Tag: cruise

25 of the Best Songs of Summer

Feb 2009 Cruise
Enjoying the beach views in Progreso, Mexico | Photo by Laurie Blundell

The heat’s pounding the pavement here in Texas — and the windows are just begging to be rolled down as you cruise through the neighborhood with your tracks blasting (is it still OK to do that if I’m 31?).

Thought I’d revisit some of those great songs of summer I can remember cruisin’ to back in the day…

  1. Gangsta’s Paradise – Colio & Amish Paradise – Weird Al
  2. I Can See Clearly Now – Johnny Nash
  3. Boot, Scoot and Boogie – Brooks and Dunn
  4. Sign – Ace of Base
  5. Magaritaville – Jimmy Buffett
  6. Saturday in the Park – Chicago
  7. Summer of ’69 – Bryan Adams
  8. Low Rider – War
  9. Joy to the World – Three Dog Night
  10. Little Deuce Coupe – Beach Boys
  11. Car Wash – Rose Royce
  12. Good Vibrations – Beach Boys
  13. Hey Ya! – Outkast
  14. Are You Gonna Be My Girl – Jet
  15. Highway to Hell – AC/DC
  16. Schools Out for the Summer – Alice Cooper
  17. American Woman – The Guess Who or Lenny Kravitz
  18. Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
  19. Welcome To Paradise – Green Day
  20. Buddy Holly – Weezer
  21. Walk This Way – Run DMC and Aerosmith
  22. Summertime – DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince
  23. Ice, Ice, Baby – Vanilla Ice
  24. California Girls – Beach Boys
  25. Wipe Out – Beach Boys and Fat Boys

TAG – You’re it!

What are your favorites?

Carnival Ecstasy review

As promised, here is my first report card on the two cruises we’ve taken this year (so far :-)). I’ll rank both cruises (and hopefully future cruises) on the same scale: 20 categories, scored 1-5 (5 being the highest); then total the points for the overall cruise score (out of 100 possible points).

In February 2009 we took the Carnival Ecstasy (see the Wikipedia entry) from Galveston, Texas to Progresso, Mexico and Cozumel, Mexico. The cruise was priced around $300 per person and Laurie and I traveled with two friends.
Continue reading Carnival Ecstasy review

Returning home

Just a couple initial thoughts tonight, about our cruise…

We had a great time with our family — it made for a great trip. I even had a good time after my legs became the main topic of conversation — after my stank-nasty sunburn on Tuesday.

And unlike our last cruise – we hardly noticed the ship moving or rocking at all.

However, since we got off the ship this morning (around 9:30 am EST) I’ve continued having “motion moments” in which I turn or move a certain way and feel like I’m on a very rocky sea vessel — odd.

And finally — no matter how pampered we are on the cruise — Royal Caribbean still can’t beat the normal size of my toilet seat, the softness of my toilet paper, the average size of my shower and the softness (and length) of my own bed.

There’s still no place like home.