MITSUGIRLYS FREEDOM OF THE SEAS REVIEW & PICTORIAL

[mitsugirly]

Ok, I'm going to stop for the night. I'll finish out the rest of the day tomorrow.

[mitsugirly]

4 hours ago, Tiggerontheseas said:

Hi Mitsugirly!

 

This is so cool.  After reading some of your reviews over the last few years I saw this one and realized we just sailed together on this cruise.  LOL!   I probably saw you out and about and didn't even realize it.  🙂

 

I just wanted to let you know that, no, this is not the Star Lounge.  I am stumped though.  I have NO clue what it is so big help that I am.

 

 

Seriously? You were on that cruise too? Haha.

 

 

4 hours ago, bettyboop16 said:

We took a taxi to Jolly Beach this past Feb. cost was $6.00pp each way. Nice beach & wasn't crowded.

 

 

yea Jolly is the closer beach to the port. Maybe we'll make it there another time.

 

4 hours ago, ABQrobin said:

☺️  I am watching!

 

BTW - backroll is way easier and more fun than giant stride.  

 

 

I agree and so much more fun too!

 

 

4 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Looks like it might be the sitting area in the back of Sorento's, or maybe the back of the Promenade Café???  I need another cruise on Freedom to be sure (in 6 days!).

 

Not the promenade cafe I don't think. Hmmm, I have no clue.

 

3 hours ago, TheGirlNextDoor said:

I meant that when I snorkel, I am really only able to dip below the water. You seem to go deep down and get up close. Do you hold your breath? I know Sakari can hold her breath forever. Just amazes me. I love snorkeling but I get very anxious at first. I despise the salt water in my tube. Once I calm down and enjoy myself... tour is over.

 

Oh no, I don't go down too deep too often. I can't seem to pop my ears when I'm diving while snorkeling. But I try a little. I'd say about 95% is all from the top of the water. You need to get a dry snorkel to keep water from going in your tube if you are getting water in there. That would prevent it. I never get water in mine.

 

3 hours ago, ABQrobin said:

Woo Hoo!  Orange Cup Coral bouquet!  Or are those star coral?  Not sure.  Nice job!

Aren't they gorgeous?

 

ha... luckily my coral ID book is sitting on bookcase next to me.  They are Orange Cup Coral.  Woot!

 

YES! Awesome isn't it? And so much of it! I was amazed and knew you'd like it! I could have taken pictures of it all day from every angle possible but you are always so rushed during the dive.

 

I need to dust off my coral and fish book. It's been awhile. LOL

 

 

1 hour ago, BuzzBuzzen said:

I am loving your review , it is amazing , thank you. I think all the photos are great but I do have senior eyes , cheers Buzz.

 

Thanks so much and glad you are enjoying it.

 

22 minutes ago, fyree39 said:

I absolutely love your underwater photography! I have a question:  You said you used to have a garden eel.  What happened to it? I'm curious as to the lifespan of some of these creatures.

 

Thanks so much.

 

Ellie our garden eel. Well....she managed to go over the top of the tank and into the back where the pump is (my smaller tank has the sump built into it on the back) and got caught up in the propeller. I only noticed because one of the pumps had stopped working and I couldn't figure out why. I had to remove it and take it apart only to find that she was wound up in it. 😞  It was such a sad day. They don't have the garden eels at our saltwater shop often. As a matter of fact, it's the ONLY time I had seen them there and I've been going there for years and I'm part of the fish club there so buy just about everything there.

 

Online says lifespan is 35-40 years but I'm not sure in a tank.

[perfect match]

Kim, I’m glad you’re feeling so much more relaxed about diving. Are you ready to think about getting certified yet? You know, you wouldn’t have to go through all the stuff with the testing before each time you dive once you’re certified. You would get to spend a lot more time actually diving, too! 

