Sail Away!

Today was the big day! The day all our plans revolved around....making the ship boarding. If the ships leaves, you don't, and Lil talked to people on the cruise who'd learned this all too well. They had missed their flight, caught another that put them into port half hour after sailaway time. They probably could have seen the ship from the pier! Anyway, they then had to find a flight to Aruba and sit there until our ship made it there into port on Saturday. They missed three days on the ship and spent a ton of extra money as a result.
Anyway, we made it, and immediately found it to our liking! People are REALLY, REALLY friendly on a cruise. They are helpful, they are smiling and laughing, they are eager to please. They want to meet you, know where you live, then tell some sort of story about where you live and share with you their thoughts and feelings. They laugh and ooh and aah over your children, point and whisper to each other as you pass. I am so thankful that Coop does not have issues being touched, as he was like some sort of cuddly pet on this trip, with people stopping to touch his hair at all turns. People in the elevators would stoop down just to look at his curls, then walk away with a passing rub to his head. It's amazing what tight ringlets will do for a person!

John and I were very excited about showing the boys a big ship. It's thrilling all the amazing stuff there is on a ship, from the entertainment side, such as the pools and hot tubs, to the long halllways in which to fly down! For any child, I'm sure the enormity of a ship in itself is a big deal, and we have waited a long time to take Tommy back to a place such as this. We headed out to the decks where the party had already started. We played soccer, hoops and squirt guns up in the sports court, then checked out the kids play are, Club HAL. The sun was shining and it was warm, and I could feel the effects of a long, long winter begin to fade, just a bit. We had our dinner in the Lido, or as Tommy took to calling it, the WEEDOH! The lines were long with people grubbing it up, and I had a hard time not being a little put off by the looks of that, as if they had not eaten in months and were suddenly prepared a banquet. The bounty of fruits and good things to eat proved too tempting, though, and we cautiously participated, if but a little. We spent time together in our cabin, where Cooper promptly got to work learning all there is to know about the toilet system, the mini bar/fridge and everything on any shelf or cabinet there was to find! Later, during Coop's afternoon siesta, we were called up to the decks for the life boat drill. For an adult, this is not the best way to start your cruise. For a toddler being pulled away from his nap...it's a definite challenge. Coop managed to put the huge life vest on, but with the sun beating down on him, he began to melt...down....badly. With all the screaming and carrying on, I eventually had the people stuffed against me trying to help me with him, as he flailed away and begged and screamed for daddy. Of course, daddy had to be back further with all the men ( women and children in front, if you remember the Titantic!). Eventually, an officer came up to me and gave me permission to take off his life jacket. I was then able to hand him back through the crowd to his dad, which made it all better. Usually a child will cling to his mother when upset...well, you now have Cooper....and he chose that exact time to desperately need his dad! I have never been so thankful for the end of life boat drilling!!!
Eventually, after all the partying and exploring, we found our way to the ice cream stand, then headed up to our cabin. Tommy curled up on his couch-turned bed and promptly began snoring. Cooper lasted until 11 pm, still content to explore the cabin and play.