August

 2009

Last updated 09/21/2009  

The Cruise

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The cruise was absolutely FABULOUS!!!  This was a first for all fourteen of us who were part of our group.  Our party include our son, Mike and his family, Lisa, Jillian and Jeremy; Lisa's parents, Chris & Barbara, Lisa's sister Jennifer and her family, Emily, Matt and Bruno; and Bruno's mother Helen and his brother Luc.  The ship was Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas, with a crew of 1,200 to handle nearly 3,600 passengers.   We were part of a larger group of 39 families with Autism of the Seas that included seven or eight families from the Santa Clarita area.  Consequently, special arrangements were made for boarding and debarking, and we had our own dining areas and special events, as well as reserved seating for all the shows.  The ship, fourteen-decks tall, includes an ice rink, a theatre, jogging track, three swimming pools, numerous bars and lounges, a casino, 3 levels of dining rooms, several restaurants, miniature golf course, and much more.  The staterooms were spacious to us, but remember that we live in an RV!  There was always something going on somewhere on the ship.  The Autism group had a separate schedule from the ship's, but we were free to pick and choose what we wanted to do.    The ship was so big, and the water was so calm, there was hardly any sensation of movement.  It was wonderful!  The ports we stopped in were Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta, each on succeeding days.  We checked them all out, but the heat was exhausting. 

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