Photos of Baltimore, Maryland Cruise Ship Terminal

Once you past security at the entrance, this may be your first stop i.e. parking your car at the terminal. There are lots on either side of the terminal and, you pay before you drop off your luggage and enter the terminal. The area is locked up when there aren't any ships at the terminal.

This will be either your first or second stop depending on whether your leaving your car at the terminal. If you're not, you should get whoever is driving you to bring you over to this part of the terminal so, you can easily drop off your luggage. I believe they later transfer the luggage from these containers to the ones the ship uses.

This part is pretty obvious i.e. you go in through the front entrance. When you disembark the ship, you'll come out the side of the building.

This picture shows the security scanners you'll have to pass through. I found security tough and no nonsense.

This picture shows the different lines boarding passengers will go through depending on their level of membership with Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society (frequent cruiser program) or lack of. Also, it shows some of the seating in the waiting area. Depending on when you arrive (I arrived earlier than expected), you may not have a wait.

This picture shows the entrance to a special lounge for those who are staying in suites and or are Pinnacle level members with Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society. Presumably, they got to board first once boarding started. There is a separate seating area in this area for Diamond and Diamond Plus members who are the second ones to board. They did offer water and maybe something else here. I don't remember seeing any soda or snack machines.

This last picture is of the standard mobile gangway you'll take to get on the ship. You'll walk out of the terminal building and zig zag up the gangway to where it connects to Grandeur of the Seas.

Overall, I feel Baltimore does a good job of getting you on and off the boat during your cruise. They claim they'll have you on the boat within an hour of arrival though this depends on when you arrive. I arrived around 10 a.m. and, they were still busy getting people off the boat so, I had to wait. I forget when they finished getting all the departing passengers off. For those who didn't bring their car or arranged to have someone pick them up, there are taxis outside the front of the terminal though I wasn't wowed by the one I took. I'd recommend you take Uber or Lyft as I think you'll get a better vehicle and maybe a better price. If nothing else, you should be able to get a decent quote from them on what it'll cost you.

I hope you find this post useful. I'll be cruising again out of Baltimore on Grandeur in January 2019 on a slightly different itinerary i.e. 1 day in Nassau, Bahamas and 1 day at Coco Cay, Bahamas. Royal Caribbean does offer cruises out of Baltimore on Grandeur of the Seas to Maine/Canada, Bermuda, Southern United States of America & the Bahamas and the Caribbean. I hope to do a Caribbean cruise in 2020 with my favorite aunt and uncle. One big down side to the ship's Caribbean cruises (in my opinion) is how much time you'll spend at sea getting down there and back (3 days each way).

The other major (in my opinion) cruise line that cruises out of Baltimore regularly is Carnival (Royal Caribbean's great rival). Their ship is called Pride and does 7 day cruises that leave and arrive every Sunday (as far as I know). As I've only cruised with Royal Caribbean, I don't know how that ship's cruises stack up. I have heard Carnival is the party line where Royal Caribbean tries to offer something for everyone.

That's all for now. Happy Travels and Happy Cruising!

Update: November 9, 2020 The Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal is closed due to the coronavirus at the time of this update and, I don't have any idea when it'll reopen and cruising will start back up again. As I understand, cases of the virus in Maryland are going back up making it very unlikely they'll start offering cruises out of the terminal again any time soon.

Update: August 4, 2021 The Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal has reopened HOWEVER no cruise ships are sailing as far as I know. I am keeping an eye on when Royal Caribbean plans to start cruising out of Baltimore again but, I haven't seen a date so far. I suspect Royal Caribbean is going to go with the bigger ships first as they would make more money for them. Also, there is the issue of having to do a trial cruise first on the ship to test their virus procedures.

Update: September 3, 2021 Royal Caribbean announced Enchantment of the Seas will start sailing out of Baltimore on December 23, 2021. Before it does that cruise, I believe it has to do a trial cruise to show the Center for Disease Control (CDC) that the ship has its procedures in place to their satisfaction. I haven't heard when the the trial cruise will be.

Update: October 31, 2021 Carnival started sailing again out of Baltimore on September 12, 2021 with a 7 night cruise to the Bahamas.

November 2016 Independence of the Seas Cruise Review

I know I haven't been blogging much and, I tried to think of something I could do a nice quick blog entry about. The thing that comes to mind immediately is my recent cruise on Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas. The cruise was interesting in a number of ways. The cruise started in Southampton, England BUT, I joined the cruise at Philipsburg, St. Maarten. This was intentional i.e. I didn't miss the boat. If a cruise is open ended i.e. starts in one port and finishes in another, you can join the cruise at a later port as long as you get approval from Royal Caribbean's security at their headquarters. When the time comes, presumably, they'll notify the ship of your plans so, they know where to expect you. This was the second time I've done this. The first was on Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The cruise started in San Diego, California, United States of America (U.S.A.) but, to make my then boss happy, I joined it at Cabo San Lucas to keep down the number of days off I needed.

Another interesting thing about the cruise was the itinerary. I know some people like days at sea. I don't even though I know the ship tries to have lots of things for people to do. In this case, once the ship set sail out of Southampton, it would sail non-stop for over 8 days to St. Maarten. Once it made St. Maarten, I felt it became an excellent cruise with additional stops at St. Kitts, St. Thomas, San Juan and Labadee, Haiti with 1 day at sea before pulling into Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A.

For me, the main reason I did the cruise was for the cruise points though I did like the itinerary once the ship made port in St. Maarten. If you join a cruise late, you'll still get all the cruise points for the cruise you would've gotten otherwise. What that means for me is that I got 15 cruise points for it being a 15 night cruise even though I was only on the ship 6 nights AND, I got another 15 cruise points as I always cruise solo i.e. I always pay double for my cabin (I don't care for the solo cruiser cabins). This means, I can advance faster in Royal Caribbean's frequent cruiser program the Crown & Anchor. I'm Diamond Plus thanks to a Baltic cruise I did with them last summer and now, I'm shooting for the ultimate - Pinnacle. At it requires 700 nights, even with me getting double cruise points, it's going to take a while to reach it.

