I decided to make good use of the time stuck in the Pathfinder on the way to Charleston, South Carolina to go ahead and relay all the interesting experiences we had while cruising over the holidays. Overall, the cruise was a definite success! I think we would probably choose a different cruise line for next time as we have already done NCL twice and would still like to try Princess and Holland America.
First, I would like to say that our departure from Miami was a success! At least the getting to the port and into the check in line (the stuff that didn't go so smoothly last time). We spent the night before at my parent's house and got an early start on the road. So nice when you don't have to worry about feeding the dogs and having them use the bathroom before you leave. We also avoided the harrowing Miami traffic by paying the extra toll for the Miami express lane. It's amazing. You are flying by all these people sitting in traffic for the easy fee of $1.25. Seriously, it was straight out of a Visa commercial. Priceless. Gotta remember that for next time.
When we pulled into the parking garage we found parking- amazing, I know. And to top it all off it was on the second floor conveniently located next to a stairwell. Next we were greeted by friendly luggage attendants who actually did what they were supposed to and helped us with our luggage instead of asking for a tip after letting us do all the work. We were both very happy at this point having had all our expectations met and surpassed. And then we hit the check in counter.
After waiting in line for about ten minutes we were second in line to be checked in onto the ship when a jolly old man in a Santa hat dropped a Rudolph bomb. Apparently, somebody had a heart attack the night before causing a two hour delay and nobody was getting on board until the ship had been cleared. You can't really be upset when somebody has just had their vacation ruined by ending it in the hospital. So began the long wait of sorts. It seemed that there protocol for crowd control was to keep us moving as much as possible until it was time to board. We would wait for five to ten minutes and then get shifted into a new line where the same thing would happen again. As a psychology major, I was fully aware of their tactics and wasn't fooled as my other counterparts might have been. In fact, I was more irritated then I would have been had I been left to my own devices to sit and read until being called to board. That would have been far more entertaining then familiarizing myself with the back of a random person's head. But who am I to judge?
A funny moment did occur when Chris overheard a German couple make the comment that it's true that all Americans wear shorts and flip flops. (Chris said in Germany it's looked down upon to wear shorts unless participating in physical activity)
We did eventually make it on board and the first place we went was this cute little English pub. It was very deja vu like to be on the same ship we went on a few years earlier. The ship had added a Christmas village (which I took pics of for my mom) and we spent most of the first day re-familiarizing and just enjoying the start of our vacation.
At the Sail Away Party I had a very scary run in. I was standing on the top deck relaxing and enjoying the view when I was tapped on the shoulder by someone other then Chris. I turned around and almost leaped overboard at the sight of a giant Uncle Sam in my face. Literally, it was a seven foot guy in a full head to toe Uncle Sam costume and it was scary! Without asking, he put his arm around me and posed for a picture. I guess Chris was in it too, but I couldn't see over the star bangled top hat. If the picture hadn't cost twelve dollars I might have purchased it because the look on my face was priceless.
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