Blog Cruisin' by......

A Little behind, but here is some fun.


Tuesday morning February 23rd, 345a cst

Wow! What an awesome first day! There is almost nothing as beautiful and vast as the ocean. So dark blue, but a blue like I have never seen. It is a really cool feeling to look off each side of the boat and see no land. Almost scary to think how tiny you are compared to the size of the ocean. But its beauty takes over. We are almost to Costa Maya, just passed the island with Cozumel on it.

Our journey started Sunday. We boarded the ship as early as we could, so we did not get caught up in the traffic, auto and human. As soon as you walk in, the main lobby was the starting point, which is located in the middle of the ship. It was beautiful. A jazz band played on the terrace, and you could see 3 of the 13 stories. There are glass elevators, that allowed you to overlook the lobby. There is a cafe, and the entrance to Henrys Pub :) But everything was lit comfortably. The really neat thing is when you board so early, there are no luggage worries, all you have to do it wait on your room. So we walked the ship. As we walked, I thought to myself, this boat is huge! There is so much to do! The first thing I did, got me a cafe mocha. We went to the food court, and got us some lunch.
Let me tell ya, you could literally eat all day long here. There are two dining halls, two restaraunts, one food court and one (I think 1) 24 hour sit down food stop. The main dining halls are Windows and The Garden. The food court, buffet style, is Raffles (which also has a bar in the back.) The 24 hours food stop is the Blue Lagoon. And if all of that is not enough, there is always room service. So I am not joking when I say you can literally eat ALL day.
So, we ate lunch, then walked around to check out more of the boat. Michelle and I went and did a tour of the spa, which I would have loved the massage, but 250 seemed like too much for the both of us. During the spa tour, they announced our room was ready. We then scooted down to our room.
Unpacking was easy. They have all kinds of room, in such a small room. They have a bathroom that is separated by doors, the toilet can be closed from the vanity, and the shower can also be closed from the vanity. Then you can close the whole bathroom. Our twin beds were pushed together, and there was actually a tv with 19 channels. So, the room was equipped pretty well.
Not long after we were unpacked, we did the in case of emergency drill, where everyone was supposed to grab their lifejackets and meet in a pre-chosen location. We went through the steps on how to put on a lifejacket, and yank on the loop on the back to tow your wife around :) . That was the only thing we had no choice in doing. I am kool with that.

After that, we went to the top, to the Bon Voyage party, which was great! There was some great Cajun cooking, along with a Jazz/Reggae band playing. We were able to eat on deck 12 that had windows overlooking the edge of the boat, or slip up to the Bier Garten, to eat and order some beer. Which was the wise choice, so it was what we did. You can order a single beer, or a bucket which was buy 5, get 1 free. So, that is what I had to do, you know free and all.

As the boat left the dock, we waved bye, and took the LONG start to our journey down what was either a canal, or tributary, which actually took all night. So, when darkness fell, we made our way down to the Galaxy of the Stars. It is in the front of the ship, on deck 12. This is my favorite indoor place. It is low lit, with windows overlooking the front of the ship, and showed us where we were heading. It is just a comfortable place to relax, prop up your feet, and sip on some beer. And that is exactly what I did, and did not get up til they were all empty. We then went to watch a variety show in the Stardust Theatre, which gave us a taste of what we can see all week long. It was pretty kool, with a band, acrobats, and singers.

Michelle and I went to the Blue lagoon, and ate again, then called it a night. She fell asleep, so I went back to find the group, who also called it a night, and that is when I came to realize, NOBODY was still up. At midnight on a party cruise, wow! So I got some sleep.

I woke up early the next morning, while Michelle was asleep, and walked the ship. I first went to deck 7, and looked at the ocean off the side of the boat. The I went to the Galaxy, and looked at the ocean from the front. It was great. I then went to the 13 story, and looked off the front, outside. Got to see the sun rising, but after sunrise. I walked to the back of the boat, slipping in a quick breakfast at Raffles, and had a cup of coffee, to watch the tiny wake this huge boat was making. I went back to the room in time to eat the room service breakfast we ordered the night before.

Michelle and I met the group, and decided to go to a nice sitdown breakfast at Windows. If you did not catch that this was breakfast number 3, good luck to you. And that is how it all started. We then prepared for Bingo. We played that from 11 to 1230. The largest winner won 450 dollars. Not bad.

After that we went to the fun event of the Beer Crawl. Let me tell you, for having no clue what I was getting into, this turned out to be really fun. We had 5 drinks at 5 bars. But, it was team game and participation focused. Just to toss out, I had lunch right before it started. The first game was picking a female front our group to dance on a table to "Honky tonk badonk-a-donk". We chose Charlene, and as honky tonk as you might think she is, she must not have had the badonk-a-donk, cause we lost. Well we got to drink a pineapple fruity drink, and went to the Galaxy next. We played pass the balloon next, in which I led, and Michelle ended. I was the fastest balloon-blower-upper, but Michelle could not pop it against my chest, so we lost that one. But we chugged a beer, went on to Raffles Bar. We played the Tarzan yell, which we sucked at. I think because I was surrounded by Steeler fans who decided to yell "Here we go Steelers, Here we go... " Almost made me sick. :) We drank our watermelom drink, moved on to deck 7, Henrys Pub, and played the beer burp game, and lost that. Joe just could not muster a good belch. We grabbed our shot of Sour Apple Pucker, and headed to Maharajahs bar. We drank it there, and played the beer cup flip game, and lost it too. But got a Bud Light Lime out of it. Needless to say, we failed in games, but won in drunkiness. :)

We stayed in the casino bar, and finished off the BL limes, and then went to the blue lagoon and ate supper/lunch. Then bought a bucket of beer again. We ate then went to the deck 7 side and watched the sun set. We finished the beers there, and enjoyed the ocean. Not too long after that, were all past the tipping point, and some called it a night. I grabbed my camera and took some night pictures, and pics of inside the ship. It was so quiet, and by 730, (I know, 730) the ship was practically empty. So I called it a night, and crashed in the room.

So here I am, sitting here, awake early, because of sleeping early, swaying with the boat, typing this long blog on my blackberry, waiting for the sun to rise so Michelle and I can watch it. Costa Maya, here we come.