After getting Grandma settled at the house, we headed out on a 10 hour drive for Jacksonville, Florida. Brent had headed out to the Florida area a few days earlier to try to go to "sun and fun". (Sun and Fun is a air show type thing for pilots.... he really had a good time, once he got there. He flew down with our neighbor Chris, and they had a heck of a time getting there, and then when they got there, there had been a tornado, and so he only got to go for one day. :-( )
Anyway.... So with Robert driving and Michelle and I Snoozin'... we headed to meet up w/ Brent in Jacksonville.
I don't know how my kids can stay awake in the car for so long... I can't hardly keep my eyes open when I am in the car. Unless I get woken up by Michelle's camera.... then I just wait for her to sleep and take a picture of her too. :-)
We stayed the night at at Holiday Inn Express, so we all woke up totally refreshed! :-) We went to dinner at Carabas for dinner... it was delicious! We tried to go to the mall to get a cardigan for me, cuz although it would be in the 80's on out trip, the air-conditioning was sure to be turned up inside. We ended up having to head to the mall in the morning before the ship took off from port.After a lengthy wait in line........
Where we had to drag our Dew along with us, we got onto the ship.
I don't think the ship had left port before we were upstairs eating a "Turkey on a Country Roll" and of course a piece of Chocolate cake. The Cakes on this cruise were SOOO much better than the cakes on our last cruise. Last one they were really dry.
When we did finally set sail, we had to head down the river that fed us out into the ocean. I was surprised to see dolphins (if only for a very quick second) off the side of the ship.
There was a lot of rocking going on, and one really needed to be careful of the steps. :-) We had some pretty good chuckles reminding one and other to "watch your step."
Our first day was spent exploring the ship, showing Brent how to get around and where everything is. Robert was sure to find every bathroom. We were amazed at how many kids were on the boat, and found out that night at the "welcome aboard show" that nearly 1/3 of the guests on board were under 18! NEVER cruising during spring break again. While it seems so very appealing as a parent to go on a cruise with your family, because they "take care" of your kids, but as a childless cruiser... those kids were NOT being watched. Anyone over the age of 10 was free to roam the ship, in gangs. As I watched these kids I was increasingly concerned about them. Who is to stop some drunken 25 year old from grabbing your 12 year old and pulling her into a room? Who is stopping two 15 year olds from using a state room? It just seems like a very unsafe environment for a preteen/teen. Kind of an upsetting realization for me, who was totally planning on talking the kids on a cruise. :-( Maybe Disney isn't quite so loose with the wandering teens.
Where we had to drag our Dew along with us, we got onto the ship. 
I don't think the ship had left port before we were upstairs eating a "Turkey on a Country Roll" and of course a piece of Chocolate cake. The Cakes on this cruise were SOOO much better than the cakes on our last cruise. Last one they were really dry. 
When we did finally set sail, we had to head down the river that fed us out into the ocean. I was surprised to see dolphins (if only for a very quick second) off the side of the ship.
There was a lot of rocking going on, and one really needed to be careful of the steps. :-) We had some pretty good chuckles reminding one and other to "watch your step." 
Our first day was spent exploring the ship, showing Brent how to get around and where everything is. Robert was sure to find every bathroom. We were amazed at how many kids were on the boat, and found out that night at the "welcome aboard show" that nearly 1/3 of the guests on board were under 18! NEVER cruising during spring break again. While it seems so very appealing as a parent to go on a cruise with your family, because they "take care" of your kids, but as a childless cruiser... those kids were NOT being watched. Anyone over the age of 10 was free to roam the ship, in gangs. As I watched these kids I was increasingly concerned about them. Who is to stop some drunken 25 year old from grabbing your 12 year old and pulling her into a room? Who is stopping two 15 year olds from using a state room? It just seems like a very unsafe environment for a preteen/teen. Kind of an upsetting realization for me, who was totally planning on talking the kids on a cruise. :-( Maybe Disney isn't quite so loose with the wandering teens.Anyway, the evening was spent going to Dinner, where we met our funny waiter, and filled our bellies, and going to the show. It was a lovely day.
3 comments:
Where did you cruise to? That looks like a great vacation. Hadn't ever thought about the dangers with kids roaming on a ship. I guess parents figure the kids can't go farther than the ship, but oh the trouble they could find on the ship
"Rubbing eyes" am I seeing things? Is this a blog? A blog about our couples cruise? Really? "rubbing eyes, again" I can't believe it. It's like a miracle happening right in front of my eyes, lol.
Good bloggin', bestie. Couldn't have summed it up any better than that.
Looks like you guys had so much fun! I love the picture of you and Brent with the cake. I love the way you're looking at him. :)
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