Alone and Homeless in the Mediterranean

Hello, Readers, and thank you for tuning in to trumptettravels - the true accounts of my 11 year career on cruise ships as a crew member aboard Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, P&O Cruises, Premier Cruises and the Holland America Line.  I started this blog in 2010 to share my experiences of working on a cruise for those who want to work on a cruise or for those cruise-a-holics that are curious what goes on behind the smiles and professional attitude you see "front of house" on a  ship.

Today's article will not save you money on a cruise and does not really talk about working on a cruise, but it is a true story of something that could only happen to a crew member on a cruise ship.  If, at the end, you enjoy this story please note that this blog is sponsored by the ads at the right.  Tell your friends or link to me on facebook and please visit one of my sponsors.



If you are a new reader you can "follow me" by clicking the follow me link on the right hand side of this blog (scroll down if you don't see it.)

It was in the year 2000 that I was working on my first major cruise line armed with my sense of adventure and a Bb trumpet. I had been working on the Premier line previously which was fun, but too small.  After signing off the Oceanbreeze in Ft Lauderdale I went home for Christmas and contacted the man in charge at Royal Caribbean.  Luckily, some drunk trumpet player had fallen in the shower and they desperately needed a trumpet player to fill the spot. I wasn't very good at the time, but that's beside the point.


I signed on Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas for three months as it finished the Caribbean season and then transitioned ot the Med.  Unfortunately, my contract was up right when the ship hit its first European port of call, Barcelona.  I was upset - I wanted to see Europe, experience the cities, the art, the music, the food.  I was just out of college and the world seemed full of opportunities and possibilities. I had no obligations or responsibilities so traveling Italy, France and Spain finally as an adult making money was a dream come true.  Would I go all that way just to see the airport and go home?

Weeks before I was scheduled to leave my boss got an email form "head office" asking if I could call in.  I waited until we were in Ft Lauderdale and bought a phone card and called in from a payphone like all crewmembers.  You see, cell phones weren't popular yet so all crewmembers used payphones.  Payphones were actually placed there by a phone company hoping a stranger would walk by and deposit money into them to call people! They took coins.

Anyway I called the office and the staffing manager asked if I would like to sign on the Legend of the Seas ten days after I signed off Splendour.  The Legend was in the Med for the summer so this was a dream come true for me.  I could see Florence, Rome, Barcelona and the most amazing cities on the Med and get paid for it!  I told the manger of course I'd love to do it - where am I staying?  Well, that was the catch.

He wasn't going to put me up in a hotel for ten days.  And he wasn't going to fly me back to the US and then back to Europe in only ten days.  So, basically, if I wanted to spend the next three months in Europe I would have to spend ten days on my own.  Signing off in Barcelona didn't seem like it would be a problem to get a hotel room.  Barcelona was a huge city - they even hosted an Olympics there!  I checked on the internet for some hotels but internet search wasn't what it is now - I couldn't really find anything in Barcelona availble.  There were no good European travel sites that I knew of.

I took the job and was lucky enough to get talking with the Shopping advisor on the ship.  She was rolling out the shopping program for the first time in the Med.  She heard I'd be stuck with my luggage and was kind enough to negotiate with a Lladro merchant to hold my luggage.  The owner was VERY confused why he should do this but when he heard I was stuck, took in the luggage.  The store was bright and modern - right down the end of the Ramblas by the Christopher Columbus statue, and the owner brought me to the back.  Opening a closet there was a hole in the floor with stairs which he directed me to bring my luggage.  In the basement of this unassuming store was the most beautiful porcelains I've ever seen.  He was restoring them.  all of the piece sin the basement were heirlooms of local families that he was restoring.  I put my luggage down and out of the way and something caught my eye.  He was currently working on a statue of the virgin Mary and she was wearing a veil.  The veil, though porcelain, looked like woven cloth.  Pieces of the veil had chipped in time and the owner was painstakingly restoring the "fibers" of this veil.  It's funny how my memory isn't the best but the intricacy of this artform, not available to the many tourists squandering their money upstairs in the showroom, has stuck with me all these years.




With only a "double gig bag," a back pack, and my camera (a Nikon N60, or F60) I started up the stairs. I bid fairwell to the Shopping Advisor and opened the front door.  From being in the basement my eyes had adjusted to the dark.  It was only 10am and I had hours and hours to find a hotel room.  I had just been paid on the ship and had a few grand in my pocket.  The light blinded me for a few seconds and then slowly the cobbled walkway, street entertainers, and thousands of tourists came into sharp focus.  I was alone and one of the most exciting places in the world and was totally free for ten days. If you want to know what happened over the next ten days... you'll have to "follow me" and check when I update next!


