I’m On a Boat

 Just a disclaimer:  This was my first cruise, so for all you seasoned cruisers out there please pardon my gushing about things that quite ordinary in the cruising world!

Since it is like an 8 hour drive to Port Canaveral, we headed down there on Friday.  For everyone that is thinking about taking a cruise that leaves from Port Canaveral, stay that the Four Points Sheraton.  Its right by Ron Jons, has a Starbucks in the lobby, and you can park your car there for the week for only $35!  Saturday (after our Starbucks) we made our way to the ship.

That ship was HUGE!! We were on the Carnival Dream which I’m told is the largest in their fleet.  It holds around 5,000 people—we were on a boat with a small town!!  The ship’s décor was a bit too Vegas for my taste but it certainly was sparkly!  While waiting for our luggage to be delivered we made our way to the lido deck and the restaurant up there.  After a delicious meal we explored the ship a bit and went to our room.  It was a small space but designed quite efficiently!  We also had a lovely little cove balcony which was a great place to read!

Let me just go ahead and make the blanket statement that the food ROCKED!  I was beyond stuffed at all times just because I wanted to try everything!  I had escargot, lobster, seafood pasta, filet mingon, lobster bisque (a new favorite food), and sushi just to name a few.  This is also the first time in my life where I have had a serious dessert every night.  They also had frozen yogurt 24 hours a day.  I believe heaven will be a little bit like a cruise… only you won’t gain weight.  Our waiter, Juan from Honduras, was fantastic!  If we didn’t clean our plate he was always very concerned that we didn’t like it and would try to get us to order something else!  No Juan.. we were just stuffed.

That first day at sea, I was selected to mix a cocktail that I had submitted a recipe for on the lido deck in front of everyone.   It was a little nerve racking but so much fun!  I made Ocean Water which tastes just like Ocean Water from Sonic!  For those of you that I know want to try it here is the recipe from yours truly.

Ocean Water
Coconut Rum (a lot or a little depending on how strong you want it)
Triple Sec
Pineapple Juice
Sprite
Blue Curacco (just until it’s the right color blue)

We spent the rest of the day in the Serenity area (the adult only area) reading on their big comfy chairs.

Perfection.