The cruise itself had a number of mishaps from beginning to end which took away from the experience for me. Royal Caribbean normally does a better job in my opinion. I don't know why there were so many mis-steps. The first was when I arrived at the Dr. Mathey Cruise Ship Terminal. As I previously mentioned, I'd had approval to join the ship in St. Maarten months before and, they should've known I was going to be arriving that day. Yet, when I checked in that the cruise ship terminal, I wasn't on the list to proceed to the ship. St. Maarten security had to send someone to the ship to confirm I was supposed to be admitted. I waited for at least 20 minutes wondering if I was going to get on a ship I had a paid reservation for.

When I got to the Independence of the Seas, Andrew Evans from Guest Relations met me, subsequently took me on board and did my in-processing. It should've been a normal cruise at that point but, it wasn't. I was supposed to get my 2nd crystal block but someone forgot to tell the Loyalty representative I was supposed to get one. I had to see her to get this straightened out. I was supposed to get a $200 shipboard credit but, I wasn't able to get this fixed until the very day I was supposed to leave the ship! The Voom WiFi Royal Caribbean raves about crashed though they did give me a refund for the days it was down. I was supposed to get luggage tags for my bags but, someone forgot to put me on the departure list so, I had to ask my cabin steward for them. People were sent to the Alhambra Theater to wait till their number was called to leave the ship but, the announcements didn't come over the theater speaker system. I was supposed to leave the ship at 7:15 but, they fell 30 minutes behind. They had 500 people going to Miami International Airport but, they were only able to board 3 buses at a time and got behind because of number of people in wheel chairs didn't tell them they were going to be in wheel chairs (that was the excuse they gave).

There were some good points to the cruise. I got to do the scenic train ride in St. Kitts which was pretty cool barring some unexplained technical difficulties which delayed the train. I did the jet boat ride in St. Thomas which was really fun, interesting and did wonders for cooling you off (you will get wet!). It was 103F when we made port at Crown Bay. I got to visit the only tropical rain forest in the U.S.A.'s National Park System, the El Yunque National Park. The La Coca falls were very pretty. Lastly, I got to do a scenic cruise out of Labadee where I learned more about Haiti and some some stunning scenery. Sadly, thanks to the first medical emergency I've ever heard happening on a cruise I've been on (someone supposedly had a heart attack and we had to turn around and return to San Juan to send them on their way to the hospital), we arrived late to Labadee though Captain Iv Vidos did his best to make up the lost time. Also, thanks to the loyalty representative, I was able to do 2 behind the scenes tours Diamond Plus and Pinnacle are allowed to do for free. I particularly enjoyed the bridge tour and have a neat picture of myself with an officer's hat in a command chair on the bridge presumably making sure the ship sailed smoothly and safely to Ft. Lauderdale.

I accomplished what I wanted to do on the cruise but, I wasn't very pleased with Royal Caribbean. I can't wait to give them feedback on it. Incredibly, I'll be doing the same cruise on the same ship at the same time next year. Hopefully, it'll go smoother next time. We'll see. Happy travels all!

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!

Grandeur of the Seas

This past Friday, I returned to Baltimore after spending 16 consecutive nights on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas. I enjoyed myself so much, I didn't want to leave and, I'm already working on my next cruise on Grandeur. That'll be to Maine and Canada in either September or October of this year.

Concerning the ship, I found it in outstanding shape. The ship's crew is doing a great job of maintaining the ship. When we were in port, I saw them touching up spots with a fresh coat of paint. The décor of the ship was very nice and, there were a number of pieces of art placed throughout the ship. All areas of the ship were very clean and, there were lots of hand sanitizer dispensers so people could avoid catching and spreading norvovirus (I think that's its name).

I stayed in an inner cabin for the first time because of a good deal I was offered on the cabin. I found the cabin small but, I managed fine in it. My room attendant Hylton was outstanding. At the end of the 2nd cruise, I gave him an extra tip on top of the regular one because I was so pleased with the job he did.

Crew wise, I found every one very helpful. I was particularly impressed with Francis Vasconcelo, the ship's fitness center director who I took 3 yoga and 3 pilates classes with. There was a charge for these classes but, you got your money's worth from Frances. By the end of each class, you were sweating and knew you'd gotten a work out. Another person I'd like to commend is Pumza, the Ionithermi treatment specialist. This was the first time I'd ever used one of Royal Caribbean's spas and, I was very impressed with it. Pumza was very professional and really strove to help me reach my health goals.

Food wise, I found myself unimpressed with the main dining room. They didn't serve anything that really wiped me out barring the lobster tail on the fisherman's platter. I was particularly disappointed that they didn't have escargot like they normally do. I found it more convenient to eat at the Windjammer Café as I could get my food immediately. The Windjammer Café offered a good choice of entrees and desserts. The only problem I encountered with the Windjammer was trying to get a table at times.

Excursion wise, the shore excursion desk was very helpful and, the ship offered a good selection of excursions at what I thought were reasonable prices. I got to do a number of firsts for myself on these 2 cruises. I rode a Segway, an ATV and a jet ski for the first times. I did a walking tour of Labadee, Haiti that was particularly good as I learned a good bit about Haiti from the tour. The drive around tour of Tortola offered some great views of the island. The 5 hour bus tour of Bermuda was extremely good. The group I was with got particularly lucky in that the person driving the bus was the bus driver's union vice president who was driving a bus for the first time in 6 months. Normally, he's busy dealing with paperwork. This driver/guide was particularly awesome as he was very knowledgeable and funny. Plus, he seemed to know every one of the 65,000 people who live on Bermuda!

