Thursday, August 28, 2008
Way too long
It has been way too long since I have been on a cruise. I was looking at this and realized that it was about 2 years ago. I have been on two other cruises since then, but those were the early part of 2007. Since then Royal Caribbean has changed the ships and the schedule in Galveston. They used to have two ships there year round, but now they have one ship (The Voyager of the Seas) there only in the summer. Add a fuel charge to the higher summer time prices, and I would rather just fly to Cancun. I do wish that they would bring a ship to Galveston year round though. I would much rather do my cruising in the fall and winter.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Day 3
Day three was pretty lazy. After getting up, we went to the Windjammer (the buffet dining room) and got some coffee and breakfast. While we were there, we ran into the people from Houston that we had met the other day. There were two young ladies, Rabia and Amanda and two older ladies Jo and Carol.
Joe and Carol
Rabia
Amanda
We sat and talked with them for a while, swam and laid out in the sun for a bit before planned activates began. First was the Men’s Sexy Legs contest. This pretty much consisted of guys trying to strut their stuff and impress the surrounding ladies. The winner however turned out to be a man named Warren. Warren is 89 years old and surprisingly did have nice legs for an old man. (So I was told by the women at my table. I surely was not looking at some old mans legs.) The pic below of Warren is a little foggy because the lens fogged up after bringing the camera from the cold A/C to the humid Caribbean heat.
Warren is the old dude in the white Kangol hat.
After this, they had the Women’s “Best Biceps” contest, which was similar to the men’s contest and consisted of women strutting their stuff. I stopped paying attention and have no idea who won.
Before dinner, we went to the show for the day. This day featured Bowser’s Rock and Roll Party. Bowser is from the 70’s group / tv show Sha Na Na, who gave us such great songs as The Hand Jive, Goodnight Sweetheart and others that we could not live without. Personally, I was not impressed overall. I think that many of the older people that remember Sha Na Na from their youth however enjoyed it greatly.
Later, at dinner, everyone was talking about what they had planned for the next day in Jamaica. We talked about going together, but Vine and Elaine had planned excursions, so that just left all of the San Antonio people. Arlene did not feel well and left dinner early, then the rest of us met up at the Shall We Dance room for The Quest.
The Quest is fun. :)
Ok, so The Quest was interesting. We had never done it before, but will probably do it on every future cruise. Here is how it works. About 800 people show up and split into around 100 teams. Each team gets a plastic card with a number on it. Our team was number 11. Dan Dan the Party Man says that he wants to see something, for example “a woman holding a white shoelace out of the shoe”. At this point, every team scrambles to find what Dan wants to see and then a representative (in this case a woman from the team) quickly walks (running is prohibited) to Dan and shows him the item. When he sees your card and whatever he wanted to see he yells out your teams number. When Dan yells your teams number, some other crew member records points for your team. As I am sure you can imagine the chaos. Here is a picture of one of the contestants with three bras on his head.
The Quest
While our team did not win, we had a good time.
After The Quest, Nick and Kendra went to change and we never saw them again, but they were on their honeymoon, so we understand. Manuel stuck with us for a while and later we decided to meet with him the next morning at about 9:00 and hit Jamaica with him and Arlene.
Joe and Carol
Rabia
Amanda
We sat and talked with them for a while, swam and laid out in the sun for a bit before planned activates began. First was the Men’s Sexy Legs contest. This pretty much consisted of guys trying to strut their stuff and impress the surrounding ladies. The winner however turned out to be a man named Warren. Warren is 89 years old and surprisingly did have nice legs for an old man. (So I was told by the women at my table. I surely was not looking at some old mans legs.) The pic below of Warren is a little foggy because the lens fogged up after bringing the camera from the cold A/C to the humid Caribbean heat.
Warren is the old dude in the white Kangol hat.
After this, they had the Women’s “Best Biceps” contest, which was similar to the men’s contest and consisted of women strutting their stuff. I stopped paying attention and have no idea who won.
Before dinner, we went to the show for the day. This day featured Bowser’s Rock and Roll Party. Bowser is from the 70’s group / tv show Sha Na Na, who gave us such great songs as The Hand Jive, Goodnight Sweetheart and others that we could not live without. Personally, I was not impressed overall. I think that many of the older people that remember Sha Na Na from their youth however enjoyed it greatly.
Later, at dinner, everyone was talking about what they had planned for the next day in Jamaica. We talked about going together, but Vine and Elaine had planned excursions, so that just left all of the San Antonio people. Arlene did not feel well and left dinner early, then the rest of us met up at the Shall We Dance room for The Quest.
The Quest is fun. :)
Ok, so The Quest was interesting. We had never done it before, but will probably do it on every future cruise. Here is how it works. About 800 people show up and split into around 100 teams. Each team gets a plastic card with a number on it. Our team was number 11. Dan Dan the Party Man says that he wants to see something, for example “a woman holding a white shoelace out of the shoe”. At this point, every team scrambles to find what Dan wants to see and then a representative (in this case a woman from the team) quickly walks (running is prohibited) to Dan and shows him the item. When he sees your card and whatever he wanted to see he yells out your teams number. When Dan yells your teams number, some other crew member records points for your team. As I am sure you can imagine the chaos. Here is a picture of one of the contestants with three bras on his head.
The Quest
While our team did not win, we had a good time.
After The Quest, Nick and Kendra went to change and we never saw them again, but they were on their honeymoon, so we understand. Manuel stuck with us for a while and later we decided to meet with him the next morning at about 9:00 and hit Jamaica with him and Arlene.
Monday, September 25, 2006
What really happened
Ok, so as many of you know, I did not actually keep up with this blog while I was on the ship.
