Both exams, thank God were OK, and I was glad to get them over with, but in between I was running around like a big baboon trying to get ready for going away on the Christmas holidays, a whole month of them. I hadn�t packed yet and I still had to collect two orders from the cafeteria � one was a bulk order worth $250, and the other being 8 sets of sandwiches (lettuce, tomato and cheese, no meat) for the bus journey to Miami. After finishing the music exam, I went straight to the cafeteria and picked up the remainder of the orders and got a few sweets and chocolate (also for the bus trip), ran over to my room, and began to pack. At the same time, every other student in the building was trying to do the same thing as the halls were being shut at 6:00pm that evening for the Christmas holidays. Chaos is NOT the word!
It took me just over an hour to decide what to bring and what not to bring, to pack it and then try to repack down to as small a size as possible. In the end I had my large rucksack, (that also contained a sleeping bag!) which was quite heavy and a small backpack with all my valuables, and stuff for the bus � discman, CD�s, etc. Meghan very kindly gave me a lift to the train station, as she felt sorry for me having to walk and get the bus with all my stuff.
On to the Orange line, and then the Green line to meet Olivia who was also taking the bus to Miami with me. I got off at the meeting spot more than a little nervous because when talking earlier on the phone, we didn�t really get to arrange a meeting place, as she had just lost her credit card, obviously couldn�t really go to Miami without it, and was more than a little scared of not being able to find it. Anyway, thank God she found it and met me at the right time, and we headed off back onto the Green line to transfer onto the Blue line to get to the main Chicago Greyhound Bus Terminal to begin 3 weeks of what should be sheer bliss!
Our bus wasn�t due to leave until 8:15pm, but we arrived at 7:00pm as we had to check on our bags, and also we wanted to get a good seat. As it turned out, checking our bags was easy and took about 10 minutes, so we went straight to the gate and were first in line�happy days! But then this freak of a guy came up to the front of the line past us and began to queue as if we weren�t there. We said nothing, as he didn�t look like the kind of person you should talk to. If you began talking to him, we predicted that he wouldn�t stop talking back�and we were proved almost right in that he didn�t even need us to begin the conversation! He just started butting into our conversation with really random sentences like, �I hope you like that I�m blocking the lights from your eyes� Like�what? Strange looks abounded to say the least. Anyway, we got onto the bus, settled into our seats and began to prepare for the marathon 34-hour journey ahead of us.
Once we were all seated (it was a full bus-load, and took quite some time to seat everybody as some people wanted two seats to themselves, and didn�t appreciate others strangers having to sit beside them), the woman bus-driver explained to us that she was going to take us to Indianapolis, but the same bus with a different driver was going to take us to Jacksonville, Florida, where we would have to transfer to get to Miami. That was OK by us, and we fully understood what she meant, but you want to have heard the ruckus that her statement created. Everybody started getting worried and began shouting to the driver if they were on the correct bus to here and there, etc. Yer man, the queue-skipper was about to go ape-shit, and almost demanded that she to bring him to his �final destination of Knoxville, Tennessee�. God love the poor lady, she must have had to repeat herself about 7-8 times trying to calm people down. No wonder she started getting grouchy; it was 4 and a half hours ride to Indianapolis.
Corbin was a quick stop, and then we were off to Knoxville, Tennessee. You have no idea how relieved we all were to finally get to Knoxville because before arriving at, and after leaving every previous stop, the queue jumpin� guy kept asking the bus-driver in quite a loud voice when we were getting to Knoxville. He just needed to be reassured every hour. Every single other person on the bus knew exactly when we were arriving to Knoxville, and was sick hearing about it, but for some reason the poor fella just didn�t trust this second bus driver.
Upon arrival in Knoxville at 8:00am, we had an hour to clean up and refresh ourselves, and then back on to the bus again. This time, we had a young girl with two infants in the seat in front of us, and by God, she knew how to discipline those kids! If they so much as put a foot out of line, they got the loudest and sorest smacks I�ve ever heard. Having said that, they were wee darlings�until their mother was out of sight. It was so funny; the oldest simply went into hysterics of laughter and jumped on the seat until �mom� came back, while the other just gurgled and giggled. Pretty soon anybody who could see the pair of them was laughing too. Getting back on the bus, we saw we had yet another bus driver who was to take us on to the bus�s final destination of Jacksonville, Florida.
North and South Carolina went by quite quickly, but I also took a couple of naps, which probably helped. In Augusta, Georgia, at 4:00pm, we had a much needed half hour layover, and when we got out of the bus, it was noticeably warmer than before. The air-conditioning had broken down, and although the layover in Augusta was most welcoming, and allowed us to cool off for a bit, the heat inside the bus was beginning to get unbearable. The bus driver (who wasn�t the most welcoming of people) stopped the bus and kindly opened the emergency escape hatch on the roof, making such a huge difference. Unfortunately, about 20 miles the other side of Savannah, GA when we were going at about 60 mph, we heard this loud bang, and looking up, found that the emergency hatch had disappeared! What�s even worse though is that the driver didn�t even stop! We mustn�t have had anyone following us�did we?
Well, we were getting cooled down so much that everyone was now reaching for their sweaters, and relishing the fact (through clenched teeth) that it was only going to get colder until our arrival in Jacksonville, FL at 10:35pm. When we finally arrived, cold and exhausted, we got our luggage from under the bus, dragged it in as quickly as possible as we wanted to get as close as possible to the front of the next queue, but the line was far too long, and left us wondering how all those people were going to get onto one bus.
Jacksonville was nothing short of a nightmare. We had begun queuing only to see some sly bastards trying to skip; the men�s restroom was closed for cleaning the entire time we were there, the bus driver didn�t begin to board the unholy mass of people until 11:30pm, 25 minutes after were supposed to have left, and when he finally did, he did it so painstakingly slow that everybody was in a right foul wee mood. After all, Miami was still another 7 hours bus ride away. Upon finally boarding, it was clear that Olivia and I weren�t going to be able to sit together, so I (very politely, I thought) asked a lady if the seat beside her was empty, and would she mind moving to an adjacent vacant seat across the aisle so my friend and I could travel together. I know it was a bit bold of me, but if ya don�t ask, ya don�t get! Nothing however could have prepared me for the answer I got � she must have taken a course in nastiness 101! How dare I ask her, and she got there first, and she was entitled to sit where she was, after all she paid for her ticket�
Anyway, we sat down in different places on the bus, and began the final leg of what was a long, exhausting and epic bus journey.
