Cruise Chronicle: The Best Vacation of my Life 9/11/2025 2:19:12 PM
Cruise Chronicle
The Best Vacation of my Life
By Joseph Gratton
Friday February 8th, 2019
We fly away
I wake up in the morning knowing that the day has finally come. I’ve been looking forward to this for months, ever since mom and dad booked this cruise. But it doesn’t get off to the best of starts, as dad gets us lost en route to the airport.
We still get there in plenty of time, now we have to get our passports checked and all our luggage sent through the checkpoint. The line seems to take forever to get through but we eventually make it to the gate and grab a quick bite to eat. I run over to a snack stand and grab a pack of jubes, because Air Canada recommends that you bring something chewy along to keep your ears from popping.
Yet, even though I am looking forward to this, as I sit there in the gate I can’t help but feel a wave of nervousness wash over me, because I haven’t flown since I was 8. That’s something I’ve come to regret, but still its nerve-wracking sitting there and then finally stepping onto the plane. I remember the last time I flew I freaked out on the way up. That was probably a by-product of my autism, as I like to say. I try to say to myself, ‘just think about what’s waiting for you at the other end of this.’ The problem with that is I really don’t know what’s waiting for me when we land, since I’ve never been on a cruise before.
Our plane is late taking off. This is why we are flying the day before we set sail. If we had booked the same flight on embarkation day, the ship would have left without us. She’d probably be gone before we were halfway there. This is one of the wisest things you can do while planning a cruise, but the truth is the reason we flew in the day before is because there were no available flights on the day of the cruise. And I don’t believe in coincidences.
When we do finally take off, I can’t help but hold mom’s hand. It’s a rough way up but before I know it, we’re at our cruising height of thirty-six thousand feet and the plane begins floating smoothly on the air, which would be relaxing, if it wasn’t for the roar of the engines from outside.
And look, they have a list of movies and music that I can choose from on the plane. They didn’t have that feature last time I was up in the air. I look through the list and choose Ice Age: Collision Course, the fourth installment in the franchise. In it Many, Sid and Diego and separated from their friends and family during an massive earthquake and end up setting sail on an iceberg trying to find their way home, encountering a ruthless pirate, a tribe of small furry creatures and tempting sirens along the way.
When the movie ends I put on some music for a little while. It’s the hit list on the plane, and some of it is what I often hear on the radio. But most of it is unfamiliar, so I unplug myself from my headphones and just look out the window at the sunset. Flying above the clouds and looking down, the evening light shining on them on them makes them look like they’re covered in lava; it’s quite a sight. Being up here in this plane is actually quite relaxing and if I didn’t regret not flying for sixteen years before, I do now. I still like taking the train better though and would’ve liked to have taken it down here. But that would take days and God knows how many transfers. Trains are for enjoying the journey, planes are for getting somewhere fast.
It is dark by the time we start our decent into Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Funnily enough, Florida was where we landed last time I flew. Going down takes longer than I would have hoped, because we have to circle around a little to find our runway. Outside I can see the lights of the city below us. I can also see where land ends and ocean begins as the lights abruptly give way to what, at this time of night, looks like utter blackness.
We finally touch down and the captain welcomes us to Ft. Lauderdale. After getting off the plane we find our luggage at the carrousel, then head outside to catch the shuttle to the hotel where we’ll spend the night. It’s after seven pm, but it’s still very warm out here. While we’re waiting for the shuttle, I can hear several planes taking off beyond the wall behind us. I used to watch planes go up and come in at the airport back home until the security staff told me I wasn’t allowed to do it at the airport. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
After several shuttles and busses pass by one that says Hilton Gardenway finally shows up and we put our luggage in the back, climb onboard and head off into the city. It’s not a long ride but that doesn’t matter. At night it’s hard to see much outside. Only bright lights and the outlines of buildings are really noticeable.
When we get to the hotel, we find some problems. The room we have a key for only has one double-bed and there are three of us. Back at the front desk it turns out that our room was booked by someone else, but eventually we get a room with a pull out sofa which straitens everything out.
At a late supper in the hotel restaurant, I have a chicken sandwich which I don’t think I can completely stomach, but that’s okay, it’s a first time for me having something like this. At the bar is a guy singing, of all things, Christmas Carols at the top of his voice. Since my younger sister Katie didn’t come with us, mom, dad and I wonder if she would have liked this guy’s singing or not, because while he has a great range, he’s a little off-key. While we’re there, Trump appears on the TV and I can’t help but tease him, until dad reminds me that we’re on his home turf and someone might get the wrong idea. So I never bring this up while we’re there again.
Back in the room I have a quick shower and get my PJs on. Mom and dad are watching Law and Order on TV. Uh-oh, in this show it looks like two kids were involved in a bully’s murder. I don’t like this, I’m going to bed!
Saturday February 9th, 2019
Embarkation Day
The next morning I wake up and the sun is shining. But, uh-oh dark clouds are rolling in! Looking out to my left, I can see the airplanes taking to the sky. In big cities like Toronto or popular tourist attractions like this place, there seems to be a never-ending parade of planes coming and going from the airport. I give me head a little shake as I think about it. I know how planes fly (the pressure below the wings is always greater than that above the wings) but how on Earth do you generate enough pressure to lift a multi-ton steel tube thirty-six thousand feet into the air!?
Anyway, it’s breakfast time and back at the restaurant, since it’s Saturday morning the old cartoons are playing on the TV. Oh, what fond memories come back to me looking at that screen. As we head out of the restaurant, I can’t help but notice a woman wearing a MAGA hat. I don’t think mom and dad notice but either way I don’t say a word, because she hasn’t noticed me. And saying something rude to her because of her hat would be no different than saying something rude to her if she was wearing a hijab.
It seems to have rained while we were having breakfast, but now the sky looks clear so how about a walk before we head to the ship. We step outside and into the oven. This is not February! It feels more like the middle of summer! And if it’s this hot now, how hot does it get when July and August roll around?
Dad and I start to head toward the street but mom heads the other way into the hotels’ parking lot. I should have known. Whenever we go on vacation, mom looks at cars’ licence plates to see how many provinces/states she can find. And low and behold as we walk around the parking lot, I think we find plates from half of the United States. There are even a few Ontario plates. Someone from home drove all the way down here? Anyway, last night I heard the sound of a train whistle. The crossing where I heard it just comes into sight when we turn back if we want to catch our shuttle to Port Everglades at 12:30.
The walk was so hot that I need a drink as soon as we get back to the hotel. So I suggest that we fill our water bottles that we brought with us for the check-in line-up. Back in the lobby, it looks like most people have taken earlier shuttles to the port; there aren’t too many people left waiting for one when we sit down with our luggage. Mom tries to find a sports page in the paper to see what happened In the NHL last night, but there doesn’t seem to be any hockey news in the paper. Oh well, nobody’s perfect.
The shuttle comes and we find ourselves heading, apparently, back the way we came last night. We are just passing the airport again, when I look ahead and see them I the distance. The cruise ships, with their gleaming white hulls and building-like windows lining either side of them. You know, white seems to be the one colour that everyone looks good in.
As we arrive at the port, I notice one large ship with a crane that is holding a yacht up in the air. That’s got to be a strong piece of machinery. When the van stops we all get off only to find out that the ship we have tickets for isn’t at this stop. That’s a Princess Cruise Line ship. Ours sails with Royal Caribbean International. So it’s back on the van to head off to the other end of the port. What do you know, it’s just the three of us now. On the way we again pass the yacht hanging in the air and several other large ships and some smaller ones, all of which draw my eyes to some degree.
At little later the van stops again, and there she is! Royal Caribbean’s Voyager class flagship Adventure of the Seas. She doesn’t look quite as big as the other one we stopped at earlier, but she’s just as pretty. I look up at the top and see that she has waterslides. Good, that was one thing I was really hoping for. We leave our luggage with the porters and head to the check-in office, which as it turns out is indoors, so we don’t have to worry about getting hot this time. It doesn’t take very long to get through the line-up this time and we soon have our sea pass cards which get us onto the ship and into ours staterooms. Unfortunately, since dad and I have the exact same name on our passports, we have the same name on our sea pass cards. This could be a little awkward.