If you enjoyed this, email it to a friend!  If you think others will enjoy it, feel free to post links to me on forums or quote me, but please give me credit.  'Till next time, thanks for reading and you'll hear the rest soon.

Why Diamonds International is the Same Price as your Mall at home.

Hello, Readers, and thank you for tuning in to trumptettravels - the true accounts of my 11 year career on cruise ships as a crew member aboard Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, P&O Cruises, Premier Cruises and the Holland America Line.


Thank you for staying in touch with trumpet travels over the last months.  I've enjoyed blogging about my career on cruise ships and so many people have shared their thoughts on my stories and money saving tips.  My previous posts are not chronilogical and not meant to go in any order. I've learned so much about the business of cruising over the past 11 years that as I think of something I like to go in depth in share everything I know.

This topic is a big one.  In fact there is really no other place in the world to learn the information that I am about to give you here.  If you learn something, please pass the information along to your fellow cruisers or friends or family who cruise. Also, I've seen people copy/pasting my info into forums.  I don't mind, but if you do, can you do a link-back to my blog or give me credit? I don't know if I'll be able to cover everything in one post, but let's see.

St Thomas, St Maarten, Aruba, people go to the Caribbean for sun and fun, but also Duty Free shopping. Maybe even to buy a Neil Lane diamond!!  HA! At least you are told that from the moment you walk on the gangway.  At least "40% off US retail prices" on famous brands and loose diamonds! WOW!  There is an amazing marketing mechanism in place between the ships, off the ships, and with a third company on every vessel you are on.  They all benefit together if you spend more moeny. It really is genius.  You spend on the ship.  You spend off the ship.  Most people just want to go to the beach, not shop.  So how does everyone work to get you, the vacationer, to spend more money than you wanted to on vacation? The mechanism works like this:

As you arrive on the ship you are told on the television in your cabin, in public lectures and pretty soon by your fellow guests all about the shopping.  There is a talk where they hand out prizes and maps where you can learn "how to make the most of your day."  The only purpose of this talk is to make sure you don't go off and have fun all day without visiting stores that have paid a promotional fee to get "into the program."  The authenticity of the merchandise or quality of the shop has absolutely nothing to do with the "recommendation" by the cruise line.  In fact, the cruise line doesn't even really know which shops are "recommended" and which aren't.  It is all run through a marketing company that runs the Port Lecture Program.

The "program" is companies Onboard Media (OBM) a division of Louis Vitton, and PPI, who run Porthole magazine and other travel media outlets.  There is one representative (or a couple) on the ship who give the shopping talks, mingle with passengers, and guide them to spend as much money in the stores ashore.  As you make your purchase they ask you which ship you are on and all the numbers are registered in that account.  The OBM and PPI companies pay a fee to have their agents on the ship and the ship makes a cut of the roughly 10% of every sales that goes to the media company.  The 10% is split between the ship, the media company, and the sales representative on the vessel.  For those of yo who are thinking about 10% of that Tee Shirt you bought in Cozumel as on 50c, consider that the average cruise ship today leaves $250,000 in spending PER PORT on a cruise.  Take 10% of THAT and split it up!

You see, the ships love the extra revenue.  They can't track all the spending you do and collect from merchants and they don't understand the business.  The stores have to pay a flat fee plu 10% of sales to get in the program, but if they don't - no one will walk in the door.  So, there needs to be a middle man.  An expert who lives on the ship and on a sea day can whip the passengers into a frenzy so when that gang plank goes down, all the ladies drag their hubbies and credit cards to the Diamond's Internation, the "#1 recommended store of ______ Cruises."

Why IS "DI" as it's known the #1 recommended store?  Quite simply, because the marketing company wants it to be.  DI, run by the Gad family out of NY through a company called ALMOD, owns a Diamond store in just about every single port of call in the world of cruising.  Notice in their business listing they don't tell you which stores they run. Their whole existence relies on cruise ships and cruise ship passengers.  Passengers rely on the cruise line to look for them and the cruise line relies on DI for extra revenue. Ya dig?

