We arrived on board on the 14th of June, 2009. The first evening I wasn’t too sure what to think. We wandered almost everwhere on board in about an hour just to get our bearings. It is huge, but about half of it is sleeping quarters. There are lots of bars, club, pubs, restaurants, etc.
On Monday we were at sea all day. On sea days they make everybody dress formal for dinner. I think they do that to give people something to do. Tilane and I hung out all day. They have photographers all over the place. I don’t usually enjoy photo sessions, but on our way to dinner Tilane encouraged me to join her with one of the photographers that was begging us for a session. It was actually quite pleasant. It took about two minutes. He snapped several photos and was very instructive on how to stand. I haven’t seen the photos yet, but I am sure that he got a few great photos. There are also people that come and snap photos during every dinner. They are annoying, but to be amiable I submit to their wish to take a photo of us.
(Tuesday) Today we landed at Grand Cayman. We didn’t see much of the island at all. That is a disadvantage of a cruise, but we had an excellent underwater adventure. It was called Sea Trek. They take us out to an anchored boat. You then stand shoulder deep in the ocean at the top of an 18ft ladder. They place a 75lb helmet on your head as you climb down the ladder into the water. The helmet has an air hose attached to it that has a constant flow of air from the surface. The helmet simply rests on your shoulders and the air is trapped in your helmet by the seal that the water forms around the helmet - like an inverted tea cup in water. You then slowly descend the latter to the ocean floor where a guide and the rest of the group are waiting. Our guide was a deaf guy from England. He was very difficult to understand on the boat, but he was very good at communicating with hand gestures so he was easy to understand underwater, as we could not communicate verbally. He lead us on a tour along the ocean floor around a corral reef area. We saw several anemones, lots of fish. The guide placed food in our hands and the fish ate from our hands. It was neat to have the fish suck on our hands. The guide did some neat trick for us. He took his helmet off and laid on the ocean floor and blew rings of air like you see smokers do with smoke. It was a good underwater party trick. The Cayman islands were once a british colony so english is the primary language. Once back on the ship I went for a run on the treadmill and stretched and then I went in the sauna. It is the first proper sauna I have visited since Finland. I thoroughly enjoyed the sauna.
Wednesday we were in Hondura on Isla de Roatan. We went to the others side of the island over a “mountain” and enjoyed kayaking and snorkeling. The foliage was thick and beautiful. I enjoyed my first ocean snorkeling experience. We also went to the market located adjacent to the port. The local people sold all sorts of crafts. The wood work was ornate and beautiful and cheap. The cost of living is cheap. The standard of living is low as well. We saw very few buildings that looked like they were in good condition. Roatan was once owned by Queen Elizabeth so english is common there.
Yestedary (Thursday) we were in Belize. It was “unbelizeable.” Belize is formerly a british colony so the primary language is english along with creole, spanish and several other languages. It is the only country in South America that has english as its national language. It is one big, beautiful rainforest about the size of Massachusetts. We went to the Mayan city of Xunantunich.
Friday we were at sea and Saturday we were at Key West. It is the southern most place in the USA. It is a beautifully kept island. It is very american which is not a surprise. We went on a short excursion on a jet boat in the ocean. It was fun.
Sunday we began the long drive to Pensacola. We get the kids and drove to San Antonio the next day. We have driven 3000miles since leaving two weeks ago.
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