 

I can can relate to you with camera issues on our recent cruise. I has planned to use my Sea Life because it is in an underwater housing so can go deeper than my Olympus. I made sure it was all set up on the correct underwater setting. Then, at the very last minute, I found that we would be diving within the depth range of the Olympus. Since I find the Olympus without the housing fits my small hands better than the bulky housing on my Sea Life with it’s housing, I prefer to use the Olympus when I can. So, at the last minute, I grabbed the Olympus.  Only problem is, I never put it on the underwater setting. I thought it was already done, so I never even checked it. Didn’t discover the problem until I was walking back to our ship and went to put the camera back on land settings so I could take some pictures along the way. Not only that, but I had somehow managed to change another setting on the Olympus that changed the resolution of the pictures without realizing I had done that.  I didn’t find that problem until I got home and downloaded the pictures. I was so disappointed! No, I still haven’t gotten over it yet. I will be sure I don’t make either of those mistakes again! All of the pictures I used the Olympus for on the cruise except the ones from the first day are disappointing. I am glad that I used my phone for most of my pictures on the ship. At least they came out good. I did tell DH we need a re-do on our cruise so I could re-take all of my pictures. He got a good laugh out of that one!

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

I was really dreading the long walk back to the ship.

 

 

 

However, there was a bus outside the port and a lady said "You want a ride? It's complimentary". WOO HOO  score

 

 

 

Back to our rooms and X was pulling out.

 

 

 

 

One of the buses that took us back had made it's last trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's so pretty when we are pulling out at night and you get to see all the lights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We knew that the ice skating rink was open tonight and we were determined to make it there.

 

 

 

Xander and Kam became really good friends and loved playing together. Tonight would be them practicing gymnastics.

 

Splits.

 

 

 

And backbends

 

 

The skate sessions ran, I think, 45 minutes each and I believe they were only open for 2 hours. We got in on the last session.

 

 

Sakari was one of the first out the door...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brayden ended up with a pair of skates that were way too big for his feet. He really struggled with his ankles turning.

 

 

 

Kendra was really getting the hang of it

 

 

Sakari and pawpaw helped Kam out

 

 

 

 

She was one-handing help within no time

 

 

 

 

Everyone said the ice was uneven and Sakari took a small spill. She ended up cutting her hand but didn't show any pain related facial expressions. Shawna absolutely didn't like it at all and said "never again" when she was done. The hubby has been a rollerbladder all his like so he supervised most of the time. Put him on a pair of blades and he does tricks, jumps, flips and everything you see the skateboarders do on ramps but icing skating is a little different.

 

 

 

 

 

Kia and Michaela were doing pretty good

 

 

 

 

Kia was really enjoying herself lol

 

 

Our whole group of wall huggers

 

 

 

 

 

Kendra was getting brave toward the end...watch her spin

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We did watch the surfing for awhile that night too. I think it might have been before ice skating and killing time.

 

 

 

 

Then off to a show...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Xavier Mortimer: Has performed in 30 countries and also in Cirque du Soleil and on the Las Vegas strip. He does magic, comedy, drama & illusion.

 

 

 

 

 

The show was decent but I've seen a lot better. It was mostly a "show" and I guess I thought we'd see more illusions. I still (so far without sailing the Oasis class ships) say that NCL has better entertainment and variety.

 

 

It had been hours since we ate back at the beach, so our option was.....

 

 

 

 

 

Cafe Promenade had some wraps and goodies and that's what I ended up getting and the hubby got pizza.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sakari's drawing for the night

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

April 25: Sea Day

 

 

I honestly don't really care for sea days. I guess that's why I enjoy sailing out of PR...you get less sea days.  But this will be our one and only sea day and we needed to entertain ourselves.

 

 

Time to mix things up a little with breakfast...just grab a bagel, eggs, and bacon and make your own breakfast sandwich. I also tried the biscuits and gravy, which was good. 

 

 

 

Our morning view

 

 

 

Sakari wanted to go swimming...because there's nothing more important that water life right? Later Brayden would join her. (Note, the kid B is talking to in the pool would later give them problems).

 

 

 

I think after the kids were done swimming, they wanted to go play some basketball and us adults headed to the adult pool for a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved this chair. It was so warm after getting out of the cold pool.

 

 

 

 

 

Kia showed up after awhileand we sat around and talked forever. I enjoy these times where we can just talk and talk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Now I knew I wanted to try out Johnny Rockets during the cruise. It's funny how I really didn't discover this place or the location until almost the end of the cruise. I don't know why I didn't explore much this time around until the end.

 

Now I have to say, this place was over run by super loud kids. They talked so loud and it echoed in there and some screaming and so on. The location is right beside the arcade and I'm sure that lured them all in. But, I wonder how many of their parents knew they were coming in here to eat and how often? I mean honestly, it's not cheap at almost $13 a plate.