When I was booking the tickets on the Internet a couple of weeks ago (keeping in mind that we didn�t know the layout of Miami), I had the choice of going to �Miami, FL�, or �Miami Downtown, FL�. I chose the latter, with the notion that surely that must bring us closer to either the port or Miami Beach. I was right, thank God, but it turned out that the downtown station was little more than a wee portacabin, and we were the only two left on the bus. Everybody else had gotten off at the previous stop, �Miami, FL�, which turned out to be the airport. Why did all those people travel via such a hellish method of transport for such a long period of time just to go to the airport?? Surely there was one closer to wherever they lived! I was getting suspicious as to whether or not they knew more than we did. As it turned out we were ok, and ended up closer to both the port and Miami Beach than we would have been at the airport, so I�ll never know why some people traveled from Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, etc just to go to Miami airport. Must be a hell of an airport. Ah well. I�ll have to visit it sometime�
We arrived into uptown Miami (downtown really, but the northern part of it) at 6:15am. Ha ha! 34 hours and 1504 miles later, and we had made it! Our next decision was whether to go straight to the port and be there 5 hours early (check-in didn�t even begin until 12:30pm), try to find our way to Miami Beach where we knew there were about 25 other BEI people in a youth hostel called Banana Bungalows (that�s where we were going to stay as well, after the cruise), or leave our bags in a locker in the bus station and walk around the center of Miami to kill time. We subsequently discovered that there were no lockers in the bus station but the stationmaster was confident that there would be lockers in the port. Happy days! We hailed a cab and promptly made our way to the port. And what a port! If you can imagine Miami as being on the mainland, and a long thin island parallel to it to the east as being Miami Beach, there are a number of bridges (3 or 4 I think) connecting the two together, and the bits in between form the Port of Miami. There were big boats, bigger boats and then even bigger boats! It was a sight to behold, and we were starting to get quite excited, trying to pick out which was to be our boat for the next week. As luck would have it, there was a lot of security, which ultimately meant that we were actually unable to leave the port once we had entered. So much for that idea, and there weren�t even lockers for us to use. So we decided to stay in the port and begin queuing for embarkation�5 hours early. Having said that, however freaky it sounds, would you believe that we weren�t the first people there!!??? After about 2 hours however, they began to check-in people, give us our credit-card keys and send us into the lounges where we had another wait for another couple of hours. Before we did this however, our larger luggage was taken off us and we were promised delivery of it by the time we had arrived at our cabins, meaning that we didn�t have to lug the stuff around with us! By this stage we were on our third day of travel (and we definitely looked like it!) and were becoming increasingly aware and alarmed at how well turned out everyone else was, even the teenagers. It was then that the slight feeling of discomfort set in, and I began asking myself whether or not this had been such a good idea. After all, I could have just stayed in the Banana Bungalows on Miami Beach and soaked up the sun there with a load of Irish people�
Those fears continued to mount when we actually boarded the ship (called the �Carnival Victory�, the largest ship of 12 in the Carnival fleet) only to be greeted by a beautifully decked out lobby reaching 10 floors high and ending with a fabulous glass dome. Live classical music was being played on a cello, flute and piano. Smiling, smartly dressed crew members handed out deck plans so we could navigate ourselves around the ship. This was, and still is, overwhelming!
Our next task was to find where our cabins were, using this handy little deck plan. Our cabin was 2238, situated on the �Main Deck�. Every deck had a name instead of a number; names like: Riviera, Lobby, Atlantic, Promenade, Empress, Verandah, Lido Sun and Sky, to name a few. In fact, there were 14 decks to which we as guests had access to, and there were two �crew sleeping� decks below us, never mind engine rooms etc. So you can see that this is truly a big ship! We found the correct cabin easily enough, and if you can imagine a six year old seeing something ultimately cool, then you�ll know how I reacted. We had a huge port-hole out of which we could see�the North side of Miami, we had a sofa and chairs, a table, a T.V, a radio whose speakers were situated in the roof of the cabin, an en suite bathroom, and two huge single beds. What more could you ask for? It was about 2:30pm at this stage, and since embarkation took so long, and dinner wasn�t until 8:30pm, a voice over the ship�s P.A. system told us that the �buffet in the Mediterranean Restaurant was now being served. Since none of us had eaten since early this morning, we were starving! However, first thing was first, and that was a much longed for shower and change of clothes. How glorious was that!? The next challenge was to find where this restaurant was located, and we were full of spirits after those showers, so off we went, chatting about how cool the cabins were, and pondering about what the better cabins could possibly have that we don�t. Since there were almost 3000 people onboard, and most of them were hungry, there was a long queue for the food, but it cleared quickly enough. Still, it gave us enough time to take a gawp around us, and that horrible �uh oh, we shouldn�t be here� feeling came over me again. The d�cor was absolutely exquisite, and we noticed that some people had actually changed their clothes to eat. Again, despite the shower, I felt considerably underdressed!
After piling salad, pasta and other stuff onto my plate, we wondered if we had to pay for the food, since we didn�t have two coins to rub together on us. Everything was in the cabin, and there were too many people in front of us to see where the end of the queue was. In the end it turned out that there weren�t any cash registers, so we were alright. We sat down by a large window overlooking the port, and just started laughing partly from relief that we had gotten this far without any mishaps, and partly that we were actually about to go on a week long cruise around the Caribbean. As we ate and stared out the window, we were able to see a man and a woman running as fast as they could to get to the gangway to embark. Obviously they were late, but the funniest thing was that the man was carrying all the bags while the woman had her handbag. As they ran, the man dropped a bag and had to stop to retrieve it. Did the woman stop? Not a bit of it! She was determined to get onto that boat whatever the means! Then that mystery voice came over the loudspeakers again with 2 different announcements � the first was that at 3:30pm the ship was to pull out of port past her sister ship in the Carnival fleet, the �Carnival Paradise�, and could we all go outside to compete against those guests on the �Paradise� in a shouting and noise-making competition. (You see, the motto of Carnival is �The Fun Ships�), and we were to cheer to show the other ship just exactly how much fun we were going to have. At 4:00pm, at the sound of the klaxon, we were to go to our cabins and retrieve our lifejackets (situated in the cupboard under the television) and make our way quickly to our nearest muster station for an emergency drill. After that, we were free to relax until dinnertime. So we finished our food and went straight outside onto the deck, soaked up the sun, and waited for the ship to leave port. As we were waiting for the ship to leave, didn�t an AMBULANCE of all things pull up beside the ship. After about 15mins, this poor guy was wheeled out and down the gangway. God love him, he waved sheepishly up to us, and looking more embarrassed than hurt. That was the end of his holiday.
