My Odyssey into Fat Pants: The Final Frontier. 11 nights. Star Class. NJ weather in January. Every girl’s dream. (1/5 – 1/16/25)

[Pooch]

2 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

 

I've given up on hiding ducks. Not for me, but i do appreciate the spirit. 

 

I bought these to randomly stick on doors as i walk past. 

 

If your room is between 8324 and the Pub ... your chances of getting one go up exponentially. 

 

 

I have the ones @asquared17 left in my stateroom on my counter.  Always make me smile

[SweetPea]

Current state of affairs:

Cat wrestling is . 

Last we spoke, we had Silas and Savvy. Sadly we lost Savvy in August. #CancerSux

Silas, or as the vet calls him, Spicy Pants, was in the hospital for 3 days, just before Christmas. We nearly changed his name to Bentley after that vet bill because we could've bought one for what that stay cost ...

Spicy Pants would not eat for hospital staff and i was called in to feed him. 

Hospital selfie attempt:

Anyway, Sir Silas His Highness was understandably skittish to be put in his carrier again. We take him to my sister's. My sister and I look and sound alike, and I'm convinced he just thinks she's me. 

 

 

Batman is debating what beer coozy to bring. He's opted not to bring the one i bought for him last year. It suits him, but he felt it wasn't appropriate for a family vacation. 

It's bright yellow and says, "I AM A RAY OF EFFING SUNSHINE" 

Hint: it doesn't say effing. Or even friggin. Use your imagination.

I've alerted him to the 'no more red coolers in the room' cutback. He proclaimed, "Et tu, Brute?!" and immediately decided to pack a small cooler. I have no idea what was sacrificed to make room for that, if anything. Here's hoping ...  

 

 

It feels weird not to be checking work email and taking care of last minute items with our coworkers. This leads both of us into thinking we're forgetting something. 

 

But Rafael already set up our team WhatsApp chat and that's exciting!

 

I have not slept a full night since Monday, so im hoping for a solid 6 tonight. Although, because we have to get up early, I'm not going to sleep, panicked I'll oversleep.  25 years of shift work will do that to you. Normally, i go to bed between 2-3am and am up around 10 or 11. We have an 11am pick up, which I'm hoping can be moved to 10:45 to get us there by noon. I don't often live on the edge, but when i do, i appreciate the drama of a nailbiter. What fun is life otherwise?

 

[SMOKEY0202]

Countdown til you are onboard and hopefully Batman didn't forget anything.

Least he didn't wrap suitcases in plastic.

[SweetPea]

3 minutes ago, SMOKEY0202 said:

Least he didn't wrap suitcases in plastic.

Yet...

[asquared17]

i can’t believe i’m missing out on these sweet magnets!!!!!!!!! this is unfair.

 

1 hour ago, Pooch said:

I have the ones @asquared17 left in my stateroom on my counter.  Always make me smile

gosh i will never forget how alarmed your poor stateroom attendant was as i tried to explain it to him the first time….  

 

me: hi!!!! so i have a friend and they’re going to be in this cabin on the next sailing 

him: what is their name?

me:

me:

me:

me: i don’t suppose you’d allow “pooch” as an identifier?

him:

him:

him:

me: ……..okay so i’ll come back to you with real names as proof after dinner!!!!

him: [scurrying off to do crew-like things to get away from the crazy pax trying to offload ducks]

[SweetPea]

1 minute ago, asquared17 said:

i can’t believe i’m missing out on these sweet magnets!!!!!!!!! this is unfair.

 

gosh i will never forget how alarmed your poor stateroom attendant was as i tried to explain it to him the first time….  

 

me: hi!!!! so i have a friend and they’re going to be in this cabin on the next sailing 

him: what is their name?

me:

me:

me:

me: i don’t suppose you’d allow “pooch” as an identifier?

him:

him:

him:

me: ……..okay so i’ll come back to you with real names as proof after dinner!!!!

him: [scurrying off to do crew-like things to get away from the crazy pax trying to offload ducks]

Now imagine my convo with your TA when i tried to send you champagne!

