December, 2003
December 29, 2003 — Parkersburg, West Virginia. This was my first day back at work for a while. This is the first year in as long as I can recall that I’ve come back from time off and not had horrendous backlog on my desk. I’ve got a backup and he attended to everything in my absence. The day was still pretty long but it was bearable. Thanks Russell!
December 26, 2003 — Alfred, Ohio. Still coughing and congested but feeling better. The land doesn't move about so much any more. Now I’m beginning to think about our 25th anniversary trip coming up. I hope to be in good health before we leave. It is only a couple of weeks away.
December 25, 2003 — Alfred, Ohio. Merry Christmas and Peace on Earth to all! Happy Birthday Steve.
December 22, 2003 — Cleveland, Tennessee. Cleveland is a little North of Chattanooga. The names were all familiar to us as we drove up I-75. Dayton, Athens, Marietta, all names of towns near where we live in Ohio. We followed I-75 North to Lexington, Kentucky and then got on I-64 East to Huntington, West Virginia. We saw snow in the mountains again. Ugh! The skies turned gray again. We crossed over into Ohio and then on to our home about 70 miles upstream. Jeanie and Dave are still both sick. Nick is fine and went to Joe and Angie’s for the evening once we got home. We all need a little break from each other. :) Eight states, four foreign countries… good to be home.
December 21, 2003 — Jacksonville, Florida. We head West on I-10 for Lake City and then get on I-75 North. We drive through Georgia without much event until we get to Atlanta. Jeanie goes shopping for more souvenirs and I tease her about the car moaning when she brings back another couple of sacks of goodies. Nick decides he wants to drive and we hit a traffic jam about 20-30 miles out of Atlanta. I recall the one we saw when headed South so we detour over to I-10 and around the outerbelt back to I-75 North again. We continue on until we reach Cleveland, Tennessee. Jeanie begins to feel symptoms similar to me. I'm still sick but not as bad as yesterday. Nick is healthy.
December 20, 2003 — Miami, Florida. One last meal and then through customs. Not bad. Very little hassle compared to other times I've entered the country. Getting off the boat was as well done as getting on. We left Steve and Mary Ellen at the pier as they are staying in Miami for a couple of days. We headed North on I-95. My nose is just a constant drip by now. We are all pretty well worn out so it is a pretty quiet ride interrupted only by my sneezing and coughing. Jeanie thinks I gave her cooties.
The big news of the day came over the phone. Steve asked Mary Ellen to marry him Friday before we began our cruise. He just told us today. My congratulations and best wishes to both of you.
December 19, 2003 — At sea. Another pleasant day. Spent the afternoon on deck just sitting in the sun and eating.
December 18, 2003 — Cozumel, Mexico. Today they don’t want us in the theater and instead just tell us to meet at the gangway. We go down at the appointed time and now get to wait in the halls sardine style. Not much air, crowded, and very physically uncomfortable for over an hour. Not a word on the intercom. We are finally permitted off the ship and find that due to the high winds our shore excursion has been cancelled and our money refunded. Damn! They could have told us that before now. I know they have no control over the weather but they sure as heck should have known that our tour was cancelled. We are dressed for a snorkel day on the beach and have beach towells. We reboard the ship and dress appropriately and give back the beach towells. We lose maybe an hour in the process. I rented a car and we decide to just tour the island on our own. Everyone seems to enjoy the Tracker. It is painted like a zebra. Even other tourists throughout the day are admiring our transportation. We find some Mayan ruins in the center of the Island and walk through them. Real pleasant. In Ohio, we had mound builders at about the same time that the Mayans were building some pretty substantial structures. I found that a curious thought and wonder why the difference.
me, trying to blend into the local culture
Christmas decorations in Cozumel
We drive on to the other shore and spend an hour at a beach. Very pretty and out of the way. We drive the perimeter of the island and make our way back to town. I decide to go back to the ship to get warmed up and the others go shopping. I learn later that they ate at a McDonalds. I sleep until they return. It was a pretty good day in spite of it all.
December 17, 2003 — Belize City, Belize. Back in the theater and we wait and wait until our tour is called. We learn that it has been cancelled and our money refunded. Steve and Mary Ellen decide to go on a Mayan tour. Jeanie Nick and I decide to just wander the city. We are herded along and take a high speed tender to shore. It moved right along. We walk about town for an hour or so. It appears to me to be very run down. The city has seen better days. In all, pretty interesting. We head back for the shops near the dock and I ran into a fellow I work with. He and his family were on tour on another cruise ship and had their shore excursions cancelled as well. Small world.
