Saturday, March 9, 2024
Tobi and Dean are so punctual!! Nine o’clock on the dot and they are in my driveway for the three-hour trip to Port Canaveral. Our boarding time is noon and we are parked and on board with moments to spare. They take our pictures, fill out whatever they need and we’re on our way. First stop is our muster station so we know where to go if the ship hits an iceberg! Then it’s on to the Windjammer for lunch. I’m so virtuous! Salad and a small piece of grilled fish.
Our staterooms are now available and we go our separate ways. I’m rooming with Maureen, and Robin and Ma are right next door. Tobi and Dean are at the other end of the hall in a handicap-accessible room. Diana and Dan are on another floor altogether. Maureen’s suitcase has appeared while mine is still doing a Houdini. But our room steward finds it and all is well! The poor guy thinks that Robin is in both rooms because the girls look so much alike. He finally says, "I'm so confused!"
There's a letter on my bed saying my Nassau excursion has been canceled, so I go to the Shore Excursions desk and change to Maureen's adventure. I text Diana, since we were going together. She finds out that it wasn't really canceled but I don't want to change again, so she and Dan change to ours! What a thing.
After getting settled, we go to the pool deck for the Sail Away party, with line dance lessons and much laughter! Great fun. I can’t believe Ma, who is 95, and is dancing away without her walker! What a role model! Then it’s time for our five o’clock dinner seating. Somehow the dinner reservations have gotten messed up and the four of us have a table on deck 3 while Tobi, Dean, Dan, and Diana are at a table for four on deck 4!! Dinner is about the only time we eight will all be together, so I hope Dean can work his cruise magic for tomorrow and the rest of the cruise!
Dinner is lovely, of course. I have a crab cake appetizer, fish with vegetables, and key lime pie! And a glass of a lovely Malbec. I'll get the name tomorrow. The manager of the dining room introduces himself and makes quite an effort at impressing Ma. Then the waiter makes a rose out of a napkin and presents it to her!
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| Only the person in the window is real! |
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| Fun window shopping |
Throughout the day we have been experimenting with ways to communicate. There is a message app that's part of the Royal Caribbean app and Diana, Robin, Maureen, and I have now all able to stay in touch. And Dean must have the internet package (it's probably free for him, like the drinks package and goodness knows what else because they are such frequent cruisers!) so we can text using wifi. I tell him that we're going to the show at seven and he tells D&D.
We all go straight to the theater but never see D&D! The show is kind of a preview with a couple of numbers by the Adventure of the Seas nine-piece band, and one by the dancers. There is a ballroom couple who also teach classes and the rest of tthe show is a comedian who is pretty entertaining. We meet Diana and Dan afterwards by chance and luck! We head to the piano bar and find Tobi and Dean so for the first time we are all eight together!! There's no room at the piano bar so we go down to the Duck and Dog pub. There's a great band playing on the promenade and we can hear them in the pub. We all order a drink (well, actually, we each order our own drink!) and when the band is finished, the guitarist in the pub begins his set! He's really good and entertaining with a whole lot of audience participation. And he is flirting with Ma, too!! We last until about 9:30 and then everyone disperses to our rooms. Maureen puts out our breakfast request, which is just coffee and tea, and we settle down for the night. After just a bit of fuss and bother I convince the internet to play nicely with my computer. Next I'll see if I get lucky with photos!! Oh, and the clocks change tonight! (Figured out a work-around for the photos.)
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| Chris Foster is his name and he has a laminated list of his repertoire! |