Suddenly, the ship�s engines started up, and we slowly began pulling away sideways from the dock. This voice over the P.A. system was again asking all guests to come outside and participate in the noise competition with the �Carnival Paradise�, and warned us to remain absolutely silent until he gave the word. Apparently every week, the ships in the Carnival fleet do this, and of course, we were told that our ship won every time, and we were to uphold that proud tradition. Actually, I thought it was quite well done, although some others didn�t agree! The theme to �Star Trek: Deep Space Nine� came over the loud speakers, and a very deep voice (pre-recorded) said something to the effect that we were to embark on an exciting journey where all we had to do was have fun etc. Corny, but funny. Then we began to go forward, closer and closer to the �Carnival Paradise�. The �voice� kept repeating for us not to make a noise and to be extremely silent and motionless. As we came parallel to the �Paradise�, they began to start cheering and shouting and the ship sounded it�s klaxon for what seemed like ages. It was so cool, and sent a shiver down my spine, but still, we were to remain quiet. Suddenly, our voice screamed for us to go mad, and go mad we did, with our ship sounding it�s even louder klaxon. The overall sound was deafening, and really blew away all my niggly, �I shouldn�t be here� feelings. Although it sounds stupid, that was a fantastic way to start the cruise, and I felt on top of the world. There�s nothing like the sound of 5000 people cheering at the top of their lungs and the horns to two ships to get the adrenaline going!
And so we watched both Miami and the sun disappear, went down to our cabin, and got ready for 8:30pm dinner. (There were actually 4 dinner sittings in 2 dining rooms; ours was in the Pacific dining room, aft, or at the back of the boat.) Now, dinner was an experience in itself. The maitre�d ushered Olivia and I to a table of four, but no one else actually turned up. We had two waiters at our service, Damir, our head waiter, from Croatia, and Marian, our male assistant waiter, from Romania. When I say we had the best of service, I really mean it. If we so much as looked like we were going to sneeze, both of them had tissues at the ready. The glasses were refilled after one tiny sip of water. As soon as we sat down, Marian took our napkins and actually placed them on our laps for us. (I was very wary of this at first, but apparently that�s just what happens when one receives excellent service, and so I began to relax towards the end of the week.) Upon opening our menus, we quickly realized that this was a really fancy place and I began shitting myself again, because I had no clue as to whether to not I had to pay for any of the food, and was too embarrassed to ask anyone. We must have looked very apprehensive because Marian, while refilling our glasses said to us to sit back, relax, and let him take care of everything for us, after all weren�t we on a cruise? And then the golden words � he whispered�and the food is all free too! Well, here, he couldn�t have said anything better to us! I promptly ordered the king shrimp something-or-other (it was in French), the Caesar salad, the 16oz sirloin steak and the black forest gateau. I left out the cheese course and had a cup of tea to finish off. Oh my God. Exquisite is NOT the word. It was without doubt the best food I had ever tasted! And so much of it, and presented all arty and nice! I can certainly get used to this! That took us to just after 10:00pm, and we wanted to go to the Caribbean Lounge to see the first night of entertainment laid on for us, which began at 10:30pm.
The Caribbean Lounge was not just any lounge. No, this baby was 4 stories high, had a fully functional orchestra pit, held 2000 people seated, had a large stage, a fantastically loud and superior sound system, and the very, very best lighting system I have ever seen in any function room, including 3 lasers. I was impressed. We then found out who the mystery voice we heard earlier was � it was our entertainment manager Corey Schmidt! First he explained many practical things to us. Our cruise was to be a little different than what was printed. In actual fact, we were to get 2 full days at sea before arriving in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We would arrive there at about 3:00pm on the Tuesday, and spend the rest of the day there. Wednesday morning we would wake up in St. Croix and on Thursday morning we would wake up in St. Thomas. Friday and Saturday were to be at sea and we would wake up in Miami on the Sunday. We were also told that every evening we would receive the �Carnival Capers� under our doors. The �Carnival Capers� is a bulletin explaining everything that was to happen the next day. (We had already received ours, and it is quite impressive) After the other more boring practicalities, the �fun� began, and he had one hell of a night�s comedy lined up for us. To cut a long story short, he chose guests from the audience and made them play stupid team games, which turned out to be hilarious, with a lot of impromptu stuff going on, but the highlight of the evening was that he chose an elderly couple, interviewed them, and found out they had been married for 31 years and lived in Florida.. He then told the man, James that if he jumped in the air 3 times, yelled out at the top of his lungs �Wassup!�, got down on one knee and told his wife that he loved her and continue doing so for the rest of his life every single time he heard the word �Florida�, then he would win expensive jewellery for her, including diamonds. We�ll have to see about that. So of course Corey mentioned the word �Florida� about 4 times after that, and poor James (who you must remember was an elderly man) had to come up on stage each time, and complete his routine. The audience was really behind him every time he did it, and sure by the 4th time, the poor man was wrecked. Sounds stupid, but you had to have been there! Anyway, by the end of that, we were pretty wrecked too and so went to sleep in a real bed for real sleep for the first time in 3 days. Shall we sleep in tomorrow?
Since they stopped serving breakfast at 10:30am, we reluctantly dragged ourselves out of bed at 10:00am, and quickly got dressed to go up to the Mediterranean Restaurant for the breakfast buffet. This time we only had to queue for about 2 minutes before we were able to pile the food onto our plates. There was a choice of fruit, fruit salad, ordinary salad, with different varieties of tomatoes, lettuce, etc. breakfast cereals, grapefruit and melon halves, an assortment of breads and toast, and hot food such as sausages, waffles, pancakes, scrambled eggs, and biscuits and gravy. There was also a spot where you customized your own omelette and they made it while-u-wait. Again, sitting down by the window, we were able to look out at the Bahamas while discussing what we each wanted to do during the day. Our �Carnival Capers� bulletin gave us a choice of going to a slogan trivia quiz, a bridge and other card games meeting, bingo, a snorkel demo, a hair demo (?) a men�s hairy chest competition (?), an art auction, karaoke, a healthy abs and back seminar, a golf putting contest and a comedy show to name but a few. As you can imagine, out of all that choice, getting a suntan reigned top of the list. However, before doing anything else, we went to the Caribbean Lounge where there was to be an 11:00am 'travel and adventure' talk; basically Corey the cruise director telling us the best places to go and where to avoid at each port of call. It's just as well we went because we didn't realise that there were pre-arranged trips and excursions for us to do. Although they cost money, they ensure that we not only get to see a bit more of the islands in question, we also get to sample more of the way-of-life and other interesting things than just hang around the port. Also, it takes all the hassle out of arranging our own transport and activities. There were so many different things to choose from that didn't don't know which to do. However, we have decided to do our own thing tomorrow in Puerto Rico, as we are spending so little time there. We were given a series of leaflets describing what we can do at each port, how much it costs and how long it lasts. Out of the Puerto Rico stuff, although we're not doing anything from the leaflet, I would love to go on the 'bioluminescence kayak tour'. It takes place at dark, and apparently there is a wealth of bioluminescent organisms in this particular lake upon which one kayaks. Unfortunately it costs $80 each.
