Another Caribbean Cruise!

Cruise day!  This is something we feel we need and are really looking forward to! We had to drive to Port Canaveral so we left early enough to handle any traffic issues. For a change, there weren't any traffic issues (yeah!) so we got there early. Now - what to eat? Yes, we're going to be on a cruise where food will be non-stop, but I was hungry now. So we texted Aaron for ideas (he and Glenda were familiar with the area from visiting her family) and he suggested Southern Charm restaurant. When we got there was a huge line and we thought we'd have to skip breakfast but we were seated quickly. Breakfast sandwich for me while Randy had the Southern Eggs Benedict, with gravy instead of Hollandaise sauce and and sausage instead of ham. It came with a side of grits which Randy poured a little syrup over. Waitress Cindy shamed Randy about that and showed us their 10 commandments about grits...numbers 7, 8, 9, and 10 were all the same: "Thou shall not put syrup on grits!" All in fun and we would definitely go back.

On to port Canaveral parking and then to ship; it was an easy boarding. We found Aaron and Glenda upstairs on deck 11, snacking. Never-mind that we just had breakfast, we joined them to sample a few desserts. Our luggage wasn't there yet and we all decided that we should have packed sunsuits in our carry-ons so we could get in the pool! With no unpacking to do, we went out to explore the ship. Looking across the water we could see NASA - got to go there someday soon.

We checked back and found our luggage had been set outside our rooms. Our rooms are just a few doors from each other, which is nice. When everything was tucked away we all went over to the casino. Friends of ours often get free cruises from gambling so we thought we'd check this out. The casino couldn't open for business until we left port but we got some lessons in Blackjack from dealer Adrian. He was really good but too soon he had to leave us to do real work.

Our next instructor was Glenda herself, who tried to teach the rest of us table tennis. I say "tried" because she is very good but her students ... weren't.

The guys signed up for sushi making class but Glenda and I didn't find a class that we wanted yet. 

Time to eat again. I found happiness with a cheeseburger and chocolate chip cookies. And their French Fries were unexpectedly good! 

By then we had left port so we went to the Casino for a bit of gambling because our shipboard cards had $2 of free chips. I won $3 - I am a gambling wizard! The Cashier suggested we always cash in our slips instead of carrying them, even the small ones, because it's easy to lose or damage them. 

We went to see the last few minutes of the Comedian before dinner - OK but not great. Dinner was pretty good and we were glad to see that baked escargots are still on menu and that they haven't changed the recipe. These are still one of the best things on this (or any) menu!

We are having the late dinner seating. The ship was rocking a bit and I was really tired so 9:30 or so we headed off to bed.