Finally back in cold cold Chicago after a week in the Caribbean for my first ever cruise! I had an absolutely mindbogglingly incredible time, although I did miss the Windy City as well. (by the way, did you know mindbogglingly is actually a word!)

I’ve posted some amazing pictures up on Facebook so head over there an take  a look! We flew out of Chicago early Monday morning, heading for Atlanta, Ga for our transfer to Miami, FL. Everything was going smoothly and we were on time with several hours to spare before we boarded the ship. We did have an unexpected change when Air Tran transferred our connecting flight to a flight TWO HOURS LATER in Atlanta! Miraculously we made it to the ship with 15 minutes to spare before the boarding dock closed! Phew! Talk about your close calls! Thank you thank you to the incredible taxi driver that FLEW to the Port of Miami.

Life Boat Drill

We boarded the ship, exhausted but ready for fun! Of course, they start snapping photos of you as soon as you board for purchase later. Which, I might add, is COMPLETELY unfair when you’ve just flown two flights and raced to the port in the heat while still wearing midwest attire. Not attractive. 😛 Everyone else on the ship (who were on time like good little boys and girls) had time to detox before the life boat drill which we all packed together for on deck. It was worth it though to watch the ship pull out of Miami Harbor. What incredible beach houses people have along the gulf! And we saw dolphins our first day, curiously leaping beside the ship!

My New House in Key West

The View From Our Cabin

After the life boat drill, Chase and I headed down to our stateroom, where we found our bags waiting for us outside the door. The room was small, but totally appropriate for what we would be using it for (which is sleeping.) The funniest thing was that they have a curtained window beside the bed. Chase pulled back the curtain to see the view and there was just a whiteboard behind it! Hahah! Why put a curtain in there at all? After unpacking (and several bouts of Chase jumping out of the closet and scaring me……repeatedly) we went to explore the ship!

 

Champagne Art Auctions in the Morning!

 

The Carnival Imagination is one of the fleet’s smaller ships, but was still enormous and packed full of incredible things to do! A casino, art

gallery (yay for Champagne art auctions at 11am!), auditorium stage, disco, 3 clubs, pinnacle bar, karaoke and comedy lounge, and TONS more! I took FULL advantage of the all-you-can-eat sushi bar and the 24 hour food offerings that are on every deck! What an incredible selection of food! I think I might have eaten myself to death in fact.

And that’s not even including the elegant dining room which we eagerly visited every evening for our “formal dining’ experience.

Getting Ready For Dinner with Adri and Tiffany

At dinner we met up with some of my Network Marketing friends including Coach Mark Davis, Mary Jo Leonard and Mike and Tiffany Potillo! It was great to see them and everyone looked beautiful! The food in the dining room was out of this world. They offer you a different menu every night and you can order anything you like (and as much as you like!) Some of my favorites were the Gazpacho (which they think it’s funny to serve in two parts, first you get a tiny pile of tomatoes, and after your look of disbelief at the size of your meal THEN they pour in the gazpacho around it, haha!), Prime Rib and Lobster Tail, Smoked Salmon and Basil, and the sinful Chocolate Melting Cake. mmmmmmmmm. Like I said. Ate. To. Death.

Tuesday we pulled in to Key West, FL which was HOT and WET! Key West is a fascinating place. I’m pretty sure that you can do whatever you want there. Haha, my Dad’s favorite description is from a bumper sticker seen on a lamp post on Duval St. It read “Key West! A work free drug place!”

One of the most curious things about Key West is that wild roosters just run all over the island! Usually a sight I expect to see in Mexico, it was funny to see these birds pecking in the yards of these huge multi-million dollar mansions.

After some tasty conch fritters with key lime mustard, Chase and I walked down Duval St; which runs through Key West, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. We went to a butterfly conservatory that we found there which was breathtaking. These HUGE bright-colored butterflies zoomed around us everywhere in the conservatory, which was also filled with exotic finches, baby turtles and (strangely) tiny quail birds running around. I have some great pictures of the baby quail that just hatched that day. So cute!

After staring at the incredible houses, cool old trees, and various art displays along Duval St., We stopped for a drink at the Hog’s Breath Inn, which is apparently “the” place to go if you’re visiting Key West. This place had…..VERY…… strong drinks. As we were leaving we saw a man sitting in a cafe across the street reading his daily newspaper. This WOULD be normal enough if the man had not been wearing a sequined showgirl hat, a painted on shirt, large black feathery wings and…… NO PANTS! Go figure. That’s Key West. He went nicely with the 3 80+year old women wearing leopard print Vegas dresses who were dancing and singing all the way down the street.

Leaving Key West we sailed west to Cozumel. The same humid heat that was slightly suffocating in Key West was cut by a magnificent breeze once the ship started moving. We reached Cozumel early because, unfortunately, a woman in our group had a complication with a blood clot and collapsed on the ship! I think she’s doing all right now, but I’m sure it was scary (I’m praying for you guys Roberto!) . They airlifted her to Miami from the hospital in Mexico.

Coumel

Cozumel was incredible. We docked at the pier in the gulf next to the Carnival Legend (which apparently crashed into the Norwegian cruise boat several weeks ago at that same pier! — I think it’s on YouTube). Chase and I rented a scooter and cruised around the whole island!

Atlantic Cozumel After Scootering

The beaches on the Atlantic side had much bigger waves and were completely deserted. We bought $3 Mexican blankets because we had forgotten our towels and lounged in the shallows behind  huge rocks. Gorgeous. Meanwhile, my parent’s visited Jimmy Buffet’s restaurant in Cozumel which they said you can swim in the ocean right at the restaurant. People were throwing their tortilla chips into the water and all the tropical fish were coming up to swim with you! Probably the funniest thing about Cozumel is how quiet it is with its small-town feel. In fact, Chase and I were scootering along and we randomly saw my sister Stephanie and her friend sitting outside a little Margarita hut. After telling her that my parent’s were looking all over for her, my parent’s pull right up next to us in a cab! It’s a small world in Cozumel.

 

Back on the boat for our last full day at sea, we took it easy getting ready for the night’s Halloween festivities. I did some reluctant packing while Chase terrorized the cute towel animals that the steward left for us everyday (they cleaned our room 3 times every day. Now that’s service!) We sipped champagne at an earlier art auction, and caught a 15minute film that Walt Disney and Salvador Dali did together.

The last day was HOT for sure! In the middle of the Caribbean ocean with no reprieve from the sun, the water slide on deck was a welcome entertainment. It was a good thing that it was windy or else it would have been TOO hot. It was so windy that when we went up to the front of the ship, we leaned into the wind and were held up by it! Haha, so much fun.

After lounging around by the pool we ate for the last time in the dining room (complete with ghost-shaped pumpkin cheesecake), where the waiters danced to the ending theme from “Slumdog Millionaire”. We changed into our costumes (Chase was Arnold Swarzenegger and Dad decided on the Dos XX’s “most interesting man in the world”.) then headed over to the Guru Cruise Private Cocktail Party. Afterwards it was off to the disco for some dancing and then on to more kareoke where a new networking acquaintance, Paulie, did a surprisingly accurate interpretation of “The Real Slim Shady and “Baby Got Back”. Oh yeah…..see my YouTube Channel for further details.