After mulling it around for a couple of months, we finally pulled the trigger and decided to go to Cuba. The country we know so little about, was now open for travel by Americans. Is a country that hasn't changed much in the last 50 years going to be invaded by corporate America? Probably so. The prevailing opinion is it would be nice to see it before the Starbucks and McDonald's come. That being said, as a few of you might recall, we have eaten at many a Mickey Ds around the world. I'd be one of the first in line to try the McCuban sandwich.

We have embarked on another adventure and one of the exciting things is, we are doing it with 2 other couples that we met years ago on our South American cruise around the cape (the Stotkas and McArthurs) . So, in the next few days, I will try to give you our perspective of the beautiful and mysterious island of Cuba.

We chose a Greek company, "Celestyal Cruises", which runs a week long cruise that Americans can start and end in Montego Bay, Jamaica. We are sailing on the Crystal which was once owned by NCL. She was originally build as a cruiseferry and was later turned into a cruise ship after an exciting history which included a massive fire and partial sinking. Sounded like a good choice for us seasoned cruisers. She wouldn't have the nerve to sink again...... right?

Because of a massive storm on the east coast of the US, our flight was re-routed; we flew to Montego Bay via a 4 hour layover in Phoenix, then to Miami and finally Jamaica. After traveling all night, we arrived in MB at noon... hopped in a cab and within an hour were on the ship with a Cuba Libre in hand. The Crystal brings back memories of when we first started cruising. A room the size of most people's closets, and a shower that you can only fit half into at a time. But who needs to wash their whole body at once anyway? It's not that big of a deal as we don't spend that much time in the cabin. We familiarize ourselves with the ship, do our muster drill and, before we know it, the horn blows at 8PM and we are off to Cuba.