Kia Ora-

We made it back! What a wonderful vacation that was. To anyone, I highly suggest a Royal Caribbean cruise. The Nordic Empress was top notch, absolute luxury, and completely amazing. The hardest part to get used to was everyone waiting on you hand and foot. That got creepy after abit, but eventually you just surrender to it. And everyone talks about the cruise food and that is no lie--there was always food, high quality and copious ammounts. There was always food available somewhere on the ship from about 6:00am until 3:00am, with a free 24-hour room service. The song of the trip was probably the Finn Brothers' The Land And The Sea which fit so well, so beautifully with travelling over the sea.

Here's a brief recap of the days (as well as the ports of call and what I had for dinner just to give examples). I'll also add what Nelson (our room steward) made with our towels. I will probably repeat a lot of adjectives because there are only so many ways you can say incredible, awesome, and amazing:

4/12 - Tampa
We were to leave at 4:00pm but left a little later than that (listening to Split Enz's Bon Voyage). V and I got onboard about noon and had a run of the place. Much to our surprise we also had a cabin with a window on the 3rd floor. Generally, those rooms were about $200 more than what we paid for ours, but for some reason we got upgraded. The coolest man we never really saw was our room attendant, Nelson. He cleaned our room twice a day, made the bed, and freshened everything up. The ship itself was 10 stories tall, plus an 11th floor observation deck. We explored the ship and got familiar with everything. One of the coolest things was as we exited Tampa Bay, we were on the 11th floor when the ship passed beneath the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. I kid you not, it seems like the ship clears the bridge by a matter of inches. If I had to guess, the ship passes within 6 feet of the bridge--pretty amazing. By the time dinner came around we met our table 18 dinner mates--Fred and Kelly from North Carolina, Tom and Stacey from Connecticut, and two couples from Indiana who were travelling together. Everyone was really nice and it was great. It was also at this dinner where I fell in love with gaspacho soups and bisques as most at dinner time were made of fruits. Yum! And each dinner was 5 courses. Such good food. Uncharacteristically, V and I hit the sack around 10:30pm.
dinner: Double BBQ Porkchops

4/13 - at sea
Our first day at sea. I was in sort of a fog all day long because the weariness of the last few weeks finally caught up with me and I didn't sleep very well as I was having strange dreams all night (mostly about the sea). We did more stuff around the ship, including a craft class (napkin folding, of all things) in the High Society Lounge, a trivia game in the Carosel Pub, nosing around the ship's library, and losing quarters in Casino Royale (and every time we passed through I had to say in my worst Sean Connery accent, 'This is Casino Royale!'). The most striking thing was the colour of the water--perfect deep blue, just like in paintings. That was completly amazing. And we passed within 12 miles of Cuba and could see it. Also, as with every day, lots of food. V discovered the 6th floor deck which wrapped around the ship for walking, jogging, games, etc. I sat out in the sun and read The Last Gang In Town (about the Clash) for about 20 minutes--basically the only lounging I did the entire trip. We did start what became our daily routine of working out in the gym early and then walking (or jogging for V) in the afternoon. Lots of exercise really on this trip. Nothing else really of note except standing up on the 11th floor and seeing schools of flying fish. That was amazing! After dinner (it was one of the two formal nights) we went back to the cabin and were zonked out by 11:00pm.
dinner: Formal, Duck L'Orange

