Our first cruise. We’ve been planning this for a while.

{O N B O A R D}

This is our first real look at the ship. I was prepared for something huge, but this thing is a behemoth. The MS Norwegian Pearl is 995 feet long. It has five 100,000 hp engines that each consume 1 gallon of fuel per second. It cost over 500 million […]

Our first morning comes, and we’re at sea. We have tea and coffee on our little balcony and watch the sun come up. Life doesn’t get much better than this. This is my first real vacation in over 20 years. We decide to head for the pool first, and then pick a restaurant for dinner. […]

Back on deck, I take photos of the lifeboats and other parts of the ship. We are sailing past Cuba, and I want to get a shot. Most areas of the ship have 6-foot high glass walls that are a little hard to shoot through, so I need to get higher. I’m up on the […]

{S I D E B A R on N A T I O N A L S E C U R I T Y}

I use a messenger bag at work. Mine is just like this one. I carry notebooks, pens, pencils, business cards, etc. We brought it […]

{M E X I C O}
We have an enjoyable dinner at the Italian restaurant and some wine. Up early tomorrow for a trip to Mexico to see the Mayan Ruins at Tulum.
Morning comes, coffee and tea, and then pick up a box lunch and we’re off. After being around me for a while, Suzanne has […]

We get back on the bus and head for Tulum. Tulum is the third most visited archaeological site in Mexico. We get off the bus in front of… more souvenir shops! I deduce that the literal translation of Mexico is ‘Land of Souvenirs’.
We follow our guide down a long road through the jungle. It is […]

King Jeffaxhlotlololol, Mighty High Priest of the Mayas, bows to the four winds and loosens the ceremonial obsidian knife in its sheath. He is wearing a grass skirt and an ornate feathered headdress. Bands of gold encircle his huge biceps, and he wears a necklace of jade and beaten gold.
He is here to perform a […]

We head back through the jungle to get to the bus so we can eat our lunch. We have to pass many souvenir shops, all of which have some variation of the name ‘La Trapaza de la Turista’, all of which sell exactly the same merchandise, and are occupied by Mexicans who attach themselves to […]

{I N T E R L U D E}
Jeff and Suzanne relax by the pool and have a couple of toddies.