I ran into a lot of problems. First, my laptop battery doesn’t hold a charge, so I had to write it while I was in the room. Second, Internet Explorer for Mac crashes all of the time and in order to use the wireless on the ship you have to use IE. This just made it take for ever to update my blog and at 50 cents a minute at speeds around dial up, I did not want to spend a bunch of money on posting this. Finally, come to find out, it cut into my chilling out too much and I did not really want to take the time.
Don’t worry though, I will do my best to reconstruct some of the day by day and then I will post a bunch of shorter posts about some of the more interesting things such as Mexican Boxers, Santa Claus and secret societies.
I am sorry that I dropped the ball and even as I look back on it now, I wish that I had taken a few minutes to tap it all out even if I did not post it. :( Oh well. I guess I will just have to go again. :)
I ran into a lot of problems. First, my laptop battery doesn’t hold a charge, so I had to write it while I was in the room. Second, Internet Explorer for Mac crashes all of the time and in order to use the wireless on the ship you have to use IE. This just made it take for ever to update my blog and at 50 cents a minute at speeds around dial up, I did not want to spend a bunch of money on posting this. Finally, come to find out, it cut into my chilling out too much and I did not really want to take the time.
Don’t worry though, I will do my best to reconstruct some of the day by day and then I will post a bunch of shorter posts about some of the more interesting things such as Mexican Boxers, Santa Claus and secret societies.
I am sorry that I dropped the ball and even as I look back on it now, I wish that I had taken a few minutes to tap it all out even if I did not post it. :( Oh well. I guess I will just have to go again. :)
Day 2, Night Time
So, at dinner, we made sure to find out the names of all of the people at our table and we took pictures of them all.
To our left sat Manuel and Arlene. They are newlyweds, 12 years apart in age. She is 25 and he is 37. Wow!
Across from Kasey and I were Nick and Kendra, another set of newlyweds on their honeymoon. Nick is 21 and Kendra is 19.
To our right sat Vince and Elaine. They are from Louisiana and have been married for a long time.
The show of the evening was Piano Man. Kasey and I had already seen this show the last cruise and decided not to go.
To our left sat Manuel and Arlene. They are newlyweds, 12 years apart in age. She is 25 and he is 37. Wow!
Across from Kasey and I were Nick and Kendra, another set of newlyweds on their honeymoon. Nick is 21 and Kendra is 19.
To our right sat Vince and Elaine. They are from Louisiana and have been married for a long time.
The show of the evening was Piano Man. Kasey and I had already seen this show the last cruise and decided not to go.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Day Two
Well, the day is not over yet and I have not even posted the first days events yet. I will try to take some time to do it after dinner tonight.
Today has been a lazy day. I woke up early and went to get some coffee on deck nine. I left Kasey in bed, but left the walkie talkie and told her that she could call me on channel one later. Come to find out, the walkie talkies did not work. They work and all, but they could not reach me on deck nine with Kasey down on deck three. I think that it might be because of the metal hull and I know that at least some of the floors are metal too. This might be blocking the signal. She said that while she was in the elevator, it worked though. Ah well. I think that they will still be useful at some point.
Today we really did a whole lot of nothing so far, except for a lot of people watching. We enjoy watching inebriated people dance and everyone else doing whatever they do. We like trying to figure out what’s “really” going on. :)
They are so cool.
We also met some new people from Houston, but I can only remember one of their names because it was unique. Her name was Rabia (pronounced “Robbie - uh”). Her mom said that she had a friend from Pakistan who had named their daughter that and she liked it. Kasey and I thought it was pretty cool too. Rabia, her mom and two other ladies joined us in people watching for a couple of hours too.
While watching the people dance, we even saw Nick and Kendra get in the small crowd and boogy. It was pretty funny. We will have to mention it to them at dinner tonight.
Anyway, as you have probably guessed, our day is not yet over and I need to cut this short to make it to our first formal dinner of the week. I will be sure to take some pics at dinner and post those too.
That reminds me. Another thing that we learned is that the lunch that they serve in the dining room is WAY better than the buffet. Kasey and I both had chicken lettuce wraps and calamari. The calamari was actually good too. I had expected it to be rubbery.
Today has been a lazy day. I woke up early and went to get some coffee on deck nine. I left Kasey in bed, but left the walkie talkie and told her that she could call me on channel one later. Come to find out, the walkie talkies did not work. They work and all, but they could not reach me on deck nine with Kasey down on deck three. I think that it might be because of the metal hull and I know that at least some of the floors are metal too. This might be blocking the signal. She said that while she was in the elevator, it worked though. Ah well. I think that they will still be useful at some point.
Today we really did a whole lot of nothing so far, except for a lot of people watching. We enjoy watching inebriated people dance and everyone else doing whatever they do. We like trying to figure out what’s “really” going on. :)
They are so cool.
We also met some new people from Houston, but I can only remember one of their names because it was unique. Her name was Rabia (pronounced “Robbie - uh”). Her mom said that she had a friend from Pakistan who had named their daughter that and she liked it. Kasey and I thought it was pretty cool too. Rabia, her mom and two other ladies joined us in people watching for a couple of hours too.
While watching the people dance, we even saw Nick and Kendra get in the small crowd and boogy. It was pretty funny. We will have to mention it to them at dinner tonight.
Anyway, as you have probably guessed, our day is not yet over and I need to cut this short to make it to our first formal dinner of the week. I will be sure to take some pics at dinner and post those too.
That reminds me. Another thing that we learned is that the lunch that they serve in the dining room is WAY better than the buffet. Kasey and I both had chicken lettuce wraps and calamari. The calamari was actually good too. I had expected it to be rubbery.
Day One
So, it was raining and humid on the way to the port and as we arrived Galveston stunk more than usual, but we are on our way and the vacation was starting. The ship was due to leave at 5:00 and the latest we could board was 4:00. We arrived around three as opposed to noon when boarding began. In my opinion, that was a pretty good thing because the lines were short.
