🐾 🐾 Sea Dog gets Wet, a "Soggy Adventure LIVE" 10-21-23

[BecciBoo]

On 10/22/2023 at 6:46 PM, Sea Dog said:

Moral of you don’t like something speak up, be kind but firm. They do want to please you.

My motto exactly!

 

BTW, does anybody ever check behind the bed for an extra plug, hidden, but a lot of ships have them there.  You'd have to move the bed a little or ask your steward to look, I wouldn't take his word for it, some of them don't even know.  We've found them in many ships.

[BecciBoo]

17 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Sea Dog’s Soggy Adventure Day 3 at Sea Highlights.

Nothing beats Big Blue all by itself...with a mojito in hand, I could watch it for hours.🤗

[Sea Dog]

St. Croix Day 4

 

 

Finally Land Ho for Sea Dog and excited to visit St. Croix and do an excursion to Mermaid Beach at the Buccaneer Beach.

 

 

With a name like Buccaneer Beach Resort what’s not to love for this Sea Dog Pirate

 

 

St. Croix is a really beautiful island with a population of over 60,000

Interest to me that it has two major rum distilleries in Captain Morgan (I’m a fan of their private stock) and Cruzan known for their light aged rum. 

 

Now first I digress with a complaint. I can’t stand it when people can’t show up for their excursion on time. It said on our ticket to meet on the pier zone 1 at 9:30. What time did I get there? 9:15. Better safe than sorry but that doesn’t apply to some folks. The excursion guide even said they would leave the pier at 9:45. 9:30 came and we were missing two people. 9:45 we were still missing two people but the guide had us walk down the pier to awaiting busses. Once on the bus, no couple, still MIA. So the bus driver leaves and I mutter to myself “good leave them if they can’t tell time.” But, apparently we were driven around the block and came back around to see if the guide located then. Nope so we drove off again as I muttered to myself,  “even better.” But wait we drive around the block AGAIN.” Now I’m pissed we have already lost 20 minutes into our excursion and the other bus was on their way to the resort. Back around we go and when we will stop nobody knows. Then the magical tardy party shows up with the guide. As they entered the van I was so tempted to say “you know, you can buy a cheap watch here in the port area.” But I bit my lip and kept quiet. They didn’t even apologize.

It was a nice drive even though they said about twenty minutes but was actually 40 minutes.

 

 

 

We passed the Cruzan Distillery first. Hard to take a picture as we were moving, but you get the idea.

 

 

You could see the Rick houses where they store the barrels. I tried desperately to smell a whiff.

 

 

Then down the road it was Captain Morgan It is named after the 17th-century Welsh privateer of the Caribbean, Sir Henry Morgan. Someday I want to tour it. A very big facility.

 

 

We even passed a huge oil refinery. Apparently it’s the largest in the northern hemisphere but sadly it’s now closed.

 

 

Finally we turned onto a private drive with well manicured landscaping and a sign that read Buccaneer Resort. It was in 1653 that Charles Martel, a Knight of Malta, constructed the first building on Estate Shoys, where The Buccaneer is located. Several owners later it is the first hotel and resort constructed on St. Croix.

 

 

 

 

The grounds are gorgeous with a golf course , 3 different beaches and an area with high dollar hotel suites ranging from over $1,000 per night.

 

 

 

Our excursion fee included one complimentary rum punch but they had a full cocktail list and food list for purchase. Originally I wasn’t going to eat until I saw this! 
 

 

 

A Alfredo sauce seafood shrimp and crab pizza. I had to order it. It was amazing. Even the cute dove birds thought so too as they would hop very close to me to get a piece.

 

 

The drinks were fabulous and with a price point of $14

 

 

I thought I was back on the ship. However I was not able to use my Diamond voucher. With rum distilleries on the island of Cruzan and Captain Morgan the drinks were made  of rum that was as potent as a hurricane's howl, packing a punch that could rival even the mightiest waves at sea

 

 

At one point I introduced myself by saying “Hello my name is José Jiménez remember him? The fictional character created and performed by comedian Bill Dana on The Steve Allen Show in 1959 and who became increasingly popular during the 1960s. Boy I had a good buzz going on.

