Sunday, January 16, 2011

    I “slept in” until around 7 this morning. It was a quiet morning and I'm still not overly excited for the cruise. Hopefully that will change when we get on board. I AM excited about not being at work for a week and not having to deal with Charmaine.

    Dad and I had some eggs and scrapple for breakfast. We finished off the scrapple I don't like and had to freeze the good scrapple. Defrosted scrapple is no where near as good as it is before it was frozen. But we don't really have a choice if we want to keep the scrapple.

    I attempted to lift some weights. I got some benches in and worked my way up to a solid 95 lbs, which was nice. The other 95 lbs I had done was only to parallel which doesn't pass in a powerlifting meet. I tried deadlift but after eating it was just not going to happen.

    Frank came and picked us us almost exactly at 12:45. It was an easy ride down to the port and even easier getting in since we have VIP privledges. I think it would have been pretty easy anyway since dad had his hoppy stick.

    We got on the ship and had about 15 minutes until our room was ready. We got some food, lasagna and chicken, and ate. After we finished eating, rooms were ready so we headed down to deck 6 to see what our suite looked like.

    It has a REAL bathroom with a real shower and tub. The tub does indeed have water jets on the sides as well. I will probably be using that every day. There is plenty of closet space and a vanity/dressing room outside the bathroom. The balcony is MUCH bigger than the one we had last night as well.

    I called aunt when I finished looking around the room and then I got unpacked. I realized we didn't really have an electrical outlets. We called and someone came up and apparently there aren't any and they don't have the adapter that is needed to turn 240 to 110. We did eventually eventually find another outlet and get an extension cord though. If it's going to be like this, we'll need to buy our own.

    We stayed in the room until around 3:40 and then headed down to deck 3 to go to the Muster Drill. For the first time since our first cruise, we were outside the whole time. Usually they let us wait inside because of dad's difficulty standing up. No such luck this time. At least it didn't take too long.

    After the Muster Drill went to the sail away party. I had fun dancing and starting vacation. We did the Cha Cha Slide, the Cuban Shuffle, and another line dance I can't remember the name of. It was a lot of fun.

    From the sail away party, we went and checked out the gym. It tried the treadmill to see if changes speeds fast enough and it doesn't. One of the trainers said that when we cruising I probably won't be able to get up to a full sprint anyway. We'll see.

    We went back to our room until it was time for dinner. I had some tilapia, linguini, and tomato soup. I hadn't had tomato soup in a long time and it was very good. It just needed a grilled cheese sandwich to go with it.

    I went and checked out the backdrops for the causal portraits tonight and I decided to get my picture taken. I got in the shower to get my hair wet enough to wear down and got dressed. I had fun getting my picture taken and posing. There were also no lines so it didn't take long.

    After I got my pictures taken, dad and I decided to take a nap until the welcome show, which was at 10:30. It didn't happen. I set my alarm for 9:30 pm and when it went off, I apparently went back to sleep. The next time I woke up it was going on 11 pm. I just stayed in bed.

Monday, January 17, 2011

    I woke up around 3 am and thought it was time to get up. I got a surprise when I looked at the time and realized it was only around 3 in the morning. I was hoping it was almost breakfast time as I woke up STARVING!!

    Dad woke up soon after I did and we stayed up for about an hour. I journaled yesterday, loaded up and sorted the pictures we took yesterday as well. It was fun and it needed to be done. I learned on the first cruise that trying to sort them all once you get home takes a LONG time.

    We went back to sleep around 4 and didn't wake up until around 7:30. We missed the sunrise but by the looks of it outside, we might not have seen anything even if we were awake. It was cloudy out and didn't look all that picturesque.

    We headed down for breakfast around 8 and looked through the shops on board as well as the pictures I had taken last night. I ended up buying one of them and the other ones I threw away. I left one other though as I'm not sure whether or not I want to buy it. At $21.99 a piece, and it only being the first night, I doubt it.

    We went back to the room for a short time. Dad took a short nap and I read a little in Dewy. Then we went down to the theater for the shore excursion talk. There wasn't much there that we didn't already know, and we had already decided and bought the shore excursions before we boarded, but it's still nice to see which excursion they feature and what they say about them.

