Epilog:

I wasn’t sure that I would like Disney or a Cruise. Before this trip, I felt Disney was for kids. I thought I would be bored the entire day. I was surprised how much I liked it. I would go back. My favorite was definitely animal Kingdom. I also wasn’t sure if I would be happy on a cruise ship. Instead of four days to tour Nassau, we had one. I usually like to see as much as I can on vacations. There was more than enough stuff to do on a ship. I would go on a cruise again. In fact there wasn’t enough time to do all of the things I wanted to do. Kim & I have talked about doing a longer cruise. There are a few more places we want to go before taking another cruise. It may take us a few years, but we will do it again.

After my trip last month with the students, it was great to be traveling with Kim again. Although I had fun on that trip, I missed traveling with her.

Day 6 – Going Home

We were woken up by the bow thrusters as we pulled into port. Just like the last two days, we had a breakfast of pizza and fresh fruit. We strolled around the ship one last time and went to our room to wait for the call to disembark. It was a relatively easy process. It was kind of like arriving back into the USA from a foreign country, only the security people were all friendly.

We arrived at the airport five hours early. When we made the cruise and flight arrangements, the travel agent for Carnival recommended a mid afternoon flight. Now we are in the airport waiting to come home. Hopefully we will pass through security soon. We are in front of the Disney store and Kim is itching to buy some more stuff! Since we were so busy on the ship, we didn’t get to work on this blog. We got caught up on the bus ride and here at the airport. It is a long wait here at the airport, but we have free internet.

We are in Detroit, Rock City, right now. We took a lap around the terminal to help walk off dinner and maybe several of yesterday’s dinners. We should get into Erie around 10:30 pm. We have to stop at Wegmans on the way home so we have some food for tomorrow. It will be a long one hour drive home from there.

Day 5 – At Sea

Just like the day before, we had a hearty breakfast of pizza. Most people were sitting inside, close to the buffet lines. We took our food out to the rear deck. It was beautiful outside. We went to an art auction, but only stayed to view the pictures. The cruise director had a talk about how to disembark from the ship. After that, we went to the buffet line for lunch. They were having a special “International Cuisine” lunch. The featured country: the USA. We again ate out on the rear deck. I was surprised that there were only a few people outside. Kim remarked that it looked like Ryan’s with all of the people huddled around the buffet. I started calling the ship, “the Ryan’s of the Sea”.

We took a short nap and went to the Fantasy Lounge for the “Newlyweds Game”. They got the newest married, longest married, and one couple in the middle. They asked them ten questions. The answers were hilarious. The audience had to judge them.

We then went miniature golfing. This was quite a chore given that we had a rocking ship and high winds. Sometimes the wind would blow the balls back to the starting point. Whenever a ball would stop, it would roll to one side or the other. The rocking of the ship made it roll to the sides. I got the only hole-in-one.

  

Before dinner, they were having a special on margaritas. They were good. I had a few before dinner. Kim finally got her Lobster for dinner. We had dinner with Tom & Cheryl again. My prime rib was good. Having prime rib seems to be a weekly event for me the last few weekends. Before we went into the casino, it was another round of sushi. I won again at the casino, just enough to buy a few more margaritas. The slot machines have been good to me on this trip. (I made sure I had my own money tonight!)

The previous two days we had been good about eating the right amount. We never really ate too much. That changed today! Anytime we took a walk, we would graze through the buffet line. We wanted to go in the hot tub at one point. There were signs all over the hot tub stating that they were for adults only. Everytime we went by, there were many kids sitting in the tub. I was afraid to go in. I figured the Pee content would be very high. Our skin would probably have turned yellow. We never went in.

  

  

There was a show after dinner on the music of the 80’s. I didn’t know half of the songs. The scantily clad dancers helped block out the 80’s music. We went up on deck for the last time at night. We then went and got some pictures that the ships photographer took. You couldn’t move around the public spaces without a ships photographer snapping a picture. When we got back to the room, we packed.

Day 4 – Nassau, Bahamas

We were pulling into port at the same time we woke up. We took a quick shower and started to take pictures. The color of the water is unbelievably beautiful. No camera ever does it justice. We were going to get breakfast out of the buffet line, but settled on pizza. It was a hearty breakfast. We walked around the ship until the ship was fully docked. We grabbed our stuff and disembarked for a wonderful adventure.

  

  

  

We had almost two hours before our shuttle was to pick us up for the journey to the “Yellow Submarines” at Stewart’s Cove. We just decided to walk around the town to shop and look into a few churches and buildings. We took a quick stroll through the Straw Market. We started buying stuff until we realized we would have to carry it all afternoon.

It was an hour drive to Stewart’s Cove. The drive was making me nervous. Our driver was darting in and out of traffic. There may have only been inches between the car in front of us and our bus. The driver was not afraid to jump “quickly” on the brakes. (I would think that after our driver in Tibet, Jon would be used to anything. On the other hand, I may have been too preoccupied with my thought of the yellow death machines to worry about a little erratic driving.) When we arrived we were given a brief lecture on how to use the sub and how to communicate with the divers. Kim was getting more nervous. There was a couple who decided to cancel. The wife must have been more nervous than Kim. We boarded the boat and headed out to sea. It was a quick ride to the dive spot. We were near the spots where Gilligan’s Island and Flipper were filmed.

