journey of life

Ooowee, ooowee baby!

So, the answer to last week’s TAGT was b AND d and many of you have been dying to hear how we liked cruising. So, here’s our scoop.

Before embarking on our inaugural cruise, we flew into visit with our friends Steve and Christy (who were also our gracious hosts and chauffeurs to and from the cruise ship) in Fort Lauderdale. Then, the ship sailed to Belize, Cozumel and Key West before returning back to home base. Of course, many of you already knew that, but are dying to know more details.

Before I begin, let me say that we desperately needed an escape from our normal lives, so in retrospect, this vacation was a lifesaver. Ditching the cell phones, computers and internet connection for a week did us wonders. Just the sheer fact that we were able to sit down and have lengthy discussion, sit on a sandy beach, dunk ourselves in ocean water and read books was a treat in and of itself.

A few years ago, we had wanted to escape the cold weather and head south. We seriously considered a cruise at that time and I spoke at length with a travel agent, poured over guidebooks from the library and scoured the Internet for whatever first-hand advice I could get my hands on. Ultimately, we decided against a cruise and opted to head to St. Martin/Saint Maarten on our own for a week. We decided to forgo a cruise at that time, mainly because we could not be guaranteed a non-smoking room. For this vacation, we had less than a week to prepare. After finding reasonable non-stop flights to Fort Lauderdale, we began looking at cruising again. I did some internet searching, saw that a couple of cruises would work within our schedule, and called a travel agent. With the help of Christy’s sister, Laura (who worked for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines at the time), we were able to snag an inside stateroom on the Enchantment of the Seas for a 5-Day Western Caribbean cruise to Belize, Cozumel and Key West. We chose Royal Caribbean, because as of January 1, 2008, all of their staterooms are non-smoking (according to our travel agent). Of course, you can still smoke on the balcony and on the starboard (right) side of the ship, as well as in the casinos and SOME of the lounges, but for the most part we were guaranteed a room, dining and other activities that would be non-smoking. So, we packed our bags and headed out.

After our arrival in Fort Lauderdale (and spending time with our friends), we were dropped off at Port Everglades for our cruise. Fortunately, we did not need to park there, but heard that the parking garage is quite packed, so if you are driving yourself, best get there early for a parking spot. At Port Everglades, there are porters who will take your bags from you and from what we heard demand a tip, which I think is a bit tacky (more about tipping later). Because we just had our carry-ons, we chose to carry our own bags. Yes, it was a bit of a hassle, but we weren’t willing to risk our belongings not showing up (or showing up late) to our cabins. If you do decide to have the porters deliver your luggage make sure to attach the appropriate labels provided by your cruise line.

Once inside the “terminal”, you are required to go through security, show your passport, obtain your SeaPass card, get a stupid picture taken (we tried to bypass the cheesy picture with the ship in the background, but were forced to do it) and lastly have an individual picture taken for security purposes. Fortunately, we glided right through, but I imagine it can be quite busy and crowded. Make sure you get to the boat on time. We were wanted on the ship no later than one hour before the ship departed. If you are late, you don’t get a refund (unless you have insurance). We met some people who had learned this the hard way.

After we were on the ship our first mission was to drop off our belongings in our room. I was prepared for a postage stamp sized room and, well, that’s just about what we got. At the far end of the room there were two twin beds pushed together to make an oversized queen bed with bedside tables, with drawers, on each side. In the middle of the room there was a very small loveseat (really just enough room for one person) and a small glass coffee table. Across from the loveseat was a vanity/desk and a small safe. The safe required that you swipe a credit card in order to lock or unlock, which we felt was stupid because you had to keep a credit card out, when the cruise line advertises that the SeaPass Card is all you need to get around. The vanity had several drawers and cabinets for storage. In the front of the room as you walked in, the bathroom was to our left and the closet was to our right. The closet had plenty of room (in our opinion), more drawers, and plenty of (I counted 22!) nice wooden coat hangers (that unfortunately clanked when the ship was moving at night). The bathroom had a small stand-up shower, a toilet and a small sink with a vanity/medicine cabinet combination. I had expected that we were going to be extremely cramped, but if you stay somewhat organized, there’s going to be plenty enough room for two people in the small stateroom. A child or a baby would definitely make things more crowded, but as long as you are reasonable in what you bring, I don’t see how it would be that bad. We only utilized 1/3 of the closet and I wiped out two drawers with hand sanitizer for our clothes and filled three more drawers with shoes, but we were easily able to make do with the cramped quarters.

