Day 2: Growing a new pair of legs

We boarded the Mariner of the Seas on Friday around 12:30pm.  

We finally got past customs and security and got onto the ship.  YAY!  

There was a professional photographer taking pictures just as we got on board.

This is our motley crew.

Of course, we got suckered into buying lanyards before we even got on board.  Meri doesn't like lanyards around her neck, so she got one that hooks onto her belt loops.  If we'd waited to get them on board, we could have purchased actual Royal Caribbean ones for roughly the same price but instead we got generic ones.  darn.  Live and learn.

While waiting for the others, Meri and I immediately headed for a door to a deck where we could see the ocean.

Second ocean in under a year!  That's a record in my book!

So many ships were loading or unloading various things, people...

A Disney cruise paralleled us out to sea for a long time that evening.

We joked that we were on the wrong ship.  THAT'S ours!!

or THAT one!

My sister, Melanie, and her kids.

We got on board JUST in time to get lunch at the Windjammer buffet.  

So much food!  I was pretty sure I was going to gain back all the weight I'd lost...

Is it bad that as I went up a flight of stairs, I noticed that you could climb the stairs both right side up and if the ship was upside down?  The Poseidon Adventure played heavily in my mind as we went anywhere on board...  

Of course, my brother, before the cruise, kept teasing.  "Haven't any of you SEEN the Poseidon Adventure?  Unless you can swim 50 yards underwater, you have no business being on that ship!"

Unless they name the ship Poseidon or Titanic, I had no real issues other than picturing every thing upside down...

Meri and I got on one of the 16 elevators and stumbled on THIS guy!  I had seen that he'd be on the ship somewhere, but hadn't seen where.  Apparently HERE! in an elevator!  

Shake Rattle and Roll!

He's the Stowaway Piano Player...  Hilarious and fantastic singer/piano player.

We saw him later in the dining room entrance, in the middle of a hallway lobby and a few other places.  He'd never stay in one place very long for fear of being sent off the ship I imagine.. ;)  

Yeah - they hired him...

We had to walk through the casino several times until we found a few shortcuts around the ship.

Meri couldn't pass up a few photo ops to make it look like she was losing all her mortgage money on gambling... She wasn't.

and I saw this little cutie JUST as the elevator door was shutting.

MOM!!!!  You NEVER take a pic of someone else's kid without their permission!!!

yeah yeah...  Her dad was laughing...

That's permission enough for me.

SHE might have been on the wrong cruise...

This is the promenade.  Lots of little shops, bars, restaurants, you name it.  We had the pop package, so our cups could get refilled at any bar or the pop machines that were here.

We found a Hibachi/Sushi restaurant tucked away in a corner and Meri wanted to eat there once during our stay.  She's a HUGE Sushi fan.  Me?  Not so much.

We got something else figured out for Saturday instead.

More on that tomorrow.

We didn't find out until Sunday night that you could get free pizza and sandwiches at the little place on the left...  If we had known earlier, I would have gained more weight than I already did.

After exploring the ship JUST a little and finding our rooms, we heard the captain announce the muster drills.  It's a mandatory drill where you have to go to the designated area of the ship for your room number.  Ours was A1.  Meri was feeling yucky and just wanted to go to our room for a quick shower.  There was only 30 minutes or less to get to the muster area, but she was adamant.  FINE... just don't be late!  

From what we'd heard about this drill, they'll drag you out of bed for it...

As it happened, she was half dressed by the time the alarm went off and the room attendant pounded on her door to get down there!  "Can I at least finish dressing and put on pants??!"

She finally arrived with sopping wet hair and not happy with our attendant.

As we sat there waiting for the captain to let us go, Ruth Ann casually mentioned that if the boat was actually sinking, THIS very room would be under water first...  hmmmm...  

We finally took off and pulled away from the dock around 4pm.  All of us found one of the front decks so we could watch the sea as we sailed away.

SUPER WINDY!  I had to go brush my hair out after this and it felt like all of it had been ratted...  ugg.

One thing I noticed about the flowy shirts that I brought along for myself...  Every minute on a windy deck is a Marilyn Monroe moment.  I think just about everyone on board knows my bra preference and brand now.

I was wanting to spend more time on the deck that night, but the wind was SO wicked and it was rainy and wet.  Being near the deck rails freaked me out a bit as the ship rolled and tossed.

Apparently another hurricane was battering at sea and we were getting the wind from it.  The sea was choppy.  

I did manage to get a quick sunset pic and ducked back inside for dinner in the grand dining room.

The dining room was beautiful!!!  Several glam suits and dresses were encased around the entrance.

More on the dining room in later posts.

You could choose a starter, main course and dessert.  I tried escargot off my nephew's plate as he let me try it.  Wasn't bad!  I had creme brulee for dessert.  If you're going to try new things, THIS is the place to do it.

Our waitresses, Carmela and Katia, brought Alex a birthday cake piece with candle in honor of his birthday!

After supper, some scrambled to get to a show or other things.  We wanted to get to the ice show but it got cancelled due to the state of the sea.  So we stopped at the Schooner Bar and joined in a 70s music guessing game.  We got ALMOST all of the guesses right after hearing just a snippet of each song, so we didn't win.  Some drunk woman whose formative years WERE the 1970s won.  darn.

Since Friday night was 70s night, Ruth Ann and I attended a 70s dance class and learned the Hustle as well as other line dances.  The sandals I was wearing didn't allow you to pivot very well and my flowy top slowed down my spins, but looked glorious...

My brother-in-law videotaped it...  REALLY?!  But when do you get a chance to dance to 70s music on the ocean, so we didn't let it stop us.  So what if I look like a fool? And I never would have had these pics!

And for the record, this was NOT the Hustle I learned in elementary school.

Meri had wanted to go to an escape room with Alex, but found that you needed to schedule it ahead of time.  Darn.  Instead we sat and visited in the upper most high lounge and swayed in the breeze more than the St. Louis Arch on a windy day...  

This was our view from up there.

Apparently they drain the pools regularly and cover them with netting until it's refilled.

And more views.

The sea was so choppy that just walking down a hallway would make you lurch into the wall as if you were a drunk sailor.  We weren't.  It stayed that way until 1am when the ship got behind the Grand Bahama island and was somewhat protected by the winds.

We met up with most at the 9pm show and were exhausted...  BUT we stayed awake long enough to enjoy a juggler but decided to skip half way through the actual comedian headliner.  We LOVED the juggler! SO FUNNY...

Do you remember Julie from the Love Boat?  Ours was Jemma.  She was JUST as perky and introduced each act with lots of energy and excitement.  

There were shows and activities late into the night with a balloon drop at midnight.

I slept, or rather, tried to sleep through it.  I hadn't been rocked to sleep since I was a baby and it takes some getting used to.

So that was our first day at sea.  Day 2.

I was not sure if I'd EVER get sea legs...