Lunch is served in Cabanas, so after you board, head on up to Deck 11 for some food. I was definitely hungry, but this buffet has more food than I could eat in a sitting! The buffet was divided into different stations, such as seafood, salad, soups, sandwiches etc. To give you an idea of the variety of choices on a typical day you might find shrimp cocktail, crab legs, mussels, 2 soups, sandwiches, and carved meats. Let’s not forget dessert, we are on vacation after all! There were as many as 10 different dessert (cheesecakes, tortes, cakes, etc) to hand scooped ice cream and cookies. Drinks consited of water, juice, tea, coffee or soft drinks. If you wanted to indulge in an alcoholic beverage there was a full bar in Cabanas or you could try the drink of the day!
Of course I’m sure you’re dying to know what I ate for lunch, right? I indulged in some shrimp cocktail, asparagus (still have to have your veggies!) a caprese sandwich, and a slice of pizza. To wash it all down, a Diet Coke, because that makes it all better! It was now after 1:30pm and we could get into our stateroom. We were on Deck 8, Aft, Room 8178. The Oceanview stateroom with verandah had plenty of space for us. There were 2 closets, about 8 drawers in the 2 dresser areas, 1 cabinet and an ottoman with storage. The queen bed was raised so that all our suitcases fit easily under the bed! The bathroom consisted of 2 areas. One room was the sink and toilet with shelves to hold your items, the other was the sink and shower, again with shelves to hold items. This separation made it very easy for the two of us to get ready at the same time. Our verandah had 2 chairs and a table on it, it was nice to sit out there and listen to the water lap against the ship. The door lock on the verandah was a little tricky, but by the end of the cruise we got used to it. You had to have the handle in a “just so” position to get the lock mechanism to engage. We both enjoyed our stateroom and had no complaints. As a side note…the Disney toiletries were AWESOME! I loved their scent!
We also met our stateroom host, Foster, at this point. He was an upbeat and attentive host who took good care of us throughout our cruise! We chatted with him everyday as we came and went from our room. Our luggage arrived and we had just enough time to get things unpacked before we had to head up on deck for the safety drill. As we unpacked we listened to the many and detailed instructions on what to do for the drill. Everyone in your stateroom is required to attend and the ship suspends servces during this time. You must bring your key card with you because the crew will scan it to ensure that you attended the drill. This drill is required by law, and was not that disruptive. I would say in all it lasted about 20 minutes.
Now it was time to make our way to Deck 11 for the Sail Away Party which takes place for 30 minutes as you leave Port Canaveral! The party features plenty of music, characters and dancing. Passengers and landlubbers alike get to hear the special ship’s horn….I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of that. Sailing out of port was such an awesome moment for me…it truly hit home that I was on my first ever cruise and about to be pampered!
Tip: if you are scheduled for the Main Seating for dinner you’ll want to attend this party dressed for dinner, there is no time to change.
Coming Soon…..The Evening Show and Dinner