Once we were somewhat settled in, we explored the ship (along with the other 2,500 or so others). As we discovered, the elevators were slow and oftentimes did not stop at your level. I assume this is a result of children/teenagers playing around and a high demand for older travelers. Deck nine was where most of the action took place. It was here that there were two outdoor pools and hot tubs and an “adult” pool with two more hot tubs with a retractable roof above and hundreds of deck chairs. Be warned, however, chairs get snagged and are a hot commodity during your day at sea, as well as any afternoon times people are back on the ship. There’s a strong possibility you might not be able to find a seat, depending on how obnoxious the other travelers are.We were pleasantly surprised to find several lounges and bars that were non-smoking, and we preferred going to the Schooner Bar, where it was quiet (non-smoking) and where we found the most attentive service on the ship. Ordering alcoholic drinks can be very expensive and the cruise ship does not allow you to bring your own alcohol on board. As frustrating as this may sound, after you see some of the people on the ship, you will be glad they don’t have 24-hour access to booze. However, it can be disappointing for those people who are responsible drinkers. Beer ranged in price from $4-6 per bottle, wine was priced at $5+/glass and mixed drinks started at $4.25 for the drink of the day. Also, if you are a soda drinker, it might pay off to purchase a soda card. An individual soda can cost you $3/glass. A soda pass costs $38 per person for the week (with a souvenir cup). In order to avoid paying taxes on drink purchases (and I assume other items) wait until you are at sea. You will save yourself a few bucks.

Whenever you ask someone about their cruise, usually they begin raving about the food. Honestly, we weren’t thrilled. Matt had some really good lamb dishes, I had a salmon dish that earned high marks, but for the most part we were disappointed. For breakfast, you could order room service (at no charge, but should tip the server) or go to the Windjammer, the buffet. Items on the breakfast menu were pretty consistent throughout the week. Omelets made to order, cereal, fruit, yogurt, milk, sausage links, bacon, corned beef hash, eggs, hash browns, pancakes, waffles, french toast, oatmeal, biscuits, gravy, bagels, english muffins, lox, cold cuts, cheeses and assorted pastries. Coffee, Decaffeinated coffee, hot tea, hot chocolate, iced tea, lemonade, fruit punch, orange juice and water were also provided, however, the orange juice concentrate was so watered down it was hardly representative of the real thing. Probably because they wanted you to splurge for the $3.95 fresh squeezed orange juice. One morning we opted for room service, which offered a selection of items off the buffet. Nothing special, however. Lunches weren’t very memorable, and to be honest with you, we mainly ate lunch off the boat at our ports of call. For dinner, we had an assigned table where we ate what was considered to be a late dinner, at 8:30 pm. Fortunately, our table companions were quite entertaining and we thoroughly enjoyed their company at dinner. Our service, however, was subpar. Every night, without fail, our waiter and assistant waiter gave someone, or several of us, the wrong dish and/or the wrong beverage. Understandably, they have several tables to attend to, but considering our neighboring table had a less than 50% show rate the majority of the cruise, I would have expected our waitstaff to be more on top of it. If it wasn’t for the assistance of the head waiter, we would have been miserable. The last few days of the cruise, we figured out you could head to the main dining room, figure out what is being served for dinner, then head to the buffet for some appetizers, and possibly taste some of what was being offered at dinner. A couple of nights we also snatched some desserts at the buffet to our cabin in the event we were displeased with our desserts served at dinner.

