I have tons of pictures and am having a terrible problem culling! So I thought I might do a chronological thing. But you won’t get 10 days of pics, promise.
Sasha White and I decided to add one extra day to the front and end of our trip so that we wouldn’t have to stress if a plane or boat arrived late. On the day of my flight to Newark, New Jersey, I was so excited I couldn’t sleep, so I left for the airport at 2:00 AM. I stopped in Malvern, Arkansas for breakfast at a Waffle House and joined the skater crowd of kids who all looked a little high. I was so early at the airport the airlines swapped me for an earlier flight, so I had time to kill before meeting Sasha at her gate in Newark.
We arrived at the Days Hotel in the early afternoon. The hotel was nice, but we knew we weren’t in a good part of town when we saw the tall chain link that surrounded the parking lot that was topped by strands of barbed wire. Add the armed guard in the guard shack at the entrance of the lot and you know we were glad we’d only be there one night.
Because we had so much extra time on our hands we road a shuttle from the hotel to the mall. We ended up sharing the ride with a woman who could have been the poster child for too much plastic surgery. And when she moved her hands and spoke, we realized she was probably a transgender person as well. Had to mention that because when I got back to the hotel, I passed another in the lobby, and rode the elevator with another. Must have been a convention. And you know me. I wanted so bad to ask one of them if I could see their new parts. I thought maybe they’d be like strangers you meet who are so proud of their new tattoos that they will pull up their shirts or push down the waistband of their pants and show them to you. But I refrained.
Anyway, the camera came out the following day.
It was freaking cold when we arrived at harbor. Royal Caribbean had a large heated, semi-permanent tent set up to process everyone through passports. Still the windchill was in the 20’s and I only brought a rain jacket. I was glad to finally get through this door.
Inside, I stood in line with 2800 other people waiting to process in.
Once on the ship, Sasha and I headed straight for our stateroom to check out our digs. We passed this view of the onboard shopping mall called The Promenade. We stood on a 6th floor balcony overlooking it.
We had cabin number 6519. It was an interior cabin—no view of the sea—but we were going for cheap and not too worried about a view because we didn’t plan on staying in the room much.
How’s this for space-economy. It was a “one-butt room”. Only one person could move around at a time. And I think this was the only time I got in front of the camera willingly, I was that excited to be there.
Had to take a pic of Sasha, too. See me in the mirror?
The bathroom was teeny-tiny. The shower had just enough room to turn inside. It was sooooo cute.
After dumping our purses, we headed up to the decks to watch the departure. Can you see the Statue of Liberty in the harbor?
Our first view of one of the upper, exposed decks of the open sea. See those deck chairs? In a just a couple days, they’d be filled with sunbathers. I spent a lot of time leaning over the rails here to watch the waves.
Our first sunset.
One of the joys of cruising is the awesome food. Sasha and I headed to dinner that night looking forward to something wonderful. More about food later!
And here’s me. Already not enthused about having my picture taken.
Be sure to tune in tomorrow for pics of San Juan! ~DD
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The pics are awesome! Except for the shower. I’ll never complain about mine again. I’ve never been on a cruise, it looks like a great time. Can’t wait to see the rest of your photos.
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Woo hoo! Looks like a great beginning! Although that room is positively claustrophobic!
We have to make a coffee/writing date for next week!
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What a GREAT start — so glad you had a WONDERFUL trip.
and, I am so with you, who cares about the room – as long as there is a bed – I would not have seen much of it either.
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Wow – look how thin you are!
Great pictures.
Merry Christmas.
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Great pics!
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You look amazing!
DD if I had known you were leaving from Newark with time to kill I would have met you for coffee.
🙂 Thats a stone throw from my house.
Welcome home and hugs
H
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Enjoying the pics. Your cruise ship must have returned right after the big snowstorm hit.
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I guess you need to learn to like getting your picture taken with Sasha the photographer around? *s* So far it sounds like fun!
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Gail! Yeah, the shower was economy-sized with curved doors to provide extra space, but unless you didn’t want to ding your elbow on it when you doing your hair, you kept the doors open and concealed inside the shower!
Shayla! You’re on. I need a day dedicated to writing! And seeing you again would be wonderful!
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Sonya! Even when I worked, I liked finding a table at the back of one of the cafes. The room was a closet for my clothes and place to lay my head. 😉
Lisa! What a sweet thing to say! Now I have to go right back at it (day after Christmas) to shed the nine pounds I packed on during my vacay!
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Estella! Thanks, hon!!
Heather! The day we left was icy cold and miserable. The day we got back was the beginning of that blizzard. Probably wouldn’t have been a good idea to travel anyway. Would have been wonderful seeing you though!
Jane! Nope. The night before we arrived back at port we had a terrible storm at sea and snow flurries on the upper decks. I have the pics!
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Erin! I suppose I will have to get used to it since Sash and I plan to do it again!
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What ship were you on? We’ve been on two RC cruises and they were awesome!
We want to go on more in the future. Just can’t get enough of the laid back Caribbean lifestyle!
Ash
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Ash! We sailed on Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas.
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The Explorer is the one we went on!!! LOL. I thought those pictures looked familiar!
Ash
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Seriously nice pictures DD thank you for posting them and sharing with us.
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Rasha! You know, I love sharing bits of my world here. Thanks for stopping by.
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I envy you your island hopping. Maybe someday…
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Lynn! It can be a very economical way to vacation. Once you’ve paid the cruise fare (and you can snag some last minute deals!), you don’t have to spend another dime if you don’t want to. Your meals are taken care of. You can walk around the ports. The entertainments are for the most part included in the price.