Embarkation Day

Day 19:

They told us we could go to the Animal Kingdom park until 12:30, and then they would pick us up there to take us to the ship. Too cool. We had breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe which was tasty. Then, we went to see Finding Nemo the Musical. It was a great production that we all enjoyed very much! Matthew grabbed 2 more rides on Expidition Everest, which is the crazy ride of that park, and then we just kind of hung out, looked at more amazing animals, then went to the cruise meeting place.
We walked from the park a short distance to the cruise buses. They are very nice, comfortable busses, with portholes for windows. It was a little over an hour bus ride to Port Canaveral, but they played videos which made the trip fly by. I was blown away by the massive ship we were about to board. Since we had taken care of all the embarkation details at the resort, we practically walked right on. We did have to show, birth certificates, and photo ID, but other than that, it was a breeze.
We walked onto the ship, and entered on deck 3, the atrium. Wow! It was amazing. I've never seen anything like it. Everyone already onboard was very excited. We took our carry on bags up to our stateroom (deck 8), and most of our luggage was already there (the rest arrived shortly thereafter). The room is really nice. One room with toilet & sink, another with shower & sink, a large room with queen bed, couch, chair, table, tv, chest, and desk. There is a curtain in the middle of the room to separate the queen bed from the other beds. You're probably thinking, he didn't mention other beds. At night when we were at dinner, they turned our beds down, literally. The couch turned into a bed, a bed lowered from the ceiling, and another from the wall. The kids and I each had our own bed. It was nice.
They fed us a huge buffet lunch while we were waiting to leave. There is a ton of food around here, and most of it is really good.
They had a big Bon Voyage party which was fun. All the Disney characters were on hand, there was lots of music, and they gave us all metallic streamers to wave in the air.
Shortly after we left port, they announced we would be hitting rough water due to a storm a few miles away. Oh great. I took some bonine, so this will be the test. They weren't kidding, it was pretty rough. Jolene got sick, but the rest of us did ok. We had dinner at Triton's which is the fancy restaurant on the ship. They rotate people to each of 3 restaurants, so you get to experience them all. It was good, but didn't have much to offer these country bumpkins who are used to burger & fries. We are such hicks!
After dinner we were all pretty exhausted ( we chose the second seating for dinner which is 8:15) so we looked around a bit, but retired early. I can't believe I'm actually on a cruise.
When we got back to the room, there were chocolates on the bed, and they make animals out of towels to leave in the room. Tonight it was a swan.
I'm very happy that I got a room with a verandah. It's nice to step out and experience the ocean air and view.
Oh wow! I almost forgot to mention one of the coolest things I've ever seen. When we were leaving the port, we saw a bunch of dolphins swimming around by the ship. They were jumping up out of the water and having a great time. They gave us quite a show. Very cool!
I could go on and on about the ship, the food, the people, everything, but I don't want to bore you. Trust me, I'll have plenty more to say later.
God bless you all.