We board our ship- M/V Mercury here we come

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We got up Sunday very excited to be heading off on the cruise!  We decided that getting to the dock at 12pm when you could board would be silly as everyone would be there at that time (which they were) and it would take forever to get through (which it did).  However, what we did not take into account was that it didnt matter what time we turned up, it would take forever to get on board as they decided to take all US citizens first and make all the foreigners wait!  After a couple of hours in Customs and Immigration, and Mum and Dad claiming a bad knee so they didnt have to wait and could get organised, we finally proceeded to board the ship.

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The cruise experience begins immediately - they start taking your photo before you are even on the damn thing!  So we got our photo taken with each of us holding two bags, cameras, stuffed toys etc - you can imagine what the picture turned out like and needless to say, we didnt buy it.

We board our ship- M/V Mercury here we come

Because we were running so late, we missed the meet and greet champagne and nibbles - it was up to us to get on the bloody thing so they could do the safety drill and get going!

We went to dinner at 6pm which was very nice affair - four courses (yes four!) and our own waiter, assistant waiter and sommelier (wine guy) - all very posh.  Went to the first show which was a sample of what we would get throughout the trip and I decided to take advantage of that rest and relaxation I had been looking forward to for so long and retired to our rooms.  And it was at that point that we realised exactly where we were on the ship.............

We had rooms 4172 and 4174 which as it turns out were on the lowest deck and at the very back of the ship - right above the groaning engines that did not stop all night long.  The kids passed out through sheer exhaustion and Bill did manage to nod off - I could tell because I could still hear him snoring above the sound of the engines and the movement of the ship.  I lay in bed and all I could think was that everyone seems to enjoy cruising so much, it was going to get better........right?