Caribbean Cruise 2011

I promised some people I would keep a journal of my first ever cruise. I'm glad I did, for my own memories, and here they are for you, too. :)

JULY 30- Well, here we are in Orlando! It has been a VERY long day, to say the least. It was hot at home, and we got up at 3AM to catch our plane, so sleep was evasive. The storm at midnight didn't help either. I found, just before we left, that the storm broke our back fence. So I tied it with rope to hold it while we are away.

There were trees, branches, and signs blown down all over the city. On top of that, the taxi driver had to make a big detour on the way to the airport because of a horrible accident that had the road blocked off by the police.

The trip itself went relatively smoothly, as is to be expected from WestJet. The only snags we had there were a late departure from Calgary because the engine needed a minor repair (Better we leave late with a fixed engine, I say!)and we had one lady have, I think, a diabetic seizure while flying over Tennessee, requiring the crew to ask if a doctor or nurse was on board (a nurse was indeed there) and for us to wait upon arrival for them to get her off and to the waiting ambulance crew in Orlando.

The heat and humidity here were a bit of a shock after 10 hours of air conditioning. It feels like a sauna. Not uncomfortable, just...strange. Like you can grab it in your hands.

There was a shuttle train from the arrival gates to the baggage claim, like a metro, but, well, I guess like a monorail.

The hotel is very nice, with a couch and coffee table, king size bed, 3 lamps, a desk, TV, fridge, coffee maker, safe...and lots of space in between to rearrange the luggage for tomorrow.

The hotel is connected to the mall, so we don't have to go outside to shop. The mall is really big and super easy to get lost in. BUT it has Cinnzeo, Cherry Coke, M&Ms World, and the most amazing Italian restaurant...Buca di Beppo. All the dishes are served family-style...small feeds 2-3, large feeds 5-6. We also had bread with oil and balsamic vinegar. Our meal was Quattro di forno: cheese canneloni, chicken and spinach manicotti, cheese ravioli, and stuffed shells. For dessert, we shared a slice of gigantic cake, which was lemon with marscapone cheese and cream filling with raspberry sauce. The whole meal was AMAZING, and came to about $20 each, drinks and dessert included.

M&M World was cool...giant statues and all the memorabilia you could ever want, plus an entire WALL of serve-yourself M&Ms of every colour and type imaginable, including colours I had never seen before, like aqua and lilac. I got pressed pennies for the kids and I and a pin with my name. :)

Now I shall collapse from exhaustion and sleep well tonight, and dream of the fun yet to come.



JULY 31- We had a GREAT sleep last night. I reset the air conditioner from 12.5C to 20C. The bed was nice and comfortable, and the room nice and large.

Upon discovering the mall did not open until noon today, breakfast at the hotel to be $13.95 each, and our bus leaving around 11:45AM, we headed out the door to find the McDonald's that was maybe 10 minutes away.

8:30AM and the heat was stunning. Our glasses actually fogged up on walking out of the hotel. The humidity was so high you could literally touch it in the air.

Portions at McD's here are truly bigger than back home. So my coffee was larger than expected. No complaints there. :)

On the way back, we saw what looked like perfectly smooth, oval stones. It turned out they were some sort of nut that grows on the local trees, and fall by the thousands.

The bus trip was interesting. So many trees!!! And in between them all, you could sometimes get a glimpse of a plantation, a shack, a bayou. I saw a number of birds, but have no idea what they were.

It was quite the view when we finally pulled in sight of the ship. It is HUGE!!!

We let them have our luggage, then joined the cattle drive of people checking in. Once on the ship, we found our room, which is very nice. #6296.

Our floor "helper" is Marvin, and he is a hoot. Almost every time we left the room, he was there doing something for someone and would ask what we were up to or joke "There you go again!". He is Jamaican.

Lunch at Windjammer (the buffet) was very good, the cheese plate from room service was delicious, and supper was AMAZING!!! I had hot and sour shrimp soup, onion rolls, prime rib with vegetables and baked potato, and chocolate pot a creme. Mmmmmmmmm.

We both got a souvenir cup with our Coke allowance. Bought a pin and inflatable ship. :)

The balcony is very nice. 2 chairs and a little table. Very hot during the day, but nice at night. I saw a shooting star and heard a whale blowing, something large leap out of the waves, and a few times of whalesong.

Watched the Dreamworks Experience Move It! Move It! parade. Cute, but I didn't get very good pictures.

Played minigolf on one of the top decks.

Going to bed around 00:30. It doesn't feel that late.



