A photo journal

We began our first day with the sail away party out of Tampa. We flew to Tampa the day before the cruise began to avoid any last minute hassle with travel. Asia had saved up hotel points, so our hotel was free, and since his brother, Aaron lives in Tampa, our transportation was also free!

After breakfast in the hotel and a scary shuttle ride with an interesting bunch of folk from South Carolina (this was just our introduction into the world of southerners... the boat was loaded with these people) we had a short wait in line and were on the ship by 11:30 am.

Sail away wasn't until 4:00, so we had some time to get to know the ship before we left the port. The Legend is a very well designed vessel, and we figured her out before we even got into our cabin. When the cabins were available, we found our way to our home for the week - #6187 on the Empress Deck.

Sail Away was uneventful. Nobody threw streamers or confetti like on the Love Boat. I could hardly believe we were the ones on the ship, waving to all the well wishers on land. It was a bit surreal. Our first day out was a day at sea. We ate breakfast on the Lido Deck - buffet - with so many choices it was difficult to decide. No worries, though, because there's more than enough and you can get seconds. And thirds. And fourths if you want. Crazy.

We watched the Belly Flop contest, a cheesy version of 'Legend Survivor', laid in the sun, and met a wonderful couple from Tennessee at the bow of the ship... they became our 'cruising buddies.' It was very important to Asia to find friends with whom we could enjoy the week, so it was good we met them on the very first full day at sea. Curtis and Ashley were newlyweds, and we had great fun together all week. The Maitre d' even arranged for us to be able to eat together every night in the dining room.

Monday night was the first formal night. Asia had gotten his suit taken out so it would fit after hanging in the closet for the last nine years untouched. The poor little Asian tailor who did it wasn't sure if there'd be enough fabric to make it fit, but she managed, and I think he looked pretty good. My dress was a last minute purchase from a clearance rack - I really wanted two dresses for the two formal nights. I loved this brown dress, and other than my wedding dress, it's probably the prettiest dress I've ever owned. Too bad I probably won't wear it again, at least until we cruise again...

Too bad I didn't suck in my tummy when this picture was taken too... oh well, live and learn.

We had lobster and prime rib for dinner - SO delicious. It's probably a good thing the picture was taken before dinner.

We went to the main show in the lounge. A little singing, a little comedy, a little dancing... we now know what Simon Cowell is talking about when he says "It was at like some dreadful cruise ship entertainment..." At best, it was good for a laugh.

Our first port was Grand Cayman. We tendered in, and without any formal excursion plans, decided to just wander the island on our own. I had heard about a small gallery that was supposed to be full of local art, so we found a cab to take us there. Unfortunately, we were on ship's time, and on island time it was only 8:00 am - an hour before the gallery opened. We found a lovely little cove across the road right on the ocean, and spent the hour beach combing and playing in the warmest tide pools I've ever experienced. It was hot and muggy, but amazing. Such a beautiful place.

After leaving the gallery (where all we bought was a little stone turtle for E.,) we walked back into town along the same road the cab took us down. We enjoyed the beautiful homes and the most amazing flowers... and saw oodles of little mini cemeteries placed all along the road. Apparently people have individual family cemeteries there.

We got back into town and found another cab to take us to Seven Mile Beach... this was a long cab ride - and I made Asia promise that we would get another cab back to the pier when it was time. We changed into our swimsuits here and ventured into the clear blue water...

Growing up on the Oregon Coast, I've never experienced warm sea water. It was heaven. I could have spent the whole day here, floating and bobbing with the waves. I loved it.

We started walking down the beach after we dried off on our Carnival beach towels... we wanted to see some of the myriad of beach resort hotels along this famous beach. We walked. And walked. And walked. And before we knew it, we were almost back into town. Our calves were aching and we were sweating, but we saved $ on cab fare, which made Asia happy. The last mile I probably whined more than necessary...

We tendered back to the ship and got back into our room with plenty of time for a shower and a nap. Then we went to the purser's deck and bought a deck of cards to add to the one we had bought in the Denver airport on our way down. We played cards on the Lido Deck with hot chocolate or lemonade and our daily ice cream cone until dinner time. This became our daily routine on port days. Now this is V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N.!

