I know there is a lot of negativity right now surrounding cruising with all the issues that have surfaced in recent months on Carnival then to add to that Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas had a horrible fire last week that could have been tragic if not dealt with swiftly and efficiently. But I think there is a huge difference between the two situations and that's what I want to talk about today.
It may just be that I've had a bad taste in my mouth about Carnival since the solitary cruise that I took on a Carnival ship 6 years ago. For the last 6 years, I have said that I would never make the mistake of boarding a Carnival ship again and so far I have held true to that vow. There was nothing that the crew did on board to turn me off. It was more about what the entire cruise line didn't do. From the moment we boarded the ship, you could see that the upkeep just wasn't all that good. It was just run down. It seemed that one of two things was happening. Either the crew didn't care about taking care of things properly or the cruise line didn't give them the tools they needed to do what had to be done. After a few days on the ship, I was convinced that the problem wasn't with the crew. They were as helpful, friendly and well meaning as any crew I have ever encountered on any other ship. I was therefore convinced that Carnival was not supplying them with the tools they needed to take care of their ship.
Perhaps they had enough cleaning products, staff and mechanical tools and they simply weren't given the opportunity to conduct the maintenance that needed to be done. Or perhaps they didn't have the training to get it all done or to get it done in an efficient manner. I really don't know exactly what the problem was, but the crew certainly seemed willing to do whatever was required of them. My personal theory on the situation is that they market to an opening price point cruise customer which can often times be someone who has never experienced much beyond leaving home on the Saturday that Spring Break begins, staying drunk for 7 days straight and then returning home a week later after having vomited all over Mexico. Stick that person on a ship and you have about 60% of the passengers who were on the cruise we took 6 years ago. And let's just face facts, if 60% of your passengers are concentrating all of their efforts simply on getting drunk, you are going to need one heck of a crew to keep things clean and in working order.
So, I feel like Carnival is already a little behind the 8 ball simply due to the passengers they attract. Then if you combine that with a company which only thinks about profits and exploiting those profits for as long as possible, you will eventually run into problems. If you fill your ships up every single week, year after year, and you continue to only take prices up as your costs increase then the only way to increase your revenue is to cut back on what you spend. In order to increase your prices beyond cost increases, you will need to offer your passengers a better product. The product has not improved over the years so that only leaves the option of cutting back in other areas of spending. If you cut back in on board service, you will eventually stop getting return passengers. So, in my opinion, that only leaves cutting back in maintenance. This is only an opinion, but it is what I believe that Carnival has done over the years. Then when they began to see the negative results rather than addressing the issue and going above and beyond to make people happy and satisfy the public that they took it seriously, they did the bare minimum that was required of them.
Granted, they got their passengers home after the Triumph debacle... eventually. They gave them their money back. They even gave them a discount on a future cruise for those who are willing to take one. My guess would be that if the Triumph or as I like to call it "SS Floating Toilet" hadn't been so highly publicized, the passengers would not have seen all the compensation that they received. When one of Carnival's crazy passengers falls overboard, sure, they turn around and go back to try to find them. When the Crown Princess (Princess is owned by Carnival) sailing out of Houston had a toilet problem last month which affected more than 400 staterooms and had passengers reporting "foul odors, long lines for public bathrooms and flooded rooms for up to three days" Carnival was kind enough to offer those passengers an apology and $50 each.
Meanwhile, I was on a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Galveston a few years ago that was 7 hours late leaving port due to intense fog (a natural phenomenon which RCI has absolutely no control over) and every passenger on board was given $25 shipboard credit and profuse apologies. We didn't miss any stops, at no point was there any sewage visible to me, no inconvenience whatsoever and yet, I got approximately 3.1 free drinks of the day out of it. So, this week following the fire on board Grandeur of the Seas, the ship made port in Freeport, Bahamas (it was redirected from CocoCay to Freeport due to the fire) where damage was assessed. The CEO and other high ranking executives flew in immediately and boarded the ship. Even before assessments were complete the CEO, Adam Goldstein was on board visiting with passengers after meeting with the crew to reassure everyone that they would be taken care of.
Since the fire, all passengers have been flown back to Maryland where the ship set sail from, (mind you, the fire was Sunday and their passengers are already back home.... If it was a Carnival ship, I can't help but wonder if they would be floating around at sea still) they are being reimbursed for the price of the cruise and being given a 50% discount on a future cruise. Then this morning I got an email from RCI stating that any travel agents who had passengers on the ship during the cruise or booked for a future sailing that was being canceled due to the fire would still receive his or her full commission. Additionally, they intend to award a $50 bonus for all travel agents re-booking those clients on RCI.
Now you may ask, how was their maintenance and did it cause the ship to catch on fire? I can't answer that. But I do know that RCI takes all of their ships out of rotation regularly for maintenance. I can tell you that the ship was refurbished just last May. Currently, they are working on a 3 year roll out in which all 22 of their ships are going into dry dock for full maintenance and retrofits on updated interiors. As one ship comes out of dry dock, another goes in. Royal Caribbean goes out of their way to educate travel agents on these roll outs. My sense is that with as much information as they give me, their employees must be remarkably well informed.
I just think that the way the two companies handle their difficulties is very telling in what kind of an operation they run. For me, I'd rather trust my vacation dollar with Royal Caribbean. Have a great Wednesday!
Margaritaville
Margaritaville - Cozumel, Mexico
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Could a Camping Vacation be for Your Family?
***Some artistic liberties may have been taken in writing this blog post. If you were on most of our family camping trips and remember little or none of these events, just enjoy it as a work of fiction interspersed with a fact here and there... But this is pretty much how I remember it.
I'm not sure if any of you are aware of this. But I along with other members of my family am somewhat of an expert on misery. We gained a lot of experience in this field in the 70's when we would spend long weekends and vacations camping at Shirley Creek on Lake Sam Rayburn in east Texas.
Those were the days before fancy campers or motor homes for our family. It was back when Coleman provided your shelter and that was only available after hours of sliding pole A into slot B and driving tent stakes into rock hard red clay that hadn't seen rain in weeks to put a tent up. I sincerely hope that I haven't led you to believe that I was in anyway a part of putting the tent up. I had nothing to do with that. I was probably sitting off to the side somewhere holding my Mrs. Beasley doll or down by the lake looking for some water to fall into. I never fell anywhere intentionally. But falling is something that I have perfected over the years using little to no effort at all.
I remember before a camping trip we would always spend days getting ready. We had this green wooden "grub box" that had to be filled before we would go. Dad had built it and it had a lock and everything. At the time I thought it was to keep bears out. Now, I'm thinking it was probably to keep three little kids out. (After all, it was east Texas, there weren't any bears.) He would put the "grub box" in his boat and then for a day or two before we left, we would concentrate on getting all of the food that we would need for our trip into the box. We would finish using the peanut butter for instance and Mom would have me carry it out and put it in the "grub box". It was an important part of the camping trip (the box, not the peanut butter). It was where all of the food that didn't need to stay cold but needed to stay dry was kept. It usually did stay dry until the 2nd or 3rd consecutive day of torrential rain during the trip. By then, the wood of the box would become soaked and water could begin to seep through the box and into the dry food. Let me tell you, if you have never had a S'more made from soggy graham crackers and gooey wet marshmallows you really don't know what you've been missing.
Moisture was only one of the enemies of a "grub box" another was ants. You see when a bag of Oreos is left open in a wooden box sitting on the ground near a campfire where various wieners, Fritos and hamburger buns have been dropped over a period of a day or two, it creates a good path for ants to follow. Ants don't seem to be phased in the least by a Master Lock on a pretty hand built green wooden "grub box". I don't recall any ants tapping me on the shoulder and whispering, "Pssst... little girl.... Ya know where they keep the key for the green box?" Yet, it was full of ants. Let me tell you, when my Mom discovers ants in the food during a camping trip, you don't want to be the only other human in camp. I had to cover Mrs. Beasley's ears....
The grub box was just one of the joys of the family camping trip. The real joy for our family was almost always the weather. I remember our family taking a number of camping trips to Shirley Creek as a kid. I remember very few of them in which the weather was tolerable for even a portion of the trip. I'm not sure how we chose our weekends and maybe I'm just remembering how uncomfortable it seemed to a small girl who wasn't used to dealing with the elements. But I only remember camping trips in which we got there the first day and the weather was really nice. Not too cold, not too hot - there would be a nice breeze, a few wispy clouds in the sky. This was a ploy of mother nature to suck us into believing that we had, in fact, chosen the perfect weekend for our camping trip and would lead us to leave a tent flap up or a window rolled down on the truck. That first night, as we sat round our campfire (there were practically never burn bans back then) you could look up and see a billion stars in the clear sky for about an hour. As the time grew later, more clouds seemed to come in and it grew a little chilly. But hey that was part of the adventure, right? Finally after telling jokes or stories around the campfire for a while, I along with my brothers would be sent off to the tent to crawl into sleeping bags which were situated comfortably on top of fold out cots that we brought along.
I would doze off with the wind blowing a little and various night sounds outside of the tent. It sounded like the sort of relaxation recording that people buy now days. The next thing I knew, I was awakened while it was still VERY dark to my Mom's near hysterical proclamation that THE DAMN THING IS GOING TO BLOW OVER!!!! This was in reference to the tent that we were sleeping in and I can only assume that she was talking to my Dad. The wind was blowing a little harder by this point. Did I mention the rain? Yes, it started just about the time that my Mom was convinced we were all going to be blown away wrapped in green canvas with the word Coleman stamped in the corner. I remember one such occasion when someone (and I don't remember who) said, I'm getting wet. Then a flashlight came on and started pointing around the tent to various points on the top and along the canvas walls until trickles of water could be seen running down the inside of the tent. Apparently the worst thing you could do to the roof of the tent if water was collecting on it was to touch it. For some reason this seemed to allow the water to come through the canvas and form a stream straight onto your sleeping bag. NOBODY was happy when that happened.
