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Places visited on this vacation:
Because we have cruised with Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) we are now members of their Latitudes group and so we occasionally receive ads for cruise specials in the mail. Before we left for our annual Christmas time trip to Florida we received an ad that listed 3 different cruises. Ernie noticed that it would be really convenient to take 2 back-to-back cruises as one ended in Miami in the morning of the same day the other left Miami in the evening. The combined cruises would be 21 days and the price of the combined cruises was less than what you would normally expect to pay for a 13-15 day cruise.
When we returned from our trip to Florida we discussed it and then Ernie asked his supervisor if it would be possible to get 3 consecutive weeks of vacation. His supervisor was very understanding that this was a great opportunity and approved the vacation.
On December 24 we went to the travel agency that our daughter Jeannine and her husband David use. The ads each stated that one way air was included. When the agent talked to an NCL representative she was told that the air was only from ending point to point not from your home to the starting point nor from the ending point to your home. We started thinking that if we had to pay for air separately it would not be as good of a deal and we would have to re-think it. The agent asked to speak to the representatives supervisor and after confirming the deal on the air fare work with the supervisor on seeing what else could be done. It was discovered that Ernie qualified for a senior rate and since Dale was traveling with him she would get the same rate. She then checked what she could get for an air fare. It turned out she was able to get us a combined price that was about $300.00 less than if we got the advertised price and the air was included.
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New OrleansThe first cruise was to leave New Orleans in the evening of Sunday March 14. We decided to take an early flight on Saturday March 13 so we could see some of New Orleans. We hired an airport shuttle service which picked us up a little before 5:00 AM. They had two more pickups to make and the driver had a little trouble finding each, so we got to the airport a little more than a hour before the flight was scheduled to depart. We could not see the end of the line at the sidewalk check-in so we decide to go in and use the self check-in counter. There are about 6 self check-in counters and they each had a line almost back to the doors. The shortest line was for the regular check-in so we got in that line. Within 20 minutes we had our baggage checked and boarding passes in hand. We had a short lay-over in Atlanta, boarded another plane and arrived in New Orleans around noon after very pleasant flights.
In a short time we had our baggage and found the shuttle service we had read about on the internet. We had also found our hotel (Hotel LaSalle) on the internet for about ½ the next lowest price for a hotel in the French Quarter. When we told the driver the hotel name he said it is a nice little hotel, but he would drop us off last because he wanted to talk to us about where it is. He had 4 or 5 other stops so we got a tour of the city and especially the French Quarter as the drive did a great job of telling us about the area. The French Quarter is bounded by Rampart St on the north, the Mississippi River on the south, Canal St on the west, and Esplanade Avenue on the east. The rectangle that makes up the French Quarter is actually at an angle with Rampart as the Northwest side, but to make things easier we will just put it directly north. Burgundy St is the first east-west running street south of Rampart. There is a famous cemetery on the north side of Rampart. The driver told everyone that if they wanted to go to the cemetery to do it during the day with a large group of people. He said during the day it was OK to walk up to Rampart with a group of people, but at night when you come to Burgundy turn around and go back.
The map we had of where the hotel is showed it on Canal St just inside the French Quarter. It was on Canal St but it was just outside the French Quarter between Rampart & Basin Sts. This meant it was beyond where it is considered safe to go at night. This is what the driver wanted to talk to us about. He said that we wanted to be sure that when we left the hotel we headed toward Rampart St and not Basin St. We should walk quickly from the hotel to Burgundy or vice versa. Since it was on Canal St it was well lit at night and was much safer than it would have been on the east side of the block. We had no problems with anyone, but Dale was very nervous while we were north of Burgundy.
We got to the hotel around 1:00, checked in, put our luggage in the room, and headed out to the French Quarter. The driver told us about some places to eat, but the restaurant we were most interested in had a line outside that went about halfway up the block. We found another place (The Alpine Cajun Bistro) that was practically empty when we got there, but quickly filled after we were seated. The prices were very reasonable and the food was great.
After eating we wandered around making our way to Jackson Square. Jackson Square is a park bordered by Chartres, St Ann, Decatur, and St Peters Sts. Along the park all the streets except Decatur are closed to traffic making courtyards on three sides of the park. In the park are really well kept gardens, lawns & trees and a statue of Andrew Jackson. Across Chartres St is St Louis Cathedral. Close to the park walls in the courtyards are artist displaying their pictures with several offering to paint your picture. Further into the courtyards are fortune tellers (taro readers, palm readers, etc.). Across Decatur St is an amphitheater with the seats facing toward Decatur St and the park. Street performers entertain the people in the amphitheater, hoping for donations. When we first got there some acrobats were performing. On Decatur St in front of the park there are carriage tours available. We took one of the carriages and the driver brought us around the southern end of the French Quarter pointing out places we might want to visit later. We went back to some of the places and upon returning went up to the river walk. From the river walk you can look down on the amphitheater, across to Jackson Square & beyond to St Louis Cathedral. There was a really funny talented juggler/comedian performing in the amphitheater.