Port day #2. Cozumel. We had booked online with an exclusive all-inclusive beach resort called Nachi Cocum... we knew they didn't take more than 100 guests a day, and were looking forward to a quiet getaway. We were amazed to find out upon our arrival that there were only going to be 12 guests. With 10 staff. Needless to say, we were spoiled. All the drinks we wanted. More food than we could eat. Authentic Mexican. Delicious. Our own beach hut, a hot tub, a freshwater pool, a private beach and margaritas, baby. What more could you ask for?
How about snorkeling? We paid extra for a great guy named Leonardo to take us snorkeling at two separate reefs. Leonardo stayed on the boat while his non-English speaking friend swam with us and showed us the best spots to dive. "Follow me," he kept saying... and we did, as best we could. If we got too far away, we could hear Leonardo calling from the boat, "Follow him!" It was great snorkeling. The water is SO clear. We saw manta rays, tons of grouper, and all kinds of unidentified colorful fishies. I really wanted to see sea turtles, but we didn't. We did, however, see this big guy when we got back to the resort.

Port day three was Belize. We booked a cave tubing excursion, since we had heard Belize City could be a dangerous port to wander freely. Cave Tubing was one of those things I had to keep stopping myself just to be sure I was taking in the moment... after a 45 minute, terrifying bus ride, we hiked through the Belizean jungle to a river that runs through several cave systems. We linked up in chains on our inner tubes, with our guides at the front of the chain. They led us through miles of caves. It was so cool. I didn't get good pictures, unfortunately, because my disposable underwater camera didn't like the lighting in the jungle. It's for sure one of those things I've filed away in my memory as a top ten experience though. We'd love to go back and take the kids on this excursion. Ironically, the port of Belize was the prettiest one we stopped at. We tendered into a lovely little bay, surrounded by gorgeous waterfront homes and hotels. But a couple of blocks past the port and we found ourselves in a third world country. There was garbage everywhere and the most ramshackle structures being used as homes. It was hard to see. Apparently the government of Belize is pretty corrupt and there's no infrastructure to speak of. But they sure do know how to take care of cruise passengers... we had a great time there. But there was for sure an underlying sadness to see so much poverty, especially in light of the over-consumption and extravagance of a cruise.

There was a midnight buffet that evening and the "Bathrobes and Beer" party on the lido deck... the buffet was a Mexican extravaganza, presided over by this Mayan watermelon god.I wore my bathrobe to the party and I danced. Asia did not. Thank goodness Curtis and Ashley weren't party poopers and I had someone to dance with. I'm not complaining, though, because Asia took pictures. Pictures are always good in my book. Our last port of call was Costa Maya. Never heard of it? I'm not surprised. Nobody had heard of it before Carnival bought up a huge chunk of the Mexican coastline and created their own little port of call. We're talking a shopping/restaurant/bar/massive swimming pool like you've never seen before. But if you do your research, you'll discover that for a $3 taxi ride, you can leave the touristy craziness of Carnival's artificial Mexican village and get yourself to an authentic fishing village. Complete with lots of folks hawking silver. And buckets of beer. And free beach chairs with purchase! And massages.

Massages? We were hooked. Ashley, Asia and I paid $20 apiece for hour long massages in this upper level grass hut overlooking the beach. We were all lulled into semi-sleep and greased up from head to toe while Curtis watched over our belongings. It was w.o.n.d.e.r.f.u.l. Then we succumbed to the heavy sales pressure and bought the worst margaritas we'd ever had and got scammed into paying extra for chips and guac by a guy who had said they were included with our drinks. But hey - it's vacation. Whatever, amigo.

Dinner that night was the second formal night. I unfortunately didn't get a picture of us together that evening. But Asia did get pictures of the nightly dance extravaganza by the wait staff in the dining room... and of me in the Conga line. I'm telling you, friends, I was like a different person on this cruise. I haven't danced since high school. But I danced... and I loved every minute of it.

Another midnight buffet this night... we were all pretty tired, but we managed to drag our fat butts back to the dining room just for the experience. This one was so fancy that they let everyone into the dining room an hour early just for picture taking. It was also so fancy that we didn't really want to eat much. Pretty weird stuff... a lot of it reminded me of head cheese or pate... ick. We managed to choke down a few deserts, but it didn't really live up to all the hoopla. Maybe we were just so tired of eating by this point... Last day was another sea day. A little sun, a little napping, a little packing, a little ice cream. A little more napping. It's vacation, after all.
All in all, we loved cruising. Every pickin' minute of it. From the tacky on-board entertainment, to the food, to the ports of call... we're hooked.

Want to come with us next time? Just think, you could be our cruising buddies!

The transition back to real life has been a little hard. But I'm getting there. If only I could have my mid-day shower and nap every day like I did on the cruise. Oh - and a five course dinner every night...

But then life isn't like that, eh?

That's okay.

That's what makes vacation so great.

Happy weekend, friends.
Smooch you all.