Monday
At Sea
It took us a while to get our sea legs and this first complete day at sea certainly did not help. The ship started roughly rocking almost as soon as we hit the Gulf of Mexico in the middle of the night. Every now and then the boat would pitch to the side. I never really lost my balance, per se, rather I’d find myself holding just a bit tighter to the rails along the hallway. We spent most of the day checking out the ship and all it had to offer. We read the daily letting us know everything going on for the day and decided to head up to the forward part of the ship to sign up for Friday night’s murder mystery dinner. They only had room for 60 so we made sure to get up there in plenty of time. As we were signing up we noticed they were getting ready to start a session of bingo. It had been a while since we played, so we decided to stick around. We both ended up winning a game each! I won first – ha! (and they call B the lucky one) Unfortunately I had to split the $115 price with four other people ($23 for those doing the math). No matter, I was still excited to win. Not to be outdone, B won the next round. By himself. $130. Jerk. The final game, he came very close to winning again. The person calling the numbers told him to sit down and let someone else win for a change.
My mom had bought us a honeymoon/anniversary package and this was the day for the cake and champagne party for all of the guests who had spent the extra money. We talked with the three couples around us and had a nice time. The cake was delicious…the champagne..well, I’m not really into champagne. One of the couples did let us know that he had been on several cruises – including the one we were on – and the waters had never been as rough as they were this day. This was great to hear as, up to this point, we were thinking that we would never go on another cruise again.
After dinner we decided to go to the hot tubs. Getting into the water actually helped with the seasickness, so I decided that it would be nice to take a swim. This was in the evening – it was still warm outside (in January!!) – but the pool area was virtually empty (there were about 8 other people – all in the hot tubs). You know, this trip was full of ”M moments.” Moments that really could only happen to me. This was the beginning. I was getting into the pool when, on the second step, my body decided it was going too slow. I slipped and slid/fell the rest of the way down. I immediately hopped back up and did my “I’m okay!” dance as well as a quick full body scan of potential damage. I had really hurt my left hand. Another quick scan and I accessed that it was not broken despite immediately swelling and great pain. B checked to make sure I was okay and then, after I started laughing, he joined in. He said it was like watching a cartoon where the characters (think Scooby Doo) are running from the bad guy, decide to take the stairs, the bad guy pulls a lever that turns the stairs into a slide and the main characters slide all the way down to the pit of doom. Or whatever.
Not to be put out of commission, we went back to the room where I showered and bandaged my hand to the best of my ability (travel tip: always pack a first aid kit – especially if you’re clumsy) and we headed out to the theatre where we watched a Broadway medley. It was okay.
I saw our room steward on the way back to the room and was able get some ice for my hand.
Tomorrow – Costa Maya, Mexico…
-M