As it started to get dark we made our way through the courtyard on St Peters St and up St Peters St to Bourbon street. We went from bar to bar standing outside each listening to the music until the smell of old beer got to strong for us then moving on to the next. We stopped in the Jazz Funeral, a souvenir shop, to see the horse-drawn hearse with a skeleton driver. We heard there was to be an Italian-American parade so we found a place to watch it. It was mostly motorcycles, three wheelers, and converted VWs. After watching for a while we made our way back to the hotel.
Sunday morning we got up fairly early and went looking for a place to have breakfast and a church. New Orleans is not an early morning kind of place, except for a couple of bars nothing was open. We saw a few people who appeared as if they were still partying from the night before. We made our way over to the Cafe Du Monde and discovered they only have beignets and other pastries. We walked down Decatur to the French Marketplace and saw the Beignet Cafe across the street was open. We went in and had a very good breakfast for what in New Orleans was a reasonable price.
The few churches we found had such late services that we would not have been able to get back in time to check out from the hotel by noon, so we decided to go on the self-guided walking tour we found in a brochure. The tour takes you by: Cathedral Gardens, Pirates Alley, Place D’Armes Hotel, The Presbytery, 1850 House, Madame John’s Legacy, Ursulines Convent, Beauregard House, Clay House, Thierry House, The Haunted House, Gallier House, Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, & Cornstalk Fence. Nothing was open yet when we walked by these places. When we finished the tour we had only a short time before we needed to get back to the hotel to check out so we decided to get tickets to go into two of the buildings, 1850 House & Madame John’s Legacy.
We got back to the hotel just in time to clean up a little and check out by noon. The desk clerk call a cab for us, when it arrived we did not know if it would hold all our luggage, we had 6 bags since we would be traveling for a little better than 6 weeks. With some ingenious packing and use of bungee cords the driver was able to get most everything into the trunk with one bag up front with him. A porter took our bags and we were checked in, through security, and on the ship in about 10 minutes.
When we went to check in a hostess named Dale directed us to the Latitudes line. Dale told the hostess she had the same name and the hostess told us that she had gotten named Dale because her sister who was 6-years old at the time was a Roy Rogers fan and she wanted to name the new baby Roy. Her mother told her that she was going to have a sister and she could not be named Roy, but they could name her Dale for Dale Evans. This is exactly how Dale got her name right down to the age of her sister. After hugs all around we went to the check-in line.
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First Cruise - Norwegian DreamOnce on the ship we found our cabin then went exploring, finding the restaurants, where the shows would be, the dance lounges, and the health club. We made our way back to the reception area and even though we already had independent plans for both Cozumel & Aruba we went over to see what they were offering for excursions. That is when we discovered we were not going to Aruba. The itinerary had been changed to Cozumel, Roatan Honduras, and St Andres Columbia. The change was made because there was a problem with one of the three engines and we could not have gotten from Aruba to Miami on time at the end of the cruise. The change was OK with us because Aruba was on the itinerary for the second cruise and we had never been to Roatan nor St Andres. We attended the mandatory lifeboat drill, had supper in the Bistro, went out on deck when the ship pulled out, attended the show, and went dancing.
Monday & Tuesday, March 14 & 15, were spent at sea. We made it to the health spa one day, saw a show and went dancing each night, and spent a lot of time relaxing on deck. Wednesday, March 16, we got up early and watched the sunrise. Then went to breakfast before preparing to go ashore in Cozumel.
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Cozumel, MexicoWednesday morning we arrived at Cozumel and were allowed to disembark by 10:30 AM. We had inquired about renting a car over the internet but had not received a reply so we went looking for the place. We passed a few rental places and found they wanted more than twice what we had seen at the place on the internet so we kept looking. We were about ready to give up and either do something in town or find a tour when we saw a sign for another rental company and decided to try one last time.
We were able to rent a "car?" for 400 pesos ($39.40) which included liability & collision insurance. The car we rented was a VW "convertible", there were two rectangular holes in the roof with a snap-down plastic coated tarp covering them. We had the salesman and his assistant roll-up the tarp and tie it down. When we got in Ernie went to adjust the rear-view mirror and discovered a hole where it was supposed to be attached. There was an outside mirror on the driver’s side which would not move. So with a very limited field of vision we pulled out into the crazy city traffic. Ernie discovered that there was no friction point on the clutch to ease the car into motion, the clutch was either fully engage or fully disengaged, so with a little bit of a jerk we were off. There was no power steering, but being so small VW Beetles change direction easily anyway. We had decided to follow what passes for a highway that loops around one side of the island. The car was parked on the main street and we had to get turned around to follow the loop in the direction we had decided to go. It took about 15 uneasy minutes to get out of the city. Once in the open country we relaxed.
