Polymer Cruise Day 1

Sailing out of Fort Lauderdale.  A beautiful day for it.

 The boarding process went very well.  Hardly had to stand in line at all.  I have been on cruises before when I thought I would NEVER get on board. Royal Caribbean has it down to a fine art. 
  We originally were all to meet on the Lido deck, but since the Oasis does not have a Lido deck, it was decided to meet in the Windjammer Cafe.  Unfortunately for us, everyone else headed to the Windjammer too.  Several people tried to save spaces, but it was frowned on because there were so many people trying to get in and not enough seats for them all.  But so much food .... let the weight gain commence. Diet, what Diet????

The Windjammer one afternoon when the ship was in port.
Usually you can't see the food for all the people.

 There were soooo many good places to eat.  A lot of them were "free" - ie included in the cost of the cruise.  There were other specially restaurants that charged. I understand they were quite good.  There was even a Johnny Rocket's aboard.  They served breakfast at no charge, and during the rest of the day, you could have all you could eat for a minimal charge.  My only problem with that was that they were on the Boardwalk section of the ship, which was outside ( not air conditioned), so was too hot and muggy for me to be comfortable.
   Lord Opuson soon discovered the adult only section of the ship, and the Bistro there. Not as much food as the Windjammer, but a much more relaxed atmosphere and lots of seating. We ate there a lot, esp. in the morning.

All these plants are real.  The gardeners make constant rounds to
ensure that all plants are at their peak health.

 Central park was my favorite part of the ship.  A floating garden.  Spent a lot of time walking here, snapping pix of the flowers, sitting on the benches and enjoying the scenery. 

Saturday night was opening ceremonies for the Polymer portion of the cruise.  We all met in the conference center (yeah, good lighting and open space!!!).  Meet and greet occurred, with lots of fun and laughs. 


Maureen Carlson opened the ceremonies by blowing a blast on a conch shell.
She is talented in so many ways, but who knew this was one of them!

We had been given our goodie bags at the hotel the night before.  Everything other than the pasta machine and work surface had been included.  We were told what items to bring to class in the morning.   Then there were awards - crowns for the polymer princesses who have cruised twice before, and lovely sterling pearl necklaces for those of us who have cruised 3 or more times with this generous group.

Then we were free to pursue other shipboard interests, or be like me and go to bed since the first class started at 0900.  I am not a morning person, so it was hard for me to adjust. I found I was getting up at the time I normally went to bed.  I find that even now that I am back at home, I am still waking early. Have to get back into the j.o.b. groove and stay up past 10 pm. LOL