Cruise Photos

Amy's daily cruise wear

Look Miami!

First foot picture of the cruise

Can you believe we stayed up until 10 pm?

Smooth sailing to Mexico!

Our first towel animal

Corona commercial feet

Siesta time - what is up with the skirt?

Does this hat make me look fat?

Mas mudslido, por favor!

Look - two foot pina coladas!

Sunbathing Amy style!

We love you Mr Hot Chocolate Machine - please come home with us!
Meeting the locals


Shark? What shark?

Look more 2 foot pina coladas - we love the Caribbean!

Making new friends

No problem Mon!

Local beach wear

Farewell Cabin 1049

Day 7 - Last Day at Sea

We begin our last day at sea by sleeping in. We awake around 8 and head for the breakfast buffet. Because we slept in, we had a limited selection of deck chairs available to us. We found two on the starboard side of the ship. Unfortunately, they were open because they were beneath the ship's funnel and we were soon in shade. We read and napped and soon it was time for the lunch buffet. I went down early to get a table because the buffet of the day was CHOCOLATE. I quickly made two trips to the chocolate buffet and then decided that I should eat some regular food to help balance out the sugar overload. Amy then joined me and while she was eating her regular food lunch I was on trips 3 and 4 to the chocolate buffet. I then rested and waited for Amy to catch up. I had one more piece of chocolate sushi and Amy had a final rice pudding.

We returned to the sun deck to discover it was now the shade deck. I tried to nap but it was too cold without the sun. I returned to the cabin for my afternoon nap and Amy stayed on deck wearing her sweatshirt and scooting her deck chair as close as she could to the sunny area. I tried to nap but the heathen children in the next cabin made that impossible. Amy joined me in the cabin and I went on a walk searching for a sunny resting place and Amy took a nap in the cabin. We have become addicted to the buffet/nap cycle. We eat, then sleep, then eat again, then sleep, over and over and over. How are we going to cope in the real world if we have to stay awake during the day and prepare our own food? What a barbaric concept!!! Amy awoke and was able to make it to the chocolate buffet before it closed at 3 for a final chocolate snack. I found Amy in the dining area finishing her chocolate snack. I continued to search the ship for an appropriate resting area and I finally found it. It was on the third deck and it was sunny, quiet (no music blaring) and very few people. Unfortunately, it was 5:20 pm and the sun would be setting in an hour and the buffet would be opening at 6pm. Amy and I found each other and we headed for the buffet. After eating, we stumbled back to the cabin to rest and decide what to do with the rest of the evening. After a short nap, we went to pick up Amy's underwater pictures she had developed. I am amazed that I actually was able to get her in the pictures I took while snorkeling in Grand Cayman. It is very difficult taking pictures when both the subject and photographer are bobbing in the ocean, breathing through a tube and their masks are fogging up.

We returned to the cabin where we packed in preparation of disembarking the ship on Saturday. Packing and paper work complete, Amy ordered from room service and I went to the buffet to pick up our dessert and a diet coke from the bar. We set up an early wake up call and fell asleep. All too soon it will be morning and back to the real world. :(

Ahoy Mateys!

Day 4 – Grand Cayman Island, British West Indies
We once again selected a shore excursion that involved snorkeling. I just can’t wear my new suit enough. We got up early, had a quick breakfast and then waited for our tender. Grand Cayman Island doesn’t allow cruise ships to dock because of the reef. Instead, you board smaller boats called tenders and they take you to the dock. We waited for our tender and soon we were off to the Island. We walked with the other snorkelers to our snorkel spot and it was just 5 minutes from the dock. The mask we received was better than the mask we used in Cozumel but the life vest gave us major wedgies. As you entered the water, you came face to face with a school of tarpin. They are huge, around 4 feet and look like very very very big minnows. They told us not to worry, they don’t have teeth. However, they feed them chicken to keep them in the area, so apparently they are meat eaters. We swam out and the fish were incredible. They have a nice reef and lots of fish. We could only identify the parrot fish and there were several different types of parrot fish. The other fish are currently unnamed, we hope to find a fish book or chart to help identify them. Amy purchased fish food and we were very popular with the fishies. My bag was quickly emptied and I was surrounded by tropical fish. One actually tried to take the bag from my hand. As I wrestled with a tropical fish, I laughed and water got into my breathing tube. Amy fed her fish and we hope some of the photos turn out. I was taking them and we are bobbing in the ocean and we can’t see because we have to wear contacts, not our glasses so we will probably have 71 pictures of blurry blue water. We snorkeled for about 90 minutes which is a record for us. Amy gets cold very quickly in the water and my feet cramp up – we are quite the pair. We dried off, changed and hit Georgetown.

