The most exciting thing we did on the cruise

We booked our next cruise.

Excited? You bet!

Amanda's review

Also wanted to mention Amanda has her review up (already!) on Cruise Critic at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=561893

By the way, her handle on that board is BamBam2972. On Cruise Critic I'm known as Tidal Creek. On the ship, when we met people from the Cruise Critic roll call, they'd say, "Oh, you're BamBam's mom!" Ha!

Back home!

First a recap of Saturday: It was a perfectly lazy day, exactly as I had planned. Such a nice way to end a vacation. I took photos around the ship and will post them later or tomorrow (have to upload them from the camera first).

We arrived back at Port Canaveral about 6:00 a.m. Because we're at platinum level with the Crown & Anchor membership, we had priority departure. We like to get on the road as early as possible, so we requested to depart right after the people who were carrying their own luggage and those who had flights or local excursions. I have to say this was the easiest debarkation we've ever had. We breezed through Customs and found our luggage right away and were in the van and on the road by 7:30! I'll say it again: sign up for Crown & Anchor if you haven't already!

More later (with photos) after I've rested up from the drive. In the meantime, a few more A's to your Q's:

Someone had asked about the cost for golf. There is a miniature golf course (putt-putt) that's free. There's also a golf simulator that's $25 per hour.

Another question about towels at Dunns River Falls: They do not provide towels, so take yours from the ship. You also might want to take dry clothes to change into. They have lockers there; you pay $8 and get back $3. It's worth it because you won't be able to carry much up the falls.

About the tenders at Grand Cayman: They were running within minutes of our arrival. I'd get down to that deck early and get in line. If for some reason you can't get there early or you end up waiting in line, don't worry -- the tenders run constantly, so as soon as one leaves, another is already starting to load up.

Regarding my earlier post about the long line in the rain waiting for the tenders to take us back to the ship: We found out later that the holdup had to do with the water being so rough that the tender couldn't get positioned next to the ship, so they had to wait -- which threw the whole schedule off. Still, I think we had it better waiting in line. The people who were on the tender that tried to get back to the ship had to ride out the rough water, bobbing around until they could tie up to the ship.

Cozumel

We docked at Cozumel around 9:30 and could go ashore around 10:00. Amanda had booked us for the Party Boat and Playa Mia excursion, which left at 11:30. We dashed to the shops and bought a few things, dropped them off and met up with the party boat.

The party boat is for adults because it has an open bar. At first Tony and I were reluctant because we’re not big partiers, but we counted it a badge of honor that our 21-year-old invited us (i.e., we’re now cool again after being “dumb parents” during the teen years – those of you with kids know what I’m talking about).

There were about 50 on the boat, most of them college kids from LSU. Let me just say that there is nothing quite like being on a party boat with college kids to put you entirely “in the present.” They were a blast – conga line, electric slide and all. (There was a 70-year-old lady who joined them in the conga line; she was a total hoot.)

We went to a beach called Playa Mia, where there were paddleboats, kayaks, floating mats, snorkeling and other fun activities, all included in the price. Parasailing, jet skis and the banana boat were extra. Also food was extra at the restaurant.

The entire excursion was four hours – an hour there, an hour back and two hours at the beach. It rained on and off, but who cares – we were wet anyway.

After the boat dropped us off at the dock, we continued shopping, then back to the ship. It was a fun day!

Note: Tomorrow is our last day and a day at sea. My plans are to do absolutely nothing, including blogging. In fact, if I even think that I should be doing something, I’m going to tell myself to slow down and go take a nap!

But don’t despair on getting details – we return to Port Canaveral early Sunday morning, and we’ll be home by Sunday early evening. After we get home, I’ll post more details, including photos of sights around the ship.

Feel free to keep those questions coming – I’ll answer as soon as I can. We’re also bringing the daily Compass back with us and will scan them.

Grand Cayman

Here we are in Grand Cayman, a tiny island roughly 70 square miles. We arrived about 8:00 and were tendered up and able to get on the tenders by about 8:30. Keep the tendering detail in mind -- it'll be important later.

