# 3: 14 Nights of Pure Bliss!

Leaving Fort Lauderdale was the start of our very first cruise experience and while I had heard various thoughts about cruising, I came on board with my eyes wide open and no prejudged opinions. I love the water and the white sand beaches and warm tepid water that laid ahead of us were too attractive to let any preconceived or negative ideas on cruising get in the way. I can honestly say that once on board, I never once thought that I had made a bad decision and before we left Fort Lauderdale, I knew that I would always be an advocate for cruising!

I wouldn't have really had any idea on what cruise line to go with but the fact that Alana and Dan had been with, (and loved) Celebrity Cruise Line before made the decision pretty easy. The planned cruise was for 11 nights around the Southern Caribbean and visited the islands of Aruba, Curacao, Grenada, Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Maarten and finally St Thomas. What an adventure we had in front of us!

The first two days were at sea and to be honest we needed these to start to relax after the stress prior to leaving, the lack of sleep and of course the traveling involved to get to Fort Lauderdale. It was also a great opportunity to learn to get around the ship, the seemingly endless number of restaurants and bars, the casino plus the do's and don'ts of cruise life. Through our upgrade to "Aqua Class" we could dine at our leisure in the "Blu" restaurant. I can honestly say that there is nothing wrong with the main restaurant apart from the fact that you often had to wait for a table. The food there is fantastic, and it still has amazing service but the other restaurants with limited access were just a bit of a step up. Because only a certain number are allowed in there waiting is virtually nonexistent and because there is less of you then the service is just amazing.

We all made a plan that 5pm on sea days or 6pm on shore days we would meet in the "Ice Bar" for pre-dinner drinks. The Ice Bar is exactly that and the bar top is actually iced over as are all the surrounds. The bartenders are cocktail makers Extraordinaire and had us all in awe as they performed tricks, (the Cirque de Solei of Bar tendering!) while flinging shakers around their backs and making multiple cocktails at one time! The first night Mary and I dined with the rest of the travel group in the main restaurant, from there it was time to inspect some of the bars on board, it was only day one and we were glad we had the drinks package included! There's an old saying in sports teams I've been involved with when you go on tour...........Don't peak too early! Well, we may have been heading in that direction on night one! 😉😉 Still' here we were like kids in a candy store and It's a strange mindset when you know that you don't have to pay for your drinks, (although, technically we had pre-paid), you feel that it's all free and you have to take advantage of it. Everything was so new to us, and we just didn't want the night to end. It didn't help that 4 of the touring party were nearly half the age of some of us and had the stamina and youth to want to Party all night. Sense and sensibility, (the wives!) won in the end so we eventually headed back to our respective cabins to try and get a good night's sleep before doing it all again the next day, I also retained a couple of black chips, ($100 each) from the casino which I gleefully put into the safe in our cabin. I decided that whenever I won a black chip, I'd retain them and cash in at the end of the cruise!

The air temperature was so warm that we decided that we would sleep with the balcony door open and just enjoy the sea air and sound of the water in the background. I'm sure I went to sleep with a massive smile on my face, it had been a day to remember!

The next morning dawned, and I began what was to become my daily ritual of heading down to the specialty tea area to get Mary a nice cup of tea and a coffee for myself. Our cabin butler had been briefed and he would bring Mary's injections from their chiller, we had a small fridge in our cabin, but this was not cold enough and we didn't want to risk anything with her injections. After teas, coffee and injections it was time to start the day, so it was off to the buffet at the rear of the ship for breakfast. Those that know me also know that I have a good appetite so you can imagine how confused I was when I turned up at the buffet. Everything that you can possibly think of, and you just help yourself......day two and I already know that this kid will be going home and on a diet!

When you live in little old New Zealand, sublime days are not the norm for endless days on end. We have stunning vistas and wonderous attractions not available anywhere else on the planet and to be very honest we as Kiwi's take our beautiful country for granted. But! Also, as Kiwi's we know that we can endure 4-5 months of the year where it rains most days, and the temperature can be chilling. That is why we travel, right! I personally love the heat; I love water that is not biting to enter, and I love to feel the sun on my back.

I'm coming to grips with the fact that the next couple of weeks are going to give me exactly that! Mary loves the same thing, so days 1 & 2 have put us in the right frame of mind to rip into this cruise like a "pig in poop"... so they say! 😁

We wake up tomorrow morning in Aruba, bring it on!

A few shots below: Our normally very tidy cabin, home for the next 11 nights, the main pool area where we would spend many hours! The Celebrity Eclipse and Mary & I enjoying the facilities on board.