Team Schmidt Travels

Following all the excitement of our excursion out to the Great Barrier Reef, we were very happy to enjoy a couple of days with nothing planned.  The first was technically a “scenic cruising” day. This means it is an at sea day where they pass by something they think might be worth taking a look at. In this case, Willis Island. It was a blink-and-you-miss-it sort of thing. We went out on the promenade (since it was on the opposite side of the ship from our balcony) and snapped a photo of the little island.  We continued to enjoy dining in the dining room, and hot chocolates in the International Café. One day we played cards again in the Card Room. Another day I had a lot of fun doing a Zumba class. One evening we watched Captain Marvel in our room, and ordered room service. The at sea day was the second formal night and we got all dressed up again, and this time had dinner for two. The kitchen had made me a chocolate dairy free dessert. Yum!  I also ...

This morning our first thoughts circled around the question “Are we going to the reef today?” Bryan mentioned he was quite relieved not to see a slip of paper underneath the door indicating that our excursion had been canceled.  It turned out there was no bus, but we were taking a comparable excursion by boat out of Cairns. Looking around us and taking a quick head count told us that only twenty people from the whole cruise ship ended up being able to do the reef experience, as that is all the room Reef Magic III had available. As soon as we got on the catamaran we signed up for diving and snorkeling tours. As I filled out my health and safety card, I honestly checked the “nervous about snorkeling today” box. As this is my first time snorkeling I felt nervous about not knowing exactly what to do. Although many people, including my mom, had told me “oh, you’re going to love snorkeling” I still felt anxious.  Announcements were made giving general safety inform...

For whatever reason, we’re still waking up around 5AM. We opened the curtains and I noticed raindrops on the handrail of our balcony.  We enjoyed breakfast, just the two of us, in a nearly empty dining room. As they lead us to our table near the back of the room, we must have received no less than 20 greetings from the wait staff!  I found that breakfast by ourselves was relaxing after so many conversations with new people.  We returned to our room, which looked better than we had left it. It always does. One of the particularly magical things about going on a cruise is how often they do room cleans. The bed will be made, fresh towels replace the damp ones, and if you use a blanket on the balcony it will be folded neatly in its place when you return.   Bryan did the laundry for us as we wait for our meet up time for our first planned shore excursion. He made his way to the little laundromat just down the hall and started a load.  ...