Ports of call wise, I thought the itinerary on my first cruise, the re-positioning cruise was particularly good as we made port 6 days in a row before spending 2 days at sea en-route to Baltimore, Maryland. The Bermuda cruise was interesting in that it was the first cruise I'd ever overnighted at a port. The dockyard facilities were very good and, there were regular ferries that would take you to the capital Hamilton for a charge (I don't know how much it was)

Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal wise, I found it very convenient. It's easy to get to and, the people processed you very quickly. The people at the terminal were courteous. The ship was late boarding (Noon) the 2nd of my 2 cruises and yet, the terminal got them through so quickly, we were still able to depart on time i.e. 4 p.m. I was surprised how close the ship gets at high tide when it sails under the Francis Scott Key Bridge. I swear we made it by just inches. There's no way they can bring in a bigger cruise ship unless they move the terminal some where past the bridge.

One unique highlight of my 1st cruise was as we were sailing in to Baltimore. Grandeur of the Seas was returning for the first time since departing Baltimore in 2009 (I think) and was given a special welcome. Baltimore's one fire fighting boat shot off its 4 water cannon as we sailed in and supposed the state's governor welcomed the arrival of the ship. News helicopters repeatedly flew around the ship. I don't know if they got the best side of my profile.

I only had 1 persistent problem during my 2 cruises. Twice, I submitted my discount coupon for the ship's WiFi service and both times, I wasn't credited my 15% (I'm a Platinum level Crown & Anchor member) discount. I caught the problem both times but on the 2nd time, the officer spoke with at Customer Service didn't keep their word about fixing the problem. I forgot to double check my final account statement at the end of the 2nd cruise until I got home and found out she failed to solve the problem. I would recommend people watch out for this. I know I will be when I sailed on Grandeur in September/October.

Overall, I had a fantastic time on Grandeur of the Seas. I'd gladly sail on this ship again (and I will be) and would recommend it to others. It's a very nice ship with a great crew. Baltimore is a very convenient port to sail out of barring it can take you a while to get to the Caribbean or Bermuda (1 and 1/2 days out, 2 days coming back).

Update July 27, 2014: I didn't end up doing the September cruise on Grandeur. I will be doing a cruise up to Maine and Canada this September on Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas, the same ship I did the Panama Canal cruise on. I hope to cruise on Grandeur again in 2016 to Bermuda with a couple friends I've made at the Extended Stay Hotel I live at.

Update: August 4, 2021 Grandeur of the Seas was moved to a port in Texas by Royal Caribbean. Their ship Enchantment of the Seas which was previously homeported in Baltimore will move back to Baltimore when Royal Caribbean starts sailing out of Baltimore again. I haven't seen a date when that'll be.

Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal

Today, I made it to the Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal finally to take some pictures. It was something to be able to drive to a cruise ship terminal vice having to go through all the hassle of flying and then catching a shuttle to the terminal. Key roads leading to Baltimore and the terminal had signs reminded folks of the exit 55 (last exit before you go through the Harbor Tunnel on your way to New York). Things were busy at the terminal as Carnival's Pride ship was departing for a 7 night cruise to the Bahamas. The Pride is approximately 57 feet longer than Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas which will start sailing out of Baltimore on May 3rd. Also, it carries slightly more passengers - 175 more. For those who like Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas, this coming Saturday will be its last time to depart from Baltimore as it sets off on a 12 night cruise finishing in Port Canaveral, Florida.

The cruise ship terminal was supposedly a converted warehouse. Also, I suspect they had to install a boarding ramp as pictured below.

The terminal does have parking for those who want to drive to the terminal and leave their car during the cruise. According to the terminal website: http://www.cruise.maryland.gov/content/parking-rates, parking is $15 a day payable upon arrival by cash, credit card or traveler's check. Here's a picture of the parking:

The terminal can get busy on the day a ship is sailing as shown in this picture of cars lined up to get in.

Three cruise lines currently sail out of the Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal - American Cruise Line (smallest of the 3 lines, carries no more than 100 passengers) which sails up and down the East Coast, Carnival which sails to the Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean and Royal Caribbean which sails to Canada, the Bahamas, Bermuda and the Caribbean. For more information on the terminal please check out the terminal webpage at: http://www.baltimorecruiseguide.com/cruise-terminal.html.

Update posted on 8/5/13. Carnival announced on June 27, 2013 that the Carnival Pride will redeploy to Tampa, Florida December 2014. They haven't said anything about a ship replacing the Pride. Royal Caribbean stated on July 17, 2013 that it would continue to run cruises out of Baltimore on it's Grandeur of the Seas.

Update posted on 7/27/2014: In a press release from the Maryland Governor's office dated January 20, 2014 which you can find on www.cruise.maryland.gov, Governor O'Malley announced that Carnival would continue to offer cruises out of Baltimore. The plan according to the press release is for the Carnival Pride to redeploy to Tampa, Florida in October 2014 at which time it'll receive upgrades including scrubbers to reduce emissions. The ship will return to Baltimore on March 29, 2015 and resume cruises out of Baltimore.

Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas did begin offering cruises out of Baltimore on May 3, 2013 and continues to offer them at the time of this post. I did the May 3rd cruise on Grandeur and had a great time. I hope to sail on the Grandeur again in 2016.

