Solar Eclipse : A pictorial review of the Exotic Southern Caribbean

[scubacruiserx2]

We also saw a vehicle for trike rental

And trike rentals just outside of the gate

After meeting our driver we went here to go SCUBA diving

You can see our dive boat on the left and the Eclipse on the right

A closer look at the Eclipse

 

 

And our dive boat

[scubacruiserx2]

Thanks Joe, the photos are just fantastic. :)

 

Will cyclone Debbie have any affect on your travel plans in May ?

[heathermk57]

The first day in Aruba was my 60th birthday. :) We did a tour of the island in the morning then did the Kukoo Kunuku bus in the evening which was enormous fun! (I tried to upload a photo but I don't know how to resize it to make it 'postable'). :o

[upwarduk]

The first day in Aruba was my 60th birthday. :) We did a tour of the island in the morning then did the Kukoo Kunuku bus in the evening which was enormous fun! (I tried to upload a photo but I don't know how to resize it to make it 'postable'). :o

Using an iPad and the Cruise Critic app.

To add a picture, from my camera roll,

use the + sign

Then 'mountain symbol,'

Then choose the picture size from a drop down menu. I choose 'Best.'

Edited March 28, 2017 by upwarduk

[scubacruiserx2]

Using an iPad:

To add a picture, from my camera roll, use the 'mountain symbol,' on the Cruise Critic app.

Then choose the picture size from a drop down menu. I choose 'Best.'

 

Thank you for the helping Jackie !! :) :D

[upwarduk]

 

The mountain symbol is the middle one which is displayed after you hit the + sign.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[scubacruiserx2]

The first day in Aruba was my 60th birthday. :) We did a tour of the island in the morning then did the Kukoo Kunuku bus in the evening which was enormous fun! (I tried to upload a photo but I don't know how to resize it to make it 'postable'). :o

 

Happy birthday ! ( DW is also 60 ) . The tour sounds like get fun and it was so nice to spend the night and have a 2nd day in Aruba !

If you still can't post using Jackie's instruction and you would like for us to try to post it , Email it to us at scubacruiserx2@gmail.com .

[MicCanberra]

I'm not sure what the bus was but we saw it at the port several times .

The ship is based in Aruba and travels as " The perfect religious retreat dedicated to enabling one to devote his full attention to spiritual growth " , according to the Church of Scientology .

But a much different story was told by a lady name Valeska Paris who claims that she was held on the ship against her will for 12 years in this story from the Independent .

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cruise-from-hell-i-was-trapped-on-scientology-ship-while-tom-partied-6271542.html

 

Talk about Pirates of the Caribbean !

Goodness, I suppose there are fanatics in all religions, it just seems some religions draw the crazies as well.:eek:

[MicCanberra]

Will cyclone Debbie have any affect on your travel plans in May ?

It shouldn't affect us in any way.

It was a massive (very wide, several 100kms in diameter) cyclone apart from being Cat 4 Cyclone when it made landfall, it is now downgraded to a Cat 1 tropical storm. It came to land around Airlie Beach which is a popular cruise port, there is lots of damage. The rain and storm surges affect probably around 500kms north and south of Airlie Beach. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-29/cyclone-debbie-bom-downgrade-fears-mount-for-queensland-towns/8393914

 

This area of Queensland is considered North Queensland and is around 1000kms away from where we will go Moreton Island (near Brisbane). So while there would have been more rain associated with the cyclone, the winds and seas wouldn't have done much, if any, damage.

 

I would think Port Douglas and Cairns would be dealing with some clean up as well (further north and popular cruise ports).

As for the GBR, reports are not out yet to how badly it has been damaged.

[scubacruiserx2]

It shouldn't affect us in any way.

