April 29, 2008 - Day 5: Feeling, Hot, Hot, Hot........

Ah, another day in port. Today we were in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. As we had a tour booked, we had to get up fairly early (after a bad night of ouch my arm hurts where it’s burned) and be in one of the lounges by 8:45 am. Gary and I took off for breakfast and called Brynna about halfway thru to wake her up so she could meet us at said lounge. After much waiting we finally got to show our passports to US customs and disembark. We had the Panoramic Sightseeing and Shopping tour so we were picked up by open-air buses and traversed the hills and mountain of St. Thomas. Got some wonderful pictures of the islands and bays and ships in the harbour but it was a little scary climbing those hills and then freaky coming down them, switchback style.

Our driver, Lyndon, sounded exactly like Shaggy, expected him to burst into song any minute! He was very nice and nice to look at as well and also did a good narrative while driving. We went to Mountaintop, a type of market/viewing place for tourists where they serve awesome banana daquiris, and they didn’t skimp on the rum! Gary and I shared one, heck it wasn’t even noon yet.

We were dropped off downtown for 2 hours and we proceeded to snake in and out of shops, mostly to enjoy their air conditioning. Brynna and I both bought perfumes we’d been on the hunt for and got great deals. We also picked up some Grand Marnier and Caribbean liquers. Had a light lunch with a rather intense rum drink that had me just a wee bit buzzy, did some open market browsing and then caught our bus back to the ship. Gary headed off for a shower on board and Brynna and I looked around the shopping area at the dock. Picked up more nyquil as all 3 of us have colds now :(

Had a quiet dinner, no one else from our table showed up! I had a Tomato & Mozzarella Salad, Cream of Broccoli Soup and Turkey with the fixings. This was followed by a very delicious apple pie and ice cream. We headed up top to look at the lights of Charlotte Amalie (the city we were docked at) and wait to sailaway at 8. After that we headed down to the theatre for a magic show. It was quite well done and had many showgirls that came along with it, in very thonglike outfits, interesting.....

Since Gary was feeling a little off from the sunburn and took some benadryl which made him sleepy, he headed down to bed. Brynna and I took a turn around the photo gallery and shops and decided to call it a night as well. We dock in San Juan at 7 am tomorrow so we’ll probably get up around 9 and be off by 10 so we can look around. It’s now 10:55 pm and I’m off to read then get some shut-eye.

April 28, 2008 - Day 4: I Love it When We're Cruising Together......

Ah, a relaxing day at sea, well for the most part it was. I finally crawled out of bed around 8:30 am and got myself together, told Gary I was heading out for breakfast and he decided to come up with me. Had some buffet fodder and Gary decided he wanted to go back to sleep so I let him (lol) and went to grab a latte and watch a port info talk. When that was over I decided I wasn’t letting my family sleep the whole day away and called them, it was about 11:45! They met up with me in the lobby bar where I was reading and we sat and chatted for a bit before we went for some lunch. Grabbed a table on the lido deck and had a reuben made for me at the NY Deli. It was awesome. Gary had ice cream and Brynna cruised thru the buffet for pasta and salad.

We decided to stay topside as they were starting the hairiest chest contest (for men) and it looked to be quite entertaining. Only bad thing, Brynna and I stayed out in the sun thereby adding to our previous sunburns, although we did lather up some what while we were waiting for the shennanigans to begin. After the winner was declared (he wore suspenders with his speedos!) we grabbed some reading material and the laptops and hung around a couple of the lounges.

Dinner was formal tonight so we headed back to our cabins to get dressed and then out again for a photo before the Captain’s cocktail party. Had some wine (freebie) a few appies and then headed in for dinner. It was nice seeing everyone dressed up as usual. I had Stuffed Mushrooms, Caesar Salad and Prime Rib. Followed by Carmelized Apples over Puff Pastry with Caramel Sauce, very yummy.

After dining we meandered around the shops again, Brynna and I, whist Gary had a brewski in the lobby bar. Then we met up and watched the production show which I thought was pretty good. Music all around the world. They had fireworks at the end and all sorts of confetti showering down, it was really cool.

After that Brynna had some downtime in the cabin while Gary and I watched karaoke and auditions for the Legends show. It was quite entertaining even though we didn’t know anyone in there. Then Gary headed off for bed while Brynna and I went to see the adult comedy show which was quite amusing. It’s now 12:50 am, I’m off to bed!

April 27, 2008 - Day 3: Beach Baby, Beach Baby......

Twas a lovely day to be down south. I woke up around 9ish (had a hard time sleeping in the middle of the night) and had to wake Gary up to come up for breakfast with me. Had the same old, same old, eggs, bacon, hash browns, etc. We took some stuff down for Brynna and made her wake up. We finally got our tender out to Half Moon Cay and arrived around noon. We had to make the most of our time there as last tender back was at 3. We set up ourselves in a spot with both sun and shade and then Gary and I went into the water. It was darn cold at first but I eased myself into it until I was submerged to my shoulders. We stayed in a while, obviously too long without sunscreen though. I look like a lobster and I feel like I was thrown in a pot of boiling water. Well, not that bad but it’s not the most pleasant sunburn. My forehead seems to hurt the most.

After drying off we grabbed some bbq and had a pleasant meal with roosters and chickens running to and fro amongst the dining pavillions. Brynna made me feel bad when I started to eat my jerk chicken....

We spent a little while in one of the island bars and then headed back to the ship. Had showers and then Gary and I went up to see what was going on, if we were sailing and to post my blog to the internet. We had a drink in the lobby bar and then went back to meet up with Brynna in our cabin to get dressed for dinner.

