Cruise Part 1 - Days 1 through 5

Day 1 June 13th 2008
I flew into Orlando and met Karl at the airport, I had a long flight but it was so nice to see Karl and to have him put his arms around me, it was the best hug I had in a long time and my face lit up instantly. Karl had a Ford Mustang for us to ride down to Miami in, the Ford Mustang was really not that great of a car, we both said that our Honda Accord was a much better car, but it was still a nice ride to have. We hit a bunch of toll roads on the way, something neither of us were used to. It’s about 260 miles from Orlando to Miami. We stopped at Cracker Barrel about an hour after driving and got some dinner, Karl had Chicken Fried Chicken and I had pulled Pork. We then drove another 45 minutes and decided to stop at Vero Beach, I remember talking to one of the candidates from CompHealth that lived there and she told me how nice it was and so I really wanted to see it. Vero Beach was really pretty; we stayed for about 20 minutes and collected some sea shells. We continued our drive south and our next stop was the Marriott hotel by the Airport in Miami, we checked in and I colored Karl’s hair and we watched some TV and went to bed.

Day 2 June 14th 2008
We woke up and went to the car rental place and dropped off our car and there was a cab waiting there so we flagged him down and caught a ride, it cost $24 dollars and we were at the boat “Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Sea’s” in 15 minutes. Check in was really painless and we got on the ship in about 25 minutes. When we got on the ship we immediately got a pina colada and strawberry daiquiri, we then went to our room which was surprisingly nice and the bed was a lot more comfortable than expected. We loved our balcony and watched all the people as we took off, people were honking at us and were pulling over on the freeway to watch the boat, and we waved to all the people on other boats as we took off. After hanging out for a bit we went to the Windjammer café and grabbed some lunch, let me just tell you how much of a shock it was to see so many people, it was packed and the food was comparable to a really cheap buffet in Vegas, good selection but the food did not have much flavor; I kind of expected this. They have this mandatory ship evacuation drill, but I don’t know for what purpose, I basically put on my life jacket and sat in the dining hall for 5 minutes and then it was over, no real safety instructions of any kind. Next, we hit the ship’s casino. I had heard that the slot machines pay out at the beginning of the cruise so the buzz is that the casino is good. Karl hit a $320 payoff right away but I just kept losing. Our luggage finally showed up at 7:10 PM and Karl was happy because I could finally stop bitching about it. We went to dinner at Chop’s steak house, one of the restaurants that you have to pay an additional fee for, I had the avocado and tuna tar-tar and crab and shrimp cakes for my appetizer, the tuna was to die for, I wish I had that as my main course. I had the veal chops with scallops and Karl of course had a filet minon, we then had dessert but I can’t remember what it was, it was not memorable. After that, we then hung out in our room and watched a movie called Charlie’s War with Tom Hanks until I passed out.

Day 3 June 15th 2008
I woke up at 5 AM and had a sore throat and severe sinus pressure, it sucked, I thought “DAMMIT, Why on my trip do I feel this way.” I took a muscle relaxer and went to bed until our room service arrived at 8:30 AM, we ate breakfast on the balcony and then went back to bed until noon. When we woke up I felt like a piece of poo, and Karl really loved my mood I was in. We went to the Windjammer café on deck 11 for lunch and ate again, it was ok, not really my favorite food, but they did have a really good desert, it was a chocolate mouse pie thing and caramel flan. After lunch we went to the general store and bought some Airborne and some sinus medication for my cold. We spent the afternoon on the activities deck and watched people surf on the flo-rider (A big wave machine on the top of the ship) and we both climbed the climbing wall, ok I went up about 15 feet and got scared and asked to come down, Karl did much better then me, he even cracked his knee going up. That night for dinner it was formal night, Karl and I don’t really like to dress up in prom dresses and tuxedos, so we skipped formal night and got Ben and Jerry’s to start off with and then we got some gross pizza. A big storm rolled through in the afternoon and there was great thunder and lightning, it was really neat to see from the boat. We saw a water funnel which is like a tornado on the water. After dinner we realized that they had this TV channel that displayed the main hall from a remote camera and you could watch people walk around, so Karl walked down while I sat and watched the TV screen, when he got down there he hammed it up and waved and I laughed. I know, we’re such rebels. I went to bed and Karl went out for 3 hours of gambling and drinking and of course he won again. When he came back to the room he woke me up and told me all about it, I wish he didn’t wake me up because when you’re sick you always feel the yuckiest in the middle of the night.