    From there, we went to the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet. It was nice. It was small but cozy. We met another person who is really interested in photography. He and dad had a good time talking I think. I listened and interjected when I had something I thought I could add.

    His wife and I were more on the same page. We don't know the technical words for things but we'll mess around until we get the shot we want. She like macro lens shot and mentioned Longwood Gardens. I told her about a picture I got of a flower with dew still on it. I have their web page and email addresses so I'll have to remember to email her the link to that picture.

    Instead of going to lunch from the meet and greet, we went to the gym. I did curls with 20's, triceps extensions with 30's, and bench pres with 30's. I also did lat pulldowns with 75 lbs. It was a quick workout but I'm working muscles or doing exercises I don't normally do. Tomorrow should be interesting. I wonder if I'll be sore.

    After the gym, we did go to lunch. It was pretty good. When we got back to the room, it was nap time until around 4 when I got up to look at the backdrops for the elegant pictures tonight. None of the backdrops looked familiar so I went back to the room, showered, and got dressed up to have pictures taken.

    I had pictures taken at almost every backdrop and I think there were 9 in all. I didn't have pictures taken at one of them because it was just a black background and with my mostly black dress and dark hair, it just didn't seem worth it. I can't wait to see how they turned out tomorrow.

    One of the photographers said I made his week with my posing, another said I must have modeled in the past. Still another was doing a little dance backwards with the photo card and I danced up to meet him. Fun times, that's for sure.

    Joe, one of the people from the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet was taking pictures with his fish eye lens and got a really cool pictures shooting up towards the ceiling. I'm going to have to try that, though it obviously won't be a fish eye lens.

    I went back to the room and had dad take pictures of me dressed up. Most of them came out pretty good. I will have tons of pictures to chose from when I go to update my website, that's for sure. I will need to scan in the professional pictures as well.

    I didn't get completely un-made up for dinner. I took my lipstick and the dress off but left my hair down. I just changed into something else. There was no way I was going to get un-dressed up so soon after getting dressed up in the first place.

    We had dinner on the Lido deck and I tried to eat a piece of steak. It was really good but I was having the hardest time chewing and swallowing it. I eventually,y had to give up because it just wasn't going down like it needed to.

    When we got back to our room, we were both VERY full, maybe a little too full. I managed to finish reading Dewy before going to sleep. The ship was rocking and rolling so much I was wondering if I was going to be able to get to sleep but I did. We were having winds around 50-60 mph. It was crazy.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

    I woke up around 2 this morning to go to the bathroom. The next time I woke up it was almost 8 am. The sea is MUCH calmer this morning than it was last night, for which I am thankful. Neither dad nor I was hungry this morning and I actually ended up going back to bed until close to 10 am.

    A little after 10 am we went and looked at all the pictures I had taken last night. We decided to buy 3 of them. It was amusing. I had taken some with and without my glasses to see which ones I liked more. All 3 of the ones I ended up buying I am wearing glasses. Interesting.

    We went to the Butterfly lounge in order to hear the shopping talk but it was super crowded with people paying BINGO. We decided to go back to room and skip the shopping talk all together. Neither one of us really wants to shop anyway.

    I read part of a Powerlifting USA magazine while we waited for noon so we could eat. By the time it was noon, I was hungry and ready to eat. It had been over 12 hours since that last meal I ate and I was definitely ready to eat again.

    Lunch was pretty good. Their food is definitely better than it was last time we were on a cruise. I had some ice cream after lunch and it didn't even bother my teeth. If only that meant that my teeth were okay. Oh well. At least I can enjoy the ice cream with no pain.

    When we got back to the room, I finished reading the Powerlifting USA magazine and then took a nap. I know know why but I have been very sleep on this cruise. I have also been giving in to the sleep more. I figure that I need it, or will need it, and I might as well take it while I can get it.

    I woke up a little before 4 pm. Around 4:30 we went down to the Taj Mahal for the repeat cruisers celebration. There were free drinks and appetizers. I had two Rum Punches and I LOVED it. It was so good when it was fresh, not so good after the ice had melted. Dad said we had to cut my off from them. I'm wasn't going to get drunk. It was good though.

    We came back to our room afterward and waited for the sunset. On the way south we have a great view of the sunset from our balcony. I assume on the way north, we'll have the same awesome view for the sunrise, if we're ever up that early. So far we have missed every sunrise.