As soon as the talk was over, we went to the cabin to discuss what we wanted (and could afford) to do, and eventually we decided on "Castaway Beach Break in St. Croix, and "The Fabulous Kon Tiki Party Raft" and the "Paradise Point Tramway" in St. Thomas. After all that deciding, we coughed up the dough ($180)and went straight to the Purser's Office, as you had to pay in advance to guarantee your place.
Now that our fate had been decided, it was time to relax! We went back down stairs again to get changed into our swimming stuff in order to do a bit of this sunbathing stuff. We didn�t even need to bring a towel with us, as they were provided fresh up on the decks! All we brought was sunglasses, a book, and ourselves. (Would you believe that we had forgotten to bring suntan lotion? We got some bronzing lotion in the gift shop though). It was about 1:00pm when we surfaced on deck, and beforehand we reasoned that the ship would have enough sun loungers for everyone...yeah right! The decks were teeming with people of all shapes, sizes and ages who looked like they had been there for ages. Kids were running around with ice-creams, (so were the really old people), the men were drinking beer, the women were lounging and reading, and the young people were slapping on the bronzing agent good and thick to get as brown as quickly as possible. Many of them had obviously either just finished a previous cruise (unlikely), or had been on the sunbeds all last week! So we went a deck higher, where the situation was the same. Another deck up, and we found about a dozen unoccupied sun loungers, and soon after lying down on them, discovered why they had been free. Although the Caribbean sun was really hot, the wind on this deck, although not particularly cold, was strong! After a while, we caught on and went to the other side of the boat, where we were still getting the good sunshine, but minus the wind. Happy days! Intent on trying out everything at once, I soon got bored of sitting doing nothing (even though I wanted a good dark tan) and decided to go exploring, and didn�t I find...a 24 hour pizzeria! We had heard of it, but as yet hadn�t gone exploring, so didn�t know where it was located...until now. Well, nothing would do until oul Marty here had a wee slice of pizza. I was able to see them being done in the oven behind the counter, and boy was it good. There were 8 different sorts and the 3 varieties that I sampled were so delicious � full of herbs and garlic that I was actually disappointed I couldn�t physically eat any more!
Anyway, back outside to the sunshine, and by this stage it was getting too strong and hot for me, so I decided to take a dip in one of the 4 swimming pools, and would you believe that the water was salty!? Apparently, they take the water straight out of the ocean, and replace it through pumps on an ongoing basis. How cool is that? And then, after cooling off in the pool, into the Jacuzzi to relax in the bubbles. Fantastic!
At about 12:00pm, on a bandstand right beside the pool, a live band began playing Caribbean and reggae music and waiters began coming around everyone to fetch them drinks. I can tell you, we were in bliss! We stayed there until about 3:00pm and had to leave simply because it was just too hot. However, we were to notice that in the next hour, the sun would drastically have lost it�s heat and be too low in the sky for any further sunbathing to occur. At 4:00pm there was a comedian whom we all wanted to hear, called Al Ernst. He was in the middle of an American tour called �Southern, not stupid�, and �had kindly agreed to take some time out to entertain us�. Bless his soul. But here, he was absolutely hilarious! He also did an �R� rated midnight show (some people had to ask what time that was at!), and I can�t remember the last time I laughed so hard! He was really, really brilliant, and in my books, ranks up there with the likes of Billy Connolly.
Dinner this evening was a right laugh...not. Last night we didn�t have to dress up at all for dinner, but you weren�t allowed shorts or short-sleeved shirts, and thats the case for most of the night on the cruise. (We only have to get dolled up twice during the week.) Tonight however, is a formal night where you are expected to dress up to the nines. Ha ha, I was ready for this because I remembered to bring along my black dress trousers and a couple of shirts and ties. I wasn�t going to be caught out! Heh heh, but would you believe that out of every single male over the age of 12, I was the only person not to be wearing a tuxedo. How can this happen? I didn�t even have a jacket, and boy did I feel underdressed yet again! Even the under 12 males were decked out with a tie (and in most cases, a tweed jacket!) As we walked towards the dining room, we noticed large queues of exquisitely attired and beautiful people at different parts of the ship, and found out that they were all getting their portraits taken (By that, I mean a professional photograph!)
We found our table ourselves this evening (once you are allocated a table, it�s yours until the end) and arrived only to find our co-guests were joining us. After a little chitchat, we discovered that they were from Mexico city, and were on their honeymoon, leaving us to wonder why they didn�t get a wee table on their own. Anyway, they didn�t speak too much English, and so communications weren�t too frequent or successful, although Olivia was fantastic at deciphering what they were saying. I didn�t have a clue!
The menu again offered us a delightful choice of wonderful foods, but I�ll not bore you with the details. Suffice to say, that there was lobster on the menu. Damir, our headwaiter, jokingly told us to eat up as there is still 7 tons of food left to consume!
After finishing up, we went back to the cabin to get out of our garb, and noticed that room service had been around for the second time that day and tidied up everything again (not that it had time to get untidy) and we had even more fresh towels. However, this time round, the towels had been left on top of my bed, but had been cleverly arranged so that they looked like an elephant. They even used my sunglasses that had been sitting on the table to complete the look. We were superbly impressed!
Still talking about it, we went up to the Caribbean lounge to get a good seat for the evening�s entertainment. It was a cabaret show entitled, �Livin� in America�, and apparently the costumes alone cost $500,000. I was eager to see this! Emm, almost an hour into it, we left. I couldn�t see where the half million dollars went, and it was just a wee bit o� singing and dancing. I got bored. Sorry.
To make up for the disappointment, we went for a pint of Heinekin and some slices of pizza, walked around the outside of the boat one final time in the darkness and (extreme) humidity, and finally went to our beds with the aim of getting up early tomorrow to get a good position on them there sun loungers!
I guess we must have been more tired than we have thought. This time, we slept until 10:15am, so there was an even more frantic rush to get to the Mediterranean Restaurant for breakfast before it closed. We knew that at that stage we weren�t going to get a good position for soaking up the sun, so we contented ourselves by taking our time, and not rushing too much. By the time we had actually got ourselves sorted out and up on deck, the live band and the waiters had already begun doing their thing, and we went back up to the same place to sunbathe, where we had been yesterday. However, as luck would have it, weren�t we only out for about an hour, when great big dark cloud came over us, and it began to rain. Now I don�t mean rain, I mean huge buckets of water pouring down on the ship. The ocean got a bit rougher and you could easily feel it in the much increased swaying of the boat. I really enjoyed it, but Olivia wasn�t too impressed. It made walking down the corridors that extra bit more difficult (and we were sober!).
