Our Family Cruise

We were obviously excited about our Cruise. Despite the fact that it had been down graded from a 5 day cruise stopping at 2 ports to a 3 day cruise to nowhere, we were pumped! So pumped in fact that Jay had to take a nap. When the news came in that the cruise was being shortened we decided to go anyway. We were already packed so why not? Plus they were giving us a 50% refund on this cruise and 50% off the next one - who could resist.
We drove to Galveston Wednesday morning and I couldn't wait to get on the boat! We had heard that embarkation was a breeze. You were simply to drop your bags, park your car, and walk your happy rear onto the boat. Hmmmm... not so much. Because of Gustav (grrrr) the hurricane, our boat, the Ecstasy, was late getting in. That was very evident because people were still getting off the boat when we were supposed to be getting on. The other thing that gave it away was the 2 billion people in line. If you have ever been to the port of Galveston, the line extended the whole length of the building, and wrapped back around. It was pretty miserable. The real drama came when Granddad and I-ene showed up. I had arranged for a wheel chair to be available and of course, in all the craziness, no one had any idea where a wheel chair was. Arg.
So enough complaining, we finally got on the boat after about 3 1/2 hours and the fun began. We stayed on the Empress deck, which is the deck you arrive on. That was really nice and convenient. I am not sure it was worth the extra 100$ to ensure we got it but it was nice. Since I-ene has a bad knee it was really nice for her to not have to walk quite so much. Our room was very nice and clean. The fake window was my favorite. Every night we had a new towel animal for our enjoyment. This was Elephant night.
We ate dinner each night in the main dining room. The food was very good. We tried lots of appetizers, srimps (that's how my gramma says Shrimp), fried mozzarella, gazpacho, chilled strawberry cream soup (which tasted exactly like melted strawberry ice cream), portobello mushrooms, sweet and sour shrimp, and pumpkin soup to name a few we enjoyed. The entrees were excellent as well. The first night I had a strip steak and was very pleasantly surprised that it was really a nice cut of meat and cooked perfectly. Other nights we had lobster, fish, pasta, and more srimps. To follow that glutenous list of food, we had to have dessert every night! The Chocolate melting cake was a huge hit but I chose to try other treats. We tried Black Forest Cake(Excellent!), Tiramisu, and cheese and fruit plates. All very very good. Our waiter was named Margo and was from Indonesia. He didn't say much but was very goofy and had the most tired jokes but they were somehow still funny and entertaining night after night. Probably because I have a silly sense of humor too. The waiters and Maitre d' did some performing each night during dinner. These performances included a rendition of O Sole' Mio sung by a bevy of international waiters - most of whom spoke many languages - but not Italian. The second night they did a dance to some song that I can't recall. Margo wasn't much of a dancer, but I enjoyed a lot of the other Indonesian waiters who mostly looked like they were gettin jiggy wit it in da club, as opposed to dancing in a dining room. Ain't nuttin wrong with a little bump and grind!
I kept forgetting to take pics. Unfortunately my "time with mother nature" occurred simultaneously with the cruise so my head was not quite on straight. We had fun on formal night. We all dressed spiffy and took a picture as a family at one of those prom style spots and it was awful so we didn't buy any. We enjoyed the captains reception. There is a pic below of me and Granddad waltzing on stage. If you know me - I'm never one to shy away from a stage and Granddad isn't either. Afterwards several people came up to us to tell us how cute we are and we even made one lady cry. We must be great dancers!

My favorite activity on the ship was probably the Love and Marriage Game. It was like the Newlywed game, but with a couple that had been married for 50 years, one for 4 years, and one for 1 day. We laughed our heads off! My favorite form of relaxation was definitely the pool and laying out. I was shocked when I dunked my head under and my eyes immediately caught on fire from the salt water that I was not expecting. I had heard that it was salt water but I guess was just not thinking. The hairy chest contest was funnier than I expected it to be. It was sooo nice to just lay out staring at miles and miles of water.

The family enjoyed playing a little bit of slots in the Casino and singing along with Angela at the Piano Bar. As I mentioned earlier, I was born for the stage, so singing along with the piano as she played my requests was right up my alley and come to think of it, everyone in my family had no troubles with it either. We ate in the buffet for lunch, and I ordered a BLT from room service one day for lunch when I was in bed with the cramps and it was SCRUMPTIOUS! I highly recommend it.

I rarely if ever felt the boat rock. Jay was a little bothered by it the first night but had no troubles after that. I did sleep very well at night with the ever so slight rocking! As for the entertainment, I give a mixed review. The comedian was very funny, witty and clean. We also loved the Mexican Juggler in the tight pants. He was a hoot. We went to the midnight "Rated R"comedy show and found it to be not funny but simply vulgar and we were disappointed. We missed the Grand Gala Buffet because we were still full and tired. I heard it was pretty! The next night the singers and dancers put on a show called "X-treme Country" and it was extreme. Extremely cheesy. They did different country songs, and the dancers and singers were good - but seeing them dance around in cowboy hats covered in sequins while line dancing was almost more than I could handle. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it so maybe I'm just a snob!

The buffet was good - I had salad and Ice Cream, in that order. I only ate there once but was pleased. The burgers were good too.

So overall it was really fun, and I think that we will definitely cruise again. I think it will be better when we get to get off the boat instead of cruising to nowhere. We'll see!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

50 is Nifty!!!!