[Ampurp85]

Those are some sweet magnets 

Poor Silas and sorry about Savvy, as a cat momma I am always sad at the loss of fur babies. 

I am hoping by this time tomorrow you are loose and in vacation mode.

[Pooch]

Our cock of the walk monster cat, Spike, lived to the ripe old age of 19.  Now I have grandkitties who live in Florida.  They like me cuz I sneak them treats when their mom isn’t looking like a good grandmother should!  They are enormous.  I swear they are part Maine Coon.  My daughter rescued them from a shelter that was going to put them down .

[ScottD]

I just caught up! I am leaning heavily on Odyssey from NJ next Thanksgiving as my makeup cruise for the Symphony that no longer is. So I'll be following along trying to get a feel for the ship from you!  Much like @OCSC Mike we don't be doing Star class (actually probably gonna end up with one of those fake balcony rooms on this ship) BUT still here for all of the antics and fun!!!   I'm like a week late, but congrats on the retirement!! 

It's CRUISE day!!! 

[asquared17]

ITS CRUISE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ampurp85]

Turn up, its cruise day!!!!

Exactly one more week and I will be in the same boat, but not the same boat 

[SweetPea]

Now, I'm not saying I'm Wife of the Year, but would someone who is not Wife of the Year, pack 2 pairs of undies, an extra pack of gum, and an extra brush for her hubs?

 

Allow me to accept my award ...

[SweetPea]

We arrived at the port, only to be stuck in the ungodly line to get in the zones to drop off luggage. 0.5 miles and 20 minutes to go. 

[OCSC Mike]

13 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

We arrived at the port, only to be stuck in the ungodly line to get in the zones to drop off luggage. 0.5 miles and 20 minutes to go.

[Insert obvious comment about how long I'd have already been onboard and how much I'd have eaten/drank by noon here]

Hope it moved faster than it seemed it would.

[MaryS]

5 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

[Insert obvious comment about how long I'd have already been onboard and how much I'd have eaten/drank by noon here]

Me too!  Plus no line if you get there before 10 

[SweetPea]

To be clear @asquared17 had the blow by blow via text. I asked her to blog for me, but she wouldn't take one for the team ....

 

I thought of all my friends here, she would support the blog by proxy. I even gave her a ridic pic. But no. Hmpph.

 

Current sitch

 

[SweetPea]

Two party fouls at Playmakers:

1) no straws while drinking a spicy Bloody Mary. 

2) I think I'm sitting next to or behind a farter, and it's not Batman. 

Not a party foul:

 

[asquared17]

 

29 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

To be clear @asquared17 had the blow by blow via text. I asked her to blog for me, but she wouldn't take one for the team ....

how could i deprive our liveblog fam of your magic?????? 

also now everyone will be jealous that we text

[asquared17]

also ALSO, seeing you in cold weather gear getting ready to board a ship seems inherently wrong, somehow…. it’s only the playmakers pics with food and bev making up for it. 

[SMOKEY0202]

Throw winter gear in cabin closet and let the fun begin.  This is gonna be a great blog while majority of us are freezing to death unfortunately at home.

 

[OCSC Mike]

10 minutes ago, asquared17 said:

seeing you in cold weather gear getting ready to board a ship seems inherently wrong, somehow

Agreed. It was slightly weird when we boarded in Alaska but it wasn't really cold in June and we were wearing jeans and maybe a long sleeve t-shirt or something. I know it's like 30 and windy in Philly from watching the Eagles so I'm guessing it's somewhere around there by the port.

2 minutes ago, SMOKEY0202 said:

Throw winter gear in cabin closet and let the fun begin.  This is gonna be a great blog while majority of us are freezing to death unfortunately at home.

The cold weather is even coming all the way down here. Gonna be in the 30's by me overnight during the week. That's about as cold as it gets. The Floridians break out 15 layers and the local news has weather warnings, lol.