Our first stop was at a small Mayan ruins site. All the major sites are on the mainland, but we did not have enough time to go to one of them. There was one building uncovered and others that are covered by dirt and gravel with trees growing on top, the project to uncover them had run out of money. Some others are uncovered, but the only way to get to them was by renting a horse which neither Dale nor Ernie had any interest in doing. There were a few rickety sheds in which people had set up stores. We went into one and Ernie found a cow bone statue of an iguana climbing a tree to add to his collection of animal statues. We decided we needed some water and entered one of the other stores. The storekeep spoke about 6 words of english. Ernie tried asking for 2 large bottles of water and couldn’t get through. Dale was able to get us some water with her "Sesame Street Spanish" asking for grandé aqua and holding up 2 fingers.
After leaving the Mayan ruins we continued along the highway loop looking for a place to have lunch. We were driving along with a speed limit around 80 km/h (50 mph) when we suddenly came to a 25 km/h (15-16 mph) with a speed bump. The highway then made a 90o turn to the left. We had come to a beach area that came right up to the road. There was a place to eat so we pulled into the parking area and looked around. On one side was a nice beach and a bar. On the other side was Rasta’s Raggae Bar & Grill. We walked over to Rasta’s and found a waiter/bartender that did not speak english. We got across that we wanted to eat and he found us a menu painted on a board. It was in spanish, when he realized it he looked around and found one in english. He then showed us a table and sent over someone who could speak some english. We both ordered the chicken fajitas. They were the second best fajitas we have had, the best was in a Mexican family restaurant in Pecos, TX. We walked over to the beach and checked it out, it was a small but very nice beach. Unfortunately, we did not bring our bathing suits. Next to the beach was a dirt road with a sign for a lighthouse. We followed the dirt road about a mile to a building with some displays of the lighthouse and surrounding area. There we found out that the only way to the lighthouse was to take their tour. The tour was leaving in 15 minutes and would take about 2 hours. We wanted to have a leisurely drive around the rest of the highway loop so we did not go on the tour.
Back on the highway we saw some very beautiful scenery and stopped at a few places to enjoy it. We came to what promised to be a larger Mayan ruins site, but it was a few miles off the highway and we wanted to spend a little time in town before we had to board the ship so we decided not to go there.
On the outskirts of the city we came to the gas station the rental people told us about and put in the $6.00 of gas the rental agreement called for. Ernie did not want to deal with having to turn around on the main street so he found a parallel street and followed it far enough to be beyond the car rental company. We were able to approach the rental place without having to turn around on the main street.
Diamonds International offers a deal to people on cruises where they can get a free bracelet and charms at ports with a Diamonds International store. You get a card on ship and go to the store, they give you the bracelet with the Diamonds International symbol charm. They also give you the charm for the port where you are. You receive a card with a grid containing all the ports where you can get a charm, you bring the bracelet & this card to stores at other ports and receive that port’s charm. They check off each port as you get your charms. Cozumel is one of these ports, we walked over to Diamonds International and Dale received her bracelet and started her collection. We walked around the city for about ½ hour and it was time to head back to the ship.
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Roatan, HondurasWe had favorable currents and winds so we arrived at Roatan 1½ hours early on Thursday morning, March 17. Roatan is an island off the coast of Honduras. Though the national language of Honduras is Spanish, on Roatan English is taught as the main language and Spanish as a second language so communication is easier than on most Carribean islands.
Roatan has only been trying to build up it’s tourism business for a couple of years. Because of this you can not rent a car nor could the cruise director tell us what there was to do on our own, so we signed up for the beach-break excursion. There is not a big enough dock for the ship to pull into so we met for the excursion in one of the lounges on ship and went ashore by tender (small boat).
We got on school buses for the ride to the beach. There was a 16 year-old girl that was the tour guide. She was one of the best tour-guides we have ever had. She told us about what we were going by and about life on Roatan. They go to school in shifts, kindergarten/elementary go in the morning, middle school in the afternoon, and high school in the evening. There are no high rise hotels, what there is for hotels are houses converted to rent rooms. They are building condos and soon will have their first hotel, but they have put a restriction that buildings can not be taller than 3 stories. We stopped at a spot to enjoy the view, it was beautiful.
