Lido Girl

My favorite daytime place on the Carnival Freedom was the Lido Deck.
I am so happy that I opted to SLEEP on the Lido Deck. Well, I slept in my cabin stateroom which was located on level 9, which happened to be the location of the Lido Deck. It made for very convenient access to the sun, the pool, the buffet, and the soft-serve ice cream machine.
I was ready to hit the (Lido) deck immediately upon getting on board. I had read at a cruise message board that it would take a while to be reunited with our luggage, so I wore my bathing suit as we waited in line to board and tossed my book and sunscreen in a carry-on tote. Made the world's quickest stop in the room just to pick up my towel and headed off in search of a pool chair. I was not the first one to claim a chair, but there weren't too many people out yet.
David WAS the first person to go down the water slide:

 

(I'm posting that picture twice to see if there is something going on with using Picasa to import photos to my blog or if there's just some weird thing about my blog and pictures right now.)

(do either or both of those work?)

I was pretty mad when I had to get off the boat on the first full day of the cruise. I told David that next time we cruise, I want to go to the same ports so I can just stay on the Lido Deck and not bother with seeing the sights on shore. I also wish there wouldn't be so many interesting activities on the boat. They really cut into my time in the sun. I also know that for my next cruise, I am selecting the late sitting for dinner. I was so bummed to have to leave Lido shortly after 5 each day to get ready for dinner! One night (Formal Night, I think) I changed into another bathing suit and went and laid out after dinner. Then the sun went down and High School Musical 3 played on the big screen. I started to get chilly so I wrapped up in my towel and took a really long and wonderful nap.

Although the Lido Deck was mostly a warm, sunny, happy place, there was almost a minor altercation there on the first sea day. The Capers newsletter said that you're not supposed to leave a pool chair empty for more than 1/2 hour. You can't save them for your friends for a super-long time. I would normally go to the deck, find a chair with lots of other chairs nearby, and if they were all taken by the time David came (he claimed his complexion couldn't handle too much time in the sun, so needed to spend more time in the casino, etc.) we'd try to move to another pair of chairs. This particular day, though, being a sea day there were NO chairs anywhere. Except for the one sitting next to me which had been "reserved" by a book and a magazine for over an hour. I was talking to this sweet cute girl next to me and David joined us. I told him probably he could just go ahead and move that book and magazine and sit there, and that if the person came back, he'd just get up and either he'd go in to get out of the sun or we would both try to move somewhere else. I thought it was perfectly reasonable and not at all mean or nasty.
So this lady comes up a few minutes later and says, "Was there a book and a magazine on that chair?" David says, "Yes, I can get up so you can have the chair. I just wanted to sit here until someone got back." Lady says, "No, that's alright. I just want the book and magazine." So we give it to her. And she proceeds to walk to HER lounge chair about 4-6 chairs down from where we are.
Then a man comes up. He is one of those little bulldog men, the kind who is a little shorter than average so likes to walk around with his chest puffed out and talking his tough-guy talk. So he comes us and says to David, "Hey man, was there a book and a magazine on that chair?" David says, "Yes, a lady just came to get it though. I already gave it to her." Puffy-Man says, "I don't care about the book and magazine. This is our chair." (Meanwhile, I am trying my super-hardest to refrain from something like "really? is your name on it?") David says, "I offered to give her the chair," but Puffy-Man can't hear him because he's too busy getting loud and saying, "You just can't go around moving stuff off of people's chairs" (geesh, it's not like we moved their towel and iPod...it was a book and a magazine!) So I pipe in and say, "Well, the chair had been empty for over an hour, so he just was going to sit here until someone came back for it" and then that mean and puffy bulldog man may have raised his voice at me! I do not do well with being yelled at and I'm pretty sure I almost cried a little. He said (very loudly), "Yeah well half of these chairs out here have been empty for blah blah blah" and so I said, "SIR, he tried to offer the chair to your wife." and David said, "I told her I would get up and she could have the chair." And Bulldog said, "I'm going to have my lunch. And when I come back, I'm GOING to take my chair."
And stomped off like a pouty little beeyotch.
And then, like a conniving little beeyotch, I looked at David and said, "Why save this guy's chair? You wanna go get lunch too?"
And we did.
We saw the man later and decided to be snotty and ask him if he got his chair. He said no it was taken when he got done with lunch, but admitted that he overreacted, claimed that his wife didn't mention the fact that we offered her the chair back, and said we're all here to be on vacation and have fun and need to not sweat the small stuff. This part may be just my imagination, but I'm also almost certain that he shook David's hand. Apparently Puffy-Man took his meds with lunch.

On the last day of the cruise, our original dinner-mates Joe and Nikki saved us pool chairs. Yep, after all that, we had someone save us pool chairs! :) We had a great day hanging out with them on the Lido Deck, we played Movie Trivia together on the big screen, went in the pool, ate lunch, etc. Such a fun last day!

Songs that will forever make me think of the Carnival Freedom Lido Deck:
I've Had the Time of My Life (or rather, the "I Have the Times of My Life" version)
Hotel California (is this an anthem on all cruises or did
That Dido song that goes, "I just want to thank you for giving me the best day of my life". But if you are singing on the Lido Deck, you have to sing "I just want to tank you".