Another Victory review

[metman146360]

Day 1 (Friday) In route and San Juan

 

Had set the alarm for 2:30 am but didn’t get to sleep until after 12:30 so did the entire day on only 2 hours sleep. Adrenaline is such a wonderful substance. I was afraid of oversleeping but that turned out to NOT be a problem. I still woke up before the alarm went off even with an undistinguishable amount of sleep. I got up, showered and got ready. I had fully packed the night before so it really was just last minute stuff to be taken care of.

 

My friend Barry showed up a few minutes early to pick me up and take me to the airport and I gotta say here how nice it is to have friends who will go out of their way to help you. It was an hour and a half driving time to the airport and the early time of the flight made this about the best way to have to not spend a ton of money stowing the car at the airport while I was gone. I talked non-stop all the way to the airport. Barry only got words in when I took breath breaks. I was terribly afraid of being late but all along the way I made better time than expected so I arrived at the airport plenty early.

 

Got checked in quickly and got through TSA like lightning and found myself at my gate nearly an hour and a half early. I read a novel I brought for this purpose and post haste my flight was ready to leave. I flew Delta to Atlanta and the flight was very comfortable and arrived nearly 20 minutes ahead of schedule because of an 80 MPH tail wind, not that I noticed though… I really did enjoy the TV screen on the head rest in front of me that allowed me to know our exact global position, speed, altitude, and various other tidbits of useless data. But soon enough we were landing and I made my connection to the other flight to San Juan again with considerable time to spare.

 

That flight was as good as the first one and even though it was a 3 hour and 40 minute flight it seemed as though it just got started and it was time to land. And again I genuinely loved the GPS that allowed me to know exactly where we were at any moment during the trip. We landed and getting my baggage took a little while but I wasn’t the only one on the plane. Nevertheless I did get my luggage and exited the airport and got a taxi to take me to my hotel. I had previously called the hotel and found out there was no shuttle service with them so I didn’t have to waste time finding that out here now. It cost about $12 to get to the hotel and the route was both highway and side streets getting there. So it made for interesting scenery.

 

As the taxi driver was approaching the hotel he pointed out a restaurant directly across from the hotel named Metropel. Funny as this would be on a roll call I started months ago we had a meeting time at that restaurant for Friday night at 8 pm. Imagine the likelihood of getting the hotel directly across from that place by hit or miss.

 

Upon arrival I checked into my room. The hotel was a little seedy but it wasn’t horrible though. The hotel was done in early stucco. I mean REALLY early stucco that hadn’t seen repairs since it was built. I never felt unsafe there and though my room could have been a tad bit cleaner I did get a wonderful price on the place and that’s what flip flops were invented for anyway. The people there were much better than friendly though. And it was comfortable and I would say a good experience.

 

Oh and my window on the fourth floor had the most scenic view of a long since deserted construction site next to a very well seasoned dumpster. This simple fact was compensated by the fact that the window didn’t open anyway so there was no noticeable aroma. See how things just work out sometimes… Anyway, I was satisfied there and it fully served its purpose for my needs. The plusses still outweighed the minuses.

 

In the afternoon I went for a walk through the neighborhood and found a local Wahlgreens and also found a beach. I spent a little while at the beach listening to the waves crashing in and savoring the feel of the air. Oh, and also right next to the restaurant there was a building labeled “Cockfights”. I wonder what that’s all about… I finally went back to the hotel and relaxed a bit before cleaning up for dinner.

 

Later at a little before 8 pm I went to the restaurant and never found my friends. I really wasn’t in the mood to go table to table asking if they were the other cruisers so I ended eating at the bar and had some Cuban Chicken meal served with fried plantains. They kind of tasted like sweet potatoes to me and since I don’t care for sweet potatoes that much a few bites was more than enough to satisfy my urge for plantains. However the chicken was very good and that with white rice filled me up very well.

 

After I ate I went back to the hotel and watched a little TV and went to sleep. Much to my surprise and pleasure there were several channels that had American programs on them. I fully expected to not to get to watch anything since I speak so little Spanish. I sleep very well Friday night. I’ll never guess why. Maybe it’s because the bed was quite comfortable.

[metman146360]

Day 2 (Saturday) San Juan

I woke up at 7 am, turned on the TV and contemplated the day ahead. Casually got ready for the day and went out for breakfast. Ordered eggs, bacon and french fries. Yes, french fries. Crazy as it sounds piping hot french fries and eggs go very well together.

 

After breakfast I caught a taxi to El Morro, the 16th century fort on the Northwest corner of the island. The cab ride cost $20 and took me through some very scenic territory. It took about 15 minutes to get there and I am not really a fort person but this place was neat. One of the things I first noticed was how majestic it was.

 

El Morro is gigantic and sits right on the edge of a cliff towering over the sea on 2 sides as waves crash on the large rocks and boulders on the shores below. The sound and the beauty are phenomenal. And the water is the deepest indigo blue against the purest white whitecaps. The contrast made a spectacular palette.

 

Another thing about El Morro that impressed me is that the fort is completely open to the public. So many other places have roped off areas so you can see them from a distance but you are free to explore every nook and cranny of the fort. And there are quite a few nooks and crannies. Everywhere I walked it seemed to open up new places to discover. That makes no sense the way I stated it but it just seemed as though the fort was growing before my eyes as I continued to explore. Each new discovery was more exciting than the previous.

 

I went into each of the guard sentry lookouts that hung on the sides at the tops of the exterior walls. I am afraid of heights and even reminded myself of this fact but it took only one time to look out through the windows to cause me to ignore that fear after that. Besides the indescribable beauty of the monstrous sea below It also occurred to me that centuries before some soldier had stood in this very spot and had contemplated fear, or loneliness or missed his sweetheart. Realizing real men had lived here over a course of time spanning half a millennium and experienced real emotions helped give the place personality and bring it alive for me. El Morro was going strong during our Revolutionary War.

 

You can walk along the top and see everything those soldiers could see, minus some wooden ships of course. But El Morro felt like it had a lot of life in it. There were still a few cannons in place. There were cells where prisoners had once been kept. There was a chapel where men had prayed and rooms too numerous to be able to determine what they may have been used for. There were even tiny rooms covered by stubby iron grates that you had to bend down to peer inside. There were hidden and remote stairways and stairwells. There were ramps galore and levels all over the place. Do I sound impressed? I should, I was. I traveled to San Juan a couple days early and this place alone was worth the cost.

 

I was there about 3 hours and the only bad thing about the day was my own fault. I forgot to bring my sunscreen and I developed a very successful sunburn on my bald head and neck. But in spite of the sunburn I really didn’t want to leave when I did. Before I left the area completely though I walked through Old San Juan and did some shopping. I was impressed with the cleanliness and color of that part of town. The style of the buildings was awesome and I wandered in and out of more shops than I care to admit to. And I did buy a few things. I thought the T-shirts were a bit overpriced but in the last place I looked I found some beautiful embroidered t-shirts in bright sharp colors for only $10 a piece. So I was glad I continued to look.

