The bus that will take us to the pier in New York is sitting outside the studio with the driver waiting for us, The girls, the moms, Abby, Nick, Brandon and Me come out and walk to the bus and before we board, Abby has a checklist and a pen as she lines us up for inspection and we stand in a row.
"All right, before we go on the bus to the port in New York, i just want to make sure we have everything for the cruise." Abby said, then looks at the checklist. "Suitcases?"
"Check!" we all say.
"Sunscreen?"
"Check!"
"Sunglasses?"
"Check!"
"MP3 Players?"
"Check!"
"Cell Phones?"
"Check!"
"Swim Wear?"
"Check!"
"Laptops?"
"Check!"
"Now that we've got everything that we need, everyone aboard that bus! Move it, move it!" Abby shouted as we all began to board the bus after putting our suitcases on the baggage compartment on the side of the bus. Abby and i are the last ones to board after the girls, Nick, Brandon and the moms board first.
"Abby, can i sit next to you, if you're ok with that?" I suggest.
"Sure." She said as i took my seat next to her, Abby has the window seat while i have the aisle seat. Maddie is sitting next to Mackenzie, Chloe sits next to asia, Paige and brooke are sitting next to each other, Kendall is sitting next to Brandon, Nia sits next to Nick. Melissa. Kelly, Jill and Christi sit in their respective seats as we pull off and an hour in to the ride, i pull out my MP3 Player and listen to it.
"Whatcha listening to?" Abby curiously asked.
"Gladys Knight & The Pips." I responded. "The song is You're Number One (In My Book). You're the number one dance teacher in my book, because you motivate the girls to be better dancers."
"Aww, that's very sweet of you." Abby smiled, very touched at the remark.
Meanwhile, Maddie and Mackenzie are talking about the cruise.
"This is gonna be so great!" Maddie squealed.
"I can't wait to get in the pool!" Mackenzie said as she and her older sister were looking out the window. Meanwhile the moms are talking about the cruise as well.
"I'm gonna sunbathe all day!" Christi grinned.
"I can't wait to get in the spa to relieve my stress!" Melissa said.
"You'll look horrible with a sunburn." Abby joked as Melissa shot a look at her.
"Miss Abby?" Kendall looked towards Abby as she and i were talking.
"Yes, Kendall?" Abby responded.
"Do you think they have an arcade? because i'm gonna beat Jamaal in air hockey."
"Last time i checked, yes they do."
"But i'm undefeated in air hockey, Kendall! You're gonna be on my list of people i have beaten in Air Hockey."
"I'll take him on too!" Nia said.
"I'll end the streak!" Paige added.
"We'll see about that." Then an hour and 58 minutes later, The bus is now on Hudson River Greenway as Paige notices a "Ship Terminal" sign with the arrow pointing straight ahead and up ahead we saw a sign that has two directions. The left sign has "Private cars, All Parking, All Taxis" that leads to a rampway going up and the right one has "Buses, Trucks, Limos", The bus goes to the right and we pull in as the bus slows to a stop.
"Why don't you do the honors of telling everyone to get off the bus since we're at the boarding location." Abby suggested to me.
"All right, everybody! let's get off! Make sure you have all of your personal belongings before you get off!" I ordered as we got up out of our seats and grabbed our personal belongings and got off the bus and walked to the boarding room and Abby got us our boarding passes and we walked to the line to board the ship.
"Is this your first time on a cruise?" I asked Chloe.
"Yep, i can't wait." Then the boarding begins when the call is made, We walk to the gate and enter a walkway that will lead to the entrance of the ship, everyone is in awe of the large ship that is spread out over the blue water, the Ship is sparkling clean.
"Is that the ship?" Nia asked Holly.
"Yes, sweetie. That is the ship." Holly responded to her daughter as we neared the entrance and showed the concierge our boarding passes as he nicely welcomes us aboard the ship. We enter and see the lobby had faux-wooden walls, ceilings with small lights, information desk and employees helping passengers out when they have trouble. We are looking on in amazement.
"Oh my goodness...this is beautiful!" Abby smiled as she turned around to us.
"Miss Abby," Maddie looked at her. "Can i ask you a question?"
"Sure, maddie."
"Which deck are our cabins in?"
"Our cabins will be in the upper deck and here are the rooms, Maddie, you and mackenzie will share Stateroom #6444, Chloe will be in Stateroom #6451, Paige and Brooke will share Stateroom #6426, Brandon will be in #6430, Nick is in #6446, Kendall will be in #6469, Nia will be in #6479, Holly will be in #6475, Melissa will be in #6440, Kelly will be in #6428, Jill will be in #6465, I will be in #6472 and Jamaal, you have stateroom #6470, so you'll be next to me. Is that ok with you guys?" Abby asked as we all nodded in response.
We all walk to the Upper deck where our staterooms are, first we head through the atrium where there are elevators with rear glass viewings, painted mural of a city, a zebra colored moon, brown floor, seats, and silver tables for chilling, then we pass through some stairs and go right which leads to a hallway with doors that lead to cabins in the Upper Deck as Abby hands us our keycards to make sure we get in our rooms.
"Did you guys know that this ship has 12 floors?" Everyone looked at me in amazement about my knowledge.
"You're so smart." Mackenzie said.
"I've done research about ships like these." Then we all head for our respective rooms and when i enter my room, i am in awe. "Wow!" My staterooms had two twin beds, single sofa bed, sofa and coffee table, a full bathroom with a shower, 2 closets and a Private wrap-around balcony with patio chairs and table.
"This is gonna be the best vacation i'm gonna have!" I thought as i unpacked my clothes and put them in the closet. An hour later we have a safety lesson as we put on life jackets in case something happened to the ship and after that, when the ship's horn blares, i nearly fall out of my bed because it was so loud. The ship then begins moving and we're off as i go to Abby's room and she's getting relaxed and then i knock on the door and she opens up.
"Hey, ALM."
"Hey." Abby responded as she lets me in, then i notice some balloons filled with water in a box.
"You're probably wondering what the water balloons are doing here, well i'm about to explain why they are here. We're going to have a tag team water balloon fight later on. It's going to be the adults vs the kids." I grin as abby looked at me.
"I know we're gonna win, or my legs aren't straight and my feet are sickled." Abby laughed as i said that, then i help her carry the box of water balloons to the sun deck.