    The sunset definitely didn't disappoint. It was rather clear so the clouds weren't in the way and the few clouds there were gave it some personality. It wasn't nearly as cold as it has been either. We are definitely getting to warmer climates, finally!!

    After the sunset, dad took a nap while I started reading my General Biology textbook. Talk about general. This is stuff I learned in high school. Oh well. At least the class should be easy. I hope they supplement with something or have a lot of hands on projects or something.

    We decided to go to the show tonight. It was comedy/juggling. The juggling was really good, the comedy, well, it was okay. It definitely wasn't family friendly, but that's okay. I was worried it was going to be similar to the jugglers on the past cruises but it was completely different, for which I was glad.

    When we got back to the room, I figured out tomorrow's schedule and finished reading the chapter in the general biology book I was on. I also sorted the pictures from today that weren't on the computer yet. I got to bed around 11 pm or so. The alarm is set for 6 am, bright and early.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

    I was up a few minutes before the alarm today. Dad got some pictures of the ship coming into port. It was way too dark for me to get any pictures. When we tried to go topside, we realized it was raining. We didn't get any pictures of the ship docking.

    The rain didn't last long. Once the sun came out the rain went away in no time. After we ate, we went topside and got some pictures of the port. We docked in a different place this time. We were beside Disney and they were having a big celebration for their new ship, the Disney Dream. As we would later learn, today is its maiden voyage.

    After breakfast it wasn't too much of a wait before we went down and got off the ship for out Pontoon Lagoon cruise. I left my sweatshirt behind, which would prove to be a mistake. We waited outside for less than a half and hour until the shuttle came and took us to our departure place.

    The Pontoon Lagoon cruise was really nice. We saw TONS of birds as well as dolphins and even a couple manatees. Getting pictures of the dolphins and manatees was a different story. We'll just have to wait to see how the pictures turned out.

    There was a portion of the cruise where it was really windy. Luckily they had blankets aboard. I felt weird being in Florida and being wrapped up in a blanket. I wasn't the only one though. Next time I'll know to bring the sweatshirt.

    It was a nice relaxing excursion and I actually was getting sleepy towards the end. Then someone spotted a manatee and I woke right up. We boarded the bus and were back on the ship by around 12:30, right on time.

    We went to our room and I got changed into my bathing suit. We had lunch and then I went topside and did some tanning. Dad didn't stay out for that. I must have fallen sleep for about a half hour or so. When I came in, there was a VERY noticeable different on my butt from lying in the sun. After a nap, in the stateroom this time, it was hardly noticeable.

    We went to dinner and then had a relaxing evening. Dad and I went down and got our pictures taken together. There was only one backdrop I liked so hopefully at least one of the pictures will turn out. We'll find out tomorrow.

    I did some more reading in my General Biology book. I am actually glad I am taking it as it goes more in depth than we did in high school, thankfully, so I am getting a more in depth look at things. It's up to date also. It's also not boring. Then again, I like biology so I probably wouldn't find it boring anyway.

    I'm all about relaxing on this cruise. We didn't even go up to the deck party at 9 pm. I was actually sleeping before 9:30 so I definitely didn't go to the Mexican buffet at 11: 30 pm. I really like the Mexican buffet so, so I must have been tired.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

    I woke up a lot during the night. Then I started having weird dreams about dad being dead, general biology, etc. It was a long night. I finally got up and stayed up around 7 am. I got in the tub and shaved my legs and redid my hair. It looked like an explosion in a haystack, and I have pictures to prove it.

    We went up to breakfast but I wasn't very hungry. I ate a little but not anywhere near the amount I usually eat. Oh well. I'm not going to force it. If I'm hungry, I'll eat. If I'm not, I won't. With the amount of food I've been eating on this cruise I'm certainly not starving.

    We went topside as we were coming in to Nassau to get pictures of the port. I LOVE the views coming in to Nassau, especially Atlantis. I swear I could take pictures of it almost all day and be perfectly content.

    I ended up going down to the shops to buy bobby pins since my hair was still going wild. When we went back to the room I put it up in a high bun. I hope I don't regret it but it is hot and humid out there. Since we'll be at the beach for most of the day, I think it was a good idea.

