My christmas
This past christmas I was quite lucky. My sister, mother and I were "sponsored" by family members to take part in a bit of a family reunion. As if this weren't good enough on its own, the family reunion happened to take place on a Caribbean cruise. Yep thats right folks, eat your beating little hearts out, because I got to spend my winter in a wonderland covered in all the shades of blue and green. Evergreen and snow were replaced by Palm and sand, and I was quite happy to make the exchange.
The cruise left from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and sailed to the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. So I basically covered 3 places that I probably never would have gone to if I had never been given this trip. Let me say, if you have never been to the caribbean, it isn't overrated. It is simply stunning. Especially if you have grown up landlocked like me and if your experience in the ocean has been limited to fairly grimy spanish beaches and the cold north atlantic. Not that there is anything wrong with the North Atlantic, I love the rocky coasts of New England and Galicia, but the Caribbean is very different. Light blue an sapphire colored waters. Coral reefs. Tropical fish. Water warm enough to swim in for hours without turning blue....
My favorite snorkeling spot was in the Virgin Isles. The Bahamas was good as well, but on the Virgin Island of St. Thomas I simply swam off the beach towards a reef and looked at fish. The Bahamas probably have that as well, but I took a boat out to a reef there and it was much deeper. While this meant larger schools of fish, it also meant I had to dive quite a ways to get a close up look at the reef itself, whereas in St. Thomas the reefs were much closer to the surface.
I must say, I like Island people. They are much as their stereotype makes them out to be: very friendly, laid back, and yet pushy. I've added an Island to the list of places I would like to live at some point. The life on an island seems quite different. Claustrophobic and yet comforting. I would like to experience it.
As to the cruise, it was nice. Very nice in fact. Cruises have unlimited food in many forms, buffets, sit down restaurants, room-service, and it is all free. This cruise line was a nice one as well, which meant that the food was much more nouvelle cuisine than mass produced all you can eat buffet. Because it was a nice cruise line, the ship itself was also fantastic. Very classy. Nice, comfortable rooms. Not crowded. In summary, it was a great place to relax. I spent hours immobile, lounging on the deck in the sun, soaking in the rays like a quadriplegic lizard. A book or an ipod. Or nothing at all. Simply feeling the wind rush around me and listen to the drone of the sea as the ship moved through it. It was bliss.
But was it fun? Well, the times with my family were certainly fun. I played many games with them, joked with my cousins, and that like, but like I said, it was more about relaxing than having fun. The image of the party ship, the love boat, is a bit untrue. Or it can be. It really depends on the cruise line. Ours was not like Carnival Cruises where people party all night long. To be honest, I could have done with some more partying and people my age. At times it was a bit lonely to be one of the few people my age that didn't already come with people. Most of the 20 somethings were either newlyweds or lovers, leaving me to be the only person on deck staring into the deep blackness that forms over the ocean once the sun goes down. A few friends or cousins my age would have been welcome.
The cruise left from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and sailed to the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. So I basically covered 3 places that I probably never would have gone to if I had never been given this trip. Let me say, if you have never been to the caribbean, it isn't overrated. It is simply stunning. Especially if you have grown up landlocked like me and if your experience in the ocean has been limited to fairly grimy spanish beaches and the cold north atlantic. Not that there is anything wrong with the North Atlantic, I love the rocky coasts of New England and Galicia, but the Caribbean is very different. Light blue an sapphire colored waters. Coral reefs. Tropical fish. Water warm enough to swim in for hours without turning blue....
My favorite snorkeling spot was in the Virgin Isles. The Bahamas was good as well, but on the Virgin Island of St. Thomas I simply swam off the beach towards a reef and looked at fish. The Bahamas probably have that as well, but I took a boat out to a reef there and it was much deeper. While this meant larger schools of fish, it also meant I had to dive quite a ways to get a close up look at the reef itself, whereas in St. Thomas the reefs were much closer to the surface.
I must say, I like Island people. They are much as their stereotype makes them out to be: very friendly, laid back, and yet pushy. I've added an Island to the list of places I would like to live at some point. The life on an island seems quite different. Claustrophobic and yet comforting. I would like to experience it.
As to the cruise, it was nice. Very nice in fact. Cruises have unlimited food in many forms, buffets, sit down restaurants, room-service, and it is all free. This cruise line was a nice one as well, which meant that the food was much more nouvelle cuisine than mass produced all you can eat buffet. Because it was a nice cruise line, the ship itself was also fantastic. Very classy. Nice, comfortable rooms. Not crowded. In summary, it was a great place to relax. I spent hours immobile, lounging on the deck in the sun, soaking in the rays like a quadriplegic lizard. A book or an ipod. Or nothing at all. Simply feeling the wind rush around me and listen to the drone of the sea as the ship moved through it. It was bliss.
But was it fun? Well, the times with my family were certainly fun. I played many games with them, joked with my cousins, and that like, but like I said, it was more about relaxing than having fun. The image of the party ship, the love boat, is a bit untrue. Or it can be. It really depends on the cruise line. Ours was not like Carnival Cruises where people party all night long. To be honest, I could have done with some more partying and people my age. At times it was a bit lonely to be one of the few people my age that didn't already come with people. Most of the 20 somethings were either newlyweds or lovers, leaving me to be the only person on deck staring into the deep blackness that forms over the ocean once the sun goes down. A few friends or cousins my age would have been welcome.
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-eva