The Cruise
This week, Evelyn and I are embarking on a 7 day cruise on Carnival Cruise Line to the Western Caribbean. Stops will include Cozumel, Cayman Islands and Ocho Rios Jamaica. We will depart from Port of Miami at 4pm Sunday 9-25. We will be flying Delta from Columbus to Miami. Hopefully, I will be able to upload a travel log and some pictures to this page as we go - so check back........
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Sunday
Sunday morning -We woke up around 530 in the morning, finished packing any last-minute items. Our neighbor Mike drove us to the airport.
Our flight left at 850 and arrived in Atlanta and around 1030 –our next flight was at 1150 and got into Miami around two o'clock- from there we boarded a Greyhound bus to Port Miami. Our luggage was collected by Porter's, who loaded the luggage onto the ship to be x-rayed etc.
We checked in and then found our room (we had been upgraded to a exterior room with a window (but our luggage didn't arrive till much later)
The ship conducted lifeboat drills were you grab your life preserver and head to a muster station and stand around for quite some time until they let you go
After that we came back to the room and called Jim and Peggy's room and arranged to meet on the Lido deck for cocktails
Our dinner seating was at 545 however our luggage hadn't shown up- Evelyn checked out the hall and then by the elevator and found the bags –we got dressed and went to dinner
After dinner we explored the ship and then took a dance lessons- they tried to teach us the marengay (sp)
after the dance lesson they had a game show and a welcome outboard show- go to bed around midnight
Monday
Monday was “fun at sea” day as we headed to Cozumel Mexico. We spent a good part of the day on deck by the pool soaking up (too much) sun and getting into the pool. The pools on board are sea (salt) water. At about 2 we grabbed some stir fry for lunch and found the cyber café to check messages and post to this page. Access is 55 cents a minute in 100 min blocks. I figured 100 would be enough, but with uploading pictures etc. I burned 45 mins – oh well.
It was dress up night, so waited in line to use the iron in the laundry room, but finally gave up and just put on the shirt under a blazer – it was a new shirt, so only wrinkled in the back any way. I had steamed the coat in the shower – we never did find a travel size steamer – shower works fine.
There was a Captain reception/cocktail party before dinner complete with hors d'oeuvres.
Dinner was lobster for me and prim rib for Ev, I was offered another lobster tail, but elected to try the salmon instead, both were excellent (there is way too much food available 24 hours a day).
After dinner there was a show – singers and dancers – for a small group – 20 dancers, 2 singers and a 7 piece band, very entertaining. Then we watched people gamble and played the slots for about $20>
At midnight there was a comedian show – very funny. Got back to the room at 1am or so.
We just pulled into Cozumel at 7:20. Had breakfast – more later.
Tuesday
Tuesday
Today was a day in Cozumel Mexico
We got up around seven o'clock on the morning to watch the ship pull into Cozumel from the upper deck.
After the ship was tied off we went grabbed breakfast at the buffet and then back to the room to relax for a little while.
Later we caught up with Jim and Peggy and planned our day in Cozumel
We checked out a few of the shops at the end of the pier and then grabbed a cab to one of the local beaches.
We went for a swim, had a few beers, played games and got rained on a bit.
The water is just gorgeous and warm. It did decide to rain for quite a while, but we were sitting at an umbrella-equipped table on the sand. We had a few Sol beers (similar to Corona) with lime and some nachos while it rained. Jim and Peggy taught a Yatzee like dice game until the sun came out and dried us
The area is pretty depressed, I assume the area is dependant on the cruise ships/ tourist traffic.
Coming back to the dock, we again checked out some of the shops and got back on the boat.
Right now we are doing laundry- (the towels were soaked) and just sitting around relaxing and catching up on some rest.
Wednesday
Wednesday
Wednesday was another day at sea. We spent most of the day on the deck sunning and playing the dice game again. Around 3pm we hit some rain showers that were heavy enough to drive us below deck. We snoozed until dinnertime. Interesting fact – the ship incinerates and recycles all the garbage- and treats all sewage on board nothing is dumped overboard. Quiet day so far – to dinner next…..
Dinner was squid/mussel appetizer, artichoke salad and shrimp for the main course. There was a magic act and a comedian shows after dinner.
Thursday
Thursday
We got up at 630 to watch the boat arrive at Georgetown, Grand Cayman Island, then went to breakfast….Swimming with Stingrays is next…….
The ship did not pull up to a pier here, rather local tenders ferried us to shore.
The Trip to Stingray city was great, started out a bit wet with rain, but it was warm enough not to matter. The boat took us out to a very shallow sandbar near one of the perimeter reefs – the ocean drops to 6000 feet just beyond the reef. I can imagine many early sailing vessels running aground not seeing the semi-submerged reef until too late. We got in the water with mask and snorkel to swim, pet, hold and feed the stingrays – very docile – stingrays do not “sting”, but rather get there name from a sharp barb pointing aft at their tale. Used a waterproof camera vs the digital, so will have to get them developed before posting. There was a casting off party when we return to the boat, plenty of “boat drinks” flowing; we also grabbed a slice of pizza (available 24 hours).
Had escargot, pan fried fish and Kailua cheesecake for dinner (excellent chow).
Everybody was beat, so we retired to the room and watched Survivor and went to sleep.