Day 4 June 16th 2008 * Labordee, Haiti

So I woke up around 6 AM and felt like crap, so I thought Karl needs a pay back for waking me up at 2 AM, so I proceeded to wake him up by being all cheerful and talkative, he was less than thrilled and told me to be quiet and go back to bed, and so I did. I then heard a bunch of noise and figured we were stopping and anchoring so I go up and immediately went to the window and noticed we were in Haiti, and it was beautiful. I looked around and saw beautiful blue water, big lush towering mountains and a small beach that was supposed to be big enough for all of the people on our ship. We quickly got ready and ate breakfast, when we were done we got on a ferry boat that took us across to the island, on our way there I realized I had forgotten my mask and snorkel so we had to pay $10 each to rent some. We went to the area where they were doing morning yoga on the beach and snorkeled, I saw a dead reef with fish and tons of trash on the bottom of the ocean, it bummed me out. We also saw a ton of sea urchins, both black and red ones, they were all over the place. We then laid in the sun for about 30 Minutes and Karl had earlier refused my sun block offer and said he didn’t need any, well guess who looks like a lobster and who doesn’t, call me weird for getting 50 sun block but I’m not going to be in pain tonight. After laying out we both looked at each other and wanted a bit more quiet time, so we started to walk back to the ship. On the way, this guy kept trying to sell me this $60 trinket that I really didn’t want and don’t have the room in my suit case for anyway, so no sale. After that we decided that we don’t like shopping on islands, I hate pushy sales people in the mall and these guys are 10 times worse. Once we got on the ship it was really quiet and so we decided to take over the kid’s water play area and it was fun, I’d been eye balling that area since we got on the ship and it was fun to have the whole thing to ourselves. There are a bunch of statues that spit water, buckets that randomly dump water, and little water turrets that you can spray each other with. Of course Karl targeted me and incessantly sprayed me until I made him stop. We ate lunch at a restaurant called “Jonny Rockets” – it has a 50’s diner theme, it was good and greasy, like most diners should be, they waiters were very animated and did some dancing and little parlor tricks for us that included tooth picks, a salt shaker, and 2 forks. After lunch, I got ready and headed to the spa for one of the best pedicures I’ve ever had, she rubbed each of my feet for 10 minutes and painted them a pretty red, my feet now feel super. We ate dinner in the main dining hall at our reserved table, we had a table for four but the other couple did not show up and that was nice, we had cheesy entertainment and animated staff and a good dinner, not great but good. They seem very accommodating, there’s a bit of a rush to get you out for the next dining group, but that’s fine, I don’t want to hang out in the dining hall all night like some people. In the evening we went to the skylight bar and had a few drinks and talked to our waiter from Turkey, he thought that our government paid for all our schooling and did not know the difference between college and university.
So far Karl and I think the ship is beautiful but we’re sick of all the tipping we have to do, it seems like you breathe and you’re expected to tip somebody. I’m also disappointed with the fact that if you want soda or coffee with dinner you have to pay extra. It’s not that I’m having a bad time I just think tipping should not be automatically put on your tab and that sodas and coffee should be provided with meals. I’m going to go to the pursers desk and adjust tips at the end of this trip, because I don’t want to tip the girl for scooping some ice cream, but I think the girl getting me drink after drink and putting extra rum in it should be tipped well.

Day 5 June 17th 2008 – Montego Bay Jamaica (Hey Mon!)

I woke up as we were sailing by Jamaica, it looked pretty, I then went back to bed and woke up again as we were porting into the dock, I looked around and thought we should skip this island, we were at some nasty port and I could not see a beach in sight, I did see beautiful lush mountains. I went back to bed and Karl woke me up for breakfast about an hour later, after breakfast I came back and went to bed yet again (we were waiting for noon time for our canopy excursion). Karl finally woke me up for the last time and I was super tired and not feeling very well, my head cold really had me congested, it would have not been very hard for me to skip Jamaica today. We got ready and exited the ship and waited in this hot and humid people-infested area for about 45 minutes, I was easily annoyed this morning and there was this family with about 6 teenagers behind us that I wanted to strangle, but I didn’t (lucky for them). We finally got on our tour bus and started driving, looking around you could tell that Jamaica is a very poor country, but the nature was absolutely gorgeous, it truly was to die for, this would be a spectacular island if it was not inhabited by people. I really can’t put into words how beautiful the island truly is, there is so much greenery and flowers and cascading plants with palm trees and bamboo everywhere, it’s very dense and lush and it truly is the most beautiful greenery I’ve ever seen. When we arrived at the area I looked over and saw this beautiful green river with beautiful large rocks and cascading greenery flowing into the river, there were also these cute small jungle kitties everywhere, I felt at home and thought it was heavenly. I used the restroom which was very clean and there was this Jamaican women cleaning and was singing a beautiful song, I told her how beautiful her singing was and how beautiful this island was, she told me she loved to sing and that she was very blessed to live in Jamaica, I was really touched by her wonderful attitude and gratitude. Our tour took us through the jungle on guide wires strung through the trees and you would snap in with a harness and hang from the harness and accelerate through the jungle canopy to the next platform. We eventually got all our harness gear on and started to hike up to the first set of ropes and I was in awe the whole time. When we started going it was really fun, I loved going through the jungle, Karl loved it as well, it kind of takes you by surprise when you first jump off of a platform but by the third one we were naturals. On the final one I took a mini video clip of Karl and I think he looked so cute. When we were done we got on the bus, and you couldn’t help but stare at the conditions that people live in, it’s really quite disturbing. When we go to the cruise ship port we had a red stripe beer and waited in line to board, it was even more people infested and they were pulling out all the young boys and searching them for pot. When we got on the ship I had one of the best showers of my life, after that we went to the Windjammer for dinner and it was one of the best meals we’ve had on the ship, not a lot of people in the area and we got a table by the window, I truly feel relaxed and had such a great day with my sweetheart, I’m glad we didn’t skip Jamaica, even though it would have been very easy to do because we both felt tired and under the weather. I will say this, the people of Jamaica all have a great sense of humor and treated us with kindness and compassion, they may live in poverty but they’re grateful for their life and seem to enjoy themselves very much and I will miss the cute jungle kitties. After dinner, we hung out in the room for a little while and then went down to a Egyptian themed bar that had karaoke. We each got a daiquiri and watched as people sung really poorly. One notable singer was a woman from Equador that sang Abba’s Dancing Queen with a super-heavy accent. With her accent, she had both of us in stitches. We stopped by the casino on the way back up and decided to both play slots for a little while, $40 worth. I actually won! I hit a jackpot for $265 and we decided it was time to leave.