Enchantment of the Seas Re-positioning

I think I posted recently that I didn't know where Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas was going to go once Grandeur of the Seas took its place in Baltimore, Maryland in April 2013. This morning, I received an email from Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society (their frequent cruiser program). As luck would have it, they let people know what new cruises will be available on the Enchantment of the Seas. On April 13, 2013, Enchantment of the Seas will do a special 12 day cruise where it departs Baltimore and makes port at Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Basseterre, St. Kitts; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao and Labadee, Haiti. At the end of the cruise, it'll arrive at its new home port of Port Canaveral, Florida. Once it arrives there, it'll do 3 and 4 day cruises to the Bahamas. Presumably, later in the year, it'll receive its refit though I haven't seen any word on that yet. That's the latest (for what its worth) per Royal Caribbean on the Enchantment of the Seas (Source: Royal Caribbean website). Happy travels all!

Adventure of the Seas 2013 Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean released the 2013 Caribbean cruises for its Adventure of the Seas ship. I remember this ship as it was the first cruise ship I ever sailed on. It's a Voyager class ship and, it is incredible. I remember checking out the ice skating rink on board which boggled my mind. It seemed unreal to be ice skating in the middle of the Caribbean. Another interesting feature of the ship is its Royal Promenade. It's effectively a mini-street inside the ship lined with shops, a pub, a pizza restaurant with a separate bar that sold Ben & Jerry's ice cream, the excursions desk and customer relations. It was really neat.

One itinerary that I would recommend to any readers I have out there is the one sailing from mid-December to early April. The itinerary sails to St. Croix, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados then returns to San Juan, Puerto Rico. I did this itinerary in the opposite order in November 2011. It was great. This itinerary allows you to see lots of islands and minimize your time on the boat. I don't know about others out there but, I don't go cruising to spend time on the boat. I go cruising because, I think it's the best way to see certain places and, it does have a mystique to it. Cruising in my opinion is the best way to see the Caribbean Islands and the Greek Islands. Also, it's a wonderful way to see some of Alaska. Concerning the mystique, I think it's hard to match the incredible views as you sail out of San Juan or Vancouver, Canada. I can't wait to watch when I sail out of Venice, Italy in November this year.

If you want a really good Caribbean cruise, the St. Croix to Barbados cruise is an excellent choice. For those who feel a week cruising isn't long enough, the Adventure of the Seas does on alternating weeks, the other cruise I did in November 2011 i.e. St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba and Curacao. While this itinerary isn't as good as the St. Croix to Barbados one in my opinion, it's still decent. While in St. Thomas, Royal Caribbean offers an excursion to St. John which I did and offers some gorgeous beaches including Trunk Bay which is rated as one of the top 10 beaches in the world. I got to see it in November and, it is stunning. If a week isn't long enough, you can do back-to-back cruises. I had a blast doing this and felt like Serenade of the Seas was my ship after 2 blessed weeks of sailing. I can't wait to do it again this time on Splendour of the Seas in November. Happy Travels All!

Travel Update

I promised to post updates on my back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean but, I didn't. I want to use my expensive Royal Caribbean WiFi minutes trying to post something. I am back from the cruises. The 2 cruises were a lot of fun. I got to see St. John (USVI), St. Kitts, Aruba, Curacao, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten and the French side St. Martin and St. Croix. Travel highlights include a really fun tour called Taste of Barbados where I got to visit a Bajan rum distillery then, the group travelled to a nearby plantation mansion where we were shown how to make 2 drinks: corn & oil and a Bajan rum punch. Our teacher let us enjoy a LOT of free samples. I know I was half sloshed by the time I returned to the Serenade of the Seas.

Another tour I enjoyed was a walking tour of Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The guide was Heavenly Petersen. The lady did a fantastic job. I learned some interesting things about the island and about one of the founding fathers of the United States i.e. Alexander Hamilton. He lived in St. Croix for 8 years but, he never talked about it apparently when telling of his early life. From what Heavenly told us, our group could understand why (his mother was a convicted adulteress for starters).

The ship Serenade of the Seas was great. It has a first rate crew and lots to do on-board. I got to try the automatically adjusting pool tables. They really worked. The ship moved a lot at times but, the balls on the pool tables didn't. The food was very good and overflowing in abundance. My 2 cabin stewards kept the 2 cabins I stayed in immaculate. I would definitely recommend this ship. I was sad when it was time to leave. I could have happily done another 2 cruises on her.

Overall, I had a really nice time. I can't wait to do back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean. That'll be next November when I sail with them out of Venice en-route to the Greek Islands. We'll see if they look as good in real life as they do in the pictures. Happy travels all.

Back-to-Back Cruises

I first heard of doing back-to-back cruises during my recent Alaska cruise with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. With the Alaska cruise, I thought it was kind of redundant. You'd do the same cruise only in reverse order ending back in Vancouver. However, with other cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises alternates itineraries between cruises which can make it worthwhiled doing back-to-back cruises. In my case, both of my cruises leave out of San Juan, Puerto Rico (a fantastic place to sail out of, really pretty at night.). I'll be cruising to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Basseterre, St. Kitts; Oranjestad, Aruba and Willemstad, Curacao. Normally, I wouldn't care to go back to places I've already visited once cruising BUT, in this case, I won't mind going back to Aruba and Curacao as I didn't see much of either of them during my first visit. I did scuba diving trips on those 2 islands and, the trips took up virtually all the time I had on those islands. I couldn't tell you anything about what those islands have to offer barring some very good scuba diving. So, I'm looking forward to seeing them again. Also, 8 months after I visited Aruba, they opened a Hard Rock Cafe there. Any readers out there know I collect the t-shirts and, I'll be delighted to add the Aruba t-shirt to my collection.

The second cruise stops in Bridgetown, Barbados; Castries, St. Lucia; St. John's, Antigua; Philipsburg, St. Maarten and St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. This cruise will be neat in that there is just 1 day at sea then, the cruise island hops its way back to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Also, I've never been to Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua or St. Croix. On St. Maarten, like Aruba and Curacao, I haven't seen much of it though in this case it was because of a stinker of a deep sea fishing trip I went on which I still haven't forgotten. The captain of the boat was supposed to drop us off at the cruise ship pier and, he didn't. My friend Harvey and I ended up walking nearly 2 miles to get back to the cruise ship pier. We were not happy campers when we made it back.