So, we finally get on the ship and find our way to our stateroom. Oh dear, more bed troubles. The sofa in our room isn’t a pull-out. What to do? Not to worry, it turns our there’s a bunk bed tucked away in the ceiling which the ship staff will unlock tonight.
The room is rather small, but there’s enough space to move around in. And we have a little balcony from which we can see far off into the distance. Just starboard to Adventure is a small strip of land which appears to be linked to the mainland via a short road tunnel. Several small boats pass us and we can’t help but wave to the people in them, most of whom wave back.
And look, there’s a breakfast menu which we can fill out and magnetically paste to the door if we want a quick breakfast in the morning. It looks cool but for some reason, we never get around to using it. Out on the balcony the most notable ship that passes us is a container ship. It’s not as big as some of the ones I’ve seen on TV but it’s still pretty impressive.
Being on a ship like this for the first time calls for a little tour. So we head out to see what Adventure of the Seas has in store for us. I want to go up to the top deck and see what’s up there. On the way we pass the main pool and take a little walk around the jogging track. When we get to deck 15 we find the only thing on it is . . . a chapel! Dad wonders if there’s a service tomorrow, him being a minister and all.
We then head to the royal promenade on deck five where there is much to see and do. One of the first things we see here is a cool-looking car. “Hands off, please” someone says. “I just waxed it.” That is when we hear the announcement of an information session called Get to Know the Adventure, about what to do and see on the ship. That’s why we’re out walking so let’s check it out.
After that little meet and greet with our cruise director we head back to the room and read a little on our balcony. I’m reading a book called Black Klansman, the need-to-hear-it-to-believe-it true story of the first African-American police officer in a small Colorado town who, with the help of a white surrogate, infiltrated the KKK and sabotaged their efforts to grow in his community. They call themselves “pure Aryan whites.” Ha! Being someone who has at least one very good friend who’s black, and also Muslim by the way, I consider myself a thousand times more pure than they are.
Now it’s down to business however. Before we depart, we have to have a drill on what to do if we run into trouble at sea. Our gathering point is B11 on deck 4, starboard side just below the lifeboats and we find ourselves crowded in with several other people hoping that this is the only time we have to do this. As we stand here, I watch as one by one three other cruise ships head out ahead of us. The emergency signal on a cruise ship is seven quick blasts of the whistle followed by one long blast. I am not the only one who covers my ears for that.
When the Captain gives us the all-clear we disperse from each other and mostly go do our own thing. I lean on the railing and stare out at the ocean, hoping to be able to watch the launch, but it’s dinner time for us. Maybe I’ll get another chance at one of our ports of call.
The main dining room is located aft and actually encompasses decks 3, 4 and 5. And what a place it is. An elegant chandelier hangs in the middle of it all, table cloths as smooth as silk and we have a three course menu here. We find our way to our table, a small four-seater tucked in a cozy corner on deck 5. It’s while we are sitting down at it that Adventure departs from Port Everglades. The ships that left before us appeared to be sailing pretty smoothly, but as we leave I can immediately feel the motion of the sea beneath us, which is something that has always unnerved me a bit. But it’s not too serious, I think I can handle it.
Our waiter is James from India and we instantly take a liking to him thanks to his cheerful manner. When he gives us our menus, I choose spaghetti and when I receive it, I find that it is some of the best pasta I’ve ever had. I don’t know what it is that makes it so good, maybe it’s just the sauce. Mom however can’t decide between chicken and polenta. James says he will look after it, and returns with the chicken. Mom tucks into it, but then a few minutes later, James appears with the other dish! He got her them both. To keep from having too much access food she shares some of the chicken with me and some of the polenta with dad. No big deal.
At seven thirty its trivia time at the schooner bar on deck 4. The theme is classic rock and I think we do fairly well, but because I didn’t know most of the answers I decide that next time we do a trivia on this ship I’ll write the answers down. The piano bar man Keith, who’s from Canada by the way, arrives at quarter to nine with his music. Before he gets here, dad admits to a fellow cruiser that we were going to wait until they retired to do this, but we’d recently lost a good friend so you never know what can happen. Mom and dad like Keith and his music but I loss interest after a little while and set off to find a quiet spot for my own music.
I find myself outside on deck 4 right where I was when we gathered for the drill earlier today. It seems like a good enough place so I sit down, plug my headphones in and put on a childhood favourite: Sesame Street Platinum All-time Favourites. That almost half-century old show is one of the few whose music never gets old. When I sit back in my seat, all I can see beyond the ship is endless darkness. It’s as if we’re just floating through the night sky itself. When I stand up and lean on the railing I can just make out where sea and sky meet. Off in the distance I can also see the lights of another ship sailing in the same direction as ours. I wonder where it’s headed.
Even before the music ends I resolve to come back to this place every night with my iPod. It’s hard to believe but that little device sat lifeless at the bottom of my drawer for eight months before I learned how to make it work. Now I can’t imagine sitting around without it. Before heading to bed, I go up to deck 13 and look at the Perfect Storm Waterslides. They are closed now, but tomorrow I intend to go down them. This is going to be one heck of a week.
Sunday February 10th, 2019
A day at Sea
The first night on Adventure is pretty well smooth and the motion of the ocean is just like being rocked back and forth in a crib. It’s certainly better than the last ship I slept on, which was an overnight car-carrier ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland when we went out East a decade ago. I remember that sleeping on that ship was easier said than done because it rocked and rolled on the water a lot more than Adventure did. And we didn’t even have our own cabin on that ship; I was sharing a barracks with several other guys my age and we were all in our day clothes, so that didn’t help much. Neither did the hum of the ferry’s engines, which were much louder than Adventure’s. And, on top of all that, the room with the barracks in it wasn’t very dark. I am one of the few people in this world who can proudly say that they’ve never been afraid of the dark! But I’m just rambling on here, let’s get back to the Caribbean.
There is nothing like waking up in the morning, opening the curtains and seeing nothing but sky of blue and sea of green. That is exactly what I do while I’m still in bed this morning. After mom showers, which sometimes takes a while for her, we head back to the main dining room for breakfast. It’s Sunday, so for me it’s eggs and sausages, if I can just choose the right kind, that is.
Mom and dad plan to go to a port shopping sow in the Lyric Theater where we met our cruise director yesterday, but I’ve already made my mind up: I’m going to the Perfect Storm to enjoy what Adventure has to offer. I get there a little early, turns out the Perfect Storm doesn’t open ‘til ten this morning. So I just hang out and look around for a few minutes. The flowrider surf simulator is open now and there is a long line-up to try it. I’ve never surfed before, so it doesn’t interest me. To give you an idea of what this thing looks like imagine looking at water gushing over rapids while looking downstream. That’s more-or-less what the flowrider is.
Here’s a little tip for any first-time cruiser who might read this one day: If you don’t’ bring a swimsuit on your cruise, you might as well not have come. You’ll need it for a lot of things, both on and off the ship. The waterslides open at last and I’m one of the first people to the top. The wind is blowing really hard but the stairs to the slides are enclosed so I don’t feel it up here.
The lifeguard at the top of the slides, a cool-looking guy from the Philippians, has a walkie-talkie because he can’t see the bottom from up here. From down on the deck, a voice comes out of it. “Copy, copy, sending both,” says the lifeguard, and a moment later, I’m off. Look at this. The blue slide has coloured light rings on the inside which light it up beautifully. But at the bottom I get water up my nose. Not a pleasant feeling. Note to self, plug your nose next time, which I do. But, whoa! The yellow slide takes a big dip right before the end and I’m thrown wildly from side to side. And I don’t notice when it happens but sometime while I’m on these slides a lump forms on my back. I can’t see it, but I can feel it. But it only hurts when I’m touching it, so it’s probably just a bruise. I’ve never had much padding on my back which makes me vulnerable to this sort of thing.
Other than that, I have a great time. And when I’ve had enough of the slides I try a little mini-golf. This is an interesting course, because it is partially on two decks and half-way through is a hole that includes a ramp that your ball roles down to the deck below. You catch up with it at the bottom. For some reason, I’ve always liked holes like that. Off in the distance I can just make out the vague shape of one of the many islands in this sea. Given our coordinates, it must be Cuba.
