Friends and Fiberworks Malabrigo Cruise to the Caribbean Flyer

Yes... Caribbean... Malabrigo... Cruise...

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Cruise- Sea Day 1

I've already realized that I can't fit an entire day into a single post. I'll save all of the Fibery things for a single post-so much wonderful stuff (and the reason I was on the ship in the first place) and around forty wonderful Fiber Folks along for the fun. It was amazing, but all of that deserves a dedicated post.

So, every evening, the staff turns down your bed and leaves chocolates on your pillow, and makes a towel animal (which will get a dedicated post too). They also leave a flyer explaining the next day's activities.

 The front cover shows the date, and the destination (in this case, a full day at sea), plus the sunrise and sunset times.

On the back, lots of interesting info.

 On the inside, enough activities to keep everyone busy all day. I taught on our sea days, so I wasn't able to join any of the activities, but the ship was a hoppin', all the time.

I meant to go to the play one evening, but never made it. I hear it was good (both versions, The British Invasion, and the Motown Version). I did manage some shopping, and I had a free afternoon after being on shore, so I ventured up to the Spa for a manicure (pictures later).

 A timeline of everything happening.

And the times for the various dining rooms. I ate breakfast in the Windows on the Sea buffet every morning (except once- the main dining room didn't open early enough for me to eat there on teaching days). DeeAnn and I opted for the early dining in the Celebration Room, and were generally there promptly at 5:45. We didn't realize that the rest of the Fibery Folk had opted for the other dining room, so we weren't able to eat with any of them. I hear they were a wonderfully wild crowd.

I'm an early riser, and it was kind of nice, being in the Windows on the Sea early in the morning, I had the place mostly to myself. But the buffet was huge- all kinds of foods (plus eggs and omelettes made to order), plus a dozen kinds of breads and rolls, cereal, yogurt, fruit, and breakfast meats, plus coffee, milk, juice, etc. There was always lots and lots of food, in unlimited quantities. At lunch, there was a whole table of just desserts. And an ice cream machine. Again, unlimited.

Early morning, out on the deck, looking up at a lifeboat. It was always hot and thick- even at night. There were no cool breezes, though it wasn't too hot in the mornings (it got plenty hot later).

Sunrise on the Atlantic- not as many colors as sunrise on the prairie (though Red Sky at Morning is not a good sign at sea). Those are clouds on the horizon, not land and trees. BTW- this was my first ocean sunrise. I was, previously, a Pacific Only Girl, which features sunsets (at least from our vantage point- I'm sure they see both in Hawaii).

Sunrise, video version.

Beautiful cobalt blue Atlantic. Our wake, from the aft deck.

The first At Sea Day was also Elegant Dining Day. DeeAnn and I came prepared with dresses.

And if I say so myself, we look mighty fine. And Sassy.

And oh, the food in the dining room. The staff waits on you, hand and foot. I can't say that I ever wished for someone to place a napkin on my lap, but that happened every evening. And once again, there were unlimited quantities of amazing foods- warm breads, appetizers, entrees, and desserts. A list of available-every-day things, and then new items each day. It was often hard to choose, and many did not- they had several of each. We were good, and limited ourselves to one of each, but man... it was all so delicous. One evening, I had alligator fritters for my appetizer (I'll do a separate food post too).

In the evenings, we usually just went back to our room and read, but there were many many evening activities for those who didn't poop out right at sundown. We slept each night to the gentle rocking of the ship (smooth seas all but the very last day at sea, and even that one wasn't bad, maybe 5' swells). I had no trouble with motion sickness, thank goodness.

So tomorrow (or later today, if I get ambitious), Fibery Fun!

Cruise- Day 1 & 2

I'm back, and I still don't have my land-legs (I'm not exactly dizzy, but the earth seems to gently roll back and forth a bit). I'm leaving again, next Friday, for the Michigan Fiber Festival, but at least there, I'll have internet access.

So, there's no time to dilly dally- here, mostly in pictures, are the first two days of this amazing journey.

 At the Aberdeen Regional Airport, waiting to board the first flight of the day, to Minneapolis. From there, I went to LaGuardia. I have no idea why I was routed through LaGuardia, but I caught glimpses of the Statue of Liberty, the new World Trade Center, Central Park, Manhattan, and many cool bridges before we landed.

I had plenty of time to become disenchanted with LaGuardia itself (not enough chairs, and not a single charging station or outlet anywhere that I could see), because we were on the plane, and then off the plane, and then back on the plane, and then taxi-ing for an hour, due to GPS woes. I arrived in Charleston 3 hours late.

Luckily, my high school friend DeeAnn, waited for me at the airport (for 4 full hours... above and beyond the call). We drove to the Airport Radisson in Charleston for the night.

No matter where you go, no matter where you stay, every motel room has one of these. The staff and food at the Radisson were all great, as was the shuttle service and the free parking, so it seems churlish to complain that the room was a bit shabby (and on my return stay, it was downright sad, with a broken toilet seat and no plug in the sink, etc). But we slept well, and they got us to the port safely, and on time.

 Our luggage in the lobby, waiting to be transported to the ship. It got there before we did, and was delivered to our room later in the afternoon.

 Standing in line, the first of several times we had to show our passport and boarding passes. It was very hot and sticky.

 First sight of the ship. It's a Big Boat.

  Closer. We weren't allowed to take any pictures during customs/arrival, but we got our Sign and Sail Cards, which doubled as ID (except when we needed Passports), room key, and credit card for all on-board purchases. I have a feeling that many people were very surprised at the total at the end of the cruise.

 I didn't realize how fuzzy this shot was until I got it on the computer. Here's the big glass elevator in the central lobby. We're talking sensory overload, here.

 This is the Lido Deck, where the pool and hot tub is. It was very hot on the Lido deck and I did not spend any more time there than necessary. I wasn't about to get in the pool with 2,000 screaming teenagers, and had no desire to get in a hot tub when the air temp was over 100 (up on the Lido deck, anyway, which was open to the full sun and yet sheltered from any breeze at all) and the humidity matching. Many people did enjoy all of those things though. The interior of the ship was nicely air conditioned, so we didn't have to be any hotter than we liked. Except during the safety drill, which took place on the Lido Deck... I almost didn't make it.

Our room was bigger than I expected, and nicely appointed. It was small, but there was plenty enough room for us. Every morning someone made the bed, and every evening, someone turned the bed down, left chocolates, an itinerary of the next day's ship (or land) activities, and a towel animal. I'll do a post of the assorted towel beasties in a day or so. We had a window (did not open), which was lovely (and cost an extra $100@- worth it).

At sea around 5:00pm on the first day, passing Fort Sumpter.

Me, on the deck, already with the Humidity Hair (soon to become a Cruise Theme).

We conked out early that first night (well, every night), but we spent most of the first afternoon just exploring, and getting kind of lost (though all Cruise Employees were very helpful).

Official photo of the ship.

Us, on our first day on the ship (they take your picture everywhere, all the time- you'd go broke trying to buy them all). This is a photo of a photo, not a scan, so it's not totally clear.

I don't know how clear this will be, even if you click on it, but here's the ship layout and some helpful colored dots.

Tomorrow- first day at sea and classes.