Cruise run-down
As some of you know, I was on a cruise in the Carribean last week and since I'm sure some of you wanna hear about it, I'll give you all a run-down.
Friday. Miami.
I left home fairly early in the morning. Ken and his mom took me to the airport. Unfortunately there was an unidentified object on the freeway which we ended up running over, fucking up one of Ken's mom's tires. Luckily for me, it made it to the airport. Check-in went alright and Ken and I said good-bye. Waiting for the plane, I hear a news story on the cruise ship that sank in Greece. Good thing I'm not a paranoid person. Eventually I get to board the plane and have a smooth flight. There was a stop-over in Atlanta which gave me time to stretch my legs and grab a cig before re-boarding. When I made it to Miami, I hopped a shuttle to the hotel which turned out to be the one of the nicest freaking hotel rooms I've ever stayed in. The room was way to big for one person, had a pretty good view of the Miami skyline, and gave me aromatherapy bottles. Didn't do much there but eat, sleep, and chill.
Saturday. Departure.
Woke-up, ate, watched some TV, then hopped a shuttle to the dock. Check-in was about an hour which wasn't too bad considering all the people. I got on the ship and was actually able to find my room pretty easy. I was a bit worried about that upon first seeing the ship. Luckily my luggage had already made it to the door (ship attendants take care of getting luggage aboard and screening then deliver it to the room). I explored the ship for a few hours and took photos while waiting for my family to arrive. I went back to the room to see if they had made it yet and found a note that they were in the cafe. I went to the cafe to look for them when the captain came over the speakers announcing a drill so I had to return to my room to grab a life jacket and found my family there. From there we went to our muster station and waited for the drill to be over. Afterwards we put away the life jackets and I went back to the cafe with my sister to grab some food. Then we went on deck to watch the departure and said good-bye to Miami. Spent the rest of the day hanging out on the ship.
Sunday. At sea.
Didn't do much but hang out on the ship.
Monday. Labadee Haiti.
We woke up in the morning and boarded a tender ship. Labadee wasn't too exciting. It's a private peninsula owned by Royal Carribean so it was entirely a tourist area. We stopped at a Haitian-run flea-market which I found greatly annoying. While trying to browse through the items I was constantly hounded by several Haitians at any one particular time and eventually gave up on the market. We then went to the beach and I took a swim. Then I took a walk through the area. Dragon's Point was probably the coolest thing there. The water and air rushing through the holes in the rocks sounded like an actual dragon. After more exploring and hanging out at the beach, we re-boarded a tender back to the ship and spent the rest of the night hanging out there.
Tuesday. Ocho Rios Jamaica.
This was my favorite stop on the trip. We took a tour of Ocho Rios and St. Anne's Bay then climbed Dunn's River Falls. To climb the falls, our tour group created a human chain to help each other up. Personally, I feel more comfortable climbing alone so that my hands, arms, legs, and feet are free to grab anything and everything I need to, but the group effort thing worked and probably made the climb experience more fun. The Indian family that was directly behind mine had a cute little girl that my mother seemed to have fallen in love with. The little girl had to be carried by the guide most of the way and Mom was thrilled to take her whenever the guide needed to help other group members. I found the climb fairly easy except for the chick behind me who kept slipping and needing me to pull her back up. Apparently the idea of looking where she was stepping to make sure she was actually stepping on the rocks did not occur to her. Luckily for me she was pretty small and easy to pull back up. We all ended up getting pretty wet as we were climbing through the water but the water was a good temp and felt pretty refreshing. Making it to the top was actually a bit disappointing. I could have used the climb to last a bit longer. After climbing the falls we made a few stops for shopping and I went with my mom and sister to Margaritaville where we got some Margaritas. Unfortunately I wasn't able to convince them to go to the pool bar with me and I was the only one who actually got in the pool. After all that we re-boarded the ship for the night.
Wednesday. Georgetown Grand Cayman Island.
This area was highly disappointing. Georgetown was one big tourist town so it was hot from traffic and full of nothing but gift shops. We didn't spend much time there, just enough to browse through a few shops before hopping a tender to re-board the ship. The tender was probably the most fun there as the water was pretty choppy, so choppy in fact that one of the Carnival ships that was there at the same time ended up leaving some of there people there when they were unable to re-board them. Apparently, they just made arrangements to pick them up at the next port.
Thursday. Cozumel Mexico
We took a tour of the island of Cozumel, seeing some of the sights and learning a bit of the island's history. I had hopped to see a bit more of the Mayan ruins but apparently that was on another tour. My mom signed us up for the one that came with a free drink, which wasn't too bad either. We did see the remains of a Mayan temple, but it wasn't much as most of it was destroyed by settlers to build a Catholic church. The biggest stop here was a beach called Playa Mia where we grabbed some food, got our free drinks, and went for a swim. Then we got back on the bus and headed for the boat.
Friday. At sea.