When I get back to the room and change back into regular clothes I then set off to find mom and dad. I takes a little while though and lunchtime is almost over when I find them already in the dining room. Next time we do our own thing on the ship we decide to agree on a meeting time and place. I ask mom and dad how the presentation was and they tell me that it wasn’t very enjoyable, which makes me the smart one this morning.
After lunch we head back to the room and the balcony for more reading. In Black Klansman our hero has to call himself a – uh, let’s just say he has to use the ugly black word a lot and it’s rather sickening to read this stuff. But on the whole the fact that the Klan organizer is talking about how bad blacks are to a black man without realizing it is rather hilarious! Still, what I see in here makes me glad that I live in the twenty-first century. Yes, there is still ugliness in this world, but it pales in comparison to back then. At least in North America, anyway.
Then we feel like a walk, so we head down to deck 4 and stroll around the outside walk. In the water below I can see small clumps of seaweed. That’s what it turns out to be at least, but it’s a rather yellow-orange colour like blue whale dung and part of me hopes we might be on the trail of one. But no, it’s just seaweed. No matter, it’s nice our here and there’s nothing but blue skies and clear waters as far as the eye can see. And as we explore more and more of the ship it seems as though there are more recycling bins on board than there are trash cans. All of which are branded with the #savethewaves. Yes! Sometime later we find our way to an arcade which has an old favourite game of mine and I try to play it but it won’t accept my sea pass card so we decide to come back later when we know how to make it work, but we end up never retuning to this place.
Back inside we head back to the Schooner Bar for more trivia. Today we meet Isaac from Spain. If you don’t like it, he’s from Russia. This guy knows how to have a good time with everyone. He has three rules for trivia he says. “Rule number one: I’m always right. Rule number two: Pay attention. Focus people, focus! Rule number three: I’ll tell you later!” Rule number three is no fighting. “The prize is just a simple key-chain!” says Isaac. He also says things like “Number 14 is my gift to you because I love you. I love you, but I don’t trust you!” When this round of trivia is over it’s just about dinner time, and we head back to the fancy restaurant on deck 5. It’s our first formal night, so I have to put on one of the few pair of pants that I brought with me. It’s a little strict but I don’t mind too much. Dad does though, and we don’t eat here on formal night again.
Tonight I order chicken for dinner and like the spaghetti last night, it tastes delicious. But I think I’ve gotten my beverages mixed up here, because I’m having chocolate milk tonight with the chicken and last night I had diel coke with the spaghetti. Why do I think this? Because for the last little while, I’ve believed that it’s chocolate mike that goes best with pasta and meat sauce, not coke. Oh well, just a little brain cramp. But enough of that, let’s put on something nice, make sure our hair looks good, and go meet the Captain of this fine vessel.
Captain Shawn McDuff is in the Royal Promenade for his Welcome Aboard Reception. At first I don’t see him, in fact I walk right past him. Then Mom finds me and points me back to where McDuff is having formal portraits taken of him and the guests. This is an unexpected privilege. And how about this, it turns out he’s a fellow Canuck from Vancouver. When it’s my turn I can’t help but ask him “What’s it like running a ship like this?”
“Busy!” he says. That pretty much sums it up. Later, he says hi to all of us from a little bridge linking the two sides of the promenade on the upper deck and introduces us to his senior staff. Being a Star Trek fan I know most of the positions these people work. When the chief medical officer comes out, the band on the promenade plays the theme from the TV show MASH. Ha-ha, clever!
After all that excitement, it’s back to deck 4 for me and iPod. Since it’s Sunday night, I decide to play from my collection of Voices United Accompaniment CD’s, which were created for churches that had trouble finding someone to play hymns on their piano. I might as well use them the way they were intended to be used. I collected them just to sing along with them, but since I’ve put them on iPod, I haven’t done that very much. After an hour or so, I skip ahead to a closer, which is what I do when I’m listening to random music on iPod, and head to bed for a good night’s sleep, cause we’ve got a big day tomorrow.
Monday February 11th, 2019
Falmouth, Jamaica
Land ho! That’s what comes to my mind when I open the curtains the next morning and see the coast line of Jamaica, the birthplace of my black Muslim friend Kahmeqia from work and pop group Boney M who do my favourite Christmas album. Today is the first of three shore excursions we booked ahead of coming aboard. We are off to the Green Grotto caves and then to the dun river falls, for what will become the highlight of the cruise so far. After breakfast in the main dining room we walk back to our stateroom. By now we have decided that if we want to cross the ship, we should do it via the Royal Promenade on deck 5 to avoid the smell of cigar smoke in the casino below us.
At 9:30 am we gather at the Lyric Theater on deck 3 and are organized into groups that, one by one, head down several flights of stairs to deck 1 and the gangway off the ship. It is then that I get my first real good look at Adventure. We spent most of the boarding proses indoors out of sight of the ship, so now that I can see her I am in total awe of everything about her. This ship is just as much a marvel of engineering as airplanes. One thousand twenty feet long, fifteen decks high, weighs a hundred and thirty-seven thousand tons, yet she floats across the water as if she’s made of plastic!
Anyway, here we are in Jamaica and all around us are others going on the shore excursions. There are many small stores and restaurants in the port including a Dairy Queen, now there’s a nice taste of home.
When we find our group, we get on a neat-looking bus and set off down the road. It’s always warm down here in the Caribbean, so I have my water bottle with me. As we set off I notice that we are driving on the left-hand side. Our guide says that Jamaica was once under British control, so they’ve always done things the British way. She then asks everyone onboard the bus say who they are and where they’re from. Most of us are from the United States, there are a few Canadians, and there’s one couple from China. As we go along Jamaica’s forest covered hills rise before us, as do many of their unique looking towns. It would have been a perfect ride, had it not been for the signs of damage still left over from a recent hurricane a few years back.
After half an hour, we arrive at the green grotto caves and head down into them to see what we can find. It’s quiet in here but warm so I don’t take too many drinks of water. The one thing our guide keeps mentioning is that these caves were used in filming one of the James Bond movies. I don’t remember which one, so next time I watch a Bond movie I should look for familiar scenes.
The caves are silent for most of the tour, not really exciting until we get to a small underground lake which is so still and smooth that it’s hard to tell where the water line actually is. And which rock formations are in the water and which are just incredible reflections from above. And with no wind down here this lake will probably stay just as still for generations to come.
After we come out of the caves there is a drink to be had at the refreshment stand just outside. But I don’t think I like it that much and let dad have it. Then it’s back on the bus and off to the falls to climb up them. En route we have to stop, because water shoes are required for this part of the excursion and we don’t have any. So we have to buy some from a local vendor. For the three of us it costs thirty US dollars, so not too expensive.
When we get there, I decide to leave my watch on the bus so that I don’t know what time it is. Dad suggested that we may not have enough time to go all the way up, so knowing what time it is will just stress me out. And I do not want to feel stressed today.
It takes a little while to walk down to the beach at the end of the river and then to start up the falls. To clear it up for you we’re not climbing this waterfall as if we were climbing a cliff, we are basically walking up it. It’s not very steep and there are several small footholds in the rocks. I wonder if they were formed naturally or from a whole lot of people stepping in those spots. Or maybe they were cut there on purpose.
Whoo-hoo! Compared to the caves this is much more fun. All the way up it’s a wild ride and you never know where the top is. Our guide here and the man videoing us are a lot of fun to. He goes: “All the way!”
We go “All the way!”
He goes “All the way!”
We go “All the way!”
He goes “Up, up, up!”
We go “Up, up, up!”
Rise after rise the falls go on and on. Someone though tries to go right up the middle. I don’t remember this but dad says the guides loudly tell them to go back to the sides of the river. On the way up we have to duck under a bridge and hold hands with each other a lot. Uh-oh! A little more than half-way up I notice one of our fellow cruisers being carried by our guide and her husband out of the river. It turns out that she’s broken a bone in her foot! I hope she’s okay.
