Sunday, June 17th, 2012

Check-in was incredibly fast and incredibly smooth, and after just a short wait in the lobby we were onboard by a little after 11am. Just to impress you even more, the rooms were ready, so we were able to go right to our balcony room and drop the carry-ons off before heading to lunch. While there we met our room steward, Wilson, who did a great job taking care of us all week. We had lunch at Summer Palace, which is one of the included sit-down dining rooms, and then wandered around the ship a bit before heading to the lifeboat drill. After the lifeboat drill we went to the Sky High Bar to grab some cocktails and watch the sail away party. A great time was had by all, but we did leave a little late so we didn't really see the ship moving until we were at dinner. In our wanderings we discovered that if you made a reservation at one of the specialty restaurants from 5-5:30, you would receive a free bottle of wine with your dinner. It was such a great offer that we booked La Cucina for our first night's dinner. La Cucina was excellent across the board, and we were so pleased that we decided to return there later in the cruise. At 7pm we went to the Welcome Aboard Show, which was nice but nothing spectacular, then on to the Sing It If You Know It game show, which was a blast to watch. From there we visited the casino, where we both would finish ahead, and then off to bed (I was still on Eastern time, so late nights weren't an option yet). Before I went to bed I decided to use the ladies room, where I dropped a piece of toilet paper and almost gave myself a concussion on the ashtray above the toilet paper dispenser trying to pick it up. Seriously, I had a centimeter long cut on my forehead all week. Moral? If it falls, leave it.

Monday, June 18th, 2012 Read more