Cruises Mar 12, 2007
After the recent Hawaii cruise and last year's Caribbean cruise, I have a few thoughts on cruises. 

1.  A cruise is a great way to see a group of islands or some other group of destinations all in close proximity to each other that would otherwise be expensive to travel between.  Since we didn't know which Island in Hawaii would be good to visit, we thought about visiting several.  But the little puddle-jumper plain rides, taxi fares, hotels, and meals all add up pretty quick.  A cruise lets you see several different places without worrying about how you'll travel. 

2.  The ship is like a really nice floating hotel, and they treat you like royalty.  But the standard rooms are painfully small.  The good thing is that you probably won't spend much time in your room, because you'll be in the pool or the hot tub, eating at one of the restaurants, or walking around your destination if the boat is docked.  The food is literally amazing, and there's pretty much an endless supply of it.  Norwegian Cruise Lines has an awesome system where you eat whenever and wherever you want and you don't have to sit with other people (other cruise lines have assigned eating times and assigned seats/tables).  The food is really good even at the buffets.  It was painful to come home and have to cook and clean myself. 

3.  I'm not sure the cost is totally justified.  I think it would be hypothetically cheaper to stay in a hotel, rent a car, pay for each of your meals, and pay for each activity.  But that adds a lot more complication and inconvenience.  So I guess part of the cost of a cruise is for ease and convenience.  I'm usually not willing to pay for that, but I make exceptions. 

4.  There's a heck of a lot of tipping.  Norwegian has this system where they semi-secretly charge you another $10/day so you don't have to tip at the end (other cruise lines have an extensive guide on who you should tip [waiters, cleaning people] and how much).  But everything gets put on your final bill, so it's sort of easier than carrying around cash.  But every time you get driven somewhere or get a tour or get your bag carried, it's nice to tip (we often didn't tip ... oh well).  If we tipped everyone we were supposed to, we would've spent around $40-50, which while it isn't that much, it's still in addition to the loads of money that were already spent on the cruise and activities in the first place.  I'm absolutely sure no one survives on tips alone, so I "shouldn't feel obligated" to tip unless I received service that was "above and beyond what I expected".  Does anyone actually believe that?  I'd like to. 

5.  I think the shore excursions are only worth it if they provide some sort of unique experience.  I can parasail and ride a jet ski anywhere.  I can also snorkel anywhere, but if I can be taken to a really cool place and/or see some really unique marine life, I'll pay for it.  Most of the excursions in Hawaii seemed like they were worth it because Hawaii is such an interesting place.  The excursions in the Caribbean seemed more like activities done to spend some time.  That's not really what I'm after.  Also, some excursions can easily be done for less money and with less restrictions.  Some excursions are bus tours of towns and things like that.  You can easily walk around a small town, and that's usually free.  Some excursions can also be done without going through the cruise company.  Norwegian was obviously making a profit off these things, so going directly to the activity offerer would almost definitely be cheaper.  But then it adds another level of complication, which gets back to number 3. 

6.  Taking advantage of free things is the best feeling in the world.  The ship has a bunch of activities (comedians, musicians, shows) and other things (hula lessons, scrapbook workshops, necklace-making tutorials [these are largely geared towards women]) that are included in the price of the cruise.  So it costs nothing (extra) to do them.  But the ship also has free shuttles and ferry rides.  We took a free shuttle to a shopping place and walked to a nearby beach because there were no beaches near the ship.  Cha-ching! 

7.  For the Caribbean cruise, we had an outside cabin, but for the Hawaii cruise, we had an inside cabin.  Depending on which direction you're pointed when you're sleeping, the ship will either move you side to side or head to toe.  I'm not sure which is better. 