I always remember waking on Saturday morning and walking out of the tent remnants into camp with no fire because you can't start a fire with wood that is soaking wet from several inches of rain the previous night. On Saturday morning when you are camping for some reason the temperature is always about 25 degrees, but the sky is crystal clear and you can see icicles hanging off the trees and what's left of the tent as evidence that it really did rain the night before and it wasn't all just a horrible nightmare. The other evidence is obviously the soaking wet "grub box" and the Mom with an expression on her face that can easily be interpreted by anyone capable of the powers of reason to mean WE ARE NEVER CAMPING AGAIN. By mid afternoon, the weather would warm up. Dad and the boys would come back in the boat and we would all go out fishing for a while. The mood would lighten and by supper time, we were digging through the "grub box" looking for any food to eat that was semi-dry and had little evidence of the ant infestation. The lock on the "grub box" had long since been discarded (after all, who would want the soggy ant riddled food anyway?).
By evening the wood had dried out enough for another camp fire. Most of the sleeping bags had dried after a day of blowing on a makeshift clothes line in the breeze. The tent stakes had been driven back into the less rock hard red clay and spirits were up. Sure the temperature would drop into the teens overnight. But our bellies would be full of soggy s'more and we were Meyers.... we spit in the face of cold weather.... right? After all, you can't become an expert on misery without first experiencing it at it's worst.
I'm not sure if any of you are aware of this. But I along with other members of my family am somewhat of an expert on misery. We gained a lot of experience in this field in the 70's when we would spend long weekends and vacations camping at Shirley Creek on Lake Sam Rayburn in east Texas.
Those were the days before fancy campers or motor homes for our family. It was back when Coleman provided your shelter and that was only available after hours of sliding pole A into slot B and driving tent stakes into rock hard red clay that hadn't seen rain in weeks to put a tent up. I sincerely hope that I haven't led you to believe that I was in anyway a part of putting the tent up. I had nothing to do with that. I was probably sitting off to the side somewhere holding my Mrs. Beasley doll or down by the lake looking for some water to fall into. I never fell anywhere intentionally. But falling is something that I have perfected over the years using little to no effort at all.
I remember before a camping trip we would always spend days getting ready. We had this green wooden "grub box" that had to be filled before we would go. Dad had built it and it had a lock and everything. At the time I thought it was to keep bears out. Now, I'm thinking it was probably to keep three little kids out. (After all, it was east Texas, there weren't any bears.) He would put the "grub box" in his boat and then for a day or two before we left, we would concentrate on getting all of the food that we would need for our trip into the box. We would finish using the peanut butter for instance and Mom would have me carry it out and put it in the "grub box". It was an important part of the camping trip (the box, not the peanut butter). It was where all of the food that didn't need to stay cold but needed to stay dry was kept. It usually did stay dry until the 2nd or 3rd consecutive day of torrential rain during the trip. By then, the wood of the box would become soaked and water could begin to seep through the box and into the dry food. Let me tell you, if you have never had a S'more made from soggy graham crackers and gooey wet marshmallows you really don't know what you've been missing.
Moisture was only one of the enemies of a "grub box" another was ants. You see when a bag of Oreos is left open in a wooden box sitting on the ground near a campfire where various wieners, Fritos and hamburger buns have been dropped over a period of a day or two, it creates a good path for ants to follow. Ants don't seem to be phased in the least by a Master Lock on a pretty hand built green wooden "grub box". I don't recall any ants tapping me on the shoulder and whispering, "Pssst... little girl.... Ya know where they keep the key for the green box?" Yet, it was full of ants. Let me tell you, when my Mom discovers ants in the food during a camping trip, you don't want to be the only other human in camp. I had to cover Mrs. Beasley's ears....
The grub box was just one of the joys of the family camping trip. The real joy for our family was almost always the weather. I remember our family taking a number of camping trips to Shirley Creek as a kid. I remember very few of them in which the weather was tolerable for even a portion of the trip. I'm not sure how we chose our weekends and maybe I'm just remembering how uncomfortable it seemed to a small girl who wasn't used to dealing with the elements. But I only remember camping trips in which we got there the first day and the weather was really nice. Not too cold, not too hot - there would be a nice breeze, a few wispy clouds in the sky. This was a ploy of mother nature to suck us into believing that we had, in fact, chosen the perfect weekend for our camping trip and would lead us to leave a tent flap up or a window rolled down on the truck. That first night, as we sat round our campfire (there were practically never burn bans back then) you could look up and see a billion stars in the clear sky for about an hour. As the time grew later, more clouds seemed to come in and it grew a little chilly. But hey that was part of the adventure, right? Finally after telling jokes or stories around the campfire for a while, I along with my brothers would be sent off to the tent to crawl into sleeping bags which were situated comfortably on top of fold out cots that we brought along.
I would doze off with the wind blowing a little and various night sounds outside of the tent. It sounded like the sort of relaxation recording that people buy now days. The next thing I knew, I was awakened while it was still VERY dark to my Mom's near hysterical proclamation that THE DAMN THING IS GOING TO BLOW OVER!!!! This was in reference to the tent that we were sleeping in and I can only assume that she was talking to my Dad. The wind was blowing a little harder by this point. Did I mention the rain? Yes, it started just about the time that my Mom was convinced we were all going to be blown away wrapped in green canvas with the word Coleman stamped in the corner. I remember one such occasion when someone (and I don't remember who) said, I'm getting wet. Then a flashlight came on and started pointing around the tent to various points on the top and along the canvas walls until trickles of water could be seen running down the inside of the tent. Apparently the worst thing you could do to the roof of the tent if water was collecting on it was to touch it. For some reason this seemed to allow the water to come through the canvas and form a stream straight onto your sleeping bag. NOBODY was happy when that happened.
I always remember waking on Saturday morning and walking out of the tent remnants into camp with no fire because you can't start a fire with wood that is soaking wet from several inches of rain the previous night. On Saturday morning when you are camping for some reason the temperature is always about 25 degrees, but the sky is crystal clear and you can see icicles hanging off the trees and what's left of the tent as evidence that it really did rain the night before and it wasn't all just a horrible nightmare. The other evidence is obviously the soaking wet "grub box" and the Mom with an expression on her face that can easily be interpreted by anyone capable of the powers of reason to mean WE ARE NEVER CAMPING AGAIN. By mid afternoon, the weather would warm up. Dad and the boys would come back in the boat and we would all go out fishing for a while. The mood would lighten and by supper time, we were digging through the "grub box" looking for any food to eat that was semi-dry and had little evidence of the ant infestation. The lock on the "grub box" had long since been discarded (after all, who would want the soggy ant riddled food anyway?).
By evening the wood had dried out enough for another camp fire. Most of the sleeping bags had dried after a day of blowing on a makeshift clothes line in the breeze. The tent stakes had been driven back into the less rock hard red clay and spirits were up. Sure the temperature would drop into the teens overnight. But our bellies would be full of soggy s'more and we were Meyers.... we spit in the face of cold weather.... right? After all, you can't become an expert on misery without first experiencing it at it's worst.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Let's Take a Trip Down the Keys
Have you ever driven the Keys? My travel buddy Jenny and I did it a few years ago. We actually flew into Key West for our vacation and then flew back out. So for a couple of days we rented a car while there and spent one whole day driving from Key West to Key Largo and back again. It's not far, only 97 miles up to Key Largo. The first thing you have to be aware of is that the speed limit on Hwy 1 never exceeds 45 MPH and on Big Pine Key it drops to 35 MPH at night to protect the endangered Key Deer which are indigenous to the area. Additionally speeds drop in areas that have populations. So, you should plan at least two and a half hours going in each direction if you plan to make no stops at all. But what would be the point in that? Right?
On the day Jenny and I made our drive to Key Largo and back we started pretty early in the morning. The first big stop we wanted to make was on Big Pine Key where we had decided we would have breakfast and then visit the National Key Deer Refuge visitor center and The Blue Hole which is an abandoned rock quarry that is now full of fresh water and is a watering hole for snakes, alligators, green iguanas and such. The National Key Deer Refuge visitor center wasn't open when we stopped. I don't remember if it was due to the time of day, the time of year or the day of the week. But we ate breakfast next door and then went on to The Blue Hole. We walked around the trails at The Blue Hole and took some pictures before getting back into the car. It was pretty and peaceful, but really only requires 20 minutes or so of your time.
Since we had only arrived in Key West around 9 PM the night before we were not really aware of exactly how humid it would be as we walked around in various stops in the Keys. But I will tell you that Houston has got nothing on the Keys when it comes to humidity. Before getting back on the road we stopped in the Big Pine Key CVS for extra sunscreen, beach towels and other amenities that we had decided not to bring with us so that we could avoid checking luggage and then we were on our way.
Our next stop was at the west end of Seven Mile Bridge just before we started to cross it. We thought this would also be a great place to get a few pictures of our mode of transportation for the first few days of our trip. Hey nobody wants to have to
drive these convertibles. But you do what you have to.... Back in the car Jenny drove across the bridge since we had agreed that we could take turns driving. At 45 MPH and very little traffic on a Saturday morning in mid September, the 7 miles across the bridge took a while to accomplish.
