Magnusson 1 Adam Magnusson Eng 101-130 Mr.

Neuburger 7 February 2012 Narrative Essay My Cruise Experience About three months prior, my parents invited me on a cruise. Naturally, I didnt want to go. But that is because I didnt see how being on a boat was going to be all that exiting. However, I decided to go for the purpose of seeing the Mayan Ruins, and it was an excuse not to be at work for a week. I also got paid for it. There was about 3 months of working out details. Where the room was, what to do, basically small stuff. We were going to have a room in the middle of the ship where was the least sway. There was going to be a casino. And since I was 21, I had to get seasoned the most important aspect of all, the bar. The drive down however was rather uneventful, but what can you expect driving through Oklahoma and Texas. We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I took over at the wheel at that point. I drove all the way through Oklahoma and about halfway through Texas with my dad handling navigations. There was a GPS that kept changing the route; hence we ended up taking a very long way down to Galveston, both miles and mentally. I think it was in Athens, TX when my mom started driving. The trip was just as bland as before. The day was dragging, and then we finally got to Galveston. It was a trip that took all day with no real excitement.

Magnusson 2 We spent the night at a hotel that was ok. We were allowed to leave the truck there for the week while we were on the cruise. We had to take a cab to get the ship. We ended up at the dock station for 3-4 hours that morning because there wasnt anything to do. When we finally got the boat, everyone around me was going on about how much fun I was going to have and how this was going to be the shit. If I knew then what I know now, I would have told them to stick it up their ass. The rest of the week was straight boredom from start to finish. That Sunday was mildly entertaining. I got to see my team win the NFC Championship on a huge television (the Packers). Then there was a moderately funny show in the main stage room that night, but I was more worried about the AFC Championship. Nothing else really happened after that. That Monday, I woke up with nothing to do. I got to play a trivia game with some people later in the morning. Then I ate and had nothing to do until the casino finally open around 2ish. When the bars opened, it was ok. That Tuesday, I started to miss land. Not because I was afraid of water, but there really isnt a whole lot about the ocean that interests me. The rest of the day played the same way as Monday. Only real difference is that I was up around $100 at the casino. Then Wednesday came and we finally got to Jamaica. It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It was also the only time I ever felt carsick in all my life. The bus ride over to the Appleton Rum Estate was the most frightening ride ever. The roads (not streets) were skinny beyond all belief. When we got to the estate, we went into the tour immediately. It was very educated, yet unimpressive. We got a free sample of the rum

Magnusson 3 afterword and I almost vomited. We returned to the ship and I was still just as unsatisfied with this as I was expecting. The Thursday, we arrived in the Grande Cayman, and there was nothing to see. However, I did get wasted with my dad. I tried Thai shrimp and it was fairly decent. That actually was a nice day of relaxation. Whereas, Friday was the day I had been waiting for the whole journey. The only reason I agreed to go in the first place was because I did want to see the Mayan Ruins. It was about a 2 hour trip from the ship to finally get there and we couldnt stay all that long and it was nowhere near what I wanted it to be. I got to swim in the ocean and the history lesson I found lacking severely. Also, I couldnt really do anything while I was there. Saturday was the trip back and it was the same as the rest of cruise. There wasnt any kind of extravaganza to be the icing on the cake. It was merely another day at the office. At the end of the day, I was down $20 at the casino. And that sums that up. We pulled into port the following day and that was when the uprisings in Egypt began. The summed up how I felt about the whole week preceding that day. I saw that news report on the same TV as the Championship game. When we got back to the truck, my parents realized how disappointed I was with the trip and simply apologized. When we got back to Missouri, the blizzard happened. A week in the sun, then a blizzard, go figure. The moral of the story, I was right. I didnt enjoy a week with nothing to do.