Spring Break of my seventh grade year I went on vacation with my best friend- our destination… Cozumel, Mexico. We took a flight from Nashville to New Orleans, where our cruise was docked. When we touched down in Louisiana we experienced a new kind of atmosphere: Brought up in a small town in Kentucky the closest “big” city was Nashville. The buildings alone was enough to set the two cities apart, not including the culture and the colossal ship docked in the river- Carnival Triumph, our cruise. The dialect in Louisiana was very different from the way we speak in Kentucky, you don’t know southern until you hear the people of the swamps speak.

Louisiana was the first experience of many new cultures. Once we boarded our cruise ship we were off through the gulf where we had a 3 day journey traveling to Progreso, our first stop of two. On this three day journey we explored the vast ship: we went into restricted areas, like the front of the ship to experience the “King of the World” scene from the Titanic. Also on this three day journey we met very interesting people from all around the world, the crew. These crew members travel the world annually with the cruise lines. Some were from Europe, Asia, South America, any place you can think of somebody was native to there.

When we finally arrived to Progreso the scenery was very different. Outside the gates were military soldiers armed with what looked like AK-47s. Once you made it onto the bus and into the city it was appalling. The houses looked like ruins and the people were waiting for you to exit the bus to sell anything and everything to the tourists. When we arrived at the beach it was a different level of disgust. The beach was covered with dead fish along with the water. Imagine easing into the water with multiple fish belly up next to you, it was disgusting.

The second of the two stops was my favorite, Cozumel. This place was a tourist trap. Like Progreso the citizens were lined up to sell, but one man had something I couldn’t resist- a sword fish made out of a type of rock found in the ocean. Later, we attended a beach party while still at Cozumel, but this beach was like no other beach I had been to. This beach was beautiful: the sand was white, clean, and felt amazing. The water was so clear you could see down to the rock that lay on the bottom. All together Cozumel was the perfect tourist trap, because I didn’t want to leave. Sadly the time came where we had to board the ship again and make our voyage back to America.

The two day journey home was sad but fun all the same. We enjoyed the wonderful free food and drinks, the breath taking view of the vast endless ocean, and the amazing people we met along the way. The Carnival Triumph was an amazing vacation that gave me the chance to experience the different cultures from Louisiana to Progreso to Cozumel, and now I can’t wait to go and travel other parts of the world.