On the other side was our next stop and the big stop of the day, Bahia Honda State Park. We had booked a snorkel trip through the state park that we needed to arrive for around 12:30. We arrived a little early and had time to walk around before checking in. Then after checking in we had another hour to kill before we actually had to be on the boat. So, we just enjoyed the park. You can spend time on both the Gulf side and the Atlantic side with just a two minute walk between the two bodies of water. There are three beaches to choose from and since it was only the second Saturday in September we had our pick of places to enjoy. Of course you have to get pictures of the break in 7 Mile bridge from every vantage point so we got many from the water and then we walked down there on land to get more.
I'm not sure which beach is which. I think we must have spent our time on Caloosa and Loggerhead Beaches since we just walked across the road from one to the other. This was my first trip with my new Olympus underwater camera and we decided to make the most of it with picture after picture of us in water. I can't tell you how many pictures I have culled through of feet in sand standing in 3 feet of water. But below you can see one of the few that I allowed to get by. After an hour or so of playing around the beaches we went over to the boat and climbed on board.
Now keep in mind that we paid about $20 for this snorkel excursion. Once we were on board we had about a 20 minute boat ride out to Loo Key where we were supposed to do our snorkeling. The ride out was pretty. Going under the bridge had everybody's cameras clicking.
We had about an hour and a half in the water once we started snorkeling. It is one of the few times I have ever snorkeled in which I was tired enough to be ready to leave the water when we were done. None of the crew came into the water with us. They all watched from the boat. The captain gave us boundaries before we jumped in and then we were sort of on our own which I loved! I jumped in before Jenny and as soon as I jumped in I saw a huge sting ray bigger than any I have ever seen swimming away. He was probably 20 feet away and of course I didn't get a picture. :-(
I think in this shot, Jenny is waiting to get in and I'm probably telling her about the sting ray. She didn't get to see one that day. But there were plenty of other fish to see. Once we were back on the boat, the captain asked who had seen sharks and almost everybody had except me and Jenny! I was so disappointed. But now that I look back at these pictures, I wonder if I don't see a shark in one of them..... If it is a shark it is a small one. But the ones that people saw were supposedly small reef sharks. So.... maybe....
You be the judge.
I think there is a small shark in the upper right corner of the photo below. It's very hard to make out but if you squint you can see the shape of a shark I think below the brightly colored fish just above the floor of the reef. I've zeroed in on it and blown it up in the photo below this one. Take a closer look.....
On the way back the captain let this little girl drive the boat. She was thrilled and her dad tried to take a picture but his battery was dead on his camera, so I took a couple of shots and emailed them to the family after we got home. After our snorkel trip we left the state park and got back on the road headed to Key Largo. We had decided to stop in Marathon for a late lunch but couldn't decide on a place. So we ended up at a mom and pop kind of place that was okay but not great. Since it was so late in the day we decided that we would just have appetizer type food and then have a good dinner after Key Largo. I think our meals while driving the Keys is the only big mistake we made. We should have planned out where we wanted to stop for meals before leaving and really enjoyed it. Since there were so many great sounding places, we just sort of mailed that part in and I was very disappointed in our choices. Since I am the seafood eater of our travel party and I was disappointed, there can be no doubt that it was no picnic for Jenny either. I had Conch Fritters for lunch. They were good enough. But I think the grease they were fried in was a little old and I think I kind of expected better.
On the day Jenny and I made our drive to Key Largo and back we started pretty early in the morning. The first big stop we wanted to make was on Big Pine Key where we had decided we would have breakfast and then visit the National Key Deer Refuge visitor center and The Blue Hole which is an abandoned rock quarry that is now full of fresh water and is a watering hole for snakes, alligators, green iguanas and such. The National Key Deer Refuge visitor center wasn't open when we stopped. I don't remember if it was due to the time of day, the time of year or the day of the week. But we ate breakfast next door and then went on to The Blue Hole. We walked around the trails at The Blue Hole and took some pictures before getting back into the car. It was pretty and peaceful, but really only requires 20 minutes or so of your time.
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| The Blue Hole - Big Pine Key |
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| A green iguana with part of his tail missing. |
Our next stop was at the west end of Seven Mile Bridge just before we started to cross it. We thought this would also be a great place to get a few pictures of our mode of transportation for the first few days of our trip. Hey nobody wants to have to
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| Jenny driving across the bridge |
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| Entering Bahia Honda State Park |
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| The toughest decision is which beach to visit first! |
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| Here we are in the water on the Gulf side |
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| Atlantic side |
Now keep in mind that we paid about $20 for this snorkel excursion. Once we were on board we had about a 20 minute boat ride out to Loo Key where we were supposed to do our snorkeling. The ride out was pretty. Going under the bridge had everybody's cameras clicking. 
You be the judge.
In the photo below the fish that I think might be a small reef shark is in the center of the picture. If you don't think it is a shark, just don't tell me. I want to believe that it is. I mean seriously, how often do you get to swim with a shark? Whether you know it or not?
On the way back the captain let this little girl drive the boat. She was thrilled and her dad tried to take a picture but his battery was dead on his camera, so I took a couple of shots and emailed them to the family after we got home. After our snorkel trip we left the state park and got back on the road headed to Key Largo. We had decided to stop in Marathon for a late lunch but couldn't decide on a place. So we ended up at a mom and pop kind of place that was okay but not great. Since it was so late in the day we decided that we would just have appetizer type food and then have a good dinner after Key Largo. I think our meals while driving the Keys is the only big mistake we made. We should have planned out where we wanted to stop for meals before leaving and really enjoyed it. Since there were so many great sounding places, we just sort of mailed that part in and I was very disappointed in our choices. Since I am the seafood eater of our travel party and I was disappointed, there can be no doubt that it was no picnic for Jenny either. I had Conch Fritters for lunch. They were good enough. But I think the grease they were fried in was a little old and I think I kind of expected better.
Back on the road, our next stop was Key Largo. One of the major things we wanted to see in Key Largo was the African Queen boat from the Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn movie African Queen. The boat is now on display at a marina in Key Largo. Let me tell you.... When we arrived to the place where it was supposed to be, I felt like I was on Amazing Race. We new exactly where it was supposed to be and could even see a sign that told you where to turn. But we couldn't find the boat. When we asked people they were either very vague or they flat out just didn't know. So when we finally found it, we jumped out of the car and ran down the dock to where it was and this is what we saw....
Yeah, I think you would have to have a death wish to "take a cruise" on this thing as the sign suggests. We talked to some people after we found it and they said that it hadn't left the dock in years. So anyway, we got a few pictures of it and then left in a panic because it was nearing sunset already and we simply could not miss our first sunset in the Florida Keys.
Sunsets in the Keys are all you hear about. Time stands still for that few minutes each day when everyone stops what they are doing to enjoy a spectacular sunset and I'll be damned if we were going to miss the first one of our trip. So we jumped back in the Mustang and turned to head back toward Key West. We finally stopped at Islamorada for our sunset. At first we couldn't get a view over the water so we drove around a residential area until we found a private waterfront in front of some condos and sort of snuck out there. Hey you do what you have to do for a sunset! Okay, granted we were a little late and the sun was covered by clouds but I really liked this picture that Jenny took anyway. My camera battery had died back at the African Queen and Jenny's was still going strong.
Back in the car we once again started trying to decide where we should stop for dinner. We probably passed 20 great places while trying to decide and finally did a U-turn and went back to a really lame touristy place called Hog Heaven where we had mediocre food if I'm being generous. We sat outside where the water was lit and you can feed tarpons during the day. But there was nothing going on that night.
It was very close to 10 when we finally made it back to Key West that night. All in all, the drive through the Keys was terrific. I just wished we had planned a little more carefully on the meals. But you live and learn. I wouldn't trade the African Queen experience since we would have always thought we had missed something if we hadn't gone. But in hindsight, it was a waste of time and it would have been cool to have seen something else instead.
If you ever get a chance I highly recommend it. But I think to make the most of it, you probably should just go one way. A lot of people fly into Miami and then drive to the Keys in a rental car. That gives you a full day to go one way and you can make plenty of stops along the way. If you have the time, it's probably the best way to do it. But again, you do what you have to do. Have a terrific week. If you are thinking about spending some time in the Keys drop me an email. It's one of my favorite places in the U.S.
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| My turn to drive! |
Friday, May 17, 2013
Here's What's Happening in Roatan
Yesterday I told you what probably wasn't happening in Roatan. But do you know what probably IS happening in Roatan? Well let me tell you..... First of all, the current weather there is mostly sunny with a 30% chance of rain today. The current temperature is 86 degrees and it is supposed to get up to 90 this afternoon. For the next 7 days, the highs will be 90 every single day with overnight lows anywhere from 77 to 81 degrees. Sunny to partly cloudy all week.
So we know what sort of weather we would be facing if in Roatan for the next 7 days..... Ummmmm.... that would be perfect. Now, what kind of life would we be facing? That's the real question. Let's have a little look, shall we?
First of all, there isn't really a list of all inclusive resorts to choose from in Roatan. It's a much more laid back kind of place for those of us who like being in control of our own paradise and not having our paradise control us. There are basically four big resorts to choose from. They are:
Infinity Bay Spa and Beach Resort - 4.5 Stars
Mayan Princess Beach Resort - 3.5 Stars
Palmetto Bay Plantation - 4 Stars
Anthony's Key Resort - 3 Stars
Infinity Bay is located on West Bay and is the least expensive option. All rooms have a fridge and microwave, but a one bedroom or bigger has a full kitchen. So if you like the idea of being able to buy some local fish and fix it yourself, this is the place for you. The resort provides transportation to and from the airport and a daily breakfast buffet for all guests. Be aware that the spa has not been built yet so Infinity Bay "Spa" and Beach Resort is a bit of a stretch. Also, it is 150 individual condos, so although you get the daily maid service that you would expect at a hotel. Beyond that, it is more of a condominium complex and not so much a hotel.