Another aspect that'll be interesting about doing back-to-back cruises is that there are special procedures for such travellers and, Royal Caribbean has a special department that handles such things as I found out. Apparently, Royal Caribbean's website doesn't like back-to-back cruises. It wouldn't show both of the cruises on My Cruises webpage. I called Royal Caribbean's tech support who referred me to the Back-to-Back cruises department. They got the problem solved eventually. I learned from the man I spoke with that at the end of the first cruise, I'll go to a special waiting area that is just for people doing back-to-back cruises. All people must clear customs when the ship returns to San Juan since they're leaving the ship. However, I won't have to since I won't be leaving. Once everyone has disembarked from the ship, I'll be allowed back on. In regards to my luggage, my suitcase won't ever leave the ship. Instead, it'll be transferred from my first cabin to my second cabin. Due to price differences, I couldn't afford to have a balcony cabin for both cruises. Interestingly, I'll have the same SeaPass for both cruises. Some how, Royal Caribbean will program it to open my first cabin during the first cruise and open the second cabin on the second cruise.

Overall, it should be a really fun adventure barring paying for it. Right now, I owe over $2,700 for the 2 cruises. I'll get them paid off in time though I wish Royal Caribbean didn't demand full payment by 70 days out from your cruise. I suspect that's so they can still sell the cabin if the person backs out. I bet it's still pretty hard to sell cabins for a cruise at the last minute. I know I couldn't take advantage of that. I have to plan my trips at least 6 months in advance. The only reason I was able to break that rule in this case was because I was only adding another week and, it wasn't going to break the bank to add the second cruise. Royal Caribbean was offering a decent price for an Ocean View cabin. We'll see how much I like being enclosed like that. I do like having a balcony cabin. It's awesome to walk out in the morning and watch as your ship sails into port. It was particularly spectacular during the Alaska cruise with the stunning scenery. Stay tuned for more travel adventures all!

Grand Cayman/Cozumel Hard Rock Cafes

To my delight, I got to visit and buy t-shirts from both of these Hard Rock Cafes. The easiest to get to was the Grand Cayman cafe as it was 2 blocks from the downtown Georgetown pier. Another thing I liked about the Grand Cayman cafe was they had a deal going where if you bought 3 t-shirts, you got a free cap or sun visor ($20 value). Lastly, I thought the Grand Cayman had some nice designs on their t-shirts.

On the other hand, Cozumel wouldn't be easy to get to for someone arriving at the international cruise ship pier. After I bought my t-shirt from the cafe, I took a taxi back to the pier for $7 and, I thought it was money well spent. In my opinion, it would've been a serious i.e. long walk to get back to the cruise ship pier from the cafe. Another thing that didn't wipe me out with the cafe was the designs of their t-shirts. I would've thought they could've come with up with something better. The one I bought had the colors of the Mexican flag. One interesting note about the Cozumel cafe is that it's supposedly the smallest Hard Rock Cafe in the world. That's possible. I didn't bother to look in to see how big their restaurant was. Still, I pleased to get one of their shirts. I suspect the cafe does a good bit of business with all the cruise ships that call at Cozumel. When I visited, there was the one I was on and 2 Celebrity ships.

Tulum

The excursion I looked forward to most on this cruise was the one to the Mayan city of Tulum. I'd never seen anything like that before. Plus, it would be a nice preparation for my tour to Peru in January. Tulum turned out to be awesome. Most of the main temple complex was intact and, there were other fascinating buildings. Our tour guide Mario did a great job explaining in limited time some of the history of the city including how it was discovered in the 1840's and later excavated. Another plus is that the city is walled. It was something to make my way through one of the narrow entrances. Lastly, there were awesome views of the Caribbean. Overall, I was thoroughly delighted with this excursion and would recommend it to anyone. When I get home, I plan to post some pictures of the city so any viewers I have can see just how stunning it is.

Cruise Update

Due to poor diving conditions, I didn't get to go scuba diving in Grand Cayman. Because the person running the dive shop the cruise ship uses waited till this morning to see what the conditions were before cancelling a number of dives, I was notified kind of late and had to scramble to book another excursion.

The excursion I went on was a combination tour. First, I got to ride in a semi-submersible that enabled me to see a number of Grand Cayman's best reefs as well as 2 wrecks they have. I enjoyed this plus, it was my first time in such a craft. After that, the tour driver and guide took the group I was with to a turtle farm. According to our guide, it is the only one of its kind in the world. They keep over 300 breeder turtles at the farm. When the turtles lay their eggs in a section of sand they have for them, the farm digs up the eggs and puts them in incubators so there is a greater chance the eggs will hatch. Once the eggs hatch, the baby turtles are transferred to other tanks where they are fed and grow. Some are released into the wild while others are slaughtered for their meat. Visitors can hold and touch the young turtles. The farm is also trying to raise Kemp Ridley turtles which are an endangered species.

After visiting the turtle farm, we drive to Hell, Grand Cayman. Supposedly a British governor of the island gave the area its name. The area features limestone formations that are very jagged and sharp. Others have put statues of devils around the formations. The town has a post office where you can mail letters and cards with the postmark of Hell, Grand Cayman. Visitors to the area can jokingly say they've been to Hell and back. I thought the place a bit touristy but, it was neat to say I'd been there.

The last stop was at the Tortuga Rum Cake Factory. Visitors at the factory could try free samples of the various cakes as well as some Tortuga rum. I found the cakes really good. I plan to buy at a couple before the cruise ends. Also, I enjoyed trying some of the rums.

