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We arrived at the pier on Saturday around 11:30 am, and had to navigate through all those poor people they had just forced on the ship. The lines weren't bad - I don't think we waited more than 10 minutes in the main line to check in. There were several lines - first the metal detectors, then the main check-in where we presented our tickets and set up the Sail & Sign, then up some stairs to pick up the actual S&S cards, and then into the holding area. Now let's face it - I have red highlights in my hair and I wear pigtails a good part of the time, so I'm pretty easy to pick out. And Terry (Beerman from Cruise Critic) did just that as we were walking into the waiting area. Which was cool, because they were towards the front of that area, so we were able to board nearly right after the wedding parties did. We set foot on board *lliterally* at 12:00 noon. The ship is beautiful - and actually much smaller than I thought it would be. I had to get used to the ceilings - they seem very low, even in the public areas. The second floors of the London dining room bisects deck 4, and to get around it you have to go up to 5 and then back down - which, in my eyes, is a design flaw, but there's probably some arcane reason for it. OK, let me get this bit over with now. There are several reports of stained carpets on the Triumph. Now that I'm here, I can say with all certainty, that if there are stains on the carpets, they're not as bad as the ones on our carpets at home. We're on the Spa deck (deck 11) in what is considered a "Family stateroom" - which has a floor to ceiling, slanted window. Great view most of the time, but when the sun's on that side, it heats up the room quite a bit. Now there's one big issue with the ship - temperature control. There are isolated parts of the ship that are *freezing*, and others where they could really crank up the A/C. And then there's the outside - it's HOT out there! Yeah, yeah, I know, we're in the Caribbean, just call it a blond moment. :^D OK, back to the room. Sleeps 4 - the bunk actually comes out of the ceiling instead of the wall like I'd seen in pictures. It's small, but larger than I'd expected. Could use more counter space. Stephen's in the bunk,and every night he ends up with one of his legs sticking out the rail into space, and he kicks the rail all night. Our bed is two bunks pushed together into a king, and while I can find the seam, it hasn't been an issue. Didn't do much Saturday night, as we were all pretty tired out from all that stupid traveling. We did go to the sign-up for Camp Carnival and signed up both of the kids. Went to bed early so we were rested for our first day at sea. On Sunday we were at sea. The kids went to camp most of the day, except for lunch, which we ate at the South Beach Club (the main buffet). Every day they feature a separate cuisine in one part, and Sunday it was Indian. Yum, yum, yum. And yum again. :^) Met up with my Cruise Critic friends at 1 and Stephen traded his postcards. Then at 2 I went to go get my hair done, since Sunday was the first Formal Night. 61 bobby pins later, I looked like I had wires sticking out of my head. :^D Chris posted a few pics. We did get a *ton* of pictures taken on our way to the Captain's Reception. I had ordered Talia a single pink rose to go with her dress, which they delivered to our room. Between her gown, her crown and the flower, she decided that her new name is "Talia, Princess of the Flowers of the World." Heh heh, I had apparently forgotten to mention to Chris that there are free beverages at the Captain's Reception. And they were being very generous with them. I think Chris must have had 5 martinis and at least one Manhattan (because they had temporarily run out of martinis). And this was another place where my time at Cruise Critic paid off - because after 2 very sorry excuses for whisky sours, Chris went to the bar and got me a pina colada. Ok, this is a prime example of me being bad. I finished the pina colada and had set the empty glass aside. One of the waiters came by and offered to get me another - but his tray was full so he couldn't take the glass. After he left, another waiter came by and took the empty glass, asking me what what had been in it. Then Stephen caught his sleeve on his punch and dumped it, so he and Chris went up to the bar to get him another drink. So Talia and I are sitting there and yup, you guessed it, here comes one waiter with one drink, the second with another, and Chris with a thrid for me. Heh heh heh. Thank you, Captain Pagano. :^) Formal night means Prime Rib and Lobster, and I readily admitted to our wait staff that tonight I was going to be a glutton and order 2 lobster tails and one prime rib. Then Talia decided that she didn't like the lobster and she just wanted everyone's mushroom risotto. Oh darn, had to eat her lobster tail too. :^0 Such hardships. The kids went to the slumber party on Sunday night, and honestly I don't think they'll go back. I don't think they got enough sleep - and to boot, they both had chocolate milk - so we really paid for it today. And really, I don't know if we need to send them again. The disco was disappointing, I only spent $20 in the casino, and there wasn't much else going on. We did stop at the coffee bar - that was a nice surprise. Yes, there is a surcharge for the coffees and desserts, but the cheesecake is $2/slice and the coffee prices were cheaper than the grocery store. I spend more at Borders. Today we were docked at Cozumel. My goal was a bottle of vanilla and a family sized hammock. I had already done my research on the hammock - knew I wanted nylon and one with a higher string count. Chris and I left the kids at the playroom and walked around right at the pier for a while and then took a cab to downtown for $6. The farther away from downtown you walk, the cheaper the prices get. I found a hammock I wanted and paid $80 for it (after negotiating from $100), which I'm happy with. It's huge and very heavy (I know, I had to carry it, LOL!). Went to another store for vanilla and they had 3 or 4 different types. I asked her what type she uses and bought that one. Got caught in the rain, took a cab back to the ship, and had lunch. Today was Japanese, so Chris got his sushi. :^) Came back to the room, and got into our suits to go swimming. Eww. Salt water pools. The main pools were too deep for the kids, so we went up to deck 12 and stayed in the kiddie pool for a while. Sure, it's only a foot deep, but it was deserted and it had a shower that sprayed right into the pool, which the kids had fun with. The ship was deserted and we had that entire deck to ourselves. Rest of the evening was uneventful. Came back to the room, got dressed, tried to take a nap, went to dinner. Stephen was bored with dinner so I gave him my room key and he came up to the room to play his GameBoy. After dinner Talia made a beeline for the playroom, so at about quarter to 8 the rest of us went down into the port area so Stephen could look around. 8 pm and we're haggling the price of a wooden snake Stephen wants, when I realize I'm being bitten on the legs by about ten million mosquitos. Quick, settle on a price for that thing so we can get out of here. So, now it's 10 pm and we're just being pushed away from the port. Talia is already conked out - she fell asleep in the playroom, and once again I was grateful to the Upgrade Fairy who assigned us a room literally 8 feet away from Camp Carnival. Tonight's the Mexican Buffet at 11:30 and I don't know if I'm going to be awake that long. This vacationing thing is tiring. :^0 :^* H. ps oh yeah, the dog - Chelsea is fed at the same time as the cats, because if there is extra dog food around, Stimpy will eat it. Chelsea won't even touch her food until Stimpy is let out of her crate, but she'll start eating as soon as Stimpy makes a move for it. Stimpy cannot be allowed to eat Chelsea's food, however, given the dietary restrictions that Stimpy is on. Post a comment in response: |
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