Fun on the BIG, BIG BOAT - Part One

"If they could see me now!" I felt like humming that song for most of our cruise. We left Copenhagen and the first day was a "sea day" giving us plenty of time to explore our new surroundings. After nearly a year in Europe, we went into cruise culture shock when we boarded. It was as if we had reentered the USA. Everyone spoke English. And everyone was clamoring for the food. You just had to laugh. When I saw the size of the buffet "plates" (they were really platters) I shook my head in disbelief.We joined in the "let's see how much food I can eat" arrival enjoying a late lunch followed by.......ice cream. There was a counter on board that served all you could eat ice cream and pizza 24 hours a day. Connor thought that was pretty neat.After all the eating we took to promenading on the promenade deck. It felt good to walk the ship and be active. They even held a "Race for the Cure" on our last sea day along this ocean track. What will they think of next?!?Connor and Kirk posed with the photographer's Titanic backdrop. We did sit for several of the ship's portrait sessions but they didn't turn out great and at $25 per print we drew the line on reasonable.We met new friends, Brian and Rebecca, from DC. They were our dinner buddies and we toured with them at several ports. They were kind, patient and wonderful with Connor. Fun to have friends on the ship!The Champagne Welcome Toast was daring! They kept pouring until the bottom glasses were full.The at sea day meant a formal night. It had been a while since I got gussied up. Everyone looked pretty. Kirk tied his own bow tie, which I love!There was a lot to do on the ship. They served a gorgeous high tea everyday, had scavenger huts, dance parties, and "Movies Under the Stars" every night. Remember though we were cruising in the "land of the midnight sun" so even at 11:30 PM this is what it looked like....not too many stars!The movies were recent plus they gave us wool blankets and served cookies and milk. Wow.I went to all the different shows in the theatre. I am a sucker for choreographed singing and dancing and sparkling costumes. I ended up going by myself to most of these while Kirk put Connor to bed. There was a lot of talent, but I couldn't help but wonder if there was some lipsynching going on?

Our room was small. There were many mirrors in our quarters to help make it feel bigger. It was ok because we really didn't spend much time in our room. And Connor thought it was fun.No tub so Connor learned to take showers. She ended up sitting so as not to slip.She got the hang of it!

While Kirk and I are still much more "do it yourself" travelers versus "cruisers" we loved our time on the ship. Once you get past the decadence of the all-day-eating, enormous portions and cheesy karaoke it really proved a surprisingly efficient way to cover lots of territory. We still prefer traveling alone than en masse with 3000 tourists - but we will cruise again!