Kim was starting to have second or fifteenth thoughts about going into the sub. I wanted her to go first, but they brought out one of the older and bigger subs. They called it a truck model and thought it would be better for me. It was a funky feeling when it was fully dropped into the water. The diver would give the signal to clear you ears at several places on the way to the bottom. They told us that the depth was 30 feet. We only descended 15 feet in the sub. There was a buoy attached to the sub with a length of rope. We could not descend any deeper than the rope.

I really wanted to go down before Jon. I knew it would be better for me not to watch Jon going under, and it was worse than I thought it would be. The top of the death machines were lifted about two feet out of the water. You slipped your head under the bubble and whoosh you were gone. And just like that it was my turn. I spent the first ten minutes simply trying not to panic, not to hyperventilate, keeping my sinuses clear, and did I say trying not to panic. The diver’s must have seen the terror in my eyes as they constantly keep checking to see how I was doing. It took everything I had not to give the signal to return to the surface. The entire experience was being videotaped and I tried as hard as I could not to look too stricken every time that stinkin’ camera came near me.

  

  

  

When you looked outside of the sub, it looked like my feet were going to scrape the ocean floor. You could see a long way because the water was so clear. When we got to our maximum depth, they huddled the subs together. I wanted Kim beside me, but she ended up being one sub away. I got the camera ready and took a few pictures of her. She looked like she was panicking a little. I hoped she would calm down after she got to the bottom and started looking around.

When they let us go on our own, the only instruction was to follow the lead diver. Each sub was started and then directed towards the lead diver. I started looking for Kim. I couldn’t find her at first. I then spotted her heading out away from the group. I remember thinking that she was going to ignore the instructions and explore what she wanted. That girl has an independent streak! I was going to go after her, but I saw a diver go after her. She rejoined our group in a few minutes. They took us over a few reefs. One of the spots they took us was an airplane that was used in the movie Jaws. It was wrecked during the filming and was left on the sea bottom. It was cool to see the wreck.

Kim: When I finally started to relax a little bit I realized that my head was crammed up into the bubble and rubbing against the top. I wasn’t relaxed enough to try to sit down and I decided that I’d just crouch on sub, that it was good exercise for my legs to stay in that position. I think it was at this point that I realized that it was very beautiful down there. There were hundreds of fish and I was in a place that not many people get the opportunity to visit, but I was still ready to get back to the top.

I had a horrible time trying to steer my sub. I kept thinking it must be broken. As hard as I’d try I couldn’t get it to turn. I knew I was going off in the wrong direction but was powerless to stop myself. I keep hoping that someone saw me wondering off and come rescue me. Finally I felt one of the divers grab on to my sub and turn me around. After that one of the divers never left my side. I guess I couldn’t be trusted. Thank goodness!

At one point, they stopped all of the subs and huddled them together. They brought out some fish food and spread it around the sub’s window. The fish would just flock around the subs. You could reach out and touch them. They were slimy! I looked over at Kim and she looked much calmer. When it came time to leave the sub, Kim was the last one up. I think she planned it that way.

There were two groups using the subs, so we went snorkeling while the second group went for their ride. Kim was still coming down from her ride and decided to stay on the ship. This was the first time I had used flippers. Man could I move through the water. I tried to go down to the bottom, but I could never fully clear my ears. I met the subs half way through their trip so I could get some pictures of them. By the time I got back on board, Kim was much calmer.

When we got back to Nassau, we finished shopping at the Straw Market. Tonight was the formal night on the ship. We got dressed up and went to the Captain’s Reception. It was free eats and drinks. It was nice of the Captain to get us all of those whiskey sours! We didn’t want to eat too much, but the meatballs were too good to pass up! Almost everybody was dressed up this night. We saw some really nice bridesmaid’s dresses! It took a little prodding, but I convinced Kim to go up on stage with some other couples to do some slow dancing. We saw ourselves dancing later on the ship’s TV.

  

Because we were so late, we missed our regular seating time. Kim had arranged for us to go to the late seating. The dinner was again good. We had new table mates. One of the wives wanted a recipe for the dessert, Chocolate Melting cake. The server said she wasn’t sure she could get the recipe. The lady said, “If you want a tip, you will get me the recipe”. You could tell that the server wasn’t very happy.

After dinner we walked around and gambled a little more. I again won enough to buy a few more drinks. I started telling Kim that she should keep me because I’m lucky. (Mr. Moneybags gave up $4.00 for me tonight. I was able stretch it out for about 5minutes tonight.)