As we got on the ship though, it seemed pretty desolate. There were not many people on the decks, but there were surprisingly more kids on board than I expected. We headed to our room and unloaded some of our luggage as it arrived then headed out for the muster drill a little early. No, I did not follow my own advice, and we were near the back of the sardine package. We did take some pics though to give people a better idea of what the muster drill looks like
A shot of the life boat.
Kasey and I ready to go.
This is our single muster group. We were in the third row from the back. :)
Muster Station 16.
As we were leaving Galveston, the rain stopped but the clouds remained. It made for a gloomy departure, but we were heading for clear skys, blue (instead of brown) water and good times.
Our first evening was uneventful as far as scenery goes, but here is a shot of some of the oil rigs that we passed on our way.
The first night, there was one show that introduced the cruise director, the singers and dancers and wrapped up with a comedian. The cruise director is a different person (Dan, Dan the Party Man) than the lady (Marni) who did it last time and we were glad that the singers and dancers were different too. One show will be the Piano Man, a compilation of songs by Billy Joel, Elton John and Ray Charles, but the other show that the singers and dancers put on is country themed. The last cruise the second show was a medley of Broadway hits.
We have second seating for dinner and we were placed with three other couples. Two couples are newly weds on their honeymoons and the other couple is an older couple married for 23 years. The neat thing is that the two honeymooning couples are both from San Antonio too and both of the guys work within a mile of my office. Weird. I don’t remember all of their names, but one couple is Nick and Kendra, the guy from the other newlywed couple’s name is Manuel and the guy from the older couple is named Vincent. Tonight, I will be sure to get all of their names and pics of them too.
I am not exactly sure how thing blog posting is going to work out. There is a lot of relaxing to do and since the battery on my laptop is only lasting about 12 minutes, it is a pain to find time to do it in the room. I will try to post every day, but it may just be pics pith short descriptions some days.
I hope that all of my friends and family that are reading this back home are having fun, but I have to admit that I do not miss you. Yet. :)
As we got on the ship though, it seemed pretty desolate. There were not many people on the decks, but there were surprisingly more kids on board than I expected. We headed to our room and unloaded some of our luggage as it arrived then headed out for the muster drill a little early. No, I did not follow my own advice, and we were near the back of the sardine package. We did take some pics though to give people a better idea of what the muster drill looks like
A shot of the life boat.
Kasey and I ready to go.
This is our single muster group. We were in the third row from the back. :)
Muster Station 16.
As we were leaving Galveston, the rain stopped but the clouds remained. It made for a gloomy departure, but we were heading for clear skys, blue (instead of brown) water and good times.
Our first evening was uneventful as far as scenery goes, but here is a shot of some of the oil rigs that we passed on our way.
The first night, there was one show that introduced the cruise director, the singers and dancers and wrapped up with a comedian. The cruise director is a different person (Dan, Dan the Party Man) than the lady (Marni) who did it last time and we were glad that the singers and dancers were different too. One show will be the Piano Man, a compilation of songs by Billy Joel, Elton John and Ray Charles, but the other show that the singers and dancers put on is country themed. The last cruise the second show was a medley of Broadway hits.
We have second seating for dinner and we were placed with three other couples. Two couples are newly weds on their honeymoons and the other couple is an older couple married for 23 years. The neat thing is that the two honeymooning couples are both from San Antonio too and both of the guys work within a mile of my office. Weird. I don’t remember all of their names, but one couple is Nick and Kendra, the guy from the other newlywed couple’s name is Manuel and the guy from the older couple is named Vincent. Tonight, I will be sure to get all of their names and pics of them too.
I am not exactly sure how thing blog posting is going to work out. There is a lot of relaxing to do and since the battery on my laptop is only lasting about 12 minutes, it is a pain to find time to do it in the room. I will try to post every day, but it may just be pics pith short descriptions some days.
I hope that all of my friends and family that are reading this back home are having fun, but I have to admit that I do not miss you. Yet. :)
Friday, September 15, 2006
Bob Marley’s Mausoleum
This trip, we do not plan to go to Bob Marley’s Mausoleum in Jamaica, but we did go last time. It was a great place to visit and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
When we arrived in Ocho Rios, the first thing we did was talk to a guy outside of the dock about getting a taxi. We told him that we would like to go to Bob Marley’s Mausoleum (BMM from now on) and to Dunn River Falls. He said that BMM was about an hour and a half drive there and back and then the falls were about ten minutes from here, so we would need the taxi for pretty much all day. He said that it would cost us $150, but I talked him down to $130. I thought that I might be able to do better, but later I found that gas is equivalent to about $5 a gallon there and that the car would be running almost all day, so I did not feel too bad about it.
We met our driver, Tony “Bright Light” and then headed out. The trip to BMM really did take about an hour and a half, but wasn’t as far as I thought. The trip was all on tiny winding roads and was about as scary as riding in a New York taxi, but the scenery was beautiful.
The whole ride, Tony was telling us about different things that we passed by including movies that were shot near there (two James Bond films and more), things about the school systems, and pointed out many of the wild fruits, and other vegetation. He even stopped and pulled some fresh limes, then later some lemon grass and clove. It was a really neat experience and an awesome custom tour for us.
We eventually arrived in Nine Mile, the town where The Bob Marley Mausoleum is, and pulled into the site. The whole place is surrounded by a concrete wall that is maybe fifteen feet high. We went through the gate and parked. As soon as we got out, there was a small booth cut into the wall that had three Rasta’s letting us know that they has some weed for sale and that it would cure whatever may be wrong with us. We politely declined and walked up some stairs to a small restaurant.
On the way, we had to go through a small room that contained only an upright piano, gold records and two Rasta’s.
