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| From Cruise 2010 |
Today is the first full day on the ship and Nicholas seems to be enjoying himself so far. He is tired and overstimulated, so a little manic at times, but overall doing very well.
I am realizing just how much more tightly wound I am these days than in years past and how much more anxious I was about the logistics of this trip because I am having more trouble acclimating to cruise life. I think by day 4 I will have relaxed enough to really start soaking it in, just in time to pull back into port.
But everyone is so helpful and accommodating, so much so that it keeps catching me off guard. I have to give the staff major credit for all they have done for Nicholas. For example, last night at dinner the waiter brought Nicholas over a cup of fruit right away, which was wonderful because he was famished. And it meant he was distracted while we looked at the menu and ordered.
So far three problems/annoyances have arisen.
The first is our fault. I forgot to bring dish soap to clean his sippy cups and since they have milk in them they really need to be actually washed rather than just rinsed. It occurred to me as we were driving up but when we passed a grocery store near the port we couldn’t remember what we needed. The first staff person we asked said they don’t have any because they just use big industrial machines to wash dishes, but another said she would have some sent to our room. So hopefully some will arrive sometime today. If not we may have to search for some once we get to Bermuda.
The second is that the baby/toddler playtime the cruiseline advertised was pretty awful. It was listed as for 6-18 months but the toys and the woman there really were targeting around 3-7 month olds. As we’ve mentioned before, Nicholas tends to just look at people like they’re crazy when they talk babytalk to him. The fact that the staff person was trying to get him interested in toys he grew out of last fall and speaking nonsense did not go over well. And so he was just giving her skeptical looks and kept saying “bye bye” or “go bye bye” until we let him leave.
The third is that apparently kids who aren't yet potty trained are not allowed in any of the pools on the ship, even wearing swimming diapers and even in the kiddie pool. Between that restriction and the crappy play session, there is officially nothing for him to do on the ship. Well, no that isn’t true, but no activities aimed at him and no amenities he is allowed to use. He is perfectly happy to walk around staring at all the lights and commotion and to watch the elevators go up and down, but I was hoping for more. (For some reason he seems to be calling elevators “bupbup” maybe as a variation of “up” but we’re not sure.)
On a completely different note, Nicholas seems completely unfazed by the fact that we’re in the middle of the ocean. It was the same with the plane rides last week. I guess he doesn’t yet realize how unusual those views are. He thought the forklift trucks that were lifting baggage yesterday were much more interesting than this giant boat. But man did he love those trucks! He was practically jumping out of his stroller shouting “Guk guk guk guk!” “Yes, buddy, I see the trucks, calm down.”
The main point of this vacation was for Nicholas to spend a lot of time with his grandparents and aunts and uncles. So far he is being a little shy and it is taking him some time to warm up to all the aunts and uncles. He was excited to see Uncle Patrick, who he has seen a few times in the last couple months, but a little more unsure of the others. But he isn’t being insanely clingy like he was in Louisville, so hopefully in the next day or so it’ll click in for him.
It is the Fourth of July, but it doesn't really feel like it. There are some decorations around the ship and there was a giant American flag cake (yummy), but obviously no fireworks. Joe and Nicholas are wearing appropriate attire, however (Nicholas is in a shirt with an image of the original broadside of the Declaration of Independence on it and Joe is wearing a shirt with Franklin's "Join or Die" cartoon), and "we" won a special 4th of July trivia session this morning.
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| From Cruise 2010 |
Tonight is the formal night and I am sure dozens (okay, or hundreds) of pictures will be taken. Nicholas even has his own tuxedo, which is sure to be adorable. Hopefully he is patient enough to let us put all the pieces on.
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