Continuing my reflections on a recent cruise:
On the Grand Caymen Island the most common adventure seems
to be the stingrays. Signs around call it Stingray City. So not to miss out on the
experience we boarded a boat to see
On the agenda was for each of us to take turns holding one
while one of the crew held it and then we were to kiss the underneath belly
side of the stingray. The reason for kissing a stingray is legend has it that
it will bring you seven years of good luck. Okay, I did it but how gross did
that feel, that slimy skin. Oh and that
side is right by the mouth.
Petting it was rather
odd, though many said how cute. I am not sure that is the adjective that came
to mind but I am an animal lover at heart.
As I turned around, after my turn of kissing said creature, while one man held one, he placed it up
against my back and it climbed up to my neck while he said “whoa” and I tried
to remain calm. That was the weirdest feeling!
Another crew member gave me a squid piece and told me to
hold its dead head away from my hands a few inches under water so a sting ray
could suck it out like a vacuum. Keep in
The snorkeling stops were next and were unbelievable and so
beautiful in Grand Caymen! So many fish and coral to view! I must admit this was a highlight and the
area we were allowed to explore expansive. Exactly what a snorkeling excursion
should be. The last one was over wreckage providing plenty of nooks and
crannies to find creatures’ large and small hiding that you might not otherwise
see in the ocean.
Showtimes on the ship are 7:30 and 9:30 every night. Doors
open one half hour in advance. It never fails people show up late or right
within five minutes of start time and obstruct others view. One night as we are sitting behind friends, a
couple decides to sit to the left of them, dead center in the middle of the row
just a few minutes before the show. They inform our friends they are saving
seats for a group coming shortly. As time ticks away slowly people come to the
row, and each time, every one of the eight in the group we know have to
repeatedly stand up to let each person walk past them. By the time the fourth
came past, it became quite funny as our group were growing frustrated.
One finally asks the initial couple if they know how many
more people are coming so they know how many more times they are going to have
to stand up with their drinks. It is starting to look like a Catholic Mass and
the entire row we are sitting in is laughing by now. The latecomer tells them t
she is not sure. One suggests the next
time they come earlier or sit closer to the end! Finally the either simply stand and are left
there for five more minutes while folks dwindle in over that timeframe into the
first few minutes of the introduction of the show as more people come from that
group. People are just plain rude. Just because you are on vacation doesn’t
mean you ignore etiquette.
Next the port of Aruba.
When we boarded this catamaran, immediately the full sails went up and
we were booking it faster than ever. We had high winds and it was so memorable
and
In Aruba, the
snorkeling was exactly what nobody wants to do, be in a traffic jam in the
water. This is when a crew puts you in a small area with tons of people where
you can literally not swim with your legs straight without kicking each other.
The space was so small several folks got out of the water within five minutes
due to crammed quarters.
Again, I am long-legged for a woman, a former basket-ball
player in high school so suffer right along with the men in the boat. I found
my way to the perimeter by found quickly ropes anchoring our boat and a few
other boats in the area impede your movements, haha! And were beyond where we
were supposed to go as several crew members yelled at me and a few others that
dared to go that far from the mass crowd that looked like Black Friday in the
water.
Finally one of the crew members on the boat jumped in and
pulled the borders out beyond another boat and allowed us to move beyond. I
think they realized someone was going to drown a few folks so they could move,
whether intentional or accidental. Plus, how do you keep track of head counts
in the water with all that congestion? It
really had no effect and it was the shortest snorkel experience I ever had but
the viewing was nice.
The ride to the beaches in Aruba was short but the time at
the beach was splendid. The beaches are some of the prettiest I have ever seen!
There could never be enough time there because the water is so clear. I will forever hold that memory dear! The beaches lined with tiki huts and beauty
as far as the eye can see.
One night I experienced the rockiest night on the ocean
ever. Everyone was walking as if they were drunk. This was the only night in
the entire vacation you could truly not separate the sober from the not. The
waves were so heavy they were creating white tops on the ocean. I quickly learned that I do not experience
sea sickness any longer. Everyone walked down the hallways zig zagging so much
that it was quick easy entertainment to literally open your door and stare down
the hallway. You could only go up or down the stairs
holding the guardrails or risk falling over.
It was pretty funny to see the dance crew that night perform live and
have some unexpected tumbles with some added giggles.
Bonaire was where we had trained to be, biking 5-6 miles a
day. We picked a biking expedition that had electric bikes knowing we would
have assistance, lots of it as the ride
As we started, for some reason, my husband and I opted to be
the last in line as we started our trek and our guide, who was lucky enough to
get to ride in his truck said we must ride single file. If anyone had a
problem, they were to raise their hand and he would be looking out for them.
The bikes had a feature where you could raise the level of the power of the
electric motor to help assist you from 0 to 6.
Onward we started with a horrible headwind as he had forewarned us.
As luck would have it, who in the group landed up with a
bike malfunctioning? That would be moi!
Yes, my bike’s button would not work so as everyone else is using
assisted motors mine is stuck on 0 traveling for over a mile or two with a
strong headwind trying to pedal as fast as everyone else. We are in heavy
traffic as my husband is trying to shout sensing something is wrong with my
bike, since I am waving backwards at him. Once we hit the outsides of town,
some 4 miles out and the rest of the group is well out of sight and he has been
raising his hand upwards to no avail to our trusted leader, he motions for me
to pull over. He finds a small button that he can use his pocket knife to knock
on my electric motor but he can only get it up to level 3 or it bounces back to
0. Onward we go pulling back on to the
road to attempt to catch up pedaling as if we are in the Great Race or the Tour
de France. Unbelievably this is where our conditioning comes in and we actually
manage to get within eye sight of the last biker after several more miles and
finally the tour guide truck has, by then, pulled the entire group over to see
what happened to us!
As we are met with angry faces of other bikers because we
apparently slowed down their
Our toilet had a little problem towards the end of our trip.
And apparently our next door neighbors did too as we heard the plumbing crew
working on theirs also, loud swishing sounds or rather whoosh at odd times of
the day and night. The first time it happened we had returned to our cabin
after a night out and argued over who had gone in there last and forgot to
flush! When it didn’t work after pushing
the cute little button several times to no avail, we had to call Housekeeping.
Waiting for someone to come up, not knowing they could
access it without entering the room, we found ourselves at midnight lying on
our bed fully clothed in formal clothes for an hour! And the whole time we weren’t sure if we
should be laughing or frustrated. After the third time it stopped up in four
days, we thought about buying our neighbors a drink to commiserate the misery
of the plugged toilet issue as we were trading the issue. Note: we had the
bonus of unlimited drinks on the cruise so it would not have been a budget
stretch to buy them anything they wanted at the bar! Perhaps the next batch of
travelers were lucky and not backed up with a clogged john.
The adventure of going to 5 ports over 11 days was an
experience for sure! Each had its
.