We decide to have lunch and get an outside table on the second floor of breezes where we order coconut shrimp. As we are waiting for our food Amy asks me if there are jelly fish around the Island. Apparently, while snorkeling, she felt a sharp sting on her hand. She shook it, came up for air but since we are both nearly blind, didn’t see anything. Her hand stings and it has several blister like thingies. I told Amy about the Friends episode where Monica was stung by a jelly fish and Chandler urinated on it to stop the stinging. We both agreed that since it was on her hand, she could do it herself. We also decided to save the home remedy if we were unable to find actual medicine to help with the stinging. We finished lunch (coconut shrimp) and we went to a local pharmacy and asked what to do about stings from jellyfish and the pharmacist recommended Benadryl. Fortunately we had some on the ship. We then decided to ice her hand so off we went to Margaritaville. We ordered the largest pina colada they had, a lovely 24 inches of frozen delight, and quickly iced Amy’s hand and my internal organs. When we left, we were no longer feeling any pain or the heat.

Our last task on Cayman was to order duty free alcohol. Task complete, we made a few purchases and returned to the ship. The buffet was French and we enjoyed a lovely potato and eggplant tart with a plethora of unusual salads and a steaming cup of hot chocolate. We love the instant hot chocolate machine and are trying to devise a way of getting one home. We then went on deck and found empty deck chairs to enjoy the sun and catch a last glimpse of the island. I am, of course, a lovely shade of pink and Amy is browning quicker than a Pillsbury crescent roll in a 400 degree oven. Soon we were underway, heading to Jamaica. We then did our daily tasks on ship, checking out the sales, mailing postcards and checking the dining room menu. We also decided to try our luck in the casino. I lost $5 but Amy immediately won $25. She quickly cashed out and we followed our tradition to have a good beer after winning in a casino. We decided since we were on a cruise, we should have a tropical drink. We quickly downed 2 Yellow Birds and headed for our nightly buffet. We returned to our cabin to nap – however, on the way we noticed that Kung Fu Panda was playing on the widescreen on the Lido Deck. We went back to our cabin to put on warmer clothes so that we could enjoy the movie. We returned just in time for the next showing and enjoyed the movie under the stars. After the movie, we went back to the buffet for a hot chocolate and a dessert. I had a lovely hot chocolate cake and Amy had tiramisu. We then stumbled back to our cabin, tired and full. We realized that we did more in one day than we do in months at home; snorkeling, shopping, lunch at a restaurant, Happy Hour at Margaritaville, sunbathing, reading for pleasure, eating in a restaurant for dinner, gambling, shopping on board, another Happy Hour, going to a movie and a final nightcap. Tired but happy, we go to bed.

Day 6 – Jamaica
We didn’t select any excursions for Jamaica. We decided to sleep in and have a relaxing day in Jamaica, check out the beach and pick up a t-shirt at Margaritaville. Relaxing is not quite the word for Jamaica. We actually started to count how many times we were approached on the sidewalk for a taxi ride. We just wanted to go to the craft market and then Margaritaville. When we finally made it to the craft market, we went down one aisle and quickly down another and back on the street. We turned around and headed back to the cruise ship area. 10 more offers for a taxi ride to “the falls” we finally made it to the Island Shopping Center where Margaritaville is located. We found a table and ordered 2 Island drinks. Feeling adventurous, we decided to order some local food. We decided on a jerk chicken pizza. Well, we quickly realize that we have a very low spiciness tolerance. We quickly downed our Island drinks and were asking for water. (6 hours later, we are still feeling the effects of the pizza)

