Another Successful Vacation.

The Boat

Our Stateroom

Lumiere's Restaurant

Pirate Party on the deck

Atrium Lobby

I sure am enjoying my retirement. Just kidding. I decided that a post covering my whole trip would be too long and take too much time so over the next couple days I'll try to post pictures and descriptions of various aspects of the trip. First up, the boat. It was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. I was probably so overwhelmed due to the fact that I went on a cruise 12 years ago on a ship that was probably built in the 50s. I was also probably so impressed because we got the tickets for so cheap. Mickey doesn't spare any expense to make sure you have a good time. I guess I can sum it up by saying that it was like staying at an upscale hotel in downtown Chicago and being able to go to any restaurant or theatre within three blocks for free. The service was amazing. I concluded that they hire all foreigners because they couldn't possibly find Americans to be that nice for two weeks straight. We had the 8:30 dinner and rotated between three restaurants, one was formal, one was casual, and one was like a theme park ride. The boat had two main theatres. A 1000 seat performance theatre where we saw musicals, magic shows, cirque du soleil type show, the Boys II Men concert, and the premiere of Pirates 3. The other 500 seat theatre was mostly for movies and was as nice as any AMC theatre. We saw The Prestige, Casino Royale, and Deja Vu. There were 3 pools and 3 fast food joints plus a buffet. A nightclub, a sports bar, and a couple lounge bars. The ship had 2400 passengers of which only 400 were kids. Our stateroom host said that they've had as many as 1800 kids before. We had several evening parties on the top deck when the wind wasn't blowing 60 mph. I was concerned that 6 days at sea would be too much but the time went fast because there was so much to do on the boat (and we lost an hour every night changing time zones). The boat rocked pretty good a few of the days which caused Matt's illness to last longer than it would have otherwise. He slept most of the first 5 days. But I never took anything and I was fine the whole time. Oh yeah, they also had a great workout area which was surprisingly full most of the time. It was especially surprising given how fat everyone on the boat seemed to be. I worked out pretty much everyday, which was necessary given the amount of food I was consuming. The demographics of the passengers was probably 80% under 20 and over 40 so it isn't a singles cruise. But I would definitely recommend the transatlantic crossing on that boat to anyone, especially for the price we paid. I also found out once we got on that this was the first time Disney was making a transatlantic cruise so it was a big deal for them. That's enough for now.

Been a while.

I haven't posted in a while and I don't have much to say. But the sunset last night was pretty impressive so I took some pictures. I checked out the immigration rally at Millenium Park yesterday since the weather was so nice. It's not everyday you get to see 100,000 people in one spot. I almost ran into Mayor Daley on my way out. As I was walking down the sidewalk on Columbus I saw a guy who looked out of place because he was wearing a black suit when everyone else was in shorts or jeans. Then I look twenty feet to my right and there is the Mayor getting into his car. Apparently he was the lunatic yelling into the mic on stage moments before. I'm not sure what he needed the car for, his house is two blocks from Grant Park. And he wants this to be the greenest city in America.

I want to predict that the Cubs will make there way into first place in the NL Central before the end of May. They are barely below .500 now (if not at .500), the hitters are finally waking up, and the relief pitching couldn't be worse than April. Well, now that I think about it, they might be in second because those damn Brewers are pretty good. Pretty disappointed in the Red Wings but they still have time to come back and win the series. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming battle between the Bulls and Pistons. Dragan is a big Bulls fan and, well, let's just say I support the Detroit teams. I like the Pistons in 6, maybe 7.

Only 10 days til I'm cruising in the Atlantic. It will be nice to enjoy the nice humid ocean breeze, for 14 straight days. I'm looking forward to getting some work done, working out, and eating like a pig for two weeks. By the time I get back I'll be ready to sign up my clients. I should also have some nice pictures to post around Memorial Day when I return. Have a good month of May.