Had a lovely meal with our tablemates. Seems to be getting easier to talk to them as we find out more about them. For dinner I had a chicken quesadilla appie, caesar salad (really good) and Jerk Pork Loin which was terribly spicy but great. For dessert, the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake, it was just that good. Gary had it as well but also ordered strawberry cheesecake and then poured his chocolate melting cake on top!

We followed dinner with a stroll around the shops, then went to see showtime, it was the hypnotist tonight. He’s a fairly young guy and really good. It was hilarious to see what he could make people do. Brynna and I liked it so much we went to the second show and left Gary at the piano bar drinking brandy.

We met back up and had some pizza (Gary had a hot dog) and frozen yogurt to top the evening off. Now we’re back in the cabin and it’s 12:20 pm, time for some snoozing. We can even sleep in as it’s a sea day tomorrow, yay!

April 26, 2008 - Day 2: If I Were Not Upon the Sea......

I’d be home, where the weather sucks! But I’m here and enjoying the wonderful sunshine. I don’t know how warm it was today but sufficient to say, it was hot enough for me!

Gary and I started our day by hiking down several blocks to the nearest convenience store to pick up some soda and water. Already, at 8:30 am it was terribly warm but I’m not complaining. We packed everything up and grabbed our ride to the port with our fellow Canadians, Charlene & Julia. There were 4 ships in port today, 3 Carnivals and the Liberty of the Seas, a massive ship. Ours is pretty big though, enough to get lost and not know where we’re going.

We got on board fairly early, about 11:40 am and headed directly to the Lido Deck to the South Beach Cafe for some nourishment as all I’d had this morning was coffee. The decor on a Carnival ship is not what we’re accustomed to but it’s not displeasing to the eye. Both Gary and I agree it reminds us somewhat of Las Vegas. We had a fairly decent lunch including some salads, snapper, chicken and the most awesome dessert selection on a buffet I’ve ever come to know. Key lime pie awesome. We all had something different and tried bites of each.

After filling our tummies we explored the ship but still haven’t seen everything. Checked out most of the lounges, bars, casino, shops but haven’t been much on top yet although we did head up top after the lifeboat drill (which was at least ½ hour late) expecting sailaway only to find out it was delayed due to “traffic” waiting for other ships to pass. We did, however, enjoy a sailaway beverage and listened to the live music. Watched the Liberty pass us by and one of the Carnival ships then we had to hurry down to change for dinner. Our dining time was earlier than we expected, 5:45 pm, but we decided to keep it. We managed to rush and get there for 5:50 pm but it seems lots didn’t show up tonight, probably all enjoying the voyage out of Miami.

We have only 5 other diners with us but 2 empty seats as well, maybe they’ll show tomorrow. One family of 3 with a teenage daughter, maybe 13 or 14, the other two ladies are friends who abandoned their families for a girls’ only cruise. We’re all Canadians! Weird how we were seated together. They all seem very nice. Food was pretty decent. I had salmon to start, then caesar salad followed by a NY sirloin steak. The dessert was to die for, Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. It was soooooo good and served with some vanilla ice cream. Apparently it’s on the menu every night! So if I can’t find something else worthy, I know that will do.

After dinner we strolled around the shops and then did some trivia games which were fun and fairly laid back. Then the Welcome Aboard show was on at 10:30. It was pretty fun, kinda Carnival cheesy, but hey, I liked that about it! Singers, dancers and comedy. Tomorrow is a hypnotist, should be a hoot.

We headed back to the cabin at 11:45 pm and it’s now 12:30 pm and I’m off to bed. We’re at Half Moon Cay tomorrow, a beach day, yay!

Living la vida loca......

Ola! I've never heard so much spanish before, we're truly in Miami.

We had a decent jaunt from Victoria to Miami. Our flight out of Victoria was short and sweet but couldn't see a lot, many clouds and much turbulence, thought we were on a roller coaster for a moment there! Had few hours of a layover in Seattle so we had dinner at Chilis Too. Did a bit of window shopping at some of the neat airport stores and then had a little wait at our gate before we boarded the plane. The flight was fairly uneventful except at one point very warm and someone waiting for the loo fainted and they gave her oxygen. Alaska Air does serve warm chocolate chunk cookies and milk which was a nice treat. Tried to get some sleep, probably managed an hour all in all, Gary slept more than I and poor Brynna couldn't sleep at all. We landed a little early about 6:45 am, collected our luggage and then took a fairly expensive cab ride out to our hotel. Once there we crashed for 5.5 hours.

Got ourselves decent again and caught the shuttle out to the Dolphin Mall. Huge, awesome shopping venue. Very nicely laid out, lots of stores and lots of people to watch. Brynna found a cute dress for herself, she found one for me too, and a bathing suit for me and we both bought new Crocs. Poor Gary never got anything. On our shuttle ride back to the hotel the two women in front of us heard us mention the ship tomorrow and started talking to us, they're on the same ship too! A mother and daughter (I think she might be around 17 or 18). Turns out they're from Toronto, fellow canucks. We signed up for a shuttle tomorrow together so we're meeting them at 10 to head down to the Port of Miami.

We went to Tony Roma's for dinner tonite, just got back. I had a free coupon (trust me to find 'em) for this onion loaf (deep fried) which was awesome but soooo bad for us. I had a chicken & rice type dish which was tasty and a mojito, yum!

Now we're going to wind down and watch some tv and try to get some sleep tonight as we have a busy day tomorrow.

Will post on the high seas I hope!