Infinity Divers is located on site and has a variety of diving options to suit any divers needs whether you are just learning or have been diving for years.
Mayan Princess is located on West Bay Beach and is moderately priced. All villas have separate bedrooms and fully equipped kitchens. The property only contains 60 villas. So, if you are looking for a quieter get away this might be for you. The resort provides roundtrip airport transportation and a daily breakfast.
Mayan Divers offers a great variety of dive options again for divers of all levels. Want to learn to dive? This is the place for you.
Palmetto Bay is as you might expect located on Palmetto Bay. All villas are two bedrooms or larger. It only has 29 villas. So as you might expect it is very quiet and relaxed. If you truly want to get away Palmetto Bay is for you. It is about 45 minutes from the West End area.
Barefoot Divers has a shop at Palmetto Bay. If you follow Places You'll Go on Facebook, you have probably seen multiple postings by or about Barefoot Divers. I follow them closely. They seem to be an excellent dive shop and offer anything a diver might need to make the week perfect.
If you are looking for the ultimate scuba diving vacation, then you want Anthony's Key. It encompasses two keys - Anthony's Key and Bailey's Key. I can't give you an exact quote today on pricing because you have to call for prices. But let's just say that price for air and your week long stay will start at about $5k for a couple. But don't turn away yet. With that, here's what you get....
It is ranked one of the top dive resorts in the world. It is a PADI Gold Palm 5-Star Instructor Development Center and has been a pioneer in the diving industry for more than 30 years. Wooden cabanas ring the shoreline of Anthony's Key or hug the hillside overlooking the Caribbean. Here's the great part.... Upon arrival, guests are assigned a boat for the length of their stay staffed with a dive master and captain. Folks, if you are a serious diver, you NEED this. On top of all that, it is an all inclusive resort.
I actually have a few pictures of Anthony's Key that were taken from the top of a horrible hike my travel buddy Jenny and I once took when we were in Roatan for a day while on a cruise. It wasn't actually that horrible but it was a more strenuous hike than we anticipated based on the description.
So, if you are interested in a diving vacation to a divers paradise, Roatan is probably as good as you will ever find. So if you went to Roatan, you might be asking yourself, if I want to take a break from diving what other things can I do while there? Little French Key is a great place to spend a day with a small zoo and swim up cabanas in the water. You can spend the entire day on the beach or under a cabana. There is a tropical arboretum to visit called Blue Harbor that is supposed to be fantastic. You can play golf at the Black Pearl Golf Course which is a Pete Dye designed course. Do you want to have monkeys jump on you and zip-line all in the same day? Go to Gumbalimba Park. Once you pay to get into the pristine park, all activities are included in your day. Would you prefer to hike the trail that I mentioned earlier where the photo above was taken from? Then you want to visit Carambola Botanical Gardens. But beware, the trail is not as easy as people make it out to be.
If you are looking for a 5th Avenue shopping experience, night clubs and 5 star restaurants Roatan is not going to be for you. But if you want to get away, forget about work and responsibilities and relax in the Caribbean give Roatan, Honduras a chance. You might be amazed.
So we know what sort of weather we would be facing if in Roatan for the next 7 days..... Ummmmm.... that would be perfect. Now, what kind of life would we be facing? That's the real question. Let's have a little look, shall we?
First of all, there isn't really a list of all inclusive resorts to choose from in Roatan. It's a much more laid back kind of place for those of us who like being in control of our own paradise and not having our paradise control us. There are basically four big resorts to choose from. They are:
Infinity Bay Spa and Beach Resort - 4.5 Stars
Mayan Princess Beach Resort - 3.5 Stars
Palmetto Bay Plantation - 4 Stars
Anthony's Key Resort - 3 Stars
Infinity Bay is located on West Bay and is the least expensive option. All rooms have a fridge and microwave, but a one bedroom or bigger has a full kitchen. So if you like the idea of being able to buy some local fish and fix it yourself, this is the place for you. The resort provides transportation to and from the airport and a daily breakfast buffet for all guests. Be aware that the spa has not been built yet so Infinity Bay "Spa" and Beach Resort is a bit of a stretch. Also, it is 150 individual condos, so although you get the daily maid service that you would expect at a hotel. Beyond that, it is more of a condominium complex and not so much a hotel.
Infinity Divers is located on site and has a variety of diving options to suit any divers needs whether you are just learning or have been diving for years.
Mayan Princess is located on West Bay Beach and is moderately priced. All villas have separate bedrooms and fully equipped kitchens. The property only contains 60 villas. So, if you are looking for a quieter get away this might be for you. The resort provides roundtrip airport transportation and a daily breakfast.
Mayan Divers offers a great variety of dive options again for divers of all levels. Want to learn to dive? This is the place for you.
Palmetto Bay is as you might expect located on Palmetto Bay. All villas are two bedrooms or larger. It only has 29 villas. So as you might expect it is very quiet and relaxed. If you truly want to get away Palmetto Bay is for you. It is about 45 minutes from the West End area.
Barefoot Divers has a shop at Palmetto Bay. If you follow Places You'll Go on Facebook, you have probably seen multiple postings by or about Barefoot Divers. I follow them closely. They seem to be an excellent dive shop and offer anything a diver might need to make the week perfect.
If you are looking for the ultimate scuba diving vacation, then you want Anthony's Key. It encompasses two keys - Anthony's Key and Bailey's Key. I can't give you an exact quote today on pricing because you have to call for prices. But let's just say that price for air and your week long stay will start at about $5k for a couple. But don't turn away yet. With that, here's what you get....
It is ranked one of the top dive resorts in the world. It is a PADI Gold Palm 5-Star Instructor Development Center and has been a pioneer in the diving industry for more than 30 years. Wooden cabanas ring the shoreline of Anthony's Key or hug the hillside overlooking the Caribbean. Here's the great part.... Upon arrival, guests are assigned a boat for the length of their stay staffed with a dive master and captain. Folks, if you are a serious diver, you NEED this. On top of all that, it is an all inclusive resort.
I actually have a few pictures of Anthony's Key that were taken from the top of a horrible hike my travel buddy Jenny and I once took when we were in Roatan for a day while on a cruise. It wasn't actually that horrible but it was a more strenuous hike than we anticipated based on the description.
So, if you are interested in a diving vacation to a divers paradise, Roatan is probably as good as you will ever find. So if you went to Roatan, you might be asking yourself, if I want to take a break from diving what other things can I do while there? Little French Key is a great place to spend a day with a small zoo and swim up cabanas in the water. You can spend the entire day on the beach or under a cabana. There is a tropical arboretum to visit called Blue Harbor that is supposed to be fantastic. You can play golf at the Black Pearl Golf Course which is a Pete Dye designed course. Do you want to have monkeys jump on you and zip-line all in the same day? Go to Gumbalimba Park. Once you pay to get into the pristine park, all activities are included in your day. Would you prefer to hike the trail that I mentioned earlier where the photo above was taken from? Then you want to visit Carambola Botanical Gardens. But beware, the trail is not as easy as people make it out to be.
If you are looking for a 5th Avenue shopping experience, night clubs and 5 star restaurants Roatan is not going to be for you. But if you want to get away, forget about work and responsibilities and relax in the Caribbean give Roatan, Honduras a chance. You might be amazed.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
I Bet This Isn't Happening in Roatan....
Okay, I have to admit. At about 11 last night I wasn't enjoying north Texas weather at all. This time of year in north Texas is always a little iffy. Last night it was downright ugly. It all started out just fine.
Around 9 PM, I was waiting for an email response from a client so we could get her trip booked and watching TV while I waited and got on Facebook to see what was going on since the show I was watching on the Food Network wasn't keeping my attention too well. I had noticed that it was thundering a little outside. But it didn't seem too extreme. Then when I got on FB, I was informed by people in other parts of the country that they were praying for me. I thought it was nice, but I had no idea why. Finally, one person mentioned weather so I turned my TV to a local station, Fox 4 to be exact, and they were in full severe weather mode. Almost immediately, the anchor turned it over to someone who was standing outside and reporting and that's when I started hearing tornado sirens, louder and more insistent than I have ever heard! I herded my two cats into the downstairs bathroom, grabbed my cell phone and went in, leaving the TV on in the living room.
As the cats and I sat in the bathroom waiting for the bad weather to pass over, the TV continued to blare in the living room and the sirens continued to sound. I opened up the weather app on my phone and it didn't look like any of the bad weather was in my immediate area based on that radar. Then suddenly, I noticed that the TV report had gone back to the anchor and miraculously, the sirens had stopped. That's when it dawned on me that the sirens were probably coming through the TV. So, I opened the bathroom door, the cats and I went into the living room and sure enough everything was just fine at my house.
Around 10:30 we did get one severe thunderstorm but it just rained. Around my house, everything seemed to have gone just fine. So I was fortunate and I appreciate any prayers that were sent my way. With all that said, as I sat in that bathroom last night waiting for the weather app to open and posting on FB the prevalent thought going through my mind was, I bet this isn't happening in Roatan..... Anytime anything bad happens here, that is usually what goes through my head.
