Carnival Cruises Preface

Sorry I've been gone for so long.  I hope you all missed me.  I have been on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico since last we talked.  

I don't know why I titled this Preface.  I almost never come through on my multi-part series.  But, rather than give details, I will describe my cruising experience in general terms.  Sometime I might put more detail.  Mostly when I decide that the people I want to talk about have quit reading :).

Normally, after a vacation, I'm ready to be home.  I miss my bed.  I miss my house.  I just miss normalcy.

When I left the Carnival Cruise ship, I was rather sad.  Today, I miss the folks that I met on board.  There were lots of really entertaining, friendly people.  There were also some really entertaining, not so friendly people, but entertainment is entertainment.

I think you have to be in the right attitude to enjoy a cruise.  I didn't have the right attitude the first couple of days, but it grew on me.  It's the first time since probably 1980 that I went for an entire week without touching or thinking about a computer.  They had computers on board to check your emails and stuff, but I never touched one (honest).

I normally woke up around 10 and started drinking at lunch.  You never really drink enough to get drunk.  Well, most people don't.  It's just a casual thing.  They have stuff going on all day long so you just wander around until something strikes your fancy.  It probably helps to be a people person.  If you are interested in nature's scenery then the endless blue ocean might get rather dull although I did spend a lot of time watching the ocean and feeling insignificant.

I liked Progresso better then Cozumel which is different than what most people say.  I Cozumel is a well-polished tourist trap.  Progresso is not so polished so the people there still have a genuine quality.  I like that.

I also like that you can sit on the beach drinking good Mexican beer, margaritas or straight tequila and a stream of people walk by trying to sell you their wares.  It's like shopping with the wife at the mall without having to get up.  My wife was irritated because they kept trying to sell her stuff.  I found it immensely relaxing since I wasn't being drug from one store to the next in search of the perfect pair of shoes.  I figured if we stayed there long enough, the perfect pair of shoes might eventually arrive at our table on the beach.