Life's Journey

All our luggage made it to the ship (phew!). I was a little scared at the airport as I watched all the luggage go round the carousel. Everyone was picking up there bags and off to their destinations while I stood waiting and waiting and waiting… Roys bag arrived and I was still waiting. The crowd was clearing out and the luggage was coming much slower around the carousel. I was starting to worry… then… ta da! I was so happy to see that suitcase. Lol

We found the NCL transfer buses and hopped on… let the cruise experience begin! We were taken straight to a VIP Priority area because we booked one of the two owners suites on board. We were like celebrities! There was a huge line/mass of people waiting to check in and get on board. The wereent ready to let people on the ship yet so we waiting in the VIP lounge area. We were given a variety of finger foods and drinks while we waited. We met our VIP Concierge, Yahira, and the ship doctor, Dr. Ian made a stop just to meet me. I think Im never what people expect. I sent a letter to the ships medical staff letting them know my current health status and that I would be bringing a lot of medication on board, I explained that I would bring a history summary from my oncologist for the Dr on board in case something should happen. So when people know my diagnosis and history they expect to see a skin and bones hairless pale person because that is the typical image people get in their heads on a cancer patient. I do not fit that profile at all. I'm a little overweight now due to all the steroids, I still have my hair this time around (for the time being), and I am staying active so I don't have the pale dying look about me. I look like a norml healthy person, but am a very sick kid inside. Anyway, my point is that peoples reactions are always a little taken back when they first meet me and know my medical status.

We were taken on board about 20 min later. The suite holders were allowed on first -yet another nice perk. No waiting in lines with the masses. The ship is huge and beautiful. There are 1000 crew members on board and up to 2000 passengers. I'm happy to say that this doesn’t appear to be a booked ship. We were taken straight to the steak house for lunch. It was nice to sit down and get a real meal. Then off we went to find our room.

Holy cow! I've never seen a cabin as big as ours. We have a dining room, living room, bedroom with a king size bed, and two bathrooms. Yup, TWO! We also have a huge closet. Our balcony wraps around the back corner of the ship so we have 2 chairs, a table, and a lounger out here. I'm sitting out on tha balcony now watching the sunrise, listening to the water rush by, and enjoying the sea air. Talk about a room with a view - WOW! We decided to lay edown for a little while as we were both exhausted from our trip. We ended up taking a few hour nap to catch up. Not what we were expecting to do but apparently what we needed to do.

The ship remained docked in Venice for the day while everyone came on board. We were schedule to leave at 1:00am. This meant we had the day to explore Venice. We've been to Venice together before (but this is the only destination on this entire trip that either of us have been to) so we werent in a mad rush to get out and explore it. Venice is beautiful and a great experience, but it's a small island with a LOT of hustle and bustle among the crowds of people. It's perdominantly full of shops and restuaruants with some beautiful churches scattered throughout the canals. It was about 4:00 when we finally headed to the water taxi.

Venice, as always, is beautiful. It is such a great experience to see San Marco Square and the Grand Canal. We walked through one of the old churches that was decorated with gold tiles throughout. We went off to do some more exploring and realized we forgot to bring a map! Whomp whomp! I literally have 3 maps of Venice and didn't think to bring any of them - go figure. But thankfully Venice is small enough and we'd been here before so we were able to wander on our own to find many of the sites. We were still pretty tired from traveling all day and the 9 hour time difference. There was a ton of walking in Venice and I could tell I was hitting a wall. We stopped for some gelato and sat in San Marco Square while we ate. What a great place to people watch. Europe is such a melting pot of cultures and people that the interactions and mannerisms and facinating. We decided it was time to head back to the ship after a few hours in Venice.

We came back to the room and finished unpacking and settling in… and down we went for another quick nap. Later we met our personal butler, Mary Jane. Yeah ironic that her name is Mary Jane huh? Lol. She is super nice and I told her we were definitely going to take advantage of her during this trip.

We had dinner in one of the main dining rooms called Windows. As you can imagine this is a large dining room with crystal chandaleirs and a full wall of windows that face the back of the ship. We were seated by the window to enjoy the view. We were able to watch the sunset and a storm roll in. The sky was lie a light show of lightening, it was beautiful. Dinner was good (not great). We both got the surf and turf special and just enjoyed the setting and our first night of relaxation!

We knew we had two days at sea coming up so we weren't in a huge rush to see the boat but we took some time to wander and begin to familiarize ourselfs. That night in the Starlight Theatre they put on a Welcome Aboard show. It was a little preview of each of the shoes that were scheduled during our trip. Another perk of the owners suite is that we have an entire balcony to ourselves. No need to arrive early to get a good seat, no standing in lines or herds of people. We got there just after it started walked in and sat at one of the best seats in the house! Nice! After seeing the show we were a little skeptical of the shows to come… not a great preview.

We found that we were still pretty exhausted so off to bed we went. I think we were both asleep before our heads hit the pillow. It was very comfortable. Then we were both startled and woke up thinking there was a huge earthquake. The entire room was shaking and it sounded like the world was exploding. Nope, just the ship backing out of the dock. While we knew it was coming we were not expecting that! Zonce I realized what was happening I went right back to sleep.

