Hey! Did you miss me?

I was on a cruise. A cruise from Tampa to Cozumel and back. I thought about nothing outside of whether I was going to have a pina colada rather than more champagne. It was the most relaxing thing I've ever done. Here's how it went: With our passports and laminated color copies of our passports, my husband and I and both of his parents bucked up and packed light and all four squeezed into his parents' Prius, along with all our stuff, and drove to Tampa. How's that for patriotism during an oil crisis? So, anyway, there was a cozy road trip with barbeque in Tifton, GA, and lots of good long leaf pine sightings as we drove south. We stayed overnight at a La Quinta Inn near the pier, which was quite nice with a little courtyard and lots of excited anticipation. We had delicious Cuban food for lunch in Ybor City and then there was some minor chaos associated with getting on the ship but it was no big deal. Comparable to a domestic flight. Now comes the cruise:

The minute we stepped on the boat, we were escorted to the pool deck and given booze while we waited for our rooms to be ready. The drink was called a "funship" and, let me tell you, it was fun. As soon as we got to our rooms, we popped into our swimsuits and headed out to the hot tub. Here's a word of warning: They apparently clean (i.e., shock with chemicals) the various hot tubs and swimming pools between cruises. If you hop into your swimsuit the minute you get to your room, you risk bleaching it out in the hot tub. Fortunately, the cruise people were nice and gave us a $50 credit. Actually, this is just the beginning of how incredibly nice all of the cruise people were. I've never had such nice service in my life. Everyone was so so nice. I'm just waiting to find out that Carnival cruise lines has horrible labor policies and that I should feel guilty for all my good times. That's the only way I will ever keep from cruising every day of my life. I love this shit. There's all this ocean all the time and, while the food is only so so, it's available all the time and, in the dining room, with such elaborate ceremony. It's not bad food, it's just, you know, fine. Like a really good Picadilly. Anyway, they clean your room twice a day and when they turn down the covers at night, they make a little towel animal with chocolate mint eyes. That other stuff on the bed is the schedule of activities for the next day. And the water slides are so much fun. And the ocean. The shore excursion would have been nice had we gone somewhere besides Cozumel. They can't help it if I don't particularly like my destination. I can fix that be selecting a different cruise. So, long story short, I left Atlanta thinking, "I don't know how I can afford to be away for five days." and by day three, I was thinking, "Surely I can't be expected to go back!" It was simply the most relaxing thing I've ever done in my life.