On Monday, 2/20, at 2:00 p.m. or so, Christine and I boarded our Carnival Cruise ship: The Elation, in Galveston, Texas. The map to the right shows you our original sailing route, but they changed our first port to Progresso, instead of Playa del Carmen… something about the hurricanes hurting the ports in Playa del Carmen.
After we boarded, the first thing we did was find our room, drop all of our gear that we’d carried on, an started exploring the ship. Our room was on the 6th floor of the ship.
We found the bar and the internet cafe area. I ordered a Jack and Coke and a Bottled Water for the wife. While I ordered the drinks, we were entertained by a little piano/strings trio that was really good. We then went up to the 8th and 9th floors and explored a bit.
Around 3:15 or so, an announcement was made that we were about to get started with our fire drill/emergency escape drill… so we started making it back to our room to grab our life jacket. Turns out everyone on the ship already knew what to do and they all had their life jackets and were congregating in their assigned muster areas.
Our muster area was “Area A” and happened to be in the main lounge/showroom of the ship. So we trecked back down to the 6th floor, grabbed our life jackets and headed to the 8th floor. We got into the lounge, and put on our life jackets as we were instructed. In this room there were about 250 other people all wearing their life jackets… We were all hot and looked pretty stupid.
We followed directions pretty well and by 4:15, the drill was over. We now know where our life boats are, and how to get there should we have to… though, I don’t think I want to have to remember those details.
We retired to our room as the ship got under way, and when we shoved off, Christine jumped up into the porthole bay to watch the sea pass by as we left G-town.
After a few minutes, we went up to the 9th or 10th floor to sit in one of the lounges to watch through bigger windows. After watching grey water and skies roll by for 30 minutes or so (it got pretty boring after Galveston faded into the distance) we headed back to our room to relax a bit, after taking a stroll up to the 12th floor, and then to the top deck… where it was really windy… crazy windy… Like lose your hair windy if you’re Elton John windy.
Our dinner was scheduled for 8:00 p.m., and we wanted to hit the 7:00 p.m. “Welcome aboard” show, so we relaxed for a little bit, then got dressed (that means Christine got ready… I was already ready from earlier in the day) and headed out for the night.
The “Welcome Show” was fun, and dinner was pretty good. We’re sharing a table with a couple from Manitoba Canada and a couple from Oklahoma. Our 4th couple didn’t show last night, so we’ll look for them tonight (I hope they didn’t fall over board already).
After dinner, we strolled around the boat a bit before heading to our room. We went to bed early after watching the Olympics on the tube and woke up early on Tuesday morning.
Christine woke up at 6:30 a.m., wide awake, and I woke up at 7:00. First morning away from the kid and we’re waking up at ungodly hours… what the hell? Maybe it was the “motion of the ocean” as Christine calls it. Yes, folks, at night the bed rocks with the motion of the ocean. And no, the size of the ship doesn’t matter, or so I’m told.
(Our room is way at the front of the boat, which makes the oceanic movement more pronounced, as I understand it)
In fact, you can definitely tell that you’re on a ship pretty much anywhere on the boat, if you pay attention. But the motion hasn’t affected us… knock on wood, but neither of us are seasick… yet.
Tuesday was a pretty lazy day after breakfast. Since we woke up so damned early, we figured we’d excercise (it’s been a few years since I’ve done that, in case you’re wondering). So we headed up to the sports deck, and then on to the top deck. Once outside, we walked 10 laps around the jogging path. I actually ran 2 laps (okay, maybe it was one and a half, but I did run).
The view from the top deck was amazing:
We headed to the breakfast buffet around 8:00 a.m. and then to our room to get cleaned up.
I showered first, then read a few chapters in my photography book. Christine got cleaned up and then decided to relax in the bed for a while. I headed out to explore the ship and to look for some fun photos I’d like to take…
I didn’t see much, but I did get to see a ship passing in the wind:
I gathered up Christine around noon, and we headed to lunch. We sat with a couple of old ladies from Missouri, and a couple from (or all places) Austin. The conversation was fun, and we all headed off in our own directions after lunch. Christine and I went up to enjoy some sun.
We sat in the sun for an hour or two, and we both now look like lobsters. Fun, fun, fun!
After roasting, we headed to the Bingo hall. Woohoo! B-I-N-G-O people!!!
We lost. Fun, fun, fun!
Then we found a quite place to relax and watch the waves roll by, while we ate a piece of cheesecake and sipped on a Cappucino.
Tonight is formal night, so we’re hanging out in our room right now, doing our nails, prettying our faces. I’ll iron my shirt and tux soon, so we can head out to razzle-dazzle the rest of the boat with our good looks.
Loving the vacation. More updates when we find time.
All of our photos from Day One and Two are here.