Travel Thoughts By Kim

Let’s go on an adventure together…. flash back to my first cruise!

A beach somewhere in Jamaica. Since I couldn’t find the photo album from the cruise, I found this representative photo on the internet.

My very first cruise….and my first major vacation….and my first time out of the country a few years ago when I was in my early 20s. I don’t remember the date and sadly can’t find the photo album (it must be packed away somewhere), but it was in January in the late 1970s – maybe 1978? So, just a few years ago. My great aunt Betty offered to take me on a cruise and I was thrilled at the chance. We planned and prepared and the anticipation built into a frenzy. I remember she came over one day and presented me with a gift. When I opened it, I found a new pair of adorable pajamas. I think that may have been the start of a lifelong habit of always purchasing a brand new pair of pajamas every time I plan a trip – it’s just something I always do and never really made the connection until I was recently remembering this trip with my aunt.

The cruise line she booked us on was Carnival and the ship was the Mardi Gras. It was a two week cruise with stops at Cozumel Mexico, Georgetown Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios Jamaica. We sailed out of Florida – don’t remember which port, but thinking it was Tampa. It took some getting used to being on a ship for the first time. After we left Cozumel, we sailed through a tropical storm – a bad one! The ship rocked and rolled and drastically pitched and we learned later that oil rigs near where we were sailing were evacuated. I was so ill. I learned on that first cruise that you should never go lie down when sea sick – a mistake I made that I will try to never make again. The best thing to do is stay out in the fresh air, if at all possible, and focus on the horizon. I also learned that apples and saltine crackers are the best things to eat when sea sick. Our room steward brought a basket of apples and saltines to the room for me when he heard I was ill. It was the only thing I could keep down. I am shocked I ever got on another cruise ship after that experience. But – once we got through the storm, it was smooth sailing and all was good, again. Luckily, I have never experienced rough seas to that extend since….so far….knock on wood!

In Cozumel, we shopped at a local market and visited a nearby beach. At night, we went to a dinner show – a traditional Mexican meal and folk dancers. It was amazing. The show included some flamingo dancers whose amazing talents caused me to be sorely disappointed in the flamingo dancers I saw in Barcelona years later.

Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands was gorgeous. We took a bus tour that took us all over the island. We visited a turtle farm and even spent some time in Hell! Hell is famous for its limestone and lava rock formations along the shoreline and even has a post office where you can have your post cards postmarked from Hell. Very interesting and bazaar sight for a young girl who had never seen anything like it before. I was surprised to see turtle meat on the menu at a restaurant where we had lunch. I didn’t try it.

I loved Jamaica. We docked in Ocho Rios. After shopping in the markets near the port, we hired a taxi to take us around to see the island. We must have been there two days – not sure – but that took a whole day and we also took a bus tour to Dunn’s River Falls, so I’m thinking we were there more than one day. We also spent some time on the beach where I tried conch – don’t remember if I liked it or not – and got the worst sunburn I’ve ever had in my life! For many years, I had a jar with white sand and shells from that beach. Sadly, it got broke and the sand was lost on my move back to Albion in 2011.

I loved my great aunt Betty and have been grateful to her for opening my eyes to the world through this cruise. I have been thinking a lot lately about going back to Jamaica. I had booked a cruise that had the same stops with the Royal Caribbean cruise line in May 2020 – it was leave out of Galveston, TX, but it got canceled due to Covid. I’ve also been looking at an all-inclusive resort in Montego Bay that I may do at some point. We’ll see if and when I ever get back to Jamaica so that I can do a blog post with all the details and photos.

Happy Adventuring!