4/14 - George Town, Grand Cayman
We woke up approaching the Grand Cayman. For some reason, we had cellular phone service and I called my mom and Mr. Eric as I knew they would both be near phones on a Monday morning. We stopped right off the coast and had to be shuttled in with small boats (called tenders). We tendered out and the ship looked so amazing, so immense. The water was amazing--so clear and shimmering blue, like turquoise. This country is very rich and expensive, but very beautiful. Apparently there are a lot of banks here, much like Switzerland. We had a bit of time and went to town and ate lunch at a small cafe (it was either there, Chinese food, Thai food, KFC, or Subway). Very cool town, busy for a Monday morning. Our shore excursion was to Stingray City, so we boarded a bus which took us to our boat which was across the island (like all of 4 miles). We had to ride 6 miles out to the sandbar which was at the mouth of the huge bay on the north side of the island. We headed out and the water was still so clear. We got our snorkling gear and got in the water. V was apprehensive at first as she doesn't really care to be in the water with stingrays. But it was incredible--the water was kind of rough, but it was only about 4 feet deep. And there must have been three dozen stingrays. They put out a bucket of food to feed them (squid) and that was the first thing I did. We were in the water with them for about an hour and it was an experience that you really have to experience. I can't explain the feeling of having a stingray swim up onto your chest while another one is swiming around at your feet. So much fun and V eventually was feeding them too. Also, there were barracudas in the waves, but they stayed about 10 feet away. I did chase after some though. I am an idiot. We got back on the boat and headed back to town (enjoying a local ale, Stingray Beer, along the way) so we could catch the last tender to the ship. Back on ship, V was hungry (there were like 3 hours until dinner) so we ordered steaks. We ate, rested, ate dinner, and then caught the late night adult comedy show in the Strike Up The Band Ballroom. I really loved Grand Cayman and want to go back sometime.
dinner: Italian theme, Lamb (though most of the table had Shrimp Scampi)
Nelson's towel scupture: swan

4/15 - at sea
Another sea day. More activities, games, food, working out, etc. We also went to Nautical Notes, which was all about the specs of the ship. And we found the boardgame room and spent some time in there. Dinner was good and after we joined Tom and Stacey to see the gameshow The Quest. Basically, it was a scavenger hunt for things that were in the room itself--from things like a Compass (the sheet with the days activities listed), to women's bras, to men in lipstick kissing a baldman's head (which happened to belong to Fred). At one point they asked for two pairs of men's pants and Tom and I dropped trou--at least I had my cool Men At Work boxers on (OK, I think they are cool). The nadir of the show was when they asked for men to go up wearing a bra, lipstick, women's shoes, earrings and a purse. Since I had earrings, guess who got chosen? Yeah, I had to borrow Stacey's bra, shoes, and purse. It was probably the most humiliating thing I've ever done and I was mortified afterwards, but in retrospect I'm cool with it (esspecially since it didn't make the recap video)--it was all in good fun. After the show was a midnight buffet under the stars by the pool.
dinner: Mexican theme, Pescado Veracruz
Nelson's towel scupture: scorpion

(I can't believe that up to this point I hadn't mentioned our waiter, Gary. He was the nicest, sweetest guys ever. Not only was he amazing at his work [along with his assistant Stedman], going way above and beyond in service as you will read, but he was very cool. He is also a Filipino so he and V sort of had that level to click on. We got Gary's address and plan to keep correspondence up with him.)

4/16 - Belize City, Belize
Welcome to Central America. Belize was one of my favourite and dreaded places. We had to tender once again and we were about 5 or 6 miles out. But these boats were very fast. Our excursion for the day was the Mayan ruins of Altan Hu which were 31 miles north, so we took a bus which took us through the heart of the city. First the rich section, then the ghettos. It was such culture shock. I can't even explain the poverty. Very sad. The bus ride was amazing for the sites like this through out, so many half constructed buildings, dwellings made of plywood and stones, so much desolation. Yet humour amdist it as several of the dwellings made of wood with no windows or doors had satellites attached to the outside of them. We made it to Atlan Hu and it was awe inspiring walking among these buildings and pyramids. There were several parts and the site is something of a mystery. First, the largest piece of Mayan jade was found here. Second, the first part of the city is governed by the Temple of Heaven, and a 'sweetheart's' temple where the remains of a woman were found unharmed (she wasn't killed apparently, and was found with a jade hummingbird, a Mayan symbol for love). The newer part of the city was built after this with the Temple of the Sun God/Jaguar God as it's centerpiece and it was explained that it was a temple dedicated to demons/underworld. Third, not long after the second part was built there was a pesant revolt and all the chambers were filled with sand with everything in the rooms intact and unlooted, and then abandoned. Very intersting. And it was very powerful to stand atop the Temple of the Sun God at the altar. We left the site and went back to the docks and had a late lunch in the Smoky Mermaid Pub and enjoyed the local Biliken beer. Back to the ship. Another formal dinner night, lobsters. Gary hooked us up real good--without a word he took my finished plate from me and set another full plate in front of me. He scored more lobsters for our table! And he disappeared for a bit, running up to the top level of the restaurant, coming back a few minutes later with a huge platter of lobsters. He so rocks!!! After dinner we had another quiet night, the Mayan quandry still running around in our heads.
dinner: Formal, Lobster
Nelson's towel sculpture: elephant

