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Cruise to Key West and Calica-Playa del Carmen
January 16 to 20, 2006

During the first week in January, my parents invited me to go on a cruise with them. Now they had previously been on a cruise with some church friends. But since they enjoyed that trip so much, they wanted to go again. Given that I did not really travel anywhere over the Christmas holiday and that they were footing the bill, I decided I would tag along.

I have never been on a cruise before, so I was looking forward to this trip. On Monday, January 16, we flew out from Richmond to Miami. The cruise company shuttled us from the airport to the cruise ship terminal. I lived in Miami like fifteen years ago and I haven’t been back there for like thirteen years. Things have definitely changed since the last time I was there. During the bus ride, I gazed out the window with enthrallment. As we got closer to downtown, we passed under the Metrorail line as a train roared past--man, I could remember riding on that thing! As we approached the terminal, I could see the docked cruise ships. Now I have seen cruise ships before on TV and in print, but I have never seen one up-close in person. I never imagined them to be so big. These are some big freaked ships! The bus finally pulled up at the terminal building in front of a Carnival cruise ship--the 855-foot Fantasy class M.S. Fascination. (By the way, the M.S. is a prefix for motor ships.)

After boarding into the atrium-like Grand Spectrum, we headed straight for our stateroom to drop off the luggage. I then went off to explore. I systematically went to each deck, making a mental map of the ship. I climbed to the top deck as the ship left port and as the wind blew violently into my face, watched as we sailed into the Atlantic Ocean.

Top Left: The Varina-Enon Bridge over the James River as seen soon after takeoff from Richmond International Airport
Top Right: The top of the M.S. Fascination
Bottom Left: Sailing into the Atlantic Ocean
Bottom Right: The Miami skyline in the distance

When I woke up the next morning, the ship was already docked at the first port of call, Key West. I have been to the Conch Republic a number of times when I lived in Miami and so I was looking forward to seeing how things looks a dozen years later. After getting ready, my parents and I went to one of the dining rooms and had breakfast. We then climbed to the top deck to get a better view of the surroundings. I glanced to the starboard side and saw a fleet of sailing boats. There must have been hundreds of them out there. I figured there was probably a sailing competition of some sort.

Left: Arrival in Key West
Right: Sailing competition

After watching the sailing boats bob up and down for a while, we headed to a lower deck and disembarked. A tram, like one of those at Busch Gardens that go between the parking lot and the park entrance, took us into downtown Key West. We had purchased tickets for two attractions back on the ship: the Pirate Soul Museum and the Shipwreck Historeum. As the name implied, the Pirate Soul Museum was about pirates, Caribbean pirates in particular. It was a small museum, but it had an extraordinary collection of artifacts, including an authentic Jolly Roger and a one of a kind treasure chest, both of which, as I found out, are extremely rare. For example, the treasure chest located there is the only authentic one in the world attributed to a pirate. After checking out the pirate stuff, we trekked down Duval Street to the Shipwreck Historeum. I learned that wrecking, which is taking or savaging valuables from shipwrecks, was a major industry in the Florida Keys for much of the 19th century. I was also stunned to learn that Key West was the richest city in America at one point and it was because of this unusual industry. After helping out during a savage operation, wreckers, people who practiced wrecking, would take a cut of the savaged goods for themselves. Numerous wooden lookout towers were built in the Keys to facilitate the spotting of shipwrecks. Basically, whoever got to the wreck first got first dibs! The museum had a replica of one of these wooden towers. I of course climbed to the top and took a dozen or so pictures. After leaving the museum, we walked around town and checked out the shops. Then we took the tram back to the ship.

Top Left: The Pirate Soul Museum
Top Right: The Key West Shipwreck Historeum and its replica of a lookout tower
Middle Left: Downtown Key West as seen from the top of the tower
Middle Right: The beginning of the well-recognized United States Highway 1 or U.S. 1
Bottom Left: A typical Key West house
Bottom Right: The M.S. Fascination

The following day, Wednesday, after breakfast, we arrived at Calica, Mexico. I climbed to the top deck and watched as the ship docked. Calica, which is really not much more than a small port (more like a platform), is located minutes from a town called Playa del Carmen. By the way, Playa del Carmen is a nice small artsy resort town on the Caribbean (eastern) coast of the Yucatan Peninsula about an hour south of Cancún. So, what is there to do here? There are nice white sandy beaches of course, but I was more interested in the exotic stuff. What exotic stuff? Well, the Yucatan Peninsula is known for its Mayan ruins. The famed Chichén Itzá (not chicken pizza), which possesses the largest Mayan temple (stepped pyramid) in Mexico, is located in the heart of the Yucatan. I would have visited there, but since Chichén Itzá was over two hours away from the cruise ship, no trips to there was offered. What was offered, however, was a trip to some less well-known Mayan ruins located at the Muyil archeological site, located a little less than an hour south of Calica. Chicken pizza, I mean Chichén Itzá, would have to wait until next time.

Left: The Port of Calica
Right: M.S. Fascination docked at Calica

The bus ride to Muyil was uneventful. We went through a few small towns. One picks up readily that Mexico is quite poor. The scenery was not too much different from my previous trip to Tijuana and Ensenada on the Pacific coast of Mexico.

Situated near a complex of spectacular clear-watered lagoons in the government-designated Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Muyil is believed to have served as an important trading post in the Mayan Empire. Unlike Chichén Itzá, many of the buildings in Muyil have not been restored. Not yet been reclaimed from the jungle, foundations of crumbled buildings can be seen through the dense foliage. Trotting on sacbeob (white stone paths) that may have been ancient trade routes, we followed the tour guide from one set of ruins to another. One of the restored buildings and perhaps the most impressive of which we encountered was the El Castillo (The Castle). Although the stairway was extremely steep, I managed to climb to the top and took a few shots of the surroundings. As we ventured deeper into the reserve toward the lagoon close to the coast, I saw marshes teeming with fish and flora of dazzling colors. Near the center of the reserve was an old rickety wooden tower. I swear it took some raw courage to climb up this thing. My reward of course was the gorgeous view of the reserve it offered.

Top Left: Typical ruins in Muyil
Top Right: El Castillo (The Castle)
Bottom Left: Jungle path leading toward the lagoon
Bottom Right: View of lagoon at the top of wooden tower

Upon reaching the lagoon, I took a few more pictures of the area--absolutely magnificent! It was sad leaving this place, but we had to get back to the ship before dark. We hiked back to the park entrance by another route. To me, this sojourn in the jungle was the highlight of the cruise. I have for years had wanted to see some Mayan ruins. Although this is not Chichén Itzá, I was satisfied at last. Nevertheless, I will have to return to check out the other ruins in the area.

In the evening, the ship left Calica. Throughout the night and the following day, we sailed slowly back to Miami. With no place to go on Thursday, I mostly hung out in the casino, watching people play roulette and chomped on sushi. We finally arrived at the port in Miami on Friday. We packed up, had breakfast, disembarked, and cleared customs. The shuttle then took us to the airport.

Left: An example of the towel animals we encountered when we returned to our stateroom each night
Right: The Grand Spectrum at night

Overall, it was a great trip! I am used to going on road trips, but cruising is definitely a fresh alternative.

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