Now we come to what the guides call the reggae plunge, where we just lean back and fall into the water. I don’t know if I want to do it at first but everyone else does, so why not. Mom and I do it together, and it isn’t that bad. Although I think I hit my neck hard on the water a bit because it hurts a little afterword’s, but it’s not serious.
At last, after a grueling but exhilarating climb, we reach the top of the falls. When we all settle down at the top, another group comes up behind us. Among them is a dad with a very small baby on his back, and my dad wonders how the people running this attraction could allow that. On the way out, we try to avoid the shops knowing that the vendors will try to talk us into buying something a little expensive, but we end up purchasing a few wooden Tiki heads with our names on them. It’s no big deal.
When we get back on the bus I find my backpack and my watch. Oh we’re laughing. It took about an hour to get hear from the port and we have to be back on board the ship by 5:30. For the drive back we also have the lunches we ordered when we got to the falls. I don’t remember what I had but I only eat what I need of it because I know that dinner tonight is going to fill us pretty good. For the drive back to the port the driver puts on some Bob Marley for us. It starts with my favourite of his which is One Love/People Get Ready. It’s good to hear this one again, since I haven’t heard it on the radio in a long time.
When we get back to the port Adventure is waiting for us but mom and dad both have to go to the bathroom which leaves me to sit around and admire our impressive home for the weak. Some people describe cruise ships as floating hotels and yeah, that’s pretty much what Adventure is. But in an actual hotel, you don’t wake up with a different tropical island in your backyard every morning.
Back on the ship and after dinner, its movie night by the pool. This is something I’d been hoping to do since we got on board. Tonight’s film is Christopher Robin, a live-action version of Winnie the Pooh in which our old bear friend finds a grown-up Christopher Robin in London who has lost his way thanks to his selfish, domineering boss. But thanks to a visit to the hundred acre wood and with a bit of encouragement from his wife and daughter, Christopher regains his appreciation for life and stands up to his boss, calling him a woozle. And as Pooh says “Sometimes doing nothing leads to the very best something.”
After the film ends I head back to deck 4 with iPod for some Classic Disney. It only fits after just watching a Disney film, right. A little way into it however, I feel like a coke so I pause the music and head inside to find one for tonight.
Tuesday February 12th, 2019
George Town, Grand Cayman
Next morning, when I pull back the curtains the first thing I see is another cruise ship anchored starboard of us. Voyager, is that you? I think to myself. I think this because part of me is hoping that we’ll run into Adventures’ sister-ship Voyager of the Seas, because that ship was featured on what is still today my favourite kids’ television show Mighty Machines. But no it isn’t her, it’s not even a Royal Caribbean ship as I thought at first. It’s MSC Seaside. And while she looks bigger than Adventure, our ship looks prettier.
Today we are in Grand Cayman, and this port of call is the only one on this trip where, rather than actually docking, Adventure has to anchor out in the bay because she won’t fit in the actual docks and we have to take a small boat called a tender into shore.
Again it is a beautiful day on the island. As our tender departs for land I tell mom to take a picture of the ship and what she takes ends up being the best picture of the cruise. We don’t have a shore excursion planned for today, we’re just going ashore to explore the place. And do some shopping for souvenirs.
One of the first things we do on Grand Cayman is go inside a little church. It is Elmslie Memorial United Church established 1846. It looks as though this church has its own little rock band instead of a choir because there is a drum set on the stage. The walls are lined with plaques commemorating disseised members of the church. Dad’s old church has a little wooden board that does that, but each member having their own plaque? Now that’s unique.
As we walk down the road, we come across several chickens roaming around. They are rather social and don’t pay us humans much attention. I’m thinking next time we come here, we should bring a bad of seed for them. Just off shore are a group of snorkelers. It must be a shore excursion happening here. Hey look at this, there’s a shop called Bayshore here, now that’s close to home. Then something really catches our attention; a t-shirt with an image of a shark in a bat-man costume captioned The Shark Knight in a clothing store window. That is definitely something my uncle Chris would like.
We continue walking past several more chickens, a cool stingray-shaped fountain and lots of vegetation that is indigenes to this island. All the while, Adventure and Seaside never fade from sight. Next place that catches our attention is a dress shop. On a mannequin outside is a white dress with pink flowers which Katie, my younger sister who didn’t come with us would love. Inside are several choices, including another white one with several jewel-like flowers. This one looks good to, but somehow, the pink one seems more of Katie’s style. Unfortunately, they don’t have it in her size. Oh well, the white one will have to do.
Grand Cayman is fairly small. To give you an idea of its size, mom says that she heard that you could bike all around its perimeter in a single day. One thing that catches my eye off shore is what appears to be a floating playground, like you would see in a park back home, except on the water. In is comprised of inflatable waterslides, ladders and a water trampoline. Part of we would want to check it out, but it looks as though it’s for young kids so we’re not doing that.
After we’ve walked as far as we want to, we turn back and shortly after we come across some more chickens, one of them being a black hen. And the next thing I know, that old Higgledy-Piggledy nursery rhyme is coming back to me for the first time in years. The simplest things always seem to stir the deepest memories. Back at the dress shop, we by the white dress with the jewel-like flowers for Katie. Just outside it is a small, very colourful statue of some kind of reptile, maybe a lizard? Or an iguana? Whatever it is I ask mom to take a picture of me with it, because it looks very cool.
In the bushes nearby are more chickens, and look there’s a couple of chicks in there. Too cute! By now we’re all thirsty, so we head back to a convenience store for a pop. Mom and Dad just go for what is there, but I specifically want a diet Pepsi because that is my favourite drink and since Adventures’ main pop brand is Coke, I haven’t had any Pepsi all week. But no matter, there is some here and my taste-buds are satisfied.
Now how about some ice cream. There’s a parlor not far from the convenience store and it’s still rather warm out. When we get there I consider for a moment having chocolate and peanut butter, since that is the best flavour combination ever, but at heart I’m a vanilla guy, so I decide to stick with my usual. As I sit down at a table while mom and dad get our cones I turn on the iPad which mom brought along for pictures and it’s only then that I see the picture of Adventure that I asked mom to take when we were on the tender boat. It is quite an impressive shot with a few of our fellow cruisers in the foreground, the ship dominating the photo and nothing but sea and shy in the background. When mom comes to the table with the ice cream she thinks for a moment that I’ve pulled this picture form a website. She doesn’t realize that she took that shot. Also, I must have found my sea legs, because the island seems to be rocking beneath my feet.
We seem to have seen everything here, but I’m curious to see what’s behind the main road. It doesn’t seem like much at first, but one thing does catch our eyes. It’s a statue of two women climbing a staircase with the words strength, determination and equality written on it. And behind it is a series of plaques lined with the names of local civil rights activists. How about this, some of them lived to be a hundred!
After that we troupe into a chocolate store for come Cayman Islands fudge. We each take a box home with us and the flavour I chose is chocolate and peanut butter. On the way back to the ship I buy myself a nice shell from a vendor at the port. When we find her, she blows into a shell horn, and makes the sound we’ve been hearing all day. We thought it was Adventures’ whistle but apparently, it was this. She tries to get me to buy a more expensive one, but all I want is something decorative.
The tender back to Adventure is packed and we find ourselves squeezed into one of the back seats. As we sail back to the ship, another boat passes us with two people on board. I hope they’re not going to be long with whatever they’re doing, Adventure’s going to leave soon. Back on our balcony, we do some more reading. Today in Black Klansman our hero Ron Stallworth’s accomplices are filling out their KKK applications, when one of them almost derails the entire investigation when he signs his real name rather than his undercover identity. Then a bit of quick thinking by the two of them gets the form he signed thrown out and it is replaced with a new one. Whew! That was close.
After Adventure leaves Grand Cayman, I take mom and dad back to the waterslides. The more the merrier, as they say. But mom scolds me by saying “You didn’t tell me the yellow slide dipped like that.” Hey, it wasn’t anything intentional, I just let it slip. We don’t stay at the slides as long as I did on the sea day, but I still have a great time.