    We went outside around 11:30 and took some pictures. They were digging up the other side of the port so we took some pictures of that while we watched. I also got a picture taken in front of the “Welcome to the Bahamas” sign as well as took a picture for some girls who were too nervous to ask someone to take their picture. I overheard them and offered.

    On the walk back, dad almost fell. He tripped over a sidewalk and luckily I was there. He stumbled on to me and I was strong enough to hold us both up. That would have been disastrous if he would have fallen. He said he ankle was a little sore but other than that he was okay.

    After being bored down by the ship, we walked back down to the other side of the pier to sit and take pictures of Atlantis and the bridge. Dad wasn't happy with all the walking, but he'll thank me for it eventually, hopefully.

    We stayed there for about 20 minutes before walking back to meet with our shore excursion. On the walk back, a bird was flying and dropped a chicken bone. It almost landed on my head. I saw a shadow and instinctively covered my head, thinking it was bird poop. We watched, and dad took pictures, as the bird picked the bone up with his beak and flew away with it.

    Our shore excursion left for Atlantis right on time. We walked to the other side of the port and went through a gate to get to our buses. Last time we went through the welcome center, for lack of a better term, and it was crazy busy inside. On the other side we noticed a pavilion with “licensed professional hair braiders.” I obviously got pictures of that.

    We boarded a bus and headed over to Atlantis. We got to go over one of the bridges I'm so obsessed with. You can see it from the ship and it looks so pretty. Not to mention it is definitely arched, not straight across the water.

    We had a nice view of the ships from the bridge and dad got some pictures. I didn't taken any pictures on the bus ride over and dad was clicking all over the place. That's why he takes so many more pictures than I do I guess.

    When we got off at Atlantis there was a tour guide waiting for us. She showed us some of the beaches and explained where things were. She said there were guides all over the park in case we got lost. And she said that everyone gets lost because it's so huge.

    The first order of business was to try and find where we could go parasailing. I knew if I put it off we'd either run out of time or I would chicken out. We went on a couple beaches but couldn't find it. We finally asked someone and they said they weren't here. We did see a sign saying an activity was closed but when I had asked the tour guide, she had said they were in the direction we were going.

    We decided to continue walking along the beach and see what we could find. We took a lot of bird pictures along the way. There were a lot of birds here and dad seemed to want a picture of every one of them. Hopefully he got some good ones.

    I saw a boat in the water and I could read what the side of it said but I was pretty sure it said parasailing. I had dad take a picture of it and sure enough, that's what it said. Then we had to figure out how to get to the beach, which we finally did.

    Even though parasailing was the reason for going to this beach, I didn't get up the guts to asked about it right away. First I sat on one of the chairs for a while. While I was sitting there, a woman came up and asked if I wanted some jewelry. I looked through and wasn't planning on buying anything. I found a necklace I really liked and bought it. She said she didn't have change for a $10 and I could get a bracelet for $4, which is what I did. Both of them are blue.

    Then I decided to try to get in the ocean for some nice pictures. I got in the ocean very slowly as it was cold to me. Some guys were in there and kept telling me to get all the way in and it won't feel so cold. I still went in slowly and more or less let the waves get me used to the water. I did eventually get all the way in.

    One of the guys almost instantly started hitting on me. He was asking me my name, where I'd from, whether I had a boyfriend, etc. His name was Lamar and he was from Philadelphia. He guided me into deeper water and when I got too uncomfortable I swam on my back to more shallow waters.

    He tried to teach me how to swim by me laying across his hands and him walking in the water while I kicked my feet and moved my hands. As we were getting deeper, I got off his hands and back in the water on my own. I decided to take my glasses off and got out.

    I took my glasses off and put them in the case. Then I went over and asked about parasailing. Dad and I could go up together, which was a good thing event though that would mean no pictures of me up in the air. We paid for it and sat on the beach waiting for one of the boats to come back. There was no backing out now.

    Wouldn't you know Lamar came over and was trying to get me to go back in the water. He seemed very motivated to get me back in the water even though I kept saying no and that it was too cold. He said he would keep me warm at night so I wouldn't be cold.

    He gave me some of his contact information and asked for my room number. I pretended not to know it but dad gave it to him despite my facial and eye communications telling him not to. He said he didn't know why he told him and apologized after the fact.

