Mexican food ....

ate at a local Mexican place the other night.  kept thinking that in just over 3 months I will be eating mexican food in Mexico.  Can't wait to see Cozemel.

more shore excursions!

Cayman Islands -- not only are we doing a ride on the Atlantis Submarine, we will also take a tour of the best of the island.

Belize -- we're taking a cruise on the Wallace river to the Altun Ha Mayan site.

Roatan -- a tour of the island -- the exotic, undeveloped East Side.

Cozumel -- a speed boat ride to Isla Pasion, where we can enjoy the beach and shopping in an open-air market.

booked a shore excursion

at Grand Cayman Island we will do the Atlantis submarine shore excursion.

What are you reading?

Probably should have bought it before we booked our cruise, but I am enjoying the learning process.

can you believe....

I am 49 years old and do not have a passport?  and never had one?


the last time I left these United States, one could travel to the Bahamas on a cruise ship using one's birth certificate as ID.  for canada, all I needed was a regular NYS driver's license.


how times have changed.

guess what's on my list of chores for the weekend?

Toes

Sea Cruise

cold out today

we barely had a summer this year, and now it's autumn and unseasonably cold.

four months until the cruise.  7 days in the sun.

I can't wait.

Carnival Valor facts

Total Staterooms - 1,487 Decks - 13 Passenger capacity - 2,974 Total crew - 1,180 Tonnage - 110,000 Registry - Panama Ship size - Large

formal night planning

I'm trying to decide how formal we should go for the two formal nights on our trip.

I've got two really great gowns, a spaghetti-strap black gown with beading on the bodice and a matching jacket, and a blue gown, also with spaghetti straps and a matching jacket, with beading all over the gown and the jacket.  I wore the black one for my older daughter's bat mitzvah and the blue one for younger daughter's bat mitzvah.

Significant other owns a tux but really doesn't want to pack it.

This could get interesting.

Premier Cruse memories

We sailed on a Premier Cruise on June 29, 1987.   Flew down from Long Island that morning (it was a Monday) to Orlando, picked up our rental car and  drove to Port Cananveral, where we boarded the ship.  When the ship  retruned to Port Canaveral on Friday, we toured the Kennedy Space Center before driving back to Orlando for our Walt Disney World vacation.

Accomodations:  inside cabin with a queen bed and a sofa bed.  our cabin steward knew it was our honeymoon (our travel agent sent us champagne) and instead of just leaving chcolates on our pillows, he'd make whole patterns on the bed with the wrapped candies.

Ports of Call:  our first port was Nassau, Bahamas, on Tuesday.  We did two shore excurions.  the first was in the morning, we took an auto tour of the island, saw Nassau, ruins, Paradise Island.  Had lunch in (of all places) Burger King.  went shopping in the Straw Market (learned how to bargain with the vendors) and a liquor store (had to buy run!).  In the evening we went to a night club for Calypso music and frozen tropical cocktails.

second port of call was Wednesday --  Salt Cay, a private island owned by the cruise line.  we spent the day at the beach, went snorkeling.  we were told to wear t-shirts in the water.  I listened -- when we went before lunch.  after lunch I left the shirt on the beach.  got the worst sunburn of my entire life!  when they served lobster in the main dining room I couldn't eat it....the lobster and I were the same color.

shipboard activities:  formal night included a photo opportunity with teh captain as well as one with Mickey Mouse.  there was a reception for honeymoon couples during the cruise as well.  one night there was a costume party...I dressed as a pirate (the ship had accessories for that) and King Arthur put a pillow on his back, under his shirt, and went as the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  during the day at sea (Thursday) we played board games, had a trivia contest, swam in the pool, and the king did some skeet shooting. 

it was a short curise, but it was lots of fun.

So we booked the cruise!

After much discussion and trepidation, we made the decision and booked a cruise.

A little background is in order.

I will celebrate a milestone birthday on February 18.  Yes, I will reach the half-century mark in 2010.

I have one daughter in college, and one who will graduate from high school in June and start college next fall.  I am facing an empty nest and the next phase of my life.

I will also, G-d willing, celebrate my 5 year mark in February -- 5 years since my cancer diagnosis, five years since my surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

And I am celebrating the rebirth of an old relationship.  I would never have believed it.  My significant other is my ex husband.  for purposes of this blog I shall call him "King Arthur", after the T.H. White book, The Once and Future King.  We got engaged on 2/14/86, and our very bitter divorce became final on 2/14/96.   Until quite recently we hated each other, but in the last few years we've become friends....and now lovers...once more.

So a few weeks ago, I turned to King Arthur and said "I want to go away for my birthday.  I want to celebrate it someplace that is NOT HERE."

New York can be horrible in the winter, I am not a snow person.

So we discussed Orlando, FL (I am a Disney freak!).  We discussed Cancun.  We discussed Acapulco.


And then we settled on a cruise.


We're sailing on the Carnival Valor on 2/14.  It's a seven day cruise from Miami to the Western Caribbean.  Ports of Call include Grand Cayman, Belize, Roatan and Cozumel.

We put the deposit down today.

This is not our first cruise.  The king and I took a cruise on our honeymoon.  We did a four day cruise to the Bahamas on the Premier Cruise line in 1987. The ship (billed as The Big Red Boat)  sailed out of Port Canaveral, visited Nassau and a small private island called Salt Cay, and then returned to Port Canaveral.  The package also included admission to the Kennedy Space Center, hotel accommodations on International Drive and three-day admission tickets to Walt Disney World (there were only 2 parks at the time, the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT).  Premier was the official cruise line of WDW at the time, it was prior to the existence of the Disney Cruise Line, so we sailed with Disney characters. 

And neither of us has been on a cruise since.

though I have been to WDW again.  Many times.  In fact, I've become a little obsessed with Disney vacations.  So a cruise will be a welcome change.

So I joined Cruise Critic.  And felt instantly at home -- it's just like all those WDW planning boards I've joined over the last 10-11 years.

So now the real planning begins.

I am so excited.