 

My sunburn was bad enough to give me a headache. So on the way home I stopped at the Walgreens and bought some aloe vera lotion. Didn’t do a thing for the headache but by the next day the sunburn no longer hurt. I rubbed some in right away. It’s amazing how well aloe vera works.

 

I stopped at the beach for a very short time and enjoyed the sound of the crashing waves and the smell of sea water. I covered my head and laid out for a bit. The temperature was perfect for me. Of course I left 40 degree weather, which was a heat wave in itself in Chicago, but the sun was bright and warm and the humidity was not excessive and 80+ degrees was a little like heaven to me.

 

On the way back to the hotel I stopped and bought an ice cream cone. But not just any ice cream. I don’t recall what the gentleman said the name was but it was rich and creamy and cold and tasted so much better than just American ice cream. What I got was peanut butter cream flavored in a chocolate and sprinkle coated waffle cone. I rarely buy ice cream cones but this was the best I think I have ever had.

 

I finally went back to the hotel room and rested and watched some TV and later went to the hotel restaurant for supper. I had the most delicious Shrimp Fettuccini Alfredo. It had a good coating of parmesan cheese and really hit the spot. The shrimp were quite jumbo and my belly was full. The waiter was friendly and stopped and talked with me for a while. I was made to feel extremely welcome.

 

After supper I walked around a bit and went back to the hotel, unwound for the night and slept like a log all night long. San Juan really was a good idea. I’m glad they put it here for me…

[Keithww]

I leave for San Juan in 5 days, I'm really loving your review. Please go on.

[WaggesAZ]

I too am very excited to read all about it~Just about 3 months for us to board! :D I know it has to be a big undertaking, but I know there will be lots of people who appreciate it!

[metman146360]

Day 3 (Sunday) Getting on the ship

 

Sunday morning I woke up early and refreshed. I watched a little TV and repacked my suitcases to go on the ship. The last cruise I took I kept my luggage with me and at times it was quite a hassle so this time I decided to let Carnival take care of it. So I got cleaned up and slipped into my swimming trunks under my shorts. I stuck my sunscreen in my shorts pocket. Sometimes I am a little thick but I am trainable. And I made sure I had my camcorder and camera on me as well. And besides the necessary paperwork for the port everything else got packed. Now all I had to do was wait…and wait…and wait…

 

So I watched a little MORE TV, and waited a little longer. Finally about 10:30 I decided it was time to drag my stuff downstairs. The elevator seemed to take forever, as though it knew how much I had paid for the room. But it finally appeared swallowed me and my luggage and took me to my freedom. Checking out was easy and fast and the clerk got me a taxi and within minutes I was being whisked away.

 

The drive there was about the same as the other taxi rides I had had so far. Through highways and side streets and finally Victory was in sight, in more ways than one… There was heavy traffic at the port but my taxi driver did not let that slow him down any. He only took out 2 young men and old lady and a baby carriage getting me to the front entry way. As I arrived and got my luggage out of the taxi the ship was still debarking its previous tenants. I did not notice one with a frown. But the place was swarming with people. Now I know I was early but I was so excited I figured I might as well wait there as somewhere else. And a lot of other folks apparently felt the same way.

 

But I obediently fell in line, specifically behind an elderly obviously local couple. Now I thought that respect for the older folks is a lot more prevalent there then in our own society with family ties and all. So I figured getting behind an older couple would be pretty safe. After all who’s going to butt in front of or hassle the seasoned citizens of society. And I was right. Everyone fell in line right behind me and I never had a problem.

 

The wait seemed long but it really wasn’t. It was out in the sun and nowhere to sit so it just seemed longer than it really was. But once things started moving they moved very quickly. They started letting us in and I found out I was very close to the front of the line. There were so many people it was really hard to tell until the line started moving. But suddenly I found myself dragging my bags through the port doors. A porter offered to take them to my cabin and I gave him $2 for 2 bags as a tip.

 

I proceeded to the picture taking spot where they were finishing up with some large family. I got my picture taken and then had to walk about a mile through the winding poles and pathway that takes you to the counter. The area where the counter is really only about 30 feet away from you but because there are frequently many hundreds of people there they have to make you walk back and forth, back and forth until you are next in line. Well there was no one in line and I had to zig zag back and forth all the way to the front of the line. When I finally got to the front of the line I was able to go straight to the counter where the gentleman with a pleasant smile processed me quickly, got my S & S card and told me to wait in the sitting area. I love it when a plan comes together.

 

I really was one of the early ones there and now the wait really began. I complain about waiting a lot as I was in the military many years ago and it seems all you did there was hurry up and wait all the time. But this waiting was different. It was quiet and pleasant and it was waiting for a vacation that after so many months was upon me now. Not like waiting for a tooth to be drilled or having your plumbing checked out or for an auditor to pronounce sentence on you, but this was peaceful waiting. And so I did my duty and waited…a little more.

 

And after about 45 minutes of that peaceful waiting we were escorted to the ramp leading to the ship. “And there she is”, he says with a silly grin pasted on his mug. And in a matter of a few more minutes we were boarding the ship and hearing the familiar b-boing of the card scanner welcoming you on board your new home for a week.

 

Now that I was back inside I felt free again. Free to roam this city named Victory. I stepped inside the atrium and was thrilled with the beauty and elegance of it. The bright colors having just been decorated with garland and trees for Christmas. Those glass elevators swiftly going up and down and the sound of bustle coming from somewhere and the echo of music. “It’s sure good to be home”, he says with a Cheshire cat grin. You can tell he’s excited when he talks to himself a lot, and refers to himself in the third person.

 

Anyway, I took this time to get my ship map, my free deck of cards and start my tour. My cabin was a balcony cabin on the Lido deck which I found to be wonderful. It was close to everything I wanted. My cabin may have been ready sooner but I didn’t have the guts to open the water tight door until the appointed time at 1:30. We hovered anxiously awaiting until the staff opened the door and we flooded into the hallway. My luggage was already there and I dragged both suitcases into my cabin right away and heaved a big sigh at my beautiful cabin with its’ own private door to my own private balcony. A quick walk through proved the place to be better than satisfactory. I got my suitcases unpacked and stowed in the ample closets and then smeared on some sunscreen and started my tour in earnest.

Now I imagine that most ships are pretty much the same other than the actual décor picked so I won’t bore you with specific details but I will say this much the ship was large, clean, and spectacularly decorated. I could not have been any more pleased. I spent a considerable amount of time on the Lido deck and above checking out the views and was amply impressed.

 

Now I have been on a diet since the summer and have lost a fair amount of weight, 30 lbs to be exact and I feel a lot better. And I have reduced my capacity to eat but I decided to not hold back on this cruise. If I wanted something I was going to go for it. I was going to be on a diet when I got back home anyway. And though I wasn’t really hungry I decided to go to the buffet and taste the poison there. I ended up eating on the Lido buffet almost daily if no more than a mid-afternoon snack. And the food was very good every time. I never had a bad experience. I read Tiggermans review months ago and agree totally with his assessment. I don’t go to a buffet expecting gourmet cuisine. That would be foolish, but for buffet food it was always exceptional and it was always ready to go.