Then the voice came over the sound system again announcing that we were actually several hours ahead of schedule and would be pulling into the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico at 2:30pm. However, we wouldn�t be allowed to disembark until the ship had been cleared by port officials, which usually takes an hour. We had nothing to do anyway since it was raining, so we went to our cabins to get ready to explore San Juan.
Now, there are two parts to San Juan, the old part and the new, modern part. If you wanted to shop for expensive items, like gold and diamonds, it was the new part you were looking for. If you wanted a more realistic feel of the way of life in Puerto Rico, you browsed through the old part. Excellent! And to make matters even better, the ship was docking in the old part of the city. As we were slowly cruising into the harbour, we were given a bit of the history of the island, and it seems that Puerto Rico has had it�s fair share of violence and plundering too. As we docked, didn�t the rain end, but the humidity was 93%, so when I went upstairs on deck to get a good high view of the city, although it was �dry�, the air was so hot and moist and heavy that my clothes immediately began to get really sticky and damp. It was horrible. Still, I was able to see not only the city, but also about 4 or 5 other cruise ships from other liners also in port. It was interesting to look at them, and see all the different designs, but ours was still the biggest!
It was about 4:00pm when we finally disembarked, and the sun was fast disappearing from the sky. To tell you the truth, I never got to see San Juan in the daylight! Anyway, as soon as we disembarked we were faced with a mini-market with some stalls, so we had a look about. I ended up buying a small clay picture with a colourful glazed portrait of the huge wall surrounding San Juan, and an ocarina. The guy who was selling the ocarinas had all different shapes and sizes, and was a true maestro when it came to the playing of the instrument. I was enchanted, and ended up leaving $15 in exchange for one of these beautiful instruments. By this time, it was pitch dark, but still hot and humid, so we took a walk around the outside of the city walls. Even that half hour walk presented me with a horde of new experiences, lizards running everywhere, strange vegetation (I now know where the wood for brooms now comes from!), and the Spanish influence in the architecture all around me was inspiring. Soon enough, we cut inside the walls and aimed for the city centre, going uphill. It took a lot of effort, but eventually we reached the top (there was an abnormal amount of cats), and drifted in and out of touristy shops. I ended up buying a T-shirt with the word Puerto Rico written on the front (an adventurous soul, aren�t I, and I�ll probably never wear it!) and of course, a flag. By that stage, we had been walking for about 4 hours, had seen quite a lot of the old city, and were getting quite dehydrated and hungry. So we made our way back to the ship to get ready for dinner. As usual, Damir and Marian provided the very best of service, but tonight, before dessert, the maitre�d called for our attention, and asked our opinion of our waiters. We all gave them a resounding round of applause, which they truly deserved. Then the maitre�d announced that they had something special prepared for us, and as he spoke, all the waiters (about 50 of them) gathered at the huge stairs at the front of the restaurant. The (live) musicians started playing the introduction to �O Caro Mio�, and didn�t they all begin to sing! Obviously a lot of work had gone into it, for they all knew the tune and the words, and we were treated to 2 verses of it. And it was fantastic! For the chorus, there was even a bit of harmony; the musicians stopped for a while and they kept on singing! It was a great moment!
After the excellent food and service, we went to the Caribbean Lounge to hear this evening�s entertainment; it was a double act � Lewis Nixon, a comedian, and the balancing act of �Lubo & Lucy�. To tell you the truth, the comedian was shit, but the balancing act was much better. This guy balanced loads of different things on this stick that he put into his mouth, like glasses, and lighted candles, and eggs, etc. I started getting nervous however when he began to balance things with a sword, the sharpness of which he had earlier demonstrated. You see, he made a slip up earlier in his performance, resulting in my plummeting confidence in his more dangerous acts. Also, we were quite close to the stage. Anyway, everything went smoothly, and we had a good time. Then it was up to the 24hr pizzeria for another couple of slices, a wee walk around the boat to get one last look at San Juan, and then off to bed. The ship leaves port tonight at 2:00am bound for St. Croix, USVI. Good night!
When we woke up, we had just docked in the harbour at St. Croix � there were no strange loud noises or bumps signalling our arrival. Of the trips and excursions the ship provides, and you are strongly advised to take, we had chosen the �Castaway Beach Break� and there were two choices of departure, 9:00am and 12:45pm. We chose the latter for three reasons: first, we would have more time to explore a bit of the town we had docked at, and it was dark at 5:00pm so we wouldn�t get to see anything after then, second, we needed to get some colour, and the longer we were outside, the longer we would eh�burn, and last and probably most important, more sleep. So, as was usual by this time, we got up and went to the Mediterranean Restaurant to get some breakfast, back downstairs to change and get ready for some exploring and off we went. In order to get off the boat, we had to give our sign and sail cards to the security people at the gangway who would put it into this machine and a photo of our faces would come up! How�s that for security?
Stepping off the gangway, (and getting our photo taken in the process), I was able to see that our ship was the only one there, and we were at the far end of a very long pier � in fact, it was at least a third of a mile long. The town of Fredricksted was quite small, but very picturesque from our vantage point, and so we began the (long) walk into town. Nearing the beginning of the pier, it was evident that St. Croix depends heavily on tourism; as soon as our feet touched the mainland proper, we were in the middle of a sizable market of stalls all selling souvenirs � polished shells, necklaces, T-shirts of all sizes and designs (I had to get one of those) and thankfully, ice cold Coca-Cola which was badly needed. (The heat was really getting intense, and we actually began looking for shade!) We had more than enough time to browse through the market, but were more interested in a wee small beach adjacent to it. Ignoring the heat, off we merrily went to walk in the golden sand and wade in the turquoise water. Unfortunately, words can�t describe how relaxing it was � a picture postcard type scene.
Too soon, it was time to return to the ship to meet up with other people in our group going to the �Castaway Beach Break�. As soon as we arrived back, it was up to the pizzeria for a couple of slices, down to the cabin to get towels and swimming gear, and then off to the meeting point. We had to walk the whole way back up the pier and were met by a waiting taxi bus.
Emm, do they actually have a driving test here? Not by the looks of it � we nearly ended up in the ditch at least 3 times! Now, the Virgin Islands have been under 7 flags altogether in a rich and violent history, and many marks of this period can be easily identified. We passed ruins of military barracks, stone walls and cannons. However, in today�s life, the cars are left-hand drive, but the people also drive on the left-hand side of the road, evidence of both the British and American cultures! Confusing or what? No wonder we nearly lost our lives. Our taxi driver wanted us to get to our final destination as quickly as possible, overtaking on corners in the process!