 

You get to pick what you want off the menu and it's all included.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It all was pretty yummy and very filling. At some point, someone turned on the "juke box" and it was drowning out the kids. I just had to laugh. Most of them left and we sat there and enjoyed our desert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Later that night the kids were playing basketball and we decided to play some putt putt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me tell you what...whoever designed ships and thought it was a good idea to put putt putt up there in the wind should be fired. Balls were flying everywhere and not to my advantage! LOL

 

 

 

 

 

The new thing with kids these days...Sakari can't stand still without doing this....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

They had an ice skating show tonight. "Ice Spectacular".

 

The show is 45 minutes and was a very good show. We did see one girl take a fall (the guy dropped her) but she recovered quickly. All of these skaters are pro...either in the Olympics, in Disney on Ice and so on. I seriously don't know how they can get up and go on hurt. 

 

 

 

 

After the ice skating show, we headed to the theater for the Variety show with an Aerial Act (Jimmy & Anna) and a comedian (Rodney Johnson). Both were ok but I thought the aerial act would have a little more to it with the stunts. It was more of a storyline and I guess I'm just used to the awesome aerial shows they have on NCL with them flying in the air over the audience or dropping out of the ceiling.

 

 

 

 

I don't think we did much after that and probably headed back to the room where we would find our monkey towel animal waiting for us AND MY SEAL FROM THE FIRST DAY GONE!! Ugh. I had left a note in the beginning that I wanted to keep them and the note was gone and they had been left. However, it was now gone. 😞

 

 

 

 

I feel like I'm never going to get to keep my collection of towel animals until the end for a good picture.

 

We packed our beach bags for our last port day in St Maarten and off to bed we went. 

 

 

 

 

 

[BillOh]

On 5/5/2019 at 11:52 AM, mitsugirly said:

 

 

 

 

Yea, she's excited.

 

 

 

 

On 5/5/2019 at 11:52 AM, mitsugirly said:

 

 

 

I think this is the first review I have seen where the gangways are working again.  I think Jewel in 2018 we were still boarding at the ground level, I have lots of pics of damage in this area.    Love Freedom, enjoy!

 

OH!

[BillOh]

On 5/11/2019 at 12:37 PM, mitsugirly said:

 

So here we are...the big day in St Lucia. We absolutely loved St Lucia the last time we were here. We had booked a tour with Spencer Ambrose to go to the Pitons last time and it has some AMAZING snorkeling there! Like amazing! This place holds a special place in our heart because this is the place that our little mermaid, Sakari, decided that she wanted to become a scuba diver. The last time we were here, they had several divers there that day and she watched them from above and tried to dive down to where they were at and insisted that this is what she wanted to learn to do. We immediately came home to check into diving for a child her age, at the time she was 8 years old, and found that they had a class for 8-10 year olds. She started taking monthly classes and she was the first at our scuba shop to "graduate" and become Master PADI Seal certified.

 

Great story, that is how I started, but at age 50. Good luck to her. 

[BrandFam4]

21 minutes ago, mitsugirly said:

We packed our beach bags for our last port day in St Maarten and off to bed we went. 

 

 That's always the worst.

[RNnNC]

I'm sitting here working remote phone support drooling over these pictures!!!!!!!!!!

[mitsugirly]

11 hours ago, perfect match said:

Kim, I’m glad you’re feeling so much more relaxed about diving. Are you ready to think about getting certified yet? You know, you wouldn’t have to go through all the stuff with the testing before each time you dive once you’re certified. You would get to spend a lot more time actually diving, too! 

 

I can can relate to you with camera issues on our recent cruise. I has planned to use my Sea Life because it is in an underwater housing so can go deeper than my Olympus. I made sure it was all set up on the correct underwater setting. Then, at the very last minute, I found that we would be diving within the depth range of the Olympus. Since I find the Olympus without the housing fits my small hands better than the bulky housing on my Sea Life with it’s housing, I prefer to use the Olympus when I can. So, at the last minute, I grabbed the Olympus.  Only problem is, I never put it on the underwater setting. I thought it was already done, so I never even checked it. Didn’t discover the problem until I was walking back to our ship and went to put the camera back on land settings so I could take some pictures along the way. Not only that, but I had somehow managed to change another setting on the Olympus that changed the resolution of the pictures without realizing I had done that.  I didn’t find that problem until I got home and downloaded the pictures. I was so disappointed! No, I still haven’t gotten over it yet. I will be sure I don’t make either of those mistakes again! All of the pictures I used the Olympus for on the cruise except the ones from the first day are disappointing. I am glad that I used my phone for most of my pictures on the ship. At least they came out good. I did tell DH we need a re-do on our cruise so I could re-take all of my pictures. He got a good laugh out of that one!

