We have officially reached the second half of our vacation today, and it is the day the kids have been waiting for since Christmas. Here is how our day went. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This morning it was so cool to wake up at 7:30am in Miami to the sound of roosters \ud83d\ude01 I got up, showered, finished some work, completed our online checkin for the cruise and ate some watermelon before getting the kids up at 9:30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the time we had everything packed up and were out of the house, it was 10:45. We put in a few gallons of gas at a nearby Shell for 2.85\/gal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We arrived at Budget around 11:15 and quickly emptied the car. Everyone was limited to just their carry-on and backpack again. All we had to carry was 3 sandwiches. When we dropped the car off, we had 11,560 miles on the odometer. We are sad to report that we were not able to spot licence plates from all 50 states. In the end, we concluded after extensive research (8 days) that people from Wyoming, South Dakota, New Hampshire, Arkansas, and Alaska just don\u2019t travel. \ud83e\udd37\u200d\u2640\ufe0f<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We waited a while for our shuttle to take us to the cruise terminal. The shuttle driver was nice though and when we offered him our 4 sandwiches he gladly took them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though our embarkation time was 1:30pm, we arrived at the terminal before noon and it wasn\u2019t too busy we went through security and we were on the ship just after 12:00pm. Wow, what an impressively huge ship! We separated from the kids on deck 9 when we went to our stateroom. The kids carried on to deck 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The doors were closed to the staterooms until 1:00 so we did what any seasoned cruiser does\u2026 we opened the doors and went to our stateroom to drop off our luggage. Our room was the only one closed so we knew that had finished. We dropped off our bags and started toward the kids room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kids did not know the trick and informed us they couldn\u2019t go to their room until 1:00 \ud83d\ude44. We told them to drop off their suitcases. We saw them in the halls so I went with them to ensure they put their luggage in the right spot. Their room was still being cleaned so we told them to keep their backpacks with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We all went to our muster stations, then we went to guest services to switch Tavis and Ayva\u2019s room. You can\u2019t book a room unless you are 25yrs so we book girls in 1, boys in the other, and do the switch once inboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the time we got the new cards it was 1:00 so we all went to our rooms to unpack. The kids were surprised to discover they had a balcony room. At the time of booking, it was only about $10 more for the balcony so we chose the upgraded room, but it was the first time they didn\u2019t have an interior. We also got them the soda package which was also a surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After unpacking, we got some food at the Windjammer buffet and went off to explore the ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The day seemed to pass incredibly quickly. Before we knew it we were at the spa raffle at 4:30 and the ship was leaving the port. None of us won anything so we all split up. I got Ayva a strawberry daiquiri which apparently she spilled all over herself. She spent the next hour scrubbing the red out. Apparently a combination of hand soap and laundry detergent did the trick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was so much to see on the ship and it was huge. I kept getting lost, but I eventually found Tavis. We spent some time reserving tickets to some of the shows and we also booked skating. We went to the art auction, then had a short rest before going to the show. It was a juggler\/comedian. Ari and I thought he was great. Addison wasn\u2019t impressed, Ayva and Tavis both liked him but didn\u2019t find it outstanding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the show we all met for our dinner reservation on Deck 3. Dinner was really good. We all ordered the prime rib. Ari and Tavis enjoyed their escargot. Ayva and Addison had appys as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After dinner we were all stuffed. Everyone did their own thing. We walked around and checked out the dueling pianos. Tavis was tired so we went to fill our water bottles and get ready for bed. the ballon drop was at midnight so at 12:55 we went down to see the balloons fall. It was packed downstairs. Tavis got a night cap of sambuca and we went back to bed. It was crazy how quickly the floor cleared out after midnight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was another great day and completely different from the rest! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We have officially reached the second half of our vacation today, and it is the day the kids have been waiting for since Christmas. Here is how our day went. This morning it was so cool to wake up at 7:30am in Miami to the sound of roosters \ud83d\ude01 I got up, showered, finished some … <\/p>\n