During dinner that night, something happens that really makes my day. Mid-way through, the head waiter says he has something special for me. Earlier I tried to order a vanilla milkshake but that’s not available in the main dining room. So the head waiter had gone to the other end of the ship to get one for me. Dad says he thinks it’s because they figured out that I’m autistic.
Later on the waiters put on a show for us and at one point, someone who’s speaking on a PA system says that their staff is from forty different nations. By now it has become clear what we like best about the ship itself: While the bulk of us passengers are from Canada and the United States, Adventures’ staff and crew are form all over the planet! What have I mentioned so far? Our Captain is from Canada, our waiters in this dining room are from India, the lifeguard at the top of the waterslides is from the Philippians, another waiter which we often see at breakfast is form Jamaica, Isaac the trivia guy is from Spain, and our cruise director, whom we met at the get to know the Adventure presentation is from Ireland.
After dinner, we head back to the Schooner Bar for a trivia on songs with colour. Isaac is back with his great sense of humor. “Focus people, focus!” It’s always more enjoyable with him behind the mic.
When that’s over, I head back to the outdoor promenade on deck 4 with iPod and tonight, since I have lots of time, I just hit the shuffle button and listen to whatever comes up. One track that comes up, since I don’t see any harm in letting in a few Christmas tracks here and there, is Oh Santa from the Veggietales episode The Toy that saved Christmas. Although frightened by the intruder in the spirit of Christmas, Larry slams the door in the IRS agents face!
In the back of my mind, since I have a knack for anthropomorphizing things, I hear the ship say “What!?”
“That’s what he did, Adventure.” When I’m done, I feel like a coke, which I take back to my room.
Wednesday February 13th, 2019
Costa Maya, Mexico
Next morning we are still out at sea, sailing for our first of two stops in Mexico. We don’t have a shore excursion for today, but we do for tomorrow and that is the one I can’t wait for.
Anyway, after breakfast mom and dad are off to trivia with Isaac again, but this morning I want to watch the ship come in to port. So I head out to the promenade on deck 4 where I’ve been listening to my music all week and watch as the Mexican coastline comes slowly nearer. In the distance I can see another cruise ship already docked there and it looks like another Royal Caribbean ship. I wonder if this one is Voyager.
As Adventure approaches the port she begins to turn around so I change sides from starboard to port. As I do, I can see that the other ship is a different class than Adventure, so it’s not her sister ship I’ve been hoping to see. It is Vision of the Seas, a member of one of the smaller classes in Royal Caribbean’s fleet. Oh well, she’s still a beauty.
As I watch Adventure makes a complete ninety degree turn so that her port side is facing the dock and then, incredibly she eases herself almost completely sideways right over to it without any help from tub boats. I knew that cruise ships could do that because Voyager said so on Mighty Machines but seeing one do it for real is pretty impressive.
From down below comes a loud squeal as Adventure presses against the rubber bumpers that keep her from crashing into the dock. After she comes to a stop her mooring lines are pulled taught and here we are in Costa Maya, Mexico which, according to our cruise compass, which is basically a newspaper for the daily activities, is best known for its tropical jungles, idyllic beaches and translucent lagoons.
Now that we’ve arrived I head to the schooner bar to find mom and dad. The trivia theme for this morning was a name the animal picture challenge, in which Isaac distributed paper that has several pictures of animals on them and there is one that I recognise as a Tasmanian Devil because of its red ears that mom and dad did not.
So now we are back on our balcony staring out at the sea and also doing a little more reading. As Ron Stallworth’s story continues his accomplices for this investigation are being officially inducted into the KKK. During the ceremony, the Klan’s head man David Duke, the Grand Wizard as he’s known, sprinkles holy water on the inductees and asks them to recite a weird prayer, which while meant for God I think was actually received by the devil or whatever evil force poisoned someone into creating the KKK.
However the important part of this is that I thought that any kind of prayer the Ku Klux Klan would say would be full of ugliness toward blacks. But change the word “white” to something like “noble” and it’s actually pretty legit. I won’t include it here because it’s intended to put white over black, but I will say that it is a bit of an eye-opener for me.
After we’re done reading we head to lunch and our first meal at the Windjammer Café on deck 11. Until recently we thought that we had to go to the main dining room but it’s not open for lunch when the ship is in port, so let’s go here. The food here is just as good as it is in the main dining room and today I feel like trying something new: Pasta with honey-garlic sauce. I usually have meat sauce with pasta, but I have been trying to broaden my pallet a little and this isn’t bad.
From our table at the Windjammer I can see a waterpark in the distance which looks like it was built out of an old ruin. Just to my left Vision of the Seas sits on the other side of the dock. She’s not as big as Adventure and it doesn’t appear that she has waterslides. But she does have larger balconies than Adventure, so I guess everyone had their own strength. One of the staff we meet at the Windjammer says she’s from Croatia. As I said before the most appealing thing about Adventure herself is her incredibly multi-cultural staff and it is now that I suggest that we do something that if we had started on day one of the cruise we might have been able to complete: “We should make a list of all the nationalities we find on the ship.”
After lunch we decide to get off the ship and explore Costa Maya. At this port it’s a long walk form the ship to the actual port and they have a little tram that takes people along the dock, saving them a few steps. When we look back at the ships, the size comparison between Adventure and Vision becomes more pronounced. According to the magazine in which mom and dad booked this cruise Voyager class ships like Adventure are 154 feet longer, three decks taller, almost 60, 000 tons heavier and can carry over one thousand more guests than Vision class ships. As we walk down the dock we can’t help but notice a small door built right into the side of the dock that seems to lead nowhere. Maybe it’s the way to Narnia!
One of the first things we see when we reach the land is a group of Mexican musicians in wild costumes playing the bongos. If you think the musicians are impressive enough look at what we find just beyond a whole lot of NFL merchandise stands; a trapeze act! It’s a bunch of guys dressed as eagles climbing up a 75 foot pole, wrapping long ropes attached to their ankles around the top of it and then swinging down around the pole unwinding themselves. Kids, don’t try this as home these guys are professionals, they’re the best! At least they’d better be, because an announcer says that those ropes are the only thing holding them up; they have no cables or safety nets. Thanks for the heart-attack!
Ah, look at this. There’s a nice looking pool here. Why did we not bring our swimsuits? Oh well, we just put our feet in the water for a few minutes. Afterwards we head into a thatched roof bar for a drink. I just get my usual diet coke but mom and dad decide to get a pair of large cocktails. I look nervously at them but dad says “It’s okay, we’re not driving the ship.”
Never mind that though, it’s a good thing we are under a thatched roof because while we’re there it suddenly begins to pour! Soon the bar is crowded with people trying to stay out of the rain. Good rains like this one never last long however, and the rain stops shortly after it starts. When we finish our drinks, mom and dad ask if they can take their unique drink containers home with them and the bartender says they can.
We come out from under the thatched roof to find that the sky is clear again and after we look around a bit I spot a display pen of life-size plastic flamingos. Wait a minute, those aren’t plastic they’re real! They were just standing so still that they tricked me. As we look at them one of the birds stretches out its wings and neck and makes a cooing sound. It’s a stance that looks pretty impressive, like he’s trying to attract a mate.
Beyond the flamingos there is a bunch of parrots all of them perched in palm trees. It looks like there’s a way into the series of rope bridges that surround this place, but it might cost something to go into them so I don’t try it.
Oh boy, we’ve just found mom’s weakness. There’s a chocolate factory here and next thing we know we are wondering around it looking for sweet souvenirs.
Oh look, dolphins! There’s a pool full of them just at the edge of the ocean and there are swimmers in there with them. This is a preview for tomorrow when we arrive in Cozumel and go swimming with them ourselves. The beautiful creatures leap around and put on a little show for us while we watch them, and it reminds me that when we were booking the cruise, a dolphin swim was something that I absolutely wanted to do.
On the way back to the ship a cute fish statue which is brightly painted and mom decides to take a picture of me with it. The first attempt doesn’t work out very well because of the light we’re in, so mom tries again without a flash.