Around 9 PM, I was waiting for an email response from a client so we could get her trip booked and watching TV while I waited and got on Facebook to see what was going on since the show I was watching on the Food Network wasn't keeping my attention too well. I had noticed that it was thundering a little outside. But it didn't seem too extreme. Then when I got on FB, I was informed by people in other parts of the country that they were praying for me. I thought it was nice, but I had no idea why. Finally, one person mentioned weather so I turned my TV to a local station, Fox 4 to be exact, and they were in full severe weather mode. Almost immediately, the anchor turned it over to someone who was standing outside and reporting and that's when I started hearing tornado sirens, louder and more insistent than I have ever heard! I herded my two cats into the downstairs bathroom, grabbed my cell phone and went in, leaving the TV on in the living room.
As the cats and I sat in the bathroom waiting for the bad weather to pass over, the TV continued to blare in the living room and the sirens continued to sound. I opened up the weather app on my phone and it didn't look like any of the bad weather was in my immediate area based on that radar. Then suddenly, I noticed that the TV report had gone back to the anchor and miraculously, the sirens had stopped. That's when it dawned on me that the sirens were probably coming through the TV. So, I opened the bathroom door, the cats and I went into the living room and sure enough everything was just fine at my house.
Around 10:30 we did get one severe thunderstorm but it just rained. Around my house, everything seemed to have gone just fine. So I was fortunate and I appreciate any prayers that were sent my way. With all that said, as I sat in that bathroom last night waiting for the weather app to open and posting on FB the prevalent thought going through my mind was, I bet this isn't happening in Roatan..... Anytime anything bad happens here, that is usually what goes through my head.
- Cold weather? - I bet this isn't happening in Roatan....
- Tornados? - I bet this isn't happening in Roatan....
- Freakish Texas Earthquakes? - I bet this isn't happening in Roatan....
- 105 degree weather and serious drought conditions? - I bet this isn't happening in Roatan....
- A swarm of locusts? - I bet this isn't happening in Roatan....
Okay, that last one is a little far fetched.... we haven't had a swarm of locusts in years.... right? But still, if it happened here, I would be able to have the I bet this isn't happening in Roatan.... thought with no fear that I could be proven wrong. My point is, as much as I love Texas and being a Texan, at times there are better places to be and Roatan might be at the top of my list. So, if you are wishing today that you were in Roatan, give me a call. I can make that happen for you.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Looking for Free Stuff To Do On Vacation
If you work at it, you can reduce the amount of money that you spend on vacation. Not on your hotel or flight. Those things are pretty much dictated by big CEO's who are going to find a way to get your money. But there are other ways to come out ahead, or at least a little less behind, on your vacation.
For instance, you'd be amazed at how many freebies you can find in a location. Some locations that we consider to be astonishingly expensive will have free stuff all over the place if you just ask a local. For instance, look at this list from one person who lives in Paris...
- Visit the beautiful churches and spend some time looking closely at the stained glass windows.
- The City of Paris museums are free:
. Zadkine
. Deportation Memorial (behind Notre Dame)
. Balzac's House
. Cognacq-Jay
. Romantic Life
. Carnavalet (except for special exhibits)
. Victor Hugo's House
. Palace of Justice
. Modern Art
. Petit Palais
- The Louvre is free to under 26 YO on Friday evening
- Notre Dame gives a wonderful free tour 3 times per week. Half the tour is outside the cathedral exploring the facade; the remainder is inside looking at the choir, Gothic vaulting, and windows.
- Check Pariscope magazine (only 40cents) every Wednesday or look at the church notice boards for free church concerts/vespers
- Paris is full of lovely fountains. Spend a day wandering the arrondisements looking for these gems and simultaneously experience this beautiful city
- The Luxembourg Gardens offers foot paths, flowers, fountains, statues, men playing boules, a children's playground, and a memorial to 9-11
- Connect with the Paris Greeter service; volunteers who guide visitors for 2-3 hours.
- There are free walking tours (an overview of Paris and Montmartre)
- Street markets offer hours of delight, looking at (and sampling) the wonderful foods combined with fabulous people watching
- Three major cemetaries are free - Pere Lachaise, Montparnasse, and Montmartre. The tombstones are works of art.
Here are some tips from a New Yorker....
The Staten Island ferry - free boat ride with great views of lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. Then hike up Broadway, detour over to the WTC site, then hike through the Wall street area to South Street Seaport, then back track to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and down the Fulton Mall to Juniors for lunch (OK this last part is not free, but THE CHEESECAKE!). Best done on a weekend morning when the area is quiet and you can stop and gawk at the buildings.
Just about anywhere in Central Park. If you have kids, let them climb on all the rocks. Union Square for people watching and the Union Square market. Browse ABC carpet and home on Broadway nearby.
The Brooklyn Botanical garden (free on Thursdays). Hike through Prospect park and observe all my fellow Brooklynites living in our big communal back yard.
Don't even get me started on Oahu. I'm not from there. I've only been once, but I can give you 10 off the top of my head....
-Hike to the top of Diamondhead
-Hike up Makapu'u Point
-Go to the North Shore, set a blanket out on the beach and watch the surfers until your sunscreen wears off.
-Nu'uanu Pali Lookout
-Stroll through the International Market Place
-Go to Pearl Harbor late in the day. You can take all the pictures you want, most of the tourists are gone and it's free unless you want to take the boat over the Arizona Memorial. But you can see it from the park.
-On the North Shore, sit and watch the turtles at Laniakea Beach along with the surfers and beautiful views.
-Visit the Holana Blow Hole
-Just enjoy the spectacle that is Waikiki Beach.
-Watch a sunset from practically anywhere!
The thing is no matter where you go there are free things to do.... Okay, well maybe not if you are staying on a Disney property. But even if you are staying on a Disney property, there are probably things that you can take advantage of that is included in the price of your trip that you fail to exploit. As a savvy traveler, it is your responsibility to seek out these opportunities and get all that you can from them. You might find that you will get even more than you bargained for.
For instance, you'd be amazed at how many freebies you can find in a location. Some locations that we consider to be astonishingly expensive will have free stuff all over the place if you just ask a local. For instance, look at this list from one person who lives in Paris...
- Visit the beautiful churches and spend some time looking closely at the stained glass windows.
- The City of Paris museums are free:
. Zadkine
. Deportation Memorial (behind Notre Dame)
. Balzac's House
. Cognacq-Jay
. Romantic Life
. Carnavalet (except for special exhibits)
. Victor Hugo's House
. Palace of Justice
. Modern Art
. Petit Palais
- The Louvre is free to under 26 YO on Friday evening
- Notre Dame gives a wonderful free tour 3 times per week. Half the tour is outside the cathedral exploring the facade; the remainder is inside looking at the choir, Gothic vaulting, and windows.
- Check Pariscope magazine (only 40cents) every Wednesday or look at the church notice boards for free church concerts/vespers
- Paris is full of lovely fountains. Spend a day wandering the arrondisements looking for these gems and simultaneously experience this beautiful city
- The Luxembourg Gardens offers foot paths, flowers, fountains, statues, men playing boules, a children's playground, and a memorial to 9-11
- Connect with the Paris Greeter service; volunteers who guide visitors for 2-3 hours.
- There are free walking tours (an overview of Paris and Montmartre)
- Street markets offer hours of delight, looking at (and sampling) the wonderful foods combined with fabulous people watching
- Three major cemetaries are free - Pere Lachaise, Montparnasse, and Montmartre. The tombstones are works of art.
Here are some tips from a New Yorker....
The Staten Island ferry - free boat ride with great views of lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. Then hike up Broadway, detour over to the WTC site, then hike through the Wall street area to South Street Seaport, then back track to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and down the Fulton Mall to Juniors for lunch (OK this last part is not free, but THE CHEESECAKE!). Best done on a weekend morning when the area is quiet and you can stop and gawk at the buildings.
Just about anywhere in Central Park. If you have kids, let them climb on all the rocks. Union Square for people watching and the Union Square market. Browse ABC carpet and home on Broadway nearby.
The Brooklyn Botanical garden (free on Thursdays). Hike through Prospect park and observe all my fellow Brooklynites living in our big communal back yard.
Don't even get me started on Oahu. I'm not from there. I've only been once, but I can give you 10 off the top of my head....
 |
| Laniakea Beach |
-Hike up Makapu'u Point
-Go to the North Shore, set a blanket out on the beach and watch the surfers until your sunscreen wears off.
-Nu'uanu Pali Lookout
-Stroll through the International Market Place
-Go to Pearl Harbor late in the day. You can take all the pictures you want, most of the tourists are gone and it's free unless you want to take the boat over the Arizona Memorial. But you can see it from the park.
-On the North Shore, sit and watch the turtles at Laniakea Beach along with the surfers and beautiful views.
-Visit the Holana Blow Hole
-Just enjoy the spectacle that is Waikiki Beach.
-Watch a sunset from practically anywhere!
 |
| Turtles Swimming into Laniakea Beach |
 |
| Sunset Beach |
 |
| Nu'uanu Pali Lookout |
 |
| Pearl Harbor just before the park closed for the day. There was only one other family there! |
The thing is no matter where you go there are free things to do.... Okay, well maybe not if you are staying on a Disney property. But even if you are staying on a Disney property, there are probably things that you can take advantage of that is included in the price of your trip that you fail to exploit. As a savvy traveler, it is your responsibility to seek out these opportunities and get all that you can from them. You might find that you will get even more than you bargained for.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Sailing from Texas or Florida..... What To Do?