 

I ate my lunch and then retired to my cabin to lie on my comfortable bed, watch a little TV, I seem to do that a lot… and I napped.

 

The remainder of the day I wandered around the ship more checking out the various decks, theaters, lounges, the many sitting areas. I laid out in the sun on the Lido deck for a bit and pretty much made this my ship day since this cruise was so port intensive. And while the day was not organized in any particular way it was sure a great first day. I ended up going to the main dining room for supper and don’t remember what I had but it was quite tastey and my tablemates were very friendly. The first night was open dining so these were not the mates I would have the rest of the cruise. After dinner I was very tired and went back to my cabin and sat on my balcony for a while taking in the scenery.

 

At 9:30 they called everyone to our muster stations. In the past you had to go with your life jacket to some meeting spot and listen as they told you what you would do if the ship were sinking. Now they have you go to the actual spot where the lifeboats are. It isn’t necessary to bring your lifejacket but they explain it is in your best interests to make sure you have one before you find you need it. This seemed to take a little longer then before but they repeated everything in both English and Spanish so it took twice as long. But even better I think was the fact that you went to the actual lifeboat area. In a crisis you would have already been there. I think this was better. It took about a half hour and then the funnel blew and everyone was free to go to the top deck and watch as we set sail.

 

This is always fun as the ship heaves its’ way out of the port and towards the sea. Since this was at 10 pm it was obviously dark out but we sailed past El Morro which was lit up so wonderfully. I took pictures but the camera just could not capture the depth of that sight.

 

I made my way back to my cabin and I did suspect I might not have a lot of time in the morning so I organized the things I was going to wear and take on my next days’ excursion and laid them out and prepared so in the morning all I had to do was get cleaned up, dressed and leave. And that is how I handled each day on this cruise.

 

The bed was very comfortable and I slept like a rock. Boy vacations are fun…

[metman146360]

Day 4 (Monday) St. Thomas

 

The day of St. Thomas has arrived. I woke up at 6 am. I had left my door curtain open so I would wake to the sunlight and it was a beautiful scene. As it turned out I was awakened at the time that we were entering the port so I quickly got up, took care of my first morning business and then took pictures and videoed our entry into the port. I have to remind you again here that I am afraid of heights and the first time I looked down the side of the ship to the water it really took me back a bit. I was on the 9th deck up. But over the course of this cruise I got to the point that it did not bother me anymore. But this morning the uneasiness was still present.

 

After taking in this excitement I got cleaned up and dressed for the day. I usually do get up every day, even on weekends about 6 am so I sort of expected to here as well but would not have laid bets on it. But I did wake up early everyday but the last one. After getting my stuff together I headed down to the gangway knowing it was going to be a madhouse. On my previous cruise everyone on the ship wanted off at the same time and leaving the ship took forever. But this time I went to deck 0 and there was no one there, other than the staff. I got out my card and it b-boinged me out and I was merrily on my way. And that is how it was getting off this ship every day. It was fast and easy.

 

Just off the ship I found the Coral World rep who had about a dozen people standing around him. I had previously purchased a ticket for the helmet dive and showed him the ticket and stepped in the line. Talking with the other folks I discovered most of them were for the snuba and only 3 of us were for the helmet dive. I began to wonder if maybe I had made a mistake since so few were doing it. We all hopped in a vehicle and were driven to the Coral World site where we were separated into our respective groups.

 

Terrence, Carrie and I were grouped together and we became quick friends. Everything was exciting and Carrie was bubbly and terribly worried that some pushy fish was going to have the nerve to come up and bump her in the water. She stated this several times using a myriad of words to repeat the same idea but Terrence and I and the staff repeatedly assured her that this was not likely to happen. Of course we took our shots at teasing her a bit about it also but she took it all good naturedly.

 

We got ourselves ready as they explained the process that would follow. We would go down the ramp to the water level then step down the ladder and as we got shoulder deep in the water they would sit a 75 lbs helmet on our shoulders which would both protect our face, fill our lungs with top air and give us the weight we needed to walk comfortably along the ocean floor. Now I am a wuss concerning my shoulders. They are very tender and get sore very easily but never once did I even notice the weight on them. Of course the helmet was there and did its job perfectly but there was not a moments discomfort ever. We were also instructed to make use of the chain that was secured to the ocean floor. “Hang onto it. That’s what it’s there for”, they said. We found out why.

 

So I readied myself armed with my waterproof camera in hand. Proceeded down the ladder stopping to let them put the helmet on my shoulders and then I stepped down the rest of the 15 feet or so to the ocean bottom. The water was pretty clear here and cool at first but what I noticed most of all was the intense current that tried so desperately to pull me out to sea. I grappled trying to reach the chain as the current caught me and tried to pull me away. The guide held onto me and helped me get to the chain when at times the current still nearly pulled my feet off the floor of the ocean and I held onto the chain like it was saving me from a volcano or something. My camera was strapped to my wrist and floating always up toward the surface and it took me a bit to get my sea legs, as it were. Terrence had gone first and was off on his merry way. Carrie had gone before me and turned around to see if I was fairing okay. I gave the ok signal we had been shown to use. Ok is the circle made by your thumb and middle finger touching tips. The typical thumbs up signal doesn’t not mean it’s ok, like topside. It means I want to go up, and now! So it took a bit to learn to answer correctly. But I gave her the ok and we proceeded to walk the path secured by the chain.

 

There were many fish of all sorts. Some beautiful yellow and black striped ones, some trumpet fish and billions of feeder fish to name just a few. There were coral and living rock looking creatures and the whole scene was very pretty. It took me a bit to learn how to balance holding on to the chain and maintaining my own balance and taking pictures but I did get it figured out finally and snapped most of the pictures available on my camera.

 

Then all too quickly the half hour was over. Oh, I’m sure it was and I’m sure we did not get gypped but it seemed like we just got down there and it was time to come back up. Before we came up though, I did notice Carrie reaching out and trying to touch the fish. I teased her unmercifully about it later. She had been so afraid some nosey fish was going to intrude on her space and she turned out to be the busy body. Once we got topside the guide explained that the prettier the fish the more intense their self defense mechanisms work. This made us all glad that none of us were able to touch any of the natives.

 

Anyway, we chattered incessantly to each other about each of our thoughts once we got topside and realized that we were the first and were now finished. And now we had to wait a couple hours till the other tours were done so we could go back to the ship together. We ended up touring the entire facility a couple times and they have a very nice facility. They have aquariums that house sharks, stingrays and other types of sea animals. They have demonstrations of feeding them and the stingrays are so funny as they flap the water each time after getting their treats. I couldn’t figure out if they were saying, “Please”, “Thank you” or “I want more”.

