So Nicki and I are fairly early rises, but the rest of our party was taking it easy. We agreed to meet my cousins on the top deck for some walking (at first we were going to go as early as possible, but after much debate we decided to do it later). Not a good idea to walk in then eat. Kind of defeats the purpose. But what the heck, we are on vacation (and its not like I walk that much at home...HAHA)! Of course eating 3 meals a day is not something I normally do either! But I digress. Any who, where was I? Oh yes. Exercise (no wonder I couldn't remember)!
I must admit I was surprised at how many people are up and exercising in the morning on a ship. I think I got in the way of a few runners. Some of us did 4 laps and some did ten (guess how many I did?) We then decided to try out the MDR (Main Dining Room) for breakfast at least once, knowing that we would be leaving the ship early over the next couple of days.
It was not the experience I was expecting. First of all I did not understand that "open seating" meant you would be seated anywhere with anyone. For some reason (don't ask me why) I assumed you could just walk in and pick a table anywhere. Umm, no! We were seated beside a family that lets just say were less then friendly. They did not open their mouth the entire time we sat down (actually they did, but it was not in a language I could understand). And even though we were open to conversation (my family is pretty laid back and could carry on a conversation with a door if it was possible), they never looked you in the eye or gave any indication that they were willing to talk with us. It made for a very uncomfortable meal. Which is sad, because I really enjoyed my waffle (which I never saw anywhere else), but you could not convince my family to eat there the rest of the cruise for breakfast. LOL Now after they left we had a great time at the table. :)
We decided to hit the Lido deck for some laying in the sun (so not a black thing, but we are on a cruise people)! I think we lasted about an hour! And of course they would say its time to go in just as I was about to fall asleep (water and music on your ipod will do that to you)! Which is probably a good thing, since I have no business falling asleep in the sun! And in all fairness my mom, my cousin and I all take blood pressure meds and it clearly states on the bottle to stay out of the sun!
As we headed back downstairs we were stopped by the most awful site...The Hairy Chest Contest! OMG, I'm sorry but you couldn't pay me enough to touch those men! We stayed and watched a few minutes, and then proceeded to the Excursion desk to see what was available.
My mom had insisted that we go right away and pick out our excursions for the next couple of days (which was funny, because I had assumed that they would want to just walk around and explore which is the norm for them). I'm usually the one over planning and even had my large binder chocked full with things to do on the ship, around the cities...mind you they were color coded and in categories). And it was still smaller then my binder from my first ever Disney trip! And that is when something strange happened. I actually put my binder away and did not use it the entire trip! Not only that but I told my mom and family that what we did was up to them. I was on vacation. If you could have only seen their faces. It was priceless. If I hadn't been so laid back I probably would have taking a picture! LOL
We headed to the Colors Lobby and after a bit of searching picked out a Trolley Tour of Saint John, which included a stop at the Reversing Rapids and a Black History Tour through Halifax (we figured that's not a tour many people take). My uncle has actually driven his motorcycle to both areas from VA and had told us about the Black History Museum many years ago. We thought about doing Peggy's Cove because so many people had raved about it, but most of the party was trying to keep their cost down. (including my college age daughter, and my younger cousin who had just graduated from graduate school). I knew before we left on the cruise that the Canada run was something I would like to do again with hubby so I did not press...plus remember I am on "vacation"! I think both excursions together cost us about $80.00. I didn't have any info on them and did not know what to expect. A first for me...but again...its vacation. No worries...be happy!
We spent a long time in the Lobby, which over the next few days would become "our" spot. So if you were on the Carnival Glory that week and you saw 6 Black ladies hogging the chairs and living it up with the bands...that was us! LOL
The rest of the day was kind of a blur. We just kind of hopped around from one area to another (a little shopping, watched folks lose at bingo, and had lunch at the Red Sail). I think that was the day my cousin and I hit the Burrito Bar (our goal was to try something different each day). Who ever said the burrito bar was the best was not lying! I haven't had one that good in a long time. It was soo good, I didn't stop to take a picture beforehand! lol