AUGUST 1- Today was a day of a few surprises and various changes. After a good night's sleep, we woke to the combo of Hubby's phone barking like a dog and the ship's wake-up call. We ordered room service for breakfast, so had an absolute feast of eggs, bacon, baked tomato, hash browns, pastries, fruit, juice, milk, and coffee.

We then headed off to CocoCay, Bahamas, for the day. It was so hot, I was literally dripping sweat. We went on the nature walk, which was very interesting and fun as we learned of trees that could heal warts, headaches, sexual issues, lady issues, and so on, as well as a tree that had poisonous bark. We heard of one couple that had carved their initials in one of the bad trees, and ended up sick and covered in horrible sores that leave a permanent scar. We saw a HUGE iguana and some teeny lizards the size of a finger joint, as well as chickens, frigatebirds, and the "hamburgull"...their gulls are ferocious scavengers. Their feeding frenzies if a tourist plate is left unprotected put sharks to shame.

Hubby went snorkeling while I hid in the shade and tried to cool off. They had a drink on the island, CocoLoco...but I declined it because the virgin one was $6. Bought a $15 t-shirt instead. :) It has the island name, a happy face in a rasta hat, and says "Smile, Mon!" Their sand is very fine and white, like flour.

They had a buffet lunch on the island, so I had chicken, ribs, a burger, feta, corn, and a few other little things before heading back to the ship for some a/c and a nap.

We discovered that, due to very bad weather involving the possibility of a cyclone or hurricane (Tropical Storm Emily), our Eastern Caribbean cruise will now be a Western Caribbean cruise. Goodbye tall ship, St Thomas, and St Maarten, helloooooo Cozumel, Mexico, and Grand Cayman Island.

Tomorrow is a cruising day, so Hubby and I will find fun things to do on the ship.

Dinner was formal tonight. I wore my long blue dress. We took pics of each other because we couldn't find our attendant (Marvin) and the professionals charge a fortune.

I had sushi as a snack today, and then dinner was lobster bisque, roasted duck with blackberry sauerkraut and croquettes, and a chocolate souffle with espresso sauce. And their American version of iced tea. Oh yes! The Windjammer Cafe also had oxtail soup and creme caramel. I snacked a lot today.

Marvin is so funny. He came in to straighten the room while we were at dinner and created a funny creature (a dolphin) on my pillow with a bath towel and my sunglasses. :-D

We sat in the hot tub for a few minutes, but then they turned out the lights, so we figured it was our cue to leave. It was about 11PM.

One thing with dinner is that we eat at 8:30PM and finish around 10:30PM, so have to stay up late to digest.

Stood out on the balcony again tonight. Too dark to see, but heard another splash, heard distant whalesong, and heard a humpback talk. :)

Hubby looks very burnt on his back from snorkeling. He has a spot on his incision, about 3 fingers wide, that is swollen, so I have forbidden him to swim without a shirt for awhile. Hopefully it heals fast and has no further complications.

Sleeping with the curtains open so I can see the stars and maybe sunrise. To bed at 00:45.



AUGUST 2- Today was a cruising day. We slept until 9:15, although I was awake long enough to see sunrise as Hubby's phone started barking.

We ate breakfast at the Windjammer today. So much to choose from! Today I had eggs, french toast with strawberries and cream, fruit, corned beef hash, pastry, coffee, and milk.

Bought 2 t-shirts on Deck 11 at a sale- 2 for $20. One for Mexico, one for Grand Cayman. Hubby bought 2 for himself and 2 for the kids- a glow in the dark pirate one for Son and a turtle one that changes colour in the sun for Daughter.

Attended a really good seminar about speeding up your metabolism, then went for lunch. LOL. Had lamb skewers on a curried veg and bean base. That was in Leonardo's.

Took salsa dancing lessons. It was a lot of fun. Almost 10 years of learning choreo sure helped in learning the steps. :)

Watched "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows(Part One)". Again.

Off to Windjammer for a snack...oh wait, that was before the movie. I had some cake and custards.

Got dressed for dinner (smart casual...black dress t-shirt, knee length black and white flowered skirt, sandals), then off to the show- the Scintas. They were hilarious and awesome. :) Comedy and singing and piano.

Off to dinner- I had a crab cake, sole filet with asparagus and artichoke hearts, and orange chocolate parfait.

Back to the room. Despite watching off and on all day, no visual signs of life on the ocean. But at night I always stand on the balcony and listen hard over the breeze. Tonight I heard a tiny bit of whalesong, plus two types of whale calls. One was a loud "ORRRRR!" and one was an "OOooooooo!". I also saw a few shooting stars tonight. Definitely worth going out there each night to stand in the dark and look and listen.

Marvin made me a towel lobster with my sunglasses tonight.