I can tell you right now that the these stores take inferior stones and match them with false certificates from companies like "EGL International." This is quite close to legitimate companies like "EGL," but unrelated.  Customers, unsuspecting of the trickery, pay top price for these stones "guaranteed to appraise for higher" in the US.  The whole company works on the premise that it is easy to dupe passengers when they are far from home, relaxed, and have a vacation budget to blow.  They also advertise the stones as a "good investment" and promise they will be "valued ten times as much" when the "mine runs dry" that is mining "rare" stones like tanzanite.  These promises are made on the ships and I think a great liability to the cruise lines.  I heard salespeople tell passengers to buy tanzanite to help pay for their children's education 15 years down the road!  One other thing - how could I be saving so much money when a full 10% of my purchase price is going to the marketing company?

Why do I know all this? How did I learn all this?  Well, TrumpetDad got duped himself.  I had a free one hour education on the diamond business when I took my stone to be appraised by Thom Underwood in San Diego. I bought an engagement ring for my now wife and when I opened it, it was cracked. DI wouldn't take it back without an appraisal.  I brought it to Thom and he looked at it, took some measurements, and took out a calculator and asked me, "is that what you paid?"  He was within $50 dollars on a stone that the salesman promised me was "worth" 3 thousand MORE than what I paid.  Thom said it is the EXACT price what a ZALES or retail store would sell it for at a mall. I was shocked because I was a crew member and went with the Port and Shopping guide who knew me well.  If I had any idea I would get ripped off on bad merchandise obviously I wouldn't have bought that stone.  The 40% off they promise you is a fraud and a lie.

Thom told me about the fraudulent certs and I didn't believe him.  Everything seemed so legit and I knew about this company for years and years.  Even the salespeople on the hsip literally do not know it's all a lie.  They are making so much money they are paid not to care.  Thom told me to go to pricescope.com and read about how certs like EGL USA or EGL INTERNATIONAL are NOT affiliated with EGL at all.  They are proven to over-exaggerate the quality in a blind test - they are fraudulent.  He told me the store has a known reputation in the business that they market large inferior stones with fake documents to unsuspecting buyers.  I was really shocked and felt stupid.  Thom recommended to go to some "middlemen" websites like Blue Nile or NiceIce.com to browse for prices and to stick to GIA certified unless I was an expert. After all this, I sent my stone back to ALMOD who replaced it with a smaller, inferior stone than the one I paid for.  Wouldn't you know that on the ship I had a job mixing with some of the wealthiest people who constantly would ask me where to go jewelry shopping!?!?  You can imagine what I told them.  And even DI KNEW what I did for a living, too! They made me fax them a contract and employment papers to make sure I wasn't lying!  Still they gave me that crappy stone as a replacement.  My wife knows everything that happened and is disappointed in the stone and the way they treated us. What a sham.

I couldn't understand why the prices were so high if DI was such a big diamond buyer and the ports were duty free.  Well, it turns out that the rent in the stores in front of the cruise ships is SO high the only stores that can survive are jewelry stores with HUGE markups and one or two tee shirt stores that do amazing volume.  Even if they are "site holders" at DeBeers (meaning they buy alot) the overhead on the whole operation is such that if you took a stone to Thom Underwood he could look at it under a microscope, look up the wholesale cost, look up the full retail price and literally nail the price within 1%.  The price he will quote you would be exactly the retail price you would pay in the mall around the corner from your house.  So how is that a discount?

Of course, the defense is, the documents provided state the stone is of a certain quality.  It is well known in the industry, or common knowledge, that the companies they use to authenticate their merchandise are fraudulent.

If you enjoyed this blog post and found it insightful, this whole blog is filled with usefull information, as well as some ramblings.  I hope I can save someone from suffering the same embarassment that I did.  I felt humiliated and my engagement ring is quite sentimental.

Please forward this to someone who is about to take a cruise so they can do their research before taking a cruise.  Everything stated is is true and all happened to me, but maybe it was an isolated incident and after doing research your friends and family will decide to shop at DI.  Good luck to them! For me, for the rest of my life I would only buy something from a "middleman" as recommended by Thom or a family owned jewelry store that I trust.

Anonymous Nurse Guest Blogs on Trumpettravels!

Dear Readers,

I received a great comment from a former nurse on cruise ships who wanted to share some of her travels as well.  The nostalgia for the sea must have been pretty heavy after reading my blog - she was inspired to share these thoughts. 

BTW - for those looking for the slot machine theory on cruise ships, click here.  It is a former blog entry, you can find them all on the right (click on the HOW IT ALL STARTED).

