Diary of a First Time Cruiser
Please keep in mind that this review
is written from the perspective of a first time cruiser, so I really
do not have any comparisons to make. My husband, Cliff, and I are both
in our early thirties, and traveled without kids.
May 4, 2003, Day One: Embarkation
We arrived the day of embarkation on US Air. We arrived at the
ship about 3:30, tipped our bus driver from the airport (I thought
this was a little much for driving a bus load of people from the
airport, but he did tell us a little about Miami as we drove to the
pier). Traffic was very busy at that time of day. At the pier we were
met with porters with white shirts and white hats. They expect a tip!
The person ahead of us just tipped him $1 for 7 pieces of luggage. He
stood there and waited for more. (I wonder when he got his luggage—I
saw them later watching something floating in the water and wondered
hmmm?)
Embarkation was a breeze! I
guess since we got to the pier about 4:00 most everyone had boarded,
but we filled out our SARS form, showed our ID and went into the room
where you check in. There was space for a big zigzag line (like
waiting in line at an amusement park) but for us it was almost empty.
I imagine earlier in the day that the line had been rather long. There
was only one couple ahead of us in line to give our credit card and
get our sea pass cards. When our turn came I had filled out all of our
information (the couple ahead of us had not) and we just handed them
our credit card and signed a form authorizing purchases for both of
our sea pass cards. Then we got our cards with our dining room and
table number as well as the last three numbers of our cabin. (They do
not put your entire room number on the card for safety reasons.) We
then headed up the escalator to board the ship. In the hall, we
stopped to take the first of many pictures by the ship’s
photographer. Then we stopped at another security station where we
inserted our sea pass card into a machine and had our picture taken to
associate with our account. We found our later that when exiting the
ship for excursions you inserted your card into the same machine to
check out and then when re-entering the ship you inserted again so
security could verify that you belonged on the ship by seeing your
photo come up on the screen (they make you take your sunglasses off
for this). I was happy to see this process!
From studying the ship’s layout for
months I headed straight to our room. I saw others wandering around
looking for direction. We got in our room—aft cabin 7690. We were
impressed with the balcony size and view. We didn't mind the
framing of the ship at all. I was able to use the zoom on my camera
and get shots with no obstructions.
Our Cruise Critic party invitation
was sitting on our bed along with our cruise compass and life jackets.
We headed downstairs to Guest Relations to make Portofino’s
reservations. They just picked up the phone dialed the extension and
handed it to me—I felt pretty stupid because I could have done that
from my room.
I opted not to bring my own hair
dryer for the trip. The one that was in the drawer was powerful enough
for me (I have pretty thick hair) but the only downfall was that it
does not stay on. You have to hold the button down the entire time to
keep it going. I assume this is for safety reasons. I got used to it
throughout the week, but next time I will definitely pack my own.
I was also glad that I had packed all
our clothes in 2-gallon Ziploc bags. All of our bags had been
searched after we checked them. They had cut our cable ties, inserted
a note that the bag had been searched and reapplied cable ties. Since
all of our things were in bags, nothing was out of sorts.
Next was the muster drill. This
was not my idea of fun standing in the heat with a bunch of people
wearing orange life jackets—deodorant had long since worn off.
Despite the comfort level, we endured and were happy to know what the
procedure was in case of an emergency.
We also asked our Stateroom attendant
to empty our refrigerator as soon as we met him since there are
sensors inside. If you take something out—you just bought it! He was
wonderful, by the way. I called him the "Stealth Steward"
because generally we just saw evidence that he had been there, but he
was never in the way. He kept ice in our ice bucket and the room
straightened up. My Cliff’s tuxedo was not in the closet when we got
there (we had ordered online before we left) and he even went on
search for it for us and came back 15 minutes later with said tuxedo
in hand. Way to go Amador!
We had all our luggage by 6:00. We
unpacked and watched us leave Miami from our balcony. Afterwards we
wandered around the ship a little before getting ready for the Welcome
aboard show and dinner. Dinner tonight for late seating was pushed
back to 8:45.
I enjoyed the Welcome aboard show. We
saw a little of the singer and dancers, the CD, Ken Rush, a small bit
of the comedian—he was pretty funny, the Duo Ignatov—a Russian
circus act. We had late seating and when we found our table there was
only one other couple there. Our waiter Wises was great. Later in the
meal as we were eating the main entree we saw another couple wandering
around—turns out they were our tablemates. One of her tags had
fallen off her luggage and she had to retrieve it from the Pursers
desk herself only to find that her shampoo had exploded all over her
clothes—pack in Ziploc bags.
I thought the food was excellent. If
you didn't care for something, you could always try another entree.
They were very accommodating and I never saw the bottom of my water
glass. After dinner we found a spot for the Bon Voyage parade. It was
a nice touch to have a parade on a cruise ship. The costumes were
great, but if you miss it, you can always catch it on RCTV in your
room along with the Welcome aboard show. Once we found this out we
didn't stress out as much about seeing the shows since we could watch
anytime.
There were 2 towels in our room for
pool use. There was a note that you could exchange them at the pool
for fresh ones during the day, but if the towels were lost you would
be charged $20. Every day they added 2 more towels to your stash.
Tomorrow was an At Sea day, so we
didn't set an alarm. I took a few minutes and sat on the balcony and
wrote in my journal—which became a daily ritual for me.
May 5, 2003 Day Two: At Sea
Today was an "At Sea" day so we really didn’t have a
schedule to keep. We set the alarm for 8:45 so one of us could get
dressed to go down to Deck 3 Studio B and get our Ice Jammin’ show
tickets. The show times were Tuesday 7:30 (for both seatings);
Wednesday 7:00 (for Second seating); Wednesday 9:00 (Main seating);
and Thursday 7:30 (for both seatings). There were two times today that
you could get your tickets 9:00-10:30 and 1:30-2:30. We got there at
9:00 and got our seats for the 7:00 Wednesday show. They seemed to be
going fast. The shows did sell out; however, once the show started if
there were still seats available they would let you in without a
ticket.
After getting our Ice Show tickets I
went back to the room to retrieve Cliff and go to breakfast. We ate in
the Windjammer. We made it past the super-greeter and walked inside. I
lurked around while Cliff stood in line to help his plate and waited
for someone to get up from a table by the window. Once our silverware
and napkins were securely on a table I helped my plate, and we sat
down to enjoy our breakfast. We were just getting started and noticed
a couple looking for a window seat so I asked them to join us. We met
Ed and Tanya from Canada. They had to go to the medical office every
morning for a temperature check since they were from Canada. RCI was
really trying to do all they could to stop a potential SARS outbreak
onboard. They were a very nice couple and we ran into them several
times during the week. (I am now finding myself wanting to strike up a
conversation with total strangers to find out where they are from and
how many cruises they have been on—LOL.)