Then we again pass the NFL merchandise stands. You know, until I got a job working concessions for my local football team, the Ottawa Redblacks, I wasn’t a very big football fan because I didn’t have a clue how it worked. But after working a couple of seasons with the Redblacks and learning the basics, I’ve gotten quite attached to it. That is I’m attached to the Canadian version of it. My apologies to any NFL fan who may one day read this, but I think that compared to the way we Canadians play it, American football is wussie-ball.
Anyway, Mom also takes pictures of the water as we walk back down the dock because it has such a nice colour. Since there is such a long dock at this port as we walk back to the ship, a little tram that runs up and down the dock passes us. That’s a neat way to say a few steps.
And all along the dock we pass several small Mexican bands playing a little music, many of them with unique looking instruments. I wonder why they we’re here earlier when we got off Adventure. I didn’t hear this but mom and dad said that someone had told them that if we docked here in Costa Maya we should take a shore excursion because there isn’t much to do here. But he must’ve been either thinking of someplace else or trying to sell the excursions, because of all the places we explored on this cruise, Costa Maya has been the most enjoyable.
When we get back on Adventure, mom and dad want to go swimming because we haven’t done that yet on the cruise. The main pool is a little shallow however, so we decide to go to the solarium which is for adults only. Geez, the water is cold! Yet eventually, we get used to it and enjoy ourselves very much.
After another pleasing dinner it’s once again movie night by the pool. Tonight’s film is Ocean’s 8 a reboot of the Ocean’s 11 franchise with a female lead. In earlier installments Danny Ocean leads a ragtag team of crocks to pull off a major heist. In this new film however his younger sister Debby, who’s played by Sandra Bullock, is leading a team of female ragtags to steal a priceless neckless from the Met gala.
If you think that this family is full of greedy devils don’t worry, if an Ocean is leading a heist like this, he or she often has a just reason for doing so. Debby’s reason for attempting this heist is that an old lover of hers is among the guests at the gala. Years ago they were pulling off a big heist of their own but they were caught and Debby’s lover promptly stabbed her in the back and got her sent to prison! Come on, it was your idea ya jerk! I don’t notice Adventure depart from Costa Maya because the movie starts just as she does so. From where I’m sitting watching the movie I can’t feel the ship rocking very much, but I can’t help notice the water in the pool sloshing back and forth with the motion of the ocean.
When the movie ends, and Debby and her team make off with the loot, I head back to deck 4 with iPod. Tonight I decide to play something I knew I had to at least once on this trip. As one way of marking, as the late Stuart McClean who say, the slow pendulum swing of a year I have a different hymn for every month that I sing quietly to myself whenever I’m outside after dark. When I got iPod to work one of the first playlists that I created was Year-round Lullaby Hymns. And I don’t think I need to tell you what’s on it.
That’s what I want to play tonight so hear they are: A light is Gleaming, I was there to hear your Borning Cry, On Eagle’s Wings, my personal favourite, Stay With Us through the Night, Spirit of Life, Amazing Grace, Spirit of Gentleness, Make me a Channel of your Peace, In the Quiet Curve of Evening, I see a new Heaven, Abide with Me and of course, Silent Night. And this version of favourite Christmas carol is sung by the worlds’ greatest six-year-old singer, Connie Talbot. She’s a wee thing with a voice of an angel, and I can’t help but call this version of Silent Night my favourite.
When the music is done I go in search of a glass of milk which I usually have just before bed but I haven’t had one all week. So where can one get some milk on this ship? After a bit of searching I find some on the Royal Promenade then head back to the stateroom.
Before I go to bed I turn on mom’s iPad and start the list of nationalities on Adventure. I have a number of them remembered already including Canada, the United States, Spain and India yet little do I know at the time that if we had started this list on day 1 of the cruise, we might have been able to complete it. On the trip back to Florida you will see why.
Thursday February 14th, 2019
Cozumel, Mexico
Al right, today’s the day! We are heading to our second stop in Mexico: the tiny island of Cozumel where we are going swimming with dolphins! Adventure arrives there while we are having breakfast in the main dining room. When I look out the window I notice the familiar fluke-shaped smoke stack of a Carnival ship docked at another peer. But when I point it out, the waiter gives me a cold look. Apparently Carnival is a four letter word around here since the two cruise lines are arch rivals.
As we are walking back across the Royal Promenade I hear Callum Scott’s You are the Reason over the speakers in the hallway. It’s a recently released love song and while the song itself isn’t exactly a tear-jerker the music video sure is.
When we get back to our room I step onto the balcony in time to see another cruise ship arriving behind us. It is Rhapsody of the Seas sister-ship of Vision, whom we met yesterday in Costa Maya.
As we walk down the dock to the meeting place I keep thinking to myself Highlight, highlight, highlight! Because surely this will be that for the whole trip. As we keep walking I get a good look at the Carnival ship, who’s name by the way is Carnival Paradise, I notice a second fluke-shaped smoke stack behind her. There’s a second Carnival ship docked next to her. So with those two, Adventure and Rhapsody there are four cruise ships docked at this port today. And as I look at the carnival ships I remember for the first time that cruising is something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, ever since I watched the Olsen twins Mary Kate and Ashley do it.
When I was younger I borrowed a video staring the Olsen twins from the library in which, while they are taking a cruise with their parents, their fathers’ computer gets stolen and the girls boldly set off to find it.
Anyway that video ended with an ad for the cruise line they were on which was Carnival. And that was all it took to get me hooked. Wait what’s this? Did I say there were four ships docked here today?
I did? Well here comes a fifth one! This ship sails for the Holland America line, which I have not heard of before.
Well enough of that, let’s get right to it. All this happens as we are looking for our group. When we find them we are all sitting around talking and I keep thinking Highlight, highlight, highlight! A twenty-five minute bus ride later, here we are at the Cozumel Dolphinaris Park. And there below us are the amazing creatures splashing around in the water.
When we get in the water we are greeted by our flippered host Electra and her trainer. That’s odd, I can remember the dolphin’s name but not her trainer’s. This young female apparently has a baby son and the trainers always make sure that they are not kept separate from each other for long.
Look at how well trained Electra is. She’s letting us all touch her as she swims by as if we have all known her for a long time. She’s even giving us kisses on the cheeks and on the lips. And how about this: since it’s February fourteenth, I got a kiss on Valentine’s Day! And an inter-species kiss at that. Right after the kiss we flap our hands in the water and Electra flaps back. After coming back form that, I find the water warmer than the air, so I try to sink low in it to stay warm.
Now however comes the best part of this experience: One by one we all swim out to the far end of the pool and stick our left arms out to our sides. Then the trainer sends Electra after us and as she swims by, we grab on to her flippers and as soon as we are holding both of them . . . WWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! She takes off across the water with one of us hanging on for an amazing ride.
All too soon the visit with Electra ends and we find ourselves climbing out of the water feeling like we have had the time of our lives. Which of course we have. After changing into regular clothes we have a little lunch at the park. Mm, hot dogs! Haven’t had those all week either. If I lean out a bit form the balcony where we are having lunch, I can just see Adventures’ bow in the distance.
Looking down at the water below us we watch other people doing what we just did and I know that I was right, this was the highlight of the cruise. And look, here comes the icing on the cake: It’s a Mexican man with a young eagle perched on his hand, which he lets me pet.
At the entrance to the park is a computer terminal in which we can see all the pictures that a photographer took of us when we were with the dolphin. When we decide which ones we want to keep we wait for the bus back to the port. It actually isn’t a long ride and we could’ve walked there; it’s a nice day. But then we wouldn’t have had time to shop before getting back on Adventure.
Mom and Dad take to shopping pretty easily, but I lose interest in it pretty quick. Although I do decide to buy a maraca for a dollar, while mom and dad make noticeable purchases of tequila and authentic Mexican vanilla. There is also a store that sells products made of bamboo, and dad gets me a shirt made from it. Hey look at this, it’s Bubba Gump shrimp company, like in the movie, right?
On the dock where Adventure is waiting for us there are a couple of Mexican dancers putting on a little show. Nothing like the guys we saw yesterday in Costa Maya, but still fun to watch.