Bedtime snack....spinach and artichoke dip. Bedtime: 11:36PM



AUGUST 3- Up with the barking dog alarm for room service breakfast and to watch Grand Cayman get nearer in the distance. We took the tender over at around 8AM and wandered the streets for awhile. We kept stopping in shops to take advantage of the air conditioning. I also got a t-shirt and 3 pins.

When it was time, we lined up for our excursion. It was really hot and humid out, so I was soaked with sweat. Ew.

Got on our lovely air conditioned bus and took a ride to a rum factory. For obvious reasons, Hubby and I stayed outside to look at their mini zoo- tropical birds, peacocks, super fat pigeons, a rodent that looked like a tiny capybara, and huge iguanas.

There was a giant spider that got into the bus. Very freaky, like a tarantula, but no hair.

One funny thing about Grand Cayman is that chickens are EVERYWHERE, just wandering around, like pigeons and seagulls do at home.

The second stop was on a semi-submarine boat. We saw tons of fish and coral. We did get stranded out in the bay for about 10 minutes, but it all got sorted out.

We then went to Seven Mile Beach and ogled at the fancy places all along it. We also stopped for a few minutes to dip our toes in. The water was nice and warm, the sand white but coarse, and I found a really neat piece of brain coral, but wasn't allowed to keep it.

We then took the bus to a turtle farm. The oldest turtle there was 78 years old and weighed almost 600 pounds. We saw small ones, too, and I got to hold one.

Then we ate a turtle burger and turtle soup. Different, but pretty good.

Our last stop was the town of Hell. We, of course, had to buy and send the kids a postcard from Hell. :) It was named that because of the brimstone formations there.

Back to the port, we joined the line to get back to the ship. It was really long. It took about 20 minutes to get to the front of the line.

Once back on the ship, we went up to the Windjammer for something to eat and then watched Shrek, Shrek 2, and Shrek 3 before dinner.

Dinner for me tonight was cream of mushroom soup, pea pods, green beans, wasabi mashed potatoes, beef filet, shrimp, and coconut creme brulee.

We then went to the Love and Marriage show where Hubby won us a place on stage by yodeling like Tarzan, ripping his shirt pen (in the process losing ALL the buttons), and throwing me to the ground.

We were both asked 3 very embarrassing questions each (Like the Newlywed Game). We didn't win, but we got a gift basket for participating, which has lots of Royal Caribbean cool stuff, like travel mugs, carry bag, luggage tags, magnets, umbrella, mini backpack, and travel neck wallet.

No whale sounds tonight- it's too late to be out there and too humid anyway.

Marvin made me a bat with my sunglasses on today. He even hung it from the ceiling with a hanger. :-D

Bedtime 00:31.



AUGUST 4- Up around 7:30. Arrived in Cozumel, Mexico, around 9. It was a very busy port, thanks to Tropical Storm Emily. 2 Carnival ships, us, and the Oasis of the Seas. Double wide, same height, nice boat.

So hot and humid. Humidity around 80%. UV Index 10+ Extreme.

So many people, so many shops, so many pushy vendors. I went to a Dolphin Encounter excursion. I got to pet, kiss, be kissed by, dance with, and have my hand in the air touched by the nose of a dolphin. Very cool. Wicked, horrible sunburn because it was all done outside, in the ocean, which I didn't know. Not so cool.

They took really nice pictures of me and the dolphins (John and Eddy), but were charging $60, and wouldn't sell them separately. So no pics to show for it.

Ate a real Mexican burrito plate and got pesos for change. :)

Bought a keychain for Daughter, a pen for Son, and a bobbing head turtle for me.

Hubby did a helmet dive excursion. He enjoyed it very much and got a picture CD.

I came back, guzzled down a drink and watched "Journey to the Center of the Earth" 3D. Very good movie.

Saw a great magic show tonight by a guy who was on America's Got Talent- Drew Thomas. Very good stuff.

A lot of people recognized us from last night. How embarrassing.

Dinner was calabrese salad- tomato, mozzarella, onion, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar with pesto, garlic tiger shrimp, and mint chocolate cake.

Marvin made an alligator today.

So tired and burnt, not even going out on the balcony. Vegging with TV instead. Sleeping in tomorrow.



AUGUST 5- Today was very painful. I was up around 5:30AM because my sunburn hurt too much. I dozed a few times during the day, but had to do cold compresses, aloe burn relief spray, and Tylenol to keep the pain to a tolerable level. My shoulders are already starting to blister. That is what you get from UV 10+ Extreme. Hopefully I can get some sleep tonight and heal fast, too.