We arrived at Tayanna beach and were told where everything was. Lounge chairs were provided and we found a spot under a tree. The water was beautiful and warm enough for Dale to go swimming. The beach was spotless and unlike Carribean beaches where tourism has taken full hold, there was no one coming up to you every 5 minutes trying to sell you something. There were some girls that had chairs set up where you could get your hair braided and a couple of stands where you could buy a souvenir, but you had to go to them, they did not chase you around. There were some young men with a couple of parrots that for $1.00 they would let you hold while they took a picture with your camera. There was also a spider monkey tied to the top of a pole. He had been free to roam around in the trees, but someone teased him and got scratched so now he is tied-up.
The beach-break included a very good cookout. We had chicken, spaghetti, fruit, and fruit punch. There was also hot dogs & hamburgers. When it was time to head back the bus took a different route and we got to see many homes that were obviously those of very poor people. But no matter how bad of shape the house was in, almost everyone had a garden. Virtually no one has air conditioning, but the houses are built on stilts with large screened windows and since there is always a breeze, the houses are relatively cool even on the hottest days.
Along the road near the dock are stands set up that sell mostly items made on the island. We went into one place and they had this beautiful chest that was hand carved to look like houses built on a hill. Dale loved it, but we had no way to get it home. Ernie noticed a box on the shelf that was a smaller version of the chest and we bought that for Dale. Walking along the street we came to a street/alley that went up to some houses. Where this met the main street there were a couple of stands that ran down along the smaller street. Ernie was looking at the houses and a boy of about 8 said "Come on in." Ernie smiled at him and the boy said "It does not cost anything to look." Ernie laughed and told him he was a good little salesman. We went into the first stall, but did not see anything that interested us.
We went over to the dock to wait for the tender and got a little nervous when the pilot hit the dock a few times pulling in. He hit the dock again pulling out, but after that the ride was fine.
Many people complained that the island had no real stores or bars and nothing to do, but we loved the island for it’s rustic beauty and the friendliness of the people. We thought the beach-break was the best one we had been on. We were glad that we had this opportunity to visit the island now before tourism really takes hold of it and the people.
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St. Andres, ColumbiaThursday, March 18 we spent at sea. At lunch time we went to the buffet just before it was going to shutdown, so the food was not the freshest. Ernie had a few small pieces of pizza two of which had some type of seafood. At supper time we went to the Italian restaurant and for some reason the food was not up to the standards of the rest of the ship, it was cold and did not taste very good. We assume that one of these meals was the reason he became ill that night. We arrived at St. Andres, Columbia Friday morning. Unfortunately, Ernie was still ill and Dale was nervous about going ashore alone so we stayed on the ship. Ernie spent most of the day in bed and Dale was in and out of the cabin finding things to do then checking to see how Ernie was doing. Dale did get a couple of pictures of St Andres. St. Andres is another island that is just starting to take a big interest in tourism so they also do not have a dock big enough for the cruise ships. We anchored out in the bay and people went ashore by tender, that is why the pictures are taken at a distance.
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At SeaWe spent Saturday & Sunday March 20-21 at sea. Ernie started feeling better on Saturday but still spent a lot of time sleeping. Dale went to the show that night because it was an act we had seen on a previous cruise that we really enjoyed. She thought they were even better than when we had seen them earlier. The act is known as the "Power of Two". It is a husband and wife team, Rudi MaCaggi and his wife Christy. Rudi comes on first and does a comedy routine which is G-rated with a lot of slapstick, he gets the whole place roaring with laughter. Christy comes out and sings a song while Rudi changes. When Rudi comes back out they do a balancing act where they hold each other at what appears to be impossible angle, it is amazing to watch.
Ernie was feeling much better Sunday morning and went up on deck early in the morning to see if he could get a glimpse of Cuba as we passed. He could make out a lighthouse and a couple of other lights. He could see a dark line which he assumed was the island.
There was what appeared to be a tiny cruise ship or gigantic fishing ship off in the distance. One of the crew members told Ernie it was the Crown. That is the ship we were going to be getting on in Miami. The seas had been the roughest of any cruise we have been on and Ernie hoped they would get smoother before we got on to the Crown.
Dale joined Ernie on deck to see the sunrise. After spending the day relaxing and joining in on the trivia games we went to the farewell show, packed our luggage, and put the luggage out to be picked up during the night.
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MiamiMonday, March 22, we got up early and went to breakfast. While at breakfast the ship pulled into the dock in Miami. We went back to the cabin and packed our carry-on (off?) bags. We waited in one of the lounges for our baggage tag color to be called so we could disembark. Disembarkation was very organized which made it hassle-free. We found our luggage and a porter to help us get our luggage to the curb and flag-down a cab to bring us to the Crown at pier 10.
