This is my first attempt at blogging while at sea. Hopefully I can figure it out!!! We sailed on Monday evening. Kaare and Kevin were able to come on board and have lunch and take a tour of the ship and our stateroom. It was even more difficult than I anticipated to say goodbye to kids/grandkids. It was great, however, to have a couple of them on board for the afternoon and spend some extra time with them.
Our upgraded stateroom is absolutely magnificent!!!! We better enjoy it fully because we will never have another opportunity to have such lavish surroundings or be so completely spoiled. We have a wonderful, attentive butler by the name of Nixon, and our wonderful housekeeper, Regan! No, we didn't make up these names :) Our suite consists of a large living area complete with large flatscreen TV, wet bar stocked with whatever drinks we want, and a half bath. The bedroom has an extremely comfortable king bed as well as a full bath with a large soaker tub. The balcony is private and quite large. I fell asleep out there yesterday just sitting in the sun and listening to the water. Since our "Royal Suite" is the first cabin in the front of the ship, our large bedroom windows look directly out in front of the ship. Yesterday we watched dolphins jumping in and out of the water as they played next to our ship. Soooooo fun!!!
We spent yesterday unpacking and getting organized. It's no wonder that my closet at home is now empty because I realized I brought everything I own with me!!!! Since the cruise line handles all the transfers of our heavy baggage, I wasn't worried about the weight so I packed two enormous suitcases FULL of clothes. Then, I brought a normal sized one with me to the ship. As I was unpacking I realized that I was completely crazy to bring so many clothes!!!! So, I found myself putting some of them back into the suitcase!!!
After unpacking we organized all the shore excursions we will be taking throughout the cruise and marked each one on a calendar. Whew!!! We are going to be a couple of busy old folks!!! Hope we can keep up with our plans :)
Nixon has set up a beautiful breakfast in our suite the last two mornings. What an absolute treat. Sitting at our table, looking out at the beautiful Pacific Ocean while having a spinach and artichoke souffle for breakfast. Life is definitely good!!!
We have already met some amazing people. However, it is readily apparent that we don't run in the same circles as most of the other passengers. There are 157 full world cruise passengers on our cruise and only a few of us are first timers. Many of these folks treat this as their winter home and do this every year. One woman cruises all year and only goes home for Christmas. Most of these folks have done this cruise many many times. For Bob and I this is a once in a lifetime trip. We told our kids not to expect an inheritance because we just spent all their money :) All the passengers we've met so far have been extremely nice to us and are eager to share their travel and sightseeing tips with us.
We're continuing on our way to Hilo, Hawaii, our first port of call. We don't arrive until Sunday so we still have a few more sea days, but that's fine with me. I seriously think I could sleep all the way to Hawaii!!!!!
I am so grateful that God has blessed Bob and I with this incredible opportunity. As I look out at this beautiful Pacific Ocean I am in awe of God's greatness. It's wonderful have these first few days to unwind, relax and rest before we start waking up early each day to experience our exciting adventures. I am enjoying a few days to pray, reflect, and focus on what a lucky lady I am to be on this adventure and have the best husband in the world with whom to share it.
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