    Lamar wants to meet me tonight at 10 pm. I told him I would probably be sleeping at that time. He told me to try to make it and that he would be waiting for me. That's what I'm afraid of. Any guy who tells me he will keep me warm at night when all he knows about me is my name and where I'm from is moving a LOT too fast for me.

    Getting on the boat wasn't easy. There wasn't a dock or anything. You were supposed to just jump up. Well, needless to say, dad couldn't do that. One of them actually picked dad up and put him on the boat. They did the same for me. Talk about service!

    There was another couple on the boat with us to go parasailing. We ended up going to first. They were setting up the parasail, it ended up getting away from them and going into the water. It was really windy and didn't seem to bode well for parasailing.

    When we got on the stern on the boat and sat down to start, I started getting even more nervous. When we started moving, I kept asking dad if I was going to die and it he was sure I was going to be okay. I was terrified.

    The higher we got, the calmer I got. It was an awesome view and you could see things you couldn't see from the ground, like little islands. I took a picture of my feet with the boat in the background. That should be a good picture.

    I said earlier the parasail went in the water. Well, it decided to drip on me during most of the ride. At first it was annoying, but then it started getting my my mouth and eyes. It was really burning my eyes. For a while I had to close my eyes because of the pain and eventually resorted to holding my hand above my eyes to try and stop the water from getting there.

    Landing was interesting. We were supposed to land standing up but the deck was wet and I guess my feet didn't have enough traction because I slipped and landed sitting down. Oh well. At least I landed and everything worked out.

    Dad took pictures of the other couple parasailing and I wished I would have asked them to take pictures of us while we were up there with the camera I had in my bag. Though the faces I was making wasn't very photogenic. I would definitely do it again though. It was a lot of fun.

    After we finished parasailing, we went searching for the aquarium. On the way, we found some lagoons with fish and turtles in them, as well as some waterfalls. I LOVE waterfall pictures and love having my picture taken with them in the background.

    We found a “cave” and walked through it. It had fish in it as well. On the other side was a place to eat that was included with our price. We eat got a cheese burger, french fries and a drink. Eating it was another story all together.

    Needless to say, we're at the ocean and there are seagulls. This seagulls are aggressive and DEMAND your food. We watched another family run from seagulls and the seagulls attacked their food like crazy. Whenever one of us would get up, the other would guard the food and shoo away the birds. Neither of us were scared of them so they didn't try with us too often.

    After eating we wandered around some more and eventually found what we were looking for, The Dig. It was really amazing and I'm glad I was able to talk dad into continuing on. There were jelly fish, eels, sharks, sting rays, and lots of fish I don't even know the name of.

    Near the end is a gift shop, and of course I had to buy something. I bought a t-shirt and some postcards while dad bought a baseball cap. My t-shirt has a skull and crossbones and so does his hat. We walked to the end and then walked back the way we came as we knew how to get back to the bus that way.

    We managed to find the bus with some help and made it in perfect time. We got on the bus and a few minutes later we were heading back to the ship. I was ready too. I was tired from all the walking and still coming down from the excitement of parasailing.

    We walked through the shops in order to get back to the ship. I stopped and looked at some conch shells but not only were they $20 but I didn't know where I was going to put them. I didn't end up buying them even though I really would have liked to.

    We got through the shops and back onto the port. We stopped and talked to some Cruise Critic members and took some pictures of me with the ship in the background. The pictures turned out really nice and had the entire ship in them.

    When we got to the ship, Joe, from Cruiser Critic, was outside and we talked to him for a little bit. Dad was exhausted and in pain so we didn't talk to him long before heading back inside. We went to the stateroom and loaded up the pictures and then collapsed on the bed.

    We didn't go to dinner but we did have lots of ice cream. I think being out in the sun all day with little to drink made us both a little dehydrated. Nothing a little ice cream couldn't solve though. We both had two ice cream cones then I had a cup of hot chocolate and dad had two cups of hot chocolate.

    Needless to say we went to bed really early. I think we were sleeping by 9 pm. It was going to be a nap, but I just didn't have the energy to get up. At least tomorrow should be relaxing since we're not going to do anything except check out the shops at the port. No shore excursions tomorrow.