As I mentioned before, we were disappointed in the service on the ship. I had read (and the Royal Caribbean literature states) that you can add the tip to your SeaPass Card at the end of the trip. THIS IS FALSE, FALSE, FALSE. In order to tip via your SeaPass Card, you must do so several nights before, and will receive a voucher to put in the envelopes for your various servers. AND you aren’t given the option on the standard form to indicate how much you want to give to each server. In my mind, this is bullshit, as you can purchase a multitude of items on your SeaPass Card up to almost the very last minute. NONE of this is clearly stated and it is ambiguous as to how the whole process works. As an employer, I believe that Royal Caribbean should do a better job of informing passengers of this procedure, because, ultimately, it is their employees who get the short end of the stick here.

Royal Caribbean could also improve the procedures involving debarkation, especially when arriving where you must go through Borders and Customs (Key West). The written literature said NOTHING about when or how we would proceed to get off the ship, so instead there were herds of people frantically lining up, pushing each other, in an attempt to get through the gates the fastest. It was completely disorderly, confusing and orchestrated poorly. I could think of a multitude of ways they could have eliminated, or at least alleviated such a commotion. If they have emergency procedures down to a science, why can’t they do the same with this? My personal opinion? WIth the United States having stricter regulations, the cruise line can easily point the finger at the U.S. and draw attention away from Royal Caribbean. I honestly thought it was almost a farce how unorganized the procedure was. When debarking the ship, you are required to place your bags (with the appropriate labels) outside your cabin door the last evening of the cruise. Because we were carrying on our own luggage, as well as carrying off our own luggage we did not take advantage of this service and the cruise line doesn’t really explain how debarking works if you choose to do so. Because it takes time for luggage to get off the ship, you have a specific time you are allowed off the ship. For example, our luggage labels were beige, and beige labeled luggage people debarked at 10:00 am. Since the cruise line requires you to be out of your room by 8:00 am, we basically had to congregate somewhere on the ship for two hours before we were supposed to leave. Because we didn’t need to wait on any luggage we just got in a line once our ride was about to arrive. Again, this is not really explained in any of the cruise literature, nor did it seem to be very effective.

Despite all the negatives, we both were surprised to find ourselves saying that we would be willing to give cruising another shot. We’d want to try a different cruise line, such as Celebrity, but we aren’t opposed to cruising again, especially to compare and to see if higher end cruise lines really offer better service and food. However, if I had my choice between cruising and traveling on my own, I would more than likely choose the latter. The small amount of time spent at ports didn’t really allow us to venture out and explore. Instead, we were just able to see a snippet of the culture and the land. I would much rather have a chance to get out of the tourist traps. For us, we really enjoy doing the research on where to go, what to do, where to eat, etc., but time didn’t allow any of that this trip, so a cruise was ideal. Given our circumstances, I am extremely glad we chose a cruise. However, if I had more time, I would have seriously considered other options.

© 2008 Laura Mead.  All Rights Reserved 

The first annual Girls Weekend 2008 was a huge success. We all had a marvelous time and didn’t let the gusty wind, thunderstorms or high tide dampen our spirits. Instead, we sprung ahead with the time and washed away our winter blues while wading in the icy cold Atlantic.

Things I will remember from the weekend (totally copying Gwen’s style here, everyone):

6 - Shark Attacks at Tortuga’s Lie. Carolyn remains the Shark Attack virgin, but there’s always next year.

20 - As in twenty minutes after calling the local quilting store to see if they are open and drove there, only to find out they were closed.
3 - Hot tubbers.

1- Fully clothed hot tubber.

