I feel a little older and more wiser as I am sitting here in the adult-only area of the ship drinking a glass of wine with my lovely wife. As a look over at her wind blown hair, I cannot help but think about Ferrah Faucet and her beautiful feathered hair. As we have some time now for reflection, I think I will give us a 9 out of 10 for our embarkation experience.
Lindsey decided to get only a few hours of sleep last night while I am on the back end of a upper respiratory infection and have been taking plenty of medicine to “help” me sleep well. We both got up and moving around 7am. Fortunately, we had all of the bags packed last night with the exception of our carry on gear. The plan was to be on the road at 9:30 AM but for some reason my traveling anxiety (I guess I am finally putting a name on it) was not going nuts and I really was not in a crazy rush to get going. We stopped at the bakery on the way out to get some breakfast and were on the way to our vacation around 10 AM.
I was thinking that we would run into some of the Lone Star Motorcycle Rally traffic on the way, but it really was smooth sailing all the way to the port. Once we arrived at the port, we found out where all of the bikers were hiding. Lindsey was told that they were going to be on the opposite side of the strand from the cruise terminal. Turns out that was a big fat lie! They were practically sitting on top of the terminal. This made first time cruisers like us have a heck of a time dealing with parking and getting our bags checked properly. We managed to get into the terminal around noon. As we were going through security, we heard the announcement of the first family being allowed on the boat.
Once through security we went ahead and got checked in. The line was a bit long, but we knew that we had plenty of time before our turn to board. After check-in there was the kid’s section check-in. Technically, we could have avoided this line and just picked up Jennifer’s access bracelet on the kid section of the boat, but since we were boarding group number 24 and they just called group 9, we went ahead and stood in line so that we would not need to stand in line on the boat.
The great part is that once we got checked in to the kid section, we only had to wait around 1k0 minutes before our group was called. We had a family picture taken and then we walked onto the boat. For Disney cruises, they announce the names of all the families as they walk on the boat. While there was only a handful of crew members in the area, it still does give a little touch of pageantry.
Once on the boat, we already had a game plan on how we were going to attack the needed tasks. Lindsey stood in line to book the princess and Frozen meet-n-greets and character breakfast. I went to the adult area to sign us up for the drinking seminars, and took the kid with me since I would be faster. Jennifer and I were done fairly quickly and went ahead up to our room to drop off the carry on gear that I had been lugging around. I told Jennifer that we could not poke around the room too much since we wanted to experience it as a family and it was not fair to Lindsey since she was still waiting in her line.
Once we accomplished all of our tasks, we were then able to head up to the room to unpack and look around. Fortunately, by the time we got up there our luggage had arrived. While I love Lindsey, there is nothing that can stop her from holding off from unpacking clothes that are sitting there looking at her. Within no time we had all our clothes unpacked and all of the luggage stored under the bed. Amazingly all of our stuff fit perfectly in the space that they provide. This room, for the size that it is, can hold a ton of stuff and does not overflow into the living area.
We hung around the room until the muster drill was done, and then we headed to the top deck for the sail away party. It was nice to experience this in person after the hundred of videos I watched. All the classic disney characters made an appearance and had a very interactive party for the kids.
After the party we headed back to the room to get ready for the afternoon activities. Jennifer and I were sitting on the veranda while the ship was pushing away. She was having fun hanging all over me and somehow managed to knock my glasses off of my head….down the boat…and into the ocean. Yes, my glasses, which I need so badly, are sitting in the Gulf. Fortunately, I was a Boy Scout and thought ahead to bring my spare pair of glasses. Jennifer was very upset from what happened, but it is not the end of the world and having a second pair means that we do not miss a beat, and I don’t have to dictate any of the blog for Lindsey to write.
I will end the blog post here. We have been able to explore the ship and have our first night’s dinner. It is a bit late now and we are ready to get a good night sleep and be fresh and ready for the morning. Catch y’all tomorrow!
Getting onboard
Castaway Party