 

Now remember the tardy couple? While Linda and I were in the water, a woman asked me what I was drinking and we started talking about rum and tiki cocktails as she is from LA and had been to Don the Beachcomber’s famous tiki bar. We had a great conversation and then her husband entered the water and I remembered that guy. They were the tardy couple. How could I berate them now as they were so nice. In the back of my mind I wanted them to pay for the 30 minutes I lost of beach time while our driver was playing ring around the roses block to see if they showed up.

 

Best story in the water. Woman #1 talking to another woman #2 . Woman #1 asks woman #2 “Do you cruise a lot “? Woman #2 replies “Yes we cruise a lot maybe 4 to 6 times a year.” Woman #1 asks “are you pinnacle “? To which woman #2 replies “no we are catholic.” My cocktail went out of my nose laughing at that. A classic.

 

 

The Buccaneer Beach resort is a really fantastic place to spend the day. There were only 25 of us so we had the whole place to ourselves. Throw in beautiful palm trees, gorgeous clear warm water, great food and drink ms and in the voice of Arnold Schwarzenegger I say, “I’ll be back.”

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by Sea Dog

[Arzeena]

2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

I’ll try to leave enough liquor at the bar.😄

Some chips and ginger ale also will be appreciated🤣🤣

[gambler]

Looks like you had a nice day. Great pictures!

[Sea Dog]

Editor note.

 

I tried to clean up my post in editing but apparently I took too long and it would not save. Sorry for any mistakes.

 

Also I will produce a much longer video review after I get back home. I have lots of pics and video to show you all.

[Tree_skier]

25 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Best story in the water. Woman #1 talking to another woman #2 . Woman #1 asks woman #2 “Do you cruise a lot “? Woman #2 replies “Yes we cruise a lot maybe 4 to 6 times a year.” Woman #1 asks “are you pinnacle “? To which woman #2 replies “no we are catholic.” My cocktail went out of my nose laughing at that. A classic.

Priceless!

[firefly333]

18 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Editor note.

 

I tried to clean up my post in editing but apparently I took too long and it would not save. Sorry for any mistakes.

 

Also I will produce a much longer video review after I get back home. I have lots of pics and video to show you all.

I missed the mistakes just thought it sounded like a good time. You will be telling stories a long time later about this day. So the pizza was good? I think it was a good thing to eat while you drank.

 

Good joke. Cant fix stupid 

 

Was this excursion thru rcl?

[NHProud]

@Sea Dog You didn’t take into account you were on island time .  Hilarious conversation between the two women . Great post with spectacular photos ! 
 

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by NHProud

[A&L_Ont]

51 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Editor note.

 

I tried to clean up my post in editing but apparently I took too long and it would not save. Sorry for any mistakes.

 

Also I will produce a much longer video review after I get back home. I have lots of pics and video to show you all.

Blame the booze, blame the booze. 😉

[Sea Dog]

44 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I missed the mistakes just thought it sounded like a good time. You will be telling stories a long time later about this day. So the pizza was good? I think it was a good thing to eat while you drank.

 

Good joke. Cant fix stupid 

 

Was this excursion thru rcl?

Yes it was through Royal.

[Luckynana]

Beautiful pictures, Greg!  Sounds like a really great day.  Per the conversation between woman #1 and woman #2, reminded me of when I was a kid playing in a schoolyard.  One kid asked another kid if they were Catholic, to which the other kid replied that "no", they were Public.😁  You can't make this stuff up!

[HBE4]

1 hour ago, NHProud said:

You didn’t take into account you were on island time .

 

I was thinking the same thing. Between the 30 minute late tardy couple and the driver that turns a 20 minute drive into  40 minute drives, it seems like "Island Time" is alive and well on St. Croix.😇

Edited October 24, 2023 by HBE4

[HBE4]

2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Best story in the water. Woman #1 talking to another woman #2 . Woman #1 asks woman #2 “Do you cruise a lot “? Woman #2 replies “Yes we cruise a lot maybe 4 to 6 times a year.” Woman #1 asks “are you pinnacle “? To which woman #2 replies “no we are catholic.” My cocktail went out of my nose laughing at that. A classic.

 

Well, to be fair, for some people being a Pinnacle is like a religion. 😆

 

I kid, I kid, it's a joke. It's an unwritten rule on CC there has to be one joke at Pinnacles expense per thread. Put the pitch forks down, please! 😉😇

[BonTexasNY]

3 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

Nothing beats Big Blue all by itself...with a mojito in hand, I could watch it for hours.🤗

I misread that as Blue Bell, wonderful TX made ice cream. 🤣

[gatour]

About the refinery.  Back in the day when it was still operating periodically Carnival ships would have a port of call stop for St Croix listed in the on board "patter" for between midnight an 2am or there abouts.  Obviously it wasn't for passegers but for the ship to take on fuel due to lower costs.