 

Then we went on a nature hike through a wooded area and Carrie came unglued when she looked up and there was a huge iguana sitting on the middle of the sidewalk as though daring her to pass. Oh she passed alright. She nearly passed out. Terrence and I neglected to tell her at this point that there were iguanas all over in the trees above our heads the whole time. And to be honest I tried to not give it too much thought as this fact did creep me out a bit. But scared Carrie turned into brave Carrie reaching for killer fish now turned back into gelatin over some lizards. Oh well such is the way of this type of entertainment.

 

We made our way back to the sitting area waiting for the rest of the Snuba-ers to finish. We talked about a lot of things and asked the others how they liked their experience and much to our surprise most of them said they wished they had done the helmet dive. So we did okay after all. I went into the shop and bought a couple things before we left and the ride back to the ship was eventless. A lot of talking was going on but I was very satisfied with my first excursion and the new friends I had made.

 

Back at the ship I was pretty tired so I laid down a while before getting cleaned up and going to supper. I put on my nice pants and one of my Christmas ties and I went to the dining room, The Atlantic dining room lower floor, about 15 minutes early and they seated me right away. I met my server and the assistant and we talked a bit until finally some other folks arrived. My regular other table mates turned out to be John from New Jersey, Scott from Colorado, Andre from Russia and later Shirley from Ohio and of course myself from Indiana. We seemed to hit it off well that first night and shared much conversation about our adventures as well as home life.

 

This night I had the pasta dish and a shrimp cocktail and some German chocolate cake for dessert. It was all delicious and I was not overly stuffed when finished.

 

The dining room experience is one of the highlights of the cruising experience for me. You get assigned a table and table mates and you meet them and share much about yourself, your plans and then every night you meet with them again and they ask you if you did the excursion you planned, or ask how it was and you do the same and it gives you the opportunity to summarize or vocalize the things you have been thinking all day. I always find dinner to be such a refreshing and uplifting time. Many times you make friends at dinner that you may keep for many years. I consider it the highlight of the day. The dessert, as it were, on top of a wonderful daily meal. I know sometimes it doesn’t always work out that way but I have yet to have had a bad experience.

 

After dinner, John and I walked on deck and talked for a while before splitting for the evening upon which I was exhausted and retired to my cabin for good. I did get myself some ice cream before I finished for the evening though. I had no particular excursion planned for the next day so I just laid my stuff out generically knowing I was at least going ashore. I watched a little TV and slept soundly all night.

[metman146360]

Thank you for your comments. I really enjoyed my cruise and wanted to share it with anyone who may be interested.

 

I expect your cruises will be most enjoyable as well.

 

:cool:Brad:cool:

[cantwait06]

wow, I love your review! You are so detailed with everything, I can imagine what you are describing without a visual! Please continue, I'm so glad you had a wonderful trip!

[atlsteve]

Just a quick question, what hotel were you staying in? I may have missed it...

[metman146360]

Just a quick question, what hotel were you staying in? I may have missed it...

 

You did not miss it. I never said it because I did not want there to be anyone based on my comments thinking I did not like it.

 

It was The Coral by the Sea which is in Isla Verde.

 

I did like the place. I just got what I paid for.

 

:cool:Brad:cool:

[metman146360]

Day 5 (Tuesday) Dominica

 

Welcome to the island of Dominica. I woke up at, you guessed it, 6 am. I photographed and videoed our entrance into the port and proceeded to get cleaned up and dressed for the day. I think I’m starting to get the hang of this routine a bit.

 

Today I had no planned excursions. At least no prepaid ones. I thought I would go ashore and walk around and do some shopping and go back to the ship and play the day totally by ear. I stopped at the buffet and got some breakfast, eggs, bacon, cereal, yogurt and juice. Kind of hard to screw up yogurt. Anyway, everything was just fine and I got b-boinged off the ship right quick and out onto the pier. And out on the front side walk were hundreds of fellows selling tours, trips, souvenirs and taxi rides to anywhere and everywhere.

 

I have to give them credit for their industriousness. Just like any real good telemarketer, “No” is not an option. But what flummoxed me a bit was how you can be surrounded by half dozen men all offering the same thing. One makes his best pitch and you politely say, “No thank you. I have other plans”. The others obviously heard the pitch and your response and yet each of them will take their turn in offering you the same thing, hearing the same response and then another will try.

 

I work in a prison and you can make a group announcement to 100 offenders and when you are done then each one will take turns stepping up to you and asking the very thing you just addressed as though you never said anything in the first place. I’m sorry, I digress at this point because this has never made sense to me.

 

And that is what happened outside the pier. In less than 100 feet I got bombarded with no less than 100 offers for taxi and tour service. Now please don’t think I am putting anyone down because I am definitely not. There is limited economy there and they have to make the best of the few opportunities they get. I just found it a bit annoying. It’s like when you enter a store and you get bombasted by multiple sales clerks who want to show you their wares, when in fact I prefer to look around in quiet until I devise my own question to ask.

 

But then I am a little different sometimes. And to be fair I didn’t go on a cruise to expect the locals to behave just as I would in the same situation. I was here to feel some of the local customs and experiences. So I did take it in stride and found a little reprieve in not allowing myself to make eye contact. This didn’t stop all the offers but it did slow them down quite a bit. I may have come across as a little rude perhaps but ya kinda gotta do whatcha gotta do. This is supposed to be fun dontcha know.

 

I did make my way through some shops and found nothing of any particular interest to me. One young fellow tried desperately to sell me a necklace. My heart was a bit touched and though I had no need for a necklace I did give him a dollar and told him he could keep the necklace. After the fact it occurred to me that I might have offended him and I sincerely hope not but I really had nothing I intended to do with a necklace. My luck it would have been made of something that would have gotten me arrested at customs.

 

Anyway, I was on my way back to the ship when another much older gentleman stepped up to me and said, “Hi, my name is Erol, not Erol Flynn and I can take you for a drive around our island…” and suddenly I realized why they try so ardently. It’s because sometimes it works. I so appreciated the Erol Flynn remark and realized most of the fellow travelers probably would have no idea who Erol Flynn even was that I asked him how much and how long. He said it would be about an hour for $20 and my heart softened and I agreed.

 

Erol was a very friendly man and he quickly placed me in a broken down jalopy that looked like something I would have driven. He fought the pier traffic and took me around the island. Amazingly enough everywhere he drove we were always headed uphill. I don’t know how you do that on anything, except one of those optical illusion posters but he did. And a fascinating drive it was. The island was lush and green with vegetation. He showed me the rain forest area, a beautiful beach area and I stopped at a couple areas to photograph the most beautiful streams and overgrown river areas I think I have ever seen.

 

Erol was full of interesting information about the geography and history of the island as well as the government and politics too. Elections were coming up soon and the roads were a big issue in this election. Lots of promises but likely few would be carried out. The roads were bad to say the least. Some of those holes would have swallowed up his livelihood in one gulp had he not successfully done the run, dodge and jump around the many chuckholes. He was a very pleasant man and I ended up extremely pleased that I had accepted his offer. He did get me back to the pier in the hour that he promised and I gave him $25 for his services.

