I'm BACK!
We left for Tampa at midnight from Phoenix and had a stopover in Atlanta. I had allergies that day so the landing was absolutely miserable. The plane was pretty bad too with tiny seats and uncomfortable headrests. While at the Atlanta airport, I tried to find out everything I could about Georgia - I learned that they have peaches and CNN, and that’s about it. The flight for Tampa was much more comfortable. There were 100 open seats so I was able to sprawl out and take a proper nap. We met up with my grandma (Mia) in Tampa. Apparently there was an earthquake about 250 miles off the coast of Tampa while we were driving on the freeway, but we didn’t feel anything. The hotel was pretty cool - our balcony looked over some body of water that I think eventually connects to the ocean. Maybe Tampa Bay? I don’t know, but it was cool. This was my first time visiting Florida (or anywhere east of New Mexico, for that matter), and I completely fell in love with the place. I could definitely live there. We went to St. Petersburg the next morning for an early morning swim. I also saw my first pelicans when I flock of them swooped down low over where we were swimming. Scary, but beautiful. Finally we were able to board the ship - the MS Inspiration. I still haven’t figured out what MS stands for, other than my initials. We boarded around 1pm even though the ship didn’t leave til 4. We headed straight for the buffet, and Papa got me a Blue Hawaiian. We had the drill with the lifejackets, then I unpacked and went to the Welcome Show. There was also a comedian whose name I forgot… hmm. We was funny though. I hit the casino for a while before deciding to be social and heading to the club. I grabbed a Colada and sat my butt down. It wasn’t before long that I was asked to dance by a guy named Chris, who is from Trinidad and Tobago - he plays keyboard in one of the ship’s bands. He was friendly and I didn’t get the creepy vibe, but I was getting tired so I excused myself to go find Mia at the casino. She was still there at the slots, claiming that she was waiting for me before heading to the room, although I practically had to drag her away to hit the pizza bar. On Tuesday, I went to the Latin Dance class, and since I didn’t bring a partner, I danced with a fun boy of about 12 or so. We had a good time laughing at our inability to do anything right. Honestly, the instructor wasn’t that great. All the dance classes were like that - they were taught by professional dancers, but obviously not professional teachers. They weren’t great at breaking things down or explaining anything properly. They weren’t good with beginners. But still, it was fun. I spent a half hour at the gym on the stair-climber in attempt to work off some of the dinner from the night before. Layed out for a half hour on the pool deck, then went swimming with Mama. I had my afternoon nap before getting ready for Formal Night. There was a reception with free drinks, which I took advantage of. Four free Whiskey Sours later, I was in a good place when dinner came around. Those things are good!! Dinner, as it was every night, was a three-course meal complete with appetizers, desert, and coffee. After dinner, more casino, watched some karaoke, then went to bed early. Wednesday was Calica, which is a crappy port town that nobody stayed at - we all went to Playa del Carmen for swimming and shopping. There was a bar there that had swings instead of barstools. Pretty awesome. Layed out some more on the ship. Watched some of the art auction and did some Duty Free shopping before my afternoon nap. After dinner I got a drink and headed to the club again. Chris was there so we chatted it up a bit and did some dancing. All too soon our drinks were empty, so Chris ran down to the staff’s bar since he gets free drinks there. I got my drink at the club and decided to sit down. There were 2 empty seats with 2 different guys on either side. I chose the left seat, which determined the rest of my cruise. The guy next to me was Mike with his friend Tommy. Soon Chris joined us again and we had a fun night, which of course ended with pizza. I joined the guys for the Party Boat excursion in Cozumel, which was by far my favorite day of the trip. We started out on a catamaran near the cruise ship with an hour of snorkeling, which I am very proud to say I did without drowning from my fear of fishies. Mike and I even got a picture with the fish surrounding us. Okay, so that part was a bit terrifying, but the rest of it went well - except for when I dropped my snorkel and it sunk down to the ocean floor. I spent a few seconds just staring down at it and realizing that there was no way I could swim down there to reach it, between my asthma and the fact that my ears popped like crazy every time I tried to go down. One of the guys saw my dilemma and became my hero when swam down to retrieve it. After snorkeling they started serving endless beer and margaritas. The water was three shades of the most beautiful, vivid blue I’ve ever seen, possibly with the one exception of shrooming. The water was so clear that we could see every fish and plant, but it was pretty bare. I did see a stingray though, and two starfish. We arrived on a beach with white sand and kayaks. We immediately planned a kayak race with the other kids on the boat. While we were putting on life jackets, I saw Mama and Papa there! They took pix during the kayak race. Mike and I got 3rd place out of 4, but only because Tommy and Shannon gave up halfway. Swam for a while, took the kayak out again, layed in hammocks and watched the volleyball game, and collected sand in my ziplock. Back on the catamaran, more drinking, pictures, and music - it was just a fun, relaxing day. It started sprinkling, which cooled our burnt skin and somehow made us smile more. I ran into Chris heading into town, and met up with Mama and Papa. We had lunch back on the ship, then Papa and I taxid to downtown for some sightseeing and shopping. Cozumel is a cute little island. I would definitely want to go back. Papa and I stopped at Senor Froggy’s, where we saw Mike and the crew. There was craziness going on there, and nudity, which made me uncomfortable being there with Papa. So I left him to his drinking and went back to the ship for a nap. I made Mia go to dinner alone, but I was exhausted and slept right through dinner. There was a party on the pool deck with Chris’ band playing. We ate Mexican food (I introduced the guys to the amazing churro), danced, and then headed to the Piano Bar. Mike spoiled me all night with 1800 margaritas. Yea, trashed once again. I don’t even remember where we went after that… did we stop by to see the show? Probably. Mike and I went up for pizza around 4ish and decided to just wait til sunrise. We hopped up to the 12th deck and waited it out. The sun didn’t appear until 7:30, but it was beautiful. Bed at 8, woke up at noon on Friday. Went to the Austin Powers dance class with Mama. Robby was there too, but I couldn’t tell if he was sober or hungover. I couldn’t find the guys so I sat at the pool deck and videotaped Chris’ band. Finally ran into Mike and Tommy there. We played on the waterslide then sat in the jacuzzi until our fingers were pruny. I left the guys and joined my family for dinner - our last dinner on the ship. We got all our cookbooks signed by the maitre’d and the waitstaff, gave hugs, took pix, all that fun stuff. I packed up my suitcase after dinner, then met the guys again for our final night at sea. We watched some karaoke, hit the club, the pizza bar, the usual. Mike walked me to my room around 4am and I realized that my phone was working. I had 10 voicemails to listen to, talked to Thane, and made it to bed around 5am. At 6:30 I woke up for breakfast with Mike, then with the family. Goodbye ship! We sent Mia to Daytona with Mike and the crew, since Mia lost her Greyhound ticket. Spent the day in Tampa - Ybar, then back to the restaurant with the amazing key lime pie. Finally made it home Saturday night, exhausted, but happy to see Thane at the airport. It was an awesome week, I gained at least five pounds, and I’m glad to be home.