The next day was a full day at sea. We were up wayyyyy too early, Roy was up at 4am and I was up by 6. No breakfast til 8… what to do? So we wandered the ship a little more, this was the perfect time because there were hardly any people around. This ship has some great amenities: a spa, fitness center, golf range, pools, hot tubs, water slides, ping pong, game rooms, library, casino, nightclubs, restaurants, theater, art gallery, and more. They provide a list of activities the night before and we planned out the entire day. First up was breakfast at the steakhouse. This is another perk of the suites, we are able to enjoy a great breakfast menu in the steakhouse vs the buffet or main dining rooms. It was delicious and a great way to start the day.

We had massages at 10. The spa is very nice with full locker rooms, sauna and steam rooms. The massage was just what we both needed to start our relaxation. In fact we became almost two relaxed. When we got back to the room we crashed for a two hour nap. Roy was not ready to get up after this nap but he made a good effort. We headed out to the art auction. This is such a cool experience. They have thousands of pieces of art on the ship. The auction went on for about 2 hours. We ended up buying something to take home Roy didn’t make it through the entire auction - he was beat - so he went back to the room for awhile and met me later at the international beer tasting. We quickly found that this was laughable. The "International Beers" included: Fosters, Blue Moon, Miller Lite, Gorsch, and Kiran. What a disappointment. We both love trying new beers but these were definitely not new. Fail! So off we went. More wandering on the ship, enjoying the views. Then it was time for Bingo! I feel like a cruise ship is the only time I would ever play bingo. But it's so much fun to play. I was 2 spots away from winning $3000 - so close! Roy is not a bingo fan so he found other ways to occupy his time, including the safety breifing that one of us was required to attend. We met up later in the room and decided where to go for dinner. We ended up at the italian restaurant. I'm not sure why they insist on feeding you a ridiculous mount of food on cruise ships but it never fails. The menu was about 5 courses - I got two and barely scratched the surface of either of them. I can't eat enough to really enjoy the food troughs they bring you with each course. There is nothing "light" on the menu. But the food was pretty good here. I wasn’t feelig great, really nauseaus and a lot of pain. So after inner we came back to the room so I could pop some pills and settle a little. Our room comes with three big bottles of booze (whiskey, rum, and vodka were our choices) along with unlimited bottled water, sparkling water, and sodas. So, rather than buying drinks for a ridiculous price we just fill up in the room and take our drinks with us to dinner and the shows.

We headed to the art gallery to sign off on the art that we purchased. So excited to have something from this trip that we will be able to look at often. It is beautiful art and we will always be reminded of our trip. After this we went to the casino to check it out. Surprisingly not much was happening. Roy left me here while he went back to the room to refill drinks and grab the camera (we decided to take pics of our new art). So I threw $20 into a video poker while I waited. I hadn't played much I was only $10 in when… BAM!!!!! ROYAL FLUSH BABY!!!!! My very first!!!! Of all the times Ive played this game Ive never ever had a royal flush. I was crazy excited but there was no one there to share it with!!!!!! Nuts! I just won $1000!!!! Woot woot! I quickly cashed out my winnings. Roy wasn't back yet so I threw another $20 in another machiene. When he got back I acted all calm and colleected and said hey I won… and he said how much? I freaked out and said Royal Flush Bitches $1000!!!!! Lol! We rolled in glory for a few minutes and decided to head out of the casino winners. Basically this paid for our new art and I still came out ahead. Awesome.

We walked along the docks for awhile before deciding to go to tonight;s show "The Tenors of Rock". Yup, it was pretty much as lame as it sounded. LOL But fun to do. After the show we explored the ship to see what the happenings were and we found a nightclub dance party woot woot! It was seventies night which in my opinion is some of the most fun music to dance to.

The second day at sea was pretty chill. We slept in a little and enjoyed a yummy breakfast at Cagney's Steakhouse. I talked Roy into joining me for Bingo today. Not a great idea, he really didn't enjoy it. But, I had fun just passing the time with a game. There really isn't much to report about this day, we just wandered and relaxed. We ended up taking another 3 hour nap! This night was the "Big Night Out" (aka dress up night). It's not very often that Roy and I get super dressed up, we are talking sparkly dress and suit and tie kinda dressy. So, it was nice to get fancied up for a night. Because we are in the owners suite we were invited to a cocktail hour with the captain before dinner. It was in the art gallery so we were able to see the new art they put out and enjoy appetizers and drinks. Later that evening we had dinner at the teppanyaki restaurant. This is one of my ffavorite food groups - Japanese. The chef was entertaining and the food was, well, not great but good. I think I'm so used to our US version of Teppanyaki that this seemed so different, but it was good and we had a great night. After dinner we went to the casino for awhile. I was not as lucky the second time around but was able to play for about an hour and walk away $20 down (not bad). Roy on the other hand hit four aces and came out ahead. I still cant get over the royal flush I hit the night before

We decided to go to the evening show in the theatre. It was all broadway hits. All I'm sayin is that it saddened me a little because if people in the audience haven't been to a real broadway show before this was not a good example of what to expect. I guess I’m a little spoiled and have literally grown up in the theatre atmosphere and I love it! A trip to NYC is not complete without the theatre in my opinion. While they weren't fantastic I did enjoy hearing some of my fav shows. After this we hit the nightclub for a drink before heading to bed. Another great day!

Hugs and Smiles,
Sarah