Photo-of-the-Week #233 A Really Big Boat, Cozumel, Mexico, September 2003

Of course, this isn't really a boat, it's a ship. I learned a simple differentiation between a boat and a ship during my younger days when I did some boating with friends. It made it very clear. You can put a boat on a ship, but you can't put a ship on a boat. Works for me.

At any rate, this photo was taken when I took a cruise from New Orleans to Cozumel and back on a Carnival Cruise Line ship, the Holiday. Actually, the ship in the photo is the Fascination. If you look carefully, you'll see another ship right behind it. That was our ship, the Holiday.

The lovely lady who posed so nicely for this shot is my friend, Carol. She and her husband, Brian, are long time, good friends from New Zealand. They were coming to the U.S. and told me to meet them in New Orleans to join them on this cruise in September of 2003. Having never been on a cruise before, at least not on an ocean going ship, I figured – another adventure and something to cross off my life list.

So, here we are, two Kiwi's from down under, one Yank, originally from northern New Jersey, meeting in New Orleans and ending up in Cozumel, Mexico. I wasn't particularly enamored by cruising on a ship that was like a small city. For my liking, there were too many people. A lot of people love these cruises. Personally, I'd like to sail on a much smaller ship with perhaps not more than 50 to 100 people on board. I'm sure we wouldn't have all the amenities, but that's okay since I really didn't use most of the amenities on this ship.

I have to admit that I really enjoyed the snorkeling I did that day off the coast of Cozumel and the visit to the ancient Mayan ruins at Tulum. Was it a great experience? Absolutely! And, a good time was had by all.