Cruisin'

Wow!  What a week we had!  Relaxing, enjoyable, hilarious at times, rewarding, memory making fun.  I can't possibly put into words the look on BoyBoy's face when we finally walked across the gang plank and onto the cruise ship.  He was awestruck, speechless and full of hugs for Bubba and me.  If he thanked us once, he thanked us a million times.  We couldn't wait to explore but first we had to stop for the first of many photo ops...

Great looking family, eh?

Of course, then there was the obligatory life boat drill (and the goofy photos that always go along with it!)

Oh, save me, Molly Brown!  (weak Titanic reference)

Then we were off.  Fun day at sea which involved eating too much, drinking too much, getting too much sun and watching all the psycho people fight over deck chairs.  If you have ever been on a cruise, you know what I am talking about.  Folks get up at the crack of dawn to claim their deck chairs for the day.  Then they guard them like a pack of pit bulls, daring anyone to move their 6 towels they have draped across their 8 chairs.  By the time the breakfast buffet has turned into the brunch buffet, all the chairs are claimed in some fashion and by the time the Cheeze family rolled their lazy butts out of bed and stumbled to the lunch buffet, most of those people were lobsters and needed to go inside.  So, the moral to this story is, the early bird gets the deck chair, but the sleepy head reaps the reward.  

Our first stop was to be Grand Cayman but due to waves, wind, or disgruntled fisherman, we were unable to drop anchor and stay.  Something to do with safety, blah, blah, blah.  Safety, shmafety...I want to snorkel!!!  Instead we were tortured by having to look at the entire island while the captain circled it so that we could go to the other side and emergency evacuate a passenger that had eaten too much at the midnight buffet or something.  Boohoo...but we got a refund of our port taxes and wisely invested it in BoyBoy's college fund (or something like that...(beer)).  So, instead, the boat headed to Cozumel for an early arrival.

Cozumel has always been Bubba's favorite and he was excited to show BoyBoy some of the sights.  We were scheduled for the Dolphin Trainer excursion but since we docked early we had time to see some of the local shops.  A mandatory Mexican beer and some chips and then we headed to play with the dolphins.  Let me just tell you...if you ever have the opportunity to experience these animals up close and personal, do it!  It is worth every peso!  The dolphins are the most gentle, sweet, intelligent, and amazing animals I have ever encountered.  We had our own 20 year old female and she was the sweetest thing.  BoyBoy giggled when she kissed him, first on the cheek and then on the lips.  Our trainer gave him kudos for getting bussed by an older woman.  We swam with her for more than an hour and she also gave us all rides.  What a wonderful day!

I think Bubba fell in love with Athena

Of course, I had to contribute to Stellan's Name Gallery

And then it was back to Tampa.  We had a great time and are already planning our next one...where should we go?

Oh, and here is a photo of the Cheeze's at formal night...we clean up pretty good, don't you think?

Adios!