Friday, February 24, 2012

The Elation Vacation - Day 2

The second day of vacation started off with a little bit of miscommunication.  Rachel and I were still at our cousin's apartment in downtown Baton Rouge in the morning.  Our mom planned on picking us up around 11:00.  After getting a slow start to the morning, Rachel and I headed down to a coffee shop near Lucas's apartment for some breakfast and some chai.  It was the same coffee shop that I spent some time in while I was in Baton Rouge last March.  Something strange was afoot in the shop, so we didn't receive the best service.  By the time we got our food, our mom and grandparents had shown up (a little bit early) and were wanting to hit the road right away.  That's when I realized eggs and hash browns aren't that great without salt and pepper.  Bleh!

We had to drop off the rental car near the airport before heading down to the dock to catch the ship.  We got to see a little more of the Big Easy, which was awesome!  I wasn't sure what to expect getting onto the boat, but it was a lot like going through the airport.  They wouldn't let anyone bring through any food or liquids, especially if it was open.  Then we had to check in and show photo IDs (our new passports!).  We got onto the boat on the seventh floor, our floor, and right into the bottom of the atrium.


We went around to our room, which was about as big as I expected it to be.  We weren't sure if the other half of our party had arrived yet, and our bags certainly hadn't.  We went up to the buffet for some lunch.  I was amazed at how many options there were both inside and out.  Eventually the rest of our group found us and our bags even showed up.  Meanwhile, there were whispers of an oil spill on the dock.


While taking off the used oil, a hose came loose from the truck and sprayed hundreds of bags.  This happened a little before noon, I believe, and ended up taking hours to settle.  I felt so bad for the people who's bags were destroyed.  Some of them got it really bad.  We spent most of the afternoon exploring the ship and watching the oil spill clean up.


They were a little careless with some of the bags, knocking them over in oil, dragging them through oil, and even spilling the contents in oil.  The whole ordeal lasted the entire afternoon and well into the night.  I think they finally wrapped it up sometime after midnight, after slowly calling the guests down one-by-one to go through their bag with them.  We were supposed to leave the port at 4:00, but we didn't actually leave until sometime after midnight.

Our dinner time was scheduled for 6:00 and we had a whole table to ourselves since there were ten of us.  I think it's pretty cool how they mix up the big tables so you get to know other people.  We found out just how awesome our two waiters--Jayson and Ronnie--were.  They were so much fun!  For dinner each night, they had an everyday menu and a special menu.  The first night I just got a steak off the everyday menu, but it was so delicious!





After dinner, we watched the oil spill clean up some more, played corn hole on the lido deck, went to a game show, and saw some karaoke before most of the group decided to call it a night.  My aunt Joy and I went to see the Welcome Aboard show late that night, the only two that could stay up!  We were asked to dance on stage, but I didn't have the guts.  After the show, we both went to bed.  We were stationary when I fell asleep, but I slept really well that night and every night on the cruise, probably from the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) rocking of the ship.




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