We stopped to look and talk to the guys a bit. We also got some pictures.
After the ride, Kasey was feeling a bit car sick and wanted some mango juice to calm her stomach. She asked if they had any, and sure enough, for three dollars they did. After paying, they asked us to sit down, and then started a DVD playing about Bob Marley’s life. We watched while we waited for the juice, wondering why it took so long to get a bottle. It ends up that they were in the back juicing fresh mangos! Yum!
Apparently electricity problems are a common thing there, because the power went out in the middle of the DVD and no one seemed to mind. Instead, a man introduced us as our tour guide and led us into another area of the site.
There were several small stops on the way up the hill where the guide talked about different points in Bob’s life, and then we arrived at the house. This is apparently the house that Bob Marley grew up in before he moved to the U.S. Here is a pic of Kasey sitting on his bed. She was warned not to stay there too long as many women have gotten pregnant by spending too much time in Bobs bed. (Ha Ha. Ok that is not that funny, but the Ha Ha is. All of the guides there have an interesting way to laugh, which they do often. This can’t really be expressed in words though. You should go there though and see for your self!)
Here is a pic of me and our guide. This is at the door to Bob’s actual Mausoleum building. You are not allowed to take pictures inside, so I do not have any.
This next picture has a couple of stories to it.
First, we were told about the star of David in the window. Rastafarians believe that they are descendants of King David though an illicit affair between King Solomon (David’s son) and the queen of Sheba. (lots of interesting stuff in Wikipedia) Anyway, it was explained to us that a six pointed star, like this one, is a “male” stare, while a five pointed star is a “female” star. In explanation, we were told to hold out our arms while in the shower and count the points our bodies made. I’m not going to go into this any further.
The pot (no the ceramic bowl!) is on a stone base. We were told that it is a Jamaican custom to not build a fire on the ground, but rather to build the ground up to a good level and then build the fire on top of that. This pile of stones was for that purpose, but now it just holds this pot. Yes, that is pot in the pot. It kind of grows like a weed around the place, even in the cracks of the sidewalk.
Next we were told that it is a Rastafarian custom to build a “Chalice” when a major event in their life is near. Apparently this Chalice is a humongous bong (or water pipe) that has a bowl that can hold a quarter ounce of marijuana. We are told that that would be about a freezer bag full. Wowzers!
I’ll wrap this up with a funny story. Remember that this place is surrounded by concrete walls. Well, there is a gate that the cars come in and as we were walking down the hill to leave we noticed that there was another gate. We would not have noticed, but there was a hand poking through beneath the gate holding several bags of marijuana and gripping two or three joints between each pair of fingers. We could barely see a mans eye and we heard him yelling “Hey mon, come over here and buy a Jamaican pineapple!” I just made a face and looked at Kasey saying “Yeah. Buy weed from the mysterious arm! I wonder if he sells much.” It was surreal.
When we arrived in Ocho Rios, the first thing we did was talk to a guy outside of the dock about getting a taxi. We told him that we would like to go to Bob Marley’s Mausoleum (BMM from now on) and to Dunn River Falls. He said that BMM was about an hour and a half drive there and back and then the falls were about ten minutes from here, so we would need the taxi for pretty much all day. He said that it would cost us $150, but I talked him down to $130. I thought that I might be able to do better, but later I found that gas is equivalent to about $5 a gallon there and that the car would be running almost all day, so I did not feel too bad about it.
We met our driver, Tony “Bright Light” and then headed out. The trip to BMM really did take about an hour and a half, but wasn’t as far as I thought. The trip was all on tiny winding roads and was about as scary as riding in a New York taxi, but the scenery was beautiful.
The whole ride, Tony was telling us about different things that we passed by including movies that were shot near there (two James Bond films and more), things about the school systems, and pointed out many of the wild fruits, and other vegetation. He even stopped and pulled some fresh limes, then later some lemon grass and clove. It was a really neat experience and an awesome custom tour for us.
We eventually arrived in Nine Mile, the town where The Bob Marley Mausoleum is, and pulled into the site. The whole place is surrounded by a concrete wall that is maybe fifteen feet high. We went through the gate and parked. As soon as we got out, there was a small booth cut into the wall that had three Rasta’s letting us know that they has some weed for sale and that it would cure whatever may be wrong with us. We politely declined and walked up some stairs to a small restaurant.
On the way, we had to go through a small room that contained only an upright piano, gold records and two Rasta’s.
We stopped to look and talk to the guys a bit. We also got some pictures.
After the ride, Kasey was feeling a bit car sick and wanted some mango juice to calm her stomach. She asked if they had any, and sure enough, for three dollars they did. After paying, they asked us to sit down, and then started a DVD playing about Bob Marley’s life. We watched while we waited for the juice, wondering why it took so long to get a bottle. It ends up that they were in the back juicing fresh mangos! Yum!
Apparently electricity problems are a common thing there, because the power went out in the middle of the DVD and no one seemed to mind. Instead, a man introduced us as our tour guide and led us into another area of the site.
There were several small stops on the way up the hill where the guide talked about different points in Bob’s life, and then we arrived at the house. This is apparently the house that Bob Marley grew up in before he moved to the U.S. Here is a pic of Kasey sitting on his bed. She was warned not to stay there too long as many women have gotten pregnant by spending too much time in Bobs bed. (Ha Ha. Ok that is not that funny, but the Ha Ha is. All of the guides there have an interesting way to laugh, which they do often. This can’t really be expressed in words though. You should go there though and see for your self!)
Here is a pic of me and our guide. This is at the door to Bob’s actual Mausoleum building. You are not allowed to take pictures inside, so I do not have any.
This next picture has a couple of stories to it.
