We left New Orleans on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 6 PM. We spent Sunday and Monday at sea and arrived at Montego Bay, Jamaica at about 9:30 AM on Tuesday the 30th. There were several day excursions that one could take advantage of, but I chose to walk to a nearby beach and swim and get some sun.

We departed at 7 PM and arrived at Grand Caymand the next morning. Here we were shuttled by lifeboat to the shore. Once again, there were various tours available. I took a taxi and went to "seven mile beach" and again enjoyed the sun and sea and beach.

We left there at 3 PM and sailed all night to dock in Cozumel on Thursday, Feb. 1. I, along with several other passengers elected to take an island tour by bus. We stopped at several beaches and even ate lobster at a palmetto thatched restaurant on the beach. It was great. The ship left Cozumel at 7 PM, spent the next day at sea and arrived in New Orleans at 8 AM on Sat., Feb. 3.

Everything about the cruise was great, especially the food, which was superb. On discovering that I was a musician, I was invited to play with the band. There were two Canadian guys "Tony and Mario" who quite often had me join them. Also, I remember jamming at the Troika Bar late at night with several people.

There were Russian language lessons, balilaka lessons, and all sorts of thing to do on board so one was never bored. There was even a basketball court: we had a special game and the passengers played against the crew; that was great fun and we beat the crew, which had only been done once before!

All in all I had a great time on board the Kazakhstan and I have many fond memories.