My First Day In Mexico

I started my first contract working for Celebrity Cruises, in February of 2003. I joined the Summit, in Fort Lauderdale Florida, and for my first 2 months we would be sailing the Caribbean. During my first couple of weeks I had gone through lots of training (mostly ship stuff), met many new people, and did a lot of drinking.

One day that I will never forget, came after just 2 days on board. We left Florida, and the next day was at sea. Our first port of the cruise was Cozumel, Mexico. I was a little hung over when I woke at 9 in the morning. A couple of hours of training, and I was free for the day. I happened to get lucky, in that, my place in the schedule game me a day from the casino 2 days into my contract. I would have time to finish unpacking, get my room organized and do more looking around the ship.

I finished my training around 11:30am. This is around the time that casino people start to wake up, after a night of dealing cards and drinking after that. When I got to my hallway, my friend Jason had his door jammed open. I stopped to chat for a minute. He said that there was a bunch of people from the casino going to the beach, and for beers at Carlos n' Charlies after that, and pretty much begged me to come along. I was finished my training for the day and was off from the casino, so why not.

After a few hours at the beach I was getting a sunburn. Time to go to the bar. If you have never been to Carlos n' Charlies, in Cozumel Mexico. You have to go. It was like a night club, at 3 in the afternoon. Loud music, tall frozen drinks and girls pouring sangria down your throat. I got smashed. We all had a great time, but I think I had overdone it. The sunburn, the heat and the drinks had taken their toll.

Looking back now I am amazed that I made it back onto the ship without getting breath tested for alcohol. While on the ship you are never supposed to have more than .08% and I was well over that. I stumbled past the guards on the gangway, and bounced off the walls all the way to my cabin. Jason stayed with me to make sure I made it to my cabin. When I got there I fell into my bed and passed out. Late that night I woke up, and around 11:30 pm I went to the crew bar. I was still too messed up to drink much more so I only had a few beers and went to bed.