UMTravels

Bless Lynne for taking us to Pier 30 this morning… it’s nice not to have to worry about that portion of the trip. Jonathan called — he’ll make his way there on his own. As will Jeff, as will Helene. If they don’t make it, they’ve already paid me for their tickets, so it’s their loss.

Curt and I are checked in, on board, and having lunch by 1:15. I opted for a salad and a toasted sandwich which makes me ask, why did I book this cruise just to eat the same things as at home — but the goal is to NOT gain a bunch of weight on this trip.

Helene and Jeff made it on board 3ish, and Jonathan barely didn’t make the boat arriving at 3:45. I prefer my more calm “let’s get as many hours out of this as possible” approach.

Cocktails and wine started flowing and by 6 we were hungry for snacks so Jonathan and Helene raided the nacho bar on the Lido deck and we prepared to have a late dinner at 8pm.

The suite is truly sweet. Would you believe a jetted tub (albeit small) in addition to a shower in the bathroom — and the deck has enough space and furniture for all five of us. I still haven’t seen the other rooms, but Helene got upgraded from an inside room to an ocean-view obstructed room — and probably twice the size of her inside one, with room for a sofa-bed as well as the king size sleeping bed.

After the 6pm snacks I opted for a light dinner of two small appetizers (seafood cakes the size of a small stack of quarters and the Thai chicken wrapped in lettuce) and a bowl of the shrimp corn chowder. Jonathan had the salmon, Wonderful and Curt the lamb shank, and Helene a Caesar salad. And then there was dessert (lemon sorbet in honor of Swanda) and an espresso.

It was a late night in the cabin after exploring the ship a bit — will do the rest tomorrow. I was surprised to find people smoking in the casino — thought everybody had gone smoke-free. But I digress — Curt is revelling in the fact that he can order an omelet at one in the morning, and does.

Pictures once I get a better connection.

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