The Callmecrazy Cruise--- Part One...

[Callmecrazy]

To Recap:
A few months ago I got an incredible offer to go on a New Year's cruise by my BIL. The normal price for the trip was around $1400.00 but I only had to pay the taxes for the stateroom which came to about $320.00. I'm crazy, not stupid so I jumped at the offer. The ports of call were Cozumel, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman; Falmouth(?), Jamaica and the cruise lines private resort at Labadee, Haiti.

We set sail from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. on Dec. 29th. The weather was kind of gray and breezy.
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It was still early and my stateroom wasn't ready yet so I decided to do a little exploring on the ship.

The pool area:
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The theater where they had several variety shows:
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The one unique feature of this ship:
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with real grass

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notice the HUGE lawn chairs. They had picnics and would have bocce ball tournaments here.


My BIL is basically a travel agent for wealthy gamblers and that's how I got the free stateroom.
Here is the Casino:
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The first hour out of port, they opened the Casino and, being from Las Vegas, I felt right at home there. I went down and sat at a video poker machine and ten minutes and $20.00 later I hit a Royal Flush for $1000.00! Cha-Ching! Trip just paid for itself! Woo-Hoo this was gonna be a great adventure.
Throughout the week I kept revisiting the casino and was able to hold my own. New Year's Eve I couldn't lose.

So I finally get to my stateroom and unpack.

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I go to a cocktail party for my BIL's clients and I'm chatting a few people up and more than a few take real shine to me. I make it a point to remember people's names because if you call someone by their name 10 minutes after you meet them they feel important and welcome. Plus they tend to ask your name again and remember it. We had a fantastic 5 course dinner, gambled a bit, and I went to sleep around 11:00.
Here's the pool lit up at night:

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No matter what. Vacation or not, I wake up at around 5:30 every day. I get up, shower, and go up on deck to see the sunrise:

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And I say to myself again, "This is gonna be a great week."
I have breakfast on the fantail:

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and go see what's going on.
The first day, we were at sea heading for Cozumel so I went to the pool deck and find a bunch of people, mostly women, doing Zumba (aerobics).
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and others enjoying the pool. It is now 8:00am... I grab a deck chair and order a cocktail.
The weather that day was mostly cloudy and there was rain nearby, but not on the ship. I spotted three waterspouts that day. The closest one about 500 yards from the ship. The Captain announced that we were traveling at 18 knots in three foot seas and the ocean depth was over 8000 feet. I made it a point to keep my phone/camera away from the rails so as not to drop it.
The rest of the day involved meeting new people around the pool, a 60 minute massage (wow) and laying around the pool drinkin' booze and taking the occasional walk down to the casino to try my luck.

I'll be telling Y'all more about the trip in future OP's of the Callmecrazy cruise. Stay tuned.

[In_The_Wind]

1. It really looks wonderful!

I'm glad you have the memories to share with us.

[Aristus]

2. Sounds like you had a great time.

That's pretty close to the itinerary my wife and I had on our first cruise on our honeymoon.

I envy you getting to get up early and watch the sunrise. My wife loves to sleep late, and if I get out of bed, waking her up in the process, there's hell to pay.

We love taking cruises. They've come under some controversy due to potential issues with pollution and so on. It's a little guilty-making. Plus, some of the cheaper cruise lines have really had problems recently with breakdowns, power outages, and such.

But we're going on our next cruise in May, to Alaska.

Thanks for posting the great pics. I'm glad you had a good time.

[jakeXT]

3. Were they mowing the lawn ? /nt

[Callmecrazy]

10. The grass looked to me like a variety of bentgrass...

or the kind used on a putting green. Pretty low maintenance.

[TeamPooka]

4. Royal Caribbean is great, I've cruised them twice and did your route once

Congrats on a great vacation!

[OriginalGeek]

5. I would never call you crazy

for jumping on that deal! I love cruises (I've been on a grand total of 1. Now I'm spoiled for all other vacations.)

Staying tuned for more.

[trof]

6. Looks really nice. What's the deal with the bridge over the pool?

Just an architectural feature?

[Callmecrazy]

8. Yes. there are two pools...

and the bridge goes across there, I presume, to prevent slipping. There was a third pool just forward of this pool area that was enclosed and it was called the solarium. It was noticeably cooler in there and the pool was reserved for adults only. I enjoyed the solarium. It was close to the stairs/elevators and my stateroom was only two decks down.

[Demo_Chris]

7. That looks amazing! Lifestyles of the rich and FAMOUS! Well done!

[Callmecrazy]

9. Thanks, Chris...

Yeah, I was pretty lucky to have this trip fall in my lap like it did and I ate it up.

[LeftofObama]

11. Great pics!

Thanks for sharing them. Do they have a gym with a sauna and steam room?

[Callmecrazy]

12. There was a fitness center of some sort...

But I only went for a massage, which was wonderful.