There are many reviews of the March 7th 5-night cruise to the Western Caribbean. None overstate the bitter disappointment of this voyage. Imagine Girls Gone Wild merged with Animal House and you have an approximation of what the experience entailed. Imagine--maybe don't imagine--proceeding to the elevator on Deck 9 and discovering a young woman on her knees spewing vomit. Imagine being awakened at 3:00am by drunken kids running up and down the corridors pounding on cabin doors for the fun of it. Imagine food fights in the main dining room. Imagine a bunch of drunks at the outside bars shrieking curses because they could only but one drink at a time. Imagine a shirtless boy falling of a chair in El Bacio in a drunken stupor. Imagine the hot tubs literally jammed with kids drinking from glass beer bottles, and occasionally spitting (or worse?) into the pool. Imagine that the dress code doesn't exist--and for most of the 1,000+ college kids it didn't.
Now, imagine an officer group who ignore all of this. Who walk past the hot tubs and the manic bar scenes as though the madness they must see doesn't exist. Imagine a Captain announcing several times a day--essentially pleading with his young guests--to honor the dress code.
Now, after several days of this, imagine wending your way to the office of the Guest Relations Manager, who announces with a straight face that you should have known better. Yes, it turns out that if you sell hundreds of cabins to college kids, and one kid has to be 21, and therefore can get the Classic beverage package to share with his or her cabin mates, that this bedlam is indeed what you get.
Been there often and saw no need to fight the crowds for another slice of key line pie. Key west has a great local potter, but we just didn't feel the urge to trek over to his studio, which is also his home.
Cozumel was, like Key West, overrun with spring breakers, whose apparent sole ambition was ro see who could get the drunkest the fastest. One girl returned to the ship in a wheel chair, but never relinquished her grip on her bottle of Corona.