#2

 . . . and beyond?


Several months ago, (maybe even a year ago, now) close friends had come to visit and play some cards.  During the evening conversation the topic of travel came up.  Yup!  We were all at the age that we wanted to do MORE travel and LESS work, so we planned a couple of excursions, both of which involved cruise lines.

After weeks of reviewing itineraries and comparing prices, we decided on a Caribbean cruise on the Freedom of the Seas, a rather large, but not gigantic, Royal Caribbean ship.  In fact the ship was larger than any other we had been on . . . yet.  It could hold 3600 passengers and 1300 staff and crew. WOW indeed!  Mid April was the timeline and we could hardly wait.

Mike and I thought that it might be interesting to drive to Florida, hop on the ship and then take our time to drive back after the cruise.  So we opted for a 7 day cruise that left from Port Canaveral, did a few stops on the western side of the sea, and then back to Canaveral.  That wasn't a great decision!