Notes on the Cruise

I'm back!

Tan, rested, rejuvenated and ready for action!

The mini vacation was great.

On Thursday, my wife and I flew down to Miami and stayed at the Royal Palm which is right on the beach in South Beach. The hotel was great but I've come to the conclusion that I'm not a South Beach guy. Oh and Finnegan's Way may be a great place to watch a game (my friend Tim and I were there the night the Marlins beat the Yankees to win the World Series two years ago) but the food is not good - not good at all.

I don't know. Maybe its the fact that I've never been partial to places where cruising up and down a strip is a big part of the action. Maybe it's the fact that South Beach seems to be for people who never outgrew Spring Break. I don't know. I just know that I'm not a South Beach guy.

On Friday we hung out at the hotel pool and on the beach and then made our way to the Port of Miami to get on our ship - the Majesty of the Seas.

Cruises are great but there is a big difference in a weekend cruise and a seven day cruise. About half the people on the cruise were local from Florida and about half the people I met from Florida reminded me why they have Florida tags at FARK and that Carl Hiaasen is probably right about the residents of the Sunshine State.

I've always held the belief that on really good vacations the time seems slow at first and your first day seem like a week but by the end of the vacation - the time has flown by and your 4 days (or whatever) pass in what feels like a matter of hours. This was such a vacation.

Everyone raves about the food on cruises and with good reason. I'm a breakfast guy and every morning I had eggs benedict with either bacon or sausage. At night I had dinners of lamb, duck and mahi mahi in a sweet and sour sauce (my wife had steak twice and shrimp the third night). Just thinking about the food makes me go hmmmm....fooood.

Some random notes:

- If you are in Nassau - make sure you get a drink or three at Senior Frog's. I know it is a chain but it a very fun chain to visit

- Two of the ship staff were from Canada and what my wife and I found funny was how they introduced themselves whenever they had to speak at a microphone. Duane the Cruise Director would say "I'm Duane the Cruise Director and I'm from Toronto (skip a beat) Canada." The Activities Director did the same thing. Whenever they did that I always made sure to say to my wife "Is there another Toronto that I don't know about?" It's like someone saying they are from Chicago (skip a beat) America. I think it is some subconscious feeling of inferiority bred of always being in the US's shadow. Please note that this is not a slam against Canadians but simply an observation.

- One afternoon when we were tired from a day of snorkeling my wife and I saw the movie Sideways at the ship's cinema. At some point in the next few days I'm going to have to post about how bad that movie is.

- Finally - if there is an event on board the ship where they give away free champagne or free drinks - avoid it. The champagne will be third rate and the events will attract Floridians who should have FARK Florida tags tattooed to their foreheads.

The wife and I had a great time on the cruise but we're glad to be back home with the kids.