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Published: January 18th 2010
Soooo as many of you know..the beginning of January I went on a cruise. I left Saturday the 2nd, stayed in Tampa until the cruise left on Monday the 4th. I had planned to write an entry about each day on the cruise, however, all of the days blurred together so much that it is practically impossible lol. Soooo what I am going to do is write one on my adventures just on the boat, then one about Costa Maya and then one on Cozumel. I went on the cruise with Ryan, Sara and her husband Paul. We sailed using Royal Carribbean, it was a 5 night cruise on the Grandeur of the Seas. Sara and Paul were in Tampa the Friday before staying with her parents. Ryan and I met in Tampa Saturday night and stayed at the hotel. It was an awesome time no doubt about it! Before going on the cruise the 4 of us and Sara's parents (who are just so much fun and I'm so grateful that they played taxi with all of us for 2 days! lol) went to Busch Gardens in Tampa on Sunday. This was an awesome time, the roller coasters there were
Gettin Jiggy Wit it!
Already taking part in boat festivities! lolpretty amazing... however, it was only around 50 degrees that day. I don't know if any of you have ever gone like 70 mph on a roller coaster in 50 degree weather.. but I don't recommend it lol. The tears that form in your eyes from going so fast quickly turn to ice. lol. But regardless it was fun, and it was also interestng to hear the news and see the people in Tampa. On the news there was an announcement that due to the cold temperatures it was imperative that you bring all your pets inside! hahaha it was 50 degree weather! Also, the people in Tampa were dressed all in hats and scarfs and gloves.. (the ones that were not going on the roller coasters!) So that was pretty hysterical, considering we had just left temperatures in like the 20s in Missouri (and for Sara, Paul, and Ryan who are from Iowa it was colder than that) and we were thankful it was so much warmer there. But all and all it was a pretty awesome time in Tampa. Sad that Busch Gardens is no longer owned by Anheuser Busch.. but that's business I guess, and I got
So cool
I'm on the 11th floor looking down to the 5th.. it was all open and stuff. some really awesome Bud Light products at really cheap because of it! 😊 Ok, back to the story lol. Monday we checked out of the hotel, drove by Derek Jeters new mansion (hehehe) and then headed to the port, where before me laid the biggest ship I had even seen in my life. The ship was so big there was no way that I was going to be able to find my way, run out of things to do, or even see the same thing twice! Then I learned that most of the cruise ships are 50-60% bigger then the one that stood before me.. I was pretty much in shock. So much so that I left my camera case and water bottle in the car and Sara and I had to go through security twice to go get them.. because it is unlawful to stand in the lobby to wait for a friend apparently! *rolls eyes* wow. Anyway. Once we boarded the ship we immediately ordered a drink of the day.. and I took wayyy too many pictures of random shoreline boats (not pretty boats, the really ugly ones I just thought they looked cool because I was on
Ocean Waves
This was me looking over the side of the boat at the water, so blue! a boat.. even though you cant tell that in the pictures! lol) So the first night was interesting. We met our friend Gerard Wildman, who ended up being our favorite waiter on the entire boat! Partly because he talked about exercising all the time and partly because he was from Jamaica and everytime he saw us he did the "Heyy!! Mon how are ya!" lol loved it! He also hooked us up on drinks, lol definitely worth the money. Anyway, the first day and night on the ship was pretty tough for me. I had never been on a boat so huge before so the rocking really got to me for awhile. The first night I thought I was going to throw up about 5 times because when I laid down it felt like the room was spinning and I was really drunk (which wasn't the case thank god or I probably would have vomited! lol) Anyway, after the 2nd night I was used to the rocking and I actually really enjoyed it, best sleep I had gotten in a long time! It was hard to sleep when I got off the boat for a couple of days because I
Guy Mooning crowd