I've been having a little trouble lately coming up with topics for the blog. Therefore you may have noticed that you are not seeing as many blogs from me. If you are interested in learning about a destination, adventure or anything involving travel, let me know. Maybe it will trigger a post or even a series of posts. In the meantime, I am currently shopping for my niece's graduation trip. I think we have it narrowed down to a cruise. But the cruise itself may have changed this morning. She is probably going to be available for travel in the fall which opens up the possibilities pretty dramatically.
Cruise prices drop significantly when school starts in September. Fall is also when a lot of ships that summer away from the Caribbean to avoid hurricane season return. So, the number of cruises available goes up significantly. November and February have always been my favorite months for cruising because the weather is perfect in the Caribbean then, and prices are down. Originally, I was planning on sailing Freedom of the Seas out of Port Canaveral in September or October. It gets a little tricky because Rebecca's first nephew will be due the second week of September. He will be my first great nephew. I don't want to miss his birth and I'm pretty sure that Rebecca feels the same way. With that in mind, I'm sort of taking September out of the mix just to be safe.
So then I started looking at October options. Freedom does two Eastern Caribbean sailings out of Port Canaveral in October which is what I was looking at. I have only gone to the Eastern Caribbean once. Rebecca has never been. But there are drawbacks to this cruise. The biggest is that Royal Caribbean is trying to drive me away. They probably aren't doing it intentionally. I doubt that they are targeting me individually. But that doesn't change the effect. You see, they are offering fewer and fewer early and late dining seatings. When on a cruise, I am a late diner. One of my favorite parts of the day is sitting at dinner with a large group of new friends that I met on the first night of the cruise at our dinner table. I enjoy the conversation and getting to know them.
I know I've written about it before, but I have met some really neat people at dinner on a cruise ship. Regardless of which ship we go on and where we sail out of, my niece and I will be traveling together. We will drive to the port together probably talking all the way, we will stay in the same cabin together, probably talking quite a bit in the cabin and we will spend most of our time outside of the cabin in one another's company as well, either walking around the ship, laying around the pool, or on an excursion in a port of call. In any of those scenarios there is a pretty good chance we will talk to one another. We will have plenty of time to talk to each other during this trip. So, I don't see the point in doing "My Time Dining" where you walk into a dining room, they seat you at a table for two with a waiter or waitress you have never seen before (and won't see again) and you and your traveling companion have yet another opportunity to talk to one another.
I like having a group to talk to that one time a day. I also like having the same waiter and assistant waiter each night so that they get to know you and you get to know them. I like it when a waiter knows what I want to drink and brings it to me without a lot of fanfare. That doesn't happen with "My Time Dining". With "My Time Dining" you are just another person who was seated at one of their tables on a particular night. This is one of the reasons I will never sail on NCL again. (There are other reasons, but "My Time Dining" is a big one.) I was on NCL once, we were forced to do "My Time Dining" and I hated it. On that occasion I was with my nephew Chris, who is a great conversationalist and very entertaining to be around. But still, it would have been nice to talk to others too.
So sailing in October on Freedom of the Seas, both 5:30 and 8:00 dining options are booked. Nothing available.... So we would be stuck with "My Time Dining" which is a huge drawback in my opinion. Another drawback is that the cruise leaves from Port Canaveral which means we would either need to drive to the Florida or fly. For me flying and cruising isn't a deal breaker like it is for my Dad. If he has to fly he just about won't take the cruise because he worries about lost luggage, late flights and so on. I suppose he figures that a vacation is supposed to be relaxing and he won't be relaxed if he is worrying about those things.
While flying isn't a deal breaker for me, it does run the price up considerably. I looked at Southwest so that we could check luggage without paying extra, but those flights were too expensive. American has the least expensive flights into Orlando which is the airport that services Port Canaveral. The flights are direct which is nice. But it's $289 per person and then you each have to pay to check luggage. Then you have to get ground transportation to Port Canaveral which is a 45 minute drive from the airport. Apparently, renting a car at MCO and driving to Port Canaveral is the cheapest. Then the car rental agency shuttles you over to the ship terminal. Then coming back you shuttle to the car rental agency, get a car, then drive back to MCO. Sounds like a hassle and it costs $40 to $50. Additionally, I'm a scaredy cat about flying in on the same day you are supposed to leave for a cruse. So, if I fly, I'm going to have to get there the day before and then there is a hotel to pay for too. So, you pay $600 for two people to fly, $50 or so for luggage, $100 for that car rental going both ways, $125 for a hotel and $100 or so for several meals on the travel days. Offsite parking at DFW will be around $10 a day for 9 days. With all of that, you are paying a little over $1000 to fly.
So I had decided that if we sailed on Freedom out of Port Canaveral, we would drive. The ship leaves on Sunday. I decided driving we would need to leave on Friday in order to not make it miserable. When I drive long distances, I like to stop and enjoy myself along the way. So, I thought we would stay on the the road one night somewhere around Alabama. We could probably get by with an $80 room on that one. We would eat both lunch and dinner out. If we agreed to eat cheaply we could probably get by on $50 or so for both of us. Hopefully that hotel would have a free breakfast, so on Saturday we would again only eat two meals out. But arriving in Port Canaveral, we would want to go to a touristy seafood place (I know us, we're Meyers women). So meals on Saturday would be closer to $80. I'm thinking $125 for a hotel room. Cruise terminal parking is $120 for the week. Then when we get back the following Sunday, we would load up and drive home only spending one night on the road. So another $80 for a hotel and another $80 or so for meals for a couple of days. At current gas prices, we would spend about $300 on gas roundtrip. So, driving would cost about $915 saving us a whopping $100 give or take a little. So either way we go, we'll spend a lot of money getting there and back.
To help reduce the total price of the trip, I had decided that we would get an inside cabin on the ship which is something I have NEVER done before and it does not appeal to me. But honestly, we'd be on Freedom which is a great ship and has a lot to do on deck with great pools, so how much time would we need to spend in the room anyway. An inside Promenade cabin only runs $50 more than a regular inside cabin, so I decided we would go with that just so that we could have a window even if it is only looking down at all the other people strolling through the Promenade. So anyway, with the cost of getting to Florida, the price of the cruise itself along with travel insurance, we would be spending very close to $3000 for the two of us.
So then this morning I got an email from Princess and I remembered that Princess is bringing a ship into Houston this fall. Yes, you read that right, Houston. They will sail Caribbean Princess from the Bayport Terminal. So I started looking at options on a November cruise out of Houston on Princess. People..... I can get an aft facing balcony, pay for parking, gas and lunch at Buck-ees going each way for less than $2500. Plus, are you ready for this? 8:15 dining at a table for 8 people. Guess which way I'm leaning. Now, it's not an Eastern Caribbean cruise but it goes to my favorite place of all, Roatan. The other stops are Belize and Cozumel. Of those stops, Rebecca has only been to Cozumel. So, I fired off an email to her Mom this morning to check on November. We'll see what happens. But it has gotten me really excited! Maybe I'll have a new favorite cruise line.
Cruise prices drop significantly when school starts in September. Fall is also when a lot of ships that summer away from the Caribbean to avoid hurricane season return. So, the number of cruises available goes up significantly. November and February have always been my favorite months for cruising because the weather is perfect in the Caribbean then, and prices are down. Originally, I was planning on sailing Freedom of the Seas out of Port Canaveral in September or October. It gets a little tricky because Rebecca's first nephew will be due the second week of September. He will be my first great nephew. I don't want to miss his birth and I'm pretty sure that Rebecca feels the same way. With that in mind, I'm sort of taking September out of the mix just to be safe.
So then I started looking at October options. Freedom does two Eastern Caribbean sailings out of Port Canaveral in October which is what I was looking at. I have only gone to the Eastern Caribbean once. Rebecca has never been. But there are drawbacks to this cruise. The biggest is that Royal Caribbean is trying to drive me away. They probably aren't doing it intentionally. I doubt that they are targeting me individually. But that doesn't change the effect. You see, they are offering fewer and fewer early and late dining seatings. When on a cruise, I am a late diner. One of my favorite parts of the day is sitting at dinner with a large group of new friends that I met on the first night of the cruise at our dinner table. I enjoy the conversation and getting to know them.
I know I've written about it before, but I have met some really neat people at dinner on a cruise ship. Regardless of which ship we go on and where we sail out of, my niece and I will be traveling together. We will drive to the port together probably talking all the way, we will stay in the same cabin together, probably talking quite a bit in the cabin and we will spend most of our time outside of the cabin in one another's company as well, either walking around the ship, laying around the pool, or on an excursion in a port of call. In any of those scenarios there is a pretty good chance we will talk to one another. We will have plenty of time to talk to each other during this trip. So, I don't see the point in doing "My Time Dining" where you walk into a dining room, they seat you at a table for two with a waiter or waitress you have never seen before (and won't see again) and you and your traveling companion have yet another opportunity to talk to one another.
I like having a group to talk to that one time a day. I also like having the same waiter and assistant waiter each night so that they get to know you and you get to know them. I like it when a waiter knows what I want to drink and brings it to me without a lot of fanfare. That doesn't happen with "My Time Dining". With "My Time Dining" you are just another person who was seated at one of their tables on a particular night. This is one of the reasons I will never sail on NCL again. (There are other reasons, but "My Time Dining" is a big one.) I was on NCL once, we were forced to do "My Time Dining" and I hated it. On that occasion I was with my nephew Chris, who is a great conversationalist and very entertaining to be around. But still, it would have been nice to talk to others too.
