Marella Flavours of the Caribbean - pre travel and day 1

[mitch84]

Pre travel day

Technically I’m working today but from home, however I worked all day Saturday unpaid, and a couple of hours on Sunday, so actually I’m reasonably ahead of myself. No packing has commenced though.
DH alarm goes off, and I snooze and cuddle with him a bit, but then we are both out of bed by 7.
Some of you may have read how poorly our dog has been over the last couple of days, but he had been feeling bright bubbly and eating well yesterday, if still a little loose of bowel...
unfortunately this morning he refused his breakfast again. I got it down him eventually but I was debating what to do for the best. I decided to let him rest and chill out, and then
I make myself a coffee and grab a muesli bar and sit at the dining table with the laptop and try to finish my to do list. I had intended on doing my biggest to do list item last night, but DH talked me into going to the pub to watch Liverpool/Man U. 3 pints of cider later I didn’t think it was the best idea.
So I get that closed off, but then my computer crashes and I lose it, so I then redo it... but as is normal with my work, a million more e-mails come through, so I sneakily put my out of office on early to try to deter further.
I had made meatballs and pasta on Sat night, so I heat up some leftovers, put a last wash on, and then decide with well under a day til leaving that maybe I should get the suitcase out and start packing.
I did have a list that I added to every time I thought of something, so I start working through it whilst keeping an eye on my work email and taking the dog out.
DH had an appointment with his accountant at 3, so he nips home, and we have a quick chat before he heads off again. He goes from there to the farm to do the horses and ride, and so I don’t see him again until after 6, when he comes home with a lovely bottle of wine for me.
We have a drink, watch some tv and then head up to bed. We decide to let the dog sleep with us tonight as a special treat, so I get about 2 inches of room and try to get some sleep.

Day 1

The alarm goes off at 5, and urghhhhhh, ouch. This isn’t what anyone wanted, I quickly drag straighteners over my hair, have a quick shower and get dressed.
I feed and say goodbye to Max, then DH drags my case into the back of his car, we’re only 20 minutes from Manchester airport but he has to open his job at 7, hence why we’re so early.
Get to T2 and everyone has the same idea, and it’s really busy, but the queue goes quite fast; I’m given my cabin number on deck 3 which could have been better, but also an aisle seat.

Security is actually really quiet and I’m through and in the lounge in short order. I booked the escape lounge as I was going to have to be at the airport so early. I get an apple juice initially as I’m thirsty, but then get a Prosecco, a sausage sandwich and a mini blueberry muffin. I personally think it’s well worth it for £24, they reserved me a seat and I felt safe leaving my stuff to grab drinks/food and go to the toilet etc.

The time actually goes really fast, and the gate pops up, I give it a little bit extra and get another Prosecco, then decide to walk to the gate. I’m glad I do, as it’s a very long walk to the gates in the new bit, A6 and takes a good 10 mins from the lounge, even walking fast.
I get there and take a seat, then they announce boarding premium pretty much straight away. Then boarding from the back of the plane, I’m in 19 so I sit tight.
I’m called, and I find my seat, I’m in the aisle of the middle row to the right, and I settle myself in and give my screen and tray a good wipe. My DH has had a cold that I’ve been trying really hard not to catch, so I give everything a clean. It’s the Dreamliner called Edie and it’s modern and reasonably spacious.
It’s only 9am and whilst I’m tired I’m not great at plane sleeping. I browse the films and TV, I see Handmaids tale which I have never seen, but after starting it I think it might be series 2, even though it doesn’t say, it just seems to start recapping something, so I put Lion king on instead.
We have a female first officer which is really exciting, and it’s announced she’s going to fly the plane, which is even more exciting, go get em Amy. It’s a long one though, nearly 10 hours.
I opened the spout on my new water bottle at one point and the pressure had obviously done funny things to it, and it squirted water everywhere, absolutely drowning me, would have been funny if it wasn’t right at the beginning of the flight.
They came round with complimentary drinks and were even offering 2, so I had 2 white wines and just read my book for a bit as I just wasn’t in the mood for a film.
I gave up on the Lion King as it just wasn’t gripping me, and swapped to Rocketman which did right from the off, I loved it.
They came round with food about lunchtime. It was pretty good for plane food, chicken cacciatore with potatoes and broccoli, bread and butter, cheese and biscuits, chocolate moose and a truffle. Not bad at all.

