Where to begin? Perhaps I'll begin at the beginning...
(Quick side note: I am not that vain to have taken only pictures featuring me, myself, and I. I just don't have permission from all the other girls to post their pics. Just so you know...I have a bit more depth than that. Maybe.)
Day 1, Thursday, 12:30 p.m.:
The plan was to meet at the port so that we could board the ship together and take pictures, eat, relax and toast the bride. I arrived to the port on time (shocker!) and yes, I did take this picture of the docked ship while driving. I am an excellent driver.
After standing in line to enter the building, we then stood in line to proceed to the next line in which we stood for two hours whereupon we proceeded to the next line where we stood for 20 minutes until we were ushered into the "waiting area." I now know what it feels like to be a part of a herd of cattle. Finally, after much waiting and lining up and ushering, we embarked upon the ship. As we were making our way across the "gangplank" it suddenly shifted down (where there was nothing but water) and I nearly peed my pants. Excellent start for a nervous girl who's never been on a big boat before.
We finally make it safely on the ship and we decide to check out our rooms and put our stuff away and then meet out by the pool for a drink. One of my roommates was already there (we were waiting on the other two) so we of course both claimed the bottom bunks. The room itself was really not that bad and I had great roommates. However, showering in a 4X4 box while swaying back and forth was...neat. Shaving was a fun trick.
We all meet on the Lido deck for drinks and to wait for the other girls who haven't yet arrived. Once everyone was there we were instructed to go to our rooms and bring back our life vests for a drill. My friend, C, and I look at each other with horror. We contemplate jumping ship and heading back for land while we still can.
Back in our room, we decide to skip the "save our asses in case we hit an iceburg" drill (because, really, who hits an iceburg in the Gulf of Mexico?) and we sit and chat. Suddenly we feel the boat start moving. At this point we determine that all those people who told us its-such-a-big-boat-you-won't-feel-it-moving were either a) lying to us, b) drunk or c) idiots. I am here to tell you: YOU'RE DARN SKIPPY YOU CAN FEEL IT! So C and I popped a Dramamine and prayed that the ocean gods would be kind and not make us sick or eat us.
Flash forward to dinner. We are waiting to enter the dining room. The boat is a-rockin'. People are a-hurlin' in the bathrooms. I was standing on the stairwell watching the masses sway back and forth and occasionally fall into each other. If they had lighters in the air we would have been at a groovy concert. I am feeling juuuust fine, being high on Dramamine and all. But I am a zombie because, for me, "less drowsy" formula only means "you won't fall asleep in your soup but you sure won't have the energy to do much but blink." Fabulous.
Despite my zombie-like state, I managed to laugh it up with the girls at the karaoke bar that evening. It was a good time.
Day 2, Friday, Day at Sea:
Because I was one of the first to go to bed in a Dramamine induced fog, I got up bright and early the next morning and attempted to run on the ship's jogging track. By attempted to run, I mean that I managed to run without plowing down another person when the ship would make sudden leans to the right or left. It's probably what I would look like if I were to run drunk. Which I don't. For the record.
After my run, I had a nice breakfast and then went back to the room to shower and change. I woke C up and we decided to grab our books, our floppy hats and a towel and go sun ourselves by the pool.
And we did. And it was lovely.
That afternoon when it started to get a little overcast and chilly, we packed it up and went shopping. There was not a whole lot to see, but it was a nice little diversion. Later, we went back to the room and got ready for "elegant dining" night. Once again, our waitstaff regaled us with their amazing entertainment talents right before dessert (I hope you note the sarcasm here. It was neither amazing nor entertaining. I kept wanting to say, "Just give me my dessert and be off with you!"). The evening was capped off by another trip to the karaoke bar and then the dance club. I called it a night early again because I was still doped up on Dramamine but also because we had to get up early the next day for our excursion to Cozumel.
Day 3, Saturday, Cozumel:
After meeting all the girls on the Atrium deck, we hastily made our way to get off the ship. Before we left, though, I took a detour to one of the top decks of the ship and got this picture of the shore:
Beautiful, no?
Anyway, we quickly found ourselves a taxi that could accommodate the lot of us and we had him drive us to the other side of the island to a little place called Mezcalito. It was gorgeous! Take a look:
Yes, I did find an island kitty. No, I did not get naked on Naked Beach.
