Junior Cruising Class - Onslaught of the Cute

Monday afternoon, the boys waited and waited and waited to board the MS Color Magic. Not even at Christmas did 15 minutes feel that long. Finally, the doors opened and thanks to somewhat lower stature, Mathias and Benjamin easily pushed their way through the crowd, leaving the rest of their travel party behind.

They had a destination in mind, and their efforts were crowned with success when the boys were the first kids to make it into the ball pit. Thanks to their acrobatic climbing skills, ball-throwing prowess and intricate battle cries, they also managed to scare off any other kids who may have been wanting to join in on the fun:



But you gotta love the attention span of the under 10 crowd. Once the playland had been thoroughly explored and secured - ie. 5 minutes later - we were hit by a tidal wave of requests to go swimming. Though we were graciously granted circa 30 seconds to settle into our cabins, we were all present and accounted for at Aqualand before the ship had even left the Oslo harbour:



And yet again, the boys conquered everyone in their path with almost unbearable cuteness.

Or maybe that was just me?

No matter, others were worn down with sheer persistent cheekiness (including the lifeguard who eventually gave up whistling at their repeated jumping into the water from the edges and refusal to use the stairs).



Although eventually, even little tummies realized that no lunch had been had that day, slushie notwithstanding:



A final swim down the lazy river followed, whereafter we proceeded to gather up our things and head back to the cabin to get ready for a buffet dinner that legends are made of. From the seafood to the burgers and hotdogs to the ice cream and chocolate fountain, the boys' very own table was a little slice of heaven:



After dinner, a small window of opportunity presented itself to spend some of the parents' hard-earned money:

Option A - going to the Adventure Planet games room and using 10's of dollars on a machine that eventually yielded an absolutely useless toy with just enough battery power for two Japanese tunes before it conked out.

Option B - the classic approach involving a stop by the taxfree shop to pick up several oversized bags of candy.

But in the spirit of all things buffet, why choose?



Money thoroughly blown, the boys settled into their front row seats in the show lounge. Neither of them really wanted to be there, but they were overruled by their pesky older brothers.



[I hasten to add that once there, they were absolutely hooked, and couldn't wait to go back the next night].

Then a quick stop by the cabin to fix up their 'do's:



Before a final couple of hours roaming the ship on their sugar-fuelled highs. Thankfully, Benjamin's elevator phobia was short-lived, and he was able to take full advantage of the elevators.

A good thing, that.

Because, even though I admit to being completely biased, what could be cuter than a 7 and 8 year old having drinks (aka apple juice) in the 15th floor Observation Deck bar, ordered and paid for by themselves?



And that, my friends, was the end of Day 1 - The Junior Cruise.