Needless to say, we arrived safe and sound, and the beach looked�just ok. There was nothing special about it � in fact, I think the first beach in the town was nicer. A guide spoke to us about safety in and out of the water, told us that we were entitled to a free tumbler of rum punch, and warned us about the presence of sea urchins. Then it was a rush to find a good spot on the sand and let the sun do its job. Out came the towels, and off came the T-shirts. Once the territory was marked, it was down to the water for a wee swim in the Caribbean Sea. But hold on, what�s that stuff on the seabed? It was covered in sharp rocks and seaweed and other assorted plants which one does NOT want to rest one�s foot on. But how to get in and out of the water? Exactly, close your eyes, and try not to think about how squidgy it feels on the feet. And what did Marty do only land his left foot squarely on top of a sea urchin. Typical, huh? For the record, I don�t really recommend anybody doing this � it stings like hell. The only consolation was that a couple of other people did it too (heh heh). They went up to the guide who told them sorry, and there was nothing that could be done about it, but the barb will dissolve in a couple of months. Whoopee doo. Right now it�s a big black thing and hurts like hell. Anyway, I just floated from then on, but it was such a disappointment being taken to a beach where you can�t even put your foot down on the seabed.
All in all, the Castaway Beach Break wasn�t all that great, and all of the other 14 people we shared the taxi back to the ship with thought the same. They were talking of complaining and asking for their money back ($25 � $37 each). But at the end of the day, I was happy that I wasn�t going to die, I had swam in the Caribbean Sea, and seen a beautiful island.
After all that time outside in the sun, I was really tired, and so went to bed intending to get up in 2 hours until just after 7:00pm, and get ready for dinner. Yeah right. I happened to sleep right through it, and when I woke up, I didn�t really want to walk in during the middle of the whole affair. So I contented myself with the oul pizzeria again (I loved that place) and took a walk around the ship.
At 10:30, our entertainment this evening was an illusionist named Rand Woodbury. The Caribbean Lounge was packed to capacity for this act, so we didn�t get great seats. The lights went down, and words were projected up on this billowing white sheet, creating a really cool effect. The music was haunting, and the atmosphere was fantastic. Then in a blast of light, on he came and proceeded to give a thoroughly enjoyable show, making everything, including himself, his assistants and the entire dance troupe disappear and reappear, what with fire blazing, and steel spikes and pools of water�you get the picture. That finished at 11:45pm, just in time for us to get outside and watch the ship leave St. Croix at midnight. There�s something strange but great about being on such a huge ship making hardly any noise while leaving a wee small port. I only spent one day here, and will probably never be back. Goodbye St. Croix, it was nice meeting you!
Today was a busy day, but we realized it was going to be after yesterday�s exhausting events. We only went on one excursion yesterday, and today we were scheduled for two! So last night, it was decided that we would get up early and go about the day with gusto! Our two activities, costing $45, were the �Paradise Point Tramway� and the �Fabulous Kon Tiki Party Raft�.
By 9:00am, we were up, breakfasted, ready and were leaving the ship at just after 10:00am. Our first call of duty was the �Paradise Point Tramway� which was just a 10 minute walk from the boat. (We had docked in the port, about 3 miles away from the capital town, Charlotte Amalie.) It was just as well we had arrived when we did as there was a large enough queue ('line' if you're American), which was only getting rapidly longer as we watched. (The geography of St. Thomas is very volcanic � the islands consist of steep volcanic mountains with lush green vegetation rising out of the sea, providing beautiful and dramatic scenery wherever you looked). The tram took us to the top of one of the mountains and when we stepped out, were awestruck by what we saw. At one end of the large natural harbour, our cruise ship was moored alongside another, many small sailing boats could be seen in the harbour itself, and at the other side, the small town of Charlotte Amalie. Immediately behind and to the right of the town were the steep hills. Check out the photo page for what it really looked like.
Upon coming back down the tramway, we went to a small mall to have a look around and get me my customary T-shirt and flag. I got the T-shirt, but not the flag, and I must admit to being quite disappointed about not getting a flag. But sure, wasn�t I going to get onto this �Kon Tiki Party Raft�, where they were giving us free rum punch for a full 3 hours? The thought of that cheered me up alright! We had to be at the raft (which was conveniently located right behind our ship) at 12:00pm. I dropped off my new T-shirt in the cabin, and went to the raft. We could hear the party before we were able to see it! There was a live calypso band playing, people were dancing, both on the main deck and the roof, and at the bar, there were two large wooden barrels full of rum punch! It was a case of �help yourself� to as much as you want. It wasn�t long until the effects began to show on our American counterparts who were really getting into the swing of things, and we hadn�t even left the dock! When we eventually did leave, with the sun beating down on us, we took a tour of the harbour, went around some of the smaller neighbouring islands, and slowed down over a wee coral reef allowing us to view the animal life through the glass bottom. I don't know why they did this since the glass obviously hadn't been cleaned in a good while and you couldn't even see out!
Anyway, what we didn't realise was that the raft was to make a visit to one of the many small uninhabited islands where we were able to relax for just over an hour, and the beach we landed at was simply idyllic. It had everything - crystal clear water, golden sand, palm trees, and nobody else other than ourselves. There was plenty of space for everyone, and so we just alternated between the raft for the rum punch refills (very important), the water and the beach, as the water was exceptionally warm. It was also on this beach that I saw and photographed the lizard/chameleon thingy. While I was in the water, didn't some fella start yelling out that he had just been stung by a 'baby' jellyfish, and for us to all watch out for any more. Now if you think I'm a bad complainer (and some people do!), you want to have heard this guy - he never shut up about the bloody thing the entire time. By the end of the beach part of the trip, we had all heard how big it was, how sore it was, etc. Really, I think he was expecting the congressional medal of honour for warning us about the potential danger. Strangely enough, even though I had been stung by that sea urchin yesterday (I still don't know what sea urchins look like!), I wasn't really too worried about the fact that we were sharing water with a couple of jellyfish - the surroundings were too beautiful for us to care about something as trivial as a baby jellyfish.