Jeanie shops for far too long. Nick and I both feel the ground moving. We think perhaps the entire pier is floating. It begins raining and I get thorougly chilled and am miserable. The tender ride back is in pretty choppy waters at high speed. Happy to be back on the ship today and spend an hour or two under the covers getting warm. It dawns on me, I'm coming down with a cold. Steve and Mary Ellen report a very nice day with the Mayan ruins. More food and entertainment.
Just a side note to this. I wasn’t certain that I had ever much heard of Belize before booking the cruise. When I was growing up it was known as British Honduras. Duh! Of course I’ve heard of that and have a general sense of where that was. I didn’t figure that out until we returned. It explains why the city appeared to have seen better days. What I don’t quite understand is why a country would drift along after gaining independence and apparently prosper before. Growing up I would never imagine that I would someday visit Central America or arrive on a cruise ship. That seemed the life of Lucy and Desi… not me.
a school in Belize
December 16, 2003 — Roatan, Honduras. Back in the theater and we wait and wait until our tour is called. We are herded along and this time walk of the gangway onto shore. We board a bus and take a ride through a market and town that is looks like something you see in the movies. The ride over the island mountains gives a couple of spectacular views. We reach the beach and take the snorkel tour of the reef. Fantastic! The coral and fish are beautiful. We spend several hours here and have a nice lunch. Steve and I went out to the reef again and it is even better this time through.
The bus ride back us uneventful and we head into town to buy a few gifts and souviners. The local people are really gently and friendly. The shopping was enjoyable and we board the ship without event. More food and entertainment. By now we are all used to the good food and have each noticed that the service is OK but nothing to write home about. Of course there are five of us in our party so mistakes will be made but it seems that every meal we have one or more things that are missed. On deck that evening the wind is far to strong to be enjoyable so we stay in. I notice a slight occasional cough but it could easily just be from the salt water. In all, the day was lovely. The coral and fish were beautiful. The beach was beautiful. The people and shopping were pleasant. Roatan might not be for everyone but we enjoyed it immensely.
Dave and Jeanie on the beach in Roatan, Honduras
Happy Birthday to my brother Doug!
December 15, 2003 — Georgetown, Grand Cayman. We had room service bring our breakfast (no charge) and we are ready for our shore excursion. We are going to see sting rays, go snorkeling on a reef, and have a beach party beginning at 9:00 a.m. Oh Lay, Oh Lay! We are in the theatre and the lady goes on and on and on and it is past 9:00 a.m. and we are still moving. Eventually we stop and eventually we board our tender transport to shore. Blam! While boarding one of the nylon ropes that is holding us snaps. Mind you, these are a couple of inches in diameter. That was a huge snap and pieces of it flew about. Once on shore, we are herded (you really get that sense) to a spot where the nice gent says that because we are late that the reef portion of the tour has been cancelled and we will receive a $20 refund. Oh well.
Next we are herded over to a waiting bus and begin our journey on the left side of the road to a local marina. Everything looks fairly typical and would not have seemed out of place on the coast of Florida. Screech… Kerplow! Yup! We rear ended the car in front of us. The driver settles it somehow in a matter of a few minutes and off we go again. We arrive at the dock and board a small boat that will take us four miles to the sandbar where the sting rays are. It does not appear that their are not nearly enough life vests for each of us but I go along anyway. The ride out is pleasant enough. The water on the sandbar is only three or four feet deep. The sting rays are a blast and make the day. They are much larger than I anticipated. The shot of Steve below with one gives an idea of their size. We spend less than an hour there but that was sufficient and I wouldn't want to trouble these beautiful animals more than necessary. 
Steve, a stingray, and the chap from South Africa
Stingrays lurking around
The ride back to shore was nice and one of the guides from South Africa spent a fair amount of time talking with the couple sitting next to me. One interesting point he made was about his travel to Cuba. He said that it was like a trip back in time. Everything they need is made right on the island. The cars, though old, were mostly in mint condidtion. He said that the people there were friendly and happy. Of course he didn't want to offend anyone and just stated what he had personally seen.
Back on shore we head for our lunch and beach party. The guide explains that because we are late we will not have the full two hours that they normally guarantee. Jeanie checks and the drinking age is 18. I take Nick to the bar for his first legal drink. Lunch was OK, the beach pretty and in all it is not too bad. We head for town and only have a few minutes before the tender leaves. Jeanie wants to do a little shopping so we spend about ten minutes before getting in line. We stand in line in a pretty hot sun for over an hour. We would have had plenty of time to shop but they drilled into us that the last tender was it and of course you don’t want to be left behind. The total experience is both great and awful. I don’t think they could ever fit the snorkel on the reef in and believe that the shore excursion is a scam. Unfortunately we have already purchased one for each of our coming stops. Before long, we have showered, eaten another wonderful meal, and seen another great show and everything seems pretty right in the world. I feel a little off balance and queasy but nothing terrible. Sleep comes pretty easily on this gently rocking behemoth.
