We boarded the ship early on Monday and sat on the deck soaking up the sun, which lasted about an hour. Then, a few intimidating clouds rolled in, but we ordered another round of piña coladas and willed the sun to come back out. Apparently our willing didn't work. In fact, it had the opposite effect, because the sun didn't come back out until we stepped off the ship five days later. We spent four full days stuck on a boat packed with people bobbing through the tumultuous Caribbean Sea. We later discovered there was a giant polar vortex over the country which caused the blustery, cold weather.
So what do you do on a boat amidst a squall? You have a heck of a good time!
As you can see, the weather was a BIG bust, and Royal Caribbean wasn't quite equipped to handle all the people stuck inside the boat. Their service was definitely underwhelming. We have been on two other cruises together as an entire family - most recently several years back - and remember their service being wonderful. Perhaps that was because we had nice weather and weren't stuck on the boat the entire time. The company is also way behind the times in terms of technology - you have to pay for internet per minute and when I asked them about changing my rewards number to my married name they told me I'd need to send a FAX to their Crown & Anchor club. Not an email with a scanned attachment but a freaking 1990's style paper fax. I told the guy that I haven't seen a fax machine in about 10 years and asked why I couldn't settle this there in person since I had my passport and he apparently had access to a fax machine. Nope, that wasn't his job and I'd have to call later and find a fax machine. First I need to find a time machine to take me back to 1998.
It's not where but who...
Despite the polar vortex, mild seasickness, miniature room, and lack of technology we still had fun. Sometimes it really isn't about where you are but who you are with. And there are very few people I'd prefer to be stuck with on a boat in the middle of a storm. Luckily for me, Jen is one of those people! We laughed A LOT and I think we'll continue to laugh about this trip for many years to come.
Miami Surprise!
Go figure, when we got off the ship in Miami the sun came out. We were psyched because, thanks to Chris and his Dad, our vacation was extended through the weekend. Chris came down to meet us in Miami and the sunshine followed him. More about Miami in the next post...