I didn’t think that the
food here was all that great. They had grits, which I was really
excited about, but they were soupy and had no flavor whatsoever. The
scrambled eggs were soupy as well. The French toast was pretty good
and the only thing I really cared for was the fruit and Danish. My
husband enjoyed the cereals and yogurt available. I never did try the
made-to-order omelet station, but overheard several good comments
about the food quality. When we finished breakfast we adjourned to the
room to get sunscreened up and gather our things. We packed our towels
and also packed a pair of socks for each of us for the Rock wall. We
went to the pool deck and there were NO chairs to be had anywhere!
Towels lay on many with no one in sight. Now I know what all the fuss
is about with saving deck chairs. Since we couldn’t find a place to
park to enjoy the pool, we went to the rock wall to see if we could
climb. We got there right at 11:00 and were the last ones to be taken
for that round of climbing. They start taking names 15 minutes before
the hour. The Wall was open today from 9-5. We got our gear on
(helmet, waist belt, and shoes) and waited our turn. I went first
while Cliff took pictures and actually made it to the top—they help
you out just a little—don’t tell Cliff—heehee! Cliff made it to
the top also. What a rush!
After rock climbing, we went in
search of the Peek-a-boo Bridge. This was some task considering the
winds were blowing at 25 mph. I thought I was going to get blown away.
It was closed a lot, along with the helipad, during the week due to
high winds. We then started thinking about lunch. We decided to try
out Johnny Rockets. We waited about 5 minutes for a table outside.
There was a line, but it moved really quickly. As soon as we sat down
they brought French fries and onion rings with ketchup and ranch
dressing as an appetizer—what service! Cliff and I shared a
hamburger; we had a coke and a strawberry milkshake. Everything was
delicious. Then we took a walk around deck 4 to work off our lunch. It
was here that I played my very first game ever of shuffleboard. It
really was pretty fun—even if I didn’t win a single game! We took
a stroll down the Royal Promenade on deck 5 and sat outside the Pig
and Whistle, an English-type pub, and listened to a jazz band for a
little while. I looked at the clock and realized it was 3:05 and the
Cruise Critic party was supposed to be at 3:00. (Cliff thought it was
3:30 and he was the one with the watch).
We made our way up to Deck 14 to High
Notes and got signed in for the party. There was about 30 people or
so, which was nowhere near the amount signed up—100 I think. But I
think some people didn’t receive their invitations. We got a raffle
ticket and sat down. There were some hors d’ouvres available (the
same ones to be offered at the Captain’s gala) and there was a
bartender available. A couple of people from Loyalty and the Cruise
director’s staff said a few words and then we had a raffle. They
gave away some RCI fanny packs, Dinner for 2 at Portofino’s, and two
12-punch cocktail cards. Cliff won the cocktail cards and the funny
thing was that we don’t drink alcohol, but we really wanted the
Portofino’s tickets. We ended up trading one of the cocktail cards
(worth $45) for the Portofino’s with Joan and sold her the other one
for $20. We both ended up happy with the deal. I met some of the folks
that I had seen online and we sat around and talked some after the
party was over.
Then we headed back to our room, and
I took a nap on our balcony. It was heavenly! Cliff woke me up to
start getting ready for our first formal night. Cliff’s tuxedo was
too big and we tried in vain to get a smaller size, so we made do with
what we had. They had brought him a 43L and he needed a 42R. A
gentleman actually came to the room and took a look at the tux, then
went back down to see if they had an extra 42R. They didn’t—Oh
well. We didn’t let it ruin the night, and our pictures turned out
great anyway!
Since we were looking spiffy, we
decided to get some formal pictures taken. They were on Deck 3,4, and
5 in various places so we tried them all. Pictures were being taken
from 5:00-6:30, 7:30-9:00, and 10:00-11:00. If the line was long, we
just waited until after dinner and found a shorter line. When we were
wandering around during the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Reception, we
ended up at Cleopatra’s Needle and were told that the Captain was
not taking any more pictures. We didn’t know the Captain had been
taking pictures so we thought, "Hey, no big deal" and just
walked in to see what was going on inside. As we walked in, someone
from the cruise staff asked if we would like to be introduced to the
Captain. We said sure and ended up being the last ones that night to
have their picture taken with the captain. We bought the picture—it
was really great!
Then we headed on to second seating
dinner. It was still only three couples there. Mystery fourth couple
had not shown up yet. At our table we had a newlywed couple (the one
whose shampoo went all over her clothes) from Boston, a couple
celebrating their 30th anniversary from Rhode Island and us from SC
celebrating our 10th anniversary. (And they said we were the ones with
an accent!) We had a ball! After dinner we headed down to La Scala and
got a seat on the front row for the Broadway Rhythm and Rhyme show. As
we were waiting for the show to start a few VERY drunk people came and
sat on the front row as well.
Ken Rush came on stage to do the
introduction. Every time he spoke one of the guys would stand up, hold
both arms in the air, and yell at the top of his lungs. After a little
while of this, Ken told him he didn’t have to stand up EVERY time at
which point the guy got on his knees, held up his arms, and yelled at
the top of his lungs. Ken got tickled at this and asked the guy’s
name—it was Ken! He was then dubbed Ken "B" for the week.
Well, the show started and there were some good singers and dancers as
well as some great singers and dancers. They would do partial clips
from several Broadway musicals. As the show wore on the wife of Ken
"B" began to get a little loud regarding how she could sing
much better than those on stage and was about to get up there and
prove it when the other people with them decided it was time to take
Ken "B" and wife out of the theatre. Here is where it gets
interesting. Not wanting to go quietly, the wife decided to turn her
backside to the audience, lift up her skirt, and give us all a view of
her backside—sans underwear! The two children on the front row
especially thought this was interesting! So much for going quietly—or
fully dressed!
After the show, we made it back to
our cabin and I sat on the balcony and wrote down the day’s events.
Here is where I will put in the only negative that Cliff and I found
about the aft cabins on Deck 7. The crew area on the back of the ship
on deck five stays well lit 24/7 and because the lights shine up, we
weren’t really able to see out at the water at night. Other than
that, we loved being at the back of the ship. There was not a lot of
traffic, and we loved having the bigger balcony. We did notice
movement and vibration, but we also noticed that everywhere on the
ship. I don’t know if it was the winds, or the 4.5-7 foot swells,
but I felt the ship moving all week. In fact I am still swaying even
as I type.
May 6, 2003, Day Three: Labadee
Since we didn’t really have a schedule today, we decided to
order room service. This can be done several different ways. There is
a door hanger on the wall with the dry cleaning requests that you can
fill out and leave on your door prior to 3 am for next morning room
service. You just indicate how many people will be eating and then
order as much as you want. You also indicate a 30-minute time frame
for bringing the meal. You can pick up the phone and call your order
in, or you can use RCTV and your remote to order. We chose the door
hanger.
