Miami Hop Hop Off and City Photos

Between cruises, my travel friend Harvey and I decided to see some of Miami. One of the easiest ways to do that is do a hop on hop off tour. You get on the bus which stops at various landmarks and when one really grabs your attention, you hop off and check it out. When you're done seeing that particular place, you hop back on the bus and continue on the tour. It's a really easy way to see the city.

The company our travel agent Joel Mills recommended was Big Bus. They offer 2 different routes. One takes in Little Havana and other historic landmarks while the 2nd route does Miami Beach and South Beach. We chose do the first one.

Big Bus was convenient for us because all we had to do was walk across the bridge that connects Miami to its port, cross the street to Bayside Marketplace and walk around to the Big Bus stop. The first picture is of one of their buses. The 2nd is of some of the fine folks that work there. I don't remember their names but, I remember them being very nice. They represented their company well.

The 3rd picture of a courthouse interestingly. The 4th is of a 50's type store. The last photo is of the historic Biltmore Hotel. In its heyday, it was the place to stay when visiting Miami.

The Big Bus tour was very nice though neither Harvey or I felt like getting off the bus during the tour. We returned to Bayside Marketplace where we walked over to the Miami Hard Rock Cafe so, I could get my t-shirt. I collect them from all the Hard Rock Cafes I visit. After that, we stopped in the Starbucks where I treated Harvey to a coffee so, he wouldn't mind me getting on the Internet for a little while. I don't like coffee but, I love Starbucks's free WiFi.

Then, we hoofed it back to the Majesty of the Seas where we used our 2nd cruise SeaPasses to get on-board. The SeaPasses were delivered to our cabins the night before we pulled back into Miami. Thankfully, Royal Caribbean has those who do back-to-back cruises in-process once. So, we got to skip it on the 2nd cruise though we did have to do the emergency drill again before the ship left the pier.

The next pictures I'll post will be of the very impressive Atlantis Resort on Paradise Islands, Bahamas. Stay tuned.

Miami Skyline and Port Pictures

While Royal Caribbean was founded in Norway by 3 Norwegian shipping companies, Miami was the first port the new cruise company decided to sail from. Royal Caribbean has been here since 1970 I believe. The first picture show the cosmopolitan city's skyline from the cruise ship piers. The 2nd picture shows the cruise ship piers (you can see another cruise ship further up) as well as the way the cruise ships sail out of the port and into the Caribbean Sea. The 3rd picture shows the cruise ship piers as well as the other side of Miami's port. You can see containers and the cranes that lift them and put them on container carrying ships. The final picture show Royal Caribbean International's Headquarters. This is the headquarters for the cruise line though they are just 1 of 5 cruise lines owned by their parent company Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

These pictures were taken at the beginning of the first of 2 cruises I did on Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas in September 2013. Next up will be a couple pictures I took during a hop on hop off tour I did of Miami between cruises.

Oasis of the Seas Photos, Nassau, Bahamas

For those who wants lots of photos of this impressive ship, my apologies. I wasn't able to take lots of them from the pier at Nassau, Bahamas. I haven't sailed on the Oasis so, I haven't been able to get photos from on the ship. These photos are primarily to show my Aunt Marge just how BIG this Oasis is. It is HUMONGOUS!

The 2nd photo is a poor attempt to show the Aquatheater on the ship. This theater is noteworthy as it's largest swimming pool on a commercial vessel. It holds 1 million gallons of water and is 16 feet deep. It has to be deep because they have professional divers (not scuba divers) who dive into the pool during the shows they put on.

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that the Oasis or its sister ship the Allure will make port in Nassau during one of the two port calls my Aunt, my Uncle and myself will make to Nassau this coming January. Then, she can be Royally WOWED as Royal Caribbean says.

Next up: photos of the Miami skyline, cruise ship terminal and Royal Caribbean International Headquarters.

Cloister Photos, Paradise Island, Bahamas

Here are 2 photos I took of The Cloisters on Paradise Island. I took 3 others but, I used those in a review that I wrote for Tripadvisor.com. As I don't want to use those again and possibly have some trouble with those folks, I'm using my remaining 2 photos.