So sailing in October on Freedom of the Seas, both 5:30 and 8:00 dining options are booked. Nothing available.... So we would be stuck with "My Time Dining" which is a huge drawback in my opinion. Another drawback is that the cruise leaves from Port Canaveral which means we would either need to drive to the Florida or fly. For me flying and cruising isn't a deal breaker like it is for my Dad. If he has to fly he just about won't take the cruise because he worries about lost luggage, late flights and so on. I suppose he figures that a vacation is supposed to be relaxing and he won't be relaxed if he is worrying about those things.
While flying isn't a deal breaker for me, it does run the price up considerably. I looked at Southwest so that we could check luggage without paying extra, but those flights were too expensive. American has the least expensive flights into Orlando which is the airport that services Port Canaveral. The flights are direct which is nice. But it's $289 per person and then you each have to pay to check luggage. Then you have to get ground transportation to Port Canaveral which is a 45 minute drive from the airport. Apparently, renting a car at MCO and driving to Port Canaveral is the cheapest. Then the car rental agency shuttles you over to the ship terminal. Then coming back you shuttle to the car rental agency, get a car, then drive back to MCO. Sounds like a hassle and it costs $40 to $50. Additionally, I'm a scaredy cat about flying in on the same day you are supposed to leave for a cruse. So, if I fly, I'm going to have to get there the day before and then there is a hotel to pay for too. So, you pay $600 for two people to fly, $50 or so for luggage, $100 for that car rental going both ways, $125 for a hotel and $100 or so for several meals on the travel days. Offsite parking at DFW will be around $10 a day for 9 days. With all of that, you are paying a little over $1000 to fly.
So I had decided that if we sailed on Freedom out of Port Canaveral, we would drive. The ship leaves on Sunday. I decided driving we would need to leave on Friday in order to not make it miserable. When I drive long distances, I like to stop and enjoy myself along the way. So, I thought we would stay on the the road one night somewhere around Alabama. We could probably get by with an $80 room on that one. We would eat both lunch and dinner out. If we agreed to eat cheaply we could probably get by on $50 or so for both of us. Hopefully that hotel would have a free breakfast, so on Saturday we would again only eat two meals out. But arriving in Port Canaveral, we would want to go to a touristy seafood place (I know us, we're Meyers women). So meals on Saturday would be closer to $80. I'm thinking $125 for a hotel room. Cruise terminal parking is $120 for the week. Then when we get back the following Sunday, we would load up and drive home only spending one night on the road. So another $80 for a hotel and another $80 or so for meals for a couple of days. At current gas prices, we would spend about $300 on gas roundtrip. So, driving would cost about $915 saving us a whopping $100 give or take a little. So either way we go, we'll spend a lot of money getting there and back.
To help reduce the total price of the trip, I had decided that we would get an inside cabin on the ship which is something I have NEVER done before and it does not appeal to me. But honestly, we'd be on Freedom which is a great ship and has a lot to do on deck with great pools, so how much time would we need to spend in the room anyway. An inside Promenade cabin only runs $50 more than a regular inside cabin, so I decided we would go with that just so that we could have a window even if it is only looking down at all the other people strolling through the Promenade. So anyway, with the cost of getting to Florida, the price of the cruise itself along with travel insurance, we would be spending very close to $3000 for the two of us.
So then this morning I got an email from Princess and I remembered that Princess is bringing a ship into Houston this fall. Yes, you read that right, Houston. They will sail Caribbean Princess from the Bayport Terminal. So I started looking at options on a November cruise out of Houston on Princess. People..... I can get an aft facing balcony, pay for parking, gas and lunch at Buck-ees going each way for less than $2500. Plus, are you ready for this? 8:15 dining at a table for 8 people. Guess which way I'm leaning. Now, it's not an Eastern Caribbean cruise but it goes to my favorite place of all, Roatan. The other stops are Belize and Cozumel. Of those stops, Rebecca has only been to Cozumel. So, I fired off an email to her Mom this morning to check on November. We'll see what happens. But it has gotten me really excited! Maybe I'll have a new favorite cruise line.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Who MAKES These Lists??!?!??!
I just read an article on Yahoo about the 10 worst states to retire to. See 10 Worst States for Retirement. I guess my big question after reading it is.... Was someone actually thinking of packing everything up after working themselves silly for 40 or so years and moving up to Wisconsin anyway???!?!?!?! All of the states listed with the exception of California were cold weather states. Who plans to retire in Minnesota anyway? Perhaps one Minnesotan in history thought to his or herself at one point Whooooo!!!! This snow shoveling is so great!!!!! I can't wait until I'm retired so that I can do this ALL DAY LONG for 6 months out of the year. Then his wife had him committed and she moved to south Florida because even the Florida panhandle seemed just a little too chilly.
Don't worry Yahoo, none of us will make the fatal mistake of retiring to Alaska either! I suppose there are people in the world for whom cold weather isn't as big of a problem as it is for me. But still when they think of being 85 years old and looking back on their lives, do they picture doing it surround by so much snow they can't find their car?
Apparently, I am the exact opposite of the people for whom this article was written. For years I have been saying that if I ever won the lottery, I'd sell everything, load up my two cats, gather up all my flip flops and head off to Grand Cayman. I currently live in Texas, so in a month or so, the temps will get up to about 150 degrees and stay that way most of the summer and still I'd rather live here than in Vermont where apparently according to the article the average temperature is 43.1 degrees. Think about that. That's not their average winter temperature. It's their average temperature. Do you have any idea how freaking cold it has to be most of the time to get your average in the low 40's? It's not the coldest state. In this list alone, both Maine and Alaska beat it. But here's the deal. You expect cold temperatures in Alaska. No one goes to Alaska thinking; I'm gonna retire... maybe I'll do a little surfing and catch some sun before I get too old to enjoy it all.... No, when you make the decision to retire in a place like Alaska you know exactly what you are in for.... tons of snow, probably no indoor plumbing, you may have to fight bears for your food, and if the winter goes too long, you may have to kill one of your pets and eat it. If that's how you roll then Alaska is probably for you.
The problem I have with Vermont and it's 43.1 degree average temperature is that to me it was kind of unsuspected. I mean, I knew that it was in the northeast and there were mountains with ski resorts there so it is bound to be cold. But the name of the state is so nice and smooth... it sort of rolls right off your tongue and lulls you into a false sense of calm and relaxation. I bet that if someone were to have you lie in a dark room and they said the word Vermont to you 10 times quietly, you would go into a semi-hypnotic state just thinking of the green forests and waterfalls. Chances are you wouldn't jump up and run off screaming after picturing yourself behind the wheel of a car that spins off the road in a driving snow storm and winds up in a snow bank never to be seen again until the snow melts 5 months later. There should be warning signs on Vermont. Seriously, as you drive into the state they should be required to tell you that it is damn cold and you could die! But instead their Welcome to Vermont sign is actually GREEN! It gives you no hint that you could freeze to death in just a few minutes if you happen to wonder outside alone for too long during the 7 month long winter.
Welcome Center 2 Miles Ahead.... Pah-leeze! Welcome to HELL! Now I realize that some of you may be from Vermont and I don't mean to offend you if you love your state. I'm sure that in your narrow little mind it is the greatest state in the world and you are proud to be from there ( I know I feel that way about Texas and you all think that I am insane). I congratulate you on your loyalty to your home state. I'm not picking on Vermont because I dislike it or have anything against it. In fact, I've never been there. I'm sure that it is perfectly wonderful. I was just shocked at how cold it is there and then I began to wonder how these cold states could even have made this list. In fact, I wonder how most of the states listed made the list.
Are there people nearing retirement age who sit around in the evening talking to their spouse and discussing the best places to move so that they can shovel snow for the rest of their lives? Did Yahoo feel that it was necessary to talk these people down if so? If people are thinking that they should retire to one of these miserable cold weather states which apparently have high costs of living, high taxes and limited access to medical care, I say, let them go! It's called Survival of the Fittest man! If you want to retire in Minnesota, I say gook luck to you! We should not try to talk these people into warm weather beach lined states. The beaches don't need anymore people on them. In fact, maybe we should start encouraging some of the crazies who already live up there to stay where they are. In their cabin fever induced insanity, it probably won't be a tough sell anyway! Maybe the fewer articles about how cold and expensive their state is, the better. I'm just sayin'.
So, I'm thinking of submitting an article to Yahoo that I will entitle The 10 BEST States for Retirement and I think I will list each of the 10 that the previous article stated as the Worst and see if I can talk a few northerners into staying where they belong. After all, they've never experienced a balmy 64.8 degree average annual temperature like we have here in Texas. They'd probably whine about the heat all the time anyway. And who wants to listen to it? Maybe I'll throw North Dakota into my list and make it The 11 BEST States for Retirement. After all, with it's average temperature of 40.4 degrees it'll fit right in with the rest.
Don't worry Yahoo, none of us will make the fatal mistake of retiring to Alaska either! I suppose there are people in the world for whom cold weather isn't as big of a problem as it is for me. But still when they think of being 85 years old and looking back on their lives, do they picture doing it surround by so much snow they can't find their car?
Apparently, I am the exact opposite of the people for whom this article was written. For years I have been saying that if I ever won the lottery, I'd sell everything, load up my two cats, gather up all my flip flops and head off to Grand Cayman. I currently live in Texas, so in a month or so, the temps will get up to about 150 degrees and stay that way most of the summer and still I'd rather live here than in Vermont where apparently according to the article the average temperature is 43.1 degrees. Think about that. That's not their average winter temperature. It's their average temperature. Do you have any idea how freaking cold it has to be most of the time to get your average in the low 40's? It's not the coldest state. In this list alone, both Maine and Alaska beat it. But here's the deal. You expect cold temperatures in Alaska. No one goes to Alaska thinking; I'm gonna retire... maybe I'll do a little surfing and catch some sun before I get too old to enjoy it all.... No, when you make the decision to retire in a place like Alaska you know exactly what you are in for.... tons of snow, probably no indoor plumbing, you may have to fight bears for your food, and if the winter goes too long, you may have to kill one of your pets and eat it. If that's how you roll then Alaska is probably for you.