 

Quite honestly, I don't think I will ever get certified. It's just not in the cards for me at my age and life.

 

It would be awesome to not have to endure the classes every time but the skills check off, I think, is what gives me a chance to get comfortable with the breathing and I don't mind it as much. I also have no desire to do anything different (such as night diving or going below the 40' mark) and I'm quite happy with what we are doing now.

 

I don't how much longer I will be able to do it at all and this is satisfying enough I guess. 

 

Ahhh the camera (user) malfunctions. Been there done it and it still happens every once in awhile. I spoke with Kendra yesterday and she said she didn't change any of her settings and the camera kept freezing up on her. She said she had to turn it off and on several times during the dive (which is why she didn't get many pictures) and I'm thinking still somehow she managed to change the settings to land because she took several pictures of us on the boat going to the dive spot and they were spot on for land photography and I'm sure I didn't change it after that to snorkel. 

 

2 hours ago, BillOh said:

 

I think this is the first review I have seen where the gangways are working again.  I think Jewel in 2018 we were still boarding at the ground level, I have lots of pics of damage in this area.    Love Freedom, enjoy!

 

OH!

 

Yea, I was thinking that too when we were on the Jewel last year. 

 

 

2 hours ago, BillOh said:

 

Great story, that is how I started, but at age 50. Good luck to her. 

 

Thanks.

 

2 hours ago, BrandFam4 said:

 

 That's always the worst.

 

I know...that sinking feeling of having to leave the next day.

 

12 minutes ago, RNnNC said:

I'm sitting here working remote phone support drooling over these pictures!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

LOL

[perfect match]

13 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

 

Quite honestly, I don't think I will ever get certified. It's just not in the cards for me at my age and life.

 

It would be awesome to not have to endure the classes every time but the skills check off, I think, is what gives me a chance to get comfortable with the breathing and I don't mind it as much. I also have no desire to do anything different (such as night diving or going below the 40' mark) and I'm quite happy with what we are doing now.

 

I don't how much longer I will be able to do it at all and this is satisfying enough I guess. 

 

Ahhh the camera (user) malfunctions. Been there done it and it still happens every once in awhile. I spoke with Kendra yesterday and she said she didn't change any of her settings and the camera kept freezing up on her. She said she had to turn it off and on several times during the dive (which is why she didn't get many pictures) and I'm thinking still somehow she managed to change the settings to land because she took several pictures of us on the boat going to the dive spot and they were spot on for land photography and I'm sure I didn't change it after that to snorkel. 

 

 

I wondered how much that doing the class before your dives helped your comfort level while diving. As long as you’re happy with what you’re doing and willing to deal with doing the class each time, which, at this point, it sounds like you are, then keep doing what you’re doing and enjoy!

 

As I get older, I have definitely been scaling down the difficulty of the dives I choose to do.  I’d say I’m about 15 years older than you, and knowing that I want to be able to keep diving for as long as I safely do so is what motivates me to stay in the best shape I can. I know you’ve been enjoying your diving, especially lately, and I’ve certainly been enjoying your pictures, so I hope you will be able to keep diving for a while longer! 🐠😀🐟

Edited May 15, 2019 by perfect match

[ABQrobin]

I am so sorry you had such an ugly experience with that dive shop in Barbados.  What a drag.  At least you got in 1 good dive with lots to see.

 

Just to remind you - if you get certified, you will get 2 dives for around the same price and time involved as 1 discover class.  More time underwater + no need to demonstrate skills anymore.  I really think it is worth it financially as well as for "fun factor".  Its more fun to dive than stand around in a pool going over skills.  

[tcmagnum]

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• Report post
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Posted Monday at 09:23 PM

On ‎5‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 4:26 PM, tcmagnum said:

Love your review!!

I'm like you, I love snorkeling...

Have you made it to the Cook Islands in the South Pacific?