We had requested delivery between
8:30 and 9:00. They came at 8:58. We tipped a few dollars and the
server actually seemed surprised by this. FYI, from 6-7:30 Windjammer
has a Early Riser’s Light breakfast, from 7:30-11:30 Windjammer is
open for breakfast buffet, and the Dining room is open from 7:30-9:30—a
note here—a different dining room is open every day so you have to
check your compass to see which level is open that day. We ordered
scrambled eggs with hash browns and bacon, cereal, yogurt, Danish, and
orange juice. A word of advice... you have to specify if you want butter
and jelly for your croissants or rolls, also, the orange juices are in
tiny little glasses so if you like to drink more than a swallow order
several glasses. If you order cereal they will automatically bring you
milk (we weren’t sure so we ordered milk and ended up with an extra)
The eggs I had for breakfast were better today than they had
been in the Windjammer, and I enjoyed the Danish and pastries. We sat
out on the balcony and ate while watching the waverunners leave on
their excursion. The folks who were bringing up the rear were really
far behind and the leaders had to stop and wait for them to catch up.
We also saw several Haitian fishing boats being rowed around the cove.
We arrived in Labadee at 8:00, but we
lazed around until 10:00 to catch a tender ashore. The last tender of
the day was supposed to be 3:15 and departure was set for 4:00. You
tender from Deck 1 aft, so we headed down the stairs. You could
probably embark quicker by taking the elevators because there was
generally a back up on the stairs whereas if you took the elevator you
could sort of jump ahead a little. And believe it or not, no one was
really cranky about this! Getting on the tender was a relatively
painless process. There were stands set up along the line selling
frozen bottled water for $3 (I think) plus gratuity. (You could go to
any of the bars on the island and get a cup of water from the ship’s
desalination supply for no charge). After waiting in a short line, we
inserted our sea pass cards into a wood podium type structure where
our picture popped up for security. This way ship security knows who is on
shore at any given time. The tenders are generally two level boats
with the top level being exposed to the sun and wind (remember to put
sunscreen on before you leave and hold onto your hat!) or you can sit
on the lower level and the you will be in the shade. They were pretty
fair about rotating bottom and top passengers when disembarking on the
island. When the tender arrived we were unloaded and walked through a
covered walkway, and what smiled for our friendly ship’s
photographer for a "Welcome to Labadee" picture. There were
natives providing music here as well.
I will take a few minutes to describe
the layout of Labadee for those interested. The beach directly in
front of you is Nellie’s beach (it was pretty crowded here) As you
leave the covered area there is an information booth set up directly
on your right, you can pick up items such as sunscreen, bags, water
shoes, RCI logo items etc. They also have colored maps of the island
here for you to have for the day. If you continue to your right you
will be heading for Columbus Beach. This is where ship sponsored
excursions take place. First you will find the kayak tours and banana
boat rides, followed by the Waverunner experience, then the Arawak
Aqua Park. The Aqua park was open from 9:00-3:00 and we did not go
here so I can’t comment on the facilities. Directly across from the
water park is the Columbus Cove Bar and Café, which is one of the
areas that lunch will be served. Like the other "café’s"
there are covered picnic shelters and restrooms here. At the far end
of Columbus Beach is the Parasailing departure point and Labadee
Coastal cruises.
Leaving the landing and walking
straight ahead takes you to Nellie’s Beach and you will see Nellie’s Passion Bar
located on your left as you follow the path. From here you can proceed
to your left, right, or straight ahead. Take a moment to take in the
idyllic setting as you contemplate your direction. You will see shaded
areas with lounge chairs, hammocks swaying under palm trees, and most
importantly Bar servers walking around with trays and yelling
"Coco Loco" "Yummy, Yummy" "Sippin’
Time", "Island Special" (These were yummy drinks that
came in a covered plastic cup with a straw and with "Labadee"
written on it) If you choose to go right you can go to the Artisan’s
Market, the Haitian Flea Market (more on this later), and Café
Labadee Bar (another place to have lunch with shelters). You will also
pass by a shelter where you can stop and watch Haitian dancers and
musicians. I liked watching the drummer—he really got into the
music.
If you choose to go straight, you
will end up on the other side of the island at Dragon’s Tail Beach.
It is very windy on this side and swimming is not recommended here. It
is, however, a nice quiet place to sit and watch the surf.
If you choose to go left you either
head to Hideaway Beach (my favorite; veer to the left) or Dragon’s
Rock Lookout (veer to the right). In between them is Dragon’s Breath
pub and Café (another lunch spot). We chose to take a left and
head for Hideaway Beach. A native was there who asked if he could set
up our chairs. We had our hands full so decided to use his services.
We tipped him $2. He asked if we wanted sun or shade and set us up
accordingly. We got settled and decided to try out our new snorkeling
equipment. We had brought our own, but right there at the beach you
could rent snorkel, mask, and vests for $6. The beach was pretty rocky
so we wore our water shoes. You didn’t have to have a vest to
snorkel. We didn’t see a massive number of fish, compared to Cozumel
and Grand Cayman, but for our practice, we really liked it. We saw
parrot fish, Sergeant Majors, Sea Urchins, a Trumpet fish, schools of
fish floating together, blue headed fish, sponges, sea eggs, etc. so
all in all we were pleased. We did hear other people saying that they
didn’t see anything, but they were snorkeling at Nellie’s beach
where it was way more crowded. If you snorkel around the rock reefs
you can see lots of aquatic life. I also took this chance to get some
shells for my kids. Be careful though because I ended up with a few
that were home to hermit crabs—sorry little guys.
After snorkeling for an hour or so,
we decided to trek over to Dragon’s Rock café for lunch. There was
a buffet set up from the ship that included hamburgers, hot dogs,
ribs, potato salad, cole slaw, fresh fruit, cookies, brownies, and
cakes. I mostly just had fresh fruit. The hamburgers were cooked with
onion, the ribs were just OK (compared to Southern BBQ) They weren’t
very tender but had a pretty good flavor. The drinks included tea
(non-sweet), water, cranberry juice. You could also get coke or other
beverages with your sea pass card. It was really windy where we ate
and had to keep an eye on our paper products.
Once we were recharged
with some lunch, we headed to explore Labadee. There is a tram that
runs the entire length of the area. From Dragon’s Rock Café all the
way to the parasailing pier. We headed out to Dragon’s Rock. You
climb up natural steps to an overlook where you could hear what
sounded like a Dragon snoring. It was really cool. There was a guard
stationed there (who spoke no English) to keep people from going out
on the rocks I assume. We then set out back towards Hideaway Beach and
along the route to Nellie’s Beach we saw a path that led into the
trees. This was a nice shady path that led to a lookout area where you
could take pictures of the ship and look out at the coves. Also along
the way we meandered off the path in one area that was before the
lookout coming from Hideaway Beach. I found this hole in the ground
that was probably 30 feet deep and at the bottom you could see the
surf crashing under you. It didn’t seem like the area got a lot of
traffic, so I was pleased with my find. Next, we walked through the
Artisan’s Market and the Haitian Flea Market.
