This morning we got up at 6, packed up the car, dropped the dogs off at doggie daycare and drove 3.5 hours to Fort Lauderdale. We got on the ship around noon. Getting on was really easy and took about 15 minutes. Rooms are not ready until 1PM so we made a beeline for Park Café. I had read numerous reviews about their roast beef sandwiches and a friend at my old job told me about them, so I wanted to try one. They definitely live up to the hype. Kyle didn't really seem to want a roast beef sandwich, but he got one and loved it. He went back and got a second one. I definitely want a lot more of those before the cruise is over.

We walked around pretty much the entire ship. We went to the solarium, which is age 16 and up. They have a small pool, a few hot tubs, and the healthier buffet restaurant. I love the hot tubs on this boat. They have a couple that are huge and look like infinity pools. They have two TVS nearby. We saw the other pools, the royal promenade, and the boardwalk. Central Park is definitely my favorite neighborhood. It’s really peaceful and pretty. I love being outside and being by plants, but I get bitten by mosquitos constantly, even when I put on mosquito repellent. It’s nice to be able to sit in Central Park and not have to worry about mosquitos!

Our my time dining reservation was for 6:30, but we were hungry at 5:30 and went to see if we could get in. They had just opened and we got in without a problem. When we left an hour and a half later there was a long line to get in. Dinner was okay. I got two appetizers, the shrimp cocktail and the Caesar salad. I had the seafood spaghetti as my entrée, which was just okay. Kyle got horseradish crusted salmon and his was much better. I don’t like horseradish which is why I didn’t order the salmon, but the horseradish was very subtle and I wish I had gotten that dinner instead.

We saw the comedy show tonight. It wasn’t that good. We liked the host, who is just a regular Royal Caribbean staff member. The main comedian didn’t really impress us much. The opener was better, though not terrific.

The ship is definitely massive and it never feels crowded. There’s just so much to do and there are so many places to be that we never see too many people. I have an okay feel for the ship so far, which will make the rest of the week so much easier. There is so much food here it’s hard to know what to plan. There are five different breakfast places I want to try. For lunch I want more roast beef sandwiches, we’re doing sushi tomorrow, I would like to go to Johnny Rockets, and I want to go to the buffet.

One of my favorite things is all of the interactive screens. They have them placed all over the boat, especially by elevators. You can check a dining room (how busy it is and you can even see the menu for the day), what’s going on right now on the ship, and you can get a map and directions to everywhere. That’s a really nice feature for me since I constantly get lost. In the room you can look on your TV to access that info, plus you can order room service and check your account balance. I really like that because on other cruises I try to keep a running tally to know how much we’ve spent so that the final bill isn’t a surprise. Here I get to see our balance on the TV screen. The food has been okay so far with the exception of the roast beef sandwich, which was amazing.

The room is nice. It’s a pretty normal size cruise room. I really love the closet. It has a lot of space for a cruise ship. The bathroom is a decent size, though the shower is a bit claustrophobic. I like the balcony, it’s a pretty good size.

Tomorrow is a sea day. So far we have reservations for a sushi lunch and we’re seeing Hairspray in the afternoon. Kyle wants to watch the World Cup at 6. I’ll try to watch some but I’m sure that I’ll get bored and wonder off for a bit.