I went to finish my shopping, I needed a few things. Amy stayed to enjoy the beach. As I walked off the beach, I noticed that the inside of my foot hurt. Apparently something bit me on the beach. If I develop a strange rash or a high fever, remember I was bit by something on a beach in Ochos Rios, Jamaica. I found what I needed and returned to the beach. Amy decided to go into the water and I decided to order a pina colada. Apparently, when your order a pina colada, they give you an additional shot of rum. I soon was not feeling the bite on my foot and I was seeing 6 foot green parrots. Luckily Amy also saw the large green parrot, so I wasn’t suffering from heat stroke. All too soon it was time to return to the ship and we made our way to the dock. We were only approached 3 times for a taxi and once to braid our hair. One nice gentleman wanted to jump into our bags and return home with us. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any room available due to the duty-free rum and the t-shirts we have been purchasing from Margaritaville. Back on board, we quickly eat something in an attempt to extinquish the fire in our intestines. We found empty deck chairs and enjoyed the sun as we left Jamaica on our back to Miami L. Tonight is “Cruise Elegant”. We are on our way to mail our last postcards and check out the menu. Unless it is fabulous, we will be heading to the buffet. I am not putting on a skirt for anything less than crème brulee. ***We decided not to dress up and instead headed to the buffet for hot chocolate and a sandwich.

Viva Mexico!

***Important Notice - we are having difficulty uploading pictures. It may just be a text blog until the damn satellite works properly.*****


Oh, where to begin? As we left off on Sunday, we were preparing for the Captain’s Dinner. We skipped the pre-dinner party, preferring our shorts and tank tops to dresses. We finally dressed and went to dinner. We had two appetizers which consisted of stuffed mushrooms and roasted pumpkin soup - yummy. The main entrée was lobster and shrimp. We were so full we skipped dessert. However, on our way back we stopped for our nightly cup of hot chocolate and I noticed on the buffet they had molten chocolate cake. Never one to pass chocolate by, I brought one back to the cabin. It was very good – a double yummy!!!


We also received our first towel creation in our station. It was an adorable elephant.

We then gathered any necessary items for our big day in Cozumel. We set up an early wakeup call and placed an order with room service for our breakfast. We then went to sleep, dreaming of coral reefs and sombreros.

Monday – Cozumel
5:30 am arrived long before we wanted it to. We quickly prepared for our big day in Cozumel. My issue of the morning was my new swimsuit. It was tight where I didn’t want it to be tight and it has a skirt. What is up with skirts on swimsuits? Suits on, sunscreen applied, bags packed, breakfast finished we head to Deck 0 where we can leave the ship and find our catamaran. We quickly get to the deck and find the Fury already loaded with people. Another cruise ship docked before us and they were able to get on the catamaran first. We found a spot near the back of the catamaran and we were quickly off. During the short trip to the snorkeling area we were instructed on what to do and various hand signals to alert staff if we needed assistance or if we were okay. Floaties and masks on we dive into the ocean!! Ok, it was more like a herd of slow moving buffalo trying to get down steps while wearing flippers. Finally in the water it was wonderful. There was a plethora of brightly colored fish swimming around us as well as the 120 other snorkelers. Amy was able to indentify me by my brightly colored swim bottom and I could recognize her by her brightly colored top. We didn’t swallow too much salt water and we didn’t get hit by any of the other snorkelers. A man did tickle my leg – he said he thought I was his wife because we both had the same underwater camera. Totally different suits but the same camera – I can see how he mixed us up. We took several pictures with our underwater cameras and hope at least a few turn out. Too soon it was back on the catamaran for a sail to our private beach. During the trip to the beach we were served complimentary margaritas, beer and soda. Amy actually tried the beer. It was a little ‘stinky’ for me. Amy tried the beer because she was freezing. Again, 0% body fat does have its disadvantages. Her suit was wet and the breeze as we sailed along was contributing to her hypothermia.

