Since you are reading this, the world didn’t actually end, duh! Not that anyone with a brain actually believed it would… But for fun, a bunch of us astronomy/space/science fiction geeks got together for a “Not the End of the World” cruise. We sailed on the Norwegian Pearl from Miami the week before Christmas 2012, visiting Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas; Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Grand Cayman; and Cozumel, Mexico (with a day trip to the Mayan ruins in Coba).
Great Stirrup Cay
My friend Rob and I had never been on cruise before. I convinced my co-worker and friend Beth to go as well and she brought along her boyfriend. I’d even met the organizer of the group at a workshop earlier this year, so I felt like we were in good hands, even if the travel agency handling us seemed to be staffed by old people who can barely work their computers (very nice old people, mind you). After almost a year of anticipation, away we went…
Rob and I went down to Florida the day before the ship sailed, flying into Fort Lauderdale (because: JetBlue) and staying overnight at the airport La Quinta (because: rewards points). I was advised by the travel agent that we might save money by renting a car at the airport and returning it at the rental car company’s Port of Miami office. Unfortunately, it ended up costing us more than the cruise line’s bus transfer from the airport would have been, since Budget didn’t have a shuttle to take us to the Pearl and we had to pay for a taxi. But at least the car allowed us to go out to dinner with an old co-worker of Rob’s who now lives in Miami.
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