rock the boat.

what a way to start 2007: aboard a luxurious ship, with hundreds of young people, decadent food and alcohol paid for by our parents.

day 1: it was pouring rain in new orleans. torrential downpour. tornado warnings. we quickly got on our way sailing down the mississippi river.

day 2: cloudy, but i was not yet discouraged. there was still loads of time to aquire a killer tan. new years was celebrated with hundreds of balloons being dropped from the roof, and hundreds of people dancing in the centrum of the ship (and one guy grooving in a glass elevator going up and down just before midnight!). my parents partied with andrew and i in one of the lounges and even beat us to the dance floor! they left at 2, and i think i may have gone to bed as the sun hit the horizon in the morning...
mom and dad all jazzed up for new years eve:



day 3: slightly painful in the AM, but the sun was calling me! i spent all day sunning on the deck, exploring the ship and sitting in a hot tub. tough life.
food could be eaten at any hour of the day. literally. at our table we had a lovely family from alabama, and the older couple quickly became my adoptive grandparents. i idolized them: a hummer-driving, gambling-obsessed, cosmo-drinking lady paired up with the dry humour of a man who used to own an ice cream restaurant. i LOVED them.

day 4: georgetown, grand cayman. sigh. we got off the ship, hired a cab and went directly to the beach, and buried ourselves there all day. we got up for a few walks down the beach (corona's in hand) and a few floats in the ocean. the sand is truly like silk and the ocean is azure blue. beautiful. the day was completed with a midnight buffet and pool party under the stars.

day 5: we were supposed to go to a port in the mayan riviera, however due to high waves, we had to change our plans. the boat did rock quite a bit, but i never felt that it made me uncomfortable. some people were disappointed to miss the port, but the staff were excited because it was replaced with a night out in cozumel! plus, seriously, we can't do anything about the weather and there are worse places to be stuck than on a luxurious boat in the middle of the caribbean sea.
andrew all dressed up during a scavenger hunt:



day 6: island of cozumel. we took a catamaran ride out to a snorkelling location (yes, it is true, my mother drank beer before 9 AM in the morning), and then lounged on a 'private, secluded beach' (only inches away from an extremely large resort complex). we ocean kayaked, floated on air mattresses and drank margaritas like they were going out of style. the afternoon was spent window shopping and experiencing the debauchery of carlos 'n charlies. my parents had the luxury of watching my brother have a litre of sangria poured down his throat, lucky them!
floating in cozumel:



day 7: last full day at sea. i was really lucky to have met so many wonderful people on the cruise, so i spent most of my last day with them. we danced up a storm at the club (closing it, obviously!), socialized in the hot tub for hours on end and lost all our money in the casino. it was a late night, once again. painful to get up to retrieve our passports after only a few seconds of sleep.

day 8: you may have realized that i did absolutely nothing productive on this cruise. and, you would be right. i did, however, finish two whole books and one magazine. AND, i got to spend some quality time with my family, which was long overdue. lucky for me, we got to spend another 36 hours together as our plane got delayed in new york, and we missed our connection in toronto.

tired, tanned and slightly tired of each other, the fleming family survived their (potentially) last family vacation. apparently next time the trip is on me. i better get a good job. a really, really, really good job! (and that would only pay for our alcohol bill...)