Back on the ship and after a bit of reading I feel like going down to deck 4 to watch the ship depart. At first I stand on the port side, in case one of the Carnival ships leaves before we do. But the sun is bright in my eyes and the unpleasant smell of cigar smoke is everywhere. So I decide to change sides. On this side though, all I can see is Rhapsody’s port wall. But I can also watch as the lines holding Adventure to the dock are released one by one. Then the engines whirr to life and we start to drift away. Again almost completely sideways.
BUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! Adventure’s whistle shatters the stillness of the moment and rattles my bones. But that’s to let all the small boats in the area know to stay clear when a big ship is leaving and we wouldn’t want to run into anyone as we are leaving. Since this is our last port of call on this trip when we are clearly moving forward again I turn to the front of the ship and say “Adventure, take us home!” It’ll take a day-and-a-half to get there but all that means is more time to enjoy being on board.
When I find Mom and Dad again it’s suppertime. Since it’s another formal night tonight, we’re not going to the main dining room. There is a chocolate buffet at the windjammer café on deck 11 for Valentine’s Day. It’s also a Mexican theme night so when the doors open we are greeting by the whole restaurant staff who are clapping and singing along to the smash Puerto Rican hit Despasito. I remember when that one was new about a year-and-a-half ago my favourite radio station couldn’t stop playing it. And the worst part of that it, it’s such a huge earworm! And I couldn’t sing it out of my head because most of it is in Spanish. But it’s also too good not to like so I’ll just go with the flow.
Anyway, we enjoy our evening meal and watch the sun set in the distance. Then we take our desert to the pool for one last movie night. Tonight, and this is also probably because it’s Valentine’s Day, the feature film is the rom-com Crazy Rich Asians. This is actually a film I have never seen before but it looks like a good night weather-wise and this could be our last chance to do what has become our favourite on-board activity on Adventure.
I remember back when we first booked the cruise I was hoping we would get a ship with waterslides. Adventure does have them although not too many Royal Caribbean ships do, although they are being added to more and more of their ships these days. However, according to the magazine through which we booked the cruise, every ship in Royal Caribbean’s fleet has an outdoor poolside movie screen. So, yay!
This film is about a Chinese-American girl named Rachel who travels with her boyfriend Nick to his home in Singapore for his friend’s wedding. But not long after she arrives she discovers that she has snagged the heir to one of the richest families in the continent! Who don’t exactly approve of her. Then, just when things are looking up Nick’s mother does the unthinkable by having a private investigator expose a devastating secret about Rachel’s family which she herself didn’t know!
Hurt and humiliated, Rachel breaks it off with Nick and buys a ticket home. But Nick, who knows where his heart lies, goes after her and proposes on the plane with his family’s passed down ring. You just can’t say no to that!
When the film ends I head back to deck 4 and put on some Disney music. But not before checking tomorrows’ cruise compass, which is the daily newspaper that lists the following days’ activities, to see if there is another good film on tomorrow night, because we have to get up early on Saturday and I have a longish thing to listen to Friday night.
Friday February 15th, 2019
The Return Trip
Ah, the last morning of the cruise. I open the curtains only to get the sunshine right in my face. It wasn’t like that when we first got on the ship. Although that’s because when we left, our cabin, which is on the starboard side of the ship was facing west. Now, on the way back our side is facing east into the sunrise. Oh well, the water still looks nice.
On our last breakfast in the main dining room I have French toast which is a favourite in my family. We always have it on Saturday mornings and when I was younger, if we were away on those mornings, I would try to insist that we have it for lunch. I’ve gotten more flexible in my older years though.
I don’t remember what I did myself that morning, but later, I join mom and dad for movie quotes trivia. Now this is a fun one because when we go to my grandpa’s house for dinner on Sundays we often do rounds of movie lines where someone says a line then we have to guess who said it and from what film it’s from.
After that, it’s one more reading session on the balcony. This is easily the best spot for reading on a cruise ship. No one else around and we have the pleasing sound of the ocean waves beneath us.
Early on in Black Klansman the infamous white freaks were taking about having a charity night for white needy families around the holidays which kind of makes me wonder if I had to, would I be willing to except charity from the KKK? I don’t think so somehow. Also they called their charity a “White Christmas.” That has nothing to do with race, you blasphemous freaks!!!
Speaking of the holidays, now that I have gone on a cruise one thing I now have on my bucket list is to spend Christmas on a cruise ship. Because, like I said in the title, this cruise has been the best vacation of my life and Christmas is always my favourite time of year; it just seems like a match made in heaven.
Now comes the hard part, packing everything up. All our clothes have to go back in, except the ones we what to wear tomorrow. And of course we have to save room for souvenirs. I got a Tiki head from Jamaica, a shell from Grand Cayman and a maraca and the bamboo shirt from Mexico. A fairly good haul if I do say so myself.
Then it’s off to lunch at the windjammer, the only restaurant that is apparently on every Royal Caribbean ship. On the way we walk by the pool and see the belly flop contest. This looks crazy, I wouldn’t want to try it.
In the windjammer café, the first thing I see is that they have a cake. It has already been cut but enough of it is still there so that I can read that it says “Thank you for cruising with us.” At the buffet I think about having pork when I notice that they have turkey on the menu, so I take a slice of that. Mmm-mm, tastes like Christmas dinner!
Midway through lunch, here come the waiters again, parading around the café to Despasito. This time however, they are carrying the flag of their home nations and I look for one that we don’t have on our list yet. Great Britain, there’s one we don’t have!
And look at this cool handwashing station outside the windjammer. It has all the basics; a faucet handing over a sink basin, but the cool thing is the faucet has projections on its sides which blow out hot air and act as dryers. It’s a two-in-one device.
Back in the royal promenade there are boutiques and souvenir stands open selling Royal Caribbean t-shirts. One which catches my eye is one that has the name of all the ships in their fleet set inside their logo which is a crowned anchor. Inside another store we buy some Caribbean bridge cards for Grandpa. Hey, listen to the loudspeakers. It’s Ed Sheeran with his Perfect song. Only the greatest modern love song ever.
And look, the clerk in the shop where we buy the cards is from South Africa. There’s another nation for our list. When we tell him that we have that list, that’s when he tells us that there could be as many as sixty-seven nations represented on a ship like Adventure!
“Then they lied to us,” says dad. “They said the staff was from forty nations.”
“No,” I correct him. “They said the Main Dining room staff was from forty different nations.” A simple misunderstanding, no big deal. So yeah, we could’ve completed that list if we’d started it on day one.
One thing I should mention about the elevators on Adventure is that they all have a panel in their floors that says what day of the week it is. Which is apparently changed every day. It’s a good thing they have that because you could very easily lose track of what day it is if there wasn’t anything to remind you.
Now however, it’s off to the waterslides one last time. This is so fun even if it’s a little rough. The cool thing I didn’t mention before is that there are clear sections in the waterslides so you can look out over the side of the ship while you’re going down them.
When we’re done there, we go back to the solarium pool for a little bit. Luckily, it isn’t as cold as it was last time we were there. And we enjoy ourselves greatly. And I see a lifeguard form Nepal, making that nation the thirtieth entry on our list.
On the last night in the main dining room, James our waiter once again goes above and beyond to make my day: earlier in the cruise he found out that broccoli is my favourite cooked vegetable, so tonight he has brought me a plate of it. These guys are the best. Which is why mom takes a picture of me with James and Dixon in my new bamboo shirt. After a little partying during dinner mom and dad head off to Isaac’s live musical singing trivia. I’d have gone with them, but we have to get up early in the morning, and like I said before, I have something important to listen to on iPod tonight. Which is also something I wish that I didn’t have to listen to.
February fifteenth. Two years ago today Canada abruptly lost one of its greatest story tellers, Stuart McClean. Right before our 150th anniversary to, now how much does that suck?! Anyway, he may be gone but he left behind a treasure-trove of stories about a guy named Dave and his family, who always run into a whole lot of trouble which always tickles our funny bones. Some of his stories though are more moving than funny, so to mark the anniversary of his passing, I play three stories about death and remembrance.
