This is what Ocho Rios looked like when the boat pulled into port on Monday morning – not that impressive. I kinda figured the sun would burn the clouds off later and it did. It didn’t take long, so no big deal there. I looked forward to Ocho Rios with nervous anticipation. I had heard lots of negative things about visiting Jamaica. And after my experience there, I would say all that I have heard was true. We didn’t venture far from the ship. I didn’t want to for one and for two, it wouldn’t have been safe to do so. The pier is surrounded by a fence with barbed wire. The locals who have permission to sell their goods there had to wear ID badges and although they were eager to show you their stuff, they accepted a “no” or a kind “not now” response. I appreciated that but that still didn’t take away from the nervousness that I felt in knowing that I would have to step out from the gates that were being guarded by men with big dogs. Continue Reading…
A week ago today was our first day at sea on the Rick Springfield cruise. Despite my best efforts to “sleep in” I was wide awake by 5am. Coincidentally I discovered that it is at this time each day that the internet was working. So I hurried through an email back to the folks at home, logged on to the internet, sent the email and logged off. I watched Michaela sleep for a while and then stepped out onto our deck to watch the ocean go by. The ocean is very big. And we were sailing in such a small part of it. It’s moments like this that give you pause and make you think deep thoughts. My deep thoughts consisted of (1) It would hurt really bad if I fell into the ocean from here. (2) If the ocean looks big HERE then imagine how big and lonely it would look out in the middle of the atlantic…in the 1600s….while on your period… YUCK! and (3) I wonder where Rick’s room is? 
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I had every intention of blogging from the cruise. But lack of sleep, time and most importantly a working internet connection kept me from doing that. And now, I am home sicker than a dog – no voice, no energy and very short on patience. I took over 2000 photos from our week in Florida, Jamaica and Grand Cayman. I did manage to post ONE update from Boca Raton after the concert there and that was pretty much it in the internet connectivity department. Once on board the Carnival Destiny, the cellphone was turned off (too high of roaming charges) and when I did try to connect to the internet, I had little success. When I did manage to get online it was for only a few minutes at a time – just long enough to send an email home to let everyone there know we were still alive and kicking.
So…now that we’re home…how was the cruise? It was – for the Rick Springfield die hard, like me – FANTASTIC. However, despite my best efforts to not get my hopes up, I did just that and there were times I felt let down. I mostly was disappointed in the behavior of fellow fans and their treatment of my daughter. For the most part people were very nice and Michaela, in her own right, became a sort of celebrity herself. However, there were those small groups of people who did just enough to rain on our parade and spoil certain moments. I suppose I should chalk those moments up to opportunities to teach my child about how not to treat fellow human beings. Continue Reading…