Harder to get to, but amazing snorkeling...

 

Thanks so much. 

 

I haven't heard of Cook Islands. What port would that be?

 

The Cook Islands are South/West of Hawaii.  As far as I know, no cruise ship goes there.  Only flights from LA or New Zealand or Australia.  10 hour flight from LA, but the islands...the water...the snorkeling...OMG.  Best I've seen anywhere.

[mitsugirly]

On 5/15/2019 at 3:09 AM, perfect match said:

 

I wondered how much that doing the class before your dives helped your comfort level while diving. As long as you’re happy with what you’re doing and willing to deal with doing the class each time, which, at this point, it sounds like you are, then keep doing what you’re doing and enjoy!

 

As I get older, I have definitely been scaling down the difficulty of the dives I choose to do.  I’d say I’m about 15 years older than you, and knowing that I want to be able to keep diving for as long as I safely do so is what motivates me to stay in the best shape I can. I know you’ve been enjoying your diving, especially lately, and I’ve certainly been enjoying your pictures, so I hope you will be able to keep diving for a while longer! 🐠😀🐟

 

Thanks so much...and the older we get, the more we realize our limits. I think I'm pretty much at my limit and comfort zone with this one and I'm enjoying it the way it is for now. I couldn't ask for anything more at this point and just living life and getting to enjoy a little more than just snorkeling is good enough for me.

 

8 hours ago, ABQrobin said:

I am so sorry you had such an ugly experience with that dive shop in Barbados.  What a drag.  At least you got in 1 good dive with lots to see.

 

Just to remind you - if you get certified, you will get 2 dives for around the same price and time involved as 1 discover class.  More time underwater + no need to demonstrate skills anymore.  I really think it is worth it financially as well as for "fun factor".  Its more fun to dive than stand around in a pool going over skills.  

 

It really wasn't too bad...until the end. But I would definitely love to do that dive again. I just don't like being promised something and them go back on their word...especially after proving it to them and showing them the emails. If I go back to Barbados, I will definitely be doing this again. The shipwrecks were awesome (I'll be on the lookout for those sneaky little garden eels with every dive I do this time 😉 ) hee hee

 

It does make more sense to get certified but honestly, without going into details, I have been given some bad news regarding my health and given "5 years or less". So, I just don't think that it's in the cards for me at this time and I'm happy with what I'm doing as long as I'm living life to the fullest and just happy to be blessed enough to spend this time with my family. We will see what the future holds for me. It's just too up in the air at the moment. 😞

 

4 hours ago, tcmagnum said:

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• Report post
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Posted Monday at 09:23 PM

 

Thanks so much. 

 

I haven't heard of Cook Islands. What port would that be?

 

The Cook Islands are South/West of Hawaii.  As far as I know, no cruise ship goes there.  Only flights from LA or New Zealand or Australia.  10 hour flight from LA, but the islands...the water...the snorkeling...OMG.  Best I've seen anywhere.

 

Yea, that's probably something I would never get to see but it sounds amazing! I haven't done Hawaii yet just because of the long flight. Yikes.

[mitsugirly]

April 27: Saturday

 

ST MAARTEN 8-6PM

 

We really struggled with what to do here this time around. We have been here multiple times and the last time, we had our very own personal tour guide (Kia), who used to live on the island for years, take us around to every location possible around the entire island. I mean, who can top that right? So what is there left to do?

 

I searched and searched and found a tour online (boating) that looked interesting and posted it on here and didn't find anyone that had ever done it. I thought that was extremely odd. While I'm very grateful for the suggestions that people on here mentioned, I had either already done it or didn't interest me. So back to checking out the boating again and decided to throw caution to the wind and blindly book. We needed something "different" to do this time around (since we didn't get a chance to do any dune buggies and I had to endure listening to Kendra the entire cruise talk about it).

 

Breakfast consisted of the same old routine and then we were pulling in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

This tour was called "Self-Drive Boat Tour and Snorkel from Simpson Bay" The cost was $75 a person, so not bad at all. You book it using Trip Advisor (and I will say there are TONS of great reviews on there...which is what convinced me to book). It is your responsibility to get yourself to the place however.

 

We caught a cab and off we went to Simpson Bay to the "Rhino Riders"

 

Once we arrived, we checked in (which is a building located along the water and you walk from the front of building that is a restaurant (outside) to the back.

