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January 16, 2006 - 11:59 p.m.
"the cruise: day 2" or "key west, florida"

Hey Journal!

Today was Day 2! The ship arrived at Key West at 7:30 in the morning! We woke up at 6:30 and got ready for the day...then we met at the Restaurant Buffet Bellagio for Breakfast Brunch. We chose the brunch over the sit down breakfast because we didn't want to get up any earlier..and we had to be ready for our excursion at 8:30. Anyway, we watched as we pulled in to Key West, and the buffet was yummy. I had eggs (not so great), sausage (amazing), bacon, cereal, and orange juice, and chocolate milk. I like that all the food is included... it makes me happy. (And my initial outrage at the non-inclusion of Soda is kinda subsiding. I don't really need soda... I've been drinking Orange Juice, Water, and Chocolate Milk, so who needs Soda! LOL) Plus I bought some Gatorade in Key West, so I should be fine!!

Anyway...back to my story..somehow they got our excursion reservations screwed up, and they didn't put them into the computer. We talked to the excursion lady, and she rebooked us, and so we got off the boat at Key West and waited on the dock for the bike tour. We befriended an old lady who was alone, and then we walked through some of the streets to the bike place. We got bikes and then headed down the roads of Key West.. it was really cool.. I liked it...it was so quiet and relaxed, and even though it's part of the US..it was so wild. We went by many of the stores, and then to the southernmost point of the island, which is the southernmost point of the United States. We also saw the beginning of the Highway US1, which is referred to as Mile Zero. We saw Harry S Truman's house, and Ernest Hemingway's House. Very cool. I got some great pictures, but unfortunately I couldn't take my new camera, because I was afraid of how to hold onto it while riding a bike, so I took my older Olympus camera. It was a good choice, I guess, because I did a few risky shots, like pics while riding the bike, which I wouldn't have done with the expensive one.

Jessica's bike had a problem with the spokes, and the wheel was bent...lol go figure. She had a wobbly ride. After the tour, we went to the bathroom in the office of the place (because all of the outside bathrooms were locked for some unknown reason.) We had a great time, the Bike tour was sooo fun. It lasted a little over two hours, and when we finished we went to several of the stores. Dan and I split from the rest, and walked around on our own. I bought a T-Shirt and we got our pic taken at a few places. The first people we asked couldn't figure out how to use the camera, and it's also interesting to note that they were all (3 of them) wearing Martin Luther King Shirts... BIG pictures of him on the shirt. lol

Then we asked a lady to take our pic in front of the dock, and she said, "no English"...so I pointed to the camera, and then the button, and she understood LOL...so she did it. It's a nice pic. :) She was wild though, she had a crazy Butterfly pin on her lapel. LOL

Then we walked the dock, which apparently is owned by Hilton, and then we got back on the boat. We came to our cabin and hung out for a while, then got ready to go in the pool. Dan and I got lunch at the Bellagio Buffet (hamburgers, chicken, and fries) and then went in the hot tub. The first hot tub had annoying bratty children in it, so we relocated to the other one..much better. We listened to the Calypso band which was playing. It was fun. We stayed there for a while, and then met everyone else up on the deck where they were sunning in the chairs. I stayed there fora bit.. and I think I got a little sunburn on my neck from the time in the hot tub.

After that, we returned to our rooms for the "drill". It was amazing. Max, our wonderful Cruise Director. He told us that what to do when the alarms sound, and then he repeated it in Italian. It was followed by a woman saying the same in French, and then a man in Spanish. LOL That took a good while. Then the alarm finally went off, and we donned our sporty life vests, complete with BLINKING LIGHT and whistle. :) We then went to deck 4, and out to MUSTER STATION F which was our rendezvous point. It was a great experience.

After that we met Dan's mom and dad in the lobby of Deck 5 (Leonardo) for Bingo in the Grand Bar Salento. Bingo was a rip off, cause it was three cards, one game only...and we all lost. LOL We did however get drinks, and alcohol always makes things funner. (I know that's not a word.)

So...after that we returned to Dan's parents' room and we looked for Dolphins outside their balcony (they saw some swimming in the boat's wake..on the side) but we didn't see any. We then left to come back to our cabins on Deck 1 (Giorgione 1342 and 1338). We then showered up and got ready for the Captain's Gala....something... Dan took a nap while I showered, and then we got dressed and ready.

We proceeded to the Teatro with Brian and Jessica, because Dan's mom and dad were not ready yet. They gave out drink and horderves, and played music. At 8:20, the captain came out...Captain Giuseppe Russo, and he said Hello and introduced the other important people.

After that, we went to dinner at Portofino. Tonight's menu was written on a scroll which was tied in a roll with a ribbon. They had some good stuff, but none of the entrees were enjoyable. I got the Alternate Spaghetti and Meatballs instead. The desserts were weird, except for the mousse! It was very enjoyable, but it was more like ice cream. Dinners are long, and that's kinda weird...but at the same time it's nice to relax and such.

After dinner we went to the casino, where I bought ten dollars of coins. I played the slots.. the best one.. BEACH PARTY. I had lost almost all of my money, but then it started to reward me! lol I set limits, and almost always stuck to them. LOL I even got Beach Party twice, which is a bonus round where you win extra coins until you hit the POOP square. LOL It's very complex, you see. Anyway, I had 140, and set my limit at 120, then lost that.. and kept losing (which is where I broke my limit) and settled out at 100. Anyway, tonight I came in with 10, left with 30.. so today I was +20. Yesterday I was -10, so combined I am currently +10. Go me.

After the casino, Dan and I took a walk around the boat... he got ice cream, and I took some pictures.

It's now 12:04, and I must get to bed... Tonight we get an extra hour of sleep because we are changing time zones. Tomorrow is Cozumel, Mexico!! (Where you can't drink the water.) We are getting up at 8:30 local time, which means we GAIN an extra hour. :) We are then meeting at the sit-down breakfast at Portofino at 9:00, then heading out to LA PLAYA MIA, which is a beach club resort, where we will spend the day on a nice beach.. OPEN BAR INCLUDED...but again, you can't drink the water, so where does that leave us? hmmm. Soda, I guess. Or mixed drinks with no ice? I dunno. Sheesh.

It's crazy because everyone on this ship speaks about 5 languages. It's NUTS... but mostly they speak Italian and English... Mostly English...but you can tell they're Italian. They speak to each other in Italian.

ANYWAY, we are back now, watching some TV and getting ready for bed... I can't believe two days are over already...they are flying by, but they are sooo much fun. It needs to slow down!! :) Weather is great... last time we checked it was 69 degrees, but hopefully higher tomorrow in Mexico. My second time out of the country, Canada being the first, and this is going to be the farthest south I have ever been. Wow. lol

So that's all for tonight...

Goodnight. :)