Day 2 - Departure

An important thing happened on Sunday morning. We were exposed to "The Line".

Check-out time was noon, which happened to coincide with the time we were to meet in the lobby to catch a bus to take us to the pier. After the copious amounts of beer from the night before, and the fact that we were all still on Montana time, noon was a good thing. When I stepped out of the elevator, I was met by at least a couple hundred others, all waiting to be taken to buses. Apparently there were three different cruises departing this afternoon, and this was one of many different hotels that took care of the future seafarers. To there credit, the hotel staff and cruise staff did a good job of herding us around, but there was an awful lot of waiting in line.

We arrive at the ship terminal. Very similar to an airline terminal, complete with all the security measures (but a bit more lax). And where do we find ourselves? In line. This will be a common theme throughout the trip. Here is Dad checking us all in, since it's his name on the final bill!


Once we got past this point, we get on this immensely large ship, and find our cabins. Smaller than most motel rooms, but very nice. The concept is that you won't spend much time in there anyway, since you'll be enjoying all that the cruise has to offer. The bathroom, on the other hand, was tiny. More on that later. We still had about 3 hours before departing, so we used the time to unpack, drink and explore. We all had our own balconies, so I got a shot of where our deck was in comparison to the rest of the ship.


See what looks like smoke on the water (cue the band...)? This was the beginning of our entertainment. A speedboat (probably filled with drugs) stalled in the bay just behind the ship, and ended up bursting into flames. Just like at a car accident, people came out of nowhere to get too close and check things out. A couple of tugboats showed up to douse the flames. It was fun to watch...



As the time to leave port neared, we worked our way to poolside on the 11th/12th decks. There were already people out sunning/swimming, and we hadn't even left yet! Lots of drinks being served to all. As we head out to sea, we pass some incredible mansions on the water, and the views of Miami Beach.



From this point, the rest of the day is a bit of a blur. It involved a huge buffet line, multiple trips through that line, and then alot more drinking, gambling, and finally ending the night in the jazz club up on the 14th deck. We spent 5 out of 7 nights up there. Very nice. So here's the crew, heading out to sea, for 7 days of fun and adventure! Tomorrow--our day at sea.