By Danielle Alcorn, Age 9 and Steve Alcorn, Age 44
For Spring Break 2000, we took a cruise on the Royal Caribbean Voyager ofthe Seas, the largest cruise ship afloat. It’s 1/3 bigger than anaircraft carrier!
We drove to Miami to catch the ship. When we saw it, we couldn’tbelieve how huge the Voyager Of The Seas was. Our cabin was beautiful,and the public areas were even nicer.
Our first stop was Labadee, Haiti. Dad and I went snorkeling on acoral reef with FISH (so obviously mom didn’t go – she’s afraid ofthem). She sat on the beach and read. It was my first ocean snorkelingtrip. We went WAY out there.
Stop two was Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We all went on an hour tour ofBrimmer Hall Plantation, where they grow bananas, sugar cane and lots ofother crops. Then we climbed up Dunn River Falls. Awesome. Mom got alittle concerned (she was convinced she was going to die) half way up,but Dad and I climbed all the way.
Our last stop Mexico. We landed in Cozumel and took a ferry to Playadel Carmen, then a bus to the Mayan ruins at Tulum. The Mayans believedthat if you were different you were special: one king had six fingers,red hair, was seven feet tall and lived to be 84 years old. It was HOTat Tulum. Afterward we went to Xel-Ha to go cool down. Uh oh… morefish, so Mom stayed hot.
In addition to the ports, we spent several days at sea, but itwasn’t boring at all. The kids program on the ship was great: Age 3-5were Aquanauts, 6-8 were Explorers (that’s where I went, even though Ijust turned 9), and 9-12 where Voyagers. The last day we even had atalent show.
The people on the ship were really nice, especially our cabinsteward. He made me different animals out of towels: a dog, swan, monkeyand an elephant.
Well that wraps up my vacation. It was a GREAT trip.
Danielle
Boarding the Voyager of the Seas, March 12, 2000.Cabin 1284 showing bar and living room.Reverse view of living room, barand dressing area.Bedroom.Living room and bedroom with double balcony in rear.Balcony, showing the terminal in Miami.Bathroom. There is also a spacious Jacuzzi tub not visible.Danielle peeking through the”wall” that separates the bedroom and living room.This is the three story high”centrum” that run down the middle of the ship. It’s actually more like ten stories high at either end. There are shops, restaurants,bars and a casino on the lowest level of the middle section. The dining rooms are at one end, and the showrooms at the other.The magnificent three-story dining room.The roman themed pool, for the adults.And the main pools.The obligatory “King of theWorld” shot.Life boat drill. Yawn.Yes, there really is a miniature golf course (and a real ice-skating rink) on this ship. It was actually a great course, except that the wind made it a bit challenging. Danielle won, fair and square.Pirate attack in the dining room.The concierge lounge was open to guests in the suites. Danielle and I spent some time there, playing games, and I worked on my novel there one day. There were complimentary cocktails and hors d’oeuvres every evening.View of Labadee, Haiti from our balcony.I could only fit half the ship in this picture from Labadee.That buoy must be very securely anchored.Fisherman near La Amiga island at Labadee, where we went on Danielle’s first ocean snorkeling trip. Approaching La Amiga.Danielle’s first ocean snorkeling trip.About 200 yards off La Amiga, with Haiti in the distance.Above the coral reef. She did great.After snorkeling.These tenders took us back from Labadee to the ship. They seat several hundred people, but look how the voyager dwarfs them.With the Captain, first formal night.Smile, mon.Touring Ocho Rios, Jamaica.One of the tractor-drawn jitneys at the Brimmer Hall Plantation.Carrying bananas.This is the stalk of the banana tree. See that section hanging by the fiber mesh? It just pulls apart tof orm the mesh naturally. They use it for a wide variety of things, including women’s hose!Cocoa beans. He made me suck on one. They’re slimy! It’s a long way from there to chocolate.Climbing a coconut tree with a hemp rope. It’s a common tourist scam to offer you a rope as a souvenir, and then collect $5 for it. (“They’re $10 in the shop, but for you…”) This stunt is particularly effective with kids. Needless to say, we now own this useful household device.The arbor at the plantation. If you can’t climb with it, you can always use the hemp rope as a garland.Yes, we really climbed 900 feet of this waterfall at Dunn River.And it felt great.The midnight buffet on Thursday. We slept, Linda photographed it.Butter swan and vegetable chess pieces.Bread animals.Egg penguins.We took a ferry from Cozumel to Playa del Carmen on the Yucatan peninsula. Senor Frog’s is the first place you pass as you get off. “Sorry We Are Open”.Our guide on the way to the Mayan city of Tulum, or possibly Tulun. Tulum means “Wall”. Tulun means “Swamp”.Looks more like a wall than a swamp.Find the iguana.Tulum is the only city that theMayans built along the coast. Pity. It was a delightful breeze.And a great beach.It was hot-hot-hot.Swimming in the lagoon at Xel-Ha (pronounced shell ha). After the heat of Tulum, it felt great.More Xel-Ha. This floating thing had a spinning section you were supposed to walk across.Relaxing in a hammock at Xel-Ha.Danielle’s act during the kid’s talent show in Cleopatra’s Needle.Elias, our cabin steward, made these wonderful towel animals for Danielle every evening. Here is his Dog.Swan.Elephant.Monkey on Danielle’s Adventure Ocean Kid’s Club PillowcaseIs this what they mean by”semi-formal”?
