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What Is Your Favorite Memory Of A Day Spent In Port?


cloudshoveller
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  • 2 weeks later...

I have three - one is most memorable overall, one is most adventurous and the third is most relaxing.

 

Most memorable was back in 2005 when we stopped in St. Lucia. We booked a tour on our own but expected there to be others on the tour as well. It was only $70/pp. Our tour guide met us at the dock and took us to his Range Rover. It was only my DW, mother and I and the guide. He had a cooler of various drinks for us. He took us all over the island: drove through the middle of a banana plantation, saw a volcano, went to a hot springs waterfall, drove us through several towns and villages, drove through the rain forest and saw a guy walking while carrying a 14 ft long snake wrapped around him, had a lunch buffet set up on a beach just for us. It lasted over 7 hours. There are always bits and pieces of different tours I remember but this tour was so awesome that I can remember the entire day!

 

The most adventurous was in Juneau. My mom, BIL, his wife and I decided to take a plane ride over the glaciers. We went to the airport and met the pilot who then drove us to a lake where the floatplane was located. We did not realize we were going on a float plane until that time. We were ok with it just a bit surprised. The pilot asked what the seating arrangements were going to be. My BIL and his wife wanted to sit beside each other so they sat in the middle, my mom sat in the single seat behind them so that left me to sit up front beside the pilot. He then told the other three they could walk around the lake for a few minutes while he taught me how to fly. We all laughed but he wasn't joking. It was just emergency procedure and stuff like that but still scary. We all had a wonderful time. We were up in the air for about 1.25 hours. Saw a lush green waterfall in the middle of a glacier which was beautiful.

 

The most relaxing is at Maya Chan Beach in Costa Maya. We love going there and just relaxing in the water chairs they have while the wait staff walkout in the water to bring you your drinks. The food and drinks are great and the staff is extremely friendly. Can't wait to be back there next month.

 

Thanks to others who've posted. It helps to plan for other excursions and tours.

 

John

Edited by johnrich
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  • 5 months later...

I have so many wonderful memories, but the one that sticks out the most was at Grand Turk:

I was with my son, who was six years old at the time. Five weeks before our cruise, my mom passed away. Needless to say, I did not want to go on this trip. My mom was my best friend. She was only 59 years old when she died and although she was sick, she always had the spunk and personality of a teenager.

As I mentioned, I didn't want to go on this cruise, but everyone around me said I should go, that it would be "good for me."

So off we went. I silently cried on the plane, during embarkation, on the ship, etc...I tried with all my might to quickly wipe the tears away and pretend everything was great. It wasn't fair for my son to see me so upset. After all, he had just lost his grandma, who was his favorite person in the world. We were there to have fun, and I was determined to fake it all the way.

Truth be told, the week is now a vague, distant memory. I don't remember much of it. I don't remember the other ports we stopped at, or what we did. The only thing I remember is crying the day of embarkation...and the stop at the Turks and Caicos:

I booked a beach excursion that day. We took a shuttle in the morning and drove through what seemed to me like a ghost town. It was as though this island was deserted. I remember the bus driver mentioning some big development plans were made but had fallen through. Why I do not remember.

In any case, after about 25 minutes or so, we arrived at a beach club type of place. I remember it was nice...and also pretty deserted. The perfect place for me and the little guy.

We walked around the area and selected two beach loungers under this perfect palm tree to provide us with shade. The weather that day was gorgeous. There was not one cloud in the sky.

After we had eaten lunch, we decided to take a walk along the beach. I remember looking to my left and my right and seeing nothing but a very beautiful, long stretch of shoreline on both sides.

I remember hearing there was a lighthouse at the end of the island but I didn't know how far we were from it. Regardless, we decided to venture to our right since that was the direction of the end of the island.

We walked for what seemed like hours, playing in the waves when we got too hot. We could no longer see the beach club and didn't see another soul in sight. After awhile my son was tired, so we gave up on finding the lighthouse and turned back.

Needless to say, I thought of my mom the whole day. We started a tradition in 2002 of going on a cruise together every year, just the two of us. It was something we both looked forward to all year long. I was an only child and she a single parent. We were so close. Our cruises together turned out to be a highlight of both of our lives.

My mom's favorite thing to do at any port was to go to the beach and collect shells. She had the most beautiful collection of seashells I've ever seen. She was very picky about the ones she kept, and she took her sweet time finding them. Sometimes it would drive me NUTS!

Getting back to the story, on the walk back with my son, I started noticing seashells in the sand. They were so pretty, these perfect, sparkling little white seashells that seemed to be aligned in a way that reminded me of footprints; Footprints in the sand.

My son and I began to pick them up. As we did, it was as though the seashells were telling a story, the same story of famous poem The Footprints in the Sand. Soon my son and I started to find much joy and excitement in collecting these perfectly aligned shells!

Now I'm not necessarily a religious person, but I cannot help thinking there was something unique and perhaps extraordinary about that particular afternoon. It was as though my mom was there right next to me, showing her sweet little grandson and me the shells, and somehow telling us that even though we could not see her, she would always be with us.

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