Mom, Bob, and I had had a great time exploring Miami the day before, but now it was time to move on to our next destination: the Imagination ship which part of the fleet of cruise liners – the fifth of eight build in the Fantasy class. Not only was the ship itself similar to the Ecstasy that I had Mom and I had both been on for the 1996 Sons of the Desert convention, but we would also be making the same two stops in Key West and Cozumel that we did on that cruise. I hadn’t been on a cruise of any sort since then, while Mom had been on several.That Monday morning, February 7, 2011, we got up and (quite dumbly) had a big breakfast at the Denny’s across the street, then checked out of the Best Western, and headed out at about 11am – catching the sounds and sights of a car wreck in the street by our motel parking lot.
Pre-cruise car crash. I’d be having my own before the month was over.
The next two hours were consumed with all of the mundane minutia that it took to get from the motel to our ship: driving the rental car back to the Hertz, catching the shuttle back to the appropriate airport terminal, locating our shuttle, being transported to the port, going through customs, checking the luggage, checking in (and getting our sail and sign card), and then boarding the boat with our carry-on stuff in tow.
On the gangplank, ready to board the Imagination
It was 1pm when we boarded the ship. Our rooms weren’t going to be ready until 2:00, so we were directed to eat lunch on the Lido deck. I was immediately impressed by the quality of the food. I chose to eat the Italian lunch that included baked penne with smoked ham and grilled Sicilian style base, and some chocolate milk. I had done pretty well on my diet before embarking on this trip and while the temptation to over-endulge on a cruise ship is massive, I took one look at the individual sitting next to our table and decided that I was going to behave for this trip.
First lunch on the ship: penne and chocolate milk
Mom polishes off some frozen yogurt
My motivation for moderation for the week
Once we got into our stateroom and determined that I would be sleeping in the bunk that was just a couple feet from the ceiling, I took a power nap on Mom & Bob’s double bed while they took a walk around the ship. At 4:00, we all gathered in the Dynasty Lounge and were briefed on the what to do if the ship has a fire or emergency that would cause us to need to put on life vests and depart in the escape boats. We made our way out onto the deck and watched as we began sailing away from Miami.
Mom and Bob during debarkation
I’m sailing away…
Miami gets further away
The wind at the rear of the ship turns my hair into wreckage
The three of us then explored the ship, checking out the pool area, the miniature golf course, the area where our debarkation pictures were available for purchase (here we found out that we get yelled out by ‘chubby foreign girl’ if we attempt to take any pictures of our pictures), and with some difficulty found the small sushi bar set-up whereby they were handing out free sushi. Not in the slightest bit hungry I downed two rounds of Spicy Tuna Uramaki Roll, Ponzo Salmon, and Shrimp Nigiri – along with a glass of Blue Moon.
Overview of the pool area
Enjoying some pre-dinner sushi
An hour later, it was time for our 6pm dinner seating in the Pride dining room. I didn’t overdo it, having only a Caesar Salad, Grilled Flat Iron Steak, and the Diet Orange Cake. We made the acquaintance of our tablemates Shannon, Chris, and Alena – two sisters and a friend from the Florida Keys, and Deana, Ricki, and Vanessa – a Mom and two daughters from Indianapolis.
Dessert time during our first dinner
Mom bought this fancy photo of our pirate attack
There was a free liquor tasting in one of the main shopping hubs outside the Dynasty Lounge, where we were able to have a couple of thimble-sized samples of a Kahlua-based beverage. I also scouted the internet cafe and paid the ridiculous rate required to get about 90-minutes total of usage for the entire week, so I could supply updates on Facebook and check out my new account on eHarmony. One girl in particular caught my eye on this day – a gal named Jamie from Findlay, Ohio, so I sent a communication off to her.
I then headed back to the Dynasty Lounge to catch the tail end of Comedy Movie Trivia, back to the computer, and again the tail-end of a ridiculous on-stage Disco Dancing Class – which some numbskull twenty-somethings dressed in Santa Claus garb nearly ruined. I met back up with Mom and Bob and we watched the The Gender Showdown and Game Show Mania (which was akin to Jeopardy, but more of a basic trivia-for-points based game). During the games we were introduced to the coveted ship-on-a-stick trophy that winner received. We wanted one…
Game Show Mania
… and we got one. At 10pm, Mom, Bob, and I moved over to the Mirage Bar for some piano Name That Tune over a Blue Moon beverage. There were about five teams participating. A group of rowdy ladies next to us insisted that they were going to win. However, they proved no match for Mom and me who picked up each others’ slack on selections that we weren’t familiar with. Since the other ladies were so adamant, I let them grade our card before we were ultimately rewarded with our very own ship-on-a-stick – which was basically a cheap plastic gold ship on a pedestal.
Name That Tune victory and our first and only Ship-on-a-Stick (standard pronounciation: Sheep-on-a-Steek)
For the final show of the evening, we caught the Welcome Aboard Show at 10:15, which was a musical, game, nonsense conglomeration of stuff. It was mildly entertaining, but I’d had enough cruise ship shows for the evening. I was ready to get to bed at a decent hour and begin our next couple of days of shore excursions.
The cruise will continue with our stop in Key West, Florida…
When Bob & I went on a similar cruise last year, we had already witnessed people winning “ship on a stick” trophies, so we went to the Mirage Bar and won the Name that Tune game also (it was on show tunes). Anyway the guy asked if we knew what we were going to win, and we said a “ship on a stick” and he said no, do you want one? Then we ended up winning a bottle of champagne, not too shabby.
Darlene
March 15th, 2011