A few weeks ago I went on a cruise with Superfro, my sister, her husband Steve, my nephew Billy, my Mom and my step-dad Bob. We took the Carnival Paradise from Tampa to Cozumel Mexico and back again. It was so very awesome. I really do love cruising and am looking forward to taking another cruise as soon as humanly possible. Superfro wasn't as keen, mostly because even after we got off the boat his equilibrium refused to equalize, messing with his senses of gravity. Poor guy!
But the cruise! It was so fun! We had dinner every night in the formal dining room, with a great wait staff who remembered what we liked to drink and flirted just enough to make the ladies all feel special and the gents all to feel proud. Billy had wasabi for the first time (on accident) and Mom enjoyed the Melted Chocolate Cake (more than once!)
Cozumel was cloudy but warm. Billy & Bob had signed up for a "Swimming With Stingrays" excursion so the rest of us hired a cab driver to give us a little tour of the town. He showed us the different neighborhoods; one for the hotel workers, one for the cab drivers, one for teachers, one for business owners and another for government workers. Turns out, in Cozumel, what you do for a living determines where you live and who your neighbors are. Also, Cozumel makes almost all its money form tourism. There was a lot of building and re-building going on too. It was hard to tell, kn some areas, which buildings were half built and which were half torn down.
But, some things in Cozumel are the same as they are here; we met our drivers son, who was peeking in the window of a dance studio, watching the local ladies get their Zumba on. Ladies around the world love Zumba.
For our last day at sea Superfro and I signed up for the Behind the Fun tour. We got to see the inner workings of the ship; the galley, the food/drink storage, the laundry, the "environmental" area (garbage), the backstage dressing room for the entertainers, the engine control room and then the bridge, with it's huge windows and tiny steering wheel. It was a 3 hour tour, no photos allowed, but incredibly informative. In each area we met the person "in charge" and they told us about the area, how it works and answered any questions. What to know where the poop goes? Well, it gets treated, just like sewage here at home, and then it gets dumped when the ship is at least 3 miles away from shore. Yes, that's right, three miles. Think about that next time you swim in the ocean.
The same thing happens to the sink and shower water, called "grey water," and all the leftover and discarded food (though that gets pulped up before being dumped.)
In the galley we were taught that the employees that handle the food are very specialized. The person who preps fish only works with fish. Same with beef and chicken. There are different cold storage rooms for each type of meat and each has their own equipment. This helps keep cross-contamination to a minimum. The cleanliness of the storage area, the galley and even the garbage areas was impressive. Shining stainless steel everywhere, no noticeable bad smells.
We learned a lot. A LOT. I've already forgotten most of what we learned. Oh wait, I do remember that they have a brig on the ship, in case anyone get unruly (more likely an employee would be put there, not a guest) and that nobody on board is armed. So, if pirates show up, you might as well just hide in your cabin or give yourself up, you'll be out-gunned.
Oh, and later that day the chef set us a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and other treats to our room, gratis.
Is cruising great fun? Yes! Is it for everyone? Of course not! There are many people to whom I would not suggest a cruise vacation. Do you hate people? Do you fear buffets? Are you easily motion sick or freaked out by large expanses of water with nothing at all in sight? Does seeing people drink at 9:00 in the morning bother you? Are you super-duper overweight or mobility challenged to the point where you can't walk one flight of stairs? Are you incredibly eco-conscious? An affirmative in any of these could make general cruising unpleasant for you I say "general" because there are always speciality cruises available if you're willing to pay a higher price.
Are the cabins and hallways really that small? Well, sort of....
But we were in our cabin mostly to sleep and use the toilet (don't even ask about the ladies rooms in the public areas, I don't have the adjectives for those...) I will say that 3or 4 people can also be booked into a room our size, which will have beds that fold down from the walls. That could pose a problem when trying to pee in the middle of the night, or because of lack of places to set things. The hallways are narrow in the cabin areas, not really in the common areas. The exception to that is the outdoor stairways leading up to the upper pool deck and the sports decks, those are really suitable for one adult at a time.
Of course, I'll be cruising again. Maybe with a different cruise line or a higher class of ship (the Paradise was nearly identical to the Sensation I was on last year) but I will for sure be hitting the high seas again!
