[Koko Ed]

Originally I wanted to do a cruise of Alaska but unfortunately the $4000 price tag was a big issue for my wife. So we settled on this for a beginner cruise.Outside of the mile long lines to get in and out of the ship (damned immigration!) the trip was quite nice.

We tallied up a bigger bill on the boat than we did paying for the vacation. Most of it was due to the spa. My wife talked me into getting a massage which cost $300 and I ended up getting covered in seaweed and wrapped in tinfoil and I looked like a baked potato but it was very nice and ultimately worth it. My wife absolutely loved the spa gals (particularly the five South African gals) and wanted to take them home with her. I think they'd like life on the boat better.

We ate really well on the boat but the fancy dinners weren't really for me. They were more concerned with presentation than portions (I think they were having broccoli rations) and I like to eat so it wasn't really for me.

The Bahamas itself were OK. The tent market was very annoying. I don't need a hundred people yelling at me to sell me the same thing everybody else was selling and it was too hot and crowded in there. If I didn't have to go for the massage I would have spent More time there. We should have done what our table partners did and stayed at Atlantis. It would have been cooler.

One thing about the trip was some sort of convention for all these Indian folks. They made up 75% of the passengers. It was interesting. They had a big Mas ala celebration on the Lido deck the last night. It was really cool watching all of them flow and move as one (it was some sort of traditional dance I was told.

We arrived back in Miami and of course there was a big line to get off but at least it wasn't so bad at the airport (they have separate baggage screening for the ships passengers so they won't clog up the airport. Because we got through so fast it enabled us to get an earlier flight and return home 4 hours earlier). I will definitely do another cruise soon.