The Cloisters were the last thing I got to see on my first excursion in Nassau. I think they're the prettiest too though the Queen's Staircase was pretty neat. The Cloisters have an interesting story. William Randolph Hearst, the great newspaper magnate, bought the ruins of a French monastery and had them shipped either to the U.S. or the Bahamas (that point wasn't clear in my researches). Apparently, no one thought to note how the various pieces went together. When they tried to put the pieces together, they realized they had a BIG problem. Hearst never put the ruins back together. Later, his heirs I believe sold them to the A&P heir (I forget his name) who was building a super posh hotel on what was then known as Pig Island (I believe that was the name then, he later petitioned the Bahamian Parliament to have the name changed to Paradise Island, a lot more appealing to people staying there you know). He bought the ruins and hired an artist who then spent 2 years trying all kinds of combinations till he finally came up with what you see today.

The ruins are stilled owned by the hotel the heir built. I forget it's name though I do remember it's part of the One and Only Chain of hotel. The hotel allows anyone to visit the ruins and, there isn't any charge. They're open 24 hours a day. They are very popular for weddings according to the guide I had. It would sense as they would be a great setting for a wedding.

After visiting these ruins, my tour group returned to the cruise ship terminal where I would take some photos of the Oasis of the Seas. Stay tuned for those photos tomorrow. Happy travels all!

Naked Juice Blue Machine Product Review

Due to a promotion by MyPoints where you can earn 1,000 points by buying $5 or more of Naked Juice products (offer expires June 26th, 2014 so you best hurry if you want to take advantage of it), I decided to try a 2 quart bottle of their Blue Machine juice product. Here's what I found out about it and what I thought of it.

First, Naked Juice states on the bottle that they put 114 blueberries, 12 blackberries, 4 apples and 4 and 3/4 bananas in my 2 quart bottle. That is a LOT of fruit in my opinion. Also, for those who care about such things, they state that the fruit was sustain-ably grown and the bananas were certified by the Rainforest Alliance. It doesn't have any added sugar, no GMO, no preservatives, gluten free and it's vegan. The bottle the juice is in is produced from other plastic bottles helping to reduce waste in landfills.

Second, price wise the 2 quart bottle cost me $6.98 at the Laurel, Maryland Sam's Club. I thought this was a reasonable price. Juice doesn't come cheap.

Taste wise, I thought the product tasted pretty good. Naked Juice calls it a blue smoothie. Plus, it appears to be good for you. It's loaded with B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E and fiber (one 8 ounce glass will give you 3 grams of fiber which is 10% of your daily requirement for fiber).

Overall, I think Naked Juice is a fine product that is good for you. It's definitely better to drink this than soda. It's a product you might want to try. Happy drinking all!

Nassau, Bahamas Harbor Pictures

Time to post some more Bahamas cruises pictures for my totally awesome Aunt Marge. The first picture here is of the entrance to the harbor at Nassau, Bahamas. This is noteworthy because the Bahamian government had to widen the channel entrance to the harbor so the Oasis and its sister ships could visit Nassau without running the risk of running aground. It would've been a tight fit for the ship otherwise. Two pictures of the Oasis will appear in future posts as I was able to get up close to the ship in Nassau.

The second picture is to the left of the harbor entrance. You can see some kind of factory out that way as well as a nice beach. As I remember, there were food stands by the beach too.

The third picture is of the 4 ships that were in port the first time I made port in Nassau on Majesty of the Seas. From left to right, you have the Oasis, a Norwegian Cruise Line ship (name unremembered), a Carnival ship (name unremembered but always easy to identify due to their unique smokestack) and Majesty of the Seas.

The fourth picture is another picture of Majesty of the Seas that I didn't know I had. This shows the ship from the pier close to the building where you pass through security to enter Nassau.

Next up will be the Cloisters which you won't want to miss. They are really pretty, have an interesting story and are very popular for weddings in Nassau. Stay tuned.

