Goal #5 Completed--Go on a Cruise

I'm back and I missed my blogging friends!

We just got back from a 12 day cruise to the Southern Caribbean on the NCL Dawn. This completes goal #5 on my goal list.

We left New York and visited the Dominican Republic, Aruba, Curacao, Roatan, and Cozumel. Here's the highlights/comments from our trip:

• The average age of the cruisers was about 65. I think this is common on longer trips and trips during the off season when retires are more likely to travel.


• The cruisers also appeared to be about 20% gay. Which is fine except for a couple of them kept hitting on the hubby and I thought I would have to get in a girl fight a time or two. Also if I never hear the songs 'YMCA', 'It's Raining Men', 'Dancing Queen', and 'I Will Survive' again, I will be happy.


• And don't even get me started on men in Speedos. Ick.


• The best entertainment on the cruise was a duo called Fire and Ice. Usually cruise ship entertainment is OK at best but this lady does Tina Turner BETTER than Tina Turner. They put her in a small venue that was always standing room only and I have no idea why she isn't playing Vegas because she was sooo amazing. Here is a video I found of her on YouTube since I haven't uploaded my videos yet but the video doesn't even do her justice.


• The mostly Filipino crew were as always friendly and great. They are the most overworked, underpaid, and under appreciated people on the planet but I think they are wonderful!


• We visited: Dominican Republic (super poor but super nice people), Curacao (cute city), Aruba (the huge iguanas made me squeal and run), Roatan (poor but the kids there are so amazing), and Cozumel (way too commercial). Plus it was a beautiful 80+ degrees each day--love it!


• The "all inclusive" cruise of yesteryear is now anything but. It's kind of like a floating infomercial which is disappointing. My next post will detail how we are the cheapest cruisers the cruise lines have probably ever seen.

Overall we had a good time, I got another 15,000 words written for my book, I got a tan, and I'm sure I gained a few pounds (it's the tasty, unlimited food that did me in), and it was great to be able to practice my Spanish in all of the countries we visited.