Since it is a very small fare from pier 2 to pier 10, we had a little trouble finding a cab to bring us since they felt they would lose their place in line for getting a large fare to the airport. We finally found a very reluctant cab driver to take us to pier 10.
When we arrived at pier 10 we discovered that dysentery had been brought on board during the previous cruise. We could not check our baggage as they were disinfecting the ship. About 15 minutes later a porter told us they had designated a holding area for the luggage and we could check our luggage, but we could not board until 1:30. This was great with us since we had planned to go to a mall near a park for the day anyway. We checked our luggage and since there was no one looking to go to the airport easily found a taxi to bring us to the mall/park.
The mall is the Bayside Mall it is attached to the Bayfront Park. The first thing we did at the mall was find a place for Dale to get her glasses fixed, one of the temples had come off and the tabs with screw holes got bent so the holes no longer aligned. The first place we went to sold sunglasses, the lady there could not fix them. She told us about another store and we went there. There was one man working and he said he could do it, but he would have to wait on the customers that came in. We went off to do other things and checked back occasionally. We looked at some of the frames they were selling, they all had designer names. The least expensive ones we saw were about $350. We started to wonder how much the repair was going to cost, when it was done the man said that it was free and said he was glad we had come in because he had gotten to use a machine for fixing glasses in a way he had not previously done. In between checks on the progress we had a good time in the mall and park.
We had lunch at the Lotus Blossom in the Food Court. We have found that usually a Chinese or Japanese food place in a food court provides good food at a bargain, this was no exception. When we finished eating, Dale called our daughter Jeannine and sister Pat so they could spread the word that we were OK and having a great time.
We then went to the park. It was a pleasant walk around the park. There was a really nice fountain, an amphitheater, a war memorial, a playground that had a neat cement slide, and a great view of the bay.
We returned to the mall and sat outside listening to a guitarist/singer who was really good. When he took a break we found a taxi and returned to the ship.
Upon returning to the port we discovered that there had been a power failure and we had to wait to get our boarding card. It turned out to be a short wait.
The ship though small is very elegant. We entered on deck 7 in the main reception area. There is glass and brass everywhere. The reception and shore excursion desks are there. To the left is the shops and to the right a short corridor to the Seven Seas dining room.
We toured the ship and found all the restaurants to be elegant. Especially nice are the Seven Seas which has a beautiful chandelier and Le Bistro (the small French restaurant) which is in a very private area with a great view.
The cabin was the largest one we have had on any cruise to date. There was a queen sized bed, 4 closets some of which contained drawers, a large bureau, a desk with 8 drawers, 2 chairs, and a small table. We still had enough room to walk around without getting in each other’s way. There was also a shower plenty big enough for 2 people.
We cleaned up and dressed to go to the show in the Stardust Lounge. We got there at the end of the first show and when it finished we decided to stay for the excursion talk and see the second show afterwards. Ernie still feeling some effects from whatever was ailing him earlier had to leave and go back to the cabin. Dale stayed for the rest of the talk then went to the cabin. The seas were rough and so when Dale found Ernie was sleeping she took some motion sickness medication and went to bed.
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Nassau, BahamasWe were both feeling much better when we woke up in the morning. We cleaned up, dressed, and went to breakfast. We were docked in Nassau by the time we finished breakfast. We had signed up for an excursion which did not start until 1:00 so we went on deck to see what there was to see. We were at the end of the pier so all we could see were other cruise ships and 3 US Naval ships. We took a walk around the town on our own. We walked down the main street which was lined with shops. We were not interested in shopping and we were about to head back to the ship when we found some maps of the town and discovered there was a square with a park and some historical buildings. There was the courthouse, Government building, and a library. The buildings dated back to the 1600’s and 1700’s and were all painted Caribbean pink. There was a museum in the library which Dale found particularly interesting.
In the afternoon we took a snorkel tour with a "stingray adventure" (swimming with stingrays). We went on the "Coral II" to an island, "Blackbeard’s Cay", where we could swim, snorkel, and sunbathe (beach chairs provided). There was a snack bar, drink bar, and of course a gift shop. There was a fenced in area for the "stingray adventure". Ernie had been snorkeling before and thought the water was warm so he went right in. Dale had not been snorkeling before and found the water cool so she took a little while getting in the water and getting used to breathing through the snorkel. There were a lot of stingrays and several other types of fish, the only other one we knew the name of was the clownfish. Ernie took part in feeding the stingrays. Everyone doing it knelt in a line about 10 feet from shore and held chunks of squid and smelt underwater. A stingray's mouth is on the bottom, it swims over the food and sucks the food in. It is fortunate that they have removed the barbs from the tails of the stingrays since they swim right into the people kneeling to feed them and many people would have been stung. Some of the bigger sting rays swam into Ernie almost hard enough to knock him over. We had a great time and Dale decided she would like to snorkel again sometime.