We did a private (i.e., not booked through the ship) tour -- Moby Dick Tours -- for swimming with the stingrays and snorkeling. They took us by bus to the marina where we all got on a boat (small fishing boat type), then about 30 minutes offshore to a sandbar called "stingray island." There were several other boats out there, but it didn't seem crowded, as each group stayed near its own boat. The swimming part is a misnomer -- it's only waist deep:

Here's Steven, Amanda and me (I'm the one with the hat). You might notice the dark thing in the water in the top left of the photo. That's about how big the stingrays are. There's a guide to show you how to "pet" them safely. (I did not pet them. The guide said it's like petting a cat, but in no way do these things seem like my cat. Instead, I squeeled every time one brushed by me.)

After about 45 minutes there, we went about 100 yards beyond to a reef where Amanda and Steven went snorkeling:

Tony and I opted to stay on the boat and take photos. Amanda and Steven said it was awesome. I cannot get coordinated to breathe through this pipe underwater, so I'll take their word for it. (Trust me, I do not mind missing the snorkeling.)

After 30 minutes there, we headed back in, then the bus took us back downtown. Ordinarily it would have stopped at 7 Mile Beach, but by this time it was raining.

Back at the drop-off point near the terminal, we went to Senior Frogs for drinks and appetizers. Let me give you a tip: Be sure the price you see is in U.S. dollars. The bill was a lot higher than we thought. They gave it in Cayman dollars and U.S. dollars, which was about 30% more. Whew! Anyway, we were seated on the balcony upstairs, and by the time we finished, it was pouring on us and we had to throw our towels over our shoulders.

We headed back to the ship -- and found a long line waiting for the tenders, which snaked through the terminal area and out onto the sidewalk -- uncovered, so we stood there with our towels over us and got drenched. The rain wouldn't have been an issue except that we were tendered and, even though they were running the tender boats as quickly as they could, it was still about a 45-minute wait in a downpour. (To be honest, it probably would have been worse had it been hot sun.)

But then we were finally back on board, and after a quick shower and a champagne cocktail, all was forgiven. heh...

Tomorrow: Cozumel, where we're hoping for clear skies. We're docked, so either way it'll be easier getting on and off the ship.

p.p.s. To answer a few questioned posted earlier: We do have Captain Per, and he's great. Last time on Mariner we had Captain Johnny, who was a hoot. Formal nights are Monday and Thursday -- at least on the Western -- and Thursday is also the chocolate buffet, not to be missed! We'll post details of the menu with the full review when we're back.

Ocho Rios and A's to your Q's

This is what we saw as ate breakfast this morning:


Oh by the way, I have to mention this detail: If you go out on your balcony to take photos, be sure to wipe the lens first because these places seem to be hazy and you'll end up with cloudy photos.

It was a fun day today -- we got a local tour (as opposed to one through the ship) -- Peat Taylor Tours. Amanda emailed them months ago and reserved tentatively; she didn't have to give credit card info at that time, and we paid at the end of the tour, so we felt safe with the reservation.

Originally we were scheduled to go on a bus with 15 people, but somehow we ended up in a van, just the four of us, with the driver -- so we had our own private tour. He took us through the town, stopped at several scenic areas and let us take photos, plus on a brief walk through a rain forest, then on to Dunns River Falls.

Ok, first let me say: It's not normal to walk *up* a waterfall. Having said that, I'll also say: It was a blast. It was a little more strenuous than I expected, but they have several places where you can get out of the water and get onto a boardwalk if you want to bail on the whole thing. It's not very deep -- thigh-high on me at the most (and I'm fairly short -- 5'1") -- and not dangeous as long as you pay attention to the guide. (Unfortunately no photos to post yet -- I did not take my digital to the falls because I wasn't sure whether there would be a place to store it while I was climbing. Actually there was: a locker area, plus the guide would have held it for me and taken the photos, who knew? Amanda took her waterproof camera, though, so I'll have those to post at a later date.)