Soon after, the raft's klaxon sounded - our signal to return. We resumed our positions on the boat, refilled our cups yet again, and waved goodbye to what was definately the best place we've been to yet. Unfortunately, the rest of the trip back is a bit of a blur - I only remember bits and pieces of it - dancing to the live calypso music, talking to absolute strangers, taking photos of them and of course, compulsively buying yet another T-shirt. We landed back at the dock just behind our ship, and Olivia decided to do something like phone home or get change for something...I really don't remember, but I stood beside the ship waiting for her to return, and in the process, somehow began to talk to this very nice Christian fella. The details of this encounter are really sketchy, but he asked me where I was from, and how I found myself here. He must have known that I was a bit well-oiled, but he asked me how I enjoyed St. Thomas. I remember telling him that I absolutely loved the island, and regaled him with our exploits of the day, including my remorse at not being able to get a flag, since I'd probably not ever be here again. Anyway, the conversation continued, about what, I have no clue, and then I made my excuses to go. (Olivia still hadn't showed up at this stage.) Two minutes later, as I was wondering where the hell Olivia had gone, didn't the same guy come up to me with a little cardboard box, and pressed it into my hand, saying something to the effect that he was delighted I enjoyed my time here so much, and to accept this little gift from him. Eh...thats all I remember. The next thing I recall is being sprawled out on the bed with a pain in my head, and we were just about to leave dock. In a panic, I remembered that I didn't remember finding Olivia, and was scared that the ship might be leaving without her, but wasn't there a knock on the door just then, and it was herself, not too pleased that I had left her. Thank God she couldn't really be pissed off as she couldn't recall where she had been all that time either. She came back to the ship and fell asleep on her bed too! That rum punch really had a strong kick!
So we told each other of what we both remembered happening to us after we had left each other, and then I recalled the wee package I was given. I hadn't even opened it. Upon opening it, didn't I find...a full sized flag of the Virgin Islands! That guy had somehow gotten me the one single thing I wanted from his country. If I had known at the time what it was, I would have thanked him more than I did, and given him money. So I took a bit of a guilt-trip; he will never know how much I wanted that flag, and he never will. I'd love to be able to say thank you to him once more and let him know how much I appreciate it, but that will never happen.
Although we had big heads on us, we decided to go up to evening dinner - because we were hungry and our waiters would be wondering where we had been since we missed yesterday. I took another American steak, king shrimps, caesar salad, and a chocolaty mousse, and as always, it was exquisite.
This evening's entertainment was to be a double act - the cruise director, Corey Schmidt and 'his exotic birds', and Manuel Zuniga Jr. from Mexico city, the fastest juggler in the world, and I enjoyed this show from the very beginning to the very end! Corey had all sorts of different birds (the feathered type) - Macaws and whatnot, and had them doing all sorts of tricks - disappearing and reappearing, flying here and there, collecting objects held out by members of the audience, etc. Corey is a bit of a comedian, and was making jokes throughout, so I was laughing from one end of the performance to the other. He also obviously loved his birds, and was educating us about how he looks after them. The next guy has been the Guinness book of Records for the last 5 years straight as being the fastest juggler in the world, and he was gas craic too! By this time, I was wiping the tears from my eyes in laughter. He juggled with everything, the most spectacular being 4 ping-pong balls with his mouth! It might sound easy, but it really was difficult. I think tonight's performances were the best of the entire cruise so far, but I also enjoyed last night's too. I can't wait until tomorrow night!
Then it was back up to the pizzeria for another filling of the belly (the hangover had passed by this time, thank God!), a wee walk around the ship, seeing the lights of the various islands we were passing, and then going to bed. Tomorrow is a full day at sea, so I think we'll take things nice and easy, and work on these bloody suntans.
Since I had been sleeping from just past midnight last night, I woke up easily at about 10:00am, giving me enough time to go up and get breakfast. After waking up Olivia, and persuading her to go too, we went to the Lido deck to get some food, and plan our day. Although we both wished to do a bit of sun bathing, we also wanted to see the movie, "Planet of the Apes" which was being screened in the Caribbean Lounge at 2:30pm. I had chosen today to walk around the ship and take a couple of photos of different areas, and I wanted to do this during daylight.
First thing was first - get our sun bathing things, and establish 'our' sunbeds up on deck. However, I just can't sit there doing nothing, and so very quickly got bored, and decided to do the photographing. I went down to get my camera, and began walking around the ship, taking photographs of various aspects. When I was walking out of the casino, I went past the large room where they auction art every day. Although I hadn't been there before, I was interested to see what type of art was available, and dandered in the back of the room, only to hear the present item still being auctioned vigourously at $8200. I exited just as quickly as I had entered. Imagine if I had had to sneeze! What would the consequences have been? It took me longer to take my photos than I had imagined, and I didn't even tell Olivia where I was going. I also had her keycard so she couldn't get to her cabin. (you see, she has a bad habit of losing things, so I get her stuff to mind it)
At 2:00pm, I went back up to where I had left her, only to find that she wasn't there at all, and neither was her stuff...uh oh. I then went down to my cabin, and there she was, with a face of thunder and one hell of a bad sunburn. After eventually calming her down, we went to the giftshop to get her some aftersun lotion, apply it generously, and then on to the Caribbean Lounge to watch the movie which we were late for. As soon as the movie had ended, we went back down to the cabin to reapply the aftersun, as Olivia was starting to really hurt, and was blaming my absence for her pain...oops! We went back up on deck to watch the last of the sun and bathed in the pool and afterwards the jacuzzi for over 2 hours, until it was time to get ready for dinner again. Tonight was the second and final formal night, and this time we knew what to expect. Although we would be dressed up, everybody else would be nicer than us, and, yes, that was indeed the case. The wedding couple sharing the table with us were impecible - she was in a full evening gown, and he had a tuxedo with a white jacket. Yip, that made me and my shirt and tie feel like T-shirt and shorts. But I didn't care really. We got a really good laugh when actually walking to the dining room for dinner, because we saw two fellas about 16-17 years old and dressed up in tuxedos, only theirs were from the Al Capone, Chicago gangster era; one was bright yellow, and the other, white. They even had the shoes! Add this to the fact that they were attempting to smoke big fat cigars made the scene both ridiculous and as funny as hell! Of course, they thought they were cool dudes, and were doing everything to fit into their act - the walk, the talk, the behaviours - I laugh every time I think of it!
Dinner, as usual, was excellent, and I was beginning to get accustomed to the richness, and high quality of the dishes. After the main course, the maitre'd asked the entire dining room for their attention, and proceeded to praise all the head and assistant waiters and waitresses for looking after us. He then told us that they had one more surprise for us, and to cheer our waiters on. Dance music came on over the sound system quite loud, and all of the waiters went into the main elevated area of the room and began dancing. Then some of the better ones (Damir, our waiter was one of them) jumped on top of the tables and started doing some really cool dance moves to the strains of "Who let the dogs out?" We were all clapping along, and the atmosphere was fantastic! Their moves were absolutely brilliant. At the end we all gave a huge cheer and congratulated our own personal waiters on a job well done. (I'm still laughing as I write!)
The entertainment this evening was a caberet type show, and none of us wanted to go to it as it seemed similar to that of last Sunday evening, which we didn't enjoy. Instead, we piled into our cabin and watched "Moulin Rouge" and "The Wedding Planner" on the TV. Every day, there was a selection of current movies which we could watch, free of charge. I went up to get some pizza, and settled down to vegetate in front of the television. You know, there are many, many different types of bliss, and this is definately one of them!