Fort Fincastle and Queen's Staircase Pictures

Fort Fincastle was built in 1793 by Lord Dunmore, the governor of the Bahamas at the time. It was named Fincastle after his 2nd title Viscount Fincastle. The fort was 1 of the 3 forts that protected Nassau. The other 2 forts were Fort Charlotte and Fort Nassau which no longer exists. The fort had 2 12 pound, 2 24 pound and 2 32 pound cannons as well as 1 howitzer. Oddly, the fort is shaped like a paddle steamer. You can see what looks like the front of a ship in the 2nd picture.

The Queen's Staircase was built so soldiers could easily get to Fort Fincastle. According to my guide, it took slaves 16 years to hack out of stone the steps that led to the fort. Later, as far as I know, they beautified the staircase and, there is now a pretty waterfall as seen in the 4th picture as well as plants along the staircase. The guide for the tour I did was kind enough to give those who wanted to see the staircase the option of walking down it and joining the tour bus at the base of the staircase. My travel friend Harvey and I took him up on the offer and enjoyed checking it out barring the hustler who tried to get a tip off us for some information on the staircase we didn't ask for.

Coco Cay, Bahamas Photos

Here are the best photos I took of Coco Cay, Bahamas. The first photo shows the small cove that the tender boats would take folks to. There were 2 docks for the boats to tie up and unload their passengers.

The 2nd photo shows one of the beaches on the island. Another beach had cabanas for rent.

The 3rd photo shows the guide for the nature walk tour my travel friend Harvey and I did. The tour showed some of the plants on the island that Bahamians used for bush medicine. The tour was very interesting. Sadly, I don't remember the guide's name.

The 4th photo shows some of the iguanas that live on the island. Surprisingly, these lizards are very agile climbers and, they'll actually climb up into trees by their little inlet. My travel friend Harvey was so taken by the iguanas that he bought a t-shirt from one of the souvenir stalls on the islands that showed iguanas with sunglasses on relaxing and enjoying the sun.

The 5th and final photo shows one of the trees the guide showed us. This tree produces such large leaves that Bahamians will break them off and use them for make shift plates.

Here's a little more info about the island though I can't state that it is 100% accurate. First, the island is owned by an unidentified marine biologist who has a home on the island on the other end of it. The biologist supposedly leased the island to Royal Caribbean for 99 years. The biologist and their family can apparently still stay at their home when they feel like and, they can visit Royal Caribbean's facilities on it. Second, some Royal Caribbean staff actually live on the island. The guide I mentioned pointed out the housing facilities for those staff during my tour. I suspect the staff stay busy as Royal Caribbean has various ships come here. The Majesty of the Seas comes here twice every week alone. Third, Royal Caribbean offers a number of activities on the island. You can snorkel, scuba dive, jet ski, parasail and go on a glass bottom boat ride. Keep in mind there is a charge for a number of these activities like the glass bottom boat ride, scuba diving, jet ski and the snorkle treasure hunt (I plan to do that one during one of my visits there with my Aunt). Fifth, Coco Cay is one of two private resorts Royal Caribbean has. The other is their resort at Labadee, Haiti which I've been to and is very nice. Sixth, there are some souvenir stalls on the island though not tons by any means. I believe some of them are run by Bahamians. I don't think there were more than 15 of them.

Thats's all for this post. The next one will be on the history tour I took of Nassau and will have pictures of Fort Fincastle, Fort Charlotte and Nassau harbor. Stay tuned.

Photos of Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas

Photos of Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas

In January/February 2015, I'll be treating my totally awesome Aunt Marge and her husband Uncle Dave to their first 2 cruises. I decided that an easy introduction to cruising would be to take them on back-to-back cruises on Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas. The ship isn't overwhelming though ironically at one time, it was the largest cruise ship in the world which shows you how much cruising has changed. Also, the itinerary for both cruises are light and easy. The first cruise in 3 nights and takes in Coco Cay (Royal Caribbean's private island resort), Bahamas and Nassau, Bahamas. The second cruise is 4 nights, includes both Coco Cay and Nassau and makes port at Key West, Florida.

