Cruising with Friends - Day 2

Since we had booked our hotel with points instead of opting for the hotel and transfer package with Columbus Travel, we needed a car to get us to the cruise ship port.  Mark and Kirsten Savage drove with us because they had booked the cruise so recently and weren’t able to get in on the package deal.  Driving was fine though as we were able to stop at CVS for a few things and then Chris and Mark dropped us off at the cruise ship terminal with our luggage.  We didn’t think it through too carefully though because Kirsten and I both had all of the travel documents and ended up waiting for Mark and Chris to return the rental car to Hertz and then get an Uber back to the port.  They had to wait for the draw bridge before even leaving the terminal.

The passenger traffic was pretty light when we arrived but got increasingly heavier as we waited for the men to return.  It was a much smoother process this time however and we were boarding the ship in no time.

The rest of our group coming on the shuttle were much further behind us.  We couldn’t access our room once boarding the ship so Savages headed for the slides while Chris and I chose to exercise.  Misha’s comment to us, “Out of all the things you could choose to do, and this is what you go for?”  Yep.  With all the food on the cruise, we wanted to have a balance.  We brought clothes to change in and out of.

We met up with all of group in the Garden Cafe Buffet.  Kevin and Laura Brotherson came along a little later and joined our group.

Our luggage didn’t arrive at our room until much later in the evening, so we headed to our opening social in what we had been wearing before exercise.  After introductions and a few formalities, we headed down for dinner in Taste—the main dining room.

We found a thoughtful gift from Chris’ Administrative Assistant when we returned to our room—a cake and room decorations.  We were both stuffed from dinner, but I had a quick little taste.