She moved into the sun and drank beer in an attempt to warm up. Luckily we soon arrived at the beach where we laid in the sun and warmed up. We could have taken out a sea kayak or rode horses or took a parasail trip but we enjoy sitting in the sun and doing nothing. It is a skill worth perfecting.

All too soon it was back on the catamaran to return to the cruise ship. We quickly went to our cabin, changed clothes and hit the buffet. It was Indian food day and I didn’t want to miss it. We had lovely samosas, rice, salads and lentil fritters. Amy actually ate more than I did. Stomachs full we are ready to head to downtown Cozumel.

We catch a taxi and are dropped off in the middle of tacky tourist town. Everywhere we went, we are accosted by salespersons. Look at my stuff, come into my store, etc…..we did stop in a few looking for a hat for Amy’s pink scalp, a sweatshirt and sweatpants to help keep her warm in the 80 degree weather, a cover-up for myself to hide my pink skin and of course the pirate paraphernalia. We were sadly disappointed – no hats except sombreros, no sweatshirts, no decent cover-ups and only pirate t-shirts. I have several pirate t-shirts from previous cruises. What I need is additional pirate paraphernalia; hats, wind chimes, jewelry, underwear, etc….anything but t-shirts. Do you think Amy’s wearing just a bit too much sunscreen? Maybe that’s a strategy for when the overbearing sales people grab her arm – they’ll slide right off!

We decide to make our trek to Margaritaville. Don’t tell Amy but I booked this trip because at each stop there is a Margaritaville. We arrived very hot or should I say I was very hot – Amy was in temperature heaven. In an attempt to avoid the salesman, we had crossed the street and walked along the ocean front in the full sun. I quickly found several t-shirts and as a bonus, I received a free hat. Apparently when you spend over 1,000 pesos you get a free hat. I am not sure what the conversion rate of pesos to dollars is due to my heat stroke. In an effort to cool down, we decided to enjoy a cold beverage on the back deck. My first drink was a Miami Vice and Amy had a Kahlua boat drink. Luckily I received the necessary medical attention I needed in time and I soon recovered. In an effort to prevent additional heat related issues I ordered another drink – a mudslide! I loved the drink - it did save my life!

Now that the crisis had been averted, we began to enjoy our brief sojourn in Cozumel. Taking advantage of the fact we were in another country, we used as much as we could of our limited Spanish vocabulary. I’m sure the wait staff enjoyed our culture sensitivity. No longer feeling hot (or any pain), we jumped in a taxi that returned us to the cruise ship dock where we visited the fake Mexican village and bought tacky and cheap souvenirs for our friends and family back home. We finished shopping in 15 minutes and headed for the ship. Unfortunately, I was feeling hot again so we had to stop at Fat Tuesdays where we each purchased a 2 foot pina colada. Again, it was for medical necessity.

Once again, the heavenly concoction of ice and rum helps lower my internal temperature. It also lowers our IQ. We are soon befriended by a German tourist. We know even less of German than Spanish but we try to communicate. After a few minutes he leaves because he has to return to the ship to eat. What he actually does is move two tables away from us and try to pick up the two girls wearing bikinis. Lucky for him we are now in a very good mood. We decided to continue shopping. Amy finds a lovely hat and I pick up a pair of maracas. Amy has one and I have the other. If we ever get separated, we use them to find each other. We then begin the quest for a Speedy Gonzales t-shirt. We had seen one earlier but didn’t buy it. Now we really want it. Amy the philosopher says “if it was meant to be, we will find it”. We then meet some lovely locals who help us with our Spanish. Apparently muy humerouso isn’t Spanish for very funny. We learned it is muy grasiosa or something like that. I called Amy muy grasiosa and they agreed. We then continued the quest and we found the t-shirt. Amy’s is orange, mine is black. The only color they had in adult sizes is black. So Amy’s t-shirt is……yep, she can fit in a nina shirt. I, of course, needed a grande. Quest completed, we then head to the ship. It seemed very far away but we made it.

