Let the Cruise Begin...

 We got up early on Saturday morning for our drive to Houston.  Our plan was to meet Tricia and her sister Nancy at an I-Hop Restaurant within about 15-20 minutes of our pier.  It was so fun that Tricia was visiting her sister who lives in a Houston suburb.  We arrived within a few minutes of each other and proceeded to have a nice breakfast prior to heading for the pier.  I love it when a plan comes together.  Thanks, Nancy, for bringing Tricia to see us.  I am sure that we had more photos of the group, but I can't find them.

We loved the Houston pier because there was  parking in a lot right next to the building and we had been able to reserve a spot in advance so it was an easy transition prior to checking in and boarding the ship.  Yahoo! We were so excited to board the Norweigian Jade for our cruise to Central America.  We were looking forward to adventure, sunshine and lots of yummy food.

 Steve loves watching the ship sail away.  The Houston bay was very interesting with cargo ships and oil rigs.  We loved the cute tug boats too.

 Of course, we checked out our eating options and tried to get acquainted with the ship a bit while we waited for our bags to be delivered to our room.  We had a little lunch at the buffet to hold us over until dinner.  When our bags arrived, we unpacked and tried to organize our "tiny" living space.  For the 4 of us, we had 3 small drawers, 4 shelves, a closet, and a small safe for our valuables. The bathroom had a sink, a couple of shelves, a nice shower and of course, a toilet.  When our beds were made up, they were literally wall to wall.  Abigail's bed folded down from the upper wall above Tiffany's bed.  Mine was next to Tif's and Steve's next to mine-no space in between.  We "crawled" into bed.  Did I say adventure?

 The food was plentiful and always available so no need to go hungry.  It is a good thing our plan included walking a mile for each meal we ate.  Those laps allowed us to enjoy the food without too much guilt.

 The first day at sea, Abigail attended the Kids' Club for a couple of hours.  I really think she had fun, but couldn't be persuaded to attend after that.  Later that day, Tif, Abigail and I went to a family cupcake decorating event.  Here are our delightful creations.  We were too full to eat them but had fun making them anyway.

 At night we usually ate in one of the two dining rooms and had a three-course dinner.  Afterwards, we would attend a show in the theatre.  Evening entertainment included singing and dancing, a comedian, a magician-escape artist, aerialists, a crew talent show, etc.  The entertainment was excellent.  There were also lots of lounge shows and name that tune type shows.  Steve and Tiffany were able to watch a group singing Abba songs and another artist featuring Elton John numbers. Those were just a sampling of the options.  We went to the early dinner and early shows so we could all go to bed in preparation for our next day's activities.