Cruise on Elation March 25- March 29 2010 Wednesday night my wife is asking the youngest son if he is excited about going to Disneyland, and he told her he wants to take his fun ship Freddy doll on the big boat. ( I think it is because the doll was sitting on the computer desk and he just happened to look at it as she asked him about Disneyland, either that or the kid is psychic) Thursday morning we woke up and took the boys to daycare as usual so that they would not suspect anything while me and the wife frantically began packing (good thing this was only a 4 day). around 9:00 we went and picked up the boys and told them we were starting our vacation early. Their eyes were lit up like they had just seen a Christmas tree surrounded by presents. They asked if we were going to Disneyland we told them we were but we had to go take care of some other stuff first. As we were driving to San Diego the older son was looking out the window like this is not the way to Disneyland. Some idiot almost side swiped us as she changed into our lane without signal and while we were in it. I had to actually swerve into the empty lane to the right, thank goodness no one was there. Heart was pounding good on that one. Ended up missing the turn we usually take thank goodness we brought Garmina with us (that is the GPS Garmin). So we approached farther north than what we would have which gave a great view of the ship, of course the boys were perking up at the sight of the ship and the younger one is like "we are going on the boat" the older one is like "no we are going to Disneyland". Me and the wife are looking like deer's caught in the headlights(now of course we are convinced the child is using some supernatural ability). My wife is like oh look it is the Elation(good diversion tactic), which neither one had seen. So I asked them if they wanted to go take a closer look at it and of course they did. (this got us out of telling them at least for the moment). We drove to the port and parked. I asked my oldest son to help me with something in the trunk, and I opened the trunk and grabbed one of the luggage tags and asked him to help me with this suitcase. Instantly he is bouncing up and down and shouting we are going on the boat. The younger one starts doing the victory dance. I don't know if it was for excitement about going of the victory of the "I told you so". Embarkation was not as smooth as normal. Only because when I filled out the online information I gave them the number of our pass cards instead of our passports. She had a heck of a time over riding it and it took us about 7-10 minutes instead of the usual 5 (wasn't a big deal) just remember to use the right information online and give the same documents when processing. We actually were joking that it was faster when all we had to do was show birth certificates.

First evening We were given late dining, of course when you book at the last minute you really don't have an option, when we got on the ship we went to the buffet (well did you expect something else?) I let my wife know I was going to check on changing our dining time to either early or at least anytime dining. (no I was not hitting up the bars on the way). Ended up being first in line for the Maitre De and changed to anytime dining, they give you a card and the table number of 777 which is their special code for it. Went back to the buffet and ate lunch, then ate second lunch 5 minutes later. Relaxed and enjoyed a couple of DOD's. Went to the room and dropped off our carryon bags. Noticed that the TV remote wasn't working they took care of it.

We were happy to have the window cabin on this cruise, it is nice to know what time of day it is when you are in the cabin. It was also great when I saw a whale jumping just outside of Cabo. Getting too far ahead of the story now. Read more