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At Sea, March 24Because there was the sickness on board the previous cruise, there were a lot of extra precautions that had to be taken. There were sanitizing stations all over the ship and when you went to one of the restaurants you had to sanitize your hands before being seated. There were crew members constantly cleaning hand rails and walls. When you went to the buffets you could not take your own food, you had to be served by "rubber-gloved" wait staff. A large percentage of the crew on the previous cruise had become sick and there were not enough replacements available in Miami, so they were short-handed. The service was not quite as good as we were use to on a cruise, but under the circumstances they did an excellent job.
We met a lovely couple, Mona & Howard, from Miami at breakfast. Also, eating breakfast with us that morning was a lady that reminded Dale of her Aunt Rose, very pleasant but kind of hard-of-hearing so sometimes her responses did not match the conversation.
We ordered an excursion for Jamaica, went to the library to play with the daily "Trivia Teaser" and crossword puzzle (we rarely did well enough to call it solving them). We then went to one of the lounges to play trivia with other passengers. One of the bands, "Best Of Friends", were playing out by the pool. We found some lounge chairs in a shady area and enjoyed listening to them. We had a late lunch and went back to the cabin to relax.
We went to the "Pasta Cafe" for supper. We met Elaine who was waiting and was going to eat alone because her husband was not feeling well. We asked Elaine if she would like to join us and she said yes. We then found out that, since this is a small restaurant, reservations are needed. It turned out that Elaine and her husband had made reservations so we ended up joining her instead of her joining us.
We went to see the show which was suppose to be "The Jean Anne Ryan Company", but one of the company members was still too ill to perform so we saw a comedian who was very funny without having to rely on the offensive language and topics most of today's comedians need to rely on. Unfortunately, neither of us had ever heard of him before and we can not remember his name.
After the show we went to one of the lounges where they were having an open mic night for telling jokes. Ernie told a joke that got a good response. There was a dj playing music for dancing afterwards, but since after the first 5 or 6 songs it was mostly hip-hop music we did not stay very long.
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JamaicaDue to the rough seas and high head-winds we arrived in Montego Bay, Jamaica about an hour late. We had breakfast and went to the meeting place for the excursion we had scheduled.
We were taken up a winding mountain road to a banana plantation where we boarded a jitney for a tour of the plantation including an interesting talk about bananas and how all parts of a banana tree is useful. The banana pod is cut up and boiled like cabbage, the trunk of the tree is used for cardboard, and the core of the trunk is made of strong fibers which are used for many purposes. We were also told that the workers were paid by the bunch and he showed us how they would carry four bunches at once, balancing two bunches on their heads and carrying one in each hand.
We were told that Jamaica has several varieties of pineapple and the pineapple was introduced to Hawaii from Jamaica. There are also many varieties of coconut and they have the best coffee in the world which costs about $50 a pound in the USA, but can be purchased for $6 or $7 a pound in Jamaica.
They had a rum tasting demonstration, since neither of us drinks alcohol we did not take part in the tasting. When they made pina coladas for everyone they made virgin, "non-alcoholic", ones for us. They also gave us coconut milk to taste, this is not what we get at home which they refer to as coconut water. Their coconut milk looks like water and tastes terrible.
We went to the casting off spot for the river raft ride. The rafts have a seat for two people. Our poler/guide was named Gerry. The river was shallow with just some gentle rapids over gravel just inches below the surface in some areas. Gerry pointed out some the foliage and pulled over to show us some things such as the bashful fern that close when touched and then opens again in a little while. It started raining and Gerry brought the raft back up river a short distance so we could go into a covered area that we had just passed. It had been a bar, but was now closed, we guess they did not get as much business from the tourists rafting by as they thought they would. It was a very beautiful and relaxing ride. We ended at the plantation.
Once back at the plantation we had a barb-b-que lunch of chicken, rice, & vegetables, which was OK, but nothing special. Upon returning to the ship several people went to the town to do some shopping, something we were not interested in doing so we went aboard ship.
We rested for a while then had supper and went to the show. "Richochet" a husband and wife illusionist act performed. They were really good.
We had another day at sea doing similar things as the one we described. We took a cha cha lesson. The show was Van Harris, an older comedian, who was very funny and as with the other comedian a couple of nights earlier he did not resort to using foul language. Before retiring for the night, we got in a little dancing to the music of "Super Tonic Boom", a husband and wife duo that had also been on the Dream.
