But in the end...

I did not have a BAD vacation. I was annoyed at times (hence the previous posts), but at least I was with my friends and family. The best times we had were just chillin by the beach/on the deck/in the stateroom/in the hot tub, sipping on our choice beverages, and shootin the breeze. No worries. Just party time.

And I am goin to do it again next year if I can.

OH YEA!!!!!!

Stranded on an island?

Doesn't this look like a page from Robinson Crusoe? Well I thought so.

Day at Sea

This was one day when we are cruisin along on the way to port of call. I was so mesmerized at the color of the ocean. Even now when I look at the picture, I can just lose myself in it. 

My vacation in a minute.

Day 1 – Leaving port

Day 2 – At sea – I won some free art, a small bottle of tequila, and a shot glass.

Day 3 – Grand Cayman – I think GC is not worth putting on the Caribbean port of call route for a few years. Then maybe these people would learn to appreciate the good thing they have with all the tourists coming through their town. They like your $$ but don’t want to have a good attitude about it. If I did not go there again, my feelings would not be hurt.

Day 4 – Costa Maya – love the little pueblito Mahahual. We went to la escuela and saw all the little ones. Cute kids. Then we all chilled on the beach, knocking back pina coladas and cerveza. Could everyday be this cool? Quite possibly the most relaxing day ever!!!!

Day 5 – Belize – Nana did not get to go to Belmopan, but she did get to see Miss Jean and another one of her friends. Everyone got the real Belize City tour. We went to Brodies and got some goodies. Only thing, I let the taxi driver lead me to believe that I could get a better deal down by the pier. Against better judgment, I listened to him. At Brodies the item cost $5 BZ. At the pier, same item cost $5 US. Same difference? No. $1 US = $2 BZ. So down at the pier, I had to bargain them down to the Brodie’s regular price! I did get a nice Coach in Belize, so I can't be too mad at them.

Day 6 – Cozumel – We rented jeeps, which turned out to be a minor fiasco. Some people don’t know how to drive with people following them AND they don’t know how to use signal lights. On the plus side, I did get to go to the beach. Oh yea -2.5 words- Carlos n Charlies. Always a fun time to be had, drink as much as a you want as long as you stay with your group (that is where Natalie Holloway made her fatal mistake)

Day 7 – At sea – Very choppy waters. I did not do much. All of us just laid around and watched movies in the room on the DVD player. Over the Hedge and Ice Age 2. Over the Hedge was very cute – I give it 3.5 stars. Ice Age 2 was not as funny as the first – I give it 2.75 stars.

Day 8 – return home – Debarkation process was hell. Enough said about that.

Keep posted, pictures will be loaded later in the week...

You say “Royal Caribbean” – I say “BOOOOOO!!!”

Why I will never sail RCCI again.

1. The mediocre Customer service – the cabin stewards were slack all the time. And that was when you could find someone. The first sign that there would be problems was on day 1 when we were waiting for our luggage. Stuff was sitting at the end of the hallway, while the stewards were chatting and shooting the breeze with each other. We ended up going and getting our luggage ourselves. I have friends who had their “do not disturb” sign on their door, and subsequently did not receive any of the daily newsletters. But they did receive the flyer about tipping guidelines, which was slid under the door. The dude left information when he wanted to get his tips, but no other time. They did not even get the information about the disembarking process. Interesting. In my opinion, he did not deserve anything at all. I don’t know what my friends did, but I would not have given him anything.
2. The stale bread – Okay everyone knows that I am a bread lover. I saw all the pastries and I was in heaven, or so I thought. The first few days, I chomped away. The bread was a bit tough, but I thought it was me. Then Levee complained about her toast was better used as croutons. Again, I thought it was an isolated incident. Then Dave mentioned none of the bread was fresh out the oven. I did not have an answer for that. Once again, giving them the benefit of the doubt, I said maybe they put bread in the refrigerator. Well the final straw for me was…MOLD!!!!! Yea I said it. MOLD. I was eating a cheese Danish. After one bite, I saw what looked like pepper. I was a bit confused because what would pepper be doing in a cheese Danish. Upon closer inspection, it was mold spores. I could have thrown up right there. I almost did , I was so disgusted. I went to the supervisor of the Windjammer Café and showed it to him. He was like “Thanks for finding it.” He got my name and room number. I thought that something was going to be done about it. WRONG! I did not hear anything else about it. I guess if I got very sick, they would at least have a record that it was because of something I ate.
But at least one question was answered. Is the bread fresh? Absolutely NOT!
3. The obviously rigged casino – Not that I am gambler, but I do like to go to the casino and see the players play. Well RCCI will make sure you leave all your $$ in their casino with nothing to show for it. I saw a woman playing and she got the bonus round on the slot machine. That in itself is nothing spectacular. Well, I supposed she was making too much noise for the Casino manager. He came and looked at her machine, watched her play for a few minutes, and then he punched something in on his little device (it looked like a calculator). After that, she did not win another dime on that machine. And she played at least $25 more dollars (50 cents at a time). It was obvious to me, that the Casino manager did something to the odds of the machine so that it would not pay out any more money. I think that is just wrong. And if they would do that in the Casino, I know that they would not mind trying to get over on me in other ways too.
4. The slow Internet – Considering that they were charging 50 cent a minute for Internet, you would think that RCCI would have invested in a faster connection speed. One time, I logged on and it took 5 minutes for Gmail website to come up. Then it locked down. Leaving me to look at a white screen. I ended up disconnecting. But I was still charged the 5 minutes that I was logged on. I complained at the Purser’s desk (no one was stationed at the Internet Café- I think they need some one there to handle problems like that). The dipwad at the Purser’s desk, said “Try later in the evening, there are probably too many people online right now.” I looked at him, bit my tongue, and walked away. That was the most asinine statement I had heard all day and I did not want to ruin my cruise by getting put off at the next port of call. However, in my mind I questioned his parentage, and called him all sorts of names (none of which I will print here at the risk of offending those of delicate sensibilities)
5. The in-room entertainment – Granted, I don’t go cruising for the in-room entertainment, but when I am looking for a little down time, it is nice to know what movies are playing. And it is a little annoying when the same movie is playing for 3 days.
6. Formal night is too serious – this was the first cruise that I have heard of someone being denied entry to an event because they were not dressed in formal attire. That soured the Captain’s reception for me.
7. Late night is 1 AM!!!!!! - When RCCI say some thing is open "late", they mean it closes at 1. It was 3 in the morn and we were looking for food. Everything was closed. When I complained to Nana about it, she said that was because we should have been in bed at that time. That did not mean much to me considering her idea of bed time is 6 in the evening. I say, they should be open 24 hours. So we had to order room service and wait another 45 minutes. We were all grumpy about that.