Our tour guide and driver returned us to the pier where we could catch a shuttle boat back to the Navigator of the Seas or do more sightseeing. I made my mandatory trip to the Cayman Island Hard Rock Cafe where I ended up buying 3 t-shirts. They have some pretty cool ones which I'll comment more on in another post.

Overall, I ended up having a nice visit to Grand Cayman. I thought it interesting and, the weather was pretty nice with the sun out and the temps in the high 70's. According to the tour guide, Grand Cayman never gets below the 60's temperature wise and has many days when it's in the 80's. It sounds like it is a typical Caribbean island where you can enjoy lots of sun and sand. Stay tuned for my cruise updates. Tomorrow, I get to visit Cozumel, Mexico.

Cruise Update

The Navigator of the Seas arrived just off of Georgetown, Grand Cayman this morning. The town apparently doesn't have a pier that is big enough and deep enough to accomodate the ship. Because of that, I'll have to take a tender/shuttle boat to the town's pier to do my scheduled scuba diving trip. Plan to go early so I can visit the Hard Rock Cafe and get my prized new t-shirt.

Last night, the ship had a formal evening where everyone got to dress up if they felt like. There were lots of guys in tuxedos and suits and lots of ladies in gowns. The ship served free champagne which was decent. I doubt it was the really good stuff.

Afterwards, I dined in the formal dining room. The ship's chefs did themselves proud as I got to enjoy some excellent Escargot Bourguignon, lobster bisque and shrimp ravioli. The escargot reminded me of the Globus tour I took of France. I really enjoyed the dinner.

That's all for this update. Still tuned for more posts on my cruise. Cheers all!

Research

In preparation for my upcoming cruises, I've been buying various books on ports of call and what there is to do at them. For example, The island of Cozumel apparently offers some very good scuba diving and an excursion to the Mayan city of Tulum which is on the mainland. The island of Grand Cayman doesn't apparently have a lot of history but, it does have excursions where you can feed stingrays and learn about sea turtles. A friend of mine wants to visit Jamaica during a cruise and, I found out Royal Caribbean has been working with the Jamaican government to create another cruise ship port at Falmouth. This port will be able to accomodate Royal Caribbean's largest cruise ships the Oasis of the Seas and the soon to be launched Allure of the Seas. Jamaica is on my list of Caribbean islands I'd like to visit and, it would be great if I could do a cruise on either the Oasis or Allure of the Seas ships. As far as I know, they are the largest cruise ships in the world. They are literally floating cities as they can accomodate 5,400 passengers and 2,000 crew. I haven't seen the Oasis yet but, it must be HUGE. Concerning Alaska, I've heard those cruises are incredibly scenic. However, I have no idea what you do sightseeing wise at the ports of call during the cruise. I've been reading up on Vancouver. I found out they a nice museum that tells of some of the history of the Pacific Northwest indian tribes. They even have some totem poles carved by them. Vancouver also has a space needle like tower that soars over 440 feet up and gives good views of the city. I confess after doing the CN Tower (1,800 feet) in Toronto, the tower in Vancouver isn't going to be as impressive. Lastly, I've been checking into Internet access. I'd like to be able to post updates on here during my trips but, I don't care to break the bank doing it. I found out Royal Caribbean has somewhat cheaper pre-paid WiFi rates. The cheapest gets down to 30 cents a minute which is better than their flat rate of a whopping 65 cents a minute. However, I would like to know what happens with any unused minutes with the pre-paid charge. Can I carry them over to my next cruise? I'll have to wait on an answer for that one till I do my November cruise. Overall, the next year promises to be pretty exciting travel wise with 2 trips to the Caribbean, 1 to Alaska and 1 to Peru. Stay tuned for some interesting future travel blog entries. Cheers all!

Genesis Class Ships

I found out some more information on the Royal Caribbean Project Genesis ships. Royal Caribbean held a contest to name the 2 new class ships the winning names were Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas (Source: http://www.oasisoftheseas.com/releases/052308_Oasis_of_the_Seas.pdf). The ship class will be called Oasis. The new class of ship will be the largest cruise ship class in the world. It will accomodate 5,400 passengers, have 16 decks and 2,700 staterooms (Source: http://www.oasisoftheseas.com/releases/052308_Oasis_of_the_Seas.pdf). The class will be nearly half again the tonnage of Royal Caribbean's Voyager class (220,000 tons versus 138,000 tons). The Oasis of the Seas will be based at Port Everglades which is just outside Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Currently, Royal Caribbean features cruises to the Eastern and Western Caribbean from Port Everglades (Source: Royal Caribbean 2008-2009 Caribbean Vacation Planner). The Oasis of the Seas is due to start service in late 2009 and with its sister ship joining it at Port Everglades in 2010 (Source:

http://www.oasisoftheseas.com/releases/052308_Oasis_of_the_Seas.pdf).

This should be one impressive ship though I can't imagine trying to fill all those cabins. I suspect there will be some good prices on cruises on these ships. From what I've seen, you get a better deal on Royal Caribbean's larger ships than you do on the smaller ones.

2009 Travel

Well, I have good news for you my faithful readers. I sorted out my 2009 travel plans and there will be some exciting future posts on this blog. In March 2009, I'll be going on a 11 day tour of Egypt. I'll get to see the famous Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Queen Hatshepsut's temple, the temples at Luxor and Karnak and Abu Simbel. It should be an awesome tour. I'm more excited about that one than I am about my future tour of France.

In June 2009, I'll get to take my 2nd cruise. I'll get to visit 4 islands I've never been to: Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Croix as well as return to St. Maarten. I'm also going to stay in a Junior Suite vice Deluxe Stateroom. I found out how much the price can go up when you hit high season cruise wise. My travel agent offered me 2 June dates for the cruise I wanted: June 7th and June 21st. As you can see, they are only 2 weeks apart. They are $400 apart price wise because the 21st is high season and the 7th isn't. Had I been able to travel a month earlier, I could've saved an additional $400. Apparently, as you get closer to high season, the price begins to climb. I'll remember that when I go on my 3rd cruise.

