Cruise, Winter Break

This holiday break was like no other I have experienced before. Instead of hanging with friends and spending christmas at home in the bitter cold, I was in paradise spending 11 days with my family on a beautiful ship the size of a building.

The cold weather had just begun and I was already ready for the summer time. Lucky for me I left my friends back home in the cold and traveled to a sunny paradise. Unfortunatly our traditional family christmas could not be celebrated.

We arrived to florida anxious to go outside and feel the sunlight and warmth on our skin. But instead of sunlight heavy raindrops hit the pavement and flooded the streets of Ft. Lauderdale. The taxi had to take us through streets that were so flooded they seemed like rivers until we arrived at my grandpas house.

We spent two days in florida just enjoying the beach and the unique boardwalk resturants and shops until we would departure for 3 days on the open ocean on the Costa Atlantica cruise.

A giant ship welcomed us as we arrived to the check in for the cruise. I wondered how such a huge magnificient structure could float on water. The inside of the ship was even more unbelieveable then the outside. A huge lobby stood in front of us with beautful paintings and lights. A bar was was at the end of the ship surronded by comfortable places to sit and mingle with other customers. Three glass elevators were at the other end which took people to all 11 decks to their rooms.

The ninth floor had to be my favorite because that is where the buffet was, here they served food 24 hours everyday. The second floor held the resturant, shops and the main lobby. The top deck or roof of the ship had three pools, tanning areas, bars and a gym area to play sports. Unfortunatly for me i was sea sick the whole time so i couldnt wait to get off the boat and visit the first island St. Thomas.

I woke up to the beautiful mountanious scene of St. Thomas. We finally stepped foot on land and immediatlygot a taxi to tour the island and go to the beach. We went up every hill and looked down at the beautiful scenes of St. Thomas. We arrived at Magens Bay the water here was so blue and clear. From the beach we could look out to the ocean and see the mountains that surronded the bay.

Our next stop was San Juan Puerto Rico. This city was so beautiful and and unique. The most interesting part of the city was old town San Juan. A 3 mile long fort surronded the neighborhoods and cemetary of old town. The fort faced out to the ocean and was used before and during WWII.