Top 10 Reasons That I Love Cruises!

Cruises are amazing. I recommend that everyone take one at their earliest convenience. Where else can you spend days on end in a place where you are actually forced to do nothing but have fun and consume massive quantities of food and drink? Best of all, you are with tons of people you have never met, and will likely never see again, so if you want to do something a little out of character (or even downright crazy) you might as well just go for it! I must say that I took advantage of this circumstance.

For the sake of brevity, I have narrowed my adventures down to a top 10 style highlights list:

1. I posed for a picture with a parrot on my shoulder. Since I am a complete ornithophobic, this was a huge accomplishment! (If you see the photo, you might note the look of sheer terror on my face, but we're making small steps.) I subsequently bought a parrothead T-shirt at Margeritaville to commemorate this historic event.

2. I swam with the stingrays in the crystal-clear Caribbean waters off Grand Cayman island. Since I am not only an ornithophobic but actually afraid of nearly any creature that moves, (especially ones that could potentially cause great harm) I was excited that I lived through and even thoroughly enjoyed the experience!

3. I ate at the midnight chocolate buffet. (Does that one really need any further explanation?)

4. My family became famous throughout the ship as the grand champions of "Name That Big Band Tune." Not only did we beat out eight or ten other teams, but we beat out a number of people who actually lived through the big band era. We are now the proud owners of 4 Royal Caribbean "Almost Leather (TM)" photo albums!

5. We won two more "Almost Leather" albums in an inconclusive second place finish in the "Name that Tune" (any genre) competition. (We would have won if that darn Jamie hadn't been shouting her answers so loudly!)

6. I met fun new friends from all over the country. Said friends may or may not have been just a little bit wilder than this conservative mid-western girl, and encouraged me to stay up until 2:00 or 3:00 every morning dancing in the ship's nightclub. Who knew I had moves?

7. My sister and I got a standing ovation for our kareoke rendition of "Dancing Queen." Since that song is a car-ride favorite, we not only had harmony but even a few well-timed choreography moves. Good times.

8. Two words: Quarter push.

9. We got to see a different show every single night. Granted, they weren't Broadway or anything, but the waiters all come around to your seats and serve you margeritas. Definitely an added bonus.

10. I climbed a 960-foot waterfall in Jamaica, and remained alive for the duration of the experience. (Those of you who were lucky enough to be around for infamous "Falling in the river on the camping trip" experience may be particularly impressed by this feat.)

Oh, and I guess I shouldn't forget to mention my red-hot romance with the towel-folding guy... ;-)