The locals were very—umm how should
I put this—eager for you to buy something from their booths. Somehow
it was all handmade and original, but all the booths seemed to have
the exact same products. "Come and see—buy one get one
free" "All items $1" etc. My son had two requests for
souvenirs from the trip. He wanted a shark tooth necklace and a
tie-dyed T-shirt. Walking through the Haitian Market I saw this
necklace that had what looked like a claw on it. I asked the owner if
it was hematite. He agreed. I said I was looking for a shark tooth
necklace, to which he replied "Is almost shark tooth" I
walked off, stifling giggles. It was on our way away from the market
that we stopped and watched the musicians and dancers. We tipped them
a $2 I think. I took several pictures. Then we headed back to our
stuff at Hideaway, which was right where we left it undisturbed, to do
a little more snorkeling. This time we headed out on the opposite side
of the rock jetty and swam around to where we thought the hole that I
saw on the trail might be. I was going to try to go and look, but
Cliff thought it was too rocky and was hesitant for me to try. It was
getting close to 2:30 and the last tender was at 3:15 so we packed our
stuff up and headed back towards the landing area. The line was
TREMENDOUS! We found two lounge chairs under some palm trees, ordered
our "Yummy, Yummy, Sippin’ Time, Island Special, Non-alcoholic—COCO
LOCO!" We sat and drank our froo-froo drink and waited for the
line to die down. We watched the tenders pull to the dock and before
they got there we got in line and waited about 15 minutes before we
were on our way back to the Ship. This was our first time getting back
on the ship after going ashore so we didn’t really know what to
expect. The line was long to get back on and we wondered why the
delay. This was when we found out that you had to pass through a metal
detector and pass your bags through X-ray machine. Also you had to
re-insert your sea pass card into wood podium to check back in. They
will make you take your sunglasses off so they can verify your
picture.
We had Portofino’s reservations for
6:30 tonight so we headed back to the room and got showered and ready
for dinner. Cliff and I decided to go down to deck 3 and check out all
the photos that we had taken the night before. We bought and 8x10 and
the 6x8 of us with the Captain. We also purchased another disposable
water camera. I had brought 3 because I had not really planned on
taking many pictures in Labadee—I was wrong. And boy was it a costly
mistake. The same water camera that I paid $8 at home was $17.99. Oh
well, live and learn.
When we arrived on the 11th floor at
Portofino’s we were surprised that it was almost empty. We took our
seat by the window and watched Haiti pass outside. Our waiter Paolo,
from where else but Italy, was excellent! My husband and I had gotten
into the habit of getting one appetizer and splitting it, but here we
decided to each get our own. I am glad that I did because the portions
were pretty small for each course. We both ordered the shrimp cocktail—yummy.
I passed on the soup course, but Cliff ordered the tomato seafood
soup. I had a taste and it was good as well. Cliff passed on the salad
course and I had a Caesar salad. The next course was pasta. I had the
lobster ravioli. It was OK. The pasta was black and white striped
ravioli filled with a lobster mixture. Cliff had the penne with tomato
sauce. I thought his was better than mine for this course. I was only
eating a portion of my courses to save room for them all and Paolo was
starting to think that I didn’t like anything. I told him that I was
saving room and he acquiesced so long as I promised to eat my entire
main course. I had had the filet the night before so I opted for the
sautéed shrimp dish. Cliff ordered the Filet Mignon and made me wish
that I had ordered that as well. While my dish was very tasty, his
filet was cooked to perfection (medium rare) and could be cut with a
fork. The meal was served with sautéed green beans, which were also
very tasty. I cleaned my plate, much to Paolo’s delight and the last
course of dessert was brought out for our selection. We had the option
of a Crème and Berries dish that had been marinated in wine, tiramisu
served in a cup made of chocolate (literally it looked like a
chocolate teacup—very cute) and a White chocolate and orange cake.
We couldn’t decide so we asked for all three. After we had our fill
of dessert I decided to be cute and pick up the chocolate cup to act
like I was going to sip it and it proceeded to fall apart in front of
me. Thank goodness it landed on the table and not my lap—LOL! The
last thing they brought was a plate of chocolate covered strawberries.
I had mentioned that I only liked white chocolate, so Paolo had
brought 2 white and one regular chocolate covered strawberries for us.
We were too full to eat them so he put a cover on the plate and we
took it back to our room for later.
Since we ate early tonight we were
able to catch the 9:00 show. The headliner was Greg Bonham who did a
Vegas style act where he sang and played the trumpet. He was a really
good trumpet player and a pretty good singer too. Ken "B"
and wife were in this show, and Ken Rush made a comment about her
skirt had "blown up" even though there was no breeze in
sight. It was cute. At any rate, the headliner was definitely a
high-energy show with lots of crowd appeal—and I loved his
Australian accent.
We finally made it back to our room
to find our bed turned down and a towel puppy guarding tomorrow’s
Cruise Compass. We went out on the balcony to enjoy our strawberries
and I spent a little while taking notes on the day in my journal and
looking over tomorrow’s schedule. Then fell into a much-needed
sleep.
May 7, 2003, Day Four: Jamaica
Today was another beautifully sunny day on our cruise. We set the
alarm for 7:30 and got up to start our fourth day aboard the beautiful
Voyager of the Seas. We got dressed in our bathing suits and shorts,
grabbed the cameras, money, and set out for another day of adventures.
Our first stop this morning was a trip to the Main Dining room for
breakfast. We had not tried breakfast here yet, and wished that we had
eaten here earlier. I ordered the eggs benedict and French toast. It
was really, really yummy! We sat down with two other couples to enjoy
our meal. I am still trying to get used to not having someone come
with a silver tureen and smother my French toast or pancakes with
syrup, or grind fresh pepper on my meal, but I digress. Today we were
sitting with a couple from New York wearing sweat suits. After dinner
Cliff told me that they reminded him of the neighbors in Lampoon’s
Christmas Vacation "Well how did it get broken, Todd? I Don’t
Know, Margo!" I agreed and we laughed about that all day. I was
glad that he had not let me in on this during breakfast because with
their workout gear, her curly hair in a ponytail, and his perfectly
combed brown hair, he was totally right!
Today I had booked a tour with the
infamous Peat Taylor. I told our breakfast mates all about our plans.
We were scheduled to meet Peat at the end of the dock 30 minutes after
the ship arrived so we headed down towards Deck 1 for disembarkation.