[doghog]

6 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Beyond April1. 2024. 10 night Caribbean with ABC.

Enjoy your Celebrity cruise. There are some Elite perks/benefits that are nice. No dedicated lounge like the DL/CL.  Bummer! The Beyond is an E (Edge) class ship. We like the layout.  

[Sea Dog]

@DeerJod Here you go.

 

They have the Jack Daniels Single Malt for a price of $100.99. I said laughing,”Really….Does Jack Daniels really need that extra 99 cents?”

[cruisin73]

3 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Best story in the water. Woman #1 talking to another woman #2 . Woman #1 asks woman #2 “Do you cruise a lot “? Woman #2 replies “Yes we cruise a lot maybe 4 to 6 times a year.” Woman #1 asks “are you pinnacle “? To which woman #2 replies “no we are catholic.” My cocktail went out of my nose laughing at that. A classic.

 

Just read this to my husband.  We are both dying from laughter over here. 

[Ocean Boy]

17 minutes ago, gatour said:

About the refinery.  Back in the day when it was still operating periodically Carnival ships would have a port of call stop for St Croix listed in the on board "patter" for between midnight an 2am or there abouts.  Obviously it wasn't for passegers but for the ship to take on fuel due to lower costs.

RCI did the same thing. We stopped for a few hours on Serenade. We spent the day in St. Thomas then booked it over to St. Croix for a few hours. We were able to get off the ship and spend some time in town.

[Sea Dog]

Here is today’s highlights, Sea Dog’s Soggy Adventure Day 4 enjoy!!!!!

 

 

[perfect match]

Mermaid 🧜‍♀️ beach looks like my kind of place! Nice trees 🌴 for shade. Loungers nicely spaced. Nice sandy beach. I want to go there. If I do I may never leave! 😎  
 

Love the mooring line shots!

Edited October 25, 2023 by perfect match

[Sea Dog]

It’s 2am, I can’t sleep. Again like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa I am consumed with anxious anticipation. Today is Soggy Day.

 

 

But first a Soggy backstory

Remember in my first post where I mentioned the only reason we booked this cruise was to go to Tortola and take an excursion to Jost Van Dyke and the famous Soggy Dollar Bar? I stated that it took an unexpected turn. Well imagine my horror, disbelief, anger etc…etc…etc… when you get an email like this.

 

Can you imagine my horror and disbelief?

 

 

What do I do???? Do I cancel the whole cruise? Find an alternative excursion? We had our Cruise Critic friends joining us on this excursion. I reached out to them with a question. Would you be willing to charter a boat on our own to take us to JVD and Soggy? They all responded with an enthusiastic “Yes.” I knew that this would be the only way we could do it as chartering a boat is not cheap. I started researching charter companies and reached out to them. I received an email from Chillout Charters. They said they would be happy to accommodate us. It would be $1850 for a 7.5 hour excursion and that we could even go to numerous stops. The price included your friendly captain, snorkeling gear, a selection of beverages, Cruising Permits, and National Park Fees. 

 

We did have a little issue. The ship was to be in port from 7am-3pm. Not a lot of time. Chillout suggested a 6 hour charter for $1650 and we could still go to multiple locations but after checking with the group they were fine with just JVD and not feeling rushed. Bam!!! Booked. I cannot tell you how relieved I was. I had to do my happy dance.

 

 

Now if you noticed my title it said Sea Dog Gets wet, Why??? Well when you visit the Soggy Dollar at Jost Van Dyke there is no dock at White Bay. Literally the boats pull up close to shore and you jump in and swim to the beach. Hence the name “Soggy Dollar Bar.” I have come prepared with my dry/wet bag for crisp dry currency.
 

Stay tuned more later.

Edited October 25, 2023 by Sea Dog

[taznremmy]

@Sea Dog  Greg....go to bed!  😴   You have a big day tomorrow.  I am loving your review.  Thanks for taking us along.

[#55worktoplay]

That looked like a nice place in St. Critic.  Was the pizza any good it looked pretty decent.

 

Thanks