Day 1 and 2

The day before we left for the cruise was a wonderful Thanksgiving with all of the kids, spouses, grandkids, and one great-granddaughter along with 5 dogs at our house.  What a wonderful time we had.

Then we slept in a little on Friday and it was time to finish packing and go to the airport.  We had a great flight right from Bloomington to Atlanta and then to Miami arriving right on time – 6:00pm.  After we picked up our luggage, we took the Marriott shuttle right to the hotel, checked in and went back down to eat.  The hotel is close to the airport and it is on a campus of three hotels, a Marriott, a Courtyard and a Residence Inn.  We were staying at the Residence Inn and the room was great – a kitchen, living room and then a separate bath and bedroom.

We went to sleep early and that was it for Day 1.

For Day 2, Ed woke early and went to the Marriott to eat in their Concierge lounge and then we took a cab to the ship at 10:00am.  We were in our room by 11:30 and went immediately up on deck to eat.  Back to the room, we changed into our swimming suits and went out in the sun.  It was 77 degrees and it was wonderful for a couple of hours and then all of a sudden it rained on us. 

So we went back to the cabin and relaxed until it was time to go to one of the lounges for a Blue Chip Club welcome party.  What fun saying hi again to a number of the staff from the casino including the Manager Annette and our host Andrea, who we had just sailed with last month in Europe.

Then we went to the casino to sign in and get our casino card and cash back from the last trip.

We walked around for a little bit and then went back to the cabin for a nap – naps are good.

No question that we miss our dear friends Jeff and Vera and our new friends David and Barbara from New York, but they had other commitments and couldn’t come on this trip.  We shall miss them.

Tonight was going to be the first time in several cruises that we would have met new people for dinner – however, the other two couples at our table did not show up.  This happens a lot because people have been traveling all day and eat earlier.  So, we will meet them tomorrow.

As we had seen the welcome aboard show just last month, we went immediately to the casino where neither of us did very well.

After gambling we went to the midnight comedy show, which was also not very good.

Tomorrow is a full day at sea so our schedule is going to be very relaxing, which is going to be wonderful – so good night – sleep tight.

 

Getting ready for Thanksgiving

Dad, Olivia and Great Grandmother!!

All around the table

Living room of hotel

Our hotel bedroom

First meal on the ship