Anyone done the cruise gig? I finally got around to taking the wife and kiddo on a big ol' boat to Mexico. We planned to do it 3-4 years ago but the severe vertigo and then the pandemic put it on hold.

No desire here to ever go on a cruise. Mrs Tit agrees. That whole experience looks shitty to us. I hope you have a great time, but even if you have the best time of your life, I still won't be convinced to go on one.

I did it once. It was fine. The stops were too short. We stopped in the Cayman Islands on the trip and now we are going there this summer.

Moving your money to offshore accounts? Smart.

There was an eclectic gathering of people. Some hung out in the casino (which I had no idea they had before the trip), some hung out on the party deck, some caught shows and partied heavy in the evening. There was a surprising amount of activities on the boat. We went on 2 excursions which I agree were too short. Both tried to cram too much into the few hours we had and we felt rushed.

Because I was concerned about my vertigo and claustrophobia, I splurged and got a room with a balcony just in case I had an attack and needed to get outside asap. When I was choosing my room from the map, the balconies in the back of the boat (aka "aft" to us sea going folk) looked slightly bigger than the ones on the sides, so that's what I got. It turned out that was a good choice (for me, anyway). There was a platform 2 decks below us that wrapped around the back of the boat, but there weren't any lounge chairs so noone hung out long. I hardly say anyone when I was outside and I was outside a lot. Mostly all I saw was 180 degrees of empty sea (rarely saw any other ships) and heard the wash of the water, which sounded very much like Turner Falls if you closed your eyes. It wasn't terribly hot in the middle of the gulf and at night it was just perfect. I ended up sleeping on the balcony 3 out of the 5 nights. SUPER relaxing.

Also, when you get away from Galveston, the water becomes the deepest, most beautiful color of blue I've ever seen. As the ship cuts through the water, it triggers light blue bioluminescent organisms that light up the trail its left behind it. It was super peaceful and serene.

Here's a video of a dude showing a room that was very close to ours:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNx0IKTRFhs

He shows the balcony at 1:22. Watch it in 1080p to see the color of the ocean and bioluminescent wash.

Since we had the kiddo with us we tried to find things to keep her interested. Me and the wifey want to go again soon, but just by ourselves so we can relax a little more. And so I can get a bj on that balcony

That room is larger than I expected.

The rooms are 185 sq ft. It was a little cramped with a 3rd person since the second bed is where a couch would normally be. There are 3 types of staterooms: Inside (no window), Ocean view (w/ window) and Balcony. All 3 types are the same size and layout from what I can tell. The 4th room type is called the Ocean Suite and is slightly bigger at 205 square feet. The most noticeable difference is the bathroom which has dual sinks and a much larger shower. I think some have larger balconies but the one in this video appears to be the same size as the stateroom:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD4o4V_ ... GregPowers

I've been on a few, but it's been 8 years or so since the last one. I've been on a couple with large groups and Mrs. bigboy, the kid, and I did one just the 3 of us. That was easily the best because we had no schedule other than dinner and did pretty much whatever we wanted. We stayed on the ship at the first port and had the place to ourselves and just went to beaches on our own at the other two. It was probably the cheapest and least stressful week long vacation we've ever done as a family.