On the Road Again! - and - Anchors Aweigh!

In order to continue my tradition of blogging while on vacation so that the peeps can live vicariously through me, I will now begin to tell you about my epic seafaring adventure.

Long time fans know that I firmly believe I come from seafaring folk ...or at least beach dwellers ... Despite what my mother tells me about our ancestors.  Also, I am nothing if not a crazy cat lady.  So about a year ago when I discovered information about a "Cat Cruise," I decided that it was meant to be.  I rounded up my friend Annette, who has been on cruises but lost her cruising buddy (her daughter) when she, the daughter, had the audacity to get married and have children.  Personally, I think her priorities are obviously out of whack, but her little girl is adorable, and I don't suppose I get a vote.  Plus, the end result is that now I get to be Annette's cruise buddy, so if I did get a vote, it would be yeah kids!

Our trip began Wednesday at the butt crack of dawn when we flew out of Evansville.  My first fear was getting through security.  Not because I had any evil plans, but I clearly remember my last trip, to Honduras, where I was "randomly" picked for being swiped for residue of explosive materials, frisked, fingerprinted, AND had my bags searched - you will recall I was taken down to security to go thru my bags and answer questions about the mystery bottles of vanilla I had in my bag. 

I held my breath as I walked thru the metal detector - whew!  I have secretly wondered if it is the red hair... Especially since the hair in the picture in my passport is blonde!  But..  Success!  I took this as a sign that the trip would be a success!

We arrived into Tampa Wednesday afternoon - the ship was leaving Thursday afternoon - but we felt it wise to come the night before lest there be any problems with flights.  We didn't want to miss our cruise!  The crazy cat lady in charge found a fabulous hotel that fit our requirements - clean, relatively inexpensive, and free shuttle!  The hotel itself sort of reminded Annette and I (me?) of the hotel we stayed in during the trip to Honduras, only the air conditioning worked!  The hotel also met Annette's exacting standards of being near a Chick-fil-A and a Trader Joe's. 

There was a meet and greet at poolside where we got to meet some of our other cat ladies and a couple of cat gentlemen.  I'm not sure what we expected, but they all seem to be an acceptable mixture of weird and normal.  No one too out of the ordinary and a lot of them had really cool cat shirts on.  Annette and I, both introverts, didn't stay too long, but for us, it was a very respectable time.

Thursday, we slept in.  First thing on the to do list was to arrange for the shuttle to the boat.  Next, breakfast at Chick-fil-A and hit the Trader Joe's before we met the shuttle.

Getting to the boat early was wise.  The lines were not long, and we were in the 4th group to be let onboard.  Once onboard we were able to steak out chairs in the shade and get our drinks on the Lido deck.  I don't know why it's called the Lido deck, but Haley is supposed to be Googling that.  Maybe she'll let us know in the comments.  Wifi and Internet is a very expensive commodity, so other than a few minutes a couple of times a day, I'll be incommunicado.  Therefore, while I'll be blogging in real time, I won't be posting until 1) we get to Cozumel where there's free wifi, and B) we get back to Tampa, where my blessed 4G works.  Not that the 4G wouldn't work onboard, I just figure it's not worth the money so that you can read this 24 hours sooner.

So, the cat cruise.  Well, the woman herding us cats has planned events for everyone - cat trivia and games, eating together in the formal dining room, etc.  Unfortunately, Annette and I, again - introverts, well we may hit the trivia, and we'll try to eat with them at least once. 

Anyway, after the obligatory safety session about where the lifeboats are and how to put your life jacket on, we lifted off!  No, that's the wrong mode of transportation.  We dropped anchor!  No, that when you want to say put, right?  We lifted anchor? 

I had a pedicure secured for the first evening and I wasn't 100% sure where to go.  So we went in search of the spa.  We discovered that there was currently a thing where if you take the free tour of the spa, you get a chance for a drawing for $500 free spa services.  So duh, we took the tour.  The purpose of the tour was to sell us on the spa services.  Annette and I already had massages scheduled and I had the aforementioned pedicure.  But hey, I wouldn't be adverse to more, right?  One of the sales pitches still blows my mind.  It was for something called Ionithermie - and all Annette and I can figure is that it's like a body wrap.  And she's telling us that she can help you lose 1-8 inches in one treatment - ok, I can buy that.  But then she says that it will last for FOUR TO FIVE YEARS!!  I'm like, does the FDA know about you?!  Because we were still docked as she's making these incredible claims. 

Unfortunately neither Annette nor I won the freebies.  But that's ok.  I really enjoyed my pedicure.  I took my own polish, so my toesies match my fingernails, and the girl who did it was named America and she was from Jamaica.  As per my usual, I entertained her while she did her thing. 

Post pedi, I and my toes ambled back to our room.  Tired.  It was a long day.  Time to turn in... It was 9:30!

Before I close, I have to comment about the towel creations.  Annette had told me that each night, when the steward turned down the beds, he would leave a towel animal or something.  This first night's creation was a flower.