Cruises and Cream Cones

We were on board the ship less than an hour before it was due to set sail. Baba had a conniption over cutting it that close. Apparently, she would have never planned things so tight: I probably wouldn’t again either. The ship was called the Rhapsody of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.

We decided to head up to the deck right away and joined the Sailaway Party. The breeze coming off the sea was refreshing. The ship was marvelous; it was a relatively small ship, but to me it was gigantic. I never imagined how interesting these floating cities could be. We hastily gulped free (finally free!) glasses of water and had two swirl ice cream cones each from the self-serve machine. There was music playing, and people were already in their bathing suits.

Exploring further, we found the casual buffet and formal dining rooms. We made our way to our cabin and found our luggage waiting right outside our door. Finally, we showered; it felt amazing to rid ourselves of our grimy travel clothes.

We decided on the buffet for supper, which had a delicious variety of salads, main courses, and of course, desserts. I can’t even recall what I ate that night, probably because I scarfed it down with great fervor.

Later in the pool on deck nine, we caught the 9:30pm viewing of Inside Out, a cute cartoon movie by Pixar. We sat in the hot tub the entire time under the dark night sky. A gentle breeze blew across the deck, just enough so that we were thankful for the hot tub. When the film ended, Baba went to bed, and Julianna and I walked along the decks of the ship, laughing at the wind as it spilt our tea. We found a late night café that served snacks at eleven. We gorged ourselves with chili cheese dogs and chatted late into the night.

Sneaking quietly back into the room, we clambered into our own comfortable bunks, feeling the ships gentle sway. We knew we were going to have a great time aboard, and we dreamt happily of the sea.