The time then just dragged. I finished my film and tried another couple, read my book and tried to nap, but I just couldn’t settle to anything.
Eventually I tried A Star is born, which again I haven’t seen, which helped pass the time until they brought more food out, a sandwich and a scone. I had no idea the film was that sad.

Finally we start getting ready to land.
The airport process was actually smoother than I expected as we just had to hand a form in and shuffle onto a coach. When we arrived at the port about 40 mins later, there was a bit of a queue but not too bad.
Then I’m on. The ship feels oddly dead. I guess a lot of people who are halfway through a 2 week cruise are out on excursions, and the other half may still be arriving/settling in.
I get a lift all way up to 9, where I stop at the Snack Shack for some fish and chips. It’s 8pm at home and whilst I’ve eaten a lot of rubbish today I haven’t really had anything that sensible.

I then decide to wander round and explore the ship, and eventually walk to my cabin on deck 3. It’s really odd as I’ve been given no newsletters etc, and I really have no idea what’s on today to plan round. I stop for a cider, book the 2 speciality restaurants and check out todays restaurant menu’s.
The weather is very odd, it’s 29 degrees and very hot, but very overcast and spitting with rain.
I’m desperate for a shower, so head back down to deck 3 to find my cabin. I’m not expecting my case, but I can shower and chill out for a bit. However when I get there it’s there! Yippee. And my cabin is absolutely stunning. When I booked all the inside cabins had gone so I got an outside for the same price and it was really roomy, with a massive big window, a separate seating area and loads of storage. Very impressed.

I have a much needed shower, then settle down to read the newsletters to see what’s on today.
I unpack, then as I’m feeling pretty tired, I head back up to deck 9 by the pool to listen to the band, who unfortunately for some reason were only doing a 30 min set. A lovely lady recognised me from the lounge this morning and came over for a chat though whilst I had a drink.
The lifeboat drill was at 18.45, so I grabbed a seat nearby, and waited til they insisted I went outside, as I wanted to finish my cocktail.
There is only one showing of the show tonight, 9.30pm Lionel Ritchie and Stevie Wonder which sounds ok if I can stay awake. The film is I Robot which isn’t really my thing, so show it is.
I bump into my lounge friend and she ends up coming to dinner with me, we go to Gallery 47 which is an included Italian. I order the arancini balls, followed by turkey saltimbocca then cheese. They brought lovely breads and dips at the beginning which was a nice touch.
The food was really quite good, certainly not bad for a first night considering it’s the equivalent of 1am for me by this point, and I’m eating more to pass the time than actually because I’m hungry.

The captain announced over dinner that there may be issues accessing Grand Cayman in the morning as it’s a tender port and the swells are big, they seem very organised though and have about 4 options including swapping days over, I decide to set my alarm early to see what they settled on.
It’s an hour to the show so I head on my own to the atrium to listen to an acoustic singer/musician and read my book. He was excellent and I think I will be frequenting his sets a lot this week.
Went to the show which was only average, very singy/dancy, but they gave me a Prosecco on arrival which was a nice touch, and I watched it until the end then ran to bed by 10.30, a very long day for me, as that’s the equivalent of 3.30am back home, and I was up earlier and hadn’t managed to nap. Straight to bed, straight to sleep..

[Sparksy72]

A good travel day, despite watching a Star is born, I didn’t know how sad it was going to either! Your room looks lovely as did your dinner You did well to stay awake so long

[mobeckwith]

Great first day,you did fit a lot in

[disney owl]

good start to your holiday