Bon Voyage

**Reminder: This weeks posts will be a daily review of our family's 5-day cruise vacation**

After the kids realized we were going on a cruise for the week, they were literally bouncing off the walls with joy.

It took us about an hour from the time we entered the parking deck until we boarded the ship. The ship was set to sail at 4:00PM, so we had a few hours of free time.

Once we located our room, we used our free time wisely by finding our way to the lunch buffet on the Lido deck. If you've never been on a cruise, there is food available somewhere for 24 hours a day. Literally!

We wandered around the ship right up until time to sail. And the very first thing we HAD to do was to participate in a safety drill with our life vests. The drill lasted about 20 minutes, thankfully, because Lego-Man's life vest was too small and he about had a meltdown wearing it!

Coincidentally, as we left the port it was POURING down rain. But we didn't let that put a damper on the beginning of our vacation. We went straight outside and took pictures, until the lightening started! And a couple of hours later, we witnessed the most beautiful sunset as we moved out into the Gulf of Mexico!

We had the late dinner seating which was at 8:15PM!! I wasn't sure how the kids would hold up until then, much less myself! But we made it. And it was always worth the wait, the menus were delicious. So many good things to choose from....appetizers, main courses, and desserts.

As we got back to our room, our room steward, Ricky, had provided us with "turn down" service complete with chocolate and a towel animal creation. This would become the highlight of every night, as you will see. The kids could not wait to see what animal was waiting for us each night!


Here are the photo highlights of our first day on board:

Stay tuned for Tuesday's "Fun Day at Sea"