America Through My Eyes – Mexico Cruise (Part 4)

America Through My Eyes

Mexico Cruise (Part 4)

Telugu Original : Dr K.Geeta 

English Translation: V.Vijaya Kumar

          From there, going down to the eighth floor, we found large performance halls and theaters. The seventh floor housed a casino and a photo studio stretching from corner to corner. On the sixth floor, shops sold everything from clothes and gift items to moderately priced and very expensive gemstone jewelry. A shopping festival was also held on the last day.

          Looking from one end of each floor to the other, we eventually reached the fifth floor, where we had first boarded. It was dinner time again. The ship offered a free “Youth Club” for teenagers and a “Kids Club” for younger children.

          The moment we boarded, Varu started demanding that she must go to the Youth Club that evening. It had plenty of entertainment for her age group, nice sitting areas for chatting, a small TV, board games, and more, with four or five coaches to supervise and support them. This club was open from six to eleven in the evening, and it seemed all the teenagers on the ship gathered there.

          Siri’s Kids Club activities ran on a scheduled batch system with fixed times. After batches closed at 9 pm, you could keep children there until 11 pm for ten dollars per hour. We didn’t send Varu off until 6 pm, but after dinner with us, we dropped her off around 8:30 pm. On both days, if Siri was very busy, we might leave her for half an hour at most. Having these children’s entertainment centers was a special feature of the ship, allowing couples to enjoy themselves comfortably.

          In the evenings, we watched welcome dances, comedy shows, and song performances in the entertainment theater, suitable for adults and children. Attendants outside each hall served cool drinks (including orange and apple juice) to those who had bought tickets, bringing them inside. Alternatively, we could go and get refills as often as we wanted.

          Around eleven o’clock, we all returned to our rooms and fell asleep. Ever since the ship set sail, the movement of the ocean waves was noticeable even on such a large vessel. I started feeling a little dizzy. At night, as we moved further into the ocean, I became acutely aware of the ship rocking back and forth. I later realized this was mainly because we were on a lower deck; after that, we always stayed on upper decks whenever possible.

          Moreover, our room faced the sea, with waves visible below the window. The sound of water hitting the ship made it hard to sleep properly.

          An announcement came that we would reach shore at seven in the morning. Our window had a ledge I could climb onto. As soon as I got up, I sat there gazing at the rows of mountains on the shore and the ship’s edge cutting through the gray water, sending up white foamy plumes. It was a magnificent morning. The view reminded me of childhood summers, sitting on my room window ledge reading Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn repeatedly with wonder.

          Although the overcast sky made the morning look pleasant, we worried it might rain if we had to spend the whole day outside. However, when we landed, the sun was shining brightly – a reminder that ocean weather differs from shore weather.

          That day was the second day of our trip. According to the itinerary, we would land in Mexico and visit the city. Various shore excursions were available – like wine tours, food tours, and beach tours – which had to be purchased separately from the ship ticket. We never go on wine tours. Furthermore, Siri finds walking long distances very difficult; she constantly asks to be picked up and won’t walk much at all. So, we booked one of the available food tours suitable for her.

          Those who didn’t want a land tour could choose activities like coastal snorkeling or simply relax on the ship.

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(to be continued)