Spent Friday just hanging out on the boat. The biggest excitement on this day came while I was sitting on deck eating ice cream. Looking out at the water I noticed a pink raft which looked to be a child's pool toy floating in the water. I thought it was a bit odd especially since in the movies finding something floating in the water always indicates a shipwreck. I didn't think too much of it though, figuring that some kids were probably just horsing around and it accidentally got tossed overboard. A little while latter, the captain announced over the loudspeakers that some life rafts had been spotted and we were turning the boat around to send out a rescue team to investigate. I guess life sometimes is like the movies. After several hours of searching and communications with the coast guard without result, a capsized catamaran was discovered. Finally, about an hour later, the coast guard came back with word that this shipwreck had been reported a couple of days earlier and the family had already been rescued. We returned to our route back to Miami.
Saturday. Return home.
Woke up early in the morning, had a final breakfast, then prepared to leave the ship. This took quite some time since everyone was pretty much trying to leave at the same time and we had to wait through check-out, customs, and a shuttle bus. The shuttle bus also took quite some time with trying to load people and luggage, drive through traffic, and unload people and luggage. I said good-bye to my family, found my luggage and then had to wait in line for airport check-in. By the time I made it through the line, I only had 20 minutes to check-in, check my luggage, and make it to the terminal. The airline people yelled at me for checking in so late even though it wasn't my fault. i got there the recommended hour and a half before my flight but most of the time was sucked away by the check-in line. Anyway, after checking my luggage, I hurried to the terminal and made it there with 10 minutes to spare, only to discover the flight had been delayed. After sitting at the airport for quite some time, the plane was declared out of service and I had to wait for them to find an in service plane and get it to the airport. By this point, I knew I was going to miss my transfer flight in Dallas and had to wait in line to make arrangements for another flight. They booked me for a flight out the next morning but told me I could also standby for a flight out that night. Finally a plane arrived and I was on my way to Dallas. When I made it to Dallas, I had only 20 minutes to find the terminal for the next plane to Phoenix and get my name on the standby list. Even though I figured I wasn't going to make that flight either, I headed to the terminal figuring they could direct me to the next flight. To my luck however, they got me on the plane. Unfortunately the plane was delayed at the gate because they were still trying to assemble a crew. Flight crews in Dallas were in disarray at this time due to a big storm the night before. Finally a crew was assembled and the plane left the gate. We were delayed again on the runway however, due to a passenger number discrepancy. Eventually that was sorted out and I was finally on my way home. I finally made it back to Phoenix, however my luggage did not. It did eventually make its way to me the following morning but without my comb, eyeliner pencil, and one of my earing backings. Apparently Homeland Security decided these items were a threat to national security. Lol.
Anyway, that's my trip.
Pics at: http://s120.photobucket.com/albums/o194/citlalmina/Carribean%20Cruise/
Friday. Miami.
I left home fairly early in the morning. Ken and his mom took me to the airport. Unfortunately there was an unidentified object on the freeway which we ended up running over, fucking up one of Ken's mom's tires. Luckily for me, it made it to the airport. Check-in went alright and Ken and I said good-bye. Waiting for the plane, I hear a news story on the cruise ship that sank in Greece. Good thing I'm not a paranoid person. Eventually I get to board the plane and have a smooth flight. There was a stop-over in Atlanta which gave me time to stretch my legs and grab a cig before re-boarding. When I made it to Miami, I hopped a shuttle to the hotel which turned out to be the one of the nicest freaking hotel rooms I've ever stayed in. The room was way to big for one person, had a pretty good view of the Miami skyline, and gave me aromatherapy bottles. Didn't do much there but eat, sleep, and chill.
Saturday. Departure.
Woke-up, ate, watched some TV, then hopped a shuttle to the dock. Check-in was about an hour which wasn't too bad considering all the people. I got on the ship and was actually able to find my room pretty easy. I was a bit worried about that upon first seeing the ship. Luckily my luggage had already made it to the door (ship attendants take care of getting luggage aboard and screening then deliver it to the room). I explored the ship for a few hours and took photos while waiting for my family to arrive. I went back to the room to see if they had made it yet and found a note that they were in the cafe. I went to the cafe to look for them when the captain came over the speakers announcing a drill so I had to return to my room to grab a life jacket and found my family there. From there we went to our muster station and waited for the drill to be over. Afterwards we put away the life jackets and I went back to the cafe with my sister to grab some food. Then we went on deck to watch the departure and said good-bye to Miami. Spent the rest of the day hanging out on the ship.
Sunday. At sea.
Didn't do much but hang out on the ship.
Monday. Labadee Haiti.
We woke up in the morning and boarded a tender ship. Labadee wasn't too exciting. It's a private peninsula owned by Royal Carribean so it was entirely a tourist area. We stopped at a Haitian-run flea-market which I found greatly annoying. While trying to browse through the items I was constantly hounded by several Haitians at any one particular time and eventually gave up on the market. We then went to the beach and I took a swim. Then I took a walk through the area. Dragon's Point was probably the coolest thing there. The water and air rushing through the holes in the rocks sounded like an actual dragon. After more exploring and hanging out at the beach, we re-boarded a tender back to the ship and spent the rest of the night hanging out there.
Tuesday. Ocho Rios Jamaica.
