7-27-09 - First Day at Sea

First day at sea, and all is well………..amazing to be back on a boat again. Awesome memories of cruises past, but a reality that THIS one is very much like taking an inauguration cruise. While I'm not a novice, it very much seems at times that I am having entirely new experiences. It will be interesting for me to blog throughout this week in this regard…..

The flight from Sac to LAX yesterday was, in a word, hilarious. Southwest flight attendants are often unique in how they do their job, and this short flight was definitely unique. Beginning with the guy who did all the announcements; a young German man, tall and thin, with that pronounced accent, and yet with an intimate knowledge of America and our distinct sense of humor. Not sure I'll ever forget the standard pre-flight announcements, and the reference to the complimentary oxygen Southwest provides in lieu of free food. Also, how he explained Southwest no longer takes cash, and that those without credit cards probably should not be drinking alcohol anyway.

Remember that this is a group excursion. So the 9 adults and 8 kids in this traveling party (more would join us on the ship), got ALL their luggage (probably 30-40 pieces incl. carry-ons, and piled into a stretch HumVee limo. We packed it all in, somehow - with small luggage strewn within the main seating area, while the rear cargo area was packed to the max. Within a few minutes of leaving LAX, we stopped at an In-and-Out burger joint. Now this was not your typical In-n-Out - this is LA, after all - so we joined in with seemingly a hundred or more folks within and outside of the place, ordered volumes of burgers & fries, and watched the volume process in action. Took all of 10 minutes to make and deliver our order, while we all people-watched. In particular, we all decided such places in LA are perfect for this activity - noticing piercings & tattoos in abundance, while also noticing shoes. Women wear the most amazing, unique shoes, even to In-N-Out.

And then we headed out for a 3 hour trip down the Pacific Coast Hwy, all the way to San Pedro. We drove past a lot of awesome beaches, a bunch of beach-side communities, locals & tourists in volume - all the while music blasting from within the limo, with windows open for all to see, gawk and point and smile. Eric was in charge of music, and had to put up with 17 others all directing him to "stop" or "search" as a song would play on whatever FM station he found. We seemed to center in on classic rock, as a song would come on and 18 voices would be screaming out in unison, yet major disharmony. No matter to any of us, for this was definitely an "in the moment" performance. Next thing we knew, we were crossing the bridge in

the harbor, and saw our ship from a distance. DAMN - this thing was HUGE!

A floating city does not begin to describe this sucker. So I won't even try. Suffice it to say we got through the boarding process, the boarding pictures (yeah, photo ops in volume, sometimes annoyingly so), and then onto the ship. We started with going to our stateroom; we are on the first deck - low in the ship, must above the medical center, which is really a mini-hospital in and of itself. The ship has 11 decks in all, with cabins on decks 1-8. I have no clue (yet) where others in our party are in terms of their stateroom, and don't really care. We unpacked (suitcases were quickly brought to our room), and then went to explore. Got only up to floors 4 and 5, and then it was time for dinner (we had first seating). Floors 4 and 5 are the main floors, where shops, main restaurants, and Guest Relations are all housed - oh yeah, and the casino.

Went to kids' orientation after dinner, setting up child care for the rest of the week. I'm not sure I'll see my boys again expect first thing in the morning, and last thing at night. Literally, they can stay with the planned activities from 8am to 3am every day (!). We got Justin into the 9-11 age group to be with the majority of other kids in our group, instead of being by himself in the 6-8 age group. He is already pleased with this decision; and we were issued a cell phone for emergencies if he has a seizure at any time.

After the orientation, I went to the casino, registered for a Hold'Em tournament on Friday; cost is $50/person, could win as much as $5,000, plus a free cruise, plus an invite back into Carnival finals to be held in November (!). Look for tournament results later this week. Went to the blackjack tables, and in about 45 minutes, was up around $100, so I left the first night a winner. On the way back to the room, went my the picture studio, and found our family and group pictures, plus some solo shots done of all the kids - and bought the whole kit & caboodle with my winnings. Presented them this morning at breakfast to the parents, which was a very cool thing, as all pix of kids are excellent and capture the moment & memory perfectly.

Friends of Bill W. are everywhere on this ship - I am so pleasingly surprised and extremely grateful. In my traveling a group is such a friend, which was a completely shock and awesome gift for both of us. Went to a meeting at 7am today - held in a lounge(!) - which was absolutely the perfect way to start the day. About 12 or 13 in attendance, all grateful to be together, and all accustomed fully to the meeting routine and the challenges we all face this week. There are three meetings scheduled each day (7am-1pm-4pm) plus the encouragement to buddy-up and do it ourselves. Meeting opened by a senior crew member, who spoke openly and graciously of staying focused on our own side of the street, and not on all the traffic accidents occurring consistently around us. Great analogies made throughout this first meeting, to both auto traffic and harbor traffic - and how God is our harbormaster, and we simply must pay attention at all times to proper harbor conduct. And, a hot-line # on board, that we can all call whenever we feel the need, connecting us with a staff member we can talk with if/when necessary. As we dock tonight in Puerto Vallarta, meeting tomorrow morning will be led by someone with experience in resort landings, cantina challenges, etc. For the most part, I sense the majority of folks are like me, not wanting to get off the ship at all, feeling like this is safe haven now that we have support mechanisms readily available. I feel blessed, to say the least, and extremely grateful.

So that's it for now - time to take the boys miniature golfing, then drop them off at Camp Carnival for the day. Later, I'll attend a briefing re: golfing in each of the three ports, to see if there's one that appeals to me. All are expensive, so there must be a compelling reason for me to bite this bullet, and I haven't won enough at the casinos (yet?) to make this a Carnival amenity. Oh, and there's a ping pong tournament at 2pm which 3-4 guys are now talking about entering, since we all fancy ourselves accomplished….anything more than that is unknown and unplanned - except that God knows what I'll be doing, and I'm just reveling in his ownership of my life today.