There were no tenders today, so we just inserted our Sea Pass cards
and stepped onto the pier into Jamaican paradise. When you step off
the ship you see the Island village shopping area with Margaritaville
to your left. You proceed down the pier and turn left toward the
mainland. At this point, you are asked to "smile for the
birdie" for a "Welcome to Jamaica" picture by the ship’s
photographer. There were also RCI employees checking ID cards here. At
the end of this pier the tour operators are they’re holding up
signs. I saw a lady holding two signs "The best of Ocho
Rios" and "Peat Taylor" We checked with her since our
information from Peat had said to meet in the bus parking lot which
was beyond the fence in front of us. She told us to wait here, that
she would take us to Peat in the Parking Lot. I realized later that
she did this to keep us from being aggravated by people outside the
gate asking if we needed a taxi. She directed us to a van where Peat
greeted us as we entered his comfy air-conditioned van. Peat had a
list of names and we checked in. I told him my names and he said
"Oh you were the first to e-mail me (in December!)" We
loaded up and headed to Dunn’s River Falls. We sat in the front of
the bus and let me tell you, it was a wild ride. There seemed to be no
traffic rules and they drove on the opposite side of the road that we
were used to so we thought it was very harrowing. I thought we were
going to wreck several times and someone tooted their horns and sped
by—YIKES! (We sat in the back on the way out!)
When we reached the parking lot,
there were some people waiting in line to buy tickets, but Peat had
prepaid tickets available for everyone on the van, so we just walked
up to the entrance. We got our hand stamped and proceed to find our
way to the falls. Along the way, there was a place to rent water shoes
($6 I think) or you could buy a pair for $19 (I think). They also had a
few souvenirs here as well. We headed to the area where you get a
guide and a locker. We had to wait 2 minutes for the employee to open
the locker station and were assigned 2 guides, Wilson and Dillon, for
our tour. Cliff had to make a bathroom stop so he headed to the right
up the hill to the bathroom station (I went here after the climb with
him and the funny thing was that there were two entrances for the men
and women, but once inside you could look through to the entrance of
the men’s and I saw Cliff leaving as I was washing my hands. He
gave me a friendly wave and we both left laughing)
We paid $8 for our locker, which was
really a wooden box with a wooden door and a padlock on the outside.
We stuffed our things inside and followed our guide down the stairs to
the beach where we start the climb. We had to wear water shoes because
of the slipperiness, but these guides were barefoot and the soles of
their feet must have been 1 inch thick! At this point, I knew that we
were going to line up holding hands and I wanted to be at the
beginning of this chain instead of the end in case anyone fell. We
lined up Girl, Boy Girl, Boy. A lady was in front, then Cliff and then
myself and we set off. Word of warning here—the water is cold! You get used to it though, but initially there is a definite screech
factor for all involved. Cliff decided to take the plunge and get
everything wet right away instead of slow torture. I followed suit.
They also had "Peeping Tom" who followed us with camcorder.
You could purchase the video for $29. We did not buy the video, so I
can’t comment on the quality. They stopped us at several spots along
the climb for pictures. At one point the water was rushing behind us
and on top of us and a "Ship’s photographer" was there to
take our picture. I was so paranoid about "picture taking for
$$$" that I passed. I found out later that he really was with the
ship, and they had the pictures posted on Deck 3 later that night. Oh
well, we had Dillon take one with our disposable water camera.
The
climb really wasn’t all that difficult and the lady in front of me
was not really very fit and she made it without any difficulty. The
stairs go along the falls and you can get off at a lot of points along
the way if you decide you can’t go any further. A small note here: I
thought I would like to have climbed without a guide and the
hand chain, but while climbing I was really glad for the support it
supplied. They were there to steady you if you got a little wobbly
and we saw some people climbing without a guide who got themselves in
a tough spot to get out of. At the end of the climb we sat down on the
steps to get the rocks out of our water shoes and "Take care of
the guides-Mon!" We gave them each a few bucks and headed to get
our stuff from our locker. Everything was safe and sound where we left
it so we collected our things and went to return our key and get our
$3 refund. We were waiting in line, when our guide told us to just
head to the front of the line to return our key, which we gladly did
and were handed $3. As you leave, you see a picnic shelter on your
right and signs pointing to the "Exit" We had been
forewarned not to go through the "Exit" and we just acted like we
knew where we were going and went right back the entrance where we got
our hand stamped. There was no one there yet telling us which way to
go so it was pretty easy. Peat said that he would pick us up at
11:30 by one of the gazebos. I found Peat standing with some other
tour guides and he told us where to wait. While we waited for the rest
of our group (there were about 15 of us), Peat gathered us by the van
and showed us a small mimosa plant on the ground that is like a Venus
flies trap. You touched the leaves and they closed up. It was pretty
cool. We got in and were off the Fern gully with a Peat Taylor
serenade and "No Problem, Mon" all the way!
Fern Gulley is actually a road that
is on the site of a prehistoric riverbed. There is beautiful
vegetation on either side of the road, which winds up the mountain
(yikes, with the driving again and we were in the BACK!) On the sides
of the roads Peat pointed out several caves that were boarded up.
People actually live in them! There were several roadside markets with
various wares to sell and some "flower people" who had
adorned themselves with vegetation who could take a picture with you
for $$$ of course. One roadside stand had an interesting statue of a
very WELL-endowed naked man. We did a double take of the 3-foot wonder
and laughed for a good 3 miles! He stopped a little further down the
road and showed us some Impatient flowers. He picked some of the buds
and when you grabbed them they popped open—I never knew they did
that. He also showed us a native fern that looked different colors the
different way that you turned it. We looked at some of the wares for
sale and they did not hassle "Peat’s folks" some people
bought some souvenirs here.
We continued to drive around the
countryside and went through a village called Colgate where Peat was
born. He turned off the main road onto a very narrow dirt road and
said that it was two-way. We all thought he was kidding until we met a
truck coming the other way—YIKES! He showed us a kindergarten which
was one room with children ages 3-6. We got out and went in. They were
absolutely beautiful and let us take pictures with them. They were so
happy and seemed perfectly content to be there with their teacher! He
drove us up to an overlook on the top of the mountain so we could get
out and take pictures of our ship from above. Cool photo op! Then once
we reboarded, he told us that he was going to back down the road. We
thought he was kidding again, until we started rolling backwards—No
problem, Mon—until a truck started coming up the mountain—YIKES
again! We made it back to the road safe and sound—Thank the Lord!
At this point Peat said that he would
take us anywhere we wanted to go. A group onboard asked where they
could parasail and before you knew if Peat was on the phone calling a
buddy and got them a deal for $45 a person to parasail from Island
Village beach. His friend, Mike, met them at the gate and took them to
parasail. Some people were finished for the day and settled up with
Peat. A few of us decided to head back to the ship for lunch and Peat
was to pick us back up in the parking lot at 2:00. We paid him here
and headed back to the ship.
Once on board, we headed to the
Windjammer for a quick lunch. I had a hot dog wanted to know where the
"yellow mustard" was. As a Southerner this is the French’s
bright yellow mustard that we put on hot dogs. The stuff they had in a
dish was dijonaise and the waiter directed me to the "yellow
mustard"—it was spicy brown mustard—LOL! We went back up to
the room to get some cash and headed back to the parking lot to wait
for Peat. As we entered the gate where the taxi’s were, we were
asked about a taxi, but once we mentioned Peat they laid off—It was
like a sacred word—"don’t mess with Peat’s folks, Mon!"