First, we were told about the star of David in the window. Rastafarians believe that they are descendants of King David though an illicit affair between King Solomon (David’s son) and the queen of Sheba. (lots of interesting stuff in Wikipedia) Anyway, it was explained to us that a six pointed star, like this one, is a “male” stare, while a five pointed star is a “female” star. In explanation, we were told to hold out our arms while in the shower and count the points our bodies made. I’m not going to go into this any further.
The pot (no the ceramic bowl!) is on a stone base. We were told that it is a Jamaican custom to not build a fire on the ground, but rather to build the ground up to a good level and then build the fire on top of that. This pile of stones was for that purpose, but now it just holds this pot. Yes, that is pot in the pot. It kind of grows like a weed around the place, even in the cracks of the sidewalk.
Next we were told that it is a Rastafarian custom to build a “Chalice” when a major event in their life is near. Apparently this Chalice is a humongous bong (or water pipe) that has a bowl that can hold a quarter ounce of marijuana. We are told that that would be about a freezer bag full. Wowzers!
I’ll wrap this up with a funny story. Remember that this place is surrounded by concrete walls. Well, there is a gate that the cars come in and as we were walking down the hill to leave we noticed that there was another gate. We would not have noticed, but there was a hand poking through beneath the gate holding several bags of marijuana and gripping two or three joints between each pair of fingers. We could barely see a mans eye and we heard him yelling “Hey mon, come over here and buy a Jamaican pineapple!” I just made a face and looked at Kasey saying “Yeah. Buy weed from the mysterious arm! I wonder if he sells much.” It was surreal.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
As it begins…
As the cruise begins, you are naturally near the shore. I really enjoy being on deck at this time since there is so much to see. There is of course the coast line with all that is there, but there are also many other ships around hustling and bustling about their business. I saw many from China, Russia and tons of other countries. While near the shore you can also see fish and sometimes even dolphins! One thing that we saw a lot of while we were leaving is jellyfish. From the high decks you can see deep into the water and it looks like there are faint white blobs all over the place. That would be the jelly fish. I am not sure why they congregate around the ship channel, but as we left there were fewer and fewer. I wonder if it was jus the season for them… Well, we will have to see.
After an hour or two, you will not be able to see the shore at all and the closest dirt to you is several thousand feet below the water. As the first night comes near, there are fewer and fewer ships, except the Rhapsody and one other. There is a Carnival ship that has almost the same itinerary, except that instead of Ocho Rios, it stops in Montego Bay and this ship is visible on the horizon for most of the cruise. The first night though, there are many oil drilling platforms and weather platforms visible from the ship. It looks almost like passing a tiny town as you go by in the night. They are more visible in the night because of their lights, and I was quite surprised at how many how far out they were.
The second and third days are all at sea. There is very little to see, but staring out at the water is very peaceful. We occasionally saw some fish and quite often saw large patches of sea weed sometimes spanning several acres. These quiet days always make me think of sailors and pirates of the past. Their ships were so small and rickety compared to the mammoth Rhapsody, yet they sailed and lived for weeks on the sea, bravely crossing the great expanses.
That is so cool.
I am totally stoked. I am leaving for Houston on Saturday to stay with some friends, and then the cruise starts on Sunday after church. That is awesome.
After an hour or two, you will not be able to see the shore at all and the closest dirt to you is several thousand feet below the water. As the first night comes near, there are fewer and fewer ships, except the Rhapsody and one other. There is a Carnival ship that has almost the same itinerary, except that instead of Ocho Rios, it stops in Montego Bay and this ship is visible on the horizon for most of the cruise. The first night though, there are many oil drilling platforms and weather platforms visible from the ship. It looks almost like passing a tiny town as you go by in the night. They are more visible in the night because of their lights, and I was quite surprised at how many how far out they were.
The second and third days are all at sea. There is very little to see, but staring out at the water is very peaceful. We occasionally saw some fish and quite often saw large patches of sea weed sometimes spanning several acres. These quiet days always make me think of sailors and pirates of the past. Their ships were so small and rickety compared to the mammoth Rhapsody, yet they sailed and lived for weeks on the sea, bravely crossing the great expanses.
That is so cool.
I am totally stoked. I am leaving for Houston on Saturday to stay with some friends, and then the cruise starts on Sunday after church. That is awesome.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Muster Drill
When you first get on the boat, I would recommend starting to have fun immediately! The buffet is full and open. Bands are playing and people are everywhere. Be sure to check and see what the show is for the evening and what time it starts. Our first time, we did not know that there was a show the first evening, and ended up missing it.
Although the fun starts right away, the ship doesn’t depart until 5:00. before it can start however, everyone on the boat must participate in a muster drill. This is a drill for what to do if you need to abandon ship. You will have a life jacket in your room and it will have a large number on it. This is the number of your muster station. So here is how it works: some time before the ship departs, they will announce that they will have a muster drill (probably about 4:00 or so). When it is time for your drill, you need to put on your life jacket and proceed to your muster station. All of the muster stations are on deck 5 and are basically under the life boats. There are huge numbers painted below the boats so, you will not be wondering if you are in the right place. Besides the numbers, there is also a map to your muster station on the back of the door to your room.
When you get to your muster station, there are a ton of people standing around packed into a small area. Each life boat holds at least 100 people (it may be closer to 200) and they are all standing next to you waiting for this to be over. These are the people you are going to die with. Just kidding. At this point everyone stands there until a member of the crew introduces themselves and tells you abut your life jacket. It is orange, has a water activated flashing light and a whistle. Everyone yells the number of the muster station out several times then are released to continue the fun.
Ok, so what is the point in this post? There are two things to learn here. First start having fun as soon as you get on the ship, but don’t get too excited because you have to do the muster drill. Second, you DO NOT want to be the first one there. People are SERIOUSLY packed in and standing out in the heat. If you are the first one there, you will be trapped in the back of the group and not be able to leave until everyone else does. That is seriously BO-ring.