After the falls, which took about an hour, we had planned to go tubing then shopping. Instead we came back to the ship for lunch (around 1:00) and ended up taking a nap that lasted until just before we sailed. Really, we didn't mind missing the tubing (figuring we can do that when we visit the mountains), but I'm thinking that means I'm owed an extended shopping trip in Grand Cayman. Am I right?

Tonight we were invited to the Welcome Back party for Crown & Anchor members. For those of you who have sailed on Royal Caribbean before, I recommend signing up. It's free and you get perks (a welcome back party with free champagne and hors d'oevres, for instance).


There's so much to do all the time, I know you're wondering how we keep track of time. Well, here's one way. This is what we see on the floor of the elevators. Every day they change it, so it's sort of a "if it's Wednesday this must be Ocho Rios" type of timekeeping.


Some of you were asking about the cruise director. It's Graham Seymour and he's delightful. But then, we've never had a "bad" cruise director on RCCL. I'm not sure how long he's here or whether Becky will be back soon. If he's here for your cruises, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Also someone asked about obstructions with balconies on deck 8. The good news is there aren't any obstructions with any of the balconies because the lifeboats are on deck five, the deck with public areas. So if you're mid-ship on deck 8, you'll have a great view. We're mid-ship starboard on deck 7 and it's great.

No zip but fun anyway

Well, we didn't do the zip line, but let me go on record and say that I wanted to! All available times were booked, alas.

Instead we went back to our original "Plan A" and hiked to Dragon's Breath Point (so named because of the sound made by the water flowing through the rocks) and rented floating mats:



For those new to the blog -- that's Tony, me, Amanda and Steven in the photo above. Below you see Tony and me on the mats in the center of the photo.

You can probably tell by the position of the ship that we tendered out. The tenders started running about a half hour early in the morning, and they ran every 15 minutes or so all day. We went ashore at 9:00 and came back to the ship around 1:00 and went straight to the solarium. We do tend to have one-track minds (i.e., lying around on beach chairs) when we're on vacation, don't we?

Tomorrow: Ocho Rios, Jamaica, where we're going to climb up to a waterfall then float down a river. Followed by shopping, I hope.

R&R on the high seas

Today was the first day at sea, so there was time to explore the ship. I should say "re-explore" because we've sailed the Mariner before. It was nice to get reacquainted, though. There are always lots of things to do -- Amanda will fill you in when she recaps -- but here's what we did: watched a hilarious belly-flop contest (a really skinny guy won), did a wine tasting and generally just lay around on beach chairs in the sun. Oh, plus I took a nap. (That's a mild ribbing for my friend Holly!) Truly there are so many things to do that it's hard to decide, and when I have to think that hard on vacation, the only thing to do is nap.

Folks, I'm not kidding when I say there are food and beverages galore, with the added bonus that I don't have to cook any of it. Woo-hoo! We did lunch at Johnny Rockets and dressed to the nines for dinner, as it was a formal night (there are 2 formal nights on the 7-day). Tonight there's a comedy show at midnight, so I may have to nap again and wake up in time for it.

We ran through some showers, but nothing bad. The seas are not exactly smooth as glass, but the ship barely rocked. As someone who is extremely sensitive to motion, I say: "Whew!" to that.

Tomorrow: Labadee, Haiti. I hope to have photos to post.

Re-routed! ... and a note on blogging topics and schedule

First a few notes for the sake of good order:

This blog is mostly some highlights and interesting tidbits I'm encountering. For those of you who are following this blog for full info on the ship and its amenities, Amanda will be doing a full recap on Cruise Critic's site when we return. Although if you have specific questions, be sure to post them and I'll try to find the answer while I'm here.

Also be aware that sometimes the Internet connection goes down (such a hardship when it does -- I'm here out in the middle of the ocean on a luxury cruise liner with all the food and drink I want with people catering to me day and night ... ha! ... is anyone feeling sorry for me losing Internet connection?). But I'm trying to post at least once a day -- in the midst of the R&R'ing.