We decided that $45 was a deal for parasailing since the ship’s
excursion was $89 per person. Peat picked us up as promised, and
called Mike to meet us. He took the other couple to town for shopping.
Mike met us at the Island Village gate and led us through the market
and to the beach without harassment. We had a great conversation with
Mike while we waited on the boat to come and pick us up. When we got
onboard, we asked if we could ride tandem. They agreed and we got
harnessed up! What a rush! The guides told us this was the only legal
way to "get high" on Jamaica—LOL! I am not fond of
heights, but I have to tell you this was one of the most exhilarating
experiences I have ever had! Cliff was not situated in his harness
correctly and spent most of the ride trying to adjust the harness and
had a great lower back ache afterwards, but I had the time of my life!
We tipped the drivers $7 to split and headed to shop at Island
Village. We found all the items that our kids had asked for: a shark’s
tooth necklace, a shell necklace, and two tie-dyed t-shirts at a store
called Hemp Haven. We also bought a tie-dyed backpack all for $60.
There really wasn’t any bargaining here and we probably could have
gotten a better deal by shopping in town, but we didn’t want the
hassle, and were happy with our purchases.
We then decided just to head back to
the ship for a shower and a seat on the balcony. As became my habit, I
sat on the balcony as I watched the port fade into the distance and
wrote in my journal about our day’s events. Tonight was Caribbean
Colors night in the Dining Room. We had tickets to the Ice Show for
tonight so we headed down to Studio B on Deck 3 and got a ringside
seat. This was a fabulous show. The costumes were magnificent, and it
was amazing what these people could do on so little ice on a moving
ship to say the least! During the show, there was a GREAT act that
left us all wondering exactly how she changed clothes so fast. You
just HAVE to see this one! After the show we went over to the LaScala
theatre for "Win a Cruise Bingo" One card with 6 chances was
$15. The prize was a cruise for 2. We were supposed to get an X on our
card and several people called false Bingo or "Bongo"
because they weren’t paying attention to which pattern we were going
for. Needless to say, we didn’t win, and headed off to dinner.
Finally couple #4 showed up and they
were celebrating their 30th anniversary compliments of their son. He booked late seating and they like to eat early so that’s why
they hadn’t been to the dining room until then. I had the Spinach
dip (wonderful!), Caesar salad, (Wises knew exactly how much fresh
ground pepper I like by now) jerk chicken (also wonderful!), and the
best banana crème pie I have ever put in my mouth. Cliff had Pepper
Pot Soup, Blackened Mahi, and the pie as well. His dinner was also
fabulous. The waiter’s danced around the room, and we all stood and
did the Macarena. I related the entire day’s event and costs to our
tablemates.
We headed back to the room to freshen
up a bit, and found a towel elephant guarding tomorrow’s Cruise
Compass and then we left to go explore. The show tonight was Toxic
Audio, which was a group that used only their voices to create the
effect of a full band completely a capella. We had not wanted to go to
two shows and walked in for the last two numbers and really
wished that we had not missed it. They were quite possibly the best
act we saw all week. We walked up to the Pool deck and found a seat
for the Caribbean band and watched everyone else enjoy the midnight
buffet—we were still way to full from Dinner. When it got crowded
around the pool, we headed up the High Notes Lounge on Deck 14 and
watched the activity from above and in quiet.
After a well-spent day we headed back
to our room, I took a few more notes and we fell into bed with visions
of Stingray’s dancing in our head—tomorrow’s port of call, Grand
Cayman and a sail to Stingray city with Captain Bryan.
May 8, 2003, Day 5: Grand Cayman
We had yet another action packed day planned so we set our alarms
for 6:45 so we could get up and watch the sunrise on our 10th
anniversary. We sat out on our balcony and watched the sun come up
over the wake and reminisced a little. Then we got ready and went up
to the Windjammer for a light breakfast. I didn’t have the eggs
today after my first experience. I just had French Toast. A little tip
here. The eating area is a little less crowded if you go to the left.
Also, even though Island Grill is not open for breakfast you can still
take your plate and eat back there.
After a tasty breakfast we headed
back to the room to gather our snorkel equipment and pack a small
backpack with towels and other essentials. We headed down to Deck 2 to
wait for a tender ashore. Everyone had been told that people carrying
a ticket for a ship sponsored shore excursion would be getting first
priority in getting off the ship. We were a little late getting
cleared by local authorities because apparently there can be no
passengers on Deck 1 while this process is taking place and folks kept
taking the elevator down the Deck 1 anyway. The first tender was
supposed to be at 8:00, but it turned out to be more like 8:20 or so
when we started to get off the ship. We had booked a stingray city and
snorkel trip with Captain Bryan and the check in time was 8:45. Grand
Cayman is one hour behind ship time and I was unsure if the time for
check in was ship’s time or Grand Cayman time, so we decided to play
it safe and try to get off on the first tender. I had bought bottled
water upstairs in the Windjammer, but down on Deck 1 getting of the
ship, they had frozen bottles of water. Since I had not opened mine
yet, I traded my lukewarm bottle for a frozen one. Every time we get
to port and are cleared for tendering, the Captain would come over PA
system and tell you that we were cleared and let you know what time
the last tender was scheduled.
Today, he said, "The last tender
today is at 3:30. If you hear one short blast, you need to be running.
We plan to leave at 4:00, If you are onshore and hear three short
blasts, you can stop running—you’re a native." Funny! We got
in the herd getting off the ship and when we inserted our sea pass
cards into the picture machine; it made a funny noise because we didn’t
have a ship excursion. The guard just waved us through, and we were on
our way. When you get to the shore, there is a street running right in
front of you. To get to Captain Bryan’s, we turned left and walked
about 2 blocks. Captain Bryan’s was directly beside a cute little
English bakery. We checked in at 8:45 (7:45 CST) and were told that we
had another 45 minutes before we needed to be there. They let us leave
our snorkel gear in the office and walked up the street and wandered
around a little until 9:30. We headed back to the front yard of
Captain Bryan’s office and chatted with everyone waiting for the
tour. We loaded a van driven by Captain Bryan and were driven out to
where the trimaran was docked. There turned out to be a total of 19
people on the trimaran including the three people from Captain Bryan’s.
There were trampoline areas between the hulls on the front of the boat
and Cliff and I parked there for the ride out to Stingray City. The
ride was very leisurely and we enjoyed lying there with the wind
rushing past us. We approached Stingray City and saw a circle of boats
indicating that there were several tours already there.
