Ok, since you’ve asked for a description, here ’tis!

I flew to Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday, met up with ME, Mo & Kim. We had dinner (outside on the deck altho it was “cold” in FL, 60 degrees or something LOL) and then headed to the hotel. Got up bright and early the next day, breakfasted, did a bit of shopping (found a Popeye’s YUM) and then headed to the pier to board the ship, Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas. Boarded with no problem, didn’t leave my purse in the cab this time, and made it to our cabin, which was the first disappointment to me. The balcony was GREAT, but the beds, ugh…not soft & fluffy like Carnival’s, more like a cheap hotel. Ok, no big deal, I had my pillow (I take it everywhere with me), it’s all good.

We went down to dinner where we were pleasantly surprised by our gracious, efficient and very friendly waitress (Nikki from Romania) and assistant waitress (Carla from Portugal). Dinner was cruise-typical…good, but not fantastic.

We stayed up late, wandering around the ship, checking out the show in the Orpheum Theater and tasting the drinks (killer xxxdirty martini!!!).

Monday we docked at Key West from 7 am to 2 PM. We’d booked a bicycle tour which was quite fun, especially when the Key West native shouted from his car, “Are you trying to get killed, you morons?” Love it! Stopped at a bird sanctuary, a park, a hotel & a pier for photo ops and some coconut milk straight from the coconut (not creamy like what you get in the store, it’s a clear liquid, not very sweet, but refreshing).

Tuesday was Cozumel, where we’d booked a bike / snorkel tour. Poor Cozumel had been devastated by Hurricane Wilma in October of 2005. The docks, the shopping area, the palm tree tops…all gone. The water, tho, was clear and perfect for snorkeling. I saw lots of fish and one great big HUGE stingray with leopard spots. It was just beautiful, gliding through the water, slowly flapping it’s wings. Amazing!

That evening we headed to the disco, where I was appalled at the behavior on the dance floor. Simulated sex (get a room), bitchy young 20-somethings (oh, get up and dance, go ahead!), and tons of crew members keeping an eye on everything. Bummer. Apparently, it got even more blatant the next night when some guy had his pen!s out and some girl (Mo & Kim swear she was under 18) took off her top; they said she looked totally stoned…not drunk, either, but high. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…but, hmmm…

Wednesday was Belize City. The tour we’d arranged pretty much sucked and the poverty deeply disturbed me. We rode on an air conditioned bus for an hour and a half through the countryside and…it’s just so sad.

That evening, we had dinner at Chops Grill. It was an extra $20, but oh man, was it worth it! The filet mignon I had was melt in your mouth delicious, and the assistant waiter cracked us up. It was supposed to be oh-so-formal, but he kept it interesting. That night was also lobster night in the main dining room, so I went down with ME at our seating time (8:30) and ate some pineapple while she had her lobster. Unfortunately, it was kind of not well done, more like lobster sushi, which was fine by me, but she did NOT like it, which was sad, as that girl LOVES her some lobster tail!

Thursday was a day at sea. I hung out at the solarium all day, occasionally cooling off in the salt water pool, but mostly I lounged and read, read and lounged and didn’t burn, amazingly enough.

Friday was back to Ft. Lauderdale, where we got up at 7, had breakfast and wandered the ship. Gave me more time to take some photos while we were waiting to be called to disembark. Off to the airport, where we said goodbye to Mo, then Kim. ME and I had lunch together and she waited with me til my plane was ready. She left last and was I GLAD JetBlue had changed my flight from a later one to the one that left at 4:20.

Krista picked me up at the airport, dropped me off after extracting a promise to pick up some furniture with her next Saturday in Plymouth (payback!) and that’s it!

I have to say, I’m not all that thrilled with the ship we were on! I enjoyed the Carnival Cruises much more! Having said that, I had a great time!

Some highlights:

- the hot stone massage…pure bliss!
- dinner at Chops
- the stingray
- finishing two books (Garlic and Sapphires : The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls) and starting a third (The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion) (more about this book in a future entry)
- the far off lightning storm was spectacular!
- each night we kept the balcony door open a bit and were lulled to sleep by the sound of the ocean and the gentle movement of the boat. More bliss!
- the hot dancer (what a 6-pack!) and his look-a-like, who was a guest on the cruise (mmmm, mmmm, mmmm was heard alot from me; a couple of times, Kim had to wipe drool from Mo’s mouth after she spied the dancer or his twin)
- singing “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt, every. single. day. and laughing (course I heard it yesterday and was immediately BACK ON THE CRUISE).
- having a tan in March
- wearing flip flops every day, all day