guess which old movie I saw on TV last night?

The Poseidon Adventure

No exactly "cruise friendly" :-) but still one of my favorite movies.

what are you reading now?

packages arrived today

the two dresses I ordered for the cruise, and two floral hair clips.  they match the dresses perfectly!

dinner last night....

Met a friend for dinner last night.  Went to a Mexican place called Cozymel, we drank frozen margaritas and ate nachos and tacos.....


and I found myself laughing out loud, because in less than 2 months I will be eating Mexican food and drinking margaritas in Cozemel.

got our cabin assignment!

so today when I looked at the Carnival website, I saw that we have been assigned a cabin.

we booked fun saver, so Carnival got to pick the cabin for us.

we're in an ocean view cabin, category 6B, in the middle of the Riviera Deck.

should be a great cruise.

wtih 2 feet of snow on the ground, a little music to get you thinking "cruise"

lyrics of the day

When you see the Southern Cross


For the first time

You understand now

Why you came this way

'Cause the truth you might be runnin' from

Is so small.

But it's as big as the promise

The promise of a comin' day

I just bought

two Hawaiian-style dresses to wear on the cruise.

Walk for the Cure?

Just read on Cruise Critic that on the last day at sea, the Carnival ships sponsor a Walk for the Cure event in support of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Participants pay $10 and receive a t-shirt, and are encouraged to walk one mile on the ship's jogging track.

Sounds like a plan!

Cozemel...or Grand Cayman?

I'm not that big of a parrothead that I need to do more than one visit to Margaritaville.....

the one in Georgetown, Grand Cayman, is right by the pier.

the one in cozumel is further away, but is supposed to be "better".

packing list

Last night the King advised me he has already started making a list of things he needs to pack.

glad he's so organized, but we're still 2 months out.

attention fellow Parrotheads

I am thinking about a visit to Margaritaville when we make port in Cozumel.

phins up!

party time!

cousin's bat mitzvah was yesterday, it was a great party.  I danced so much I had to take off my shoes.

had to buy a dress for the party.  so now I've got an outfit for one of our formal nights on the cruise.  can't wait to wear it again, I hope we'll have a chance to go dancing!

passport has arrived!

guess I'm good to go!

so I get an envelope from the Department of State

and I get all excited....

and I opne the envelope, and it's...my birth certificate.  and a note that the passport was mailed under separate cover.

well, at least we have trip insurance

looks like we're not going to be able to change our plans so as to be able to fly down the day before the cruise.  King Arthur tells me the TA says it's impossible.    I told him the TA should have booked it for us that way in the first place.

I am fuly prepared to have to fly to Grand Cayman Island if we miss the boat.

please pray we don't.

Passport is on the way

I got an email from the State Department today, my passport has been processed and mailed.

welcome to winter

cold and rainy today...which is actually an improvement....it snowed a little last night.

I hate this weather.

what's keeping me warm right now is the thought of  sitting on the deck of the Valor with a pina colada in one hand and a juicy romance novel in the other...

2 months.  2 long, cold, bitter months.

still feeling nervous

the TA hasn't been able to book us a Saturday flight and stayover in Miami, and I am feeling more than a little queasy about flying on the day of the cruise in the dead of winter.

when I went to Disneyworld with my friend K in July 2008, she flew out of Long Island/Macarthur on a Wednesday morning.  I had to work, and flew out of Neark Wednesday evening.

she got to WDW on time and had dinner in EPCOT.

I had a four-hour delay due to rain, and had dinner in the airport terminal.

no, I am NOT happy with the TA right now.

and it's official

the final payment was made today.

Lovely Cruise -- from the Summerzcool tour!!!

Landshark!!!!

Photos of the Carnival Dream

 She sailed out of New York this evening.

the photos aren't great, I took them with my cell phone. I work in jersey city, right across the Hudson  from the World Trade Center site.  Came out of my office at 5 PM and saw the Dream right in front of me. Practically ran after the ship shouting "take me with you!!!"

Click on the photos to enlarge.

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!
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Mayan pyramids, oh boy

the tallest structure at Altun ha is 54 feet.

that's like 5 stories.

today I walked up 6 flights of stairs, I climbed from track level to the street in the PATH station.

had to stop on almost every landing to catch my breath, but I did it!

it's really going to happen....

the US State department cashed my check, my passport is in the mail.

why I am excited about my cruise

thinking about my upcoming cruise....

remember this show?

so my parents have booked a cruise

they're sailing on the Norwegian Gem in January, headed to the Eastern Caribbean.  they booked a trip with their retirement group.  ask my mom about the details, such as ports of call, and she's not sure where she's going....

updates

passport finally ordered.  should be here in 4-6 weeks.

still frustrated about hotel the night before -- especially since local weatherman is predicting a blizzard the weekend we're supposed to fly.

currently reading James Ferguson's"A Traveller's History of the the Carribean."

Altun Ha

so the tallest pyramid at the site, the one you can climb, is 54 feet tall.

So I need to get in shape to climb it in February.

54 feet =  maybe 5, stories, right?

the PATH station at Exchange Place is 6 stores below ground.

Maybe I shold start taking the stairs instead of the escalator in the morning.

frustration

travel agent tells us that she can't book us for a night in Miami -- there's nothing available for that night with the package we booked.  but she's going to keep checking back with Carnival.

OK, Cruise Critic folks, you've convinced me

Our plan was to lfy to Miami the day our cruise sets sail.

In February.

During Presidents' Day Weekend.

guess whose plans are about to change?

Yep.  We're going to fly down Saturday and spend Saturday night in Miami, and sail on sunday without making ourselves crazy.

Kokomo

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.