The boat was anchored off to the side
of the crowd and we were briefed on how we should swim, walk, carry,
etc the stingray’s. Looking at the large crowds circled up, we were
glad to be with the small group from our tour. Javid and Astor our
guides picked up some rays and showed us the difference between male
and females and then let us have some play time with them! I have to
tell you that I truly loved this! Astor taught us how to give them a
kiss. You made the kiss noise and they just lifted up the front of
them and met your lips—it was really cool! We all got a chance to
hold them if we wanted to and there was a videographer there capturing
the whole thing on video. I bought the video for $39 and it really was
well done. Annelyse had set the video to music and the quality was
top-notch. After our time with the rays, we re-boarded the trimaran and rode over to a reef called "The Aquarium" for some
snorkeling. Astor got in the water and went to check to see if the
eels were home. After verifying their whereabouts he led us to some
spots where he was feeding the fish and we had a great time. We saw
lots of fish, coral, three different types of moray eels, and a
flounder. The ocean was very salty and made it easy to float without a
life vest. At the second reef, where the green moray eel was I swam
down very close while Astor was feeding it—it was really cool. Chip
warned me that I shouldn’t get that close to something that could
have me for lunch, but hey I am Kimpossible after all! After the
snorkeling we got back onboard, they cranked up some Caribbean music,
unfurled the mainsail and headed back to the mainland. I highly
recommend this tour it was really great!
We were brought back to the pier
area, and then we headed off in search of a place to have some lunch
on the island. We ended up at a place across the street from Captain
Bryan’s called "The Wreck on the Rocks" We ate out on the
back porch area, where we could look out and see the ship, as well as
crabs crawling around on the rocks beside the deck. We had cokes, a
virgin pina colada, conch fritters, chicken tikka kebobs, and coconut
shrimp for the two of us. I didn’t really care for the kebobs. They
were seasoned with LOTS of curry. I thought the fritters and the
shrimp were absolutely wonderful. The exchange rate was $1 GC = $1.25
US. Our bill turned out to be $41 with tip.
On our way back to the ship, we
stopped at a few souvenir shops, and the only purchase we made was a
book about reef fish for snorkeling. We went back to the pier and
immediately got on a tender heading back to the ship. After dropping
our stuff off in our room, we went up to find the helipad on the front
of the ship. Every attempt to get there earlier had been denied
because they had it closed a lot due to some pretty high winds. I
stood at the "Queen of the World" position and even yelled
it to tenders returning to the ship below. I had a ball! After my
reign as Queen, we went down to the Solarium and sat in the hot tub
while we left port. Note here about the Solarium, they have very true
to life naked Greek type statues here. The hot tub was not hot and the
water was salt water. Having heard about the spa hot tub, we went to
try our luck there. There was just one other couple in the hot tub,
and the tub was actually HOT! There were high-powered jets along the
side but only two were working when we were there. After getting a
water massage from the jets, we went back up the room to get ready for
dinner.
Once again, I sat out on the balcony
as we left Grand Cayman behind and wrote in my journal. Tonight was
the second formal night, so we got ready and went downstairs to have
some pictures made and take a look at the ones that were posted down
on Deck 3. I tried taking pictures of the ones that we weren’t going
to buy. I should have turned the flash off because if I had, they
would have turned out really great! We headed to the Dining Room for
dinner. Believe it or not, I didn’t write down what I had to eat
tonight, so I have no idea. I do know, however, that the meal was
delicious. We got our cake from the waiters and they sang "Happy
–VERSawee" to us! (That is exactly how it sounded!) Tonight was
Dreamscapes and the midnight buffet. We decided to skip the show and
were so tired that we just went back to the room and got ready for
bed. I realized that we didn’t see the buffet, but I wasn’t
getting out of my pajamas to go downstairs to check it out. Cliff was
a wonderful husband and went down and took pictures for me. We were
both still full from dinner so we didn’t sample it, but from the
pictures it looked extravagant!
We fell into a deep sleep thinking
about what a fun day we had, and trying to believe that we have been
together for 10 years. The time has flown by and I wouldn’t trade a
minute of it!
May 9, 2003, Day 6: Cozumel
Today was the day that I was looking forward to the most and it
turned out to be one of the best days of the trip. Despite some minor
difficulties, we managed to have an awesome day here. This is one
place that I would like to come back to and spend a few days. I felt
that there was so much to choose from that I needed much more than one
day—but we sure packed the one we had full of some fun stuff. We
were scheduled to arrive at Cozumel at 10:00 ship time, which was 9:00
Cozumel time. Since we didn’t need an early start, we set our alarm
for 8:30 and headed down to the dining room for breakfast. The dining
room was definitely my favorite pick for breakfast of the week. I mean
who could argue with someone coming around with a silver tureen and
pouring syrup on your French toast! We were seated at the table with
two more couples. It turns out that all the males at the table did the
same type of computer work. I was quite sure that the acronyms were
going to start flying when Cliff graciously changed the subject. (I
think he knew the results had the conversation followed the logical
progression—especially on vacation—LOL) I gushed for about 20
minutes, however, about all the tips that I learned online and all the
money that we saved by booking our own excursions. I told them they
had to check out the 11th floor men’s room, the helipad, and the
peek-a-boo bridge. One of the guys was actually taking notes. (Cliff
was shaking his head at this point, but had to admit that our trip had
been very pleasant due to all my "research")
After breakfast, we went back up to
the room briefly to gather our snorkel equipment and backpack and
headed down to wait to get off the ship. This port is one where
you don’t have to tender. It was great. We finally were off the ship
at 10:30. Today the Captain made some comments about Carlos and
Charlie’s and Senor Frogs and getting back to ship regardless of how
many shots you had—make sure someone in your group had a watch! At
the end of the pier you walk into a department type store, which was
very clean and air-conditioned. We then wound our way through a
corridor of many shops before we found the exit to the street. Once we
were outside there were MANY people with signs to rent anything from
scooters to jeeps, along with many more taxi drivers. They had the
fares posted for the different destinations on the island. There was
generally one set fee. The trip to Chankanaab from here was $10 per
cab. We saw some other folks standing there who really had no clue
where they wanted to go, so I convinced them that Chankanaab was a
nice place to spend the day, and they shared a cab with us. By the
way, there were four cruise ships in port today and the pier area was
really crowded. This was the only place that I felt crowded for the
entire day.
I need to interject that we had
bought one of those water wallets that hang on a cord around your
neck. They are plastic and hinge open and closed and have a watertight
seal when closed. It had worked great for the entire trip with some
cash; one credit card and our sea pass cards. Today we packed it full
of cash and 4-$20 traveler’s checks. Just keep that in mind. We had
a noon Dolphin Swim booked through Dolphin Discovery here at
Chankanaab. Which was really 1:00 ship time so we had plenty of time.
We walked in and there was an area where you bought a ticket to the
park ($10 per person) and a few souvenir shops. After paying the
entrance fee, they put a paper band around your wrist as a way of
showing that you are all paid. They don’t have printed maps of the
park, instead there are free standing maps in several locations
throughout the park—sort of a "You are here" type map. We
walked past the man with the macaws. He would take a picture of you
with the birds, for $$ of course. Next we walked through the Dolphin
Discovery area. You can rent lockers here, but if you are scheduled
for a Dolphin tour then they give you a complimentary locker. It was
pretty spacious. Our backpack plus some extra stuff fit with room to
spare. We then made our way around the beach area and found a free
palapa on the beach where we could park our stuff and go snorkel for a
little while.