While most of the girls stayed in the open-air bar and drank, I frolicked like an idiot on the beautiful beach and jumped around in the water like a lunatic. Yeah, I hit the beach 5-year-old style! It was awesome. Then C and I decided that the most important thing in the world to do was hang out in the hammocks. It was glorious. But just as we got comfy and were about to crack open our books to spend the afternoon reading, we heard this, "WE'RE LEAVING!"
Huh? What? We just got here! Clearly, the drinking girls didn't care for the beach as much as C and I did and decided it was time for shopping. While I LOVE to shop, I would have been giddy to have stayed at that beach all day. But I was not driving the bus, so I had to say adieu all too soon. Sniff.
So, we went to the center of town where there was a huge open air market with lots of tourist-y shops blah blah blah. I ended up buying a silver bracelet and some presents for Lobster and my family. It was very hot and there were very aggressive men offering to be my Mexican boyfriend for a dollar. At first I was shocked and appalled at the blatant remarks and catcalls and whistles. Then I was annoyed and insulted. Then I turned a deaf ear and ignored it all, but swore that if any of them laid a finger on me I'd make sure they sang an octave higher for the rest of their lives. Lucky for them, they knew better.
Late in the afternoon we headed back to the area where we docked the ship. There was another open air market there and C and I took a quick look-see then headed back to the ship to relax by the pool. But not before taking these pics:
Finally back on the boat, we had just settled down to read our books when I looked up and saw a large storm cloud on the horizon. It was just one cloud pretty far off with blue sky all around. I could see dark sheets of rain coming down over the water and it was beautiful. And then I saw the tornado.
Oh, yes. A tornado. Also known and a "water spout."
And what do I do when I see terrifying acts of God before my very eyes? Why, I shoot pictures of course. Clearly.
Isn't that amazing?
It lasted for about 20 minutes, never touching down, and then it dissipated. After that one a few smaller, skinny ones popped up every now and then. It was very cool.
That night was a Halloween party so all the girls evidently brought costumes. I, apparently, was left out of that memo so I just wore a dress and went as "cruise ship girl." I am
that clever. Most of the others went as 1920s style flappers. One girl wore a bed sheet as a toga and C dressed up as a vampire with fake blood and all. It was creepy. I insisted that she did not sit across the table from me at dinner. She was freaking me out.
After dinner, we went to--you guessed it--the karaoke bar. But we didn't stay long because there was a costume contest at the dance club and we were hoping that C would win. She didn't so we left and went to the piano bar...where we proceeded to get rowdy. That night was the most fun. By the end of the evening I was donning bits and pieces of the other girls costumes. Observe:
Day 4, Sunday, Day at Sea:
By the time I got up and ran (on the treadmill this time which was just as tricky), had breakfast, and parked my butt on a lounge chair for the day, I was ready to be off the ship. Not that I wasn't have a good time, but I just started to feel a little trapped being on a floating hotel in the middle of the ocean. But I made the most of the day by soaking up the sun and finishing my book and starting a new one. C was a tad hungover and despising the world so I tried to help her cheer up by feeding her greasy food.
That afternoon, after I was thoroughly exhausted from laying in the sun all day, C and I went back to our room to shower, change and take a cat-nap before dinner. This time, I did not take another dose of Dramamine because I did not want to be drowsy while driving home from Galveston the next day. So I was a bit nervous at dinner, but I think my body had gotten sufficiently used to the rocking and swaying of the boat so I was fine.
This time at dinner, the waitstaff sang us a fairwell song. C and I tried not to strangle them. We also wondered how they can do that night after night without wanting to strangle themselves. Anyhoo, I was planning on going out with the girls at least for a little while that evening but toward the end of dinner decided that there was nothing I'd rather do than lay in bed and watch a movie (in English with Spanish sub-titles, no less). And that's exactly what I did. It was very nice.
Day 5, Monday, Getting off the ship...eventually...maybe...
We made it back to Galveston without hitting an iceburg or capsizing in a storm. Praise the Lord! Of course, we were told that we would begin to disembark (is that a word?) the ship at 9:00 a.m. Evidently, they failed to tell us that they would be letting us off one floor at a time. I was on the poor-folk floor and was one of the last to leave. So C and I waited for a few hours until our floor was called, then we waited in line to "check out" of the ship, then we waited in line to enter the port terminal, then we waited in the customs line where I declared that I was a U.S. citizen and that I was not traveling with any livestock or foreign animals, fruits, vegetables, drugs, or communicable diseases. Then I waited in line for the shuttle to take me to my car.
Then, finally, I was in my car and on my way home. Exhausted. Happy to have taken the trip, but even happier to be home at last!
Ahh, paradise!
