Cruise report

After an uneventful flight to Miami, a night of talking, and a couple of hours of sleep, my friend Anna and I made our way over to the Port of Miami, where we met up with my mom, step-dad, brother, and sis-in-law and got on the boat. We acquainted ourselves with the boat and had some food. When we returned to our rooms after dinner, we were pleased to discover a snake in the bed, left by our wonderful room steward, Florin.

Our first afternoon and night at sea were pretty mellow, as we were still in fairly shallow water. The morning of the second day, we docked in Nassau, Bahamas, and went ashore for... well, people seemed to mostly be into the shopping, but the young'uns in our group opted to rent scooters and cruise around the island for a while. When we returned to the ship, we noticed this sign, but figured Carnival probably just couldn't get a cut of the scooter rental, so they were discouraging participation. That evening, we returned to our room to find a playful puppy.

The third day was spent entirely at sea, and we had gotten out into deeper waters by that time, so the seas were a bit rougher. No one in our group actually vomited, but some of us were looking a bit green around the gills after having a glass of wine with dinner. There was a frog infestation in our quarters.

Day four was another shore day, this time in St. Thomas, USVI. They drive on the left, as a remnant of their original colonization, but they have to use standard US cars, so the drivers are all way out on the edges. It's a bit wacky. Our group split up for our own activities. Anna and I went to "Blackbeard's Castle," which was a tower atop a hill, surrounded by several historical houses and a rum factory. Their pineapple rum was delicious, as was the rum punch. We then went to a beautiful beach, Secret Cove, recommended by the information lady. It had great sand and fantastic snorkeling opportunities. (We saw a turtle!) After some swimming and lounging, we had a beer and watched the sun set. We picked a beer called "Virgin Islands Summer Ale," assuming it would be local, but it was actually brewed in Maine. Sigh. At least it was tasty... When we got back to our room, we discovered a chilled out bunny watching the Simpsons. He let us join him.

Day five was another shore day, this time in St. Maarten, NA. We hopped into a taxi, completely bypassed the shopping area, and went to the french side of the island, where we caught a "ferry"-- really just a largish motorboat-- out to Pinel Island. It was a nature reserve area with beaches, snorkeling, and a couple of open air restaurants. We considered staying there forever, but our iPods were on the boat, so after a nice loungy day, we came back to a stampede.

Day six we were at sea all day, but had become more accustomed to the movement of the boat, so only the elephant got sick. He had a cold, though; it wasn't the seasickness. He was whisked off to the infirmary, and a kooky monkey moved in. Anna and I treated ourselves to full body massages, with complimentary mini-facials, for exorbitant prices, but we figured we had done really well with money on the trip, so we might as well treat ourselves. There was an UTTERLY FANTASTIC 80s tribute show in the main theater that we enjoyed more than anyone on the boat. Anna and I were so into it, we went to both showings. In between the shows, Florin treated us to a towel folding lesson, and showed us his own creation, which he had used when working out of Galveston, TX.

Day seven of the cruise was also at sea, and the weather turned cool, so everyone was kinda trapped inside the ship, and we were not feeling too sad about our impending disembarkation. We will miss the nightly towel animals, though.

We got off the boat in Miami pretty early, then went on an airboat ride in the Everglades, and looked at free and caged alligators and crocodiles. Then it was off to the freezing cold Miami airport to wait around for our flight. We all happened to be on the same first leg of the flight, but were not able to sit near each other. We did, however, get to play trivia on the fancy little touchscreens on the seatbacks, and we could see how the others were doing and what they had answered, so it was almost like hanging out. That flight left a little late, so it was a bit hairy making my connecting flight, but I just barely scraped by, and now I am back in Huntsville, swaying with landsickness.

This morning on our walk, we saw a bovine couple in the beginning stages of sweet lovemaking, but they stopped as soon as I started clapping and pulled out the camera. Next time I'll be stealthier. Who knew they were so shy?