0 - Board games played.
1 - Trip to the local market.
35 - MPH wind gusts.
65 - Dollars per person for room and board.
1 - Toothbrush missing.
1 - Toothbrush found…while cleaning up Sunday morning.
1 - Trip to the local knitting store.
3 - Bunk beds slept in.
1 - Shower taken outside.
10 - (and a half) The time on Saturday morning Sleeping Beauty woke up. Yes, that would be me.
1 - Hat crocheted by Kristine.
1 - Scarf crocheted by Kristine.
2 - Blankets crocheted by Kristine. Okay, so she had done most of the work before coming to the beach.
3 - Girls christened by the ocean.
5 - Pictures taken of us on the beach by the sandy surfer dude with the model cocked-hip pose.
1 - Men’s basketball game watched.
3 - Dairy Queen Cookie Dough Blizzards.
1 - Bottle of rum.
1 - Bottle of Aldi Hawaiian Punch.
1 - (and a half) Pans of lasagna.
1 - Tin of mix.
1 - Jewish Apple Cake.
1 - Can of Pineapple Juice.
4 - Bottles of wine.
0 - Bottles of beer.
4 - New websites. (The Things I Want, Sugar, Joshilyn Jackson’s new book, and when Jen helps me remember the fourth I will add it here)
1 - Trip to the outlet malls.
1 - Documentary watched Sunday morning before we left.

We have already begun making plans for Girls Weekend 2009 and are all planning on earning our two-year pin next year. It’s expected that Carolyn will have a full report for us on The Wire as well as the big wedding in May and that Jen will yet again fill us in on all of the pop culture that somehow doesn’t enter most of our lives. And, we all will find ways to work around the holidays with ease. I’m also optimistic that the single ladies will find true love.

Where we stop? Nobody knows!?! Or, will we stop? Where am I? I’m feeling…a bit…dizzy….

I’ve just returned from a glorious trip to balmy South Carolina visiting Gwen, where it was 81 degrees on Tuesday, and I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed wearing flip flops and summer clothes in December. Not to mention, sleeping with the windows open.

I would love to report on what all was accomplished and show you our handiwork, but we have handed over many of our projects so that Santa can deliver them on Christmas day. Those that we started, but haven’t finished are being worked on by little elves in Santa’s workshop. So, you will just have to be patient and wait.

In the meantime, I need to learn how to blog in shorthand. Actually, I need to take a class on how to do the holidays…shorthand style. I’ll be a star pupil. Surely, the community college offers such a class.

I *love* this ad (and all of the others) in the Paris Las Vegas’s “Everything is Sexier” ad campaign (put together by R&R Partners, the same people who do many of the “What Happens In Vegas” ads), so much so that I wrote a letter to the marketing department. It makes me smile every time I see it. And, yes, you can buy your own cake topper for $70.

In preparation for an upcoming trip to Las Vegas, I have started researching airfares, hotels, restaurants and nightlife. I have to be honest with you, I’m not sure how I will like Vegas. But, several of my friends (gamblers, non-gamblers, wild and straight) have reassured me that I will have a great time. And since I love to travel, I’m excited to give it a whirl.

I’ve recorded all the Las Vegas shows I can get my hands on.  The Travel Channel and the Food Network are loaded with them.  But, the best show I’ve seen so far is PBS’s American Experience on Las Vegas that I checked out from the library.  I always think it is great to learn about the history and the people before you go someplace, and I was able to get a crash course through this program.

I am throwing this out there for any and all the advice I can get. We can get really awesome room deals at the Flamingo, which would be great, because of all of the history behind the hotel, but they will have some construction projects going on while we are there, so I’m thinking we should look elsewhere. Of course The Venetian comes highly recommended, but with an over-the-top price tag ($200+/night). Next in line is The Bellagio (I can find rooms for as low as $160/night for the time we will be there, about $100 off what their website shows). But, ultimately, package deals (airfare and hotel) seem to be the best option and from what I can tell Southwest offers the lowest prices around and also offers the best prices and times of non-stop flights, another advantage.

So, next…what shows to see. We will only have one night to see a show and I think that we all want to see the Cirque du Soleil show, Love. That’s easy enough. Unfortunately, tickets come at a high price and without any promotional discounts that I can find. But, everybody says it is worth every penny.

Lastly, food. A must will be to hit up one of the buffets. I am personally leaning towards the Bellagio. Reviews rave about the food being incredible and eclectic. Don’t worry, Matt, they have king crab legs. We really only have time for one more nice meal, and I would find it hard to pass up a meal at Bouchon. Again, no 2-for-1 coupons here, but I think they are probably worth it.

