Our first sea day is also our one Elegant Dinner night. Now, I know a lot of people don't like to dress up on vacation, but for us it was no big deal (If you haven't noticed by now...I like to dress up)!
It was also the night of the Captains Dinner, so we went back to our rooms early to get all dolled up ( I even took a nap, which I never do. Must have been all of that sea air)! My daughter Nicki does make-up as a side hustle and had promised our cousin Trice that she would do her make-up for the dinner. Nicki joked that she could probably make a little money on the cruise doing ladies faces that night.
Our Room Steward was on top of stuff and I think after a few days he knew we were early risers so our room was always completed by the time we got back from breakfast in the morning.
It took a while for all of us to get dressed, but we met in my cousins room and then the entire party would leave from there for the Promenade Deck where the "Party" was taking place. We made a brief stop at the Colors Lobby and listened to some music and then proceeded to the Promenade area. Honestly I think there was more picture taking then partying because one of the photographers "accosted" us as soon as we stepped on the promenade! Our pictured turned out really good and we picked out a few of them to bring home (including a group photo, a mother and daughter photo, and a photo of my mom, my daughter and myself together). They averaged about $22.00 a piece, but were worth it to us (little did we know we would be accosted again in the diningroom...lol).
By the time we finished taking all of the different pics it was time to go to dinner. There had been a mix up the night before, but because our table had two seats still available we had planned on just having my mom and her friend join us at our table tonight. We grabbed an elevator from the promenade area and proceeded to the diningroom. When we got ready to step off of the elevators we almost couldn't get out because the hallway was full of people waiting for the doors to open. Actually when the door opened we all said....Whoa at the same time as another family on the elevator with us. It was kind of funny. We said from now on we would be either fashionable early or a few minutes late so we would not get mobbed trying to get in.
One of the ladies who actually set up the trip had already made the changes for dinner, so we actually ended up moving to the table my mom had been at which was right by a window. It became my favorite spot to watch the water (and the sunsets) while eating dinner. We even still had our favorite head waiter! As a matter of fact my daughter said he was waving us back while we stood at the desk trying to make the changes.
As usual we had a great meal, and great conversation (come to find out our waiter had lived in Richmond, VA at one point and even knew where my mom and I had lived when I was a child. Talk about small world)!
The funniest thing happened when we were leaving though. My mom's pastor got stopped by some man who just had to comment on how cool he looked in his suit and his shoes. You could tell the man had been drinking (just a bit...lol), because he proceeded to even dance with the pastor while his poor wife looked on shaking her head. I have to admit it was pretty funny though, and Pastor D took it well. We teased him that it was a good thing we did not bring the video camera with us that night!
OK, As much as love to dress up...my feet were killing me after dinner so we all decided to change before heading out for the night to see what was happening on the ship. We also wanted to see our pictures from the formal poses (and the ones from dinner). Can you believe I ended up being accosted again when we went to look at pictures? I ended up really liking the pics and now wish that I was back home that they had a way for you to order them later. I can imagine though that with so many pics taken during the week, each week that that would be a big hassle. But it sure would be nice!
Anyway, after we changed, and after seeing the pictures, and having my picture taken again we decided to go check out the live music in the piano bar. Unfortunately the smoke was so bad in there that we didn't stay. That's when the girls decided they wanted to check out the Adult Only Comedy Act! Ummm, big mistake (at least for us). I had been forewarned after reading reviews on the cruise boards, but I don't think even I was prepared for his act. My family had ordered a few drinks and if they hadn't been waiting for their bill we probably would have left right away. We ended up going back to the Colors Lobby and listened to the musicians there. We went to bed that night excited about stepping foot on dry land (the waters had started to get just a bit choppy). Tomorrow...Saint John!