We ate at a buffet but we don't remember what we had to eat. We then went back to the cabin and ordered grilled cheese sandwiches. Amy was asleep when they arrived. We quickly ate them and fell asleep. Thankfully Tuesday is a relaxing day at sea, we will be able to recover from our Mexican Fiesta. Wednesday we plan on snorkeling near Grand Cayman followed by another visit to Margaritaville and the duty free rum shop. Until then Dear Readers, adios from the dos amigos. See we did learn some Spanish on this trip.

Photo Montage of Day 1 & 2

Notice the high quality of the pictures. Apparently the photography classes paid off. Can you say Shrek and Cousin It? Amy can certainly position her subjects and I click at the most opportune moments. Amazing that National Geographic hasn't offered us a job in their photo journalism department.

The Adventure Begins

Okay Dear Readers – sorry that we haven’t posted sooner but we have been very busy. The flight from Appleton to Minneapolis was delayed but luckily we had a 3.5 hour connection. We had a lovely dinner at the airport in Minneapolis and boarded our flight to Miami. I had a terrible headache so I took a little white pill and then slept most of the way. Amy did something; I’ll have to ask her how the flight was. We landed in Miami where local time was 11:30 pm and the temperature was ….drum roll please….77 degrees. Hotel was conveniently located and they give you cookies. Small glitch, even though I confirmed on Thursday our room, they stuck us in a smoking room with one king size bed. This is how rumors start. We slept in, enjoying our time away from animals. We spent part of the morning lost in the Miami International Market. It was adjacent to our hotel and I was looking for a swim cover-up. What we found was store after store after store of bling. We could never live in Miami, we are too bland.

We then checked out and took a lovely taxi ride to the Port. Our taxi driver knew a few shortcuts and didn’t believe in lane markers. We arrived safely (phew!) and quickly made our way through security, picked up our cabin keys and ditched the omnipresent photographers. We quickly made our way to our first buffet – ITALIAN!!! We enjoyed a lovely eggplant tart and miscellaneous salads with pesto, etc…..did I mention I had ice cream first? It was then followed by my first pina colada. Amy enjoyed lemonade and huddled in her sweatshirt. Amy’s new name is Huhnuk Hunukaa Clucknauka which translates to “girl who wears sweatshirt on cruise”. We then found our closet, I mean cabin, and unpacked. Then we took part in the mandatory life boat drill. We looked fab in our safety gear and in the event of an emergency we are set. We then explored the ship and after a few hours were able to find our cabin again. The shops have a delightful combination of tanzanite and pirate paraphernalia. Guess what I am buying? Amy will be purchasing the sweatshirt, sweatpants and windbreaker. Hopefully she won’t be wearing her winter coat, which she packed.

We had dinner reservations at 8:15 and decided to try a pre-dinner martini. It was a wonderful chocolate martini but as Amy and I soon discovered, we are “frugal” drunks. It only takes one drink and we are swaying on our feet and unfortunately it wasn’t because we were on a cruise ship. One good thing about the drink is that it warmed us up quite quickly. We made it to the dining room where we managed to stay awake and between us we may have said 20 words. It is Valentine’s Day, a Saturday night, we are on a cruise and what are we doing? Yawning and holding our heads so they don’t drop and hit the table. Shrimp cocktail was our appetizer and then we had an Indian Vegetarian dinner and Pan Seared Tilapia. Guess who had the vegetarian dinner? Yes it was me. Amy had the fish. Doesn’t she know that fish swim around in their own giant toilet? I learned that as a child and it has served me well since. Dessert was a chocolate decadence creation with hearts galore. They even gave all the women a red carnation. We then stumbled back to the cabin where we foolishly attempted to blog. Needless to say it didn’t work and we quickly went to bed. Oh I forgot, Amy was still cold so we turned the AC off, the heat up, put an extra blanket on her bed and she even put on her robe provided by the cruise ship to warm up. Funny! If only I wasn’t tipsy I would have taken a picture. Day 1 of Amy & Lori’s cruise is complete.