As soon as it is over, go put your life jacket away (or continue to wear it if you REALLY want to) and start having fun. The ship is about to leave at this time, so I would recommend heading to one of the top decks to watch. There is stuff to see as you leave and a whole lot of nothing once you are at sea.
Although the fun starts right away, the ship doesn’t depart until 5:00. before it can start however, everyone on the boat must participate in a muster drill. This is a drill for what to do if you need to abandon ship. You will have a life jacket in your room and it will have a large number on it. This is the number of your muster station. So here is how it works: some time before the ship departs, they will announce that they will have a muster drill (probably about 4:00 or so). When it is time for your drill, you need to put on your life jacket and proceed to your muster station. All of the muster stations are on deck 5 and are basically under the life boats. There are huge numbers painted below the boats so, you will not be wondering if you are in the right place. Besides the numbers, there is also a map to your muster station on the back of the door to your room.
When you get to your muster station, there are a ton of people standing around packed into a small area. Each life boat holds at least 100 people (it may be closer to 200) and they are all standing next to you waiting for this to be over. These are the people you are going to die with. Just kidding. At this point everyone stands there until a member of the crew introduces themselves and tells you abut your life jacket. It is orange, has a water activated flashing light and a whistle. Everyone yells the number of the muster station out several times then are released to continue the fun.
Ok, so what is the point in this post? There are two things to learn here. First start having fun as soon as you get on the ship, but don’t get too excited because you have to do the muster drill. Second, you DO NOT want to be the first one there. People are SERIOUSLY packed in and standing out in the heat. If you are the first one there, you will be trapped in the back of the group and not be able to leave until everyone else does. That is seriously BO-ring.
As soon as it is over, go put your life jacket away (or continue to wear it if you REALLY want to) and start having fun. The ship is about to leave at this time, so I would recommend heading to one of the top decks to watch. There is stuff to see as you leave and a whole lot of nothing once you are at sea.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!
While docked in Georgetown, Grand Cayman on our last cruise, we were taking our time and eating a leisurely breakfast before heading out. The ship was mostly empty as it was near 11:00 and most people had gone to the shore. Suddenly we heard over the loudspeakers “Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! Emergency teams report to deck one” or something like that. (I remember the “Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!” part really well, but the rest is just a best guess.)
Needless to say, this was a little disconcerting. We asked one of the crew members what was going on, and they told us that it was for the crew and not to worry. They did not seem to care at all that it was happening, so we were pretty calm too. We asked around a little more, but no one would give us any more information.
It wasn’t until we got back home and watched a documentary on the Travel Channel that we learned what the deal was. It turns out that many of the people that wait your tables, work the stores and dance on stage have other jobs too. Some are specialized firemen; others are trained in crowd control and still more are trained in leading in case the ship needs to be abandoned (you learn that during your Muster Drill the first day). These specialized jobs require constant training which is done regularly and sometimes require yelling “Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!” over the loud speakers.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Tips and Gratuity
One thing that may come as a surprise to some first time cruisers is gratuity on the ship. Unlike leaving a tip at a restaurant in the states, you do not leave a couple of bucks on the table when you are done. Not only that, but you are … encouraged to leave a tip for other people besides your waiter at dinner. Royal Caribbean has the following guidelines:
Stateroom attendant: $3.50 USD a day per guest
Dining Room Waiter: $3.50 USD a day per guest
Assistant Waiter: $2.00 USD a day per guest
Headwaiter: $.75 USD a day per guest
This totals up to $68.25 per person (or $136.50 pr couple). These suggested minimum tips can be paid in several different ways including prepayment when you pay for your cruise, purchasing tip vouchers while on the ship, or simply cash. If you pre pay or pay the purser on the ship, you will get voucher slips near the end of your cruise and everyone will get envelopes that they can put the vouchers, cash or a combination of both in.
In addition to these gratuities, each bar has an automatic 15% gratuity for every sale from water to whiskey.
On the ship, there is 24 hour free room service (Awesome!). When the person brings your food to the door, you are not obligated to tip them, but a small tip of a dollar or two would surely be appreciated.
This next bit is based on a conversation that my dad had with one of the crew members, and has not been independently verified, but it seems that there is something in addition that you can do for your servers or room attendants that money can’t buy. At the end of the cruise, there is a survey that you can fill out about your experience. Apparently if a crew member is mentioned by name then it can earn them extra days off and help them to advance in their jobs. If your attendants or waiters do a great job, be sure to mention them by name in the survey. These people do a lot more than what you see them doing. They work upwards of 16 hours a day and many of them double as firemen and other jobs that you will hopefully never have to see.
Stateroom attendant: $3.50 USD a day per guest
Dining Room Waiter: $3.50 USD a day per guest
Assistant Waiter: $2.00 USD a day per guest
Headwaiter: $.75 USD a day per guest
This totals up to $68.25 per person (or $136.50 pr couple). These suggested minimum tips can be paid in several different ways including prepayment when you pay for your cruise, purchasing tip vouchers while on the ship, or simply cash. If you pre pay or pay the purser on the ship, you will get voucher slips near the end of your cruise and everyone will get envelopes that they can put the vouchers, cash or a combination of both in.
In addition to these gratuities, each bar has an automatic 15% gratuity for every sale from water to whiskey.
On the ship, there is 24 hour free room service (Awesome!). When the person brings your food to the door, you are not obligated to tip them, but a small tip of a dollar or two would surely be appreciated.