Please read the below comments from an anonymous nurse:

TrumpetDad Many many years ago (29) I worked for HAL as ship's nurse. The medical area was a joke compared to what I see on modern ships now. Except for one doctor, they were good, given what they had to work with. Most of the nurses had ER, critical care or good general experience prior to being hired on. Equipment was limited but we did our best. The company generally bent over backwards to satisfy passengers. Ship's crew, staff and officers were well taken care of. Port agents were helpful in expediting any care needed ashore.

On board we were able to do simple blood and urine tests and some x-rays, although the latter was a bit of joke since we had no x-ray techs and we more or less taught each other. I often wonder how much harm we did to our patients and urselves with improper exposure. The nurses were on call 24/7 so office hours were a suggestion. Any time of day or night a passenger wanted to be seen, no matter how minor the issue was, we were to see them ASAP. I once got in trouble for leaving thermometers at the consierge (where they already had Tylenol, Tums, and Dramamine). I figured if a passenger wanted to know if they had a fever they could check themdelves and then self medicate with the Tylenol and then be seen during regular office hours in the morning. Why wake me at whatever time for that? Oh, there was hell to pay for proactive move. On the avererage, most night I was on call, my sleep was disturbed. And that would be every other night. There was a 10 week period I was the only nurse (smaller ships) and I was called every single night. And that meant getting dressed. The Hotel Manager wanted us to make face contact, not a phone consultation. All that said, it was a good experience. Lots of free travel, good times and fond memories.

To these thoughts I would like to add that the medical facilities was incredibly accomodating on both Carnival and Princess when I needed to visit them as a crew member.  I hope the nurse wasn't inspired to write these comments because she thought my comments in my blog post were negative.  I've had only great experiences.

I hope everyone appreciate the time the nurse took in sharing her expeience.  Let this be a call to any other crew members:  What's YOUR story of working on a ship?  I'll let you "guest blog" on here within reason.  Obviously if I get too many it may get cumbersome.

Happy travels everyone.  We're heading into a slow cruise season but spring break and summer is coming soon.

Rough Seas!

Hello, Readers, and thank you for tuning in to trumptettravels - the true accounts of my 11 year career on cruise ships as a crew member aboard Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, P&O Cruises, Premier Cruises and the Holland America Line.





The Pacific Sun sees some rough seas. Check out in particular 00:35 on as some passengers faceplant into the ship. I've had many a journey go unexpectantly rough!  Smooth sailing to everyone from TrumpetDad.

Medical Care for the Crew

Hello, Readers, and thank you for tuning in to trumptettravels - the true accounts of my 11 year career on cruise ships as a crew member aboard Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, P&O Cruises, Premier Cruises and the Holland America Line.  Here I have blended sentiment, true stories, money saving tips and more to compose what I feel is something that should be educational, fun, entertaining, beneficial, and I'm hoping enjoyable.



This post is dedicated to a reader who asked me specifically about medical care on cruise ships.  I know both sides of the issue.  You see, for many years I was a ship's employee and for many years I was an independant contractor.  Both have their benefits.  As a contractor I enjoyed increased status and I could behave (almost) like a passenger.  I did not have benefits and for my wife son and myself I paid literally $1000/month in medical insurance which was tax deductible. As an employee, I had medical insurance through the company.

Firstly, my impression is that if you get hurt on a job the company can medically sign you off the vessel and pay you 80% of your salary.  That is good for a dancer hurt in the show who makes salary, but I don't know how it works for a waiter or bar steward who makes $50 a month.



Our first story is when I started ships a long time ago.  One of my friends on the ship suffered an illness when he was younger that caused him to lose his leg.  He used a prothetic on the ship and passed all of his medical exams.  At one point in his career he started suffering a swelling of his leg and his current prothetic started to malfunction.  This was on RCCL.  He went to a Dr. who recommended a state of the art limb.  Since he was a musician like me at the time he couldn't afford it, but he was signed off on crew medical.  The Dr. said, "lets's send the company the bill and if it doesn't work we'll consider our options."  I believe this was after 9/11 whe there were tremendous cutbacks at RCCL.  I was the first to complain about the corporate bastards not giving us raises (for 2 years) and trimming everything down.  Wouldn't you know shortly after submitting the expense Royal Caribbean paid for my friend's $14,000 leg?  Even better, getting this equipment allowed him to be as athletic as he could train and a few years later he ran a New York City marathon.

