Cruise Goodness
Ahh life....I know it's been a little while since I updated...
Christmas was good....well, Christmas Eve at work sucked, but the time with my family afterwards was nice. I recieved many lovely things...didn't end up taking anything back, which is always good.. Mallery and Curt came over on Christmas day, which was nice. I don't get to see them enough.
A few days after Christmas, Chris came into town! He spent most of the week here, which was awesome. We went and saw Phantom with Annie...hung out...unfortunately, I got sick and ended up sleeping most of the Thursday he was here, but he was wonderful and helped take care of me. On New Years we went up to Evan's with Cathy, Sally, and Keely. It was an enjoyable time, except when Keely was being a pain in the ass about the futon.
The next day I was off to Ft. Lauderdale! I met up with Jana and Toby at the airport, but then found out that ATA lost one of my bags. It got sent to St. Petersburg, FL. How is it that you send one of two bags to the completely wrong city when it is tagged correctly and I was on a NON STOP flight?! It baffles me. Anyway, after arguing with ATA for a while, we went out and saw The Life Aquatic. An odd, odd movie I must say. After movies we went to Cheeburger Cheeburger...which had really good cheeseburgers, I must say. Then onto Toby's parents for directions and finally into Miami. We only got lost a little before finding the hotel.
The Cruise, Day 1: Miami/Evening at Sea
I got a little bit of sleep before being awoken by my parents at some ridiculous hour in the morning. After a futile effort of trying to sleep some more, I get up only to find out I have to wear these obnoxious (and hideous) lime green shirts..my entire family (yes, all bloody 19 of us) were wearing them. Yay. We all amass and pour into some poor Cuban bakery for breakfast. I swear...we took up 3/4 of their tables. Spent more time wandering around Miami...(I bought a pair of beach pants, which I love!)...before we made our way to the cruise ship. Lots of boring stuff, then we got onboard the ship and hung out for a while...nothing terribly eventful happened after that.
The Cruise, Day 2: Day at Sea
The only really exciting portion of this day was the Formal Dinner. I have pictures, but due to my lack of Xanga Premium, I can't really post them. If you'd like to see them, you'll have to email/IM me. Anyway, I'll preface this by saying that on board the ship you have to be 21 to drink...for some strange reason. They had a cocktail hour before dinner where they served free drinks (and didn't card, apparently!). Dinner was pretty good, the best part was our waiter, Renato.
The Cruise, Day 3: Cozumel
We all met early to go horseback riding....well twelve of us did. The other seven were going shopping. Horseback riding was both good and bad...it was fun, but it hurt...and I don't just mean my ass. If you've ever had large breasts then you know that riding a horse can be worse on your back than your ass. That...and my cousin, Michael, was being irritating and kept spooking my horse, which kept trying to kick his. Back to the boat and onto shopping...we wandered around downtown for a while and looked in various shops. I recieved a few marriage proposals, which was odd...bought a necklace. Then back to the ship to get ready for the booze cruise. Michael and I met up and got aboard a party boat (that had open bar)...and drank....a lot....until we got to Senor Frogs (a restaurant/club/bar thing)...where we drank more....then back onto the party boat....I stopped drinking at this point and spent the rest of the time talking with a few people I'd met there....I can only assume Michael kept drinking because he was barely able to walk by the time we got back to the ship. I dragged him back to his cabin and found his mother. More reasons I don't drink tequila.
The Cruise, Day 4: Day out at Sea....again
A rather uneventful day all around...hung out aboard the ship....read....ate....sat in the hottub. Nothing too exciting.
The Cruise, Day 5: Grand Cayman
My Aunt's cell phone actually got reception here so I was able to call Chris and talk to him for a few minutes. At this point, I was a tad homesick and very much missed talking to him, so I was immensely thankful for my Aunt's cellphone provider. We made it back to the ship where I hung out and read for a while before heading up to dinner. Dinner was pretty nice. When I mentioned earlier that you had to be 21 to drink aboard, what I really meant was that you had to be 21 to order alcohol. Sooo...my family/people I met aboard the ship seemed more than happy to order it for me, so who was I to refuse. I had...two...three beers with dinner. Two or so while watching Karaoke after dinner....Two more while at the Piano bar with my family...and about three or so while hanging out with people I met aboard the ship. I didn't make it to bed until like...3:30 ish.
The Cruise, Day 6: Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Woke up about 6:30. Before I drank the night before I should've remembered that I had to get up at the ass crack of dawn for a shore excursion. I'm brilliant at times, really. But we went to go swim with Dolphins, which was a lot of fun...then to Dunns River Falls. The falls were gorgeous, but I chickened out on climbing them. Went back to the ship and SLEPT for like...four hours before I had to get up and get ready for Formal Night number two. Dinner was nice again (no drinks this time). After dinner we sat around for a bit before deciding to go gamble a little in the casino. We all went to an empty face up blackjack table and my (rather wealthy) aunt gave everyone $50 to play with. We played for probably about two hours...I managed to turn $50 into $275. Though almost everybody won at the table. It was a lot of fun.
The Cruise, Day 7: Last Day Out at Sea
Another lazy day....I actually laid out in the sun for a while, though didn't really get tan at all. But it was nice to lay out in the warmth, listening to the broadway soundtrack of Phantom of the Opera. Dinner was nice...hung out afterwards...gambled a little bit more with $25...I lost it, but oh well...only $25. Went to the piano bar for the last night before making it back to the room late. Finished packing and passed out.
Over all, it was a good vacation. I would like to go on a cruise again, just not a Carnival Cruise. Since I've been back I've just been working...hanging out a little. Oh the exciting life I lead.