The problem I have with Vermont and it's 43.1 degree average temperature is that to me it was kind of unsuspected. I mean, I knew that it was in the northeast and there were mountains with ski resorts there so it is bound to be cold. But the name of the state is so nice and smooth... it sort of rolls right off your tongue and lulls you into a false sense of calm and relaxation. I bet that if someone were to have you lie in a dark room and they said the word Vermont to you 10 times quietly, you would go into a semi-hypnotic state just thinking of the green forests and waterfalls. Chances are you wouldn't jump up and run off screaming after picturing yourself behind the wheel of a car that spins off the road in a driving snow storm and winds up in a snow bank never to be seen again until the snow melts 5 months later. There should be warning signs on Vermont. Seriously, as you drive into the state they should be required to tell you that it is damn cold and you could die! But instead their Welcome to Vermont sign is actually GREEN! It gives you no hint that you could freeze to death in just a few minutes if you happen to wonder outside alone for too long during the 7 month long winter.
Welcome Center 2 Miles Ahead.... Pah-leeze! Welcome to HELL! Now I realize that some of you may be from Vermont and I don't mean to offend you if you love your state. I'm sure that in your narrow little mind it is the greatest state in the world and you are proud to be from there ( I know I feel that way about Texas and you all think that I am insane). I congratulate you on your loyalty to your home state. I'm not picking on Vermont because I dislike it or have anything against it. In fact, I've never been there. I'm sure that it is perfectly wonderful. I was just shocked at how cold it is there and then I began to wonder how these cold states could even have made this list. In fact, I wonder how most of the states listed made the list.
Are there people nearing retirement age who sit around in the evening talking to their spouse and discussing the best places to move so that they can shovel snow for the rest of their lives? Did Yahoo feel that it was necessary to talk these people down if so? If people are thinking that they should retire to one of these miserable cold weather states which apparently have high costs of living, high taxes and limited access to medical care, I say, let them go! It's called Survival of the Fittest man! If you want to retire in Minnesota, I say gook luck to you! We should not try to talk these people into warm weather beach lined states. The beaches don't need anymore people on them. In fact, maybe we should start encouraging some of the crazies who already live up there to stay where they are. In their cabin fever induced insanity, it probably won't be a tough sell anyway! Maybe the fewer articles about how cold and expensive their state is, the better. I'm just sayin'.
So, I'm thinking of submitting an article to Yahoo that I will entitle The 10 BEST States for Retirement and I think I will list each of the 10 that the previous article stated as the Worst and see if I can talk a few northerners into staying where they belong. After all, they've never experienced a balmy 64.8 degree average annual temperature like we have here in Texas. They'd probably whine about the heat all the time anyway. And who wants to listen to it? Maybe I'll throw North Dakota into my list and make it The 11 BEST States for Retirement. After all, with it's average temperature of 40.4 degrees it'll fit right in with the rest.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Beach Needed FAST!
Go ahead, say it. I've been lax to say the least in my postings lately. I just looked and realized that I haven't posted once all month. Here's the deal, I'm tired. As a result I'm going to bed earlier which is good, but I still can't wake up in the morning which is bad. Then in the middle of trying to figure out sleeping patterns, I got new carpet and tile upstairs immediately followed by having a lot of company in town for Jimmy Buffett, a toilet leaking upstairs on the new tile and making it's way all the way to the new carpet and then finally yesterday my kitchen sink developed the most bizarre problem yet. I have almost no water pressure through the faucet, just a trickle literally just barely more than a drip. But if I hold the hand sprayer and run the water, it works just fine. What the hell? So I had a plumber scheduled to come out tomorrow and work on this bizarre plumbing problem when it dawned on me a few minutes ago that the problem was in my faucet. So, I went to the kitchen unscrewed the cover on the end of the faucet and it had this big piece us black gunk sticking out of it. I cleaned that out and the faucet is fixed! Now in my exhausted stupor it took a full day for this to dawn on me. I think this tells us one thing. I need a vacation more than most of my clients do!
I seriously have to get to a beach and fast. It could get ugly if I have to continue to go through bad weather for much longer. It's supposed to cool off and start raining again this week. I just can't take it. It is freaking May in Texas we should be gearing up to complain all summer long about how hot it is! You can't complain about how hot it is when it struggles to get to 80 degrees! I should have been out at the pool weeks ago enjoying floating around in the pool while the neighbors all talked about one another and the crazy guy forced his poor kid who is terrified of the water to swim by throwing him in as the kid screams bloody terror. (This has been going on for two years. One of these days the kid will be bigger than the dad and he will hold his dad's head under the water until he turns blue and that will be the beginning of his serial killing career but that is another story for another blog... or perhaps a book...... hmmmmmm......)
My point is, like a Southwest Airlines commercial, I wanna get away. I just need a beach for a weekend. Galveston would do. But I think it would be fun to go to Alabama. I could leave on Friday morning and be there in time for a late dinner at LuLu's if I drove hard. Then leave early Monday morning to come back and only miss two days of work. Plus I'd be at a beach I've never been to before. I hear they have some pretty white sand beaches there. I've been following LuLu's on Facebook for a few years. It is owned by Jimmy Buffett's sister. So, you know, it's a Parrothead hangout. Plus anyplace that features a countdown to the next sunset on their website is the kind of place I need to be. Plus they have at least one really hot bartender. I know this because they always post pictures of him on Facebook and all the women comment on him. I may have posted one or two lewd comments about him myself in the past.
To top it all off, Memorial Day weekend, there will be a big party to celebrate the sinking of the LuLu a retired 271 foot cargo ship, which will become an artificial reef 17 miles off the coast of Orange Beach and is intended to help put Alabama on the scuba map eventually. First the ship will be towed over to the Homeport Marina where LuLu's is located for a christening party on Thursday the 24th. Then on Friday, it will be towed out to the location for the sinking which will take place on Saturday the 26th. But here's how you know that these people know how to party. They are expecting a flotilla of hundreds of boats at the sinking sight to watch the sinking. One of the boats will contain The Wet Willie Band who will play during the event. Then everyone will go back to LuLu's where the band will continue. Of course all of this is weather permitting. But I'm thinking it takes a lot to keep those crazy Alabamans off their boats.
I think this is just the sort of weekend I need! Who wouldn't feel better after dancing around on a boat full of crazy people to live music as an old cargo ship is sunk in order to create a perfect diving location? I know I would! Who's with me? Come on Texans, unite! Let's all protest this goofy weather and head to Alabama for Memorial Day to celebrate with the craziest people in the US! If you bring a boat I can ride on, I'll buy you a few beers during the weekend.
I seriously have to get to a beach and fast. It could get ugly if I have to continue to go through bad weather for much longer. It's supposed to cool off and start raining again this week. I just can't take it. It is freaking May in Texas we should be gearing up to complain all summer long about how hot it is! You can't complain about how hot it is when it struggles to get to 80 degrees! I should have been out at the pool weeks ago enjoying floating around in the pool while the neighbors all talked about one another and the crazy guy forced his poor kid who is terrified of the water to swim by throwing him in as the kid screams bloody terror. (This has been going on for two years. One of these days the kid will be bigger than the dad and he will hold his dad's head under the water until he turns blue and that will be the beginning of his serial killing career but that is another story for another blog... or perhaps a book...... hmmmmmm......)
My point is, like a Southwest Airlines commercial, I wanna get away. I just need a beach for a weekend. Galveston would do. But I think it would be fun to go to Alabama. I could leave on Friday morning and be there in time for a late dinner at LuLu's if I drove hard. Then leave early Monday morning to come back and only miss two days of work. Plus I'd be at a beach I've never been to before. I hear they have some pretty white sand beaches there. I've been following LuLu's on Facebook for a few years. It is owned by Jimmy Buffett's sister. So, you know, it's a Parrothead hangout. Plus anyplace that features a countdown to the next sunset on their website is the kind of place I need to be. Plus they have at least one really hot bartender. I know this because they always post pictures of him on Facebook and all the women comment on him. I may have posted one or two lewd comments about him myself in the past.
To top it all off, Memorial Day weekend, there will be a big party to celebrate the sinking of the LuLu a retired 271 foot cargo ship, which will become an artificial reef 17 miles off the coast of Orange Beach and is intended to help put Alabama on the scuba map eventually. First the ship will be towed over to the Homeport Marina where LuLu's is located for a christening party on Thursday the 24th. Then on Friday, it will be towed out to the location for the sinking which will take place on Saturday the 26th. But here's how you know that these people know how to party. They are expecting a flotilla of hundreds of boats at the sinking sight to watch the sinking. One of the boats will contain The Wet Willie Band who will play during the event. Then everyone will go back to LuLu's where the band will continue. Of course all of this is weather permitting. But I'm thinking it takes a lot to keep those crazy Alabamans off their boats.
I think this is just the sort of weekend I need! Who wouldn't feel better after dancing around on a boat full of crazy people to live music as an old cargo ship is sunk in order to create a perfect diving location? I know I would! Who's with me? Come on Texans, unite! Let's all protest this goofy weather and head to Alabama for Memorial Day to celebrate with the craziest people in the US! If you bring a boat I can ride on, I'll buy you a few beers during the weekend.
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