The Cruise: Day 1

Boy what a December it has been! Yesterday was my first day at school since November 28th – and that day we were on a field trip that lasted over 6 hours due to a lockdown on campus while we were away. I am out again today though. Sean and I are both sick. Sean went to the doctor on Sunday and it looks like it is just a virus. The poor little guy is MISERABLE though. My cough has gotten pretty impressive so I am heading to the doctor this afternoon. Sean gets to join me – the two of us are a sad pair!

I should be napping. I was up late and as I was going to bed, Sean woke. I dozed with him on the couch for a few hours and less than an hour after I got him to bed Caitlin woke. Thankfully she did not wake her brother, so we just pulled her into bed with us – something like inviting an octopus to share the bed with you. The Irishman got up with her eventually and Sean and both got a few good hours of sleep.

Anyway, we have picture galore to share. The cruise, breakfast with Santa, a boat parade, and general happenings.

(Since starting this e-mail this morning: Sean has woken up, we have both taken a nap, and my doctor’s appointment has been rescheduled for tomorrow because the doctor went home sick.)

So….we’ll just start with the cruise. A little background: The Irishman won a Royal Caribbean cruise as part of his employee of the year prize. We’d priced going as a family, but even with the prize voucher paying for 4 was adding up quick. We saw that Norwegian Cruise Lines was offering a Kids Cruise Free promotion. We did the math and discovered that it was cheaper to book 4 of us that way than on RC, so we gave the RC cruise to his parents to make up for a multitude of gifts we hadn’t gotten to them – a HappyBirthdayHappyMothersDayHappyFathersDayMerryChristmasAnd
AnotherBirthdayThrownInThere kind of a gift. Then RC wouldn’t let them use the voucher as non-US-residents, so the Irishman went with them on a cruise to the Bahamas. During Hurricane Sandy. While I stayed home with the kids. Crazy times! (I don’t know how much of that we blogged about before or not. Sorry for any repeats!)

Anyway, the day we left for our little family cruise was hectic. The car had been acting up. I suspected the battery and was trying to figure out how to find time to get it sorted. The Irishman drove it to Sear the morning we left on the cruise and the battery died when he got there. Thank God for small blessings! Between packing and errands though we were afraid we might miss the boat. I actually left the house with wet hair and no make up.

In the end we made it with time to spare.



And yes, we boarded the boat wearing Santa hats.



It was a bit overcast, but the temperature was lovely as we waved bye to Miami. We’d been talking to Caitlin about the big boat for a week or so. She was excited!



NCL’s big thing is the Freestyle Cruising. I didn’t think it would be that big a deal, but it was great with the kids. No set dinner time, so we headed down when we were ready. No dress code either, but Sean wore a tie to dinner anyway.



We forgot to tell them to make up our room early, so we got back ready for bed before the beds were ready for us. We put the kids in their PJs and headed down the glass “alligator” to say hi to the Christmas Tree.



Caitlin brought her Doggy and Sean brought his bottle.



This is one of my new favorite photos.



The room was awesome. I was afraid of bunk beds or sharing with Caitlin. Instead the Irishman and I shared a king sized bed, Caitlin had her own “special bed” on the pull out couch, and Sean had a travel cot. It was AWESOME. The cabin was small, but everything fit just right.



Best of all everyone SLEPT!