Cruise
 

Like zippyt, I am going on a cruise soon. On the 14th, I and my family are taking a 5 day cruise to Cozumel and The Grand Caymans on the ship, Carnival Paradise.

This should be interesting. I've traveled to multiple countries and lived on a sailboat for a while. My spouse and spawn have never been outside the US. In fact, my partner had never lived outside Maryland until he met me and moved halfway across the country.

My oldest daughter turns 18 the second day of the cruise. I've been promising her a cruise since well before her 16th birthday and am finally going to make it happen.

The plan is to go snorkeling at Eden Rock in the Caymans and we've hired a personal driver + van for the day in Cozumel. We intend to see the San Gervasio ruins, tour the chocolate factory as well as the tequila factory :p:, and have a nice lunch off the beaten path (yes, I am bringing Imodium!).

I will be taking my camera and lots of pictures (hopefully). I bought a nice big SD card, and have a small backup, if I happen to fill it up.

Only 12 days. Getting pretty darn excited here!

Bon voyage. :corn:

Have a great time, Stormie!

Have a wonderful time! Enjoy the snorkeling and your tours. Bon voyage!

Yay! That sounds very exciting. Have a great time. :)

Good time to do it, the storm season is almost over in the Gulf and it has been pretty calm this year. Have fun.

Have a BLAST !!!

Lots of pics esp food and menus!
On my ten mile bucket list is a cruise.

I've cruised down the Nile and is was marvellous, but it's not a real cruise after all.
Big envy.

I've done the Nile too, Sundae. Of course, I was buzzed out of my guard :blunt: and it wasn't overnight, but still fun. The ground just would not stay still once I got off the boat.

I lived on a 44 foot sailboat for the better part of one year. Back then, you could "visit" a cruise ship, hang out and have a cocktail on the deck, which we did. But this will be the first time I actually have a cabin and experience a few nights aboard.

Food...omg. I've been crunching calories to give me some wiggle room before I eat whatever-the-hell-I-want on the ship. Struggling with hormones and weight gain anyway, but damn, I can't afford to buy new clothes when I get back, lol. So yes, I'll take pictures!

I've been on a Potomac booze cruise. It was actually fun. And a cruise down a scenic portion of the Rhine. That was nice. And an overnight ferry ride to and from Crete. Not meant as a cruise, and no fun.

Ferries sink way too damn often. You couldn't throw me onto a ferry with a catapult.

I've been on one cruise, in the same situation as yours - my daughter's request for her 'graduation trip'. Funny, we didn't have those in my day ... :crone:

But she and I had a blast, we did everything we could, tried everything, and guess who conked out first every night? (Hint: NOT the old lady! These young whippersnappers have no staying power! :p:)

Have a blast and make many good memories, Stormie.

I've been on 2 cruises.











Along with 1200 other G. I.s

I've been on a few cruises with my parents. My only cruise since we've been married was our honeymoon cruise, where we discovered that the seasick patches available in the 1980's did not work very well with Mrs. Levy. Of course there was a hurricane somewhere that made the sea a little choppy, but it was the Carribbean, not the North Atlantic. The only cruises we've been on since then are dinner cruises.

I might be able to get her on a boat again if we do an Alaskan cruise since that would not be open water.

Have fun Stormie. I hope the only stormy weather you encounter is, well, you.:D

I thank you for going on those 'cruises', sir.

:thankyou:

Ok, so we had a blast and I can't wait to do it again. Too bad our families all live so far away, and we have to go visit them too, otherwise, we'd be on a cruise every year!

I'm not going to re-post all the photos from Facebook, but the album is public if anyone isn't a friend on FB and wants to view - Facebook album

The only negative was having all five of us crammed in one cabin. We got snappy with one another when trying to get ready to go anywhere. We didn't get seasick or any other kind of sick. I had every imaginable kind of medicine in my first aid kit and needed none of it! :).

Grand Cayman was very commercial and I've seen better snorkeling in the Keys. But no one else had ever been snorkeling or seen tropical fish nose to nose. So they were pretty awed. Which made me happy!

