Cruise: Day 1

OK, so I should warn you about a couple things, right from the start. I am (most likely) going to dedicate one entry per day, which means this cruise is going to take up 8 entries. I'm not going to subject you to every single picture, but there will be lots (so if you have a slow Internet connection... you've been warned). I thought about keeping it short and simple, just the highlights, but these entries are as much for me as they are for you, so I'm not going to worry about how long they are. So if you get bored after a while and just want to look at the pretty pictures, no hard feelings (not like I'd know, anyway). I'm going to have a ton of fun reliving this adventure as I write about it.

Ready? Here we go.

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Day 1, Saturday, September 27: Miami and Setting Sail

Our alarms went off at some ungodly hour of the morning. I think we finally stumbled out of bed around 4:15 AM and were out the door by 4:30. Luckily, we only live about 10 minutes from the airport. Because we booked through AAA, we got a coupon for free long-term parking at the airport. We'd never used a service like that before, but they were wonderful. When we got there, we were on our way to the airport in less than 5 minutes. We breezed through security and then waited and waited at the gate. Not a whole lot of conversation going on, since we were both still half asleep.

Our flight took off right on time (6:35 AM) and was uneventful. I dozed off a couple times, read a little, and took note of the fact that American Airlines still gives complimentary beverages. We arrived in Miami right on time--9:35 AM.

We hadn't made an arrangements with Royal Caribbean for ground transportation--we planned to get a cab to the port. Since it was so early, we figured we'd end up with time to kill. But when we got off the plane, we spotted a representative for Carnival, and soon after, we found one for Royal Caribbean. Figuring it didn't hurt to ask, we asked about ground transportation and found out that, for only a few dollars more than a cab would have cost us, we could hitch a ride to the port with RC. We went with it. They took our bags from us, and we got to ride in style on a comfy coach bus, surrounded by people going on the exact same cruise.

It was an overcast, threatening-to-rain-any-second day in Miami, but nothing could dampen our excitement. Who cared if it poured? We were here--finally.

After we got on the bus, Tony sent a text message to a few friends and family members to let them know we'd arrived safely in Miami.



And we took our first picture together. (I'd intended to take pics from the moment our journey started, but was too sleepy to think about it before our flight [which is most likely for the best].) I think we look rather good considering we were both going on only about 2 hours of sleep.



And I posed with my travel-sized Johnny Depp (a gift from a dear friend that I had to take along because, hello, it's from Pirates of the Caribbean).



As we approached the port, the bus driver pointed out our ship, and everyone cheered as we caught our first glimpse of the behemoth. (Seriously, this thing was massive. We later found out that although there are a couple other ships in the same class as this one, Liberty happens to be 2" longer than the others, which makes it, technically, the largest cruise ship in the world right now. Neato, huh?)



Getting on to the ship was similar to getting on a plane, as far as the level of security. We didn't have to remove our shoes or take liquids out of our carry-ons, but other than that, it was very much the same. And like I said, the building was huge--designed to deal with literally thousands of people, if necessary. We went through all the procedure of checking in and were pleasantly surprised to learn we could go ahead and board the ship. As soon as we got on deck, we took a picture.



Of course, they took an official one of us also, and it was one of 2 professional pictures we let ourselves get suckered into buying. (You'll see the other one later.) You have to admit, it came out a lot better than our own feeble attempt, plus it has a pretty border.



We were told we could head straight to the Windjammer Cafe, the casual, buffet-style restaurant that's open for all meals, since our room wouldn't be ready until about 1 PM. We were happy to be on the ship instead of wandering aimlessly around Miami (and possibly spending unnecessary money). Rather than wait around for the Windjammer to open (since it wasn't quite ready yet), we wandered around the ship, and took random pictures, not really sure what we were looking at.

Some staircases...



The Royal Promenade, a mall-like strip of shops, pubs, cafes, etc. Those windows are rooms that overlook the Promenade.



On the floors of every elevator was a little removable piece that said what day of the week it was. I thought they were cool.



We found one of the pools (the kids' one) on Deck 11.



And right next to it, I was thrilled to discover the self-service soft-serve ice cream machine.



We enjoyed the view of the Miami skyline while we ate our ice cream.





Then it was off to lunch. Tony rolled his eyes at me when I wanted to take a pic of him and our first meal on the ship, but I retorted, "Hey, I warned you I was going to be taking pictures of every little thing--get used to it." And so he smiled.



When we finished eating, we had a little more time to kill before heading to our room. We explored some more, and found these nifty little 3-D maps near the Promenade.



We also found this "personal ad" on the community bulletin board. It made me giggle and I surreptitiously took a picture (because I'm mean like that).