Had breakfast at the Windjammer and then Johnny Rockets for lunch. Had a double burger (which I could not finish), a root beer float, frings with ranch and a plate with a smiley face of ketchup, and a chocolate soda. The staff there dances every 20-30 minutes out of the blue. :) And every time someone comes in or out, the staff calls out "say hello!" or "say bye!" and all the customers call out hello or bye to the person coming or going.

Found the area where teens can go hang out. Very cool.

Watched "How to Train Your Dragon" 3D.

Dinner tonight was formal. I wore my short black dress, had my hair up, and had a pearl and diamond necklace (fake) and the new pearl earrings Lloyd bought in Mexico for me (real).

Had seafood salad (shrimp, scallops, smoked salmon and greens), fisherman's plate (veggies, potato, shrimp, and lobster tail), and the desert sampler (cheesecake, some spongy cake with fruit, and flourless chocolate cake). Very yummy.

While standing on the balcony this afternoon, we saw dozens of jellyfish and two green things under the surface (fish? plant?).

Went to a musical tonight. It was based on fairy tales and used popular songs like "Everybody Dance Now" (Cinderella ball scene) and "I Need a Hero" (Rapunzel).

Marvin made a monkey tonight.

To bed at 00:10. Wish me luck!



AUGUST 6- Not a good night. Shoulders very badly blistered.

Did the Walk for Wishes this morning- 4 laps around the jogging track in special t-shirts. $10 each, proceeds to make a Wish.

Didn't do much today. Took a swing dance class. That was fun. Danced to "In the Mood".

Went to Chops for dinner. Had oysters, mixed grill (lamb chop, apple chicken sausage, veal tournedos, bacon, bubble and squeak), and mushrooms and leeks, which had a wine sauce. I got tipsy from the sauce. So funny. Felt sick on the way back to the room. Not so funny. Oh yes. Had chocolate mud pie. Waaaaaay decadent, like the cupcakes we had this afternoon. Too much sugar!!!

Packed and ready to go. Cloudy out. Maybe it will rain. Sailing very slow as we are closer to Port Canaveral than our schedule says, due to the change in course plans.

Hope to hear whales tonight.



AUGUST 7- Up at 6AM. Not a good night again. I was actually up at 3:30.

Watched the ship dock in Port Canaveral. Pretty cool to watch the ship rotate so it was in stern (back) first.

No whales last night, as the water was too choppy.

Off the boat at 7:30 AM. Then we sat on the bus that would take us to our hotel for about an hour. Then the bus actually started to drive. That took another hour. We got to the hotel around 10AM, so I guess it took about half an hour to get through ship security and find our bags.

The room wasn't ready (no big surprise), so the hotel stored our bags and we headed out to Disney World, to Magic Kingdom.

It really was too hot and humid to have been there. Being an icy Canuck, I need to do that sort of thing in Florida's winter. But we rode the rides, reveled in the air conditioned ones, and drank lots. We still had fun. Had beef nachos and a bacon cheeseburger for my meals there.

Saw at least some of the Main Street Electrical Parade- it was delayed by about 30 minutes due to a thunderstorm, and we had a bus to catch, and it was a bit of a commute from the parade to the bus, so I think I missed about half of it. What I saw was nice, though. Waiting for the bus, we could see the fireworks, too. Those were pretty cool, including coloured-in star shapes when they exploded.

The bus ride back took about an hour, in which I was exhausted and headachey. Unfortunately, Hubby was overtired as well, and we had a huge argument in the hotel room over nothing.

Also, the front desk told us the wrong hotel room, so we walked in on some poor fellow in his room. We got Starbucks vouchers for our trouble. I hope he gets a free breakfast or something, especially since it was at around 11:30PM!!!

Repacked everything for tomorrow's flight. Off to bed very late...I think about 1AM.

Today I bought Bullseye (the horse), 2 pins, 3 antenna toppers, and a t-shirt. I THINK that was all.

At Disney World, we were approached and complimented once again on our performance on the ship. We are never getting away from our fame (notoriety?) from that Love and Marriage show!

One more memory from the ship...by our elevators, there were two window boxes. Inside were scenes. One was a mermaid brushing her hair, the other a crab playing a fiddle. You turned a crank, and they moved. Very cool.



AUGUST 8- Saw alligator roadkill. The flight home was long but pretty uneventful. I got body scanned and my hands swabbed, and both checked bags got hand inspected.

Bought a pound and a half of M&Ms at M&M World. Chocolate, peanut, dark, coconut, almond, peanut butter, and pretzel.

So nice to be home. So much laundry to do, though.

Next cruise we will take the kids AND do all the Disney World Parks.