This was my favorite stop on the trip. We took a tour of Ocho Rios and St. Anne's Bay then climbed Dunn's River Falls. To climb the falls, our tour group created a human chain to help each other up. Personally, I feel more comfortable climbing alone so that my hands, arms, legs, and feet are free to grab anything and everything I need to, but the group effort thing worked and probably made the climb experience more fun. The Indian family that was directly behind mine had a cute little girl that my mother seemed to have fallen in love with. The little girl had to be carried by the guide most of the way and Mom was thrilled to take her whenever the guide needed to help other group members. I found the climb fairly easy except for the chick behind me who kept slipping and needing me to pull her back up. Apparently the idea of looking where she was stepping to make sure she was actually stepping on the rocks did not occur to her. Luckily for me she was pretty small and easy to pull back up. We all ended up getting pretty wet as we were climbing through the water but the water was a good temp and felt pretty refreshing. Making it to the top was actually a bit disappointing. I could have used the climb to last a bit longer. After climbing the falls we made a few stops for shopping and I went with my mom and sister to Margaritaville where we got some Margaritas. Unfortunately I wasn't able to convince them to go to the pool bar with me and I was the only one who actually got in the pool. After all that we re-boarded the ship for the night.
Wednesday. Georgetown Grand Cayman Island.
This area was highly disappointing. Georgetown was one big tourist town so it was hot from traffic and full of nothing but gift shops. We didn't spend much time there, just enough to browse through a few shops before hopping a tender to re-board the ship. The tender was probably the most fun there as the water was pretty choppy, so choppy in fact that one of the Carnival ships that was there at the same time ended up leaving some of there people there when they were unable to re-board them. Apparently, they just made arrangements to pick them up at the next port.
Thursday. Cozumel Mexico
We took a tour of the island of Cozumel, seeing some of the sights and learning a bit of the island's history. I had hopped to see a bit more of the Mayan ruins but apparently that was on another tour. My mom signed us up for the one that came with a free drink, which wasn't too bad either. We did see the remains of a Mayan temple, but it wasn't much as most of it was destroyed by settlers to build a Catholic church. The biggest stop here was a beach called Playa Mia where we grabbed some food, got our free drinks, and went for a swim. Then we got back on the bus and headed for the boat.
Friday. At sea.
Spent Friday just hanging out on the boat. The biggest excitement on this day came while I was sitting on deck eating ice cream. Looking out at the water I noticed a pink raft which looked to be a child's pool toy floating in the water. I thought it was a bit odd especially since in the movies finding something floating in the water always indicates a shipwreck. I didn't think too much of it though, figuring that some kids were probably just horsing around and it accidentally got tossed overboard. A little while latter, the captain announced over the loudspeakers that some life rafts had been spotted and we were turning the boat around to send out a rescue team to investigate. I guess life sometimes is like the movies. After several hours of searching and communications with the coast guard without result, a capsized catamaran was discovered. Finally, about an hour later, the coast guard came back with word that this shipwreck had been reported a couple of days earlier and the family had already been rescued. We returned to our route back to Miami.
Saturday. Return home.
Woke up early in the morning, had a final breakfast, then prepared to leave the ship. This took quite some time since everyone was pretty much trying to leave at the same time and we had to wait through check-out, customs, and a shuttle bus. The shuttle bus also took quite some time with trying to load people and luggage, drive through traffic, and unload people and luggage. I said good-bye to my family, found my luggage and then had to wait in line for airport check-in. By the time I made it through the line, I only had 20 minutes to check-in, check my luggage, and make it to the terminal. The airline people yelled at me for checking in so late even though it wasn't my fault. i got there the recommended hour and a half before my flight but most of the time was sucked away by the check-in line. Anyway, after checking my luggage, I hurried to the terminal and made it there with 10 minutes to spare, only to discover the flight had been delayed. After sitting at the airport for quite some time, the plane was declared out of service and I had to wait for them to find an in service plane and get it to the airport. By this point, I knew I was going to miss my transfer flight in Dallas and had to wait in line to make arrangements for another flight. They booked me for a flight out the next morning but told me I could also standby for a flight out that night. Finally a plane arrived and I was on my way to Dallas. When I made it to Dallas, I had only 20 minutes to find the terminal for the next plane to Phoenix and get my name on the standby list. Even though I figured I wasn't going to make that flight either, I headed to the terminal figuring they could direct me to the next flight. To my luck however, they got me on the plane. Unfortunately the plane was delayed at the gate because they were still trying to assemble a crew. Flight crews in Dallas were in disarray at this time due to a big storm the night before. Finally a crew was assembled and the plane left the gate. We were delayed again on the runway however, due to a passenger number discrepancy. Eventually that was sorted out and I was finally on my way home. I finally made it back to Phoenix, however my luggage did not. It did eventually make its way to me the following morning but without my comb, eyeliner pencil, and one of my earing backings. Apparently Homeland Security decided these items were a threat to national security. Lol.
Anyway, that's my trip.
Pics at: http://s120.photobucket.com/albums/o194/citlalmina/Carribean%20Cruise/