This next bit is based on a conversation that my dad had with one of the crew members, and has not been independently verified, but it seems that there is something in addition that you can do for your servers or room attendants that money can’t buy. At the end of the cruise, there is a survey that you can fill out about your experience. Apparently if a crew member is mentioned by name then it can earn them extra days off and help them to advance in their jobs. If your attendants or waiters do a great job, be sure to mention them by name in the survey. These people do a lot more than what you see them doing. They work upwards of 16 hours a day and many of them double as firemen and other jobs that you will hopefully never have to see.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Shore Excursions
There are tons of things to do on shore while docked at a port. Royal Caribbean has a lot of Shore Excursions that you can choose from on the ship or online before your cruise even starts. Each port has different activities, cultures, food and fun to be experienced, which is one thing that makes cruising great.
Personally, I have not and do not plan to participate in any of the Royal Caribbean planned shore excursions. There are many reasons why I do not, but they are great for many others. In my opinion, the excursions are over priced, not as fun and more time consuming.
As an example, while in Grand Cayman, there is a shore excursion that costs $28 per person. It is for a chair, a drink and a sandwich at the beach. It does not include transportation (about $8 both ways for 2 people) however, and the excursion does not mention that it is a trip to a free public beach! I was able to get on a bus (with people who paid for this excursion) and ride to the beach for $2 per person. If I had wanted a chair (which I did not), I could rent them for $5 each. I ate at a Wendy’s across the street from the beach for about $5 a person. I do not drink, but there were several bars along the beach. We had a great time and only spent about $20 total as opposed to $56 to do the exact same thing.
The planned shore excursions are more time consuming also because you have to cater to the group instead of what you want to do. The last time we were in Ocho Rios, we could have taken a shore excursion with a big group to Dun River Falls, or to Bob Marley’s Mausoleum. Since we went on our own, we were able to do both and spent a TON less money. Most of all we did not wait around for others. We did what we wanted, when we wanted. Just remember though:
WATCH THE TIME
In my opinion that is the biggest advantage of the planned excursions. If a group from a planned excursion is late because of a bus breaking down or whatever, the ship will wait for you. If however, you are on your own and wreck a moped or just plain forget, you are on your own and the ship will sail without you.
Planned excursions seem to be good for families, but if you do not have kids, are responsible and safe, then try it on your own.
By the way, while in port, there may be advantages to staying on the ship. It is pretty empty and I found out the last time that there is still stuff going on. One thing that I know of is that they did show movies in the theater. I don’t know what else went on, but I will try to find out.
Personally, I have not and do not plan to participate in any of the Royal Caribbean planned shore excursions. There are many reasons why I do not, but they are great for many others. In my opinion, the excursions are over priced, not as fun and more time consuming.
As an example, while in Grand Cayman, there is a shore excursion that costs $28 per person. It is for a chair, a drink and a sandwich at the beach. It does not include transportation (about $8 both ways for 2 people) however, and the excursion does not mention that it is a trip to a free public beach! I was able to get on a bus (with people who paid for this excursion) and ride to the beach for $2 per person. If I had wanted a chair (which I did not), I could rent them for $5 each. I ate at a Wendy’s across the street from the beach for about $5 a person. I do not drink, but there were several bars along the beach. We had a great time and only spent about $20 total as opposed to $56 to do the exact same thing.
The planned shore excursions are more time consuming also because you have to cater to the group instead of what you want to do. The last time we were in Ocho Rios, we could have taken a shore excursion with a big group to Dun River Falls, or to Bob Marley’s Mausoleum. Since we went on our own, we were able to do both and spent a TON less money. Most of all we did not wait around for others. We did what we wanted, when we wanted. Just remember though:
WATCH THE TIME
In my opinion that is the biggest advantage of the planned excursions. If a group from a planned excursion is late because of a bus breaking down or whatever, the ship will wait for you. If however, you are on your own and wreck a moped or just plain forget, you are on your own and the ship will sail without you.
Planned excursions seem to be good for families, but if you do not have kids, are responsible and safe, then try it on your own.
By the way, while in port, there may be advantages to staying on the ship. It is pretty empty and I found out the last time that there is still stuff going on. One thing that I know of is that they did show movies in the theater. I don’t know what else went on, but I will try to find out.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Walkie Talkies
The first cruise Kasey and I went on, we did not have walkie talkies, but we found that in our society today, we are very used to having our cell phones for instant communication. Well, cell phones do not work on the ship, so we found the hard way that there were many times that we needed to get in touch with each other but could not. (I don’t know how many times I have had to call Kasey on her cell phone when we are both in the same Walmart!) The simple solution is cheap 2 way radios (walkie talkies). In a previous post I mentioned that I was able to get a pair of these on eBay for less than $10. I actually won the auction for $1 and had to pay $6 shipping. That’s not a bad deal since many of them at stores run around $30. I was not too worried about the quality though since I will probably only use them on the cruise. I do wish however that they were like the Star Trek communicators though.
That would be sweet.
Anyway, the walkie talkies will be a great thing to have on the cruise. They will be pretty useful on an 11 deck ship that is as long as three football fields and pretty useful on the shore too.
That would be sweet.
Anyway, the walkie talkies will be a great thing to have on the cruise. They will be pretty useful on an 11 deck ship that is as long as three football fields and pretty useful on the shore too.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Missing the Boat
One of the worst things that can happen to you on a cruise is missing the ship as it departs from one of the ports of call. I have never had it happen to me, but there are some things that you can do to make you life a bit easier if it happens. You should be sure to take a few things with you when you hit the land.
1. A watch. Not a cell phone with a clock, but some other timepiece. A cell phone may change to local time instead of ships time. If you plan to do any water sports, you might want to get a waterproof one. (Water resistant to some number of feet is fine)
2. A credit card. If you are stuck, you will need to get a room for the night. (I would recommend Visa or Master Card, since I have had trouble getting Discover and AmEx accepted everywhere. The commercials are not true!)