 

He thanked me and we parted ways and I do hope they get lots of tourists there in the future. The island sells sugar to England and that is it for industry. If they don’t make it through tourism it ain’t gonna happen.

 

This night was the first Elegant night and I went back got cleaned up, suited up, and went and had my obligatory 2 lobster tails, jumbo shrimp, stuffed mushrooms, shrimp cocktail and famous Warm melting chocolate cake. This night there was NO room for ice cream after dinner.

 

My table mate Scott and I went to the “Life in America” show at the theater and enjoyed the performances. The lead female vocalist was absolutely the best. She had perfect pitch and timing and genuinely made the show worth watching.

 

After all that I bet you can’t guess what I did… You got it, I went to bed. (Big yawn). “Night…”

[metman146360]

Day 6 (Wednesday) Barbados

 

Oh boy! Here we go. Welcome to Barbados. I woke up at 6 am, photographed and videoed the entry into the port. Got cleaned up and dressed and headed off to make my Shipwreck Snorkel party only to find that it had been cancelled. I said before at times I can be a little thick. I should have taken this as a hint. But NOT me! I ended up replacing it with another shipwreck snorkel that included a 4X4 ATV ride as well.

 

We were seated in the back of an ATV that was fitted with seats and seatbelts. We were driven to a dock not far away and informed that we were doing the boat part of this excursion first. We were going to a bay, one of which I’m sure was named but I missed it totally, and were being taken by boat to an area that had several shipwrecks and we were going to snorkel there and spend some time on a beautiful beach. The boat ride was fast and fun as we skimmed the water and bounced along at a pretty good clip. Once there we were informed of the equipment we were going to use and the procedures involved. I’m no snorkeler but it all sounded reasonable.

 

We were handed vests that inflated so we wouldn’t sink. And couldn’t even if we wanted to. We were also given the head gear, masks and such and informed how important a tight seal was. We were also told that there is sea life living on the ships and that we were not to touch the vessels even if we thought we would do no damage. No problem-o. I have no intentions of touching the vessels anyway. It was also explained that there were buoys floating above every shipwreck to mark their locations.

 

We then each left the boat off the back and got in and acclimated to the water. It was a little cool at first but I soon adjusted to that just fine. The main thing I forgot up to this point, and I did forget it because I did know it, but that this was saltwater. Now I know you are saying, “Well duh!”, but I have been swimming all my life but it was always in fresh water lakes and pools. I am used to getting a mouthful of water and just swishing it around and spitting it out. The first time that happened, I nearly gagged. The guide laughed at the hideous face I made and when I was done spitting I laughed also at my own thickness. Over the next short while he jabbed me about it a few times and I responded by accusing him of trying to drown me and we both laughed a lot.

 

This would have been fine if this was the end of the story but it is only a footnote to a nightmare. He explained a few things about the first shipwreck we were going to see while we were swimming over to it, the age, size and particulars of how it happened. I like the others periodically dipped my head under water to see what I could see. There were millions of fish swimming all around. And again there were more of those pretty yellow and black striped killer fish that threatened Carrie the other day. And to be quite honest I was a little uneasy about being in such deep water. I’m not sure why. You could see the bottom okay but maybe it was the swarms of fish. I can’t say I was afraid, just not comfortable.

 

Anyway, the closer we got I began to see this big gray/brown haze of some massive object. We’re back to, “Well duh”, because suddenly it just creeped me out. I can’t explain it any other way than that. I could not tell exactly what it was by its appearance even though I knew very good and well exactly what it was. Then within a moments time it came into focus and I saw that it was clearly a shipwreck. Yee haa! I swam right up to it and when I got over the top of the front of it suddenly I got gripped with something like a fear. All I could think was don’t go over the top of it. I swam backwards and stayed near the edge but just not over the top of it. I did look under water and the sight was neat to see and low and behold the guide was right, there was a ton of stuff growing on it. I didn’t doubt him for a minute. He talked quite a bit about it and then told us we would be going over to another wreck over this way.

 

I made sure I did not cross the top of this which wasn’t all that difficult to do and he never noticed and I never said anything. On the way to the next wreck he explained that it was only the side panel of a war ship that had been torpedoed during WWII and the panel had fallen off but the ship made it out of the bay to safety only to be bombed and sunk somewhere else. But the panel didn’t look anymore than 20 X 20, of course dimensions in water can be deceiving, but still it didn’t look big at all. This one I was able to swim right over the top of it with no problems at all. I thought perhaps I was getting over my uneasiness. After all there’s no logical reason to feel this way.

 

He then explained that we were going to the largest shipwreck in the bay. He told us a few interesting facts about that wreck and explained that this ship was very near the surface and we might even be able to accidentally touch the ship with our feet. Again looking under the water it was a grey/brown massive hazey object in the distance and I swam with the rest toward it. Then suddenly it came into clear view. My word, the thing was huge! No sooner than it came into focus then I realized I was too close and tried to swim backwards but this time there was a current that carried me right over the top of it. For a moment I decided to look at it under water and maybe clearly I could see there was no reason to be afraid. When I stuck my face in the water right below me was what had been a bathroom with a tipped porcelain sink and a mirror right above it and all I could think was maybe the morning that this had happened, a man stood in front of that sink and mirror and shaved or brushed his teeth.

 

I have to say right here I am not afraid of death. I used to work in a funeral home as a teenager and I am used to working with dead bodies so death does not creep me out. And I’m not sure if I thought something was going to come up out of there but terror grabbed me tight and I panicked like something in a comedy movie. All I could think was swim and get outta there. So that’s what I did. I swam for everything I was worth, which apparently at the time wasn’t worth much cause I must have swam the wrong direction because there was only boat in all directions. I swallowed half the bay water and gagged on the rest and was flailing frantically about and thinking how little progress I was making. I’m in the middle of the ocean and losing ground, this isn’t good. The guide saw something was wrong and started toward me and asked what happened.

 

All I could say was, “Get me to the boat. I gotta get to the boat!”

 

He did help me back to the boat and I even laughed on the way there because I realized just how asinine all this looked. But I also insisted that I would be okay and this should not cause the others time to be shortened any and he assured me that would not happen. I was not only fine when I got back to the boat but I was fine when I just got away from the shipwreck as well. I can snorkel still just not over shipwrecks.

 

We all decided there doesn’t have to be any logic to phobias and fears. Sometimes they just happen.

 

Everyone was very kind and understanding about my situation and it occupied a few minutes of our discussion after this but we were soon onto the next leg of our journey.

 

Next they dropped us off on the most beautiful powder soft sand beach. I did not know sand could be so soft. It felt tender to touch. And laying in the sand felt like on the softest blanket. I laid on the beach a while and swam in the surf. One of the guys passed me my camera and camcorder from the boat and I recorded the beach and surf on my cams as well.

