Our Wedding Honeymoon Adventure Part 2

Monday April 23rd, 2007

IRELAND
Port: Cobh (Pronounced “Cove”)
Nearest Major City: Cork
Other Nearby Interests: Blarney & Kinsale

We woke up around 7:30am (11:30pm LA time) and hurried outside to take pictures of Ireland as we approached. “Dry Land!!!” It was windy and rainy and we could hardly see the shore. The rain started coming down so hard that we had to retreat back inside. We ate a quick breakfast and ran into Elizabeth and Captian Bob (two of The Elders) who we found out were going on the same tour we were signed up for. So, together, we headed out into the cold, rain and wind to find our tour bus. We walked back and forth without seeing our bus, all the while getting soaked from the rain. The wind was blowing so hard that our umbrellas were being turned inside out and Bebe even broke a spoke! Did I mention that it was COLD and RAINY and WINDY… and WINDY?! Just as we spotted our bus, the driver decided to put a sign up in the window (we had already walked past it twice). Once on our nice dry bus, we headed out on a 45 minutes drive to Blarney. Once the bus dropped us off, we went straight for the castle. It seemed like we were the very first ones there, so we took our time exploring all the room and taking tons of photos. Before we knew it, lots and lots of people began showing up and lines started to form. So we booked it up to the top to kiss the Blarney stone. The stone was at the very top of the castle where we had the most beautiful 360-degree view of the countryside. It was incredible… And so green! Bebe was first to kiss the stone and I followed. We had to lay down on our backs with our heads hanging off the side of the castle. There was a man there to hold us and lower us down into a very precarious position, where we then kissed the stone. And now, as legend has it, we have the “gift of gab”. On our way out, we realized that we had gotten there just in time, as the line to kiss the stone had grown all the way down the stairs and out of the castle. (WHEW!)

We left the castle and walked back to town where we did a bit of souvenir shopping before it was time to get back on the bus and head to Kinsale. On the way, we stopped by Charles Fort. Us and another man were the only ones brave enough to get off the bus and snap some quick photos. The wind was blowing so hard that we were literally being blown over and our umbrellas could not stay concave. And Bebe broke another spoke on his umbrella. We then got back on the bus and we made our way to Kinsale. Once there, we had about an hour and a half to explore the city. It was supposed to be more, but the driver had agreed to bring us back to the ship early because all the old people were complaining that they were going to miss the “Irish Dancers” that were performing that night on the ship. We were pissed and wanted to shout at the old people that they could watch Lord of the Dance anytime they wanted, but how often were they actually IN Ireland??? Instead, we kept our mouths shut after realizing we were outnumbered 25 to 1. Oh well. So, we made the most of it. We explored the city for a while before ducking into an Irish Pub right out of the movies. There were men wearing hats with little brims, they all had big scruffy sideburns and were wearing long fishermen’s coats… The perfect stereotypes! We both ordered toasted ham and cheese sandwiches (recommended by Mark), Bebe ordered an Irish Coffee and I ordered a pint of Guinness. Our toasted sandwiches were TO DIE FOR! Corey liked his Irish Coffee and, at first sip, I hated my Guinness. But the more I drank, the more I liked it. And by the time my pint was finished, I was ready to order another one. Bebe urged me not to, for it was almost time to get back on the bus. So we headed out and as we did, Bebe broke another spoke on his umbrella, leaving him only half an umbrella to shelter him from the rain. Finally, our bus arrived and it was time to head back to the ship. Our driver dropped us off at the port and because we had plenty of time before we had to be back onboard, we headed over to the Cobh Heritage Center. We bought a few souvenirs before heading back to the ship.

Cold and wet, we stripped off our clothes and got into our warm bed for a nap. Two hours later we woke up just in time to get ready for dinner. At the table that night

was just ourselves and Juan. We had a great time exchanging our Ireland stories, as we had completely different adventures. We were a bit disappointed that Mark wasn't there because we were excited to tell him that we had tried the toasted ham and cheese sandwiches! Oh well. After dinner we went right back to our rooms, exhausted. We found a little frog waiting for us with mints for eyes. So cute! Then it was straight to bed, knowing we had another big day ahead of us.

Tuesday April 24th, 2007

ENGLAND
Port: Falmouth, County Cornwall
Major City: Falmouth
Other Nearby Interests: Land’s End & Lizard Point

We woke up before our alarm today, got dressed and went to the buffet for breakfast. Because Falmouth doesn’t have a port large enough to accommodate the ship, we had to park about 3 miles from shore. Then we would have to be “tendered” to shore. Little boat, after little boat would have to take us, about 100 people at a time, to shore. So after breakfast, we got our tender tickets and waited in the Centrum for about an hour before our number was called. From there, we headed down to board our rocky little tender boat. It was about a 20 minutes ride to shore and we used that time to take photos of the approaching land and distancing ship. Once off the tender, a nice British woman helped us with some suggestions of what to do and what to eat. Ever heard of a Cornish Pasty? We were determined to try one. She also told us that we could walk to the town in about 5 minutes, so we headed that way.

After walking for about 3 minutes, Bebe was too hot and was cursing the fact that I insisted on him bringing his jacket and now he had to walk around with it tied around his waist. We continued walking, taking pictures and checking out all the little shops. We found a convenience store that carried all different kinds of candy and packaging that we had never seen before. We came across a chocolate bar called a “Yorkie”. Its slogan is, “It’s Not For Girls!” We cracked up and decided to buy three. More walking. More picture taking. The weather was absolutely beautiful. (Quite the contrast to the previous day in Ireland!) As it was getting close to the end of our day, we decided to go in search of some traditional English food. We grabbed a Pasty from Oggy Oggy Bakery for “take-away” (YUMMY) and shared it on our way to a sit-down restaurant. We sat down and ordered some Fish & Chips. Bebe ordered a Cider Beer and I ordered a Cornish Ale. (when in Cornwall…) The Cider beer was great and the Cornish Ale was pretty gross. The Fish & Chips were just okay. When we finished we headed back to the tender boats.
The last tender was scheduled to leave at 3:30pm. We arrived in plenty of time at 2:45 to find a huge line of about 800 people, all waiting to be tendered back to the ship. And just when we got in line, about 6 shuttle buses let out another 800 or so people. 45 minutes to bring back 1600 people? 4 boats at about 100 people per boat with a 50 minute turnaround time? 3:30pm our asses!! So we waited. And as we were standing in line, it started to rain and it soon became VERY cold! (You have no idea the strength it took me not to tell Bebe, “I told you so”!) We had to wait for about 45 minutes in the cold and rain, finally getting back onboard around 5pm. The ship finally loaded up all it’s passengers and set sail around 6pm (2 hours late!) and we were already sound asleep.

We woke up just in time for dinner. Neither of us wanted to go, but neither of us spoke up, so off we went. Everyone was there! We had a great time and we were the last group to leave the dining room. We went back to our room where there was a bat waiting for us. And we CRASHED!

Wednesday April 25th, 2007

FRANCE
Port: Le Havre
Nearest Major City: Paris
Other Nearby Interests: Beaches of Normandy & Rouen

OUR TWO WEEK ANNIVERSARY

We woke up around 8am and headed upstairs for our usual buffet breakfast. Afterwards it was to the Theater to meet with our “Paris On Your Own” tour guide. And, as a group, we went out to our shuttle bus. It was a two and a half hour ride into Paris; I slept most of the way there and Bebe stayed up doing crossword puzzles. Bebe woke me up as soon as he could see that we were approaching Paris. We could see the Eiffel Tower getting bigger and bigger. Once there, the bus let us off at 11:45am with instructions to be back on the bus at 4:45pm. We immediately started taking photos of the Eiffel Tower and then wandered around a bit before heading over to the Jules Verne Restaurant at 12:45pm. We gave them our name and they took us right up to the second level via a private elevator. This was great, considering that the line to go up the tower was a few hours long! Reservations for this restaurant had to be made months in advance, and it was worth it, even if just for the quick ride up the tower. Plus, today was our two-week anniversary and on our wedding night, we had eaten at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant in Vegas. So it seemed appropriate that we eat at the restaurant in the REAL Eiffel Tower!!

We were seated at a tiny table with a nice view of the city. We both ordered the three-course luncheon meal at 65 Euro per person, 2 cokes at 8 Euro each and a bottle of water at 10 Euro. (Keep in mind, 1 Euro = approximately $1.40) We were both served a small appetizer salad of mixed veggies and lobster. Our first course was an appetizer plate with two square pieces of chicken and two square pieces of fois gras. We also had the same entrée, a “fattened” chicken dish consisting of three chicken thighs that were the shape and size of large marshmallows. The chicken was topped with two crayfish, asparagus and pea pods in a tasty sauce on the bottom of the plate. For dessert, I had a Rum Savarin (a small glazed donut formed like a shortcake that you pour rum into the reservoir on top, allowing it to soak into the shortcake, then topped with heavy cream). The waiter told me to “pour in a little rum and top it with lots of cream… Or the other way around works too.” I ended up using a lot of both! Bebe had a caramel coconut bar, a crunchy cookie bar with hard caramel and chocolate on top, served alongside a line of tangy orange marmalade and a scoop of caramel ice cream. And after dessert, we got a small tray of six cookies. And then, along with the check, they delivered a bowl of espresso chocolates. It was pricey (-$220) but VERY YUMMY!

After lunch we decided to go on an hour-long river cruise that took us up and back on the Seine River. We saw quite a few old and beautiful buildings. But, the most interesting part of the cruise was all the people watching! We took so many pictures that both Bebe and I drained our camera batteries and I filled up a 1GB memory card. We both agreed that we would have to come back and spend at least a week in order to be able to see all that we wanted to see.

The river cruise was over at 4:30pm and we hurried back to the bus, deciding that we didn’t have time to stop for the ice cream that we had been talking about all day. We arrived at the bus just in time but found that a few groups of people were missing. We ended up having to wait about 45 minutes before everyone showed up. (We should have gotten the ice cream!) We finally left Paris and we both slept all the way back to Le Havre.

Once back at the dock, we had about two hours before we had to be back onboard. We did a little souvenir shopping before coming up with a brilliant idea! We asked a local woman where we could find a McDonald’s (so that we could see the infamous “Royal with Cheese”) but she said the closest one was about a half hour walk away. And by this time, we only had about an hour before we had to board. We just didn’t have enough time to walk. We waited briefly for a taxi to come by, but it was getting cold and it was almost time for dinner, so we gave up and boarded the ship. (We’ll just have to wait for our return trip to Paris to see the “Royal with Cheese”.) Once onboard, we headed straight to the dining room. Everyone was there except for Juan. It was another good night but we ended up leaving a bit early (10:15pm) because we were so tired. (I was practically falling asleep at the table!) We said “goodnight” to our towel monkey and fell right to sleep.

Thursday April 26th, 2007

BELGIUM
Port: Zeebrugge
Nearest Major City: Brussels
Other Nearby Interests: Blankenberg & Bruges

I woke up WAY before my alarm this morning, and after tossing and turning for a bit, I woke Bebe at 6am (10pm LA time) to tell him that I couldn’t sleep and that I was going to the computer area to check my emails. A short time later, Bebe met me there saying he couldn’t sleep either. So, we were both up and awake with not much to do, so we headed to the buffet for a nice leisurely breakfast. Then we went back to our stateroom to pack all our bags. We were suppose to put our bags outside of our door the night before departure so that the porters could have our bags waiting for us when we left the ship. We knew that we would be tired later that night, so it was nice to get it our of the way early.

At 10am it was time to head out and grab a shuttle bus to take us from Zeebrugge to Blankenberg. Once in Blankenberg, we took a train to Bruges. From the train station in Bruges, we hopped on a bus that took us to the city center. We got off the bus a few stops before the city center so that we could explore a bit. Bruges is a very old, medieval town full of castles type buildings and churches along cobblestone roads and beautiful canals. They call it the “Venice of the North”. It’s such a charming little city. We fell in love immediately! As we were wandering around, we came across the coolest little wooden toy store. We were lured in by the “Jumpers,” little wooden animals and people on slinkys, bouncing up and down from the ceiling. It was the coolest shop we have ever seen and we spent way too much time and money there. It was one of those moments when you wish you could just pack up the store and bring it home with you to show all your friends. Way too cool to describe.

We finally made our way out of the shop and into the city center to do more shopping. We had Belgian Chocolates on the brain, and we found plenty of tasty selections! We also got some Frites (fries), some ice cream and a Belgian Hot Chocolate with Rum. Mmmmmmmm… Before we knew it, it was time to make our way back to the ship. Again, not nearly enough time to do and see all that we wanted to! We caught the bus back to the train station and took some pictures of tulips while we waited for the train. Bebe bought a Jupiler Beer from a vending machine and drank it on the train. Once we were back in Blankenberg, we had about an hour to kill before our shuttle bus to the ship would arrive. So we walked around, took some photos, saw a Belgian Pug Dog that barked at us in Flemish and Bebe finally found the Belgian waffle he had been searching for. (From a place called Australian Ice Cream, strangely enough.) Bebe offered me a bite of his waffle and he almost had to buy another one, cause I didn’t want to give it back. It was sooooooooo yummy!!!

Eventually, it was time to head back to the shuttle bus where we met our driver. He looked like a younger version of Fabio before the steroids. As the bus was filling up, the passengers all started talking about Belgian beer when our driver whipped out a Jupiler Beer from a cooler at the front of the bus. And, before we knew it, everyone on the bus was buying beers from our driver for 1 Euro each. It was at this point that we dubbed ourselves the “Party Bus.” Once the Party Bus was full it was time to head back to the ship, and by the way that Fabio was driving, we were convinced that he had one too many Jupilers and that we were all going to die! But we made it back safe and boarded the Jewel for the last time.

Once back onboard, we had some time before dinner, so we decided to visit the photo gallery to pick out our favorites to bring home. We had decided ahead of time that we would choose only three 8x10s and one 5x7, as they were pretty expensive. We had to narrow it down from about forty to fifty portraits, and it was hard to part with any of them! We bought eight. So, with our empty pockets, we went back to our stateroom to pack up a few last-minutes things. We put our luggage outside our door and headed to our last dinner onboard the Jewel of the Seas. Everyone except Mark was there that night and we all talked about what a fantastic trip we had and how much we enjoyed each other’s company! We disbursed our tips to the wait staff, exchanged emails and said our goodbyes. It was hugs and kisses all around! And again, we were the last group to leave the dining room. We then headed back to our stateroom, found two towel swans waiting for us and we kissed goodnight.

To be continued... In Amsterdam!

Our Wedding Honeymoon Adventure Part 1!

Tuesday April 10th, 2007

LOS ANGELES / LAS VEGAS

We woke up early, excited to leave for Vegas to get married. Before heading off, we stopped by Elena’s office to give her our 30-day notice. (Fingers crossed that the condo would actually close this time!)

We left LA around 2pm and arrived at Sam’s Town around 7pm. We quickly checked in and headed back out to meet Mah-Mee (Michelle) and Dah-Dee (Bruce) at the Stratosphere at 8pm. We went from there to the Rio for their Carnival World Buffet. Yummy! Bebe had to eat fast and then jet to the airport to pick up Mama (Jeanne) and Aunt Janet. After the buffet, I said goodnight to Mah-Mee and Dah-Dee and met back up with Bebe, Mama and Aunt Janet at Sam’s Town. We opened some cards and gifts from the Groom’s family before heading to bed. Tomorrow would be the big day!!

Wednesday April 11th, 2007

Wedding Day

We woke up at 11am and had breakfast with Mama and Aunt Janet at the Sam’s Town buffet. After breakfast we headed to the Marriage Bureau to get our Marriage License. We had the clerk cracking up when we paid for the license with a dollar bill that one of Bebe’s friends from work wrote on. It said, “Spend this wisely!” She thought it was very appropriate!! Once back to Sam’s Town, we parted ways to get ready for the big event and promised to meet back up at 4pm. Bebe stayed in our room and I went to Mah-Mee and Dah-Dee’s room to get ready.

Once ready, my parents and I went back to Bebe’s room where Mama and Aunt Janet were already waiting with Bebe. That’s when Bebe and I saw eachother all dressed up for the first time! We then all drove to the chapel where our wedding was scheduled for 5pm. After arriving, we realized that the gazebo that we were originally going to marry in was a piece of junk, so we decided to move the ceremony indoors. Dah-Dee walked me down the aisle and gave me away. The ceremony lasted approximately 15 minutes, during which, I was on the edge of tears the entire time. Bebe kept it together until the end, when we both completely lost it and cried like babies.

The Bebes Are Married!!!

After the ceremony we headed over to the Paris Hotel and Casino to take some photos in front of their beautiful fountain. It was, unfortunately, turned off. Oh well...

While we took pictures, it was so windy that my veil flew off my head. Several people ran after it but it almost blew into traffic because nobody wanted to step on it. It was eventually saved by Dah-Dee!

When we were done taking photos, we went to the Casino and went up to the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. The restaurant was not too impressive and our waitress was a snobby bitch. It was very disappointing!


After dinner, we headed back to Sam’s Town where we all hung out in our room, ate ice cream cake, drank champagne and celebrated until 2am. At that time, everyone went back to their rooms and the newlyweds consummated their marriage.

(actual photo is unavailable)

Thursday April 12th, 2007

LAS VEGAS / FORT LAUDERDALE

This is the day that our Honeymoon Adventure begins.

After saying goodbye to our families, we rushed to the airport convinced that we’d miss our flight. And as it always happens, when you’re late, the computer at the airport told us there was a problem processing our boarding passes and that we’d have to wait in line to check in. Keep in mind, we were LATE! Not to mention, freaking out. Finally we found someone to help us and we got our boarding passes. We ran full speed to our gate just to find that our flight had been delayed an hour. (WHEW!)

After about an hour, we boarded our plane and took off for Fort Lauderdale, Flordia. During our ascent, we hit some turbulence and a lady screamed. And I laughed at her. Other than that, the flight was pretty non-eventful and we arrived in Fort Lauderdale at 12:45am. We took a cab to our hotel, settled in, filled up on too much fried food from Denny’s and finally got to bed around 4am.

Friday April 13th, 2007

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Day 1

We woke up late today…3pm. We wasted some time in our hotel room before going out and walking towards the beach with the intention of catching a water taxi towards downtown. About a third of a mile later, we saw a trolley and decided to hop on. The trolley took us to the beach where we hopped off and promptly put our feet in the warm Atlantic Ocean. After walking around a bit and checking out some shops, we headed to the next trolley stop to continue downtown. As we approached the stop, the Trolley came and went, passing us right up. So, instead of waiting for the next one, we keep walking to the next stop. We kept walking and walking…no trolley stops! Finally we found a bus that took us to the Riverfront. We were hungry and tired and ready to eat seafood. We decided on a place called Ugly Tuna Saloona for it’s name alone and we were not disappointed! The food was awesome. Bebe had a Mahi Mahi Ruben, I had crab-stuffed shrimp and we both had a couple of drinks. We sat outside and dined in candlelight. It was very romantic! After dinner Bebe got some ice cream from Hagen-Daaz and we hopped in a cab back to our hotel. We never made it to the water taxi.

Saturday April 14th, 2007

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Day 2

We woke up early today at 11am (8am LA time), caught the trolley to the beach and signed ourselves up for a glass-bottom boat snorkeling tour. We boarded the boat, they took us out to the middle of the ocean, dropped anchor, and we jumped in. Bebe promptly swam back to the boat where he stayed for quite some time while I continued swimming and snorkeling. After some coaxing, Bebe tried again. He jumped back in and lasted a bit longer than the first time before heading back to the boat. Bebe isn’t exactly comfortable snorkeling yet, especially in the middle of the ocean. I had a great time floating in the waves. I had an underwater camera and took a handful of photos of the “same damn fish” over and over again. After about an hour, it was time to head back.

As soon as we got back on land, it was time to board the Jungle Queen, a riverboat that took us to an island where we had all-you-can-eat shrimp, ribs and chicken. Everything was very yummy! After dinner we decided to skip the show and go look at all the various animals they had on the island. (All caged, of course.) We ended up spending all our time with a monkey named Trevor. He was so cool! He grabbed a leaf from Bebe’s hand and when I tried to do it, he slapped me. And scared me to death! Then we found out that when anyone would run near his cage, he would freak out and do flips in the air. Bebe found this very amusing, so when anyone new would come over to look at Trevor, Bebe would run circles around the cage so everyone could see Trevor’s cool back flips. Eventually, it was time to say goodbye to Trevor, get back on the Jungle Queen and head back to shore. We passed the time, on the way back, by taking goofy photos of ourselves.
Once docked, we sat at a bus stop and waited for a bus that never came. So we hailed a cab. (A first for both of us!)

We got back to the hotel and went to bed…exhausted.

Sunday April 15th, 2007

Setting Sail on our Transatlantic Cruise

We woke up, checked out and caught the hotel’s complimentary shuttle to the cruise port. As soon as we boarded the shuttle, it began to rain. We heard there was bad weather coming, and this was the first we had seen. Once at the port, we didn’t have to wait long before checking in and boarding the ship. During check in, the lady told us that they had changed our room, but it wasn’t until we got onboard that we realized we had been upgraded to an ocean view room at the very front of the ship. (Our window faced forward.)

After admiring our room and our view, we headed to the buffet and stuffed ourselves silly. We then went outside and explored the upper decks. It became so windy, my hot chocolate blew out of my cup and all over my arm! The wind was blowing so hard that it became unsafe to be outside so we ran back inside, forgetting our camera on one of the deck chairs. Once we realized this, we ran outside, frantically searching for it. Thankfully, we got it back from one of the employees who had already found it. Relieved, we went back inside and got into one of the elevators. The elevators had beautiful glass doors and the floor had a plaque that said “Sunday.” As we rode the elevator, a man said, “Why does it say Sunday in our elevator?” I responded with, “Because today is Sunday.” The man looked at me perplexed. (Sure enough, they changed the plaques everyday!) We explored the ship a bit more before heading back outside to the lower decks. As we sailed away and took pictures, people waived the Royal Caribbean flag as they waived goodbye to us from their balconies. We knew ahead of time that there were Tornado warnings for the east coast, and it was rocky from the get go!

After watching the land slowly disappear, it was time for the emergency drill. This is when we all have to put on our life vests and find out where we are supposed to go in case of an emergency. In our case, it was the theater. When we were done ignoring the emergency procedures, we went back to our room to drop off our life vests and then it was right back to the theater to watch the Welcome Show. After the show we headed to dinner and we were the last to arrive. Already at our table were our new friends that we would be dining with for the next twelve nights or so. We met Jim and Debbie, a married couple, Juan, and eccentric gay (we’re pretty sure) man who talked a lot and asked all the same questions over and over again, and Mark, a quiet Jewish man, both the latter traveling alone.

After dinner we went back to our room and got in bed. The ship was rocking and swaying so much that when we’d lay on our sides, we felt like we were going to roll right out of bed. I was finally drifting to sleep when Bebe, all hopped up on caffeine said, “I wanna go out and see the waves!” So we went out on one of the decks. It was 1am and we had the whole ship to ourselves. It was pitch black and Bebe was looking over the edge, trying to see the big waves. All the while, I was screaming at him to get away from the side of the ship because “that’s how people fall overboard and no one would ever know!” After Bebe was satisfied, we found the Refreshment Center and got some tea and hot chocolate. Near the Refreshment Center we noticed a Ping Pong table so we decided to play. Neither of us had played in years but we were doing pretty well and after awhile we got pretty good at over compensating for the rocking of the ship. It was so bad that one of us would reach for the ball as the ship swayed in the opposite direction causing us to completely miss the ball. It was so fun! 3am became 4am as we had to change our clocks ahead an hour. And at 4:30am we retired our Ping Pong paddles and went back to our stateroom. We slept like babies.

Monday April 16th, 2007

Our First Day At Sea

Our wake up call came early this morning in the form of the Captain announcing that because of the bad weather, we would be changing course. Instead of heading north along the eastern coast and then veering east across the Atlantic, we would veer east toward Bermuda, then north and east across the Atlantic. He explained that by doing this we would escape the bad weather and that soon it would be a much smoother ride. We went back to sleep.

Finally, at 2pm, we got up and barely made it out in time for the lunch buffet before they closed it down at 3pm. We stuffed ourselves and went right back to our stateroom. I took a nap and Bebe watched TV until it was time to get ready to eat again. It was the first formal night on the ship so we got all dressed up. As we were getting ready, I realized that I needed to head down to the Centrum Shops to pick up a few things. On my way to the shops, the ship was swaying back and forth, so much so, that people were stumbling around and the dealers at the casino were rolling away from their tables. As I passed through the photo gallery, I stopped for a moment to look at all the photos taken the night before. As I attempted to stand there, I heard a crashing noise. About ten feet away, a whole display case of alcohol crashed to the floor. More than fifty bottles all broken on the floor. And I seemed to be the only person on the ship to have actually seen it happen. It was crazy… And the smell was amazing! So, after regrouping and navigating my around the mess and into the shops, I found them to be torn apart as well. Scarves and watches and earrings all covered the floor. I was told that I had to leave, as they needed to close due to all the chaos and destruction. I returned to our stateroom empty handed.



On our way to dinner, we stopped at four photography stations to get our photos taken.

Twice during the meal, dishes and glasses and wine bottles all crashed to the floor because of all the rocking and tilting of the ship. We thought all the chaos was fun! Though, we didn’t find that everyone shared our enthusiasm.
We finished our meal and went straight back to our stateroom to get out of our formal attire and then headed right back out to our Ping Pong table. We played a “best three out of five tournament” and Bebe ended up the champion while the only victory I experienced was a one game shut out at 17 to 0. Bebe did a celebratory dance and then we went back to our room where we were rocked to sleep by the waves.

Tuesday April 17th, 2007

Our Second Day at Sea

We woke up early at 9am (5am LA time). It was raining outside and the ship was no longer rocking. We sat in our window nook that overlooked the helipad and bow of the ship, and admired our view. It was so calm and peaceful. After some time, we decided to head out to the breakfast buffet, it was the first time that we had been up in time to catch it. We saw Mark there and said, “hi!” He told us that he hadn’t been sleeping well due to the fact that he had a deck two stateroom where the waves crashed on his porthole all night long. (That must suck!) After breakfast, we went back to our stateroom and went back to sleep. But before doing so, we ordered a 1:15pm wake up call because we had signed up to participate in a 1:30pm blackjack tournament. Fast asleep, the wake up call came and we immediately fell back to sleep. Then, in a panic, Bebe woke up at 1:29pm, got me up and we rushed out the door. Once we got to the casino, we hopped on the next available blackjack table and began playing, half asleep. The tournament worked like this: We all started with $500 of play money and played seven hands of blackjack. The seven people with the most money at the end go on to play at the final table. I ended my round with $850 and Bebe ended his with $1300. We were both put on the “the list” of the top scores. The next table ended and I was bumped off the list but Corey was still in 2nd place. At the end of the next table, Bebe was bumped down to 8th place, and out of the running. So much for that. (-$40) From there, we went to play bingo, and again, walked away empty handed. (-$35) We went back to our stateroom feeling like losers. Hoping to raise our spirits, we called our Real Estate Agent to find out about our house that was supposed to have closed two days earlier. She informed us that, as of 12:30 PST that day, we had become homeowners. (WHEW!) We thanked her and promptly headed down to the bar to toast our new home with a glass of champagne. Soon after, it was time for dinner. So, with champagne glasses in hand and smiles on faces, we greeted our tablemates, Jim and Debbie. We shared our news and Jim shared his bottle of wine. Juan and Mark never showed up for dinner but we didn’t mind at all, the four of us had a great time! We had planned to go to the Movie Theater after dinner to catch the 10pm show but didn’t end up leaving the dining room until well-after 10pm. So, having missed the movie, we headed back to our stateroom to relax. Before we knew it, we were heading back out to go to the Midnight Buffet. Keep in mind; we had just finished our dinner about and hour and a half before. (What were we thinking?) After have completely stuffed ourselves, we painfully made our way back to our stateroom where we turned our clock ahead another hour and fell asleep watching South Park.

Wednesday April 18th, 2007

Our Third Day at Sea / Our One Week Anniversary

A call woke us up at 11am today. The man informed us that a spot had opened up for tonight’s Murder Mystery Dinner and that we had to be there at 6:30pm. We were happy, but tired, so we went back to sleep. We woke up again at 3pm and it was raining again. We watched TV and we watched outside our window at the people on the helipad. The next part needs a bit of back-story: The TV in our stateroom had a channel that was just a camera on the deck of the ship so that you could watch what was going on outside. We found it very amusing because we figured out that the camera had to be right above our room because the view of the camera was the same exact view that we had from our window. So anyway, Bebe was sitting in our window nook, looking out the window when he yelled, “I SEE THE AFRO COUPLE!!” (It was couple that we had nicknamed because they both had Afros and we kept seeing them all over the ship) So, I changed the channel on the TV to the one of the deck camera, and I screamed, “I SEE THE AFRO COUPLE!!”… I think you’d have to be there.

We finally got out of bed around 5pm, got in our “Smart Casual” outfits and headed to the Safari Club for the Murder Mystery Show. We enjoyed the show and we especially enjoyed the food. Our waiter clued us in on who the killer was but we were too mistrusting and wrote down someone else. We should have listened to our waiter. We had fun but decided that it wasn’t worth the cost. (-$120) After dinner we went to the Movie Theater to catch the 10pm showing of Lady in the Water. We liked it (surprisingly) but we heard all the old people grumbling, “that was terrible,” and “I’m glad I didn’t waste my money on that!” After the movie we went to the Casino and put some money in a couple of slots. I lost my $20 but Bebe cashed out $43. (+$3) From there, we went to the blackjack table. Again, I lost my $45 while Bebe came out $5 ahead. (-$40) Next were the nickel slots where Bebe lost $20 and I got lucky, cashing out $36.75 from an original $20. (-$3.25) After it was all said and done, we had a lot of fun and didn’t end up losing much money at all. At that time, they kicked us out because they were closing for the night so we headed for the Refreshment Center. We grabbed some drinks to bring back to our stateroom along with some late night desserts. We turned our clocks forward for the third time in five days before Bebe fell asleep at 5am and me at 10am.

Thursday April 19th, 2007

Our Fourth Day at Sea

Bebe woke up at noon in anticipation of his 3pm Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament. On his way out the door, he noticed that my SeaPass Card was missing so he went looking in the last place he remembered us using it: the Casino! And sure enough, they had it at the cashier. (WHEW!) He then had a bit of time before his tournament so he had lunch at the buffet and read the paper. I, in the meantime, had woken up around 1pm, saw that Bebe was gone, and went back to sleep. Bebe, now at his poker tournament, gained an early chip lead and was dominating his table. But after a string of bad luck, ended up taking third at his table. Unfortunately, only first place went on the play the final table. (-$75) Bebe then went back to the stateroom where I was awake and already getting ready for another formal night. We headed out and got our portraits taken… again. Before dinner, we attended the Captain’s Reception where we met a lot of the ship employees and each enjoyed two free glasses of champagne. Now a bit tipsy, we headed to dinner with Jim, Debbie and Juan. Mark was, once again, a no-show. We stayed late, as usual, talking to Jim and Debbie, finally leaving the dining room at 10:30pm. We took a few of our own portraits of each other before heading to the “Midnight Fisherman’s Buffet.” (An hour and a half after dinner!) Thoroughly stuffed, we went back to our stateroom to find our first towel animal. It was swan but Bebe destroyed it before I could get a photo of it. We fell asleep early that night at 1:30am.

Friday April 20th, 2007

Our Fifth Day at Sea

We slept in again and woke up at 1:30pm. We went to the Seaview Café and brought back a Ruben and a Tuna Melt. We ate in bed while watching “Keeping Up with the Steins.” And very soon after eating, we fell back to sleep. We got up again around 7:30pm and both of us were just not in the mood to get dressed for dinner so instead, we opted to have a casual dinner at the buffet. We then went to the guest talent show at 10:30pm. I cannot even begin to explain to you how awful it was! One guest read a poem that just went on and on, the same thing over and over, “Love, Young Love….” (We would later hear other passengers reciting the poem to one another on a bus in Bruges!) It was hysterical. After the talent show, there was some stand-up comedy. I can barely even recall it, so it couldn’t have been very funny. From there we went back to our stateroom to find a towel dog waiting for us on our bed. So adorable! We turned our clocks forward again, for the fourth time before Bebe fell asleep at 4:30am and me, at 8:30am.

Saturday April 21st, 2007

Our Sixth Day at Sea

Bebe woke up at 9:30am (2:30am LA time), went out, got a mocha and a donut and entered a slot tournament. He was out in the first round. (-$20) He then got in on a trivia game with whom he called “The Elders,” a group of old people who welcomed him into their trivia team. Then it was back to the room where he woke me up at 12:45pm. We went to the buffet for lunch and then hustled over to the “Country Club” for a scavenger hunt. It started late so we received consolation prizes in addition to the silver medals we received for second place! We had to answer some questions about the ship and return items such as a cookie, logo merchandise, a bar receipt, and “ship shape dollars”. (Those damned things cost us a first place medal!) (+ silver medals, lanyards & caribbeaners) High on our scavenger hut win, we went straight to Bingo. We stood up, needing one number for BINGO, three different times in five games, before winning the fifth game!!! (+$187)

We went to the concierge to exchange some dollars for Euros and Pounds in anticipation of arriving in Ireland on Monday. Then we headed to the pre-dinner show. It was two magicians. The opening act was actually much more entertaining than the headlining act! From there we went to dinner with our good friends Jim, Debbie and Juan. Guess who was absent! After dinner we went back to the theater for the “Love & Marriage” game show. Bebe had already decided that he wanted to be a contestant and was putting major pressure on me to do it. But I was mortified at the thought. So, after much begging, Bebe spared me the humiliation. (WHEW!) It was a fun show! It was pretty much the ship’s version of the Newlywed Game. It was over at about 11:30pm, and at that time, we headed back to our stateroom to find the cutest little towel elephant. We turned our clocks forward an hour for the last time and were asleep by midnight.

Sunday April 22nd, 2007

Our Seventh Day at Sea

We woke up on our own at about 8am (12am LA time) and went to the main dining room for breakfast. After we finished eating I wanted an English muffin and another glass of orange juice. So instead of waiting for the waiter, Bebe suggested that we just go to the buffet to grab what we wanted. We both knew this was a bad idea, but did it anyway. My muffin somehow turned into a giant Belgian waffle with strawberry topping, chocolate syrup and whipped cream. And I got my big glass of OJ. (I don’t know why I do this to myself.) From there we went to the “Centrum” and watched a tutorial on making towel animals. Then it was time to meet The Elders for a game of trivia. I played this time but was of little help to our team. It didn’t matter much, as our team tied for first. We sent Bebe up as our representative for the tiebreaker (pulling a paper from a hat) and he won it! We walked away with more lanyards, a few key chains and a couple of pens. After that, we went to the casino to play some more nickel slots. (-$20.75) I had gotten a very bad headache at that time and decided to go back to the stateroom to lie down. Bebe stayed out, bought Bingo tickets, attended a Port Q&A and watched an art auction. He walked away with two free glasses of champagne but no art. Mission accomplished! He then came back to the stateroom to wake me up in time for Bingo. This time, we walked away empty-handed. After Bingo, we went back to the stateroom to relax and get ready for our last formal night. Before dinner, we stopped by the Crown and Anchor Welcome Back Party (because we had cruised with them before) where we had more free booze. From there we went to dinner where we were the last to arrive. It was a full table that night. Even Mark was there and we had a great time! After dinner we went around to all the portrait stations again where we got a little fed up with the usual poses and begin doing our own. Then it was back to the casino! Bebe really wanted to play some Texas Hold’em and sat down with $100. I found a dollar slot machine and fed it $40. After about nine pulls, I hit a 12x jackpot on an eight-credit payout, winning $96. I quickly cashed out and watched Bebe for the rest of his game. He never had any good hands and eventually lost his $100. (-$16) Then it was time for the “Gala Buffet”. First, we went to the “showing” where we were allowed to only look at and take pictures of the grand display. Fifteen minutes later, it was open for the eating. We found very little that we wanted to eat so we just grabbed some dessert and headed back to our stateroom. There, we found a towel bunny waiting for us. We ate our desserts and went right to sleep, excited to wake up in Ireland!

To be continued....