Sat Feb 7 / Sun Feb 8

Saturday, 7Feb

We’re cruising!
Made it to Orlando just after midnight last night and to our hotel some time after 1:00 am. Slept in til just after 9, ate at one of the worst continental breakfasts ever, showered and on the road. Took our time driving to Cape Caneveral, stopping at Walmart to buy some pop to bring aboard the ship. Once aboard we grabbed a bite to eat at one of the many buffet stations on the Lido deck. Or, should I say a few platefuls? Has any other cruiser wondered why cruiseships do not provide a scale for each room? I pondered just that at lunch today. Would that save the ship money per passenger? Or would it deter guests away from possible repeat visits? Do they avoid it because they want the guests to be happy customers and then they can fret once they return home? Did you know, the average guest gains between 7-14 pounds per cruise. Seems a bit outrageous to me-but I imagine I could be in that category by the time I’m home. Unless, of course, I run! Running-it’s actually what we’re going to go do right now. Seems almost sinful to run on vacation, doesn’t it? I would have to agree.

After running, we came back, showered, and got ready for dinner. We were nervous we’d be seated with people we wouldn’t have anything to talk about, so we had a quick exit plan. We actually were seated with another couple, Ryan and Lee, from Augusta, Georgia. Great conversation, great people, and a great dinner, all except for the loud drunk table right next to us. A table of at least 10, all of who I’d say had a few too many drinks beforehand. At least a half dozen times one of the men started yelling, “ole-ole…ole-ole….”. We then spent a few minutes in the casino playing blackjack, walking away $25 ahead…woohoo! The 10:15pm showcase in the Amber Palace greeted us with a subpar Show Choir performance (Ted said the three pretty blondes with pretty much nothing on made up for it), followed by a hilarious comedian. Called it a night after that.

Sunday, 8Feb

Slept until 9:30. It was easy to do with no dogs waking us up at 6:30 wanting to eat. Plus, the sun wasn’t peeking through our shades to even give us an idea of what time it was. A quick dress and a buffet breakfast before Britt wanted to test her hand in a ping-pong tournament. We get up there to find our buddy Ryan waiting (as we had told him last night Britt was going to test her skills). Britt thought she’d scare off the competition by wearing one of her Iowa State Intramural Championship shirts, but the only person she scared was me. I lost to her in the first round after a heroic comeback, losing 11-9. I thought for sure Britt would win the tournament since she was so successful in college winning many intramural championships in ping pong, but after seeing a guy with his very own ping pong paddle, I knew the competition was going to be tough. Britt ended up getting completely destroyed by some dorky looking dude 11-3. She definitely was not deserving of wearing that Iowa State Intramural Champion T-shirt. I don’t think I will let her wear that shirt anymore and disgrace my beloved University. After Britt’s brutal defeat, Britt, Ryan, and I headed to the mini-golf course on the top deck to practice our putt putt game. Ryan was victorious, as he spends much of his free time on the golf courses in Augusta (lucky guy). He hasn’t golfed at Augusta National, but his Dad has golfed there THREE times! Deli sandwiches for lunch, some chocolate cake for me for dessert, and strawberry yogurt ice cream, which Britt was happy to find, and we were back to our cabin for a snooze. I think we’ll head out and take a few pictures around the cruise to post on here for you all.

Tonight is our formal dinner, so it’s dress up night. Britt will be prancing around in one of her new dresses and a pair of her many shoes that she bought for the trip. I think she is pretty excited to get dressed up because she is easily going to be one of the most beautiful women on the ship (I’m not just saying that to get her on my good side either ). Britt says that it’s not too hard to do since most of the women are 50 or Janet’s age as Britt would put it….hehehe you know we are just kidding Janet.

This will be the only vacation where Britt can bring as many clothes and shoes as she wishes. How many pairs would you guess she packed? 5 or 6? NO, try 9! That’s right, 9 pairs of shoes! That’s averaging more than 1/day. With all those shoes, I managed to weigh in at 52.5 pounds, just over the weight limit for baggage. Luckily, the counter lady was ok with it, I just can’t bring anything back I guess. Britt’s bag weighed 47.5, so she wanted me to note that she packed less (although I put almost all of her shoes in my bag).

Small world note: Yesterday after our run, we were riding the elevator to get back to our room, when one of the two men with us noticed the small University Book and Supply logo on Ted’s sand volleyball shirt. We struck up a conversation with the two, the one now lives in Dubuque, but is originally from Denver, IA (about 25 minutes North of us). They got off the elevator before we were able to talk anymore.
Tomorrow, we are off to Cozumel to do a full day of sail boating on a Catamaran. We will be going to several of the reefs to snorkel (don’t worry everyone, I will take good care of Britt), eat some food, do some fishing and parasail. Britt is really looking forward to the parasailing and snorkeling. It should be a blast. We’ll be back tomorrow with some pictures for everyone. Brent& Sarah and Megan & Luke, give our niece and nephews a big hug and kiss for use. Mom, give buddy a scratch on his belly from us.

We love you guys.

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This is Britt with Budrick. We named him Budrick since Buddy and Maverick cannot be with us.