 

 

 

 

 

After checking in, they gave us life jackets and fitted us with fins and anything else we needed...including giving us a bag to use to put all of our things in that we were taking with us. All items we didn't want to get wet went in totes and stored in a locked building.

 

 

 

 

We were given a quick lesson on how the boats worked and how we were to follow each other in a line in certain places, the no wake zones and most importantly the hand signals. Then everyone was assigned their boat.

 

 

 

Now these are "blow up" LOL boats (using that term loosely). They have a hard bottom so it's easy to get in and out of and not at all what I had pictured (honestly it was hard to picture anything about a "blow up" boat).

 

We had a 3 person boat (but they also come in 2 people boats). We were able to add Shawna with no problems and they switched one of their 2 person boats for a 3 person. We managed to be put in the fastest boat they had and oh was it fun!!!

 

 

 

 

We first had to do some circles in front of the place to get used to how the boats handled. 

 

 

 

 

They also had us stop and pose for pictures for the paparazzi (which happened to be their photographers that sit on the second floor of their building).

 

 

Then off we went. As you can see, some of the pictures are Kendra's...which she ended up handing the camera off to Shawna at some point. Shawna took some very nice pictures of the floor, shoes, peoples legs and ....well you get the picture (well actually, you don't get the picture itself lol).

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

These boats could really move!

 

 

 

 

Now the 3 person boat is like this...2 people sit in the back (this includes the driver and a passenger) and then the 3rd person sits in a middle chair (which is where I sat). The only issue I had with this is that there's no back on that chair and of course the faster you go, the more it throws you back and you have to keep your balance since there's nothing to lean against. But weight distribution it is....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We came to an area that was a no-wake zone and it was really cool cruising in that area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kendra kept turning around looking for Billy and Brayden and they were no where to be found.

 

 

 

 

 

We had made it pretty far before we finally seen a spot coming up behind us. Finally, here came Billy and Brayden!!!

 

 

 

 

I guess their boat had broke down in the beginning and they had to be switched out. But, they managed to catch up to us with another one of the guides.

 

 

We took off and was having so much fun! Our boat was really moving. I did end up in Sakari's lap once when we jumped a huge wave and I had never laughed so hard.

 

 

 

I think my jaws were hurting so much from the laughter and smiling going on that day.

 

Billy jumping one of our waves:

 

 

 

They were going back and forth trying to pass us...it just couldn't keep up with our 3 person boat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

Kendra had finally noticed that Billy was with us and was relieved.

 

 

 

Hey at least she managed to get one picture of us. LOL  I figured giving her my camera would allow some pictures of us boating but I guess not really.

 

 

We slowed down and let Kendra pass

 

 

Sorry Billy....we're not letting you by... lol

 

 

Ok, we felt bad for him....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We were coming to an area that had a huge hill coming up out of the water. I guess this would be the place we were stopping to snorkel. It was supposed to be a Marine Park (I forgot to mention that you have to pay $5/pp to be/snorkel in the park and that is paid to them at the shop before you leave). <---why this isn't just added to your total booking and paid at that time I have no clue.

 

 

 

After pulling up, we all roped off together.

 

 

 

I wasn't wasting any time and grabbed my gear and jumped off and waited for Sakari.

 

 

 

 

She had an absolute fit about wearing the lifejacket but I insisted. I told her she didn't have any fins with her (meaning monofin because she refused to wear the regular fins) and it was better to play it safe than sorry.

 

Off we went snorkeling... it was mostly rocks in the water with some coral. I was really hoping this wouldn't be all there was to see at this "Marine Park" that I just paid $15 for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Headed toward the rocks where we were told the best snorkeling was.

 

 

 

 

 

I was still not impressed...but did some of this beautiful red sponges that we seen at St Lucia.

 

 

 

 

As you can tell, this area was pretty shallow and loaded with rocks. I decided to let Sakari "off her leash" and she removed her life jacket. I held it while we snorkeled and she was free as a bird...or a fish I guess. She was so happy but I kept a close eye on her just in case. I know she's a great swimmer but I just feel so much better when she has her fin on.

 

 

 

 

 

There were a lot of black spiney sea urchins all over the place. I warned Sakari not to put her foot down for anything and if she needed to rest to grab onto me.