Unfortunately, we won’t make it to a Penn & Teller show, who greet you as you exit the theater… Nor will we make an excursion to Hoover Dam, but I think we are going to have a jam packed enough time just staying on the strip. So, before we know it, it will be Viva Las Vegas!

Over the weekend we went to the Virginia Tech football game (vs. William and Mary, thanks for the tickets Allison!), make a pit stop to see my family and pick up the race car (which we aborted, more on that later).  The weather was gorgeous (even if it was a bit warm for football), we tailgated with some friends (thanks to the Pankey/Davis clan for the drinks and grub), went to see the memorial (we were especially moved by the game tickets placed by the Hokie stone of several victims), bought Hokie Effect tshirts at the bookstore (I am going to figure out how that girl made her tshirt), and finished off the evening with dinner at The Cellar (which, by the way, no longer serves Greek Spaghetti on game days, FYI).

Throughout the day I did not carry a bookbag, a tote bag or a purse.  I was naked.  In my pockets I had sunscreen, my cell phone, a lone check to pay for the tickets, a pen, and feminine products.  I wore a hat and my sunglasses and Matt carried my cash and drivers license in his wallet.  It felt strange not having anything to hold on to, but very liberating.  And, although I would have liked to have pictures that captured the day, I was glad we didn’t bring it along.  It would have just been something to carry.

Which, leads me to the second half of the article title…I really enjoy taking pictures, but dislike lugging a camera along with me.  Does anybody else feel this way?  I want to capture certain moments in life, but sometimes if you have a camera it seems more trouble than it is worth?  And, with my limited skills as a photographer I find it overwhelming all of the buttons and settings and unfortunately have very little interest in understanding how it all works (therefore each time I touch the camera I am asking Matt to set it in “dummy mode” for me and ultimately don’t always get the best shots).  Then, on top of it all, Matt is clearly the photographer and has an exceptional eye for gorgeous shots.  Me?  I just see things I like and want to document it.  Remember this little place we drank beer in Bruges?  You know, where all the locals were and the lab was sitting at the bar with his owner?  Oh, look.  Here we are at Blowing Rock, North Carolina on our first trip together.  I am sure some of you can imagine us as old geezers, showing slideshows ala Jim and Bettie…  I think I should really just start getting in the habit of having a camera out with me at all times when sightseeing (not caring if I look like a complete dufus tourist) and just start snapping away.  Maybe I will (a) get used to having it with me, (b) become more acquainted with the settings, and (c) feel like taking it everywhere.

This is just one of the pictures Holly took while we were at the beach. Follow the link to her blog to see more!

What can be better than spending the last few drops of summer on the beach with some good friends?  Not much.

On a whim, Paul and Holly decided to make good use of some airline money that was going to expire and take a trip…a trip somewhere without the kids…for the first time since Kate was born.  And they invited us! What an honor.  We looked into several destinations before settling on the Tampa Bay, Florida area.  Sunshine, sand and direct flights for all of us were all deciding factors.

In Gwen fashion, here goes:

$11.00 - Klondike bars.
$199.00 - One night for a two-room gulf front at the Sunset Vistas.
$14.00 - Hat that won’t fit ANY of us.
$125.00 - Half day sailboat rental.
$125.00 - Half day sailboat rental refund. (Note: The motor had water mixed in with the gas.  Once we got out in the bay, the motor gave out and Gilligan Ben came to rescue us.)
$75.00 - Rental car for the weekend. (Note:  We used Budget and our Costco membership.  Costco rental car deals are the cheapest deals around.)
$1.65 - Postcards to mail.

Relaxing, laughing, sunset watching, midnight swimming, reminiscing, talking, juggling, thunderstorm watching, kite flying, frisbee throwing, Scrabble playing, reading, seashell collecting…free AND priceless.  Although it might be impossible to schedule this on a yearly basis, we are definitely going to try and make it a regular occurance.