Well, today is the last day proper of the cruise, and looking back, it was most definately one of, if not the best time I have ever had. I had anticipated 'borrowing' a few souvenirs, like the towels and a bathrobe, but I would have been billed $34 on discovery of it's mysterious departure!
We had to get up quite early today because at 11:00am, there was a mandatory meeting in the Caribbean Lounge about debarkation - the luggage handling procedures, customs rules and regulations, tips and gratuities and the actual debarkation procedure - what we should expect, etc. Basically, our luggage had to be outside our cabins by 11:30pm that evening, allowing it to be stowed away and unloaded easily the next morning, we could put whatever amount of money we wanted into the five separate envelopes for gratuities for cabin stewards, the waiters, the maitre'd, the entertainment crew and the head chef, but the 'usual accepted amount' was $3.00 per person per envelope per day. Eh, that amounted to $105 each! (but I'm not going to tell you exactly what we each put into those envelopes - thats privvy info).
After the talk, we went up on deck to get the very last of the sun bathing in the Caribbean on a cruise ship, for tomorrow, we dock in Miami at 9:00am. It was noticably cooler, and pretty obvious that we weren't going to get as much sunning as we thought we were, so we just contented ourselves with chatting and reminiscing over the past week, the highlights, whether or not we would do it again, and the 'Carnival Cruise Lines' experience, etc.
At 2:30pm, we went to a game called 'Newlywed, Not-So Newlywed', where three couples - one newlywed, one married for 20 years, and one on their golden anniversary were given questions, the answers to which they were to write down with no help from their partner. The questions ranged from 'what is your partner wearing today' (they were facing away from each other) to 'what is your partner's worst feature and why?' Heh heh, the answers were wild and varied, but all hilarious.
This evening's entertainment was a talent show put on by us, the guests. If you wanted to participate, you had to sign up after the Newlywed game. I was egged on to put my name down to do something on the piano, but I didn't, as I firmly believed that the standard would be much higher than my average skills (and it turned out I was right)
After the game, we went up on deck to swim in the pool and lie in the jacuzzi for one last final time, before going back down to get ready for dinner. I did some preliminary packing while similtaneously trying to find something decent to wear. The choice of what to wear for dinner was becoming very slim as I had worn almost everything I had with me, and it was too expensive to get my laundry done on the ship ($2.00 for a pair of socks, and extra if they were to be pressed, $6.00 for 1 T-shirt, etc) I was going to wait until the Banana Bungalows in Miami the next day. Dinner was dinner, and it was lovely, and then back down to the cabin to get a bit more packing done. Although our luggage had to be outside the cabin door by 11:30, I figured that we had a window until at least 12:30 - 1:00am, since there was luggage for 3000 guests to be removed, and they would begin at the top, more expensive suites (and this happened to be the case). So, we went off to watch the final night's entertainment, the talent show, and 7 acts were chosen to perform. Every one of them was brilliant. We had a couple of singers, a pianist who was absolutely fantastic, a guitarist, and a dancer. I was glad I didn't put my name down!
It was all over at 11:45pm, and as is usual (apparently) on the last night of a cruise, we were all invited to the 'special midnight buffet'. So, up we went, and were met by a fantastic display of carved ice figures, objects made from fruit and flowers, and other amazing artistic items made from food. It was a sight to behold, and nobody wanted to eat any of it for fear of ruining the stunning images before us! Unfortunately, we didn't stay as we still had to pack, and I'm disappointed that I didn't run back up again with my camera. Those memories will just have to stay inside my head.
Finally, we managed to fit everything into the rucksacks (we were the ONLY people we saw that had rucksacks - every single other guest had matching suitcases!) and decided to go to bed; we had to be up early in the morning to disembark.
All the cabins were divided into different colours, and we were in the grey section. The way debarkation worked was that we were not to disembark until we heard our colour being announced. Until then, we were allowed to go anywhere on the ship, including our cabin. The calling of colours began at about 9:30am, and by 10:30am, we were still on the boat, and I didn't realise that we had as many colours in the spectrum! Finally, we were called; we went to pick up our hand luggage, looked around to see if we had left anything, and walked off the ship and to a huge queue ('line' if you're an American!) which was moving nowhere fast. That took us eventually to a large warehouse where our baggage was, and I'm actually glad that we were last, for it was really easy to find our stuff - and they were all laid out according to our colours! I was not aware of any customs that we were told about, and just walked out onto the port and a barrage of buses, cars and taxis - it was absolute bedlum. We were to get a taxi to Miami Beach (remember, thats a different city to both Miami, and Port of Miami which was where we were). It was pretty easy to get a cab, and soon we were speeding off to begin another, totally different part of our Christmas Holiday Saga. Although I gave the taxi driver the address of the Banana Bungalows Youth Hostel, I wasn't convinced that he either understood me, or knew the way, as he was talking in a different language into the walkie-talkie, and the meter was increasing at a rapid rate.
Anyway, $20 later, we were on the correct street, but he didn't know where the youth hostel was, so we decided to get off and find it ourselves. If we were on the right street, it wasn't going to be that difficult...was it? I went into the first shop I could see that was open, a restaurant, and asked the girl where the Banana Bungalows complex was, and she just looked blankly back at me. I repeated the question, but it turned out she couldn't speak English. I then went across the road to a travel agents, and she informed me that we were less than 100 yards away from us to the north. Happy Days!!!!
10 minutes later, we were at the front desk. Now, before we had embarked on this marathon journey, we knew that there was to be approximately 30 Irish people on the B.E.I programme staying here, and since there were so many of us, the management was allowing a bit of a discount - we just had to explain who we were with. Of course, as luck would have it, the girl at the front desk didn't speak English either, and hadn't a clue as to what I was talking about. She got someone else, and I asked her if there were some Irish people staying; she replied that she didn't know. This made us feel uneasy, as we didn't see anyone we recognised either. The girl also told us that we couldn't check in until 2:30pm anyway, and it was only 11:00am by this stage. Following an assurance that we were indeed going to check in that day, they agreed to take our bags in behind the desk until we returned, and we went to check our email as there was a facility in the lobby. While doing this, didn't Adam, one of the guys who had set up the whole Banana Bungalows thing come up to us. After all the pleasantries (how are ya, how was it, etc...apparently there were 25 Irish people currently staying there, as some had had their stuff stolen, and went to another youth hostel) we explained our attempt at checking in to him, he went up to the desk, and a couple of minutes later said to us that we could check in right now if we wanted. It was going to cost $16 a night (heh heh)
To be continued...