Oooh wee, oooh wee baby, oooh wee!

Won’t you let me take you on a sea cruise?

We’re taking a cruise in 103 days! This is the first vacation we’ve ever had on our own without the kids, and we’re getting really excited! When we got married 20+ years ago, we didn’t have a honeymoon. We got married, moved our stuff into a big, yellow, moving truck, and moved from Pennsylvania to Norfolk, VA. That was it, three days afer we moved in (mostly), I had to go back to work on my ship. We’ve had family vacations before, but we’ve never had a vacation all to ourselves.

I wasn’t too keen on the idea of going on a cruise. Afterall, I’m in the Navy and getting underway onboard ships is what I do for a living. But after talking things out, we decided to go for it and give it a try. We’re set to sail on the Neiuw Statendam with Holland American lines on a seven-night, Western Carribean cruise. At least I won’t have to wake up in the middle of the night for watch and do all the other stuff that happens onboard a Navy ship. We’re going to enjoyr ourselves and relax.

Today was a milestone for us, because today, we booked our shore excursions.

Screenshot of our shore excursion confirmation.

One of the requirements for the cruise I made the missus agree to is the fact that we had to go somwhere I’ve never been before, and I wanted to see the Mayan ruins. So we’re going to see Chichen Itza! Ever since I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark as a kid, I’ve been in love with the excitement, adventure, intelect, and glamor that Indiana Jones protrayed. I wanted to be an archeologist just like him when I grew up. Now that I am all grown up (mostly), and I don’t care what people think of me (mostly), I have a fedora, have been known to carry a satchel and a bullwhip from time to time, and now I finally get to explore a bit of a culture long gone.

I also realized that we’ll be on the Yucatan Peninsula which is awesome, because that’s where the asteroid that hit Earth and killed all the dinosaurs! History! Science! Travel! YAAAASS! Have I mentioned how excited we are to be going on this trip?

Asteroids are nature’s way of asking, “how’s that space program coming along?”

What cruise lines have you been on? Were they worth it? Where did you go? Would you do it again? Any advice for a neophyte? Let me know in the comments below.