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ArubaHaving been to Aruba before, we decided we could do things on our own. We chose going to the butterfly farm and then to spend the rest of the day at a beach. We had a little trouble finding the bus stop and then information on which bus to take and where to buy tickets. We finally got on the bus and discovered it was only $1.00 per person each way, so we spent our $4.00 for two round trip tickets and we were off.
The butterfly farm is across the street from the beginning of the high-rise hotel section of Palm Beach. There was a guided tour just starting so we joined in, the guide was a very knowledgable high school boy. He explained about the stages of a butterfly and it's development, the differences between a cocoon and a chrysalis, and the difference between butterflies and moths. Click here for information on butterflies. There were thousands of beautiful butterflies and paths weaving around the bushes that afforded us closeup views of them. We spent a couple of hours just enjoying the butterflies.
We then went across the street to Palm Beach. We had been told that we would be able to change into our bathing suits at any of the hotels, but they all had signs saying facilities were only for guests. Ernie asked the bartender at an outdoor bar at one of the low-rise hotels where we might change and was told where the hotel's outside accessible restrooms are. We changed up and went to the beach. We went to a section of the beach between the last low-rise hotel and the first high-rise hotel. We found that the bottom was very rocky and hard to walk on. Ernie went to the other side of a rope dividing this section from a section behind the high-rise hotel and found the bottom nice and sandy. We spent the rest of the day swimming in high-rise hotel's beach area.
We changed back into our clothes and caught the bus into town. Dale got her Aruba charm and we returned to the ship. We had supper and went to the show. There were two acts: a concert pianist and a comedian/juggler. Both acts were very enjoyable. We decided to skip going dancing and turned in relatively early.
We had another day at sea. We just lazed around during the day and went to the late show. A vocal impressionist/comedian performed. He was really good impersonating The Big Bopper, Dean Martin, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Neil Diamond, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley. After the show we went to the 50's & 60's dance. We did a twist and during the next dance we were given bookmarkers, when the dance ended it was announced that the people with the bookmarkers were selected to be in a twist contest. We did not win, but we had a really good time.
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St Thomas, USVIWe arrived in St Thomas and after breakfast everyone had to go through immigration on the ship before anyone could go ashore. It took about 1½ hours for everyone to go through. When we were able to leave the ship, we joined the group going on the helmet dive.
We took a bus to the place for doing the dive, upon arrival we met the dive team, a person who stays on top and an experienced helmet diver and a scuba diver, both of whom go in the water with the group. The procedure was described to us, we were given water shoes & gloves and lead to the ladder to descend to the bottom.
Ernie was the first in our group to go into the water and so she would be near Ernie, Dale went second. As each person gets about chest deep in the water an 82lb helmet is placed over the person's head to rest on the shoulders. We were told that as soon as the helmet was in place we were to descend to the bottom of the ladder and move along the chain fence until the helmet diver told us to stop. Dale usually takes a long time to get in water, but because of what we were told as soon as the helmet touched her shoulders she thought "I have to go down!" and immediately went to the bottom. The air pressure keeps the water out of the top of the helmet, this means if you tilt your head forward the back of the helmet is at the top and the face plate is at the bottom causing you to get water in your face. You can look down a little and the water comes to your chin, but if you want to see something near the bottom you have to either squat or kneel. We saw a lot of fish including a 2-3 foot barracuda that Ernie saw, but Dale missed. Some of the fish swam right up to our face plates and seemed to be as interested in us as we were in them. The diver with us retrieve an urchin and a spider crab that he passed around. Ernie had bought an underwater one use camera knowing at least he was going to do the helmet dive. After taking a couple of pictures he gave the camera to the diver to take a picture of him and Dale. When the diver gave the camera back, Ernie thought he had slipped the strap over his wrist, but when he let go of the camera it floated to the top. Fortunately, when we went back up Ernie was able to spot the camera floating a little way from the pavilion and the scuba diver was able to retrieve it.
After the dive we had plenty of time to enjoy the rest of the park. Under the pavilion is a two level viewing area with windows at different depths where you can look out to the reef including areas where we did not go on the dive. In the park there are reef pools and shark pools. There are also some nature trails.
Upon returning to the ship we cleaned up and took the 1½ mile walk into town. We followed the shoreline and were able to look back to where the ship was docked. We once again realized just how small the Crown is when we saw it docked near two other cruise ships. As we walked along the cabs, which are more like open trolleys, would stop and ask if we wanted to ride. They kept doing this right up until we were in town. Dale got her St Thomas charm and then we went to see a fort that is town. On the walk back to the ship the cab drivers continued to ask us if we wanted a ride.
The Jean Anne Ryan Company put on a very good show that night. We went dancing for a little while before returning to the cabin.
