Saturday morning was very exciting as my sister and I made our way to the Port of New Orleans.   We were one of the first to embark and we were delighted that we had a special line.  We had upgraded to a junior suite about a month before the cruise.  I had been watching the website and noticing the prices had gone down for our balcony room as the date got closer.  I called Royal Caribbean and upgraded us to a Luxury Junior suite for only an extra $160 total.  This meant we were now special!  I loved it.  Even though we weren’t allowed in our stateroom until after 1pm, and we were not due to sail until 4pm, we were there before noon.

We sat up on the deck and my sister checked in with her son.  This was to be her first time in his lifetime that she would be out of communication and unreachable.  Her son was born with Spina Bifada 29 years ago.  I was proud of her for booking the cruise knowing that she would be out at sea.  Wouldn’t you know it, her son did have a medical issue and was admitted to a hospital on the very day we embarked.  My sister was ok with it not being a life threatening ailment but was not pleased that he went to the hospital that they know provides less than stellar care.  She worried for the remainder of the cruise but kept it to herself.

We had arranged to meet some Cruise Critic members at the Sail Away party.  We wore our Mardi Gras beads as instructed and showed up at the right place at the right time – but we didn’t see anyone else wearing beads. Nobody approached us at all.  We enjoyed the Sail Away music, our cocktail and the view of New Orleans as we sailed down the Mighty Mississippi.   That’s one mighty long river!  It seems it was midnight before we reached the open waters of the Gulf coast.

We met our Stateroom attendant (Tony) and I promptly tipped him $20 and asked for comfy toppers for our bed.  Later that evening I also requested he find us another deck chair, since only one of us was able to recline on our balcony.  Tony was happy to oblige, and did so with a smile.

Our first night in the dining room we were shocked to find ourselves sitting at a table for two.  I had requested a table for 6-8 when we had registered with Omar, the RCL Travel Wizard.  I already knew all about my sister, so the next morning we requested to be moved to a larger table.  The meal the first night was good for me, not so good for my sister.

We were amazed when we returned to the stateroom to find that my sister’s luggage had been labeled “contraband”.  We had followed the advice of Cruise Critic and brought along a surge protector so that we could power our many electronic devices.  Apparently this is not allowed… go figure.  I had also smuggled in a similar cord, but I suppose they didn’t look in my luggage.  Turns out we didn’t need it anyway, since we had upgraded to the Junior suite, there were plenty of power outlets.

Our first day at sea we arranged to take full advantage of the Spa – I booked a full massage and my sister booked a neck, shoulder and foot massage.  I had a very small woman from China.  She applied a lot of pressure in my deep tissue massage.  It was absolutely wonderful to release all my stress right at the start of my trip.

The rest of the day was a bit boring.  I no longer worship the sun – I try to stay out of it as much as possible, so while the deck was crowded with sun bathers, my sister and I looked for a shady, adult spot to read our kindles.  We migrated back to the cabin and found that our balcony was just right.

My sister kept cranking up the air conditioning in our state room – I had to wear sweats and a jacket – or go out to the balcony to warm up.  I guess this is a critical factor when selecting your travel partner – be sure you agree on the best temperature for your room.  I kept turning up the thermostat, she kept turning it down.

I got a bit bored and so we went down to the little theatre and watched a movie I had already seen.  I wished I gambled or shopped, so that there would be more options.  As it was, I barely even read for pleasure… this was a boring day!