Cruise on the Indepencence of the Seas, February 15-21, 2009.

Day One: board the ship in the afternoon and immediately head to the buffet for lunch. We will try not to make pigs out of ourselves and regret it later. No lox. We are crushed! We managed anyway and had enough to tide us over till dinner. The usual ridiculous lifeboat drill. As if any of the crew would actually wait for the passengers to get into the lifeboats first. It’s every man for himself or you are shark food. We got through it without tripping over the straps and made it safely back to our room to get ready for dinner and the show which were both good.

Day Two: Cruising the south Atlantic, passed Cuba and into the Caribbean Sea to arrive the following morning at the port of Belize City, Belize in Central America. The ship is so enormous that I do not feel any movement. We have a balcony and I actually have to look out over the railing to see if we are moving. The crew is happy and the ship is very well-run. The food is good, the entertainment is good. No complaints.
There are over 1000 children onboard since it is a holiday week. They are actually pretty good and we don’t see too much of them since they have their own activities and swimming areas. The hordes of teenagers are ubiquitous. They travel in mobs and eat all day. No juvenile delinquents, though.

Day Three:
We board a large tender for a 20-minute trip into the port. The ship is too large to dock. Belize is an extremely poor third-word country which really does depend upon cruise ship revenue for survival. We take a private tour of the city which does not last too long. The driver is quite creative, inventing fantastic stories about the city and its inhabitants which he expects us to believe. We play along so he believes that we believe him. It’s really quite funny. After the tour we scoot back to the ship since there is really nothing more we care to see here. We hang out at the adult’s only pool for the rest of the day and following that we participate in the ususal shipboard activities: eating, shopping and seeing the shows.

Day Four:
Costa Maya, Mexico. The ship is docked so we just walk right off. There is a shopping area at the pier. We leave by local transport to the nearest beach which is very nice. The water is colder than I thought but bearable. As is our usual m.o. we get lounge chairs and umbrella and hang out at the beach all day. Lunch consists of Nachos with cheese and guacamole which was excellent. Then for a long walk along the malecon (seaside promenade). Before leaving the beach I had a massage under a palm tree for $10. It was as professional as it gets and I was so relaxed I could barely stand up. Then it was back to the ship for the usual activities.

Day Five:
Cozumel, Mexico, an island off the coast of Mexico where we again went to a beach resort and spent the whole day doing absolutely nothing. Perfect. A lounge chair under an umbrella, just steps from the water. Can’t ask for anything better. Went shopping in downtown San Miguel for a few local trinkets and back to the ship for more of the same.
There are six ships in town so it is very crowded and hot. We bought a bottle of vanilla tequila. That’s after we tasted about six different varieties and were too drunk to say no to the sales person. Anyway, now we can give everyone a taste and get them drunk too. Actually it is quite good and on second thought we are not sorry we bought it.

Day Six:
Cruising on the way back to Florida. Whitecaps today, windy, and cold. Every once in a while I spot a freighter or another cruise ship in the distance. It’s just another relaxing day onboard. Lounges in the shade are at a premium but we have two in the perfect place. The only way I will give them up is if I sell them or someone throws me off one. I am enjoying just staring at the sea and listening to the waves. It finally got too cold to sit out in the Solarium so it is back to the cabin for a long nap, shower and dress for the last dinner and show. Earlier in the day we had brunch with the food and beverage manager and that was kind of interesting. The food was good too. The evening show was blah and we went to sleep early because we had to get up at the crack of dawn for an early debark.

All in all, it was a pleasant cruise and I would take this ship again.

Cruise

Valentine's Day is alive and well in this household. Old Blue Eyes surprised me today with a cruise leaving this weekend going to Mexico and Belize. I will be reporting along the way with pertinent info on the port stops.

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all.

South America Two

The trip is on! We are leaving for South America in April. Buenos Aires, Mendoza wine country, bus trip over the Andes, Santiago, Vina del Mar, Valparaiso to start with. More to follow. I am so excited!