3. A copy of your passport or other documents. Your real passport could get stolen if you take it, so take a copy. It will be helpful to your countries consulate.
4. Walkie talkies! Your cell phone may or may not work. If they do, it may be expensive! I was able to pick up a pair of walkie talkies with a two mile range for less than $10 including shipping on eBay. As a bonus, there is a clock built in to it, so I don’t need to worry about a watch! These are a must if you have groups splitting up.
If you get left behind, the ship will not turn around for you. You will have to do one of two things, either book a flight home and meet up with your stuff at the port of departure, or try to catch up with the ship at its next port of call. Neither will be cheap. You may be able to get help from your countries consulate, but I have no idea what kind.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Things to Remember
Things to Remember
On our last cruise there were several things that we wish that we had brought with us and several things that we were glad that we thought of!
One thing to be sure to bring is underwater cameras. You can get a pack of two Kodak underwater cameras at Maomart (walmart) for about $12, but they cost about $11 each on the ship and upwards of $20 each at the ports. It is well worth it since there are so many cool things to see when you are snorkeling and you will definitely want one for Dun River Falls in Jamaica. (More on that later!)
Speaking of snorkeling, I would also recommend that you get a simple snorkel set at walmart while you are getting the cameras. They are only about $12 a piece but are worth every penny. Look for them in the sporting goods section. We used these a lot while in Cozumel and Grand Cayman. The water there is really clear and beautiful.
Bullfrog! Bullfrog is my favorite sun block. It goes on well, lasts all day and is waterproof. Another cool thing is that it is clear and has alcohol in it, so it dries quickly and doesn’t leave you slimy. I found that it was not easy to locate in port or on the ship.
Computer speakers. Boy, were we glad that we brought a set of these. These are great to hook up to your laptop or iPod so that you can have some tunes to listen to while you are getting ready for dinner.
Copies of your passport or identification documents!! I will post more on this later, but when traveling out of the country it is a great idea to make photocopies of your passport or birth certificate and take one copy with you (along with the originals) and leave a copy with a friend who is staying in the U.S. This will be a life saver if yours gets stolen or if it is left on the ship and you are left on the port. (a WORST case scenario, but I will discuss this more later)
I am sure that there are several other things that will come to me later. As I think of things, I will add to this post.
On our last cruise there were several things that we wish that we had brought with us and several things that we were glad that we thought of!
One thing to be sure to bring is underwater cameras. You can get a pack of two Kodak underwater cameras at Maomart (walmart) for about $12, but they cost about $11 each on the ship and upwards of $20 each at the ports. It is well worth it since there are so many cool things to see when you are snorkeling and you will definitely want one for Dun River Falls in Jamaica. (More on that later!)
Speaking of snorkeling, I would also recommend that you get a simple snorkel set at walmart while you are getting the cameras. They are only about $12 a piece but are worth every penny. Look for them in the sporting goods section. We used these a lot while in Cozumel and Grand Cayman. The water there is really clear and beautiful.
Bullfrog! Bullfrog is my favorite sun block. It goes on well, lasts all day and is waterproof. Another cool thing is that it is clear and has alcohol in it, so it dries quickly and doesn’t leave you slimy. I found that it was not easy to locate in port or on the ship.
Computer speakers. Boy, were we glad that we brought a set of these. These are great to hook up to your laptop or iPod so that you can have some tunes to listen to while you are getting ready for dinner.
Copies of your passport or identification documents!! I will post more on this later, but when traveling out of the country it is a great idea to make photocopies of your passport or birth certificate and take one copy with you (along with the originals) and leave a copy with a friend who is staying in the U.S. This will be a life saver if yours gets stolen or if it is left on the ship and you are left on the port. (a WORST case scenario, but I will discuss this more later)
I am sure that there are several other things that will come to me later. As I think of things, I will add to this post.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Introduction
My wife and I have booked a seven day cruise aboard the Rhapsody of the Seas, leaving Galveston, Texas on the 17th of September 2006. This blog will detail the adventures and review of our cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s ship and should be a great way to share our cruise with friends and family as well as provide information for other cruisers in the future.
My wife, Kasey and I took this same cruise in June and had such a good time that we wanted to do it again. Since we do not have kids in school, we are able to go during off peak times (a.k.a the school year) and cruise for about half the price. Our cost for this was $549 per person for an oceanview room, which is really not bad considering all that you get! The down side is that we are going during hurricane season, which may mean rainy weather if not a storm. Luckily, there do not seem to be any hurricanes heading our way right now. I have also found a great website from the U.S. Navy that has awesome wave charts. I actually use the Gulf of Mexico view for a surf report. When the green hits Corpus Christi, it is time to go boogie boarding (Woo Hoo!!).
You can view our cruise details here.
We will be stopping in
Ocho Rios, Jamaica,
George Town, Grand Cayman
Cozumel, Mexico
I will be sure to include all kinds of good stuff about each place and pictures.
My wife, Kasey and I took this same cruise in June and had such a good time that we wanted to do it again. Since we do not have kids in school, we are able to go during off peak times (a.k.a the school year) and cruise for about half the price. Our cost for this was $549 per person for an oceanview room, which is really not bad considering all that you get! The down side is that we are going during hurricane season, which may mean rainy weather if not a storm. Luckily, there do not seem to be any hurricanes heading our way right now. I have also found a great website from the U.S. Navy that has awesome wave charts. I actually use the Gulf of Mexico view for a surf report. When the green hits Corpus Christi, it is time to go boogie boarding (Woo Hoo!!).
You can view our cruise details here.
We will be stopping in
Ocho Rios, Jamaica,
George Town, Grand Cayman
Cozumel, Mexico
I will be sure to include all kinds of good stuff about each place and pictures.
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