Christmas was good....well, Christmas Eve at work sucked, but the time with my family afterwards was nice. I recieved many lovely things...didn't end up taking anything back, which is always good.. Mallery and Curt came over on Christmas day, which was nice. I don't get to see them enough.
A few days after Christmas, Chris came into town! He spent most of the week here, which was awesome. We went and saw Phantom with Annie...hung out...unfortunately, I got sick and ended up sleeping most of the Thursday he was here, but he was wonderful and helped take care of me. On New Years we went up to Evan's with Cathy, Sally, and Keely. It was an enjoyable time, except when Keely was being a pain in the ass about the futon.
The next day I was off to Ft. Lauderdale! I met up with Jana and Toby at the airport, but then found out that ATA lost one of my bags. It got sent to St. Petersburg, FL. How is it that you send one of two bags to the completely wrong city when it is tagged correctly and I was on a NON STOP flight?! It baffles me. Anyway, after arguing with ATA for a while, we went out and saw The Life Aquatic. An odd, odd movie I must say. After movies we went to Cheeburger Cheeburger...which had really good cheeseburgers, I must say. Then onto Toby's parents for directions and finally into Miami. We only got lost a little before finding the hotel.
The Cruise, Day 1: Miami/Evening at Sea
I got a little bit of sleep before being awoken by my parents at some ridiculous hour in the morning. After a futile effort of trying to sleep some more, I get up only to find out I have to wear these obnoxious (and hideous) lime green shirts..my entire family (yes, all bloody 19 of us) were wearing them. Yay. We all amass and pour into some poor Cuban bakery for breakfast. I swear...we took up 3/4 of their tables. Spent more time wandering around Miami...(I bought a pair of beach pants, which I love!)...before we made our way to the cruise ship. Lots of boring stuff, then we got onboard the ship and hung out for a while...nothing terribly eventful happened after that.
The Cruise, Day 2: Day at Sea
The only really exciting portion of this day was the Formal Dinner. I have pictures, but due to my lack of Xanga Premium, I can't really post them. If you'd like to see them, you'll have to email/IM me. Anyway, I'll preface this by saying that on board the ship you have to be 21 to drink...for some strange reason. They had a cocktail hour before dinner where they served free drinks (and didn't card, apparently!). Dinner was pretty good, the best part was our waiter, Renato.
The Cruise, Day 3: Cozumel
We all met early to go horseback riding....well twelve of us did. The other seven were going shopping. Horseback riding was both good and bad...it was fun, but it hurt...and I don't just mean my ass. If you've ever had large breasts then you know that riding a horse can be worse on your back than your ass. That...and my cousin, Michael, was being irritating and kept spooking my horse, which kept trying to kick his. Back to the boat and onto shopping...we wandered around downtown for a while and looked in various shops. I recieved a few marriage proposals, which was odd...bought a necklace. Then back to the ship to get ready for the booze cruise. Michael and I met up and got aboard a party boat (that had open bar)...and drank....a lot....until we got to Senor Frogs (a restaurant/club/bar thing)...where we drank more....then back onto the party boat....I stopped drinking at this point and spent the rest of the time talking with a few people I'd met there....I can only assume Michael kept drinking because he was barely able to walk by the time we got back to the ship. I dragged him back to his cabin and found his mother. More reasons I don't drink tequila.
The Cruise, Day 4: Day out at Sea....again
A rather uneventful day all around...hung out aboard the ship....read....ate....sat in the hottub. Nothing too exciting.
The Cruise, Day 5: Grand Cayman
My Aunt's cell phone actually got reception here so I was able to call Chris and talk to him for a few minutes. At this point, I was a tad homesick and very much missed talking to him, so I was immensely thankful for my Aunt's cellphone provider. We made it back to the ship where I hung out and read for a while before heading up to dinner. Dinner was pretty nice. When I mentioned earlier that you had to be 21 to drink aboard, what I really meant was that you had to be 21 to order alcohol. Sooo...my family/people I met aboard the ship seemed more than happy to order it for me, so who was I to refuse. I had...two...three beers with dinner. Two or so while watching Karaoke after dinner....Two more while at the Piano bar with my family...and about three or so while hanging out with people I met aboard the ship. I didn't make it to bed until like...3:30 ish.
The Cruise, Day 6: Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Woke up about 6:30. Before I drank the night before I should've remembered that I had to get up at the ass crack of dawn for a shore excursion. I'm brilliant at times, really. But we went to go swim with Dolphins, which was a lot of fun...then to Dunns River Falls. The falls were gorgeous, but I chickened out on climbing them. Went back to the ship and SLEPT for like...four hours before I had to get up and get ready for Formal Night number two. Dinner was nice again (no drinks this time). After dinner we sat around for a bit before deciding to go gamble a little in the casino. We all went to an empty face up blackjack table and my (rather wealthy) aunt gave everyone $50 to play with. We played for probably about two hours...I managed to turn $50 into $275. Though almost everybody won at the table. It was a lot of fun.
The Cruise, Day 7: Last Day Out at Sea
Another lazy day....I actually laid out in the sun for a while, though didn't really get tan at all. But it was nice to lay out in the warmth, listening to the broadway soundtrack of Phantom of the Opera. Dinner was nice...hung out afterwards...gambled a little bit more with $25...I lost it, but oh well...only $25. Went to the piano bar for the last night before making it back to the room late. Finished packing and passed out.
Over all, it was a good vacation. I would like to go on a cruise again, just not a Carnival Cruise. Since I've been back I've just been working...hanging out a little. Oh the exciting life I lead.