Hello, everyone! Welcome back to Amaryllis' World. Year 2002 is also the year of the Horse. Want to know where I spent my Christmas holidays?

I've been quite busy this year. Not only do I have a baby sister to keep myself "entertained", I've gone to places as far as the other side of the world! Mainly, Taiwan....that is. I've also traveled south as far as the Caribbean. Since I've got those pictures readily accessible I'll show you my Christmas holiday first. 

Travel Itinerary 
December 19: Leave Vancouver for Miami
December 20: Board Mercury 
December 20 ~ 27: 7 Night cruise onboard Mercury
    Dec. 20: Depart Miami
    Dec. 21: At Sea
    Dec. 22: Grand Cayman (British Colony)
    Dec. 23: Cozumel (Mexico) 
    Dec. 24: Progreso (Mexico)
    Dec. 25: At Sea
    Dec. 26: Key West (USA)
    Dec. 27: Arrive at port of Miami
December 28: Leave Miami for Vancouver

Travel Detail
The flight from Vancouver to Miami was way too early for me. We had a stop-over in Toronto but most of the time was spent looking for Grandpa and Mommy and the right connection terminal. It was a real hassle going through all the security checks. They even forced Ga-Ga to have a X-ray examination without my consent! Talk about freedom and equality! 

By the time we got to Miami it was already evening (local time). It was difficult finding a taxi simply because we didn't bring along our own car seats! With the help of the airport police, we were finally able to be on our way to Sheraton Biscayne for the night's sleep. 

Here's a look at the Port of Miami at dawn. 
Yep, that's how early we had to wake up to get on the ship. Yawn! 
Definitely too early for little me. I get rather cranky when I have to wake up early....except when we are going somewhere exciting. 

Ta-Da! 
Look! This is the ship I rode on. 

Her name is Mercury. 
She is part of the Celebrity Cruise Line. 
Occupancy: 1,870
Tonnage: 77,713


I had a blast on board this ship. Almost every night, Mommy and Daddy will take me and my baby sister to Navigator's Club to dance...or rather to drain our energy so that they can get their beauty sleep. 

Here's a look at the place that I sleep in the night. 
That's Anne-Aymone sitting on MY sofa bed. 
I sleep by myself on my very own sofa bed. Mommy and Daddy wouldn't dare sleep with me 'cause they'd get blue and green spots all over themselves in the morning. Now that you've seen where I sleep, let's have a look at where my sister sleeps...

This is the room Anne-Aymone sleeps in. 
She sleeps with Grandma, Grandpa, & Auntie so that she won't climb all over me and wake me from my beauty sleep. I do prefer we keep a safe distance from one another but Anne-Aymone to stuck to me the way koalas are attached to eucalyptus tree.

Of course, the most important thing to do on a cruise (any cruise for that matter) is to EAT EAT EAT! 

This is the delicacy I enjoy the most on the cruise - Caviar! 
It doesn't matter what kind of caviar it is nor what colour it is. 
As long as it is caviar it is good enough for me. Yum! 
(Okay Grandma, you can give the head waiter his tip now since he found me some goody goody caviar to feast on.)

We've partied, we've danced, we've ate,...now we need some place nice to take a  rest... How about the upper deck where the big cruise party is going on? Sounds good to me! Loud music, loud crowd, that's the kind of atmosphere for a good night's rest!

After this nap it should be about....2 am, that's when I'll get up and party! Hee, hee, hee. 

Look at the food they had during the party. 
What!?! Only fruits and no meat? 
Hmmm....looks like I didn't miss out too much after all. 

This is the first place our ship stopped during the 7-night cruise. This is Grand Caymans. It is a very beautiful place. We went to the local sea turtle farm and I got to pet some sea turtles! 
Look at that cool babe in the sunglasses petting sea turtle! 

The sea turtles didn't enjoy Anne-Aymone's special petting too much. As soon as she get her hand on their flippers they became flying turtles trying to take flight...back into the water tank. 

The place that I enjoyed the most at Grand Caymans was the beach. Now, this is my kind of bathtub. It's got natural heating. It's got lots and lots of water. It's got white sand...what more can one ask for? 
The tough part was trying to fish me out of the water!
Just let them try!

On December 23, we docked at mosquito infested Cozumel, Mexico. We drove to one of the archaeological sites to have a look at the local culture. We only got a glimpse of the site when a sudden rain shower soaked us all. Grandpa decided to skip the rest of the tour and head for the beach! Yippee! 

Too bad the water at Cozumel's beach was way to cold and the wind was very strong. So, Anne-Aymone sat on the sand and buried herself instead. Hmmm....maybe I should pitch in and help her that way I can be certain she stays put. 

Although I don't have a picture of Ga-Ga to show you, here's a picture of Anne-Aymone's new found friend - Billionaire. Anne-Aymone chose this bear on her own. Maybe that will keep her away from my Ga-Ga.  

Before we headed home to Vancouver, Daddy took us to Miami's Seaquarium. It was the first time I saw a real live Ga-Ga! Too bad we only had one extra day to spent in Florida before flying back to Vancouver; otherwise, I'm sure Daddy would have taken us to Orlando's Sea World and maybe Disney World too. 

On our visit to the Seaquarium, we were very fortunate to see the performance of the  world's youngest crocodile handler wrestle with one of the Seaquarium's crocodiles. She was very brave....

Anne-Aymone, "So, what do you want me to do with it now?"

So brave that she dared to sit on the crocodile's upper jaw! 
See, the crocodile is so scared that it didn't dare make a move.

Last look at Mercury before heading for home. 
Bye bye ship, bye bye beach, bye bye Miami.

Well, what do you think of my vacation? Where should I go next? 
Stick around and you'll find out soon enough. 
Don't forget to check back often and look at my other pages. 

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