It was a massive (very wide, several 100kms in diameter) cyclone apart from being Cat 4 Cyclone when it made landfall, it is now downgraded to a Cat 1 tropical storm. It came to land around Airlie Beach which is a popular cruise port, there is lots of damage. The rain and storm surges affect probably around 500kms north and south of Airlie Beach. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-29/cyclone-debbie-bom-downgrade-fears-mount-for-queensland-towns/8393914

 

This area of Queensland is considered North Queensland and is around 1000kms away from where we will go Moreton Island (near Brisbane). So while there would have been more rain associated with the cyclone, the winds and seas wouldn't have done much, if any, damage.

 

I would think Port Douglas and Cairns would be dealing with some clean up as well (further north and popular cruise ports).

As for the GBR, reports are not out yet to how badly it has been damaged.

 

It sounds like things are mostly ok and that the main danger has passed . And while the ABC islands are outside of the hurricane belt , they all have sustained some damage from them .

[upwarduk]

Azamara Journey has missed 2 ports!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2476683

[scubacruiserx2]

Azamara Journey has missed 2 ports!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2476683

 

While we don't enjoy missing ports keeping the passengers , crew and ship safe is of paramount importance . We would prefer to avoid one of these storms if possible but some of the rates are most affordable during hurricane season . We just booked a HAL cruise to the ABC's in October which falls toward the end of the season and so it's a risk we assume .

[scubacruiserx2]

The parade with all of the school children looked really cute! I'll bet those kids were having a lot of fun. :D

 

Turn me loose in that Delft shop! Unfortunately, Barry will be bored to death there and will soon be acting like a bull in a china shop! :eek: I don't think he will break anything, but you never know. I will make sure I don't keep him there too long. :rolleyes:

 

I love the Delft cow! We had a cow pitcher like that, but it was definitely not Delft. I do remember having a couple of pieces of Delft, a small plate and a trivet, I think. I'm sure I still have them somewhere. :confused:

 

I love all the sunset video and pictures!

 

Joe, I haven't downloaded the baseball pictures yet. We have had a good crazy, busy week and I just haven't gotten to them yet. There was a lot of glare in the ball park, so I didn't do as much picture taking as I would have liked. While I'm pretty sure I had the camera on the right settings, I know already that I didn't frame a lot of the shots very well, and some are very affected by all the glare. I will keep working on it.

 

You and Pat may have a chance at that Delft shop , but please leave Barry and I out ! ;)

 

The right lighting is very important but sometimes hard to attain with all the glare . On my 2 main cameras have an optical viewfinder which shuts out some the glare for composing the photo but doesn't correct it in the photo . Later in this cruise I had a an encounter with the sun which blinded me and I messed up a setting on the camera resulting in some poor results .:eek:

[MicCanberra]

While we don't enjoy missing ports keeping the passengers , crew and ship safe is of paramount importance . We would prefer to avoid one of these storms if possible but some of the rates are most affordable during hurricane season . We just booked a HAL cruise to the ABC's in October which falls toward the end of the season and so it's a risk we assume .

The Cyclone season is basically our summer, we don't tend to get too many and most fizzle out before hitting land but there is normally at least one a year that hits land and does some damage to Australia or the pacific islands.

[scubacruiserx2]

The Cyclone season is basically our summer, we don't tend to get too many and most fizzle out before hitting land but there is normally at least one a year that hits land and does some damage to Australia or the pacific islands.

 

Ours is late summer through Fall . We have been very fortunate that the 2 major cruise ports of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale ( Port Everglades) have not taken a direct hit in my lifetime . If either of them take a direct hit with an Andrew like storm , it would be a major setback for the cruise industry and cruisers alike for years .

[upwarduk]

While we don't enjoy missing ports keeping the passengers , crew and ship safe is of paramount importance . We would prefer to avoid one of these storms if possible but some of the rates are most affordable during hurricane season . We just booked a HAL cruise to the ABC's in October which falls toward the end of the season and so it's a risk we assume .

 

 

ABC's are supposedly out of the path of hurricanes, as they are too south- or so my son told me when he worked in Aruba!

I was probably there too late in Nov 2001, as I arrived on Thanksgiving Day.