We donned mask, snorkel, and fins and
headed into the water. It was amazing. I thought that I had
seen lots of fish in Grand Cayman, but this was unreal. As soon as you
set foot in the water you were surrounded by literally hundreds of
fish. You just swam right through them as though they didn’t even
care that you were there. It was really cool. We saw Sergeant Major’s,
several different types of parrot fish, butterfly fish, blue tangs,
and several other types of fish through this area. They had a floating
dock tethered off shore a little ways out and we started swimming
toward that. There were sunken statues around that you could take
pictures of as well. Cliff set his watch so that we wouldn’t lose
track of the time and be late for the dolphins. We swam around the
cove and at one place I actually saw a green moray eel. Cool!
I called some snorkelers who were
pretty close by and showed everyone my find—I was rather proud of
myself. About this time, the watch started to beep signaling the end
our snorkeling and the beginning of "the experience of a
lifetime". We gathered our belongings and headed over to the
Dolphin check in. We booked online and they charged our credit
card at that time, so the excursion was already paid for (FYI, if for
some reason the ship couldn’t dock or inclement weather our money
would have been refunded). All we needed to do was show our credit
card that we paid with for verification. They compared the numbers and
were shown to the back where we donned life vests and waited for the
tour to start.
At this point Cliff opened the water
wallet to check out some stuff in the gift shop. We had packed it so
full that it had not fully sealed and all the contents had gotten
SOAKING wet. Normally this would not have been a big deal—however,
all the money had expanded and was NOT coming out of the shell! To
make matters worse the traveler’s checks were on the outside of the
money roll and any and all attempt to extract said money resulted in
ripping of wet paper—not a pretty sight. We decided to put it in the
locker with our things and worry about it after our swim.
Here is where we noticed what was
entailed in the ship’s Dolphin Encounter. This consisted of about 35
people standing in waist deep water around the perimeter of the caged
in area while the dolphins did tricks for you to see. They got to
touch them and I think maybe kiss them. We stood around waiting for
everyone to get there for the tour. One person from the Carnival ship
in port said that they booked through their ship for the swim and they
paid $150. Ours was $119. They then took us into a room and showed us
a video on dolphin behavior and such. A trainer then told us where not
to touch the dolphins and what was suitable for us to touch. He also
told us some basic hand signals or body positions that we would be
using during the swim. They broke us up into several different groups
of no more than 8 people each. There were 7 people in our group
"C".
After getting assigned our groups we followed our
trainer out to the pier to our designated letter. There the
videographer started by getting shots of our group before the swim. We
met our dolphin Eva, and were getting more and more ready to jump in.
The trainer told us that dolphins were very moody and that one of the
dolphins would not come over to the swim area. We were told that they
are just like female humans—as if we are moody—LOL! He also told
us that the dolphins can "see" unborn babies with their
sonar, so pregnant women were not allowed to do the swim. We started
out with the behaviors that just took one dolphin. We posed for our
kiss shots, and I have to tell you that I giggled like a schoolgirl. I
was so giddy! It really was one of the coolest things I have ever
done! We all got to shake hands with her and then we swam out in a
circle for the dolphin to swim around us. Eva was also being moody and
would only swim in one area of the circle, so we went back to the
drawing board. The group next to us had both their dolphins so we
switched for them to do the one-dolphin behaviors while we utilized
the two. Next behavior was the hurdle. We swam out in pairs and held
up a hurdle in the air. The dolphin would then come and jump over the
hurdle—three times. Cool! Since our group had an odd number, I made
a sacrifice for the team and went again with the partnerless girl. I
know it was a real stretch, but someone had to do it!
Then we all got
our chance to do the dorsal fin pull. You just floated in the water in
a T formation and the dolphins swam right into your hands. As they
came by, you grabbed on and enjoyed the ride. Exhilarating! Then we
did the foot push. For this one, you lay floating with your feet
floating behind you, ankles flexed. The dolphins then come up behind
you and put their noses on your feet and begin to push you through the
water. Keep you knees locked! They got crooked on Cliff and he sort of
"surfed" back to the pier. When Cliff was doing his foot
push, apparently his Costa Del Mar sunglasses fell out of his pocket.
After the trick Capi went back under the water and came up with—his
sunglasses on her nose. They fell off and she went back under and
retrieved them a second time and gave them to the trainer. Cliff was
unaware that they had fallen out of his velcro pocket, but Capi saved
the day! The trainer said we owed her a tip! That’s Cozumel for you!
When my turn came I swam out as far as they would let me, and they
pushed me completely out of the water. I even made beautiful feet
first dismount complements of my cheerleading days. Again,
exhilarating! We tried one more time for the free time swim in a
circle and this time the dolphins cooperated and came by for some
petting. They waved goodbye with their flippers and tails and then our
adventure was over. They took us to a room where they showed us the
video produced from our footage. They recorded it as we watched it and
added our names at the beginning. We bought it and have showed it to
everyone who wanted to see it—even to a few who didn’t really want
to see it! For $49 it was a great souvenir. We also bought the kiss
pictures. They had taken pictures of the pull, hurdle, and foot push
but since we were buying the video, we only opted for the kiss photo.
They would have given a discount for purchasing the whole package. I
think the pictures were $10 a piece or so.
OK, this was where we were supposed
to use all the money that was trapped in the little red prison of a
water wallet. No mater how hard we pulled that money was just not
budging. We then went in search of someone to help us with our
dilemma. It was at this point that Cliff had tied smashing it with a
rock, stepping on it, etc all to no avail. We asked an employee if
they had a hammer and they found us a maintenance man who led us back
to the employee area where lots of people were sitting around smoking
cigarettes and wondering why these American’s were wandering around
in the maintenance area. We finally got someone to understand that we
really wanted a sledge hammer to bust that case into a hundred pieces
and found said implement of destruction. With one fell swoop our money
was free and our case was demolished—one more souvenir to buy while
in Mexico. We headed to the gift shop and bought two more cases. One
small one just like the one we had, and also a larger size for all the
swollen money—sheesh! We bought the pictures and video with soggy
money, but no one would take the traveler’s checks with the
slightest rip in them—not to mention the fact that they were still
soaking wet. By this time, Cliff and I were getting a little testy and
we still hadn’t had any lunch. I wanted him to be outside drying the
money out, and he just wanted to be cranky about the wet money. We
made our way over to the café and were seated at a table by the
ocean. At which point, we took very deep breaths, both made our
apologies to each other and agreed to not let this ruin our day. We
spread the money and ripped traveler’s checks out on the table while
we waited for our food to arrive.
