Sea cruise

I got back from my cruise on Saturday. It was really great. I went with my sister, her friend Lisa, my parents, and my grandparents. The ship departed from Miami on Monday, and we spent much of that day getting used to things. It wasn't so bad because it was my second time on that ship (the Carnival Imagination) and my parents' third.

For those who have never been on a cruise, a cruise ship is basically like a floating hotel or palace. The Imagination has two dining rooms, a casual restaurant, a library, a disco, a casino, a theater, a sushi bar, an Internet café, a regular café, a swimming pool, hot tubs, bars, a lounge, and more. In short, there is no lack of things to do unless you've already eaten, don't feel like reading a book, are too young to gamble or drink, hate swimming, or don't want to pay for the Internet access. Failing that, there are new hit movies on the TV in your room.

Many people say that the best part of the cruise is not the destination -- it's the food. Your food is included with the price of your ticket, so with a few exceptions, you can pig out as much as you want. At the fancy dining rooms, you can order whatever is on the menu, and if you don't like it, you can send it back and have something else, which is good because lots of fancy restaurants serve disgusting things that common people don't like. But I saw it as a chance to try interesting things. I tried filet mignon, veal, duckling, and escargot, all of which were delicious. (I'm not a picky eater.)

The second day was a "fun day at sea" because we hadn't yet gotten to Grand Cayman, the first destination. The ship would have to pass around exotic, forbidden Cuba first. And on Tuesday morning, the misty mountains of that Caribbean island were in view in the distance. It really was a great sight to see. Later in the day, I found out that my sister and her friend love taking naps. Since I shared a room with them, that meant that I would either have to go to bed too or just wander around unable to return to the room. I rarely nap, but I decided to rest anyway. The days are long on a cruise ship, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

On Wednesday we arrived in George Town, the capital of the Cayman Islands. We had decided first to tour "Stingray City," a shallow area of water near the island where stingrays can be found. Apparently stingrays are pretty gentle and docile because it was possible to touch them and even pick them up... not that I did. I wasn't sure which parts I could touch and which parts would cause the stingray to attack me if I touched them. Even so, it was interesting to swim with them, and it was an odd sensation to feel them brushing past my legs.

Next we snorkeled in an area not far away. I'd never really snorkeled before (unless snorkeling in my pool counts), so that was fun. We got to see a lot of coral, but it was basically like looking inside a pretty lame fish tank. I forgot that I have a hard time swimming, and my goggles kept fogging up also. Plus, the seas started kicking up a bit, which made conditions unfavorable for hugging the surface of the water for air. So after a while, I returned to our boat. It was still a nice experience.

When we got back on land, our tour bus, driving on the left side of the road, took us to George Town, where we walked around and saw the touristy and not-so-touristy places. As you might expect, there were a lot of banks. I took a picture of the Legislative Assembly building (which was right next to a touristy bar) and later uploaded it to Wikipedia. Turns out the article for the Legislative Assembly had a request for images.

Anyway, the next day we were in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. From the window in our room we could see the mountains that overlook the town. We started our tour of Jamaica by going to Coyaba River Garden, which was, as its name implies, a garden. There were lots of interesting plants, and you could even drink the water from the river (actually more like a stream) that passed through. It was pretty good. Our tour bus (which also drove on the left side of the road) took us to a gated-in shopping center, which was less seedy than the non-gated-in shopping centers outside. A bunch of people wanted to braid my hair for money. It is pretty long, but I didn't have it done. That would be ridiculous.

Next, we went up into the mountains to Dunn's River Falls. It's a waterfall, but it's not like straight up-and-down because you can climb it. (It's more like a giant staircase, actually.) But before you can climb it, you have to go to the bottom. There's a boardwalk that runs along the side, through the forest. At the bottom, you find yourself on the beach. The waterfall actually leads to the beach, which makes for a fantastic sight among the yellow sand, bright blue waters, and green foliage on either side. It was the most beautiful place I've ever seen. The climb was a bit difficult at times, but I made it all the way up without getting hurt.

After leaving Jamaica, the ship made its way back to Miami, and we enjoyed another "fun day at sea" on Friday. On Saturday morning, the ship was back in its home port, and we went through the debarkation process, which is even more annoying than embarkation. But overall, I had a great time, and if I could do it again, I definitely would. This was a graduation gift for my sister and me, and it was really a good one. But it's not over yet; I'll always have the memories. Aww, how cheesy.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my friend Luke, who posted Tuesday's and Thursday's posts for me in my absence. My blogging software was having issues that wouldn't let me post entries in advance, and he made it happen manually. Thanks, Luke!

Thanks to the wonders of DVD technology, you can now read the full text of a letter shown briefly on screen in a 1958 episode of Leave It to Beaver. It's mostly filler like "This paragraph has absolutely nothing to do with anything."

What if you could walk in a straight line around the world? Use this Google Maps mashup to choose a starting point and a direction and find out where you'd go.