Walking The Plank
Hello again! Today has been great so far! But let me pick up from where I left off yesterday… After we left Miami, the ship started going really fast, but we couldn’t notice it unless we looked down at the ocean. Jay, Max and I decided to go exploring instead of playing at the water slides. We signed ourselves up for the onboard Kids Club (Splash Academy), which lets kids play together. There are trained employees supervising, and organizing games like dodgeball, tag, and soccer bench ball. The best thing about this is that it’s all included in your ticket! Also, if you’re twelve (like me) you can check yourself in and out, without needing your parents there. The only catch is that you have to stay in the Kids Club for two hours before you can check yourself out again. So make sure you are prepared to spend two hours there! Your parents can check you out anytime, though. If you’re eleven and under, sorry, but you’re out of luck! You can still ask your parents to pick you up in an hour if you want. Before we left the sign-up area, we were each given a schedule of the activities for the next week. My age group is the ‘Dolphins’, ages 10-12, and Max’s age group are the ‘Seals’, ages 6-9. We also walked around Deck 16, where the pool and sun deck are. At a bar (that didn’t serve solely alcohol!), Max and I used our SODA!! package to get ourselves a virgin pina colada each! Jay got a mojito. We walked around for a while, looking at the crazy ropes course (the SkyTrail), and all the huge water slides. Max and I wanted to do the ropes course, but we weren’t wearing the proper shoes. On Deck 7, Jay got a pamphlet for free from a staff member who was giving a lecture to some passengers. Turns out they were single passengers, because the sheets said ‘Solo & Single: A Glance At The Week Ahead’. Jay might spend some time with those people. HAHAHAHA!! Then, we visited the ONBOARD LIBRARY! And I was IN HEAVEN. Reading is, like my favourite thing ever! I couldn’t believe it! There were so many books there! Max got a Guinness World Records (2016 Edition) and I got this novel that is really good. It’s called ‘The Siege’ by Ismail Kadare. If you ever take this cruise, check it out! By then, it was dinner time. We ate potatoes, soup, and sandwiches, but there was so much more to try! For dessert, Max and I both got a Fanta. Then, we both got two scoops of lime ice cream, which is unlimited and free, and dumped them into our Fanta glasses to make floats! You HAVE to try it! Of course, all the food was DEElicious! in preparation for the next day, we went to bed early, .
In the morning, Max and I went to Deck 15 by ourselves, because you can just follow these fish on the carpet, which guide you towards the front (Fore), and back (Aft) of the ship. We ate bacon, sausages, more bacon, hash browns, and EVEN MORE BACON! We also drank some free lemonade, provided by a cooler. Afterwards, Max and I both went upstairs to Deck 16, where I checked in to Splash Academy, and Max began waiting in line for the SkyTrail ropes course. I played awesome games like dodgeball, number basketball (the basketball version of soccer bench ball), and tail tag, where everyone has a pinnie (or tail) hanging out of their pants, and you have to grab everyone else’s tail. Whoever has the most wins. The councillors were encouraging, and made sure to include everyone there. One kid could speak only Spanish, so the councillors tried very hard to communicate with her using the Spanish they knew. Afterwards, I joined the line with Max (who had been on the SkyTrail course quite a few times by now), and we suited up. We each put on a harness (with the help of some friendly crew members), and walked up some stairs to get about 20ft above Deck 16. If your kid is under 48 inches, don’t worry! They have a 3ft tall course for the little kids. You can even hold their hand! Max and I had a blast! We climbed ropes, and over wooden beams, and even a wooden plank that had no handholds. But the REAL CHALLENGE was still coming up. Near the end of the course, we encountered, duh-duh-duh THE PLANK!!!. Max had never gone over to that side before, always taking a different route towards the small zip-line finale. I went first, because Max was too scared. It was SCARY! I was like six feet over the side of the ship, and there was nothing holding me except my harness (which is safe of course). After that, we got to zip-line towards the finish!
For lunch, we ate tons of stuff, including sandwiches, potatoes, and lemonade. After, I went to Splash Academy for 3 hours, playing Kids VS Counsellors! We played games like relay races, a game of Tic-Tac-Toe where you have to roll your ball into the square you want, and gaga ball! For dinner, I ate some nice steak! It tasted like it had been grilled at home! On land! When we got back to our cabin, we saw an invite to the Captain’s Cocktail Party! We only had forty-five minutes to get there, but I’m glad we did! All the officers of the ship were there! Max and I both got a virgin pina colada, but Max snuck a second one when Jay wasn’t looking! After, I ate chicken wings in spicy Thai sauce for dinner. We’re going to bed now, so bye!
This cruise is gonna be awesome!!
Sullivan