Cruise report - Day one and two
I'm using Chrome (the new browser from Google, and so far I like it, although my text in the post entry box is tiny. I can't believe it's September already. I should probably write up what happened on the cruise already.
The cruise ran from Sunday to Sunday, so Dave and I had a day in-between. Mom and Dad booked us a room at the Avon Old Farms Hotel, which was pretty nice. On Saturday we went to see Mamma Mia!, ate dinner at the hotel (I had lamb with couscous and he had steak), and went to see They Might Be Giants perform a free concert at Mohegan Sun. We had to stand the whole time, but it was still pretty fun. We managed to get there okay, but I hadn't thought to print out return directions, so we got horribly lost on the way back. But we did get back eventually.
On Sunday, Mom and Dad were coming to pick us up around ten, so we went to the hotel's breakfast buffet (which was pretty good) early on. Anyway, the ship was leaving out of Boston, and it took about two and a half hours to get there, including stopping for lunch. Once we got through the boarding process, we were surprised to find our room was the very first one we encountered. Which was convenient, but our luggage hadn't arrived yet, so we didn't have too much to do, other than explore the room. There was a bottle of wine, which we later learned was a gift from the travel agent, but we were wary of it for a while, since there were bottles of water in there that were not free. I found our shore excursion tickets, but one was missing, so we headed out to find out what was going on with that. Turns out the power-snorkeling excursion we signed up for was canceled because something was wrong with the equipment, but to make up for it, the guy at the desk signed us up for a regular snorkeling excursion (which is what we really wanted in the first place, but when we signed up, all the ones we tried to get into were full), and gave us a free t-shirt for our trouble.
Although it had been sunny all day, clouds started rolling in, and a thunderstorm came in, abbreviating the safety training at 3. We were supposed to leave at 4, but we didn't actually go until 5. I'm not sure if this was due to the thunderstorm or not, but I know that's why the Bon Voyage Barbeque was cancelled. So Dave and I ate at the Terraces restaurant instead, although we had to change (no flip flops or shorts were allowed for dinner there). We spent the rest of the evening exploring the ship, and the rain stopped eventually. We also signed up for time in the internet cafe (you had to pay to go online, and it was cheaper to buy minutes in bulk, plus we got a discount for signing up on the first day).
The TV in our cabin had about five channels related to the ship (a powerpoint channel with general information, a video of the view from the bow, etc.) and supposedly had CNN, ESPN, Fox News, Turner Classic Movies, TNT, and Cartoon Network. Only half of those actually showed up (unfortunately, TNT was one of the ones that showed up clearly on a daily basis), and ESPN and TCM had a tendency to be CBS and ABC, but never when anything interesting was on. There were also two channels that ran movies on a cycle, so we saw a lot of things in bits and pieces (including Be Kind, Rewind, Blades of Glory, 50 First Dates, and Penelope).
Monday was day completely at sea. We didn't get up until it was time for lunch, so we went to the rescheduled barbecue; very good chicken and what they called Hawaiian Salad, but was more like fried rice with pineapple in it. We planned to go to a snorkel demonstration, so we'd be prepared for our excursion, so we sat on Deck 11 (where the pools are) for about an hour until the demonstration. Which was a pretty good demonstration. The guy in charge related all the techniques of snorkeling to the "number one rule of snorkeling: always look good." Then I went to a powerpoint presentation about Bermuda while Dave went back to the cabin, so I visited the onboard shops when it was done. And my watch broke ;_; but I didn't find any I liked at the stores, so I didn't replace it.
We had dinner at the 4 Seasons, which is like the Terraces, but not as formal. The exact same menu, though. I had lobster tail, but it wasn't that great (Dave had Beef Wellington. I don't think he had anything at dinner that wasn't beef the whole cruise). We thought about going for a swim, but in the end, we didn't.
That's all I feel like writing now. The next part will be the beginning of our time in Bermuda, and hopefully I'll have some pics up.
The cruise ran from Sunday to Sunday, so Dave and I had a day in-between. Mom and Dad booked us a room at the Avon Old Farms Hotel, which was pretty nice. On Saturday we went to see Mamma Mia!, ate dinner at the hotel (I had lamb with couscous and he had steak), and went to see They Might Be Giants perform a free concert at Mohegan Sun. We had to stand the whole time, but it was still pretty fun. We managed to get there okay, but I hadn't thought to print out return directions, so we got horribly lost on the way back. But we did get back eventually.
On Sunday, Mom and Dad were coming to pick us up around ten, so we went to the hotel's breakfast buffet (which was pretty good) early on. Anyway, the ship was leaving out of Boston, and it took about two and a half hours to get there, including stopping for lunch. Once we got through the boarding process, we were surprised to find our room was the very first one we encountered. Which was convenient, but our luggage hadn't arrived yet, so we didn't have too much to do, other than explore the room. There was a bottle of wine, which we later learned was a gift from the travel agent, but we were wary of it for a while, since there were bottles of water in there that were not free. I found our shore excursion tickets, but one was missing, so we headed out to find out what was going on with that. Turns out the power-snorkeling excursion we signed up for was canceled because something was wrong with the equipment, but to make up for it, the guy at the desk signed us up for a regular snorkeling excursion (which is what we really wanted in the first place, but when we signed up, all the ones we tried to get into were full), and gave us a free t-shirt for our trouble.
Although it had been sunny all day, clouds started rolling in, and a thunderstorm came in, abbreviating the safety training at 3. We were supposed to leave at 4, but we didn't actually go until 5. I'm not sure if this was due to the thunderstorm or not, but I know that's why the Bon Voyage Barbeque was cancelled. So Dave and I ate at the Terraces restaurant instead, although we had to change (no flip flops or shorts were allowed for dinner there). We spent the rest of the evening exploring the ship, and the rain stopped eventually. We also signed up for time in the internet cafe (you had to pay to go online, and it was cheaper to buy minutes in bulk, plus we got a discount for signing up on the first day).
The TV in our cabin had about five channels related to the ship (a powerpoint channel with general information, a video of the view from the bow, etc.) and supposedly had CNN, ESPN, Fox News, Turner Classic Movies, TNT, and Cartoon Network. Only half of those actually showed up (unfortunately, TNT was one of the ones that showed up clearly on a daily basis), and ESPN and TCM had a tendency to be CBS and ABC, but never when anything interesting was on. There were also two channels that ran movies on a cycle, so we saw a lot of things in bits and pieces (including Be Kind, Rewind, Blades of Glory, 50 First Dates, and Penelope).
Monday was day completely at sea. We didn't get up until it was time for lunch, so we went to the rescheduled barbecue; very good chicken and what they called Hawaiian Salad, but was more like fried rice with pineapple in it. We planned to go to a snorkel demonstration, so we'd be prepared for our excursion, so we sat on Deck 11 (where the pools are) for about an hour until the demonstration. Which was a pretty good demonstration. The guy in charge related all the techniques of snorkeling to the "number one rule of snorkeling: always look good." Then I went to a powerpoint presentation about Bermuda while Dave went back to the cabin, so I visited the onboard shops when it was done. And my watch broke ;_; but I didn't find any I liked at the stores, so I didn't replace it.
We had dinner at the 4 Seasons, which is like the Terraces, but not as formal. The exact same menu, though. I had lobster tail, but it wasn't that great (Dave had Beef Wellington. I don't think he had anything at dinner that wasn't beef the whole cruise). We thought about going for a swim, but in the end, we didn't.
That's all I feel like writing now. The next part will be the beginning of our time in Bermuda, and hopefully I'll have some pics up.