our hotel in miami	south beach skyline	shells on south beach	south beach from our hotel (10th floor)	lisa on the boat
lisa with frizzy hair	leaving the port in miami	the royal promenade	people sunning on deck	boat at labadee
our boat, front view	labadee bell	beach	rocks and the sea	lisa by water
dmag by water	partially hidden boat	lisa	rocks	dmag by dragon's rock

we have to stand in several long lines before we can get on the boat. (the ships holds 3,500 plus 1,500 crew.) we get on about noon, but our luggage doesn't arrive till after 7:30pm. in the mean time, we can't go on deck because it's freezing, and we don't have long sleeves on. there is a 'muster drill' where we all have to put on our life jackets. our room is small, but passable. the crew is made up of people from around the world. many have heavy accents, but all are friendly, hard-working, and amazingly patient.

day 2: at sea

the boat (voyager of the seas) is the world's largest, 3x bigger than the titanic. we try to explore it, but it will take more than a day. feels like a beach resort with everyone on deck sunning themselves by the pool.

dinner is formal, and everyone is dressed to the hilt. our waiter is an extremely friendly, witty and patient guy from romania who's worked on the boat since it was launched in 1999.

day 3: labadee

Labadee is a private beach in haiti. it's not developed, and has nothing but palm trees, and post-card perfect beaches. we have to take take small ferries (called 'tenders') to the beach. lisa and i explore, then rest in a hammock. the ship is sitting in the middle of this beautiful bay, looking like a bright-white sky scraper laying on it's side.

that night on deck, there is a warm carribean wind and a beautiful moon.

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