We're Off

Sunday, January 3, 2015

We were up very early this morning to do the last of the packing, have breakfast, and be on the road by 7:00 am heading to Fort Lauderdale to pick up Dan at his hotel and then continue on to the Regal Princess.  Everything went so smoothly that we were actually there and on the ship by noon – so early that the rooms were not yet ready so we headed up to Deck 16 and the buffet where we enjoyed lunch after giving Dan the grand tour of all that is available up in that area.  He chuckled over the soft serve stand saying Noelle would be there every few minutes getting refills if she was on the ship.

After enjoying our meal, we headed down to the Aloha Deck (12) and room 319 where we would be staying for the duration of the cruise.  WOW!!! What a beautiful room! 

And there was a beautiful flower arrangement there, too, compliments of Ken for my birthday.

We were able to hang up most of our things since we’d brought our small suitcases with us that had the major part of our belongings in them.  Then we just enjoyed relaxing on the beautiful sofa, toasting the cruise with the glasses of champagne waiting for us on our coffee table

when we arrived. 

After checking out the Princess Patter to see what all was happening for the remainder of the day, we head to the Casino, our general emergency station, with our life jackets for the required drill before the ship could take set sail. 

We then headed up to the 18^th deck by the track where we could get some great views as we moved away from the dock, leaving land behind and heading out into the Caribbean following behind a Holland America ship that was right in front of us.

The partying on deck was already in full swing with people lining the sides to watch us going out while the music was in full swing and others were already dancing up a storm.

This was all part of the Sail Away Deck Party

and then tour the thing available on the upper floors of the ship including the basketball court, equipment set around the track, the miniature golf course, golf tee,

and fitness equipment area. 

By then our remaining luggage had come to our room and we were all able to complete the unpacking and clean up a bit for dinner at our assigned table in the Concerto Dining Room.  It was a table for four but we were the only ones assigned to it so I guess we won’t be sharing our dinners with any other passengers.  Actually that is quite nice since we will have some special uninterrupted times with Dan as a result.

Following dinner we took Dan around to see what was available on the Decks 5, 6, and 7 including lounges, theater, library, art gallery, shops, and quiet spots where few people gather.  He is very interested in having as much time as possible free of people and interaction so he can read, write, and pray and generally get himself centered again.  So once we’d done that touring we turned him loose to do just that while we went to the first show of the cruise.  Afterwards, Ken went down to the Vista Lounge to watch the Green Bay vs Minnesota football game while I wandered shops and bought a shirt and earrings as birthday presents to me before returning to our room for the night.

Dan had already come back and was enjoying a movie on his TV (yes, there are two TVs in our room!!!!!  The sofa had been converted to a bed and he was able to just relax in it while watching.  It wasn’t  long before we were all down for the night.