As I'd like to show my Aunt Marge what to expect, I'll be posting pictures I took during these same 2 cruises which I did last September. For those that are interested, I did blog a report on what I saw on those cruises. It's located here: ronw.blogspot.com/2013/09/majesty-of-seas-cruises-review.html

For this blog entry, I've posted 2 photos I took of the ship we'll be sailing on. The first is a shot from the beach at Coco Cay of the ship at anchor. At Coco Cay, all visitors have be tendered i.e. taken to the island in smaller boats as the ship is way too big for the island's small bay. The second photo is a closer shot taken at Key West, Florida from the U.S. Coast Guard station there. It's not very good in my opinion but, it was the best I could do from the location while trying to get the WHOLE ship in the photo.

Princess Juliana International Airport WiFi Report

With my out-processing done on Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas this past May, I took a taxi to St. Maarten's Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM). There, I'd catch my flight to New York JFK International Airport with a connecting flight to Washington's Reagan National. I would've dreaded my wait time at this airport but thankfully, they have free and excellent WiFi at this airport. I didn't have any problems using it with my Nook e-reader which is what I prefer to use Internet wise when I'm traveling (easier to carry than a laptop). It was really nice. It definitely helped the time go by as I waited for my flight.

The airport itself is surprisingly busy for such a small island. My taxi driver told me during high season, they'd get 17 flights a day from the U.S. and Canada and 5 from Europe! The airport has 4 jet bridges and 12 gates. Also, it has at least 3 or 4 eateries and a gift shop on the upper level.

Overall, I was really pleased with this airport. The WiFi works great here and, the people who work here are nice. I suspect I'll get to use this airport again some time in the future as I plan to do another transatlantic cruise with Royal Caribbean where I'll either leave the ship at St. Maarten or join it there on it's way to Florida. Happy travels all!

Beginning of My Panama Canal Cruise on Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas

Cabo San Lucas Marina

Time to start posting some travel photos. This one was taken at the beginning of my Royal Caribbean Panama Canal cruise on April 3rd, 2014. The cruise would be an adventure from the beginning. It was the first ever cruise I would join late. What do I mean by late? I mean that the cruise had already started on April 1st. The cruise began in San Diego, California. However, to keep the folks where I work happy, I'd agreed to cut 2 days off the cruise by joining it in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. You can join Royal Caribbean cruises late or leave early as I've found out the last 2 months. However, there are conditions. In the case of joining a cruise late, the cruise must be open ended i.e. it starts in one port and finishes in another. Also, you must notify Royal Caribbean in advance if you plan to do this and get approval from their security. My travel agent Joel Mills did that though it was still a little scary as I did wonder if the ship would know I was coming. I'd never been to Cabo San Lucas before and, I didn't want a screw up and have to try to get back home from there.

The airport that serves Cabo San Lucas is at Los Cabos. From there, I took a shuttle that was supposed to drove me off at the Wyndham but, I got it to drop me off close to the pier. Then, I walked to the pier with my suitcase and introduced myself to the Mexican security there. To my relief, they had my name in one of their books. They checked my passport, verified that I was who I said I was and let me through. Then, I got to go through the routine again with Royal Caribbean.

Once they confirmed I was who I claimed to be, they gave me my SeaPass which I would use to get on board the ship with. As the port/marina is very small at Cabo San Lucas, you have to tender out to your cruise ship. Once on board my ship Legend of the Seas, I'd finish my in-processing with the ship and my cruise would begin. It was the beginning of a very fun 2 week adventure. Stay tuned for more posts.

Lucky and Led Mystery Series Review

During my May cruise on Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas, I got to attend mass repeatedly. This isn't normal as Royal Caribbean doesn't always offers the services of a priest on its cruises as I've seen from personal experience. I didn't know they did it at all until I did my April Panama Canal cruise on their Legend of the Seas ship. During the May cruise, the Roman Catholic priest was a retired U.S. Navy chaplain named David P. Remy. As he is a vet like myself (although I served in the Air Force), this made him points with me right off the bat. He was a great priest and, I really enjoyed his masses. They gave a nice start to each of my days on board the ship.

Shortly, before I left the ship, Father Remy remarked that he was an author. He has written and published 6 e-novels. 5 of those are the Lucky and Led cruise ship mystery series (Cruise to Mayhem, Cruise to Hell, Cruise to Pandora, Cruise to Yuletide and Cruise to Critique). As I really liked the priest, I decided to buy 1 of his novels (I later bought the other 4) and see what I thought of the series.