Last Friday at dinner, we heard about Jim and Sheri O’Neal, Overlanders. Traveling through Africa. In their Land Cruiser. On muddy, muddy roads. Words don’t do justice. You have to follow the links on Tale of Two Travelers.

Amazing. Just amazing.

Inclimate weather sucks too…even if it’s bright and sunny where you are!
Flying down to New Orleans was an ordeal with the ice and snow delaying departures AND crews. Fortunately, the airlines were able to muster up a crew for our connecting flight (albeit several hours late). Some people were going to have to stay overnight for a flight out.
Getting sick in the Big Easy sucks…especially when everybody gets sick.
We all suffered from one (or more) of the following ailments: head colds, bladder infections, teething, violent flu bugs (complete with unshakable chills) and TOMs. We were quite a sick “krewe”. If you are traveling to New Orleans, keep in mind that post-Katrina there aren’t any Urgent Care facilities, so if you need to see a doctor, you are going to the Emergency Room (at Mardi Gras, not something you want to do!), so beware. Fortunately, nobody needed to go to the ER, but we did get prescriptions called in to a local pharmacy.
Mardi Gras parades are out of this world.
If you’ve never been to New Orleans during Mardi Gras, here’s how I would set the scene for you. Think of the small town where you grew up. Now, in a two week period, the little league baseball team just won the world championships, the high school football team just won the state championships, there are several celebrities in town for the dedication of a national monument in town, and of course parades to celebrate each of these occasions, along with the St. Patrick’s Day parade, the Macy’s Day Christmas parade and the annual street festival…all within two week’s time. Now magnify that by a grand. That’s Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
We attended several parades, but my favorite by far was Muses (see video below). Each parade is run by a krewe, consisting of hundreds, or even thousands of participants, with elaborate floats, throws (trinkets, toys, beads, cups, balls, sunglasses, the sky is the limit here!), marching bands, dance groups, horses and much, much more. With illness, fatigue and scheduling conflicts we weren’t able to attend as many parades as we would have liked, but that’s something to strive for next time!
Speaking of next time…Endymion Extravaganza is a “must” next time.
Paul and Holly had the honor of attending their first Endymion Extravaganza and boy did it look like something everybody should experience. Here’s Holly’s first hand account.
You can’t help but fall in love with the Mardi Gras spirit in New Orleans.
The whole town comes together to celebrate, eat, dance and sing. Of course, on Bourbon Street things get raunchy (been there, done that for a bowl game or two), but we stayed in residential Uptown, where it’s a family atmosphere. We even marched in a REAL LIFE Mardi Gras parade with a REAL LIVE New Orleans Jazz band. Okay, so we didn’t ride elaborate floats, we pushed red Radio Flyer wagons and strollers, but still! Everywhere we went people stopped work to come out and wave to the kids. It was great fun!
New Orleans is still struggling post-Katrina.
The most noticeable area we went through was the Lakeview district where house after house is empty (we didn’t go see the Ninth Ward, due to Mardi Gras traffic). We all pondered over what the area would look like five to ten years from now. Would it remain a ghost town or rebuild? It’s anybody’s guess.
You can never get enough of New Orleans food.
And of course, we didn’t reach our fill! With all our obstacles (sickness, traffic restrictions and businesses being closed on Lundi Gras) we didn’t make it to as many eateries as we would have liked, but we did get quite a sampling, including going to lunch at the highly acclaimed Commander’s Palace for lunch, which was pretty spectacular. We also devoured our dishes at Franky and Johnny’s, and enjoyed some local flair at Cooter Brown’s Tavern, Grill & Oyster Bar. Needless to say, we HAVE to go back for some more food, especially when we are feeling better.
Paul, Holly and family were great!
Paul and Matt knew each other soon after graduating from college, and have been buddies ever since. It just so happens they both married gorgeous, smart (I could go on and on here!) women who have bonded over blogging and have oodles in common. So, it was wonderful to spend time with them and their kids. They were marvelous, gracious hosts throughout maddening circumstances.
Looking forward to Mardi Gras 2008!

Here’s a clip from the Muses Parade 2007.