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CRUISING ~ 7/7/02-7/14/02

Hiiiii,
I'm back! Had a Great Time! Enjoyed mini adventures at all three ports and the Cruise Ship!
Doing a cruise is all that people say that it is.I would do it again going to different locations.

Had the best time in Montego Bay, Jamaica.The Chukka Blue tours had our groups singing, learning, laughing, and screaming! Went horse backing riding through an old plantation exploring it's ruins, history, and flora and fauna.Then riding the horse bare back into the ocean! That was great! The challenge is staying on the horses back while it swims along the deeper part of the shore! Sometimes fast sometimes slow all the time gripping the horse with your legs for dear life!.
Then I did a 4x4 adventure tour up into the mountains of Montego Bay to a small river with a small climable waterfall (not the big Dunns River Falls in Ocho Rios...that will have to be another time). This tour was fantastic! We rode on jeep,admired and learned about the native flora and fauna, docile and deadly, crossed a river to a place where we could walk along the river bed after putting on water shoes. walked along the river bed to some small 9-12 ft waterfalls. climbed the falls or stood under them for a back massage. then back into the jeep for an absolutely wild ride back across the river up and down some muddy hills through many ditches and sharp turns....All through terrain that resembled scenes from Jurassic Park. The group in my jeep were wondering where are the dinasours. We fully expected to see Tyranasourus Rex or a Tardactyl come chasing us down along this wild bumby, turning, tossing road that was a ride better than any Theme Park that I've been to. Had us screaming and laughing all the way back to the port terminal. And these were only tours from Montego Bay. Jamaica though dangerous/unsafe in parts is a big British Protectorate(?) island with quite a few other cities worth exploring whose total population is about 3million. Uhhh Because i did the adventure tours up into the plantations and through the mountains I did not have the same experience as the shoppers did going into Montego Bay City with the persistently hounding vendors, drug sales, xtreme signs of poverty, crime and waste... So my personal perspective may be a bit different from the average visitor. Not that we don't have the same right here in the good ol US of A!Yes those things were present, but not in excess or xtreme in the areas that we visited. Mostly we saw schools, kids playing baseball in the school playground, churches, ruins, homes some nice some delapitaded or like huts, people going to and fro, some waving...watching. Definitely interesting, educational as well as a lot of good clean fun! :-)

Grand Caymen- of the BWI- Went to Sting Ray City and Sanbar! Also a lot of fun and educational getting to know & feed StingRays as they suround and swim over and through the groups of people visiting there. See Pic of me with a large full grown female stingray caught for pictures. They are quite docile and friendly esp since they know we are going to feed them. They only lash out with their stinger when threatened. usually by predators like sharks. This place is quite Hot and proudly harbours a city called "HELL"! Just for fun I baught a collectors Cap! I've been there and back.:-)

Cozumel, Mexico- another jeep adventure through anciant Mayan ruins and temples, plus climed a light house and took pics and played on a soft white sandy beach with a family of four. then snorkeled and fed some small brilliantly colored tropical fish! After which as my group swam to shore I accidentally got pricked by a sea urchin. A little painful but I'll survive and it was worth the fun! Truly very very HOT, this time of year! Hotter than "Hell" believe it or not!:-)

The 12 to 14 story Carnival Cruise Ship - Inspiration itself was Huge, although not their biggest yet. It was 12 stories reachable by elevator & stairs indoors and 14 stories when incl. the top two sport decks reachable only by outside stairs. It was a spectacular floating hotel with lots of activities going on and took the first two days to figure out where you were as apposed to where you were going. Easy to get lost & or confused in. They had a water slide that went into the central pool, four out door hot tubs, an excersize deck with a track, a full gym and spa, four restaurants, three bands, many lounges and I still haven't been in them all, a casino, a library and yes an internet cafe connected via satellite that I had to try out...at least once during a free happy hour. I'm sure there is more about this ship that I can't recall at the moment, but this will have to do for now.

As for New Orleans....I'll be back! There is so much to see and do here too, but there wasn't enough time....this trip!

Now... back to Reality.
Zena :-) Carnival Cruise "Inspiration" Arrival in Louisiana and 1st Formal night

Montego Bay, Jamaica Visit

Cozumel, Mexico Visit

Disembarking at Grand Cayman Island

Me at Stingray City