The series has to be kind of unique in that one of the primary characters - Father Lucky, is a retired Navy chaplain who works as a priest on various cruises. This character gives an interesting insight into how things work on cruise ships as far as chaplains and for the ships in general. Father Remy has extensive experience in that way as he's done over 45 cruises over the years and will do 7 cruises this year alone (he told me that during the May cruise). People who have cruised on cruise ships will definitely be able to connect with some of the things he tells about in his novels. The stories are very nice and move along well. Nor are they overly long so, I found them easy reads. The novels are cheap cost wise. The first 2 cost me $1.99 each and the last 3 cost me $2.99 each from Kobobooks.com.

Concerning e-readers, the e-novels are meant for Kindle e-readers which created a problem for me with my Nook e-reader. Barnes & Noble doesn't sell them because of that. Luckily, Kobobooks with their app can work with Nook e-readers. I haven't any problems reading the novels through their app.

Overall, I've very much enjoyed the 2 e-novels I've read so far and, I look forward to reading the other three. Plus, it was very cool getting to meet their author during my May cruise. If you like cruising or mystery novels, you might enjoy these easy and neat reads. Happy reading all!

Cariloha Product Review

During my May cruise on Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas, I saw some information on Cariloha's bamboo products. I thought it sounded interesting having clothing made out of bamboo so, I decided to buy something and see how well it worked. I bought 2 Men's t-shirts and 4 pairs of white socks at their Crown Bay, St. Thomas store. The t-shirts felt very soft. Cariloha claims their bamboo merchandise is softer than cotton and, from my experience, their claim is valid. It really is. Also, they claim it will keep you cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. I say maybe on that. Lastly, they claim the product is very "Green." Bamboo grows very quickly (one variety can grow as much as 3 feet in 1 day according to them), requires little or no pesticides and can grow in a number of places. I know from personal experience it can grow in Maryland.

One down side to their products is you will pay a little premium for them. The Men's t-shirts cost $34 a piece and their white socks were $12 a pair though they have a deal where if you buy 3 pairs, you get a 4th pair free.

The chain is proving popular and, franchises are opening in a number of places in the U.S. I saw a thing where they recently opened a store in Washington D.C. which I plan on visiting some time soon. Also, I plan on visiting their store in Key West, Florida when I visit there again next year during a cruise with Royal Caribbean. I think they have a number of stores in the Caribbean too.

One thing about their Men's t-shirts. Some of them have the name of the town the shop is located in and some of them don't. According to the folks I spoke with at their Annapolis, Maryland store, some folks don't like the town name on the shirts so, Cariloha puts out some shirts sans town name to keep them happy. Personally, I like having the town name on them. That makes them something of a collectible to me and gives me a way to show folks some of the places I've traveled to.

Overall, I've been pretty pleased with Cariloha's stuff. I think it's pretty cool that it's made out of bamboo. I don't like that it is a little pricey. They do have sales which can help with that. Plus, I really do like the stuff. I'd definitely recommend it. If there is store near where you live, check it out. They do make very good stuff.

Update June 28, 2014: I did visit their Washington D.C. store which is located at the National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. I really liked this store. I got to chat with the owner who is super nice. Plus, they had some nice deals. I wasn't wiped out with the National Harbor.

Market House Annapolis Maryland WiFi Review

Today, I got to visit the old part of Annapolis, Maryland. I wanted to post something on the Internet from my Nook e-reader so, I looked for a place with free WiFi. I walked into Market House at 25 Market Place and saw a sign claiming they have free WiFi. Awesome! I bought 3 scoops of gelato from their Firenzes Gelateria, sat down and tried to connect to the Internet. No go. It turned out the sign was total bs. The place doesn't offer free WiFi. A worker at one of the shops I spoke with said the local government was supposed to do something about it but, they apparently haven't. :-( Thankfully, there are a couple places in the dock area that do offer free WiFi like the Starbucks at 124 Dock Street. So, if you want to surf the web, skip the Market House. Happy Internet surfing all!