This was the sexy leg contest, Matt is in the brown shorts, his brother is next to him.. and then the guy is finishing mooning the crowd at the other end of the line.. hilarious! missed it so much. I did find out that when the boat is rocking very hard, it is very difficult to dance... you really just have to keep your feet planted and sway with the boat and just kinda hope that the boat is on beat lol. The activities on the boat were fun, I definitely learned my way around the boat by the 2nd or 3rd day, and saw everything way more than once! lol. It was pretty chilly the first couple of days, but that didn't stop people from trying to lay out on the deck and tan.. of course it was hard to tan when everyone was covered up with their beach towels lol. We went to the typical game shows and things, the love and marriage one, the Quest game show, the farewell show, the comedian, the Captains thing (I don't really know what it was, but I do know they gave out free champagne and wine.. or maybe we just got the free wine.. gotta love the waiter! lol). I really don't remember what happened on which night but it was pretty awesome. There was also a belly flop contest.. Ryan tied for first. The
Paul
I'm not the only one that enjoyed looking at the water!!! other guy, named Dan, was from Minnesota and I ended up dancing and hanging out with him at the dance club after the competition. He was a cool kid, loved to dance too, although I do think Ryan's belly flops were way better lol. Anyway, most nights I went to the dance club. This is where I met really awesome people! I met Mike and Matt, brothers from Chicago. I met Anat, a girl shorter than I am, and just as fiesty ("Stranger Danger!!"). I met Lauren a med student, and Joe from New York, and a few others. We danced the nights away and then went to the Solarium for the pizza, burgers, and french fries after the club closed lol. Good times 😊 I was able to meet some of the dancers from the shows and the Argentine guys that did drumming and ball throwing (lol I don't really know what to call it but they threw balls on strings around.. it was entertaining). The Argentine guys were pretty cool, they were at the dance club and I talked to them for awhile too. The sexy leg contest (guys competed for the sexiest legs) was pretty fun to
Sara
It's too cold to sunbathe.. but we tried anyway! lol watch too.. lol Mike ended up winning the sexiest legs.. not really sure if it was well deserved or not.. I mean after all one older guy did moon the entire crowd (why he felt that was necessary to show off his legs I'm not sure, but I apparently got a picture of him doing it lmao awesome times looking back at the pictures you've taken on the cruise). We sat in the hot tub a couple of times.. Paul and Ryan really liked this part! The dinners were good, I got to try new things without worrying about the cost. I didn't eat that much like most people did.. but I ate more than normal. The first night we didn't have any dinner partners, but then the second night we were giving our waiter a hard time about finding us other people to sit with, and we ended up recruiting a girl named Lauren and her mom (I wish I could remember her name lol) to our table.. they originally sat with a family who didn't speak any English.. soo it worked out well. We ended up seeing them all over the ship and around the ports and stuff.
My favorite part of being on the boat was being out in the middle of the ocean. Everyone talks about how it makes you feel small, but you can never really know what that means until you experience it. Its hard to describe the feeling, it is not that I felt small, but more.. insignificant. Which sounds like it would be bad, but it was the most amazing feeling ever. All my problems, all my worries, really didn't matter. No matter what happens to me or what decisions I make, the ocean is still going to be there, and my choices are not going to effect the ocean how it flows in and out. The more I looked at it, the more the weight on my shoulders started to dissipate. No one can have the weight of the world on their shoulders, but before being on that boat, I really did try. The sound it made when the waves were crashing on the boat was very relaxing. I swear I could have stood at the end of that boat and listened and watched the water for days. It was pretty awesome, and of course very beautiful! The only thing
was that it was kinda chilly and real windy.. the first night I couldn't even walk around the top deck because I was about to get blown over, the chairs and everything were coming off the deck, it was real crazy, but fun at the same time lol.
Anyway, that's it for the first entry about the cruise. I will try to write about the ports tomorrow night. I don't have electricity or internet/cable at my house yet so I've been sitting at this Burger King for like 3 hours checking all my accounts and writing this blog. Sooo yea, by the end of this week I should have the ports and my trip down to texas finished. Then I will do my best to keep up with this thing on a more regular basis, since I have so many fans! lol hahaha.
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