But they weren't kidding when they said the rooms would be ready at 1--we were in our room no more than a few minutes later. We (well, fine, mostly me) squealed like little kids over the room, small and simple as it was. Tony commented that it was a bigger than he expected. I giggled at the shower in the bathroom (literally just a small tube that could barely fit one person--I have no idea how Tony fit his 6'3" frame in there) while Tony made a beeline for the balcony. I soon joined him. Our baggage hadn't yet arrived (and we were told it could arrive as late as 8 PM), so we had no unpacking to worry about yet. Not that we would have "worried" anyway. We just enjoyed our lush room...



...and our fabulous private balcony.



We headed back toward the Promenade because we heard there were some raffles going on. We missed the raffles, so we explored the ship some more. Tony took this picture from somewhere on Deck 11, looking all the way down to Deck 5 (the Promenade).



We took this picture from Deck 12, looking down on Deck 11, which had the main pool, with a live band playing.



Another shot, taken from Deck 12. (See the 2 bars? There was no shortage of alcohol on this ship, let me tell you.)



The ship was due to set sail at 5, and we had a mandatory "muster" drill at 4:15. (Not sure what "muster" means.) Let me tell you, these lifevests are Not Kidding Around--they are even equipped with a light. Anyway, we got to our spot, got put into neat little lines by the crew members, and waited and waited (since, you know, there are always those super-special people who think the word "mandatory" doesn't apply to them). We amused ourselves by taking a picture.



I thought there would be more to the drill--like some kind of instructions--but it was very simple, and was over quickly. We rushed back to our room to dump the bulky lifevests, eager to secure a nice spot on deck to watch ourselves take off. We went to Deck 12 and got a spot facing forward.

When we got on deck, I was surprised to see we were already moving. I guess maybe I thought there would be some kind of jerk or lurch or something when the ship took off. We passed 2 Carnival ships on our way out (the only other 2 ships in port that day) and waved to their passengers as we passed. A slight drizzle started, but again, nothing could dampen our spirits.



We stayed on deck until our ship cleared the "canal" (for lack of a better word) and the few buoys just past the canal, and was on the open sea. We finally dragged ourselves away from the deck and paused for a few minutes to watch the Sail-Away Party. I'm here to tell you, folks, that the Macarena is still alive and well. This was the first, but not the last, time we saw this dance performed on board.



Good-bye, Miami. (See the ship's wake?)



Our next task was to get ready for dinner, since the main seating started at 6:15. We were happy to see our luggage waiting for us outside our room (minus one piece, which arrived slightly later). Even though dinner was labeled "casual" for the evening, we changed, just to get out of our grubby-feeling travel clothes. We also met our stateroom attendant, Barbara.

There were 3 dining rooms, on Deck 3, 4 and 5, but when we arrived at our room (on Deck 3), we discovered it was really all one room, in 3 levels. The dining room was amazing--very elegant and gorgeous (pictures coming in another entry). Though we were on time, we were the last to arrive at our 6-person table. We ended up seated across from each other, and did quick introductions among our table mates. Next to me were Kyle and Amy (honeymooners) and next to Tony were Steve and Freyja (married 24 years with 2 grown sons, but taking their first child-free vacation). We also met our waiter Davut (from Turkey) and assistant waiter Jovenito (from the Philippines).

Dinner was amazing--the formal-looking menus offered several selections for starters, entrees and desserts, and you could pick anything you wanted. You want 3 starters and 2 entrees? No problem. Don't like what you ordered? Order something else instead. The service was fast and efficient, the food excellent, and the company and conversation fantastic. With that meal, it felt like our cruise had officially begun.

The evening entertainment was the "Welcome Aboard Show." The cruise director, James, opened the show, and he spotlighted a couple in the audience who was on their 127th cruise. No, that's not a typo. Can you imagine--127 cruises? The show featured the Liberty of the Seas orchestra (who opened just about every show), Chuck Gunter (a comedic juggler--first time I've ever seen a juggler who employed comedy as part of his act, and he was hilarious), and Carl Strong (a comedian).



After dinner, we donned out bathing suits and headed to one of the jacuzzis. There were 2 (on each side of the ship) that actually hung out over the side of the ship, with glass walls. Of course, there wasn't much of a view, since it was dark, but it was still pretty cool to peek down at the rest of the ship. After soaking for a while, we changed and walked some laps around Deck 12 (which has a handy little jogging track).

Later that night (around 11, I think), there was a parade on the Promenade. It was named the "Soca-licious Parade" and I still have no idea what that means. But those people had a ton of energy.





After that, we headed back to our room. Our last order of business before bedtime was to order room service for breakfast.

To be continued...