Lastly, I plan to do a 2 week tour of Ireland in October 2009. This will be interesting as it'll be with the tour company CIE. My travel agent says for Ireland, they do a slightly better tour than Globus. Based on what I saw of their website, I'd have to agree. The Ireland tour promises to be an enjoyable adventure filled with great natural beauty and delightful music.

St. Thomas

We pulled into our last port of call. Charlotte Amalie was very hilly. It was the hilliest of any of the places we’d visited. The ship smoothly pulled into the cruise ship pier. Harvey and I had a nice breakfast, grabbed our cameras and took an elevator down to deck 1. By now, the procedure was old hat. We’d hand the security office our SeaPass’s which he/she would scan and we’d disembark. Then, we looked for someone with a sign listing whatever activity we planned to do. In this case, it was Blackbeard’s castle and shopping. An old gentleman met us who directed us to an open taxi. It was an interesting contraption as it had a number of bench like seats and no doors except for the driver’s compartment.

Once everyone was on board, we handed in our vouchers to Rupert our driver and set off. Just as we were getting ready to leave the pier area, Rupert got called back as some late arrivals showed up. So, we went back and got them. Then, we proceeded to drive up some of the hills surrounding Charlotte Amalie. It was an interesting drive.

The hills were very tropical and pretty. They gave great views of the town’s harbor. Driving to the other side of the hills, we saw great views of Magen’s Bay which was stunning. At one of our stops, we could see all of Charlotte Amalie’s harbor and found out that the Noordam (see St. Maarten blog entry) had followed us. It was tied up at the pier on the opposite side of town. Our driver/guide Rupert told us some of the history of the place as well as some of the other islands. There are 3 islands that form the U.S. Virgin Islands. They are St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. From our stop, we could easily see St. John. People from St. Thomas would take a ferry over there for a nice stroll along the beach and to relax. From there, we could also see Blackbeard’s Castle. Blackbeard didn’t own the tower. Someone recommended they name it after a pirate as it would presumably help the island draw tourists. They did and it worked. They have another tower named after Bluebeard.

After our tour of the hills around St. Thomas was done, Rupert dropped us off at Blackbeard’s castle. Here, another guide would take over. Unfortunately, I forget his name. He told us more of the pirates the island was famous for. They had a number of metal statues of the more famous ones including Blackbeard, Mary Read, Calico Jack and Captain Jack Avery who was a dead ringer for Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. He also showed us a number of old buildings and why they were built the way they were. It was a fascinating tour. At the end, he dropped us off at the shopping area of Charlotte Amalie. It was then that my next ordeal began. What gift was I going to get my step-mom Kay?

I’d promised I get her something. However, I figured if I bought her a t-shirt. I’d be dead meat. She suggested some kind of fabric but I didn’t see any bolts of it. The shops were filled with touristy stuff like jewelry, especially jewelry. I did see some lace like stuff but, it didn’t wipe me out. Another problem was funds. I needed to get some dollars. Finally, I found a bank with an ATM. It was First Bank and they only charged $2 to use their ATM. I felt like saying Nyaah at the cruise ship with their $5.50 ATM charge.

The only idea for a good gift I could come up with was getting her a real silver Spanish coin. It went with the Caribbean theme and it would be a cool gift. Where to get one though? I didn’t want one that was set as jewelry. I wanted just a basic coin.

Another concern was Harvey. While I was prepared to explore far and wide through Charlotte Amalie, Harvey wasn’t. Harvey has had a hip replacement and doesn’t care to do tons of walking. I wanted to find something for Kay within a reasonable amount of time so I wouldn’t drag him all over the place.

I think it was Harvey who spotted S.O.S. Antiques. We walked in and they had unadorned Spanish silver coins. Cool! I looked at the various ones. Then, a saleslady came over and we started talking prices. Uh oh! Real Spanish silver coins aren’t cheap. The cheapest one cost $299! I had second thoughts about getting this for my step-mom and might’ve gotten her something else except I couldn’t think of anything else to get her. I remembered I didn’t buy her a Christmas present so maybe I could make this a combined present. That made the cost somewhat more reasonable. After speaking further with the saleslady, I settled on a class 4 coin which you could see the coat of arms on and a cross on the other side. It came with a certificate of authenticity verifying that it came from the wreck of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha. I thought it was pretty cool. Interestingly, since the coin was over 100 years old (and then some), it was free of any U.S. duty. The store put a slip informing Customs of the coin’s age and the law exempting antiques that are over 100 years from duty.

Finally, I had my present for Kay. I had dollars and I had stamps to mail postcards with. I bought 10 stamps at a Post Office I found when I first started walking through the shopping area. It was interesting to see the Post Office there. It had the U.S. Postal markings but, it was different.

Harvey and I looked for a way back to the ship. To our delight, an open taxi like the one we used to see the hills and harbors of St. Thomas came by and asked if we needed a ride to the pier. We asked how much. He said $10. We hopped in. As we made our way to the pier, the driver picked up a couple more fares. We also passed a Hooters restaurant which reminded me of my brother Hank who is something of a playboy. See previous blogs about the Hooters calendar I absolutely must buy him every year.

We arrived back at the pier, skipped the tourist shops there and walked back to the ship. The ship was loading supplies. It was interesting to see all the booze the ship needed for its passengers.

While walking around, we’d noticed some dark clouds. Luck was with us. It didn’t start raining until we were on-board the ship and having lunch at the Windjammer Café. It ended up being a nice little downpour. I suspected we’d depart on time this time since folks weren’t going to want to stay out in that.

