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The life of luxury
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I said a sad goodbye to South America and got on a plane for my next adventure. The first adventure was checking my bags all the way to Miami... After standing at the Continental counter for about half an hour, I was told that I would see my bags in Miami. After walking away, I realized that I pretty much have to pray to see my bags in Miami since they were going from Buenos Aires to Newark and from Newark to Miami- as was I.
After 3 long flights I finally arrived in Miami. As I walked off the plane I spotted Avi and Beeta, my grandparents, from a distance. They were arriving from Baltimore at exactly the same time! I ran up to them and tapped them on the shoulder and they were so happy to see me! I hadn't seen family in 6 months and I was so excited to see them. I was even more excited to see my bags in Miami and we were off to the hotel.
A HOTEL! After 6 months of staying in hostels, I was in a hotel room with clean white sheets, a huge TV, a coffee machine, two bathrooms fully stocked with towels and hot water all day long. We went out for a special welcome dinner and tosted to my arrival.
We had one day in Miami and I needed some suitable clothes for the upcoming cruise. We took the bus all the way to the nearest mall to go shopping. The truth is, that I never felt like I left South America! Everyone in Miami speaks Spanish! The signs are in Spanish as well, which was very confusing because I automatically read the Spanish instead of the English. We spent a couple of hours in the mall and I was ready for the cruise.
The next day we boarded our ship- Royal Carribeans Freedom of the Seas. The ship is supposed to be the largest cruise ship afloat and let me tell you- it was huge! There was an ice skating rink, a climbing wall, a full sized basket ball court, 3 pools, and gym, several bars and lots more. We went to check out our room which was pretty small but with a window. We were wondering where my bed was... All we could see was a double bed. Later, we found out that my bed came out of the ceiling (!!) and was like a bunkbed over the double bed (see photo).
We explored the ship and we said goodbye to Miami. The first night was very exciting. We had a nice dinner and a "welcome aboard" show in the theater. After Avi and Beeta went to bed, I explored the ship some more and watched a parade in the little indoor promenade on the ship.
The next day was a sea day. All morning they were calling for some guy on the loudspeaker and rumors started to spread amongst the guests. Later on, they posted the young mans picture on all the TV screens. It turned out that he was missing from the ship. How can you be missing from the ship, you ask? The only way that you think you can be missing from the ship... After the crew searched the whole ship and didn't find the guy, the captin actually turned the ship around to go search in the water where we were when he was last seen. Due to the back-tracking, the captin announced that we were going to miss a port.
That same day, however, good stuff happened as well. We decided to go play BINGO, a fun cruise passtime. I had just told Beeta that I have never won anything in my whole life. We started playing and the rules were that when you are one number away from BINGO- you stand up. In one out of the five games, I stood up and got really excited. I was one number away! I told Avi what number I was missing and as soon as I finished saying the number, it was called!! I was SO excited and I found out that I had won $200! After the game, I went to collect the money, IN CASH, from the desk.
Life on a cruise ship is very hard. Decisions, decisions, decisions. What to eat? When? How much? Should I go sit by the pool or play BINGO? Should I have water or a margarita? Should I go to the show tonight? Am I getting a tan?
The next couple of days were sea days and we just hung out on the ship. The ship was beautiful and we had a really good time. Even though the ship had around 4,500 people on it (including the crew), it was great.
Our ports were Puerto Rico and San Marteen. In Puerto Rico we took a tour of the rainforest which was an awful tour. I won't write too much about it, but it must have been the worst tour I'd ever been on which is really too bad. In San Marteen we took an island tour which was nice. San Marteen in an island that is devided into two- a French side and a Dutch side. The tour took us to both sides and we enjoyed it very much.
On the last day of the cruise, a sea day, I climbed the climbing wall. It is on the top deck so you are very very high up. It was fun and I rang the bell at the top. The last night was also lobster night and it was my first time having lobster. It was delicious!
So after 7 days of pure luxury, we docked in Miami and got off the ship. I was starting to get used to the life of luxury and I was happy not carrying my backpack around everywhere. From there we were off to my home away from home, Maryland.
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