Friday, January 21, 2011

    We didn't wake up to stay up until around 7:30. I had woken up numerous times during the night to go to the bathroom though. When we woke up, we were already docked in Freeport. We looked around out on the balcony and took pictures for a few.

    Then we meandered up to breakfast. I ate a lot, especially considering I had on tight shorts. I had eggs, bacon, pancakes with syrup, potato rounds, and milk. I'm surprised it all fit. I wasn't even that hungry to begin with believe it or not.

    After breakfast we headed out to look at the shops on the dock. Dad took a lot of pictures while I window shopped. I saw a lot of dresses I liked. I wanted to look through all the shops before making any purchases though.

    When we got to the back of all the shops, we stopped to look at handmade crafts. Some were wooden tiki objects, others were made of shells and were little ornaments. They also had conch shells that you could play like a trumpet.

    We ended up getting a conch shell ($10), 10 little angels made of shells which will be gifts for my coworkers ($25) and a little flower to make it an even $40 since he didn't have a $5 bill yet. I hope we can get everything home in one piece.

    One the way back I stopped to look at one of the dresses I really liked. I tried it on over my clothes and ended up buying it for $35.The women said it made my stomach look flat. I wanted to say that it's not a look. It IS flat, but I didn't.

    Dad thinks it's a bleeding madras dress. It's really pretty and I don't think I could get something like that in the states for that price. Maybe double, but no where near $35. It's perfect because it's blue, which will match the necklace and bracelet I bought yesterday and I've always wanted a blue dress. Since tonight is the second elegant night and I had nothing to wear, it's perfect timing too.

    When we went back to the ship, I tried on my dress and took some pictures. I couldn't wait to get all dressed up to take professional pictures later tonight. I just hope they turn out well, but not too well. I don't want to buy more than 1 or 2 of them.

    After trying on the dress, I took a nap. It's a day of naps, that's for sure. I took 2 or 3 of them today. I'm just exhausted. I'm more tired than anything but once I lay down, I'm out for a couple hours. It's nice to have time to just relax.

    When we woke up, we went up for food and snacks. Dad have a Reuben sandwich and I had a slice of pizza. Then we headed to the Groove for St. Jude sail away party. I stayed and danced until it was over, which wasn't all that long.

    We came back and took another nap. When I woke up I got in the shower and got all dressed up to take pictures. I had 4 or 5 different pictures taken. I really hope some of them turn out well. I LOVED the dress and will hopefully be able to fit it for a long time. It's supposed to be one size fits all, but I doubt it.

    I changed for dinner and ate my fair share. I had some pasta, fish, bread, and part of a piece of steak. I just have a real problem getting the steak to go down. I can't seem to chew it well enough for it not to get stuck. Maybe I should have eaten it first so there wasn't as much food in my esophagus.

    We went back to the room and loaded up some more pictures. I finished reading a chapter in the biology book and then went to bed. It was probably the latest I've been up this vacation. It was around 10 pm when I finally went to bed.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

    I was up early this morning, around 6:30 am. Dad was awake already. Neither one of us got out of bed until close to 7:30 though. I was in no mood to get out of bed that early, but I did. I got most of the packing down as well as got caught up on my journal.

    Dad went up to get coffee while I attempted to wake up. We both went up to breakfast around 9 am. I had some French toast, bacon, and milk. Then, since it was so cold, I had some hot chocolate, as did dad. Then we went back to the room.

    When we got back to the room, dad checked our on board expense account and we're going to have to go to guest services to get some things straightened out. They put the gratuities on automatically, and since we don't go to the main dining room, that's pointless for us.

    We went down to guest services shortly after looking at the on board expenses. We got it figured out rather easily. Then we went up to deck 3 and looked at all the pictures I had taken last night. I found all of them except for one backdrop. I could only find one picture with that backdrop and it was in the back of someone else's stack. I went through all of them and couldn't find the others. I ended up buying two pictures from last night.

    While I was looking at pictures, Lamar came up next to me and told I was so beautiful. I thanked him and then did my best to ignore him. Some guys need to learn that in some cases, with some people, less is more. More is NOT always more.

    We went back to the room for a short time and then went up to the gym. I did some leg curls with 70 lbs, leg extensions with 90 lbs, 70 lbs was WAY to easy. Then I did some curls and military presses with 20 lbs and bench presses with the 30's. It was a nice workout. It will hopefully be back to my regular workout on Monday.