[asquared17]

HAPPY SAILAWAY!!!!!!!!!

[WAAAYTOOO]

It’s much nicer here today than yesterday.  I hate hearing that it’s going to get cold again.

[Lovetocruise2002]

22 minutes ago, SMOKEY0202 said:

majority of us are freezing to death unfortunately at home.

+1 

18 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Gonna be in the 30's by me overnight during the week.

Canadian here...will gladly trade lol

[SweetPea]

We are leaving early! We left maybe 15 min ago. 

 

Not sure which ship this is. Meravilglia? I thought it was Norwegian. No clue. 

And we fear we may have already met our Stage 5 Clingers. Apparently we look like fun and they want to hang. They said Batman looks like he's in a band, and i look like his manager. Then they said he looks like Russell Crowe. Now i just feel like @Ampurp85

Batman gave them a polite, "we'll be around," and left it at that.

Also elevator drama as Rafa tried to tell this family the elevator was in priority mode and they tried to argue that everyone was priority at that point. 

I'm getting brazen here ...

 

 

[OCSC Mike]

14 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

+1 

Canadian here...will gladly trade lol

Hard pass. I look forward to the cooler days but that's cool enough. My wife says she misses snow.

[asquared17]

40 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

Also elevator drama as Rafa tried to tell this family the elevator was in priority mode and they tried to argue that everyone was priority at that point. 

bless their delusional little hearts. 

[Curt From Canada]

3 hours ago, SweetPea said:

We arrived at the port, only to be stuck in the ungodly line to get in the zones to drop off luggage. 0.5 miles and 20 minutes to go. 

You are definitely in the Cape Liberty Port. It looks exactly like the last 6 times we have been there. 
 

If there was not a ridiculous line, I would pull over to the side of the road and take out a fold out paper map to figure out where I took a wrong turn. 

Curt from Canada 

[SweetPea]

Our Stage 5 Clingers are BSC.

 

First Russell Crowe, now I'm Meg Ryan from When Harry Met Sally. I don't say that for any other reason than to let you know just exactly the level of BSC we're dealing with here. 

 

Meanwhile, our driver has puppies. I'm just trying to get Batman drunk enough to text her back tonight a yes. 

 

I've already named him Emmet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SweetPea]

That was on a bathroom break, BTW ...

[SweetPea]

Embarkation day is the time to do bumper cars

 

[asquared17]

i NEED that puppy

[MaryS]

30 minutes ago, asquared17 said:

i NEED that puppy

Me too!!!

[asquared17]

i demand cabin pics!!

[Ampurp85]

I hope you don't feel as worse as we did after the bumper cars. We felt old as hell as the aches and pains settled in . We did them embarkation day as well.

Also doggy is too cute.

It is below zero here so we too shall embark with winter gear next Sunday.

[WAAAYTOOO]

36 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I hope you don't feel as worse as we did after the bumper cars. We felt old as hell as the aches and pains settled in .

Us too !  We did them once just to say we did...never again.

[SweetPea]

Oh how sweet! You think we did bumper cars.

 

No, i merely meant that if you wanted to do bumper cars, embarkation day is a good day to do it!

 

I'm about 5 minutes away from telling you what we unpacked where so i remember in the morning. 

 

Current count of tossing items up and down the stairs from the living room to the bedroom and vice versa: 6.

 

I need to remember my loft attendant's name. I want to say Lyric, but i know it's not Lyric. She loved the craft eyes we gave her. 

 

Current sitch:

 

 

 

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

I hope you don't feel as worse as we did after the bumper cars. We felt old as hell as the aches and pains settled in

This is why I've never done the Abyss (and I'd pass on bumper cars if I ever did Q-class). I know I'd wind up tweaking/pulling/bruising something and then it would annoy me the rest of the cruise.

[SweetPea]

Lystra. Her name is Lystra.

[SweetPea]

I'm remembering the downsides to this room. 

See this plug?

 

It fits no where upstairs that I've found yet.