 

From there we went back to the ATV and rode through some very rough territory. We hit a few banana plantations, literally… and saw some industry areas and drove by some rainforest and by a beach with waves crashing on it. I went to some special effort to cam from the ATV because the ride was exceptionally rough and tenderfoots like me back home would never believe it. Of course I will be accused of just violently jerking the camcorder up and down but I tried.

 

At one point we stopped at a spot that had some pet monkeys that really were cuter than cute and there was a girl in our group who had been really disappointed that she was the only one who didn’t get to see a pufferfish in the bay. Nobody told her that the puffer fish was just me having a conniption. But she fell in love with the monkeys and got to hold them the whole time we were there. Later she said the monkeys more than made up for the puffer fish loss earlier.

 

I believe the whole excursion lasted about 3 ½ hour – 4 hours. We were busy the whole time and other than the shipwreck debacle I would say it was a very fun day.

 

When we got back I did a little shopping before going back aboard and resting and getting ready for dinner. That night had the Penne Marsella, French onion soup and a shrimp cocktail for supper.

 

Afterwards Scott and I went to the show that included a juggler and a comedian. My sides hurt so bad from laughing that night.

 

What a day!

[missmartin]

My family and I are going on the Victory next week. I have to say we are really enjoying reading about your trip! You are a great writer and your stories are too funny! Keep up the good work!

[metman146360]

My family and I are going on the Victory next week. I have to say we are really enjoying reading about your trip! You are a great writer and your stories are too funny! Keep up the good work!

 

Thank you very much for the kind words.

 

I found that other reviews helped me prepare myself for my cruise and I do enjoy writing.

 

I'm sure your cruise will be top notch if you just go with the flow.

 

I believe it was recently decided that Carnival was removing Antigua from the Southern Caribbean itinerary so do make the most of it while you can. There may not be another opportunity.

 

Please let me know how it was when you return.

 

:rolleyes:Brad:rolleyes:

[trvlqueen]

I'm loving your review. We just booked for June, so this is a blast to read, and I'm loving the detail.

[sunseeker09]

Great review! I love your style of writing and all the detail, humour and honesty you put into it. We're on our first cruise on the Victory in 3 weeks, so I appreciate all the little details so much. Look forward to reading more... :)

[Joanns6569]

Trvlqueen,

What date in June, we have several of us on the 27th sailing, would love to add you to the roll call.

[metman146360]

Day 7 (Thursday) St Lucia

 

Take a wild guess here now. I woke up early. No, really early this time. I had propped the balcony door open because I had wanted to hear the sound of crashing water and I certainly did. I heard so much of it I had a hard time getting to and staying asleep. So finally about 2 am I got up and closed the door. No sooner had I got back into bed and fell fast asleep then the smoke detector went off startling me into a wide eyed sitting up position. I jumped up and started pushing buttons trying to get the thing to quiet down. Moisture was dripping from the ceiling and I must have left the door open too long or something. Finally after a while the alarm stopped screaming. I breathed a sigh of relief and fell back into bed.

 

It must have only been moments because no sooner then I got fast asleep again then there came a knock on my cabin door. I got up bleary eyed, staggered to the door and opened it. Security was standing outside asking me if everything was alright. I answered to the affirmative. She asked if I had had the door propped open and I responded with a yes. That was all she said and I shut the door and staggered back and fell into my bed and stuck my head under my pillow hoping the rest of the night would be less eventful.

 

Now it looks like a normal day. I woke up promptly at 6 am to the beautiful sunshine streaming in my window, yawned, stretched, and got up and you guessed it, photographed and videoed the entry into the port. I got myself cleaned up and dressed and went to breakfast on the Lido deck at 7 am. Had my usual bacon, eggs, cereal, yogurt and apple juice and went back to my cabin.

 

Today I had been invited to join Scott on a Cosal tour of the island. I had left Tuesday and Thursday uncommitted when making long term plans so I decided to accept the invitation and we were going to meet and leave at 8 am. So I made sure I had my passport, S & S card, souvenir money and camcorder and sun screen and made my way to the meeting point. The battery went belly up on my camera and none of the extras I brought along seemed to be working so I left my camera behind. In a very short time Scott showed up and we b-boinged our way off the ship. Soon enough we were on the pier and in line waiting for the other happy travelers. They were happy to take my money for an extra spot on the tour. And it turned out to be well worth the $65 it cost.

 

We were loaded into vans that were extremely comfortable. Our driver was named Adrian who was a very personable fellow. He drove us past various schools and industrial areas talking continuously before stopping at a banana plantation. It was a very interesting site to see, rows and rows of banana plants and we were given samples. I had the most delicious banana I have ever had. It was sweet and perfect. I could have eaten more.

 

We piled back in the vans and did several miles of some very intense winding and curving roads with steep slopes and sharp drop offs. Some of the cliffs we hugged were hundreds of feet down. On a previous vacation similar terrain had made me extremely sick to my stomach as a passenger but this time I had no problem with illness. Perhaps I was too cheap to not get the full value out of my $65 by losing my cookies.

 

As one would expect there was lush vegetation and rainforests galore and frequently in between thick bushes along the roadside there would be a momentary glance of drops of hundreds of feet overlooking rainforests or multi-pastel colored villages or sea shores with waves crashing onto both sandy and rocky beaches far below. Then just as fast as those momentary glances appeared they disappeared back into other bushes. You had to keep your eyes peeled and there simply was no time for cameras. Many times there was barely time for your eye to catch the vision. But the van continued on in silence as everyone waited for their next glimpse of paradise.

 

After all this, we were driven to a volcano where we got to go inside. It was a collapsed but still active volcano and we had to stay rigidly on the designated path. Not that I was going to challenge that point. I learned my lesson by getting slapped around over an open balcony door earlier. The last thing I wanted to do right now was to die half way through my cruise and to not get my money’s worth out of it.

 

A park ranger was giving a talk about the volcano and did a very entertaining job of it. Apparently the time to worry is when the sulfur smell stops. That means lava is in route to the surface. I kept thinking I was sensing the smell of sulfur depleting as she spoke. I never noticed anyone else slyly trying to sneak away and there were no crowds running so I figured it must be my imagination. We were right on top of steam vents and there was bubbling mud that added to the ambiance so all in all this was quite impressive. I can now say I have been inside a volcano and for less than $65.

 

After we left the volcano the vans stopped at a place where they had prepared many kinds of local foods for us to taste. There were meats like chicken and seafood, desserts and side dishes. I was impressed with a caramelized coconut candy and some coconut fudge. But there was plenty of delicious food and we got water and soda as well. Oh and there was rum punch but I did not try any of that. I have had rum before and I really hate the flavor of it myself. I know, “How can you go to the islands and not try the rum?” Yeah, yeah but I want to keep my cookies too.

 

There were at least a dozen or more spectacular lookout points where we stopped and got out and stretched and took pictures. Many were simply beyond description to come close to their real effect. It was almost as though you would have had to add new colors to the spectrum and new words to the language just to accommodate the gravity of some of these scenes. And the batteries went dead in my camera this morning! Go figure!