    I ended the workout so we could go down and listen to the debarkation talk. We caught the tail end of BINGO and someone won $1,000. They could have won an outside stateroom for two on a cruise but choose the money.

    The debarkation talk was the usual. It appears we won't be getting off the ship until almost 11 am though. I guess it could be worse. It just means vacation lasts longer for us. We'll be nice and warm, hopefully get some good pictures of us docking, then can just sit back and relax.

    After the debarkation talk we went back to the room and the seas were CRAZY. It was windy with some white caps earlier today but NOTHING like it was when we got back. We spent a lot of time out on the balcony taking pictures and movies. Then we went topside to see if we could go forward, but the outer decks were blocked off because of high winds.

    We got some snacks and then went aft, where we could go outside. We took some pictures aft and I had dad take a pictures of me while we were out there so you could see the waves in the background. It's really crazy and even some of the crew were looking out the windows throughout the ship.

    We came back to the room and got our towel animal book as well as the two bathrobes we shad ordered from the stewards. The bathrobes were a pain to get into the suitcases. Somehow everything manages to fit even with MORE stuff. No matter how full it was on the way here, it's just as full with more stuff on the way back.

    Then it was nap time. We took some more pictures when we woke up but it was getting dark so the pictures aren't as good. It also looks like it's getting calmer outside, even though according to the TV the winds were 50-60 mph.

    I got in the whirlpool for the last time. I also used the Dead Sea salts. I might as well do all this stuff while I'm in a relatively warm room and don't have to worry about freezing when I get out. All I need to do now is wash my hair and I can finish most of the packing. I did some more packing after my bath and am mostly packed now.

    We went up to deck 9 so dad could get some coffee and I got some hot chocolate. We both ended up getting pizza and a hot chocolate to bring back to the room. We have quite a collection of mugs in the room from all the hot chocolate we've been drinking today.

I did some more packing and we eventually went up to deck 9 so they could clean the room. Neither one of us were hungry but it was a way to kill time. Dad had a piece of pie and I had bread, milk, crab cake, soup, and French fries. Considering I wasn't hungry, I ate a lot. I still wasn't full when I finished either.

    While I was in line I made a comment about how I'd never had crab cakes. The couple behind me told me that this wasn't going to be real Maryland crab cakes and that I needed to try that. I told them I would and they gave me some suggestions. On the way out they told me to not base my opinion on what I had tonight because they couldn't even eat it it was so bad. They said it didn't even taste like crab.

    When we got back to our room, it still wasn't cleaned. They are super busy tonight collecting luggage, delivering alcohol and other items they collected, and cleaning staterooms. He said if we left again to make sure we turned the sign around and he'd clean the room. I doubt we'll leave again.

    I did some more packing and reading in my general biology book. I don't want to go back where it's cold but cruising is an exhausting vacation so I guess in a way I am ready to get off. I just don't want to go back to real life.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

    Both dad and I woke up numerous times last night. His cell phone got a text message around 4:30 and woke up both up. I was wide awake since the phone scared me. I did some more packing and am basically packed now. I just have my medicine and toothbrush/paste.

    I woke up around 7:15 and got up. I rushed and got dressed in order to go out on the balcony to get some pictures of the sun rising. Then I took some more pictures of the general area. The Chesapeake Bay has ICE in it. I do not like ice.

    We went up to deck 9 to take some pictures but couldn't go on the outer decks. It said because of “strong winds” but I think it was because of all the ice on the decks. We did go aft and get some pictures. There was ice covering the deck and on the whirlpool too. It's been really cold coming in since last night, that's for sure.

    We went back to our room and took pictures as we went under the Bay Bridge and the Key Bridge. Then we headed down to the lounge where we were supposed to meet. I went back and forth between the sides of the ship to get pictures as we docked and of the birds on the ice.

    Since we were in a suite, we had VIP privileges and were one of the first people off the ship. That was nice. They had a cute little dog in the border protection area, probably sniffing for drugs or something. He was really cute though.

    We made it through with no problem and waited about 30 minutes for Frank. Then it was homeward bound. The first thing we did was hook up the computers and checked our bank accounts.