Day 4 of our Carnival Glory Experience

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Since I basically didn't sleep, I am dressed and ready to go a 7 am. My sweetie remains asleep snoring softly.  I don't have the heart to wake him although as time goes by I seem to have less and less heart.

He wakes up at 9 am, meaning he slept 12 consecutive hours.  But, he is feeling exceptional.  No more seasickness and he is ready to take on the world.  He obviously needed the sleep.  He dresses slowly and we go to the Lido deck for breakfast, even though I am still full from yesterday.

I have a delicious made-to-order omelet from the omelet station.  He has a plate of carbohydrates with one egg for good measure.  I suggest we take some milk and yogurt back to our room to put in our fridge in case we want a snack in our room.  How ridiculous.  There is nothing but exceptional food here wherever and whenever we want.  I am still full from yesterday and stuffing an omelet inside me only because it is so good.

Since today is our fun day at sea, we go back to change into our bathing suits.  There is our first towel animal.  It's a pig.  Everyday, we get a new one and everyday it is just a source of complete joy.  I love Garry.  We take pictures and we don't want to disturb our new friend.  When we exit, Garry meets us in the hallway and asks us if everything is to our liking.  Yes, everything is to the liking of this Queen and King.  How could it not?

We got to try the adult pool and whirlpools.  It is a salt water pool and it is cold but lovely and invigorating.  I sit by the pool and God envelopes me in warmth throughout my body.  I truly feel embraced by God and am at total peace.  My sweetie doesn't like the sun as much as I do so he goes in the shade about 10 feet away from me and does crossword puzzles.  I decide I am going through books too quickly so I work on my sudoku book.  I literally can't believe how clear my mind is and how smart I am.  Before cruise, it was taking me about 15 minutes to complete an easy puzzle.  Now, I am seeing the numbers so clearly and it is taking me less than 5 minutes to complete a difficult puzzle.

My sweetie has his eye on his watch because I want to play in a poker tournament at 11 am.  There are only two tournaments on the cruise and I want to play in both of them.  At 5 minutes to 11, he comes to tell me that it is time to go if I want to make the tournament.  I decline.  Anyone who knows me knows that I travel hundreds of miles to play in a tournament yet I can not even get up to take an elevator down 4 floors.  My sweetie wonders who I am and what did I do with Shelley?  I remain more than content to bask in the sun.

He asks me if I am hungry.  Are you kidding?  I've had my caloric allowance for the whole cruise, I feel like I will never be hungry again.  I encourage him to eat.  He goes and brings back a feast, enough for two, he says.  I can't even look at food, I am so stuffed.  He enjoys his meal.

I don't know how I got to be so lucky to have this amazing man.  He is so supportive.  His primary job on this adventure is to ensure I am hydrated.  Any time my water bottle gets below one ounce, he makes sure it is filled.

At 11:55 am, he reminds me that he had planned to go to trivia at 12 noon.  He asks me if he wants me to stay with me or if I want to go with him.  It is important to know that on Carnival, there are typically 99 structured activities every day.  I decide I want to stay embraced in God's warmth.

My sweetie goes to trivia and comes back disappointed that he finished 3rd.  He shows me the answer sheet and tells me the questions and I hear nothing.  I am so relaxed.  I manage to convince him to come in the whirlpool with me.  We watch the clear blue waters of the ocean all around us. 

I notice we are telling each other how much we love each other all the time.  We usually just tell each other than that a few times a day.  Now, we are telling each other that all the time.  And, each time he tells me, it feels profound like the first time ever.

I go back to my lounge chair and he goes to explore the ship.   He comes back at around 4 pm and tells me we should start getting ready for Elegant Attire Night.  Do we have to?   I'm so comfortable and getting dressed up seems like so much work.  My sweetie assures me that I will have fun.  I delay for as long as I can.  How often do you get to be embraced by God?  But, my sweetie is taking such good care of me that I need to trust him.

We get dressed.  I look alright.  The love of my life looks like he just stepped off of the cover of People's Sexiest Man Alive issue.  He is wearing a stylish red long sleeved shirt, tanned pants, and black loafers.  He knows how good he looks, and can't believe how he wardrobe has evolved since we've been together.  Everything he used to wear made him look old and like a fuddy-duddy.  In that outfit, he looks twenty years younger and I worry that people are going to mistake me for his mother.

As we proceed to dinner, we can not even believe the energy throughout the whole ship.  Everyone is dressed elegantly; some just in dress pants and some in designer gowns.  Everyone on ship is so friendly and excited.  It takes us forever to get to the dining room as we are admiring people getting their pictures taken and looking at the children, specifically the little Princes and Princesses.  Since becoming grand-parents our whole focus has changed.  We are constantly reminded of Ollie.  We see some Princesses who would be worthy companions of Ollie and we feel bad for all the other little boys who are not as cute as Ollie.  I say something that I would end up saying everyday on our adventure, "I wish Ollie was here, but on the other hand, if we here, I would likely be dead."  I can just imagine running around trying to steer him clear of danger.

We get to our table and we are sitting next to a retired couple who live in West Palm Beach County which is about 5 miles away from Trump's Mar-A-Lago.  They are a gold mine of information about Trump before and after being elected Presidency.  I can't believe our luck in sitting next to this couple.  I will devote their inside information to another blog entry.