4/17 - Cozumel, Mexico
We pulled in to a dock at Cozumel, next to one of the Nordic Empress's sister ships, the Explorer of the Seas. Whereas the Empress is 692 feet long and 11 stories in total, the Explorer is 1020 feet long and 16 stories, including a rock climbing wall, minature golf, a full track, and ice skating rink. It was daunting. Apparently, there were 10 ships in Cozumel that day, though to start with we only spotted 8. And again, the water was so turquoise and clear. The water at the dock must have been 50 feet deep but we could see straight to the bottom. We were about 3-1/2 miles from downtown so we decided to walk instead of taking a cab. It was a nice walk along the sea shore and we sort of got a real feeling for the town. When we arrived downtown though it was basically the Orlando of Mexico with the shops and stuff. We ate at the famous Carlos & Charlie's. It was fine, good food, and my first Coke in weeks so it was a bit like crack. V had a 'Yard of Margarita', a huge drink, so she sort of glided through the shops after that. We wandered, then caught a cab back to the pier. We did some shopping there, basically shirts for the parents. We realized we didn't buy much of anything all trip and by then it was too late. Oh well, we have the pictures. We got back on board and V and I kicked ass and won the final trivia contest (with a total score of 17/20--our closest competetors got 9/20). After that, we jumped in the hot tub (still in the shadow of the Explorer). V went back to the room and I went up to the 11th floor to watch us leave. We pulled out (the Empress and the Explorer playing dueling horns as we were pulling away--and the Empress does have a louder horn, amazingly), and lo and behold, on the other side of the Explorer were the other two cruise ships all along!!! The other ships were there and we never knew it. Incredible. Also, when we looked over to mainland Mexico we could see a huge pyramid on the horizon. I don't know if that was Tulum (another Mayan ruin) or something else. That night we took in a show before dinner (a ventriloquist). Dinner was good, and we went to bed kind of early again.
dinner: Rack of Lamb
Nelson's towel sculpture: monkey swinging from the top of the cabinet

4/18 - at sea
I got up early to walk on the 6th floor. Strange day, full of dread of returning to home. The phrase 'Back to reality' was used througout the day, and because of that I got the Eminem song Lose Yourself stuck in my head. More shipboard stuff, but kind of with this cloud hanging over it. The regular stuff went on. At dinner we all exchanged numbers, emails, addresses, etc, and took photos. I likened this week to our senior year in high school all in one week--we meet, bond, do fieldtrips, become friends, go to prom, and exchange info at the end and promise to keep in touch. We got Gary's address too so we can send him some Filipino stuff from our local market. After dinner, our bags had to be out by midnight so V kicked me out of the room so she could pack. I grabbed the walkman, a camera, and my William Shatner CD and walked the ship one last time. Very eerie and quiet, almost forboding. I was alone on the 11th floor with the open sky and sea, deep and black before me. Beautiful and scary. Got back to the room but didn't sleep much and woke up before the wake up call.
dinner: Prime Rib
Nelson's towel scupture: heart

4/18 - Tampa
Welcome back to the brown water of Tampa Bay. Spent the morning waiting to disembark. Got to say goodbye one more time to Gary, and to Angela (one of the entertainment staff who was awesome). As I set foot on Tampa soil, I uttered the appropriate Neil Armstrong-like phrase, 'Fuuuuuuuuaaawwwck!' (in my best Phil voice). I played the Hokey-Pokey with the big blue line at Customs. And then it was over.

So that was it. An amazing vacation. I highly recommend the Nordic Empress. Let's all go next week. Though I'm not happy about being back, I am happy about being back here with my Circle.

God bless the Caribbean Sea.

Keep the faith.

-N.