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THIS WILL BE A "LIVE BLOG" direct from the Queen Mary 2; photos will follow throughout the week !

Day #1 22 December Pre Cruise Travel to Florida

We departed from MHT on the 6AM nw flight to DTW. Flying MHT-DTW-FLL; flight was a bit too early for all of us; but we wanted to avoid Logan and still get to Florida early in the day. Flights were full, but we had excellent service on both flights -- with an awesome crew on the DTW-FLL segment; First Class service was way above average, and I have been consistently experiencing on my NWA flights over the past month.

Arrival in FLL was very easy, all priority tagged bags came off right away --- and Ellen went with Adina to the Hertz Gold counter to pick-up the rental car they were using for the day to do shopping and to pick-up the new MacBook battery at the Mac store in the Aventura Mall. I waited for the driver Arturo to take the rest of us to the Hyatt Pier 66 hotel along with the 12 bags. Cruises always require a lot of luggage, and this trip is no exception, especially since there is an extra Formal night due to the Christmas holiday. Since Ellen is Hyatt Diamond, the front desk was very helpful in finding a suite with a connecting room. We had the Admirality suite which was configured as a two bedroom suite with multiple terraces, 2-1/2 baths, full wet-bar with automatic ice maker and a really lovely and spacious living and dining area. This suite was in the Lanai section of the hotel, and we overlooked the yachts in the pier. I took Ryan and Yael to the lovely pool which is 3-1/2 to 4 feet deep around and heated to around 85F; it was awesome. They were having a smashing time, and I ordered them french fries and shirley temples. By this point, I was also starving, so asked Jennifer our server at the pool to bring me a Grey Goose with a splash of cranberry and the steak sandwich and boursin wrap. Really lovely relaxing lunch by the pool. The kids liked the fries since they sprinkled parma cheese on top of them.

After the pool, we just relaxed in the suite and finally started to unwind from the very hectic and stressful day of travel. Ordered a great room service dinner with a bottle of Chilean Chardonnay and we even lit candles for Shabbat and the last night of Hannukah. Dinner included the most sinfully amazing rolls. Also, as part of the Hyatt Diamond Amenity package; we were given two food presentations which served as snacks in the late afternoon. Cheese, crackers and wine along with fresh fruit and sprite for the kids.

Day #2 23 December QM2 (Queen Mary 2) Departure from Fort Lauderdale at 5PM

Woke up on the 23rd --- which is Ellen's birthday, feeling incredibly relaxed and glad to be starting our vacation. Since most people get to the ships very early, we decided to just hang out (Ryan and Yael went back to the pool) for most of the day at the Hyatt. Port Everglades pier in Fort Lauderdale was packed, with 13 ships departing on this Saturday. I'm certain you can imagine that 13 ships with an average passenger count of around 3,000 pax makes for some incredible traffic getting to your ship. We took things very slow and relax, and made the right call leaving for the ship after 2PM --- long after many had left to arrive since boarding began around 11AM. Boarding took around 30 minutes and we met up with our friends and their kids at security and check-in, so it made the whole process an incredible social event. I joked with Nathan that the folks who were doing the bag screening at security were actually TSA rejects that didn't make the cut for protecting us at the nations airports. Of course, this just a joke, and all of the folks including security and check-in were very professional and courteous. It was a great process --- and we were able to get a nice group picture of the 10 of us before boarding the ship.

Once we got on the ship, I checked out our connecting cabins, which were the same two cabins we had two years ago on the New York Caribbean Dreamer cruise. These cabins are awesome, since they are 2 of only a few connecters that are actually connecting quads which "could" have up to 8 passengers. Of course, we setup the kids room dorm style (2 upper beds and 2 lower beds) and our parent room is just setup with one king size bed. I always have them remove a bit of furniture so the kids have more room to play in their cabin, which connects directly to ours. It makes for a awesome 2 room suite with 2 bathrooms; and in cruise ships terms is relatively spacious (but, no where near the type of spacious we had in our suite at the Hyatt). I always marvel at the very smart design of the cabins. Since you bring so much stuff (3 formal nights, 1 informal night and all the beach wear) you really need to have the proper storage space. Also, I was so impressed that the cabin seems just as crisp as it did 2 years ago in the inaugural year for the QM2. Our cabin steward Edi is awesome, and he was immediately attentive to my requests in arranging and setting up the cabins; this is going to be an awesome cruise.