December 14, 2003 — At sea. That is an odd thought for me. We can see land and expect that it may be Cuba. But still, we are “at sea” and heading South (more or less). We have the muster drill and it is a disaster. We go to our assigned station, put on the life vest and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait… Eventually the drunken latecomers squeeze there way in a good half hour after we began the drill (we have been standing in the hot sun packed like sardenes waiting for them). Finally our guy starts speaking. Couldn’t hear a thing but at this point don’t really care what he has to say. Now a fellow gets up mid ship and starts talking to each of the little groups. His voice carries pretty well when he is talking in our direction but when he faces the other end of the ship I hear nothing. We satisfied the letter of the law by having the drill but by no means its intent I’m certain.
dolphins following our ship
The meals are all fabulous all day. The waiters all mess up small things but it is easily overlooked. They keep trying to bring me the wine list. The wine is an optional expense and realize that they want to make money but I find it a little much to be pushing it so hard particularly when I have two of my sons on board with us. It would be preferable to me to merely have to ask for the wine list rather than have the person come and ask me at each meal. We spend some time enjoying the sun until a small storm runs us inside. We just went in and had a meal. There are times throughtout the day when I can not see land in any direction. We saw dolphins swimming along the ship for a while. In the evening, we pick up a pretty good wind on deck making it slightly uncomfortable so we head in for the evening. The evening show was fabulous. All in all, it was a very good day at sea.
December 13, 2003 — Miami, Florida. We board the Norwegian Wind without event. They have the process worked out very smoothly. It is the smallest ship on dock but it is still huge for my eyes. We find locate our staterooms and it is tiny. I mean really really tiny. Everything works and you can manage, but it is really much smaller than you would imagine. We go up for dinner. It looks to be a nice restaurant. A tad formal to what I’m accustomed to but still very nice. The menu brought an unexpected smile to my face. Cold appetizer, hot appetizer, soup, salad, vegetarian entrie, main course, and desert. Mind you, each categorie had several choices. No prices to be found on the menu. They come around asking about wine? It’s about noon or one in the afternoon. We skip the booze and go for the meal. Once we are done, we just get up and leave. No tip (they use an autotip system and automatically bill your account each day). We head for the deck and the bon voyage party at 4:00 p.m. Well, it was well after 5:00 p.m. before we left but it was a pleasant day (mid 70’s) and the music was fine (they sing several songs that I recognize and the Oh lay song) so we just didn’t mind. The ship moved much faster than I imagined it would. These ships are huge and they really move. Miami faded from view about the same time as the sun went down. In the evening we watched a show that was actually just bits and pieces of shows to come during the week. It was pretty good.
December 12, 2003 — Rock Hill, South Carolina. There is ice on the windshield but otherwise the sun is shining and it feels warmer than in Ohio yesterday when we left. All that we have to do is make Miami today. Back on I-77 South to I-95 South into Georgia and then the run to Miamia, Florida. We saw a traffic jam heading North that had to have gone on for over 10 miles. We maintain the speed limit throughout even though everyone else is going far faster. I almost feel like a road hazard for going so slowly compared to everyone else.
We arrive in Miami and cross over the causeway to the Art Decco district. Miami is beautiful at night. We locate our hotel without much event but finding a parking place is a challenge. After we unloaded, I eventually found a lot not far from the hotel that worked out well. The room is spacious and comfortable. Nick, Steve and Mary Ellen go for a walk. Jeanie and I also go for a stroll. It is real pleasant to be there in plenty of time for morning. Walking around in the shirtsleeves and palm trees and all the crazies, I begin to relax and get a sense that we are on vacation.
December 11, 2003 — Alfred, Ohio. Oh lay! (Steve and Mary Ellen say this a lot — I think it means good day or something in Spanish). We departed around 4:10 p.m. Everyone is excited to leave. The weather looks like it will hold up until we get away. Drove to Parkersburg, West Virginia and got on I-77 South. We continued on through Virginia, North Carolina, and ended up just inside South Carolina (probably Rock Hill looking at the map once I got home). We saw snow up in the mountains.
December 9, 2003 — Alfred, Ohio. We are now making final preparations for our cruise through the Western Caribbean. I'll be certain to take pictures and post them when we get back.
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