 

We spent about an hour on a beach where we had the option of snorkeling or swimming or just laying out in the sun. The swimming side of the beach was soft sand and the snorkeling side of the beach had rocks of the most inconvenient size on it. Inconvenient because they were too large to ignore and to small and too many to do anything about. And they were right where the water was between mid calf and ankle deep so you had no choice but to walk on them to get into or out of the water. I did not bring water shoes and I have bruises on the bottoms of my feet a week later still to prove it. Still the time was fun and all too soon we were packing up to leave again.

 

Oh and the snorkelers found that small amounts of banana or cookie crumbs brought the schools of fish in by the millions. It was really something to see. I did not snorkel this time but those who did said they had a wonderful time.

 

Now when I was invited on this tour it was described as being 5-6 hours long and we were on the island only 8 hours. Additionally, Cosal was NOT a Carnival tour, thus no guarantee the ship would wait if we got back late. And it was always in the back of my mind, “What if…” Let that be enough said on the subject for right now.

 

From here we went to an incredible waterfall. We had to drive a bit to get to it and even back to it but once there it was real pretty cascading into a pool below and many other tourists were splashing in and out of the water making it look all too inviting. I still had a little battery power left in my camcorder and I made good use of it here. We stayed a while then it was time to go. My friend had been riding shotgun and offered to change seats with me and I was sincerely impressed with the scenery from the front view as well.

 

The driver obviously knew what he was doing and was friendly and asking for questions. But the ride now was eventless…and long. I looked at my watch and noticed that we had already been out over 6 hours and figured we must be nearing the end of the tour. I really wanted to spend a few minutes hitting the shops when we got back and was glad the tour was about over.

 

So on he drove. I asked him how far we had gone and he estimated it to be about 30 miles out. I figured we had gone nearly full circle but he just continued to drive and to drive. Then I started noticing places I had seen before and then he mentioned that we had gone out and were now coming back in…the same way we came. We were backtracking. My head did a quick math thing and I figured we had 30 miles to go and an hour and half before the ship left to get there. Well that might leave me a few minutes to shop anyway. But just get us back on time, please.

 

We did the up and the down and the winding left and right and overlooking villages, beaches and rainforests and trillions of bushes and trees and the minutes kept ticking on by. The beauty was less inspiring to me now as I began to wonder if I was going to be finding another way back to the ship. All I could see was me being one of those sad runners panting for the ship as it was leaving me in its wake.

 

And on he drove. I began to recognize more and more scenery and finally we rounded a curve and off in the distance was a familiar ship and my heart heaved a sigh of relief. Then he stopped the van and declared this to be our last lookout point. I nearly screamed. We had had a whole day of lookout points. We were on a non-Carnival tour that threatened to be late. We were within site of the ship and he wanted to stop one more time. Not to mention the fact that I wanted to have a minute to shop. Going through the port authority can take a little time sometimes. Just get me back on time…Please!

 

We pulled into the port at exactly 7 ½ hours and I decided there really was a God watching over me. I paid the man and gave him a meager tip and said to me friend with a smile, “What a great day. I’m glad I went.” And I did feel that way but I was really glad I was back. Getting through the port was quicker than I expected and I poked my head in a few shops just long enough to realize there was nothing there I really wanted anyway and I was back on the ship with a whole 15 minutes to spare. So what was all the worry for?

 

Back on the ship I went to my cabin, and showered and dressed for the Past Guest Party which was by invitation only. It was not all I had expected but it was okay. I went from there to dinner and had the most delicious Chateau Briand, shrimp cocktail and broccoli soup. My table mates and I all shared many experiences from the day and Scott and I then went to a special Christmas performance being done by the ships children at the theater that night. Again it was a very impressive performance of which there were many proud parents snapping pictures right and left.

 

I got back to my cabin and after I entered my cabin the smoke detector went off again and I felt like ground hog day all over again. Moments later the phone rang and the party on the other end of the line indicated he was from the bridge and asked if my smoke detector had gone off again. I replied to the affirmative again and remarked that I did nothing wrong this time and that this was starting to get a little annoying. The fellow apologized but indicated that it was necessary. Later I figured they must have set the detector off from the bridge to see if I had done anything to interfere with its performance. Tampering with safety equipment is a federal offense and I imagine they had to make sure I had not done anything to disable the functionality of the detector. I had not and I never had any more issues with it again after that.

 

I bedded down for the night, watched a little TV and slept like a baby, a very q-u-i-e-t-baby.

[Dirkgun]

Love your review.... other posters are right you describe things in a way that makes you feel like you can picture in your mind what we are reading. I am so excited we leave on the Victory in Feb on Super Bowl Sunday and our countdown clock is at 55 days .... Yay!!:D Please keep coming with your review we are all waiting with baited breath.

[WaggesAZ]

This is awesome, great read! I am in total agreement with the others, I feel like I am there with you! My heart was racing for you as you described your concern over missing the ship. I am also booked on a Cosol tour, so good to know upfront, don't plan to have a lot of extra time to hang around at the port! ;)

[metman146360]

This is awesome, great read! I am in total agreement with the others, I feel like I am there with you! My heart was racing for you as you described your concern over missing the ship. I am also booked on a Cosol tour, so good to know upfront, don't plan to have a lot of extra time to hang around at the port! ;)

 

The tour was really very good. It was just my own worry that complicated things. I imagine a large organization like cosol is not in the practice of making their customers miss their departures. They wouldn't stay in business very long if they were. But I was concerned that MY tour might be the one example.

 

I really hope to hear from you and how you liked your cruise when you get back.

 

And all your folks' kind comments mean a lot to me. It helps me know the effort is appreciated. Thank you very much.

 

:rolleyes:Brad:rolleyes:

[DOTTE]

The tour was really very good. It was just my own worry that complicated things. I imagine a large organization like cosol is not in the practice of making their customers miss their departures. They wouldn't stay in business very long if they were. But I was concerned that MY tour might be the one example.

 

I really hope to hear from you and how you liked your cruise when you get back.

 

And all your folks' kind comments mean a lot to me. It helps me know the effort is appreciated. Thank you very much.

 

:rolleyes:Brad:rolleyes:

 

Great review. We were on the Victory last May.

 

You talking about being worried that you wouldn't make it back to the ship on time brought back memories of when we were on COSOL's tour in Oct 09, while on the Destiny. We were on our way back to the ship, mind you it was raining, and we were getting close to the ship and all the sudden there is a terrific traffic jam. We can see the ship. Our driver, Baptiste, gets on his cell phone, talking in their native language, whatever it is, and all we can understand is sh*t and flood. It had been raining in the downtown area and it was flooding. Needless to say we couldn't get to the ship via this route. We start back tracking and going thru neighborhoods. Now these were some narrow roads. Long story short, he got us back to the ship with 10 min. to spare. It was scary at the time, but rather funny now when you think back on it.

[trvlqueen]

Trvlqueen,

What date in June, we have several of us on the 27th sailing, would love to add you to the roll call.

