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March 2004 Carnival
Spirit
Veronica and I ventured
again on another cruise. We took the Carnival Spirit from Miami to
St. Maarten, Barbados and Martinique. This time we got a last
minute upgrade to a balcony room at the rear of the ship, the balcony
was worth every penny we didn't pay for it.
Our first stop was St.
Maarten, which we had been to before (see below). We decided to
just go shopping and lay on the beach for a while. I bought a
watch and some souvenirs then we had lunch and laid on the beach.
The only problem was that
if we were awake we got hounded to buy stuff, and if we laid on the sand
pretending to sleep we were uncomfortable. After a bit we gave up
and went back to the ship to lay by the pool.
Our next stop was Barbados. We
did the Kayaking and Turtle Encounter (which had been recommended to
me by my friend Chris) - you kayak then snorkel to
see sea turtles. Veronica and I had fun yelling at each other
kayaking, we were NOT naturals, but it was fun. Then I nearly
drowned myself snorkeling, but at least the turtles were cool.
When we got back we tried to do some quick shopping, but the stores
were closing and some of the people weren't too friendly, ok, some
were just plain rude.
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A turtle
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the tour leader feeding turtles
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Me and Veronica
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Me and the Kayaks
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Our last stop was Martinique, we got
of the boat, went to town, thought it was scary and went back to the
ship. We were on and off the ship in like an hour.
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A nice spot on the island |
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On our sea days we lounged by the
pool, allowing me to get 2 sunburns in 8 days, hit the spa, the
shows, the waterslide, and some of the cheesy cruise activities that
I love so much.
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Carnival Spirit
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Our balcony
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Me with the slide
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Veronica on the slide
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Me and Veronica in the atrium
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A room designed for me
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Our table
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Carnival Legend, the Sprit's sister ship, as we pass in the ocean
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April 2002 on Carnival's Sensation
Mom, Heidi and I took the Western
Caribbean itinerary of the Sensation, heading from Tampa to Grand
Cayman, Cozumel, and New Orleans. In Grand Cayman we took an
island tour, visiting Hell, a turtle farm, and saw the house from The
Firm. After we did some shopping. It's really a
beautiful island, but on the expensive side with little to do.
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Sensation
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Heidi and I in Grand Caymen
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Me on the Turtle Farm
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Heidi in Hell
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In Cozumel Heidi and I went to the
Mayan Ruins while Mom went shopping. Let me say it was HOT in
Mexico. To get the the ruins we had to take a 30 minute boat ride
to Playa Del Carmen, then an hour bus ride to the ruins. Once
there you could either walk about a quarter mile or take an open bus
thingy to
where the ruins actually are. The ruins were cool, and they
backup to one of the most gorgeous beach lines, the view was amazing!
Then we got ripped off buying drinks and chips (FYI: the colors of the
Doritos bags do not correspond to the colors they use in the US - so
orange is NOT Nacho Cheese) and had to take the same
route back to Cozumel and meet mom for some shopping in town.
Update: In a recent edition of
Porthole Magazine the beach at Tulum was chosen as the beach with the
Most Awesome Setting.
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Heidi in Tulum
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Me in Tulum
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The main shopping strip in Cozumel
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The next stop was New Orleans, we got
in early and since it was rainy we booked an afternoon city tour.
In the morning we walked around Bourbon Street and French Quarter.
On the city tour we got to see the cemetery, which was interesting.
I wonder how they held up after Katrina?
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Heidi and I on Bourbon Street |
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Heidi and I at Mardi Gras night on the ship |
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On our sea days we laid out by the
pool, went to the spa (they had quite a few good deals on stuff), and
ship activities like Bingo - which Mom won $500 playing (I lent her the
money for it).
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Mom winning BINGO
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Me, Heidi and Mom on a Formal Night
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Ooops!
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March 2001 on Royal Caribbean's
Enchantment of the Seas
Veronica and I left from Fort
Lauderdale for St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Nassau. We did some
shopping and snorkeling in St. Maarten. Shopping and the Kontiki
Party Boat in St. Thomas. We hit the beach and did some shopping
in Nassau. On our sea days we lounged by the pool, hit the spa,
and played bingo.
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the fish when we were snorkeling
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Enchantment of the Seas
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Me at our stop on the Kontiki Party boat
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Dinner Mates
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Sunset
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Nassau
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