Day 1 ~ Sail Away
Saturday, April 23
We’re up by 7 and sufficiently energized by 9 to take a walk around the neighborhood, where I lust after various outsized houses behind even more outsized gates – most of them for sale. Somebody’s figured out that it’s miserable here six months of the year.
Outside the hotel, we find an Arkansas couple (or more accurately, they find us) headed to the same cruise, so we share a ride to the port. This time there are “only” six ships in waiting, but one is the Oasis, which accounts for about 6,000 people milling around the parking lot.
We’re up by 7 and sufficiently energized by 9 to take a walk around the neighborhood, where I lust after various outsized houses behind even more outsized gates – most of them for sale. Somebody’s figured out that it’s miserable here six months of the year.
Outside the hotel, we find an Arkansas couple (or more accurately, they find us) headed to the same cruise, so we share a ride to the port. This time there are “only” six ships in waiting, but one is the Oasis, which accounts for about 6,000 people milling around the parking lot.
But there are no lines and boarding is a breeze – now we know why everybody was so crabby when we waited two hours last time! It takes less than 45 minutes to get from our room at the hotel to our cabin on the ship, and our legal bottles and illegal boxes of wine arrive intact.
The Constellation is essentially the same layout as the Infinity (with a couple of frou-frou extras) so I may not get lost as often. And our room, at the back of the ship, is impressive – a seating area with two sofas behind glass doors, plenty of storage (although organizing our clothes on the theft-proof hangers is a bit like playing Spider Solitaire) and a balcony big enough to dance on.
I’m perfectly content until one of Snookie’s chat room buddies, Bob from next door, shows us his, which is twice as big. Oh, well. As I always say, size doesn’t matter.
From the balcony, we have a close-up view of the Oasis, which is the talk of the cruise world but is essentially an ugly office building that happens to float. We pull out the binoculars to watch a couple soaking in the top-deck spa and a guy flossing his teeth on his balcony. (They’re probably watching us, too.) And the ship’s horn sounds like a flatulent hippopotamus.
The Constellation is essentially the same layout as the Infinity (with a couple of frou-frou extras) so I may not get lost as often. And our room, at the back of the ship, is impressive – a seating area with two sofas behind glass doors, plenty of storage (although organizing our clothes on the theft-proof hangers is a bit like playing Spider Solitaire) and a balcony big enough to dance on.
I’m perfectly content until one of Snookie’s chat room buddies, Bob from next door, shows us his, which is twice as big. Oh, well. As I always say, size doesn’t matter.
From the balcony, we have a close-up view of the Oasis, which is the talk of the cruise world but is essentially an ugly office building that happens to float. We pull out the binoculars to watch a couple soaking in the top-deck spa and a guy flossing his teeth on his balcony. (They’re probably watching us, too.) And the ship’s horn sounds like a flatulent hippopotamus.
The obligatory drill is much more focused than last time: This is a life jacket; this is how the Velcro works; this is the end of the drill. But there is time to scope out our fellow travelers, who seem slightly more age-diverse than on our cruise through the Panama Canal. We see a lot of people who may have missed the sail away for Holland-America, and almost as many who are younger than we are. Oh, yes, there are more than 100 Germans on board, which means all of the announcements will also be given in German. Presumably, the cast won’t be performing “Springtime for Hitler” at the nightly follies.
Our own performance on the dance floor has improved significantly – although the space looks a lot smaller than it did a year ago. Or maybe we just need more room now that we know more than the box step. There are also more couples who dance, but the band is a disappointment: four guys who favor Elvis covers and “Feelings.” Oh, whoa, whoa, dreadful.
Dinner is OK. Nothing exciting, but we manage to eat our way through four courses, not counting an overdone mushroom that has been sitting on the grill waiting for the lone vegetarian on the ship to place an order. And we’re grateful we were able to finagle a table for two. We don’t play well with others.
Our own performance on the dance floor has improved significantly – although the space looks a lot smaller than it did a year ago. Or maybe we just need more room now that we know more than the box step. There are also more couples who dance, but the band is a disappointment: four guys who favor Elvis covers and “Feelings.” Oh, whoa, whoa, dreadful.
Dinner is OK. Nothing exciting, but we manage to eat our way through four courses, not counting an overdone mushroom that has been sitting on the grill waiting for the lone vegetarian on the ship to place an order. And we’re grateful we were able to finagle a table for two. We don’t play well with others.