Keep Calm and Cruise On
Three things you need to know about me and my family:
1. We are all only children.
2. Due to the typical nature of #1, we are all extremely independent.
3. Due to the equation setup between #1 and #2, putting us together with 4,000 of our closest friends on a boat, equals a prime opportunity for practicing our calming breaths.
That first night on the boat was interesting to say the least. We had been at sea for maybe an hour or so when a medical emergency required us to turn BACK to Galveston. Yes. Turn back. It wasn't long after that the captain made an announcement about refraining from shaking people's hands due to the high amount of passengers already in the infirmary, and believe you me, I was really starting to wonder if there wasn't something to the whole germ-phobic thing.
Luckily, we were still able to set sail shortly after our return to the port, but we were now on high speed to make up for lost time. This all turned out to be just fine as it simply gave us more time to get settled and explore the ship, but I certainly had to start practicing a few of those aforementioned "calming breaths."
For dinner, we participated in a mystery dinner theater which was an absolute hoot because, of course, we sat on the front row, making us prime targets for any and all punches to be thrown our way. My father taking the brunt, gave his name to the cast as Fred, when he suddenly became an active participant in the "who done it?" scenario. For clarification, my father's name is definitely not Fred . . . As for me, I prefer to keep my head down and my ears open, when it comes to that sort of thing. By the end of the dinner, they had provided us with cards to mark who we thought was the murderer (or rather "moyda-her" as it was pronounced with their New Jersey mob accents) and an explanation for our conclusion. Listen, this is English teaching 101: provide an answer and back it up with as much evidence as you can find. I almost solved it too, but lost on a technicality--the murder was devised between the mob boss's wife and assistant, but since the wife pulled the trigger, the assistant apparently didn't count. Either way, Fred (my father), earned himself an nice bottle of Brut for his troubles which was really more trouble than it's worth since my parents don't drink and Texas makes you pay a tax for that "free" bottle upon entrance of the country. Yeehaw!
All in all, it was a good first night--the skies were clear, the water was peaceful and the moon was bright.
And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I walked into our stateroom to find this little guy awaiting our return.
Now, remember, this is my first cruise, so I have no idea if this is common place or not, but I had seen it once on an advertisement for a cruise and the small inner child part of me was secretly hoping this would be happen. Either way, it certainly took some talent from our attendant Anthony (from Jamaica who was the absolute happiest and sweetest man) to create and yet it takes very little for me to be entertained. :)
1. We are all only children.
2. Due to the typical nature of #1, we are all extremely independent.
3. Due to the equation setup between #1 and #2, putting us together with 4,000 of our closest friends on a boat, equals a prime opportunity for practicing our calming breaths.
That first night on the boat was interesting to say the least. We had been at sea for maybe an hour or so when a medical emergency required us to turn BACK to Galveston. Yes. Turn back. It wasn't long after that the captain made an announcement about refraining from shaking people's hands due to the high amount of passengers already in the infirmary, and believe you me, I was really starting to wonder if there wasn't something to the whole germ-phobic thing.
Luckily, we were still able to set sail shortly after our return to the port, but we were now on high speed to make up for lost time. This all turned out to be just fine as it simply gave us more time to get settled and explore the ship, but I certainly had to start practicing a few of those aforementioned "calming breaths."
For dinner, we participated in a mystery dinner theater which was an absolute hoot because, of course, we sat on the front row, making us prime targets for any and all punches to be thrown our way. My father taking the brunt, gave his name to the cast as Fred, when he suddenly became an active participant in the "who done it?" scenario. For clarification, my father's name is definitely not Fred . . . As for me, I prefer to keep my head down and my ears open, when it comes to that sort of thing. By the end of the dinner, they had provided us with cards to mark who we thought was the murderer (or rather "moyda-her" as it was pronounced with their New Jersey mob accents) and an explanation for our conclusion. Listen, this is English teaching 101: provide an answer and back it up with as much evidence as you can find. I almost solved it too, but lost on a technicality--the murder was devised between the mob boss's wife and assistant, but since the wife pulled the trigger, the assistant apparently didn't count. Either way, Fred (my father), earned himself an nice bottle of Brut for his troubles which was really more trouble than it's worth since my parents don't drink and Texas makes you pay a tax for that "free" bottle upon entrance of the country. Yeehaw!
All in all, it was a good first night--the skies were clear, the water was peaceful and the moon was bright.
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