 

I also thought we would be safe when we went on the Azamara Quest TA from Southampton to Montreal 09.09.16, but Tropical Storm Ian thought otherwise! The Captain however did an excellent job avoiding the eye of the storm by taking a more southerly course towards the Azores.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[scubacruiserx2]

With our bags packed it was time to go diving . The cameras are in the yellow bag .

Time to load the gear and board the boat .

Everybody on the boat spoke Dutch and English except 3 Americans , so most of the time we spoke English . Our first dive was 2 sunken airplanes nearby . And while we prefer reefs to wrecks but we did enjoy our dive . The first plane was the smaller of the two .

Pat and I tend to lead or lag when diving and taking photos . As experienced divers and diving with unfamiliar people we tend to lag and function as safety divers . Thus most of the group had swam toward the next plane when an excited Pat caught my attention . She gave the signal for an rare daylight octopus sighting . She later told me that she had seen a tentacle come out and grab a fish before the body came out to eat it on the tail of the plane !

Here's the video :

 

 

 

 

And when it felt threatened by us it expanded it's posture and body to try to scare us away !

[heathermk57]

 

The mountain symbol is the middle one which is displayed after you hit the + sign.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Thank you. I have the photo on the laptop at home, I'll play around later and see what I can do. :)

[heathermk57]

Happy birthday ! ( DW is also 60 ) . The tour sounds like get fun and it was so nice to spend the night and have a 2nd day in Aruba !

If you still can't post using Jackie's instruction and you would like for us to try to post it , Email it to us at scubacruiserx2@gmail.com .

Thank you. :)

[chamima]

 

The mountain symbol is the middle one which is displayed after you hit the + sign.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

I have been trying to upload a picture from the Hot Glass Show.

I've tried every way I know (including yours) and it just keeps saying my file is too big. [emoji20]

 

I was on my phone (now on the computer) and missed the whole last page of posts.

I will email the photo (I have about 100 so if you want more let me know) under the subject Eclipse Hot Glass.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited March 29, 2017 by chamima

[scubacruiserx2]

I have been trying to upload a picture from the Hot Glass Show.

I've tried every way I know (including yours) and it just keeps saying my file is too big. [emoji20]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

If you still can't post using Jackie's instruction and you would like for us to try to post it , Email it to us atscubacruiserx2@gmail.com and we will try using photobucket . That's the way that we do it .

[chamima]

If you still can't post using Jackie's instruction and you would like for us to try to post it , Email it to us atscubacruiserx2@gmail.com and we will try using photobucket . That's the way that we do it .

 

 

Thanks!

Just did that.

(I edited my post above to tell you) :)

[scubacruiserx2]

I have been trying to upload a picture from the Hot Glass Show.

I've tried every way I know (including yours) and it just keeps saying my file is too big. [emoji20]

 

I was on my phone (now on the computer) and missed the whole last page of posts.

I will email the photo (I have about 100 so if you want more let me know) under the subject Eclipse Hot Glass.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Here you go Karen , include your comments . I will email it back as an attachment .

 

[chamima]

Here you go Karen , include your comments . I will email it back as an attachment .

 

 

 

THANKS!!!!

 

The only comment was that these three (Michael, Meg and Dane) were the most talented group of Hot Glass artists we've ever sailed with.

I'm fascinated by their creativity and have always attended most of the shows on board all of the cruises we've sailed with this (on the Solstice, Equinox and Eclipse).

I've seen some individuals who are really, really talented (e.g. Dane's older brother Aaaron) but have never watched when all three are exceptional.

I used this picture because, of all the pictures I took, it's the only one where all three are in it. (Even though Michael is in the spaceman hat)

 

 

(I really wanted to buy that bowl in the picture at the the auction the last day but a sweet 10 year old boy who had been at ALL of their shows also wanted it and I didn't have the heart to bid against him.)

[Walt fan]

The octopus picture! Made my day. What a rare and amazing sighting. And yes, I am sneaking in on a break from work.

 

DS and DIL went to Aruba for a break during Christmas. Airfare and airbnb were quite cheap. They loved it. It is one island I have never been to. Looking forward to more pics!