I'm back

I was off on a family reunion cruise to Cozumel Mexico aboard one of the Carnival Funships. It was my first cruise and despite my initial misgivings, I enjoyed myself. Despite having over 2000 passengers I was able to repair to the aft observation deck to read my book in relative peace. We came back to Galveston with gale force winds right on the nose and I got an appreciation of how nasty open water can be, even from the relative security of a 10 story floating palace. For those who have never taken a cruise, here is some learnings I took away;

1. Take a polo shirt. Although I packed formal wear for the captains dinner, all the rest of my couture consisted of rather garish T-shirts. It is expected that you wear collared shirts when doing the sit down dining.

2. The stuff they leave in the cabins (like bottled water) is not complementary! You will get billed for it.

3. The service is tremendous. Cabins get cleaned three times a day. The staff will always greet you, no matter what they are up to.

4. Always best to take cabins in the aft section of the ship. I don't think those in the forward cabins were having too much fun as we were bashing our way back to Galveston.

5. When the band starts up on the swim pool deck, always drag the spouse out of bed as the dancing is always a good time.