So -- last night we had some excitement when we were about 2 hours out and had to return to Port Canaveral because someone was injured playing basketball (we later found out he'd broken his leg). We have a helicopter pad for medical and security emergencies, but I'm guessing we were still close enough to just drive the boat back. Don't you feel sorry for the fellow (and his family)? I'm thinking the moral of the story is: no contact sports on vacation!

For the rest of us it wasn't so bad: The captain said we'll still arrive in Labadee on time, and hey, we had two sail-away parties!

Last night we heard that Labadee has a new excursion -- a "zip line" through the forest. This is a cable line that you get hooked to (wearing some kind of vest I think) and you zip down to point B. It's supposed to be the longest one in the world, to which I said "whatever." Amanda, Steven and Tony all want to do it so I'm probably going to be dragged along -- and then I'll have to do it just to prove I can. I'm starting to realize that this entire cruise is Amanda's way of making me face every fear I have.

More later, hopefully with photos...

A few photos

Here's a quick look around. I'm hurrying with this because dinner is in 20 minutes and they're having the Best Dessert Ever (white chocolate cream over berries!). I'll post more later.

This is the solarium, where I can be found most of the time. It's an adults-only area and has a pool and two hot tubs. Why go anywhere else is my philosophy.


Here's Amanda and Steven with "Dave the Wave." Notice the beads. A group of about 70 signed up for the "Meet & Mingle" through Cruise Critic's Web site. Tomorrow we'll have our official M&M, but we arranged to meet informally at the pool bar at 3:00. In the course of discussions on the forums, we all decided we'd wear beads too.


Here's Amanda and Steven on their balcony. They're in the room next to us. We told them to keep the noise down.

More later!

On board!

We got to the ship at about 11:30, just before they allowed people to start boarding. The embarkation process was a breeze this time. We're at platinum level now, so we're able to get priority boarding, but there was no one in line anyway. The longest line was waiting to pull the van into the area to drop off the luggage. Oh -- and waiting for the photographers when we first get on the ship.

Once on board we went straight to the Windjammer for a quick bite. By the time we were finished eating, we could get into our rooms (about 1:00). Of course, the first thing I did after dropping off my carry-ons was go get hooked up to the wi-fi (hey, c'mon, don't rib me -- I have to keep you guys informed, right?). Best of all -- our cabin is on deck 7, one deck below the Internet cafe, so I'm able to get online from the room rather than go to the cafe or one of the hot-spots around the ship. I know, I know ... but it's the little things in life that we treasure.

I'm off to roam around the ship and take photos, which I'll post later.

Yes, we visited the Alligator Farm...

...and my cup runneth over.

Made it to Florida

Ok, so we're in Florida, a state that isn't so bad despite its obsession with oranges and its tendency to brag about having a beach on almost every border.



We're in St. Augustine, and one of our first stops was the Fountain of Youth, where I drank several cups from the fountain.







I now look like this.

(Just kidding! That's my beautiful granddaughter Alexis.)

We're having fun!

What I'm looking forward to most in St. Augustine

Meeting this guy:

...at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm.

Have I mentioned that I have an affinity for alligators? Don't get me wrong -- I don't want one for a pet and I stay a healthy distance from them -- I just think they're a great example of being exactly what God made you to be and being happy in it.

Photo by Frank Kocsis Jr., located at pbase. His shots are phenomenal.

Still packing!

Well, I'm getting closer to having everything in the suitcase and deciding what needs to go in the carry-on.

I still haven't told my cat Tabitha that she can't go. It's going to break her heart.

It's now 9:30 p.m. and we're leaving at 5:30 a.m. Ha! Did I say 5:30 a.m.? I'm betting it'll be 7:00 before we get out the door.

Almost packed!

We're just 2 days away from our vacation. On Saturday we're going to St. Augustine to spend the day, then on Sunday we'll make our way down to Port Canaveral to board the ship. Today we found some beads for the initial meet & mingle (the informal gathering when we first get on the ship). But I'm also going to look for some more beads when we get to Florida -- some with alligators on them.