I'm not very smart sometimes! Why, exactly, did I come home from vacation?!! Thank you, Odhett, for pointing that out! haha

Aaah, the cruise and vacation ... divine!

Velva and I flew out on Nov 6th, a lovely day of course, and now that I've done so, I don't recommend taking an overnight flight on the night we turn our clocks forwards or backwards! It's quite confusing when you land! Oh yeah, US Airways deserved their ranking as the least friendly airlines.

We were a little late landing in Puerto Rico because of a thunderstorm that was going over the airport but we got a fabulous view of some of the island and surrounding ocean. Once we landed in Puerto Rico, we grabbed our bags (we each checked one and carried one) and got a taxi and went straight to the Pan American pier in San Juan.

It was a confusing mess of people, with lines going this way and that, some long, some short, some clearly meant for the other huge ship that was docked there. We definitely didn't want to get in the wrong lines! Luckily we figured out the guys in green jerseys would take our big luggage to go through screening (like at airport) and we didn't have to wait in the super long line. We tipped them and were able to duck under a rope and get into a MUCH shorter line which took us through security and right to check-in. That was uneventful, and before we knew it, we were walking towards the ship, with 7 hours to spare! I checked the times of my journal entries and we were still circling in the air at 1:38 and my next entry was 3:27, saying "Greetings from our room", so it went faster than I remember!

We went to our room - Riviera Deck # 505. It had a balcony - a MUST! It was also midship so we didn't feel or hear the thrust of the engines like you do towards the back of ship, and it was close to elevators - also a good thing. I'm glad I did my research! After quickly dropping off our bags, we made a beeline for the food!! :-) First meal was from the buffet. I had a salad and some pineapple and a cookie. I was amused at all the men in the pouring down rain, sitting on lounge chairs watching NFL on the big Movies Under the Stars (aka MUTS) screen!

We had to go to muster drill at 6 PM, which is where you learn how to put on life jackets and where to go if there's an emergency, stuff like that.

Once that was over we headed to dinner. For some reason, the traditional dining appealed to me, with the same table, same time, same waiters, etc. I was really glad they had the option to have a table for two - that way we could just eat and mind our own business, and/or observe others :-) The older couple at the table next to us - well, you could tell when they'd had their pre-meal liquor!! Speaking of that, the waiter asked to make sure I was over 18 to order the run-infused pina colada soup with pineapple! I guess the lighting did me some favors! I had the soup, which was really a smoothie in my book (and incredibly good), prime rib, potato, and green beans - a good start!

The weather was terrible outside - pouring down rain and wind! I sure was hoping that would pass!

We left and went to explore more of the boat. Velva had a tooth whitening consult. I went to work out, then we checked out shops, emailed home, and I looked up dive sites in Aruba.

Day 2 - At Sea

Caribbean Princess

I slept like a log! I didn't wake up until 10 AM! Okay, so that's just 6 or 7 AM at home but still, it felt like I'd slept forever. The seas weren't very smooth so I was feeling the "motion of the ocean." I wasn't sick or anything - it was just odd and I stumbled a little. No, it wasn't the soup from the night before! We had breakfast at the buffet and then went to a shopping promo (dumb). I ran and then Velva and I spent half the day in the Sanctuary, an adults only area where they had nice loungers and water and a special menu, massage if you were interested, and so on. I used their pre-programmed Zen music ipods and I don't remember what music I was listening to but I fell asleep. It was hard core relaxation! haha

At 3PM, I went down to one of the lounges and learned how to waltz! :-D smirk Hey, why not?! I don't have any pictures of this, and it's a good thing because 1. I previously only knew how to do the chicken dance 2. the boat was REALLY rocking and 3. I had to dance with another lady because the men present were all there with partners. Oh well - it was still fun and the instructor was a cute little German guy with the fancy heeled shoes.

So - I learned to waltz :-) It was fun and as soon as class was dismissed, I headed back to the room to start getting ready for the first formal night! :-) We bought special outfits for the occasion and were looking forward to dressing up and getting fancy! I even curled my hair and left it down. We went around and had our pictures taken at the various stations set up around the ship. You'll have to wait 'til your Christmas card comes to see the results :-D

At supper, the waiters were in black tuxes and I think the head waiters may have even been wearing white gloves. Oooh la la! I had filet mignon, potatoes, and salad.

We noticed several of the water excursions were cancelled for the next day in Aruba but at least diving was still a go.