Load Your Nook Before Your Cruise

My second anecdote is from my days as an Art Auctioneer on the ships.  I think this is the first time I revealed what I did for the last half of my career!  A colleague of mine started coughing on the ship.  As you know the ventilation on ships is terrible and with the recycled air and fresh people every week airborne illnesses are rampant.  He suffered from a cough and went to the Doctor.  The ship is responsible for him while he is on the ship but they give him some antibiotics and encourage him to go home and get some rest.  He signs off the ship (freeing the cruise line of responsibility) and then the cough gets worse.  My friend loses his vioce, suffers from hospital bills and it get worse and worse.  Currently after 18 months my friend cannot speak for more than 1 hour at a time and is completely permanently injured.  I know this illness is a direct cause from being on the ship, but the line did not pay a dime of his medical because he voluntarily signed off the ship early on the Doctor's advice.  Of course, he was not allowed back on a ship because he failed his medical.

Well, in general, most crew members are taken care of.  Just remember, not everyone who works on a ship is directly employed by the cruise line.  I remember once before Cozumel on Royal Caribbean a cabin steward, bless her, from Jamaica went literally crazy.  She stripped naked and ran up and down the "I95" (main crew corridor, deck 4) screaming "in tongues." A friend of mine was going to the Dr. that next day so I tagged along and visited this poor girl who was softly mumbling for her mother.  Of course, the company paid her medical but the crew sometimes is under so much pressure and work hours occaisionally they can snap.

Which reminds me of ANOTHER story. When I was on the QM2 the strangest thig happened. A crew member, upset he was being paid less than his colleagues snapped and went crazy.  Strangely, he took a hammer and killed the cousin of one of his colleagues, who I think was unrelated to the department.

Going On A Cruise? Stock up on Paper Books or eBooks Today!

And I am saddened and shocked to learn while googling a link to what happened when I was there that ANOTHER crew (attmepted?) murder happened in 2008.  I am really surprised.  Things like this hardly ever happen but I guess we can all recall in our innocent little towns crazy things happening.

Well, that is it for tonight on trumpettravels.  This blog post is creditted ot an anonymous poster who was wondering about medical facilities on a ship.  I have more stories ot tell, but I guess you will have to wait.

You have Wasted 60 Bucks in St Thomas - a crew member saves you money.

[scroll down to see money saving tip and skip the witty banter]

Hello, Readers, and thank you for tuning in to trumptettravels - the true accounts of my 11 year career on cruise ships as a crew member aboard Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, P&O Cruises, Premier Cruises and the Holland America Line.

I think some day, when I get my act together, I'd like to have seperate blog entries for each amazing port I've been to in my 11 years as a crew member.  If I do, one of the longest entries would be St Thomas.  Home of great shopping and amazing beaches.  Duty-free everything and the bushwhacker (drink). And, of course, that SKYRIDE to paradise that thouasands of cruise ship passengers go up and down every week.  At $21 a pop.

Before I tell you my secret way to save 60 bucks I want to welcome you to trumpet travels.  I am an ex-crew member who has been sharing a few of the inside secrets of the cruise industry.  If you read my older posts you'll see how I got the job and what it is like for the crew, staff, and officers on a ship.  Happy reading and thank you for supporting my hobby.  After two entries I almost quit but I've received alot of question from readers and comments about how they've learned a few things and that kept me going.

Fodor's Island Guidebook

Once upon a time I wanted to go to the SKYRIDE up to paradise point.  The view is the BEST in St Thomas.  Since I was a crew member, I just showed my ID and for $5 (instead of the passenger $21) I got my ticket.  I seem to remember that the price was higher, but I just checked their site and it is only $21.  Well, when I was on Costa as an Art Auctioneer I took my cruise card to go up for a bushwacker and they would not give me the discount because I had a passenger cruise card. I explained to them all about my job, but still they would not budge.  I was very angry because my wife was with me and we'd been up there so many times I didn't want to pay $42 dollars.

Well, I bumped into a taxi driver, who was obliged I guess to offer us "some smoke" as all islanders are obliged to.  Well, I declined the offer and as I do struck up a conversation. I told him about my mountainous woes (I wanted to go up the mountain) and he said, "Well I'll take you."  I thought, "HOW?"  He said up the road!  How much? "5-10 bucks."

I was thinking that it was funny all the tens of thousands of dollars everyone pays every week to go up that tram - if they only knew about that road!!!

SO - the trick is - take a TAXI to paradise point instead of the tram!  With 4 people it will cost you max $20 roundtrip, instead of the $84!  That saves you $64!!!
That's it - very simple.  If you think you're going to St Thomas and you might use this trick - congrats you are smarter than 99% of cruise ship passengers!  go get yourself some Bushwhackers (AWESOME) at the top - for FREE (with your $64).  If you enjoyed this tip you can give me a free "thank you" by clicking on an ad on this web page.