Day 3 – Cruise Day

We didn’t have any clue what we were in for when we started this journey! We were at the airport early for our transfer to the cruise ship. The lady from the day before had told us that Carnival would start at 8:00 am. Well, they never showed up until 9:15. We had an hour bus ride to Port Canaveral. We had a quick check-in and we boarded the ship as soon as we were finished. We could not get into our room right away. The ship had a huge buffet on the Lido deck. We took advantage of all that food. Before we got into our room, we started to explore the ship. All of the bars and restaurants were closed, but the doors were open. We got to look into each of them. After we got into our room, we took a quick nap. There was more exploration after the nap.

  

  

  

  

Dinner was at 5:45. We were in the Ecstasy dining room. We met out table mates, Tom & Cheryl. They were seasoned cruisers. It was their seventh cruise. Tom made a comment that this was a small ship. At the time Kim & I thought it was a huge ship. Dinner was quite good. After dinner we went for sushi & sake. It was Kim’s first time with sushi. She liked it. However, she didn’t like the sake. (It tasted like lighter fluid.) The casino was next door to the sushi bar, so we went in and spent the change in our pockets. I won enough money to keep drinking for the night! (When Jon says we spent our change that’s exactly what we spent. I didn’t have any money on me at the time. I had to pry a buck out of old money bags. I was then told to have a good time. I tried to make my dollar last as long as possible and I think I did a pretty god job. I was able to play the slots for about three minutes!)

We went to a show in the main Fantasy Lounge. The cruise director kept advising that it was a “Strong” PG-13 rating. He also said it was amazing that you can create costumes out of dental floss and Velcro. It was very entertaining and revealing! We wanted to stay up for the adult comedy show at midnight, but we were exhausted and went to bed around 11:30.

Day 2 - Disney

Kim was anxious to get started this morning. We arrived at the hotel at 1:00 am. She made a 6:15 am wake-up call. She didn't sleep well last night. The excitement of Disney must have been too much for her.

This is the first day that Kim planned. She is kind of nervous about whether I will like Disney. She knows I want to see the Don Garlits museum.

It is in the 50's here. It didn't stop me from wearing shorts and a tee shirt. Some people are wearing coats and gloves. They must think I'm nuts.

We are starting at Animal Kingdom. I'm hoping to go on a real safari. I want to hunt the BIG game animals. An elephant head would look good in the living room!

  

Our first ride was the Himalayan ride "Expedition Everest". The line was not too long. When we got to the ride, we were in the front seat. Kim was not paying attention and was surprised that we were there. She handled it well. The first few turns were mild. The pace of the ride picked up after that. Kim did some screaming during the ride. For some reason, I liked that a lot. I had the movie camera on for most of the ride. We saw a special on the making of the ride. It looked a little like Nepal & Tibet. However, it was not like being at the real thing!

We then went to Kilimanjaro Safari. The line was much longer. I have been looking for the high powered rifle rental for our safari. I want to bag an elephant, but I will settle for a lion. Either one will look good in the living room.

  

Well, I was extremely disappointed. The only thing you can use to shoot the animals is a camera. What a jip. I guess I will have to go to real Africa to hunt!

"It’s Great to be a Bug" was the last attraction we saw at the "Animal Kingdom". I don't think the bugs I stepped on were thinking that when I stepped on them on the way to the show.

  

We are on our way to "Epcot". This was the first thing I remember about Disney World from when I was a kid. I cannot wait to get there. The first thing we did was go into the big ball. It was the history of communication. The wind was blowing outside and I was starting to get cold. It was warm in the big ball.

  

My favorite part was the international village. Just how is Canada international! Isn’t it our 51st state?!?!? I had some Moroccan beer. It was pretty good.

I finally got my reward. I must have been a “Good Boy”. Dinner was at the Big River Brewing Co.

After dinner we went to MGM Studios to see “Fantasmic”. The last attraction was the fireworks show Illuminations at Epcot. By the time we were finished, we were tired. It was a long day.

I really wanted to see Minnie Mouse. I was going to invite her back to the hotel, but Kim put her foot down and said no!

Day 1 - Leaving Erie

It was a cold sunny day when we embarked on a new adventure. This trip was a reward for Kim. She was a trooper in Tibet, so I wanted to reward her by taking her on a vacation that had real toilets!!

We wanted to travel to the Carribean for Thanksgiving. During our searches we found a three day cruise to the Bahamas. We have never been on a cruise before. I usually like to tour aything historical every day. It will be hard to be couped up on a ship. I think there will still be plenty of things to do or see on the ship.

Tomorrow, Kim is taking me to Disney. I usually think of Disney as a kids' place. I wanted to go to Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing. For some reason, Kim is really against going there!! So I'm going to give Disney a try. Besides, Kim is allowing me to drink at the brew pub at the Disney Boardwalk (If I'm a good boy)!

We are leaving out of Erie for this adventure. Everytime I fly out of Erie, I have a beer at the airport lounge. This trip is no exception. I'm actually having two! Since I haven't had lunch in a while, I have a good buzz starting.

Note from Kim: Yesterday we watched the news. The big news story; 700 people got extremely ill during a cruise. The same cruise line that we're about to jump on! I packed lots of hand sanitizer and I'm staying away from the buffet spoons. Let the adventure begin!