries, Chops Grill/Schooners Bar, Spotlight Lounge
Deck 7 and 8: all staterooms
Deck 9: Windjammer Cafe (buffet), pool, Solarium (adult pool), Park Cafe, Spa and Fitness Center
Deck 10: Trampoline, Teen center/Nursery, Spa and Fitness Center, Rock Climbing Wall
Deck 11: Viking Loung, Concierge Club (only front of the ship)
Deck 12: Diamond Club (only front of the ship)
Now back to Monday's events.. While we were stationed by the pool, we all took turns heading into the buffet to grab lunch. My first thoughts were that it reminded me of my college dorm cafeteria (although I lived in a pretty nice dorm). It was loud and chaotic and busy, but I guess that's how buffets are anywere (I don't ever go to them, so I don't really know). Finally we were able to get into our stateroom. It was a decent size, but the bathroom was very small, just big enough for one person to be in at a time. The ceiling felt a little lower, but luckily we had adjoining rooms with Andy's brother, so opening the door made the room feel larger. We had all gotten nicer rooms with balcony access, although I didn't spend too much time out there because of the falling issue.
After exploring of the ship, spending more time by the pool, and participating in the mandatory drill, the ship finally set sail at 4:30. We dressed and went to the My Fair Lady dining room for dinner at 6. It was a formal dining room. We had the same two waiters every night and were always served three courses of our choosing. This night I had fruit, some sort of marinated pork chop, and carrot cake for dessert. The food I got on this night was just okay. We ended the day going to the opening show in the Orpheum theater, which was hosted by the ship director, Mark, and featured the RC singers and dancers and also the ship's comedian. We then headed to the pool deck and hung out with the fam for a bit. I think it was this night that we went to the "Silent Party." It was a dance party where you get a set of headphones and choose the music station you want to dance to (there were two different live DJs streaming through the headphones). It was a weird concept but actually more fun and less lame than you think. Then it was time for bed.
Stay tuned for the next installment!
NOTE: Sorry for the lack of photos. I can count on my hands how many I took of the whole vacation..
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