Our new found friends

One of the best things about cruising is meeting people from all over the world. Take today for instance. We started the day at breakfast and befriended David and Eva from Florida. They are cruise veterans and this is their 19th cruise (and their 5th one on this very same route).

Then in Playa Del Carmen in Cozumel, Mexico (more on that later), we met a family from Maryland, DC who was traveling with almost the whole clan. Over lunch, we discussed politics with a couple from the Philippines and compared the contrasting fortunes of Philippines and Singapore.

We then shared dinner with Claudio and Mariena (our friends from Brazil). Muriel and Frank (from Canada) as well as Michelle and Michael (from Ireland) then joined our table for coffee and dessert. Just before we called it a night, Keith and Rose-mary from Malta came by to chat.

We have certainly been very fortunate to meet some very warm and truly lovely people on this cruise and on our other travels. That is the reason why we always try to return the gesture of friendship and to pay forward the warmth that we have received to other people in turn.

Now to share a little more about our new-found friends.

First up: Claudio and Mariena from Brazil. On the Liberty of the Seas, the guests are arranged into groups of between 4 to 10 persons for dinner. Interestingly, we were placed with two other honeymooning couples at our dinner table. Claudio and Mariena (who also got married on 7 June 2008) and an Italian couple who wanted to get married on 7 June 2008 but due to logistical issues, got married a day earlier on 6 June 2008 instead. It amazes me that 3 different couples from such different countries independently decided to get married on the same day (or almost the same day).

Then there is the Irish father-daughter duo, Michelle and Michael, who sent us a bottle of wine for dinner when they learnt that we were on our honeymoon.

Muriel and Frank, who have been married for 41 years and still going strong, shared with us that when they got married, they went on a 5 week tenting trip across Canada. Muriel shared that after the trip, she knew their marriage would make it no matter what since they already survived 5 weeks of tenting.

The cruise is fast drawing to an end. But we do hope to stay in touch with at least some of our new found friends. They have certainly made our time on board so much richer and more enjoyable.

- M