Thoughts on Cruising

So it's back to work today for me today. It's been so long I hope I haven't forgotten how to do my job! It seems like forever since I sat down at my desk and blogged too. I feel so removed from my blog and all of you. It will take me a little while to get caught up with all of you guys I'm afraid. Thanks to those of you who continued to drop in on me for the past few weeks even when I was not returning the favor.

I spent the weekend going through all of my pictures and posting them to Flickr. Here's the full set from the trip if you are interested. I'm going to start here by a posting few of my favorite pics from or of the cruise. The top 2 are from Cozumel when we were docked right next to another Carnival ship. Mike called the second one "Carnival throwing up onto Mexico". The Carnival pier in Cozumel was about as far removed from Mexico as you can get and was full of all shades of tackiness for the tourists.

If we ever cruise again it will not be with Carnival. When I went before I was a much different person and was into the party vibe, but not so much now. If you are not into Hairy Chest Contests or gambling there really isn't much to do on the "Fun Days At Sea". The so called serenity deck had 24 hour disco music pumped into as did every other deck of the boat besides the track. Here you can see Mike taking a run with the sunset behind him.

There was one reggae band that we enjoyed but much of the entertainment left a lot to be desired also. I kept telling Mike that he was being an intellectual snob but I couldn't help making fun of much of what passed for fun on the boat myself. I had brought along a Kurt Vonnegut book and found some irony in what I was reading. Here's a great Vonnegut quote that kind of sums of how I was feeling about everything and everyone around me: "Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops." Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five

We took the requisite shot of the towel animal left in our room each night. I took a shot of my one $10 drink that I got which I totally earned with all the walking I did the day of the Mayan ruins. I'll post pics from that day tomorrow. We really enjoyed our excursions and of course New Orleans was just what we wanted. We had some of the best food of our lives including an amazing meal at La Petit Grocery. If you are ever in the Garden District and have $100 to spend on true fine dining I totally recommend it. This last shot if from the last sunset of the trip.