Day 2.
Amy awakes early and explores the ship in jeans and a sweatshirt. She strategically saves 2 chairs for us near the pool with a perfect view for the hairy chest contest at 1:30. Too bad I shaved for the cruise, I might have been a contender. I was awoken by kids stomping and screaming in the hallway. We had a lovely breakfast on the deck. The croissants aren’t as buttery as past cruises. We are currently reading, and enjoying the sun. Amy actually went back to the cabin and changed into shorts. The sun is warm, the skies clear and the water a deep blue. Like is good.

We continued baking in the sun. Amy actually warmed up enough to change into her bikini. Our stomachs alerted us to the fact it had been 3 hours since our last meal. Quelle horror!!! We quickly scampered to the buffet, and as they were just opening, we were first in line. Today’s buffet was a Caribbean theme. Yumo!!! Fried plantains, fritters with squid (yucko but Amy ate one), fabulous salads with wasabi, pickled squash, noodles with mung paste, fried dumplings, etc…….we are sampling quite the variety of foods on this cruise. Don’t worry, for the non-adventurous foodies out there, you can always get a hamburger or pizza. Dessert was fabulous, some sort of cheesecake and a strawberry thingy. Stomachs happy, we return to the oven (deck) to continue our baking. Amy has a lovely mocha shade going on. I am as pink as a lobster, even with 50 SPF sunscreen. We then watched part of the Hairiest Chest contest but soon realized it was an indication that the moral fabric of our society was unraveling before our very eyes. I feel asleep and Amy continued to bake, she is almost thawed out. A few more days and she will be room temperature.

We then decided to book our excursion for Cozumel. After much discussion and research, we are going on the Deluxe Sail, Swim & Beach Party. We board a catamaran, snorkel in the Gulf somewhere off Cozumel, we then go to “one of the finest beaches on the Yucatan peninsula” where we will enjoy complimentary cold beers and margaritas. Dos Coronas por favor!!! We then will return to the dock, where we will visit local shops and purchase much needed prate paraphernalia for Jimmy Buffett and of course, 3 foot sombreros to match our 3 foot pina coladas. We hope to be on board when the ship sails at 10 pm for Grand Cayman. We returned to the deck to continue the thawing process and it was so warm we ordered our first lava flow. They didn’t know what a lava flow was but they improvised quite nicely. One ice cream headache later, we were relaxed and enjoying the waning sun. They also had the Daytona 500 on the jumbotron. Go Jeff!!!! The sun disappeared from our location, and in the shade Amy began to stiffen with cold.

We are now in our cabin, blogging obviously, but we will be preparing for the Captain’s Dinner. Apparently it is a big deal. My question is, who is driving during the party? We have been on board for a little over 24 hours and we have had more fun and done more stuff than we do in months on the mainland. Stay tuned readers for our next blog. It won’t be until Tuesday because Monday is booked solid with sun, water, fish, beach, alcohol, shopping, pirates (ARRRRGHH), sombreros, sunburn, salty hair and strange people staring at us. Like they never saw a Godzilla and a hobbit covered in sand, wearing sombreros, saying ‘arrrgh mateys” as they stumble to a cruise ship. It happens every week in the Caribbean. Enjoy the photos, we are sure there will be plenty more of this quality. Adios from Dos Amigos somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico!!

Finally!!!!!

It is finally February 13th and we will be flying to Miami via Minneapolis this afternoon. It seems like forever since we booked the cruise but this week has been frantic trying to finish school, pack, shop and of course, work. Good news is that I found a swimsuit. Bad news is that I found a swimsuit. Never fear, no swimsuit pictures will appear on this blog. Crazy last minute preparations are underway and soon Amy and I will once again be on another adventure. However, we are so tired it may just be pictures of each us napping - on the deck, on the beach, at dinner, while snorkeling. Yes, while snorkeling - it could happen! We are very very very very very tired. Did I mention we are tired? Hopefully a few days of relaxation, sun and tradewinds will revive us so we can begin our quest for the perfect pirate t-shirt. Arrrrrrrr Mateys!!!!!!