AuburnChick's Adventures

Hi all!

I’m back…not that you knew I was gone thanks to the handy-dandy feature in WordPress that allows users to schedule posts to appear whenever we decide.

For safety reasons, the Mr. asked me not to put some cutesy saying like, “AuburnChick can’t come to the blog right now because…”

He was worried that some savvy computer person might do something wholly undesirable.  So, instead you got my rather lame (yet honest) little “thankful” posts.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

While you were tucked into your homes stuffing your bellies with turkey and dressing, Your’s Truly was cruising…

On the open seas…

It all started early this year when Grand Pooba and Coupon Queen, Master and Mistress of the Seas, decided to commence on yet another journey.  Ever since Grand Pooba retired, they’ve been leaving their beloved children and grandchildren behind a couple of times a year while they explored vast lands.

Only this time they decided that they would invite the rest of us along.

So, they booked passage, generously paying for all ten of us (them included), to take a ride on Holland America’s Eurodam.

This is a beautiful cruise ship that routinely travels to the Eastern Caribbean.

Being the good blogger that I am, I took pictures so you wouldn’t feel left out.

This is the first of eight posts (hope you don’t get bored) about the trip.

We pulled the kids out of school on Friday, November 20th.  The school generously obtained a sub for me (sub for the sub…funny, eh?), and I got experience writing lesson plans for someone else to follow.

Anyhoo…we drove down to Ft. Lauderdale…a long drive during which I slept most of the way.

After arriving, we headed out to dinner.  We used to live in Coral Springs, which is a hop, skip, and a jump away from Ft. Lauderdale.  It felt good to be on familiar stomping grounds.

Until…

We stopped at a traffic light, waiting for it to turn green…

And heard the weirdest noise ever.

The noise repeated itself several times before we figured out it was a car horn.  It sounded like a baby crying.

Some impatient-have-to-be-there-now-person-who-shouldn’t-be-behind-the-wheel-of-a-two-thousand-piece-of-metal was irate because we were obeying the law and not running a red light.

To make it worse, they were yelling at us…from two cars behind.

Sheesh.  Give me a break.

You do that where we live now, and you’re liable to get shot.

Anyhoo…

We met up with the rest of the gang…Grand Pooba, Coupon Queen, and my sister and the Mr.’s brother, who are married to one another.

I’ll let you have a second to run that one through your head.

The Mr. and I have siblings who are married to each other.  Hey, we’re from Alabama.  What do you expect?
They have two sons.  Music Man is the same age as Rooster, and Dr. J is ten.

We arose Saturday morning and headed to Port Everglades…

When it was our turn to pass through, we were asked the all important question, “Are you carrying any weapons?”

Um, hmmm…what would be the correct answer here?

Chicky was not impressed with the security, but I guess we looked honest enough that we were allowed through.

On to the terminal, where we answered health questions.

Chicky had been suffering from either a very minor cold or an allergy attack, so she honestly (remember, we tell the truth) answered that yes, she had suffered a runny nose and cough.

While the rest of our crew was given room keys and literature about the ship, my family was told to have a seat and someone would be with us.

Say what?

Ten minutes later, a lady wearing nurses scrubs came out to question Chicky further.

How embarrassing for Chicky…especially when she had to have her temperature taken.

After assuring the nurse that she was fine and simply had allergies, and after obtaining a normal temperature reading (thank goodness as mine would have been sky high after the nervousness), we were cleared to board.

Now, this is where the real fun began.

If you’ve never been on a cruise, let me explain that one of the most fantastic things is the ginormous amount of food available.  And the feasting begins immediately upon boarding.

Trust me.  This was my third cruise, and every one of them have been the same.

You go in, take the elevator up to the deck that has the buffet dining hall, and you eat…

I can’t remember how many lines like this existed, but everything was a little different…Italian, Asian, salads, fruit…you name it, they had it.

And then I saw this…

Dessert!!!!

Now, to my credit, I will say that I never once got any dessert from this display.  Most of the items had milk in them, and because I am lactose-intolerant, I have to steer clear of such yummies.

That’s okay.  I knew I’d get my turn.

There were large windows around the dining room, providing patrons with an incredible view.  Ft. Lauderdale really is gorgeous.  I sometimes miss it, except for the rude people…

After eating, we decided to explore the ship…

Mainstage - Where all of the shows were put on

The staircase outside of the formal dining room

Since we were so close to the dining room, we decided to saunter by.  This would be where we would be eating dinner each night at our assigned table with the same table attendants each night.

The dress code most nights was smart casual...two nights were formal.

The menu for dinner was displayed each day.  I chose not to look because I like surprises.  I did snap a picture without really reading it…

After cleaning up the drool from the floor, we resumed our tour.

This was the private cabana area, which was roped off to mere mortals like myself.  It was on Deck 10 and had stairs (outside the roped area) that I frequently climbed to get to another, more accessible, deck…

Now, don’t act all surprised to see my knitting.  You knew I would pack it.

Bex tagged along in my carry on.  She’s felt lonely because every time I think I have a chance to get serious about finishing her, another project magically jumps on my needles!  Dang that soft heart I have for giving away knitted creations.

Anyhoo…

We decided to head to the top of the ship…to the Internet Cafe/Crow’s Nest.

If you’re a book lover, this is the place for you.  Oh my, but what a relaxing place to sit, read, do a crossword puzzle, or sleep in the lazy chairs that line the ginormous windows.

This is where Super Sis and I took a break from the touring.  I asked if she’d be interested in trying on Bex’s mate, which has been crying the lonely wail that first socks typically cry…

Um, no, I'm not planning on being THAT generous...here, socky socky...come back to Mama where you belong...

The Crow’s Nest, an extension of the Internet Cafe, was blocked off because there was a wedding going on.  We had seen the bride earlier…dressed in her finery.  We later saw her at the lifeboat drill, carefully holding up her dress as she hunted for the place she was assigned to be, should there be an emergency.

We were finally allowed to enter our rooms.  Here’s what we saw…

The couch folded out into a bed, and another bed came down from the ceiling above the large bed.  Every room had its own deck, and we later got the room attendants to remove the partitions between the three rooms.

After a lovely dinner, during which we sailed away from port, I headed to my cabin to start a new knitting project (poor Bex).

Meanwhile, the moon was keeping watch as the ship slowly made its way south…

Filed under: Vacation | Tagged: cruises, Eurodam, Holland America, photography | 3 Comments »