Feb 6 Transfer to Ship

After an extremely restless night (I had those terrible got to get up and pack nightmares) we woke and packed our bags. Apparently they needed to be ready to go at 8am, although I had to call at 10am to remind them to pick them up…grrr.
After some breakfast, R went swimming. It was pretty chilly, the storm that hit the eastern seaboard dumping snow gave us strong wind. I mean strong wind! R came back throuroughly chilled. Anyways. We pack the last bits, and headed for the bus. The bus was very cute, with ‘portholes’ painted on the outside. R managed a short nap, as did daddy, and so did J as I held him. As we approached the ships, our driver pointed out that across the bay you could see the space shuttle that is set to launch tomorrow morning. Pretty cool. The process of getting on the ship was fairly smooth. A guy from Brampton checked us in. R was totally excited because Mickey was there, posing with you for pictures in front of a model of the cruise ship. Did I mention how puzzled we are at her intense liking for these character greetings?? As we walked on the ship, a ‘cast member’ asked our name, and then announced it over a loudspeaker “the HE family from Ontario”…they had a group of staff there clapping! Wow eh?
Once on the ship, we found our room, and got our bearings. As we were heading off to do a few errands, we ran into Oma and Opa. It was nice to see them. Daddy then headed over to the “Oceaneers club” to sign up R. She gets a wrist band with a sensor, and daddy gets a pager. Apparently she can summon us any time she needs us. That’s nice. I was on my way back from checking dinner reservations when they announced our friend’s name, E! Quite by accident I got to meet her as she boarded! We all met up in the ‘topsider buffet’ and had a very late lunch. R was thrilled by all the shrimp she could eat. Only a short time later we departed, and R and daddy danced at the farewell party. I unpacked, and let J have a nap in the room. (ok, I like getting things settled and organized in hotel/ship rooms, everything has to have a place)
Then came the ship drill. We all had to go to our rooms, get on our lifejackets, and report to deck 4. There we were directed to our lifeboat. They took attendance, and made sure we were all wearing our life jackets correctly. Poor litte J. He looked so uncomfortable, but was quite the trooper. We didn’t know how to do all the straps up on his life jacket, but the people next to us did. Here is a picture.

Supper was interesting. The decor of the dining room was all black and white, and slowly came to be colour by the end of dinner. J decided to nap during this meal, and I held him. When our entrees came, daddy offered to take him, but I just decided to wait to eat my mustard/thyme chicken when daddy was done his meal and I could cut mine up. I turned around, and all the sudden this wonderful staff person was cutting up my chicken into bite size pieces! Hilarious! She understood right away that letting babies sleep is far more important than eating hot food. We chatted. Turns out she was the dining room supervisor, and from South Africa. Now that is service I tell you! I was able to eat a hot meal with one hand, and J was able to sleep. Bliss.
After dinner we stopped by the Oceaneer’s club to check it out. Lots of kids, but it seemed to be a really cool place. I think R will like it. Back in our cabin, the staff had pulled down a bunk from the ceiling for R. She’s sleeping up there now, I suppose it reminds her of her bed at home. J is sleeping in a play pen. I’ll be heading to bed soon too, I know there will be lots to do tomorrow.