 

June 6. There isn't a roll call for that sailing yet. I'm gonna have to start one, I guess, but figured I'd wait until January to do it as it seems some of the roll calls don't get much activity more than 6 months out.

[metman146360]

Now that I have survived the entire trip it ALL seems funny. The trick is having a sense of humor in the middle of the crisis.

 

I still have a couple more posts so it isn't over just yet. But yes you just have to laugh sometimes.

 

:rolleyes:Brad:rolleyes:

[metman146360]

Day 8 (Friday) Antigua

 

The island of Antigua was a real experience. I got up early as usual, videoed the entry into the port and got myself ready for the day. I decided not to eat breakfast and figured I would just get something to eat on the island. I had an excursion to ride a pirate ship later in the day and had that mainly on my mind. Getting off the ship was easy as usual and I was one of the first ones off so for a few minutes I had the port all to myself.

 

It looked like a stereotypical Caribbean port with bright clean shops lining a street that ran alongside a sea barrier. The sea barrier was constructed of tons of gigantic boulders against a sea wall. It overlooked the most beautiful lagoon. The shops were not open just yet and each of the buildings had a second floor so the balconies on the second floor offered an even more scenic overlook of an already mystical nautical wonderland.

 

I wandered up and down the street a couple times and took more pictures then I should have and finally lighted on a wooden pier that looked like it went out into nowhere. I sat there a while and took in all this beauty. I finally got up and decided to explore the streets further back. That part of town was not quite as beautiful but still very nice nonetheless. In the course of my wandering the shops started opening up and I found a nice array of stuff. I decided to wait until later to buy anything.

 

In the course of my wanderings though I found another small pier that had The Black Swan docked at it. The 140 foot wooden pirate ship I was going to party on later. The ship was designed to be rustic and was well designed for many people to sail on her. The folks were busy readying the ship so I kept my distance. But like the typical tourist I snapped many pictures and shot an abundance of video footage.

 

It was still nearly 3 hours to sail time and I was starting to get hungry so I decided to go back on the ship and get breakfast. I ate at the buffet on the Lido deck and the food was quite adequate. I was very satisfied and then I went on deck and shot footage and pictures from the ship.

 

At about noon I headed out for my 1 pm excursion. I walked to the ship rather than waiting on the dock for them to escort us there. Still they were very busy but they finally asked for our tickets and I got to be one of the first ones on the ship. I immediately went to the top deck aft and claimed a seat on the port side. Of course, again I pulled out the camcorder and camera and did my tourist thing.

 

It wasn’t long until about a dozen others had joined me topside and we were all sitting around the outside seating. Everyone appeared to be with someone else except me. I didn’t think I looked lonely but I must have because from across the starboard side a man called to me and asked, “Hey, why are you alone?” I later discovered his name was Bob and he was married, or so we thought, to Laureen.

 

The question sort of set me back a bit as I’m sure he was only trying to be friendly but this really was not the best time for a completely honest answer. Sort of like asking an elderly person how they feel… when you really don’t want the whole truth and nothing but the truth… However I’m sure Bob was just being friendly and the question was still legitimate so I had to think up an answer quick without looking more pathetic than just being alone. Fast is obviously not one of my redeeming qualities. I replied, “I’m too ugly I guess…” which prompted a loud “NO!” from all the other passengers topside and Laureen dropped her jaw and came bouncing across the deck and threw her arms around me and engulfed me in a massive hug and kiss on the cheek and said, “You’re not ugly honey, you’re just right! Have a kiss…”

 

The entire deck erupted in laughter and that seemed to break the ice for everyone to enter into multiple conversations with all the other passengers. We were like old friends from then on. And Bob and Laureen both made special effort to include me in nearly all their chats the remainder of the excursion.

 

It wasn’t too long and we were embarking on our adventure. The sun was bright and yet at the same time it started to rain. I decided not to go below as we were going to go swimming later and people who run in from the pool so they don’t get wet when it starts raining has always seemed amusing to me. And the decision paid off because in a matter of minutes the rain was gone and the party was on.

 

Our Captain was a very dark skinned man tall and skinny appropriately dressed in a pirate outfit. Of course Bob razzed him unmercifully when he put on a rain slicker because of the rain. But when the rain stopped the slicker came off, the bar was announced open and everything from then on was a free for all. There was an announcement that there was no alcohol if you were swimming or snorkeling later. Even a pirate didn’t want us getting drunk on the ale and drowning. I got a cup of Coke and was satisfied with that for the day.

 

It took a while to get to the bay but it was beautiful when we got there. Clear blue waters lapping up against the ship. There was the most gorgeous shoreline in the distance. We anchored and the Captain put out the plank off the starboard side of the ship and we took turns walking the plank. The water was warm and clear blue but dang if I didn’t keep forgetting that it was salt water. I hate salt. I don’t even salt my eggs. But I kept getting mouthfuls of that substance. I never got a cramp while I was there though.

 

Not long after the plank went out a small boat departed to take who ever wanted to go to a snorkeling site nearby. NO THANK YOU! I happily stayed on the ship. Even with the friendly urging of Laureen. But I also felt this was another time to avoid TMI (Too Much Information). So I stayed on the ship and enjoyed the party music and sunshine. I caked on the sunscreen and really enjoyed the time.

 

Another crew went to the beach and I declined again. I really was having so much fun on the ship. Bob stayed on the ship but Laureen went snorkeling. A little later Laureen told me that while she was snorkeling she was having fun and looked up and everyone was gone. They had all gotten on the little boat and they had missed her. They noticed her at the same time that she started swimming for the boat and much to her dismay she started bumping into the tops of jellyfish. They had come to get everyone out of the water because of jellyfish and they missed her. She got on board safely with no ill effects. But the idea would have scared the snot right out of me… But then I can be a wuss at times too.

 

Once everyone got back on board the Captain announced that we were having a wedding for 2 people who had lied and said they were married when they really were living in sin. He called Bob and Laureen to the main deck and performed a wedding ceremony. It took about 5 minutes and I did capture it all on video. It ended in the Captain telling Bob he could keal haul her from the yard iron for refusing to repeat the word, “obey” in the vows. Apparently it was against pirate code to have a female passenger on board. A considerable raucous ensued and that fired up the ship for the next activity…

 

The Limbo.

 

That was a sight to see. But everyone was having fun, laughing and shouting. The limbo was followed by a Conga Line which took us back into port. I’m sure the entire port thought we were crazy but it was all a great sales technique also I bet. Singing, shouting and dancing.

 

I know there was more to the day then that but I was exhausted when I got back I didn’t even stop in any shops before getting back on the ship at the port.

 

This was our second Elegant night and I got decked out in my black suit and Christmas tie and went to supper. I ate the petite filet mignon that was sssoooooo delicious. My table mates and I shared stories from the day but I think my pirate adventure stole the show at supper that night. After dinner that night my table mate Scott and I went to the Christmas show at the theater. It was very nicely done and impressive to see.

 

I went to my cabin and bedded down for the night and would have slept all night…except…