Trip Report: Caribbean Cruise (Day 2)

Day 2:

​On the morning our cruise started I had some confusion with the time because my Fitbit was still on Denver time. So I thought I woke up at 4am when really it was 6am. When I realized it was later than I thought I decided to just get up because I was too excited to sleep any longer.

​My shuttle wasn't scheduled until 11:30 that morning so I knew I had quite a bit of time before I had to be ready. I spent some time writing notes about the day before and also took some time to get my suitcase and backpack situated for getting on the ship. I also ran to the Walgreens next door and picked up a few last minute things and grabbed a couple of small snacks from the breakfast buffet to take up to my room. Another important order of business was to walk to the nearby Publix and get my two bottles of wine that I could bring onto the ship with me. 

Just back from my walk to Publix and already feeling the humidity!

By the time I got back from the store I decided to check the flight status for my friends and realize that they were going to be about 20 minutes early. I decided that I would pack up and go down to the lobby to see if I could catch an earlier shuttle to the port. They did end up having room for me, so I was on my way sooner than I expected. No complaints here!

I got to the port at around 11am and met up with one of my friends, Todd, who was already there. Our other friends, Marisa and Mark, were on their way from the airport so we waited for them to arrive. Once they got to the port we were able to breeze through the security line because I am in Royal Caribbean's platinum loyalty program and they let everyone else come through with me. We still had a little bit of a line for check-in but nothing as bad as the last cruise we went on two years ago, which was absolute chaos. This was absolutely a pleasure in comparison!

My first glimpse of Navigator of the Seas

You can see my balcony in the picture. It's right above the yellow lifeboat second from the right.

​We were on the ship by 1pm and walked around for a little bit before we went and got lunch at the buffet. A lot of people say that the first day at the buffet is crazy and hectic, but it didn't seem that bad to me. Maybe it's better when you know what to expect. After lunch we explore the ship a little bit more and then I decided to go back to my cabin to unpack before the muster drill. My suitcase wasn't there when I got back to the cabin, but it showed up just a few minutes later so I didn't have to wait too long.

A view of my cabin

I loved my balcony!

A view of the cabin from near the balcony

​​By the time I was done unpacking it was time to go to the safety drill so we did that and then the ship started moving almost immediately. We had already decided to do sail away from my balcony so we met in my cabin after the drill and drank some champagne to celebrate the start of our trip.

Our sail away party

The last view of land we'd have for a couple of days

By that point I was ready for a quick shower so I got cleaned up and dressed before dinner. I had some extra time before I was supposed to meet my friends for dinner so I checked out the casino for a little while. I did notice that even though they have a lot of machines in the casino I didn't see a lot that I really wanted to play. I was a little disappointed by the lack of variety but decided maybe it was a good thing that I wouldn't be spending as much time in the casino (or as much money).

On our last cruise we did traditional dining which means you can either choose from an early or late dining time. On this cruise we decided to do My Time Dining, which basically means you can show up without a reservation and get seated wherever you like. They do recommend that you make reservations and then that way you don't have to wait in a long line each night. We decided to choose 7:30 is our dining time and they were able to get us a table for four. Dinner was just as good as always. 

We had some time after dinner so we walked through some of the shops on the promenade and also listened in on a piano sing-along in one of the bars. They had an adult comedy show at 10:15 that we went to and sat in the balcony. I thought the show was pretty good and it definitely ended on a really funny set of jokes. I was crying from laughing at the end, which is always a good sign!

After the comedy show I decided to try out the casino a little longer and decided that my original assessment was still the same.  I still didn't see a ton of machines that I wanted to play. I headed up to my room and spent some time on my balcony before I went to bed at around midnight.

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So that's everything for day 2 of the trip! Tomorrow we'll be spending time on the ship on our first full day at sea.