We are enticed to get a bottle of wine with dinner, after all, it is elegant night.  The "shot shot shots guy" comes by trying to sell us a shot glass for $5 and get the shot for free.  Tonight, it is Limoncello which I don't like, so I pass.  But, I know I have 5 more nights to have a shot.  It turned out he never had a shot that I liked, however, I looked forward to his visit every night.  He is pure joy.  He seems to annoy everyone else in the dining room, but I just smile whenever I hear, "shot shot shots!".

After appetizers, we are torn between having the Lobster tail or the Prime Rib for the entree.  The couple next to us advise that they ordered both and you can order as much as you want.  That was not good information for us to have.  I ordered prime rib and my sweetie ordered lobster tail.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to eat one entree.  So, I noticed one other difference between Americans and Canadians.  Our au jus is clear and theirs is dark more like a gravy.  No big deal.  I just wan't have au jus.  My sweetie advises that the lobster was so good, he is going to order another one.  I order one, too.  I can't believe that we both ate two entrees.  We didn't have room for dessert but had one any way.  These desserts are so well presented that you just can not pass them up.

While we are on our second entree, the Maitre D welcomes us to Elegant Night and introduces his staff and indicates that he has a team of 320 wait staff from all over the world and they all want to ensure we have the best experience possible.  From everything we have seen so far, we believe him.  Then, the wait staff do a choreographed dance to Justin Timberlake's Can't Stop the Feeling.  It is so well done and I have to get up and dance with them. A photographer comes and takes our pictures, separately and together.  The woman sitting next to us says that our together picture will be awesome and will reflect how deeply in love we are.  She turns out to be right.

My waiter, Antonius is an amazing man.  I have just met him and I already know he is under-employed and he should be Director of Human Resources.  A very wise man.  We don't get to be served by him until the last night, but every time he sees me, he remembers me and calls me Miss Shelley.  After all the people he waits on, he remembers me.  I feel really special and I will remember his smile forever.

As we are trying to make our way back to our room, we stop in the Colors Lobby to catch the last song of the Acoustic Jams with Rachel.  It seems Rachel is performing all over the ship 18 hours a day.  Everywhere we go, we listen to her talent.  Unfortunately, we are always on our way somewhere so we never get a chance to tell her how talented she is and how much we enjoyed her.

We start to people watch and everyone is so happy.  It feels like we are at the poshest wedding ever.  While we are there, we listen to the instrumental grooves of the Glorious Bandsters.  Now, we feel like we are at a posh private club.  They are awesome.  After they are finished their set, the drummer comes down to talk to us.  His name is Pierre and he is from Montreal.  He seems to genuinely enjoy talking to us and talking about ship life.  We ask him as many questions as we can think of.  He is really positive and really honest.  He doesn't seem to be coached at all, just three people having a conversation.  That is how all of our conversations with the crew go.  They are all positive and it never seems coached.

He spends his whole break with us.  I keep feeling like Perez Hilton with all these inside scoops.  The band is back and this time with Sasha, an extra-ordinary talent who is an amazing beauty.  She is so beautiful.  Later in the cruise, thanks to our friendship with Pierre, we get to talk to her and we babble like teenage girls.  Sasha tells us, "I like you two."  Our hearts stop for a moment when she says that.

All of a sudden that show is done and the PlayList Productions Cast come out to promote their production.   Why did we miss it?

And, then, could it be, was it?  I didn't want to get my hopes up too high so I tried to calm myself, But, then, it was true, there, right in front of me, was Dustin the Cruise Director.  OMG.  Dustin was right in front of me.  It was sort of like seeing Prince Harry in front of me.  I was up on my feet in a second ordering my sweetie to take our picture together.  The two pictures taken were completely amazing of Dustin, but you can barely make me out.  I'm shaking too much, after all, it was Dustin !!!

It turns out we are in the middle of the Motown Music Trivia Party.  We love Motown Music !!  And there is the whole Fun Squad.  For some reason, I am drawn to Leo.  I love the way he dances.  He has this way of dancing where he is extremely rhythmic but barely moves his feet.  It is fascinating.  I wonder if I will ever have a chance to meet Leo.

Dustin takes to the stage and tries to rev up the crowd.  He uses Rock and Roll Part 2 by Gary Glitter.  I understand that this is a universal song to "let's get this party started" but Gary Glitter is such a disgusting human being that I wish his music would not be used.   Besides, Dustin doesn't need it.  He is amazing and doesn't need any aides to warm up the crowd.

Regardless, the lobby is electric, and not just the 3rd level but the 4th level decks and the 5th level decks.  We are all up dancing to the Motown hits.  There is a young African American man who can't his girlfriend up on the dance floor so he asks to join us.   This guy is about 25 years old and literally the coolest dude I have ever seen.   And he wants to join us?  A middle aged white couple?  He wants to join us and I was just about to pay him to join us.  We dance a couple of songs and then I sit down and watch my amazing sweetie dance shoulder to shoulder with this guy like they are BFFs.  I can't believe it.  My sweetie is a wonderful man but he has no musicality.  I know poodles who dance better than him.  Yet, there he is dancing and keeping up with the young man half his age and the two of them are totally in sync and keep fist-bumping each other.  If you knew my sweetie, you know what an amazing feat this is.  I contently sit silently crying tears of joy while I video-tape the two of them.  Just when I think I can't be surprised by him anymore, he surprises me.   I am so in love with this man.

After the party, we find ourselves back to our room.  We keep expecting to find an enormous bill or an order to de-bark ship, but it never happens.  Our whole adventure seems like a |"start the boat" experience.