Thanksgiving on a Boat

Grandeur of the Seas

Royal Carribean Cruiseline

Nov 21-28, 2016

Out of Balitimore, MD

Port of Calls: Port Canaveral, FL; Coco Cay, Bahamas; Nassau, Bahamas

This was my 4th cruise, Aaron's 2nd, and Elliot's 1st!

Mom was considerate enough to get surgery on her ankle a couple months before the cruise, so we got to take full advantage of handicap lines with our wheelchair Mom. She can also get around by knee scooter or crutches, but her ankle is still crazy swollen and painful, so we used the wheelchair most of the time. 

It was fairly chilly when we boarded in Baltimore

Elliot telling a strangely dressed Max all about the Wa Wa

The main activity was, as always, dinner. We spent 2 hours eating dinner every night. Our waiters (Kikie and his "wife" Natasha) were great, as was the food and the company. It was great to have time to sit around and talk with everyone there. And did I mention the unlimited quantities of super tasty food?

Elliot was usually good for our long dinners. We would whip out his Elmo alphabet puzzle when he started getting bored of food. On one of the fancy dress nights, he decided that enough was enough and started throwing a fit during dessert. I got him out and he stormed from the restaurant. I couldn't help but laugh as he stomped past the other guests wearing his nice shirt and vest, tears streaming down his face. He calmed down as soon as we got to his beloved elevator. 

Elliot loved the Elevator, which he called the "Up and Down." He would wake up in the morning and usually say something along the lines of "Max Mimi Up-and-down Yogurt," which was pretty much the itinerary for the morning.

Waiting for the elevator can be tough

There was a random guy on the ship that looked eerily similar to my brother Clint, only very buff and in his 40's. We ended up inventing a detailed back story for Buff Clint. I hope that the poor man's real life is not as tragic as the one we made up for him. I also loved hearing stories from Max. His best one involved him accidentally texting a sound recording of 5 seconds of smooth jazz to his ex girlfriend when he was restoring his phone. Classic!

Playing with the huge connect 4

Going for a post breakfast walk on deck with Grumpa

Our main hangout place was the Solarium because they had the biggest table there. They also had a small cafe to provide us with a steady flow of french fries and deserts.  We spent most of our days on the boats camped out here playing board games. We would bring out Elliot's blocks and the Elmo puzzle, which was usually enough to keep him happy while we played. 

Breezy and Elliot swimming in the Solarium

 Elliot slept fairly well on the boat. We were able to borrow a baby monitor that worked pretty well. The first night, Aaron and I woke him up when we were coming in to go to sleep. He screamed for a few hours because he knew we were in there and he wanted to play with us. After several unsuccessful attempts to put him back to bed in his crib or to get him to sleep with us in our bed, we cracked the bathroom door with the light on and let him play with his Elmo Alphabet puzzle in his crib while we slept. He did that quietly for about an hour before telling it go bye-bye, at which point he let me put him to sleep for real. After that fun night, we were super stealthy and got ready in the tiny bathroom without waking him up.