Cozumel was also very touristy, at least in the city/port area. I live 3 miles from one of the best beaches in the world, so beaches don't impress me by their mere existence. I had hired a driver and van to spend the day with us, and had asked them to take us to specific places.

One place I got zero pictures of was the Chocolate Factory :blush:. It was a very quaint compound with a charming host and very informative tour of the history of chocolate as well as a taste of various flavors of chocolate. My family was highly pissed off to discover that that delicious smelling chocolate bean was extremely bitter and nasty when the host popped a tiny bite into their mouths :o . We went to a Tequila Factory, except it wasn't really, but they had some wonderful tequila flavors. Yes, we tasted them. But what happens on the cruise ship vacation stays on the cruise ship vacation.

After that, we went to the San Gervasio ruins. Our lovely driver, Jerry, went off and procured "the best tour guide" for the ruins. We enjoyed his description of the goddess Ixchil, the city, the culture and each building's purpose. He discouraged taking photos while he was talking, so as to maintain focus and speed us up. I went back and took photos later, but had trouble remembering everything he told us. Can't find a lot of what he described on the internet either. Oh well. My spouse and son were fascinated, daughters not so much.

I had asked our driver to take us to a less popular, more local restaurant for lunch, so he took us to the far side of Cozumel. He shared with us that the government kept the southeastern side of the island undeveloped to preserve the natural beauty of the place. This is literal, in that only a road and bike trail exist along the SE coast. No electricity, no running water, no utilities, no gas stations, shops, houses, condos, no traffic lights and only 6 restaurants are permitted to do business along the beach. They are spread out so far, you cannot see one from another. We were told they truck in water and cook with propane. We went to Playa Bonita, which only had one full wall, one partial wall and a thatched roof. THey served us the most delicious Mexican food I've ever eaten. I'm only sad I got full too soon to finish it all. The breeze kept us comfortable and cool.
After lunch, we had to go back to the ship and say goodbye to Cozumel and Jerry.

I don't know how many of you have been on a cruise, but it is the ultimate pampering experience. You have meal choices between a sit down fancy restaurant for breakfast and dinner, or a couple of buffets for lunch. Additionally, there is a deli and a pizza parlor 24/7. Room service is available 24/7 as well. Soft serve ice cream is available all day and night. On top of this, they have special buffets...one was a mexican buffet and one was a chocolate decadence buffet. The dinner food is amazing...lobster, steak, prime rib, veal parm, chicken piccata, as well as hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, meatloaf, and many different salads + salad bar to name just a very few of the choices. We had a steward who makes up the beds in the morning, cleans up the cabin, then turns down the beds at night, complete with a complementary chocolate on your pillow and cute little towel animal. Everyone is super friendly and helpful and happy.

My youngest loved Camp Carnival and I was happy with their level of security. They had non-stop activities from 10 am until 10 pm, plus another 4 hours of paid activities, until 2 am, if desired. She stayed late almost every night for the Night Owl events (movies, dances, crafts, etc.) One afternoon was a build-a-bear event, which she went to with daddy.

It was rough having to come back to reality, let me tell you. I did miss my own cooking, but not the actual work or clean up involved, lol. I put on 4 lbs, which I expected. I had lost 6 lbs prior to the cruise, so I'm actually still ahead. My partner and I made a pact to enjoy everything without guilt or recriminations for those 5 days, and we certainly did.

I'm uploading a couple of photos that I didn't put on facebook because they were flawed (closed eyes, blurry, etc.) , but I still like them.

Maybe this link?

Cruise album

That's more gooder. :thumb:

Glad you had fun , ours was a blast as well , Hell just sitting in a lounge chair at nite watching a Movie on the big screen over the center pool with a Good dark sipping rum was the best !!

So glad you had a good trip! Even with the touristy bits (like Cayman), the cruise lines do things up very nicely. The pampering is lovely and there are cruises to suit every taste.