Breadth: 118.1 feet
Draught: 27.8 feet (only!)
Built: 2007 - Italy
Max capacity passengers: 3573
Crew: 1227
Propulsion: Diesel electric!
Max speed: 23.5 knots
We flew United from Denver to Houston, and left from the Port of Houston on Sunday, February 8th, 2015 @ 4 P.M.
Returned Sunday, February 15th.
I had roses delivered to the room and they were waiting for my Sweetie!
The first two days we were at sea, and they had a formal night, so we got dressed up. I was given a rose to wear in my lapel, and I was the only person that we saw that had a flower! We is a good looking couple!
I had a chance to chat with the Captain of the Emerald Princess and pick his brain about the ship.
It was amusing getting to the boat to go on the BOSS. We rode in two "large" vans, and went on the smallest, narrowest two-lane roads to get there. The drivers were crazy, and the neighborhoods were shacks. Poverty-ville. Thank God for our blessings.
The next stop was Belize!
They don't have a deep water port, so we had to be shuttled from the ship to shore. The pic is the newest area of town.
We went outside the secure port area and shopped around, getting Tee shirts and chatting with people. Had a nice conversation with a shop owner and her brother about beliefs and religious differences. Said a prayer with them before we left.
You know the stereotypes about shop owners hawking their wares and trying to get you into their shops? It's true!
I did find two (2) matching rings with six-sided stones, and a really cool pentagon shaped ring! My Sweetie got that one; it's her birth stone for November. The two hex rings are going to be eyes for a silver dragon I've been wanting to build, but that's another story.
The U.S. D.O.T would have "fun" in Mexico. Check out where the muffler is on this fuel tanker!
And of course you can get Cuban cigars there from our buddy Fidel!
I don't know anybody who smokes cigars, so I didn't get any to bring back.
I did find a couple of really cool switchblades, but also found out that, for the most part, are illegal in the U.S.A. So I decided not to tempt fate, get them, and possibly lose them. Later I found out they would have been confiscated before getting on the ship. Oh well.
I thought this fountain just outside of the port was pretty.
What a glorious day! The weather and seas the whole trip was fantastic.
Wouldn't have mattered much; the ship was so big and had gyroscopic stabilizers, we probably would not have felt anything anyway.
After we got to Cozumel, our ship, in the foreground, was joined by a Carnival ship.
Of the ships to the right, the left one, Allure of the Seas, is the second largest cruise ship currently sailing! HUGE! Can accommodate over 6,000 guests! That's way too big.
There was a "statue" that scared the willies out of unsuspecting guests. My Sweetie is hiding behind him in the first pic. The second pic he's holding me hostage!
The reason there are more pics of Cozumel is because there was actually more to see that was worth looking at.
When we got back to Houston, we went to the Johnson Space Center and looked around. I liked it because I like that kind of stuff, but it really wasn't worth the price of the ticket.
For Valentine's day my Sweetie got the ring, and she surprised me with an Amish quilt for my bed!
Beautiful! Hand stitched, very intricate design.
She spoils me!
Well, that's all for now. The vacation is over and I have to go back to work Wednesday night.
Keep the bugs off your glass and the bears off your ... tail.
And keep the rubber side down.