We spent the next two days (March 30 & 31) at sea relaxing, reading, playing games, dancing, and taking in the entertainment. One night we saw Richochet and a comedian. The next night was a Jean Anne Company presentation called Footloose.
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BermudaWe arrived at King's Wharf in Dockyard, Bermuda about 8:00 AM. After breakfast we went onto the island. Dockyard is on the opposite end of the island from St. Georges where cruises we have been on before have docked. Hamilton is between Dockyard and St. Georges. The only places we had been to between Hamilton and Dockyard are Elbow Beach and a lighthouse near the beach.
We got all-day bus/water taxi passes and set out on a bus toward Hamilton. Our first stop was Sommerset Village where nothing was open at that time. We got on the next bus.
We stopped at a botanical garden. It is a very large place and we came in at the opposite end from the visitor center so we enjoyed walking around looking at everything until we found the center. We got a map at the center and were able to find interesting things. There was a kitchen garden, a rose garden, many exotic trees, a cactus house, an orchid house, and beautiful lawns.
Our next stop was at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute. It was lunch time when we got there so before exploring what they had we went to the restaurant in the building. Expecting it to be a cafeteria, we were surprised to be eating $13.00 hamburger plates at a four-star restaurant. In the institute we saw displays and videos on diving and sea life. We experienced a diving bell simulator and viewed thousands of beautiful sea shells on display in cabinets. We really enjoyed the time we spent there.
We were close to Hamilton and decided to walk the rest of the way to Fort Hamilton. We discovered traffic will stop for pedestrians waiting to cross at a crosswalk, but nowhere else. Fort Hamilton is at the top of a steep hill, but luckily there is a set of switch-back stairs and ramps to get you up the steepest grade. We walked through the gardens and climbed up onto the rampart that overlooks the city of Hamilton. Ernie also climbed one of the cannon support towers. The gate closes at 5:00, so it was too late to explore the moat which is now filled with tropical trees and flowers. We vowed that the next time we go to Bermuda we will get to Fort Hamilton by lunch time and spend the whole afternoon there. We headed into Hamilton. We stopped at Victoria Garden a very beautiful spot in the city. We walked through the city making our way to the water taxi. We took the water taxi back to Dockyard. We cleaned up, had supper, and retired early, foregoing the show and dancing.
The next morning we got up early, had breakfast, and went ashore to see as much of Dockyard as possible before having to return to the ship @ 11:30 AM. First, we went to the glass factory and saw a demonstration of glass figurine making.
Next we visited the Maritime Museum. The museum is made up of 10 buildings most of which contain history of Bermuda, ships, or sea exploration. The largest building is the Commissioner's House. It would be easy to get lost in the basement alone of the Commissioner's House, let alone the rest of the house. They also have Dolphin Quest at the museum where they study dolphin behavior.
We got back on board the ship on time and had lunch. We most of the afternoon relaxing in the cabin, except when Dale went to an interview with the Captain. We went to the early show and late supper. We got to bed fairly early.
April 4 was another relaxing day at sea. The show was another Jean Anne Ryan production which as usual was very good. After the show we packed and put our luggage in the corridor to be picked up during the night and brought ashore in the morning.
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PhiladelphiaWe arrived in Philadelphia to a mixture of snow and rain. We had considered going to the airport checking our bags and taking the SEPTA trains into the historic section of the city, but decided the weather was not good for doing that. We had breakfast and after clearance we disembarked the ship. We found our luggage and got into the security line, but it was not moving. We discovered a man collapsed in line and was attended by EMTs and put in an ambulance. We heard he had suffered a heart attack. Once out of the building we discovered that none of the taxis were big enough to take us with all our luggage. We heard someone asking if anyone needed a ride to the airport. We told him we had 6 bags and he said no problem he had a bus. It turned out to be a luxury bus with all the conveniences including heat, a large screen TV, stereo, cushioned seats, and two bars.
We arrived at the airport about 4 hours early and discovered we could not check in that early. A really nice porter went to talk to the check-in manager and explain our situation. The porter not only got the bags checked, but also returned with our boarding passes.
After three weeks of mostly gourmet and island food, Dale said she would love to have a tuna sandwich. Ernie saw a sign in front of one of the lounges that said their special of the day was a tuna sandwich. We had a very nice meal.
When it was time to board, we discovered it was a very small jet that we had to board from the tarmac. We had to check our carry on luggage outside the plane. Dale was nervous about flying on such a small plane. The flight was one of the best we have taken, the stewardess treated everyone like they were in first class. She gave everyone bottles of water while we waited for take off, snacks and drinks in flight, and warm wash clothes to clean up with afterwards. We arrived at the airport, retrieved our luggage, easily found our dirver, and arrived home safely.
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