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My First Cruise
Day 1
My wife had been pleading with me for a long time about going on a cruise, I had doubts, but, after years of pressure, I gave in! even though I still had horrid memories of being sea sick travelling on the inter Island ferries in NZ. So we flew out of Brisbane to Dubai for three days before going on to London for a week of sightseeing before flying to Barcelona where we were booked in for 2 nights (part of the cruise package) prior to starting our 7 night Meterainian cruise. The Hotel was absolutley fantastic! beautiful room with views of the city & great food & service .I would have been quite happy to have stayed longer but the morning of the cruise had arrived and after a good buffet breakfast, we headed out to the cruise terminal in our prebooked limo(cheaper than a cab )After checking in, my wife & I (with great trepidation) boarded Royal Caribbeans cruise ship the Voyager Of The Seas .
We had boarded early (12.30pm.. The departure time was 6.00pm ) had a look around the ship,located our cabin ( sorry, stateroom ) but, as it was to early to move in, we decided to go to the Windjammer all day buffet for a bite & cold drink and enjoy the views of Barcelona. We then checked out our seating in the main dining room and ordered a wine package wine, which would be served to us when required during the voyage. By this time, our luggage had been dropped off at our stateroom, so we headed down to unpack & settle in. About 5.30pm a call was put out for everyone to get their life jackets & head to their muster station for a practice drill. After everyone is accountered for, we headed back to our room, shortly after, the skipper cranks up the motor ( raises the sails? ) and we head out to the wide open seas.We sat out on our balcony, taking in the beautiful night views of Barcelona as we headed out towards France, by then it was time to shower and change, my wife wanted to check out the shops prior to dinner(Would you believe, my wife knew exactly where to go!!) I tried to convince her that they would have discounted sales towards the end of the cruise (fingers crossed) but she could not resist the temptation of a bargain? So after dropping the bargains back in our stateroom, we checked out a couple of bars, tried a cocktail or two and then headed to our 8.30pm.dinner.We meet our fellow table guests, two couples from the USA, our waiter, a young man from Romania who was very amusing and on the ball which all made for a very enjoyable start to our cruise , the food was great, with a choice of 3 entree /3 mains / 3 deserts and the company was excellent, about 2 hours later we all decided to go to a show. which was top class entertainment. By this time we were all starting to get a bit weary and decided to call it a day and hit the sack. On the way back we thought we would get some sea air and as we strolled around the top deck we came across a Midnight party buffet in progress, so, after more food & dancing we decided it was time to go. Would you believe that on the way we passed the Casino?
Whoa!! Not quite right, we did stop and have a quick flutter, we finally got back to our stateroom to find our bed turned down, a daily newsletter with all tomorrows (sorry, todays) activities & entertainment, plus chocs on the pillows.
End of day 1
6 days to go, Cruising could be hard work! or maybe I just need more practice , after all, I am only 69yrs young.
Warren.