8.  The difference between a room with a porthole and a room with no window is extremely minimal.  It's not like you sit in your little tiny closet of a room and stare out the little tiny porthole of a window.  A major step up is to get a room with a balcony.  Since most of my time was spent somewhere outside anyway, having a balcony would've been awesome.  But it sort of depends what side your room is on with respect to what there is to see.  The sunrise might be on the other side of the ship, in which case you're screwed.  Or you might be facing land when you dock, at which point you'll notice how incredibly ugly shipyards are.  I'm not sure a balcony is worth the increased price, but it might be.  Once again, hardly any time is spent in the room. #travel
Sunburn Mar 12, 2007
I'm pale-skinned, and I like the sun.  Sunburn is a part of my life.  The worst sunburn I ever got was sometime around the age of 10 or 12 when I played outside all day and got sunburn on my arms so bad it turned to blisters.  The worst area of the body to get sunburn is any place that bends or regularly touches other things, such as the tops of feet, behind the knees, and the entire back.  Getting sunburn on the head is unusually painful because it feels like the sun actually touched your brain.  I'd have to say the worst part about sunburn is that you don't know you have it until it's too late.  And there's really no indication that it's happening.  Some people think they can see my skin getting red, but that's not how it works.  Sunburn shows up several hours later.  I can be in the hot sun for hours and feel like my skin is melting off, but if I'm wearing sunscreen, I get no color at all.  Thank God for sunscreen.  My life would be quite different without it.  Either I'd be a recluse or I'd constantly be in extreme pain. #health
Soft-serve (4) Mar 12, 2007
On the two cruises I've been on, there's been a soft-serve ice cream machine.  There are cones in a container on the side, and the machine has three spouts:  One for vanilla, one for chocolate, and one for vanilla chocolate swirl.  I'm not usually one to brag, but I have to say I'm probably the best amateur soft-serve ice cream cone maker in the world.  I watch people stand there, pull the handle, and move their cone all around in an attempt to capture the falling ice cream.  What a bunch of idiots.  Most people don't even have sense enough to know that the machine will run indefinitely unless the handle is pushed back up.  It's pitiful.  And looking at long strands of tube-shaped ice cream really disgusts me.  I don't know if it's because it so closely resembles bird poop or what.  Something about it just really makes me want to puke.  But then I step up to the plate and create the most beautiful ice cream cone anyone's ever seen.  It almost brings a tear to your eye.  You have to hold the cone right under the machine and sort of force the ice cream right into the cone.  It's like putting toothpaste back into the tube (which is impossible):  You don't just haphazardly put some toothpaste near the tube opening and hope it magically goes in.  You squeeze the tube a little and use the suction to suck in the toothpaste.  It's the same with ice cream, except you can't really squeeze the cone.  You just need to hold it tight and let the flowing ice cream squeeze itself into the cone.  As the cone fills up, it creates a beautiful mound.  Don't overdo it or else you'll have a top-heavy cone and you'll have to eat it as fast as you can before it melts and then lick it off your fingers like an idiot.  Don't be an idiot.  Use the soft-serve ice cream machine properly. #food
Ordering at Starbucks (1) Mar 12, 2007
I have big problems when ordering at Starbucks.  I'm not into all the girly ("fru-fru" as Wendy says) drinks and special Starbucks language.  I usually say, "Can I have a small coffee?" and watch them all cringe at my barista ignorance.  In Hawaii, I wanted something a little more refreshing than piping-hot man-coffee.  I was thinking something like coffee with ice cubes.  I went in and looked through the menu for something similar.  The closest thing I could find was this thing called a Frappuccino.  That word isn't a part of my vocabulary, but I went with it.  There was a choice between "coffee" and "coffee light", and seeing how I'm not a fan of how strong Starbucks coffee is, I went with "coffee light".  So here's me ordering:  "Can I have a ... uh ... Frappuccino ... coffee light ... small, please?"  The barista asked me, "Would you like whipped cream with that?"  I held back a sneer and said, "No, thanks."  It was humiliating and emasculating, and it ended up being something other than coffee with ice cubes.  But that frozen concoction was delicious.  Despite the complicated ordering procedure and Starbucks' tendency to feminine-ize everything, I'd go back and do it again. #food
Baby pictures Mar 12, 2007
Let's face it, all babies look exactly the same.  I'm not talking about infants or toddlers or whatever else they're called when they reach whatever age.  I'm talking about newborn babies.  The kind that are wrinkly, hairless, and usually somewhat chunky.  Besides gender, race, and size, all babies look exactly the same.  So like this guy from the LA Times, I'm kindly asking everyone to stop sending me baby pictures.  (via Obscure Store) #lifestyle
Hawaii cruise review Mar 12, 2007
I spent last week on a cruise in Hawaii.  It was awesome.  Here are my thoughts: 

1.  It's a very diverse place in terms of nature.  There are obviously beaches.  But right near the beaches, there are huge mountains.  Some of the mountains are covered with trees and forests.  Other mountains are covered with newly-cooled (within the past 50 years or so) volcanic rock.  There are active volcanoes.  There are rivers and waterfalls.  There are farms and fields.  I guess I was surprised to find out that the island isn't covered with sand and there's more to do that just lay on the beach. 

2.  It's not a very diverse place in terms of animal life, but the animals there are pretty cool.  There is essentially nothing "native" to the islands since they were volcanically formed from the bottom of the ocean.  So the land animals are things that were introduced by humans, like wild chickens and pigs.  But the sea life is pretty cool.  Besides some colorful fish, there are sea turtles and whales just off the coast.  I thought whales were cold water animals.  I guess not. 

3.  There are basically no dangerous animals or bugs.  This is arguably one of the most appealing parts of the state.  There are no deer ticks or giant, man-eating spiders.  There are no snakes or lizards.  There are no crocodiles or bears.  The only thing you need to worry about is coming across a poisonous centipede, which I thankfully didn't.  Even after talking to a few locals about it, they agreed that Hawaii is largely creepy-crawly-free. 

4.  Unfortunately, the travel time is borderline ridiculous.  From the east coast, a non-stop flight would be about 9 or 10 hours, but ours was split into two parts.  But two 5-hour flights isn't much better than one 10-hour flight.  And then there's the timezone difference.  Hawaii is 2 hours earlier than the west coast, which is 3 hours earlier than the east coast.  So basically, breakfast is lunch, lunch is dinner, and dinner is a midnight snack.  But after a day or two, everything feels normal.  One benefit of the time difference is that I easily got up at 6am to see the sun rise.  I'm absolutely not a morning person, so this should tell you something. 

5.  Hawaiians are cool people.  It's the absolute opposite of the Caribbean.  My experience in the Caribbean is littered with poor people trying to con me into taking stupid tours and buying overpriced hand-woven baskets.  I understand it's how they make their living, but I still don't like it.  Most islands in the Caribbean thrive on tourism, so the locals are a bit pushy and in-your-face.  Hawaii also thrives on tourism, but the people are completely different.  No one is in your face.  No one tries to steal your money or take advantage of you.  You can walk down the street without feeling like your life is in danger.  Also, Hawaii seems to be a little more conservation-minded.  The streets aren't filled with garbage and people make an effort to keep things pure and natural.  It's almost like Hawaiians treat it as a privilege to live on the islands, not a right.  It's different, and very cool. #travel