CRUISING:
From Key West we drove to Miami where we stayed at a hotel over looking the cruise ship port. The first glimpse at “our ship” was as it came in to dock early in the morning on the day of our departure, January 3rd. This is probably where I should explain that I became a travel agent this year (LOL). After searching nearly 2000 cruise options first narrowing down the general area of where we wanted to cruise, then the cruise line, specific ship, preferred itineraries, cheapest dates, and hoped-for-excursions, I was pretty sure I knew what we wanted . I called to book it through a national cruise agency but was disappointed when the agent said, “Honey, those large ships don’t sail on the itinerary you’re talking about.” I tried to explain to her why I thought she was wrong but finally it became apparent that there was no convincing her. I almost gave up on what we had found to be our “perfect choice” when I decided to call Royal Caribbean myself. They said that yes, indeed, they did have such a cruise. It’s called a repositioning (repo) cruise and the “big ships” only do them a few times a year when they are …. Repositioning…. The RC employee told me they are hard to find and usually sell out quickly. They set up an account for me and I became a travel agent. About a week later the travel agent called back to apologize for not researching it further until some others called to inquire about the same cruise. She seemed quite disappointed to not be able to book the cruise for us……. Oh well….. I’m happy to say it was pretty “smooth sailing” and I really enjoyed my time as a “travel agent.” I would do it again anytime. In addition to both sets of grandparents, we also had several more friends and relatives who joined us. There were 22 of us altogether. Our ship: Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas.

I was disappointed that we somehow ended up in separate lines to enter the ship and I don’t have a picture of our entire family boarding, but here is a picture of Nathan and I along with Tim’s parents.

The ship was HUGE. There were so many things to see and do it was hard to know where to start. Before the ship could leave the port, there was a mandatory safety drill.

We decided to skip the formal dining room meal the first night opting for one of the many buffets and spending time on deck watching the Miami skyline disappear into the night. A couple of us were a little motion sick the first night, but nothing some fresh air didn’t cure. Fortunately, our first day was an at-sea day so we had plenty of time to get settled and become familiar with the ship.

The kids tried rock climbing. Both Amanda and Joshua made it all the way to the top to ring the bell. Amanda and Emily on the rock wall.
We all enjoyed a few games of miniature golf on deck.

Looks like Tim is surprised that the kids are right! At this point, we are still trying to figure out where everything is at on this big ship.The formal dinner was on the 2nd night of the cruise. Before we left home the girls and I had a lot of fun shopping and shopping and shopping for what we were going to wear. We found a suit for both of the boys, too. Joshua was very particular about his suit and really seemed to enjoy wearing it. Here is a picture of all of us. Cindy’s parents on the left side and Tim’s parents on the right side.

The food was AMAZING! Amanda decided to give lobster a try and she liked it! Now she has expensive taste buds.

Our hostess always ordered just the right stuff for Nathan… Mac and Cheese and lots of ice cream!

Josh is a fine young gentleman! He knows how to dress, act, and eat in the fine dining room. His wife will thank me some day (LOL)!

Emily wasn’t too sure about some of these fancy foods, but she’s always willing to cheerfully try most anything.

On the night of the midnight buffet our family was SO tired we all decided to go to bed and set the alarm in time to get up for the buffet. However, when the alarm went off I couldn’t wake ANYONE up so I just got dressed, went down and took a few pictures, and went right back to bed. I didn’t even stay to sample a single thing. Our parents out lasted us because they, along with my brother, all stayed up and enjoyed the buffet. There was a picture time for about 1/2 hour before the buffet started. This snack area on the Royal Pramanade deck became one of our favorite places to stop throughout the day!
We had the early seating for dinner everynight which allowed us to watch the sunset during dinner. Because there were so many of us we had 2 tables and every night we would sit in a different spot.