It is. I mean, have you ever seen an Octopus? or a Crab? or an Eel?
Well, last week I had the privilege of not once sticking my toe below the surface of the ocean, but still being able to stare at it for six days straight, via the medium of a cruise ship.
A cruise ship, much like the ocean, is very big and strange and filled with aliens. It's much less damp, however, and there is a lot of good food.
I accomplished a variety of things while on the ship. Here is a list:
I stood on the bow and pretended I was flying.
I stood on the stern and watched the sun come up.
I wrote 15,000 words on one novel.
I realized I was missing a novel in the middle of the series.
I wrote 5,000 words in the missing novel.
I took a lot of pictures.
I made it through the first edit of the manuscript for Fall of the Flighters.
I ate a lot of food.
I did not gain any weight.
I visited Grand Cayman and met some nice chickens. I like chickens.
I went outside the fence in Jamaica.
I explored the castle in Labadee, Haiti.
I learned to Rumba.
I met some swing dancers.
I had a drink at the Hard Rock Cafe in Grand Cayman.
I got a sunburn.
I got a tan.
I read two Terry Pratchett novels.
I read Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michealangelo, and Me: A Graphic Memoir.
I did a great deal of research on bipolar disorder.
I did a great deal of research on neuropreservation (spoilers!).
I wore the dress my mom made me.
I tried on an ocean-sized life preserver.
Well, I think that about sums up my week.
Next, I will share a few pictures of the occasion. They are not in order. I did do captions, however. Enjoy!
This is the moment we stepped on the cruise ship, and they made us stop and have our picture taken. You can see all of the cruise info, the ship, name, the dates, and everything.
The sky, the second night.
We had to take a tender to get from the boat to Grand Cayman. Here we all are, on our way back to the boat.
This is Haiti, the most beautiful island. And a sailboat.
This is Labadee, Haiti, where we landed.
This is me in Haiti, enjoying the sunshine and trying not to think about the poverty that is right over the fence.
A pan of Haiti from the top of the hill on the peninsula we were on.
They had neat trees. None of the island employees knew what they were called, though. And by "all," I mean, the one I asked.
More Haiti. They made these barriers so the beaches would be safe for swimming. At least, I assume that is why they were all there.
These are the chickens. They had a lot of chickens in Grand Cayman. I like chickens.
This is me and Josh, hanging out on the bow.
Haiti had this kind of castle thing at the top of the hill. Fun to explore but we couldn't figure out what it was for.
Here is some more Haiti beach. Lots of chairs. Lots of trees. Lots of sun. They say the water was nice too.
Some of the perfectly manicured trails on Labadee looked like they came straight out of a fairy tale, especially with the super green hover bugs that kept flying around.
Here we are, just after having left Fort Lauderdale.
Sometimes the wait staff did parades at dinnertime.
This was fancy dress night.
I absolutely love this picture.
Here are the 4 of us, all dressed up nice.
And here is the whole cruise crew, dressed up for fancy night!
Here we are, tanless, in Fort Lauderdale.
There were massive ships anchored off the coast of Fort Lauderdale.
Here we are, testing out our water safety apparel, before our emergency drill.
Fort Lauderdale Beach, from above.
Jamaica, super early in the morning. We docked at 5:30 am.
The pirate ship off the coast of Grand Cayman.
Josh and I with the Jamaica Cat we bought.
The cruise ship from the tender at Grand Cayman. It's pretty big, eh?
Here's the NanoWriMo pic I couldn't post. Deck 4, 1300 words on day 2.
Shoes! Grand Cayman.
The water sloshy the cruise ship stirred up.
Here is the boat looking out over Jamaica.
This is the Royal Promenade--basically Main Street inside the ship.
The Ariele and the Josh, smiling, Day 1.
Sunset on one day or another.
This is towel fox. Our stateroom attendent, Othniel, made him for us.
Othniel also made us this towel gorilla. We named him Bobo.
This is fancy dress #2, that my awesome mom made for me! :)
This is us in Jamaica again.
There they are: the cruise crew!
Here is the Welcome to Jamaica sign. They made you stand in front of it to take your picture.
Josh and his dad being photobombed by others from the cruise crew.
Another Haiti panorama.