OK - one more tip.  At the top of St Thomas/Paradise Point there is a shop that sells rare shipwreck gold coins. They claim 100% authenticity and I am not saying they are not authentic.  What I would like to say is that gold is an element.  It does not decay and does not age.  What this means is that if you created a gold coin in the image of a Roman gold coin there would be absolutely NO test to prove wheter is was 2000 years old or 2000 seconds old.  I'm not sayin nothin bout nothin, just putting that out there.  So many people lose their heads to romance on vacation and an ancient gold coin certainly does have a degree of romance to it.

Happy Travels Everyone and a Prosperous New Year to All!

A Crew Member's Secret: Don't Rent Snorkels if You Don't have To!

Hello, Readers, and thank you for tuning in to trumptettravels - the true accounts of my 11 year career on cruise ships as a crew member aboard Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, P&O Cruises, Premier Cruises and the Holland America Line.



 I've already shared alot so if you like this - get caught up already. And subscribe or "follow" me!

Some folks have marvelled at my interesting sentinmental stories about what it is like on the ship and others have made it clear they are more interested in tricks of the trade and how they can save money.  I gave them a great secret in how to get your best odds of beating the slot machines - see my Dec 27th post.



Well, here is a good one.  One of the dive managers on the ship was explaining to me how profitable the snorkel and masks were to rent.  A good mask might go for $50-80 and the cruise line actually buys the highest quality to rent out.  Why? They last much much longer than the cheap ones do and they are more suited for novices who don't know how to acheive a proper seal on the mask.

A little bit about diving: I got certified with Dive With Martin in Cozumel, Mexico.  It was AWESOME. I can't describe diving well, but I promise scuba diving is like flying. Like flying through a magical land filled with strange creatures who can fly.  That was my impression.  I loved diving and since I was certified I did a night dive, I saw the ship wreck near Aruba and even a Manta Ray and some Sharks in Costa Rica!

Anyway, if you are going on a cruise I HIGHLY recommend you get your own mask and snorkel.  Oh, yeah, the dive manager.  She was telling me the basically "sell out" every week (another great reason to buy your own) and that the mask paid for itself in about 5 weeks.  I asked how long those masks were there and she said about two years!  Now buying a mask would pay for itself if you buy a high quality one and it fits your face properly.  If you live in the South I recommend going where I went: Divers Supply in Tampa.  They were experts and fitted my mask to my face and advised me on the latest in snorkel tricks to keep the water out.  Even if you don't live in the South, I would check their prices before going down to WALMART and buying a garbage leaky mask that you'll hate and throw out.  Did you ever notice how sometimes "saving money" is wasting money?  That is so annoying. Call Divers Supply up or check their site (I think I put a link on that photo if I can figure out this LINK function in Blogger - try to click).

A package like shown in the photo is perfect for the novice: professional quality and not too expensive.

COZUMEL SNORKELING - So many people book tours to go snorkeling in Cozumel Mexico.  I love it there! I used to walk all the way to town every time, go to a few restaurants (LA CHOZA was a crowd favorite as well as GUIDOS). [Caution: those are secret crew restaurants with better food and lower prices than the main strip!) On my walk to town I used to walk by - ALL THE SNORKEL TOURS!!! You could literally walk 100 yards and go right in on the beach to some of the most beautiful snorkeling in the world!

This is how I see it. 4X$59 gets you a shore excursion for a family of four on a  catamaran with some cheap booze and loud music (and snorkeling) OR for 4X$59 gets you four snorkelling packages you can use the rest of your life plus $20 left over to split some guac and have a few beers if you go to the right places (the crappiest bars on the beach still have cold beer!) 

If you love snorkelling and you're going to once in Cozumel, it is worth BUYING your gear before and walking to the beach.  Off the top of my head, BONAIRE has a great spot you can walk off and snorkel and countless other ports do, too.  You'll spend the same amount ONCE and get to keep the gear. THEN every time you go snorkeling you're SAVING $60 a trip per person which can be used for other things.  Hopefully NOT cuban cigars which I will cover in blogs to come.

I hope you've enjoyed the latest edition of trumpet travels.  Just mentioning La Choza made me remember so many good memories.  Their margaritas also caused a loss of so many (good?) memories, too!  Stay tuned and why not "follow me" so you'll be notified next time I post?