The first one is about when Dave and his family lose their beloved mutt Arthur, who is the only main character that Stuart ever killed off. Don’t worry, it’s not a sad as it sounds. In fact there’s a pretty funny part where Dave is remembering a time when his childhood pet dog snuck into church with him and his sister and ended up totally disrupting the service by sneaking under the pews and being mistaken for a serpent.
The second one is about when Dave’s daughter Stephany’s boyfriend Tommy loses his Grandpa. When we comes home for the funeral however the whole neighborhood is buzzing about a lottery ticket that has sat, unscratched, on his grandpa’s mantelpiece for years. And which could be worth one million dollars! This is one of the few of Stuarts’ stories with an actual villain; the deceased’s greedy brother Laurence.
“It’s not about the money,” he says. Yeah, right. Eventually they decide to scratch the ticket after the funeral, but when they get home they find it gone and replaced by several new tickets. The late Lewis believed that having a dream is more important than having money, which is why he never scratched the ticket. So Tommy, who always trusted his grandpa, buried it with him.
The third story I play to remember Stuart is about when the town hall in Dave’s hometown in Cape Breton is struck by lightning and burns to the ground before the towns’ eyes. Watching it on skype in his Toronto home, Dave reals off one story after another about it. In the end we see him going to the new hall the next autumn. Everyone in the small town had a key to the old hall, but Dave’s doesn’t fit in the new door. Which makes him happy, because this key is now a key to a small corner of his heart. As these great stories are for me.
Before I go inside I open my Biggest Highs and Lows of 2019 journal and write at the top of it, We finally went on a Caribbean Cruise. 2/9-16. When we go on a vacation I like to write down the highlight and the low point of trip. If there is a low point that is; there hasn’t been one this time. But because this is the first time we have taken a trip like this, I’m putting the whole thing down in one entry.
Before going to bed, I head to the ice cream stand on the pool deck and find that they are playing hilarious sports bloopers on the big screen, which I decide to watch. This seems like a great way to end my time on Adventure of the Seas. And you know, it’s not over just yet.
Saturday February 16th, 2019
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep goes my alarm at 6:15 am. I didn’t have to use that thing all week and now it has to wake me up at a time that is very early for me. I hate being thrown off the ship like this, but they have to get ready for another cruise which leaves later today. So that’s just the way it goes.
When I look out the window at the sunrise I see that we are back where it started a week ago. Wait, a week? That’s it? It feels like we’ve been on this ship for months!
Anyway, for our last breakfast on Adventure of the Seas we head back to the Windjammer Café on deck 11 for bacon and eggs. These ones aren’t as good as the ones we have at home but they’ll do in a crunch. And we have a nice few out the windows from where we’re sitting. As we walk back to our stateroom to finish packing we walk across the pool deck, which for the first time all week is deserted. It’s a little saddening to see it like this. It’s like a defining fact that the cruise is over.
However our flight home doesn’t leave until very late tonight so we have booked one more shore excursion to the Sawgrass Recreation Park to explore Florida’s everglades. At 7:30 we congregate with everyone else going on today’s excursions in the Imperial Lounge on deck 5 which is both a hangout spot and a place where certain trivia events and game shows take place. Then later, as our group steps off the ship for the last time, I give the wooden railing a pat and say “Goodbye Adventure, thanks for everything.”
On the line up to checkout of the cruise terminal, dad and I get way ahead of mom thanks to someone ahead of her having problems. So we have to wait for her to catch up. Outside there are several busses waiting to take us to our destinations. This by the way is the only shore excursion where we don’t have to wear our swimsuits all day.
When we find a place to sit on the bus I notice that mom and dad have white stainless steel water bottles with Royal Caribbean’s logo on them.
“We won these at the trivia challenge last night,” says dad.
“Oh, you won? Congratulations!” I say, pleased that at least some of us won one of these challenges. Later dad says the reason they won is because they teamed up with another family who knew all the newer musicals, whereas mom and dad knew most of the older ones.
As we sit there on the bus, I keep staring out the window at the amazing ship that has been our guide and compass through this whole week. And when the bus starts moving, I keep trying to look at Adventure until she is out of sight.
When we get to the park, we leave our luggage on the bus so we can find our seats again on the way back. First we are taking an airboat tour of the everglades looking for alligators. But before we start we need to get earplugs because the boat’s engines make a lot of noise.
We are not disappointed in our search. There’s a ‘gator over there, swimming in the water. Our guide says that with alligators females are less aggressive than males. This one we’re looking at now seems to be a female so she’s less likely to bite us. That’s when our guide says that she has gone out here on her paddle board and gotten face to face with these creatures. That is both brave and insane, especially since she used to be an alligator hunter.
The next ‘gator we find is male so the boat steers clear. Another boat however gets much closer but nothing bad happens. During the tour, our guide says that these wetlands were once much bigger, until they were drained out so houses could be built in the area. By the time the people realized how many creatures lived in this place, it was half its original size. Now this land is protected from developers and other arrogant humans who care little for God’s Great Earth.
When we get off the boat, we find a little zoo in the park and since we have time, we look around a little. There are small ‘gators and turtles in one cage together. I hope they get along well. Hey, look at the size of those tortoises over in the shade. The sign says adults of this species can be up to 36” long and weigh up to 200 pounds! That’s a big reptile.
We also see an iguana with its long tale hanging over his perch, and a European Buzzard sitting in his cage. There are several large cats walking about or sitting in the shade including a Florida Panther. I thought those guys ran around on ice.
Hey look, a fennec fox like Misty from one of my favourite Magic School Bus books. When Arnold, one of the kids in Miss Frizzle’s class, finds a strange animal in the lost-and-found box the bus takes the kids on a globe-trotting field trip to find its habitat. They visit the Arctic, the rainforest, the North American temperate forest, the African Grasslands, a Florida wetlands and the Sahara desert before discovering that the last place is Misty’s home.
WAKANDA FOREVER, IT’S BLACK PANTHER!!! Okay, no it’s not the Marvel hero Black Panther, it’s a black panther in the next cage. Although that is what comes to mind when we see that graceful cat.
Oh, here’s something that’s not so graceful. A reticulated python, the world’s longest snake. According to the sign on the snakes’ pen it can grow up to 23 feet long and is one of the few snakes suggested to prey on humans, but there have been no confirmed cases.
Oh, here’s a bunch of alligators and other crocodilians including a baby ‘gator which I get to hold. And you know, its skin is actually quite soft and squishy. Not at all like an adult’s would be. And certainly not like that croc’s skin would be. He’s just sitting there in the water with his jaws wide open waiting for his next meal.
Next we meet Cannibal, the largest male alligator in the park. There’s another gator in the water with him and the size difference is incredible.
After walking through the park a little more, we go through the gift shop where there are plenty of items with a message about helping the environment, including my favourite Dr. Seuss book The Lorax. Never get tired of the book or the very faithful film adaptation.
When the bus comes to take us back to the airport mom, dad and I find our seats and our bags and settle in for the ride. But I don’t’ want to go to the airport, part of me wants to go back to Port Everglades, get back on Adventure and see if we can sail all the way back to Ottawa. But she wouldn’t fit in the Rideau River. And even if she could fit in the river, she certainly would not fit under the Bank Street bridge.
When we get to the airport, we still have hours before our flight home leaves, so we hang out for a little while and I watch the planes go up and come in. We actually have both lunch and dinner at the airport while we wait.
At one point I look out a window facing the west, and there, off in the distance, is Adventure, gleaming in the sunlight. As I look at her I go through this treasure trove of memories that I have just shared here with you.
And to think, I almost didn’t go on this cruise when mom and dad were planning on it because at the time I didn’t know when Ottawa’s much-delayed LRT system would open. But before long, reason won out: Even if I miss opening day the LRT will still be there when I get back, the cruise won’t. I would’ve missed the carnival atmosphere on opening day if it had opened while we were away, but it would have been worth it; the week that I just spent on Adventure of the Seas truly was the best vacation of my life.
More Blogs by Joseph S Gratton • Cruise Chronicle: A Perfect Eastern Oasis - Tuesday, December 2, 2025 • Cruise Chronicle: The Best Vacation of my Life - Thursday, September 11, 2025
