M/S Paradise - Day 4

Cruisin' At Sea

Day 4 was spent at sea. It was a gorgeous spring day!

One of the charms of a cruise are the towel animals the steward leaves on the bed every evening when he turns down the bed. Here is our last one. There is some controversy: dog or pig? You decide.





Kevin again got up early on Thursday and left to have fun. Erin slept in very late (hey! It's vacation!), while Mike and I went up to the pool deck for some sun. Mikey had to take a Dramamine, as the boat seemed to be rockin' a bit more in the morning, and he took a nap in the sun. Not a good idea: burned knees! After he got too much sun, he reverted to his usual "sun-bathing" condition: as Eskimo Joe.

Self-portrait on the Pool Deck
Mikey bought the pretty silver earrings for me in Ensenada!

We did a few fun activities like a "Newlywed" game (we were observers, not participants), and a game of "Millionaire"--Erin did quite well and made it to the last question. Here she is on stage with the finalists. "A" answers are hands on head, "B" is hands on shoulders, etc.






We were pretty burnt out by evening. We joined our table for dinner--the only time I saw Kevin the whole cruise was at dinner! Here are some of the wait staff making merry by singing and dancing through the dining room.






After dinner, Mike pretty much crashed and burned. We hadn't even opened the champagne that we had brought, so we had a couple glasses this last evening before collapsing.

We docked in Long Beach early Friday morning. We hit a snafu when miscommunications resulted in Kevin leaving the ship by himself and the rest of us searched high and low for him, afraid that he had found a place to nap while we waited for the debarkation line to thin. As the rest of us went through customs, one of the customs agents reassured me: "Don't worry; he's not in the back." Finally, we met up outside, stopped halfway for lunch, and drove home to post bail for Cocoa and Kibble.

The lady at the kennel said that they did very well, and Kibble even made friends with her, giving her kisses on the nose. I was glad to hear it! I was pleased with the kennel. A couple runs it, so the dogs get some individual care and their quirks are accommodated, plus they get consistency with only a couple people caring for them. We had thought about sending them to a doggie "spa," where they could play all day with other dogs, but that was going to get very expensive.

Now, we're back home. Now, we have to make our own food, take down our own covers, and go to bed at a reasonable time! Work and school start tomorrow for most of us. Mike headed out to patrol the city this morning at 6:00 am.

A cruise is a fabulous vacation, and I recommend it to everyone! Living so close to port, it makes it easy and not too expensive to do. It is great for families, with babysitting and supervised activities for the younger set, and the teens had a great time exploring on their own. The Carnival Capers (the activities newsletter) even listed a meeting of the Friends of Dorothy every evening (I had to look that up when I got home. I'm glad I didn't go to that particular bar to see what it was all about!!).

We're already talking about our next cruise.

Any comers?