Later, Harvey and I knocked back a couple brews one last time before dinner. Tomorrow, we’d arrive back in San Juan and the cruise would be over. It had been a nice cruise and a learning experience. I felt certain the next cruise would go smoother. I’d already begun looking at Royal Caribbean 2009 Caribbean cruises. I found one cruise that would be ideal. The only problem was they didn’t list cruise dates for late April and May 2009 in the brochure. I’d have to keep an eye out to see if they offered that cruise on the Adventure of the Seas. After comparing Royal Caribbean’s bigger and smaller cruise ships, I preferred the bigger ones because they have more to do. Also, I wanted to try a suite next time if it wasn’t too expensive. It would be nice to have more room and a larger shower. I really enjoyed having a balcony so I could watch as we departed from or pulled into port. The next cruise, I’d make sure I had a balcony again.

After dinner, I went back to my cabin and packed. I also reviewed the departure procedures the ship staff had left in the cabin. Before I crashed, I put the color coded luggage tags on my two pieces of check-in luggage and left them outside my cabin. Ship staff would pick up the bags and leave them in the Customs area the next morning.

St. Maarten

I looked forward to playing the proper tourist. Unlike Aruba and Curacao, I wouldn’t be rushing off to go diving in St. Maarten. After having a filling breakfast at the Windjammer Café, Harvey and I took an elevator down to deck 1, had our SeaPasses scanned and departed the ship. We looked for and found the person holding the sign saying deep sea fishing. Once the entire group of 12 got together, he gave us some bad news. The second fishing boat had broken down. They found a replacement but it would be 30 minutes before he arrived. He needed 6 volunteers to go in the later boat. I didn’t care to wait and said so. Luckily for me and Harvey, they got enough volunteers for the second boat.

The man herded us to the spot where we could board taxis. He told the taxi driver where to take us. He told us that the boat captain would drop us off at the cruise ship pier after the fishing. The taxi ride was a short one. We arrived at a marina that had a number of fishing boats. A lady guided us to ours. It was the Natalie Kate which was owned and operated by Captain Paul (last name unknown). Captain Paul told us the boat’s previous owner had named the boat after his daughter. Captain Paul for whatever reasons didn’t change it.

The boat had spaces for 5 rod and reels as well as a seat where whoever got a hit could battle the fish. After Captain Paul explained where the bathroom was, drinks were and that the guest cabin was air conditioned, we departed. We didn’t have to go far out from St. Maarten before we got to start fishing. Captain Paul used outriggers for 4 of the rods so presumably their lines wouldn’t get tangled with each other. Then, he informed us to look for birds. Where seabirds were feeding, there you find big fish feeding also. So, I began looking for seabirds.

After about 30 or 40 minutes we found one and sure enough, we got a massive hit on one of the rods. It was the smallest rod with the lightest line. Captain Paul cursed a bit over that. I helped push the youngest member of our group a kid of maybe 12 or 13 into the command chair. The kid wasn’t strong enough at times to battle the fish so Captain Paul helped him. It would take over 20 minutes before the fish was landed. It was a Mahi Mahi which weighed over 17 pounds and was around 4 feet long. It was an impressive fish. We didn’t know it but that would be the only fish we’d catch the whole time we were out.

Everyone got excited after that fish and looked forward to catching more. However, luck wasn’t with us. We looked every where for birds and saw only a few single ones barring some that were following a fishing boat. Captain Paul tried a number of different areas without any success. Our time out ran out and we had to head in. I know I was very disappointed. I’d paid $200 and didn’t get to catch anything. I thought this stunk.

As previously mentioned, we were told that we would be dropped off at the cruise ship pier. Captain Paul said on our way in he never dropped anyone off there. He said we’d have to take a taxi back and I got the impression he wasn’t going to pay for it. I didn’t bring any money with me because I didn’t think I was going to need any. The folks running this fishing trip were responsible for getting us to the fishing boat and back. Harvey asked how far it was to the cruise ship pier. We were told it was a little over a mile. We looked at each other and started walking. By the time we got to the pier, we were both royally steamed. We checked out some of the souvenir shops at the pier, looked at the Noordam which was also in pier and re-boarded our boat. I was so disgusted over what had happened that I decided not to see anymore of St. Maarten. Instead, I had some lunch and waited for us to depart. When departure time came, I watched as the ship maneuvered away from the pier and set sail for Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. I looked forward to seeing St. Thomas as I’d be able to access the internet from my laptop and could get some more dollars from an ATM there. I hoped things would be nicer there than they had in St. Maarten. Stay tuned.

2nd Day at Sea

What to do? It was my second full day at sea. I’d explored the ship and I knew what it offered as far as activities. I decided to check the Cruise Compass. The Cruise Compass was a newsletter the ship puts out daily. It listed all the special activities the ship had that day. I saw that Captain Nyseter was going to do a Captain’s Corner, there was going to be a Singles trivia game, a bingo game where the prize was a free cruise and a t-shirt sale. I decided to do all of those.

The Captain’s Corner was the chance for passengers to meet Captain Nyseter, learn about ship operations and ask any questions they might have. First, Captain Nyseter told the audience about himself, how he made Captain and how long he’d been with Royal Caribbean. Captain Nyseter worked his way up from the very lowest ranks to that of Captain. He’s been with Royal Caribbean for over 16 years now. Then, he introduced Chief Engineer Tormod Isaksen and Environmental Officer (name forgotten) who told about themselves. Engineer Isaksen was responsible for all the engines on boards and the desalinization plant. The environmental officer was responsible for ensuring the ship met all environmental regulations. He also made sure that all types of waste were properly disposed of. The ship created a lot of it with over 3,600 passengers.

When the ship was in cruise mode, