Liz did not sleep well last night. We did not get to bed until midnight probably beacuse of our nap. Liz got up at 5:00 a.m. because she couldn't sleep at all. I didn't get up until 8:00 a.m. and I slept pretty good. I am still not used to the heat.
We went down to the hotel lobby for coffee, delicious once again. And then went over to a bakery for fresh croissants for breakfast. Now, we have packed up everything for the trip to the board and just need to wait until 11:30 - 12:00 p.m. to check out and catch a taxi to the port.
(3:45 p.m.) - Boat Time
We checked out of the hotel around 11:30 a.m., mostly at Liz's insistence, she was feeling really anxious to get going. We checked out of the Golden Tulip lobby and they called a cab for us which was waiting outside the lobby right away as we exited.
After dealing with the usual language barrier with the cab driver, I'm not saying they are mean or anything. All of the cab driver's are really nice and really fucking crazy behind the wheel. They just don't speak English, but fortunately, " Royal Caribbean," translates in every language. And we were off to the port of Venice. I was looking down the whole time.
I wasn't kidding about the driving. Italians are crazy behind the wheel. The driver probably used his horn more times on that trip to the port then I have in the past 3 years. I've seen Italian driving before, but this was the first time sitting in the same car as them. But, I digress...
It was totally worth the €25 euros to take a taxi because they dropped us off right at the luggage drop off. After that, we walked into a large building wherew we were checked in. Tehy also took our picture. We had to get in a line for our Sea Pass. That went really fast, they had refreshments available for everyone including wine, but we weren't interested in that.
We wanted to get on the boat. We went through security which felt lax compared to TSA security in the U.S.A. We couldn't go to our staterooms until 1:00 p.m., but they had a free lunch buffet. We had lunch up on Deck 9. It was a great buffet, so much food, so much room in the stomach. I had a veggie wrap, a salad, and Greek salad. And an orange for dessert. Liz had palla, veggie wrap, meat and cheese, and green beans. It was a good buffet.
After that, we checked into our stateroom. It's small, but we won't be spending a lot of time there. We don't even have a view, but that is what you pay for. We checked out the ship after that, looking at all of the amenities. The, back to the stateroom where we waited for our luggage.
Finally, it came, we actually put aways all of our clothes, then we had a, "if the boat sinks, this is what to do," drill that was mandatory boat wide. Around 5:00 p.m., the boat finally weighed anchor, I look forward to this cruise, it is going to kick ass! I also look forward to sitting outside sunning for the next several hours with jus reading. Maybe a drink or two. Or three... or four...
I forgot about the cake, as my lovely wife reminded me, we had a cake waiting for us in the room from our travel lady. It was nice!
(11:00 p.m.) - Boat Time
After laying out for a while, we got ready for dinner. It was a casual night, so I just wore pants and a polo. Liz wore a summer dress. After getting dressed, we went up to the Viking Lounge for a before dinner cocktail on Deck 11, the highest deck on the ship. I just had a whiskey & diet soda, but Liz had the drink of the day. This was our first drink on the ship. Drinks are kinda pricey, so we are limiting ourselfs.
We went to dinner to The King & I dinning room where we got seated for the first time. We were sat with a newly married couple Brian & (can't remember her name). It was only four of us at the table, so it was kind of awkward. I didn't like it because now we will only meet one couple at dinner for the whole trip. Thank you, Royal Caribbean planner!
For dinner we had, as a starter, soups. Liz had a watermelon gazpacho soup and I had a hot and sour shrimp soup. My soup did taste good, but it only had one shrimp soup. My soup did taste good, but it only had one shrimp in it. For the main course, I had the pan-fried salmon with green beans and some other veggies. Liz had pan-fried pork medallions with mushrooms and mashed potatoes. the food left a lot to be desired, not really great, in fact, I would probably say the buffet food was a lot better than the dinner food. For dessert, Liz had a strawberry and meringue thing and I had a low-fat blueberry peach cobbler which was really good.
The couple we were sitting with was a lot of fun to talk to. They are from Pennsylvania and got married in May in Las Vegas. The fire works at an eye doctor place, though getting her degree in the classics. The husband works at place that develops batteries and he got his degree in chemical engineering. They actually met on Match.com, which was interesting. We asked if they were going to do one of those stupid Match commercials, but they said no and they make fun of them.
And dinner got done around 11:00 p.m., so we went to go read and went to bed. Some other thoughts about dinner, the waiter sucked, very inattentive. I would say the table next to us got 10x the attention. I don't even know it we will go back because the service and food wasn't great. More tomorrow...
Finally, it came, we actually put aways all of our clothes, then we had a, "if the boat sinks, this is what to do," drill that was mandatory boat wide. Around 5:00 p.m., the boat finally weighed anchor, I look forward to this cruise, it is going to kick ass! I also look forward to sitting outside sunning for the next several hours with jus reading. Maybe a drink or two. Or three... or four...
I forgot about the cake, as my lovely wife reminded me, we had a cake waiting for us in the room from our travel lady. It was nice!
(11:00 p.m.) - Boat Time
After laying out for a while, we got ready for dinner. It was a casual night, so I just wore pants and a polo. Liz wore a summer dress. After getting dressed, we went up to the Viking Lounge for a before dinner cocktail on Deck 11, the highest deck on the ship. I just had a whiskey & diet soda, but Liz had the drink of the day. This was our first drink on the ship. Drinks are kinda pricey, so we are limiting ourselfs.
We went to dinner to The King & I dinning room where we got seated for the first time. We were sat with a newly married couple Brian & (can't remember her name). It was only four of us at the table, so it was kind of awkward. I didn't like it because now we will only meet one couple at dinner for the whole trip. Thank you, Royal Caribbean planner!
For dinner we had, as a starter, soups. Liz had a watermelon gazpacho soup and I had a hot and sour shrimp soup. My soup did taste good, but it only had one shrimp soup. My soup did taste good, but it only had one shrimp in it. For the main course, I had the pan-fried salmon with green beans and some other veggies. Liz had pan-fried pork medallions with mushrooms and mashed potatoes. the food left a lot to be desired, not really great, in fact, I would probably say the buffet food was a lot better than the dinner food. For dessert, Liz had a strawberry and meringue thing and I had a low-fat blueberry peach cobbler which was really good.
The couple we were sitting with was a lot of fun to talk to. They are from Pennsylvania and got married in May in Las Vegas. The fire works at an eye doctor place, though getting her degree in the classics. The husband works at place that develops batteries and he got his degree in chemical engineering. They actually met on Match.com, which was interesting. We asked if they were going to do one of those stupid Match commercials, but they said no and they make fun of them.
And dinner got done around 11:00 p.m., so we went to go read and went to bed. Some other thoughts about dinner, the waiter sucked, very inattentive. I would say the table next to us got 10x the attention. I don't even know it we will go back because the service and food wasn't great. More tomorrow...
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