Location Note : Traveling from Fort Lauderdale to Montego Bay, Jamaica - tomorrow (Sunday, 24 December we will be at sea all day) Side Note : When I think British Ship and Jamaica, all I can think of is James Bond in Dr. No; in which James spends a good bit of time in Montego Bay.

Now, dining is a big thing on these cruises (really, no shit..) -- anyway, I hadn't been able to get the proper confirmations from Cunard regarding our table for 12 (2 families of 5 plus my mom and step father). Of course, #1 on my list was to speak with the head Maitre'de of the Brittannia to work this out. I didn't really have high hopes for getting a 12 top; but was at least hoping for two 6 tops next to each other. Seems that tables for 10 are the largest they regularly have. Well, after chatting it up with Persad for a few moments, and emphasizing the importance of us dining together; he was able to release the captains table (which is a table for 12) to our group. The Captain doesn't ever dine at 1st Seating (which is the earlier dining time around 6PM -- and is necessary with all of the kids) -- so, this table is usually empty. The best part about this table, which is table #82 is that it is right in the center of the dining room under the mural.

[ Note : we are the T-family and our friends are the B-family ]

Here are highlights from Ellen's point of view:
Meeting up with Marcie, Nathan and their kids to go through security and boarding was great. Everybody's been so excited to see their friends - I thought they'd jump out of their skin when the moment arrived! Yael was concerned that Ryan would have more fun then she would, but the moment she saw Ariel and the rest of the B-family she was cool. The kids were also thrilled to see Artie and Dianne. Dianne, as usual, had gifts for the kids (and for my birthday). Michael had ordered roses and orchids for the room as a birthday gift for me - beautiful.

We got the kids signed up for the Kids Zone (which is on 6 deck down the very long hall from our cabin). BTW, the QM2 is so long, you can not see from one end of the hall all the way down the other end of the hall; hard to imagine --- but, it is just that long. The kids were all thrilled with the set-up. Only concern is that because Micah is 8 and Ryan is 9 they fall into different groups. Marcie and Michael are 100% sure they'll solve that problem. Being separated is just not an option. Ryan and Micah took a quick dip in the pool while Adina, Liora, and Ariel scoped the map for evening fun.

When the ship was about to sail Yael and I went outside to watch. Since there were so many ships in port we didn't leave when planned, but we did go up to the 7 deck where a band was playing. She had a great time dancing wild, clapping her hands, and spinning in circles with me... these are the moments of life where I wish we could stay - pure joy, relaxation, and pleasure - for her and for me.

Dinner was great. The B-family met Dianne and Artie and hit it off well. Artie immediately began chatting with Micah and Ariel - teasing as usual. We were all impressed at how well behaved the kids were. Still seemed like people at the tables around us didn't appreciate the situation - but oh well - that's their problem. (this is a HOLIDAY CRUISE; and more children and families have to be expected especially at first dinner seating which is 6PM) As an aside, last cruise on the QM2 we did late dinner seating, but 8PM is rough for the kids and most of the kids programming begins at 8PM to align with the earlier dinner seating.

After dropping the kids we went for drinks in at the Commodore lounge on 9 deck. This place is totally out of the way, and I am convinced that a lot of folks don't find it until the end of the cruise. I find this to be one of the most intimate lounges on the ship and it affords stellar views during the day. We ran into Dianne and Artie and then all went to the Champagne bar. We had missed that one last cruise and I definitely wanted to get there. I was especially interested in the caviar - which I had - and enjoyed. It was Caspian see Ossetra Caviar --- and they had a wonderful combination of 1oz Caviar and a glass of non-vintage Champagne for $52. Ellen heads to bed, and Michael hits the casino for a bit. All alone at the $5 dice table, I make my first three points with maximum 2x odds. I'm just fooling around, and quickly wrap up the session when things go south. I hit a lousy pay table JoB (Jacks or Better) Video .25 Video Poker machine, hitting quads pretty quickly and wrapping up the session with a quick $70 win. The machine is NOT TITO (Ticket in Ticket out) and I get a bucket of quarters --- weird for such a new ship and casino. Finish up my session playing roulette black and low $10-$5-$10 regression. Lock up a profit of around $30 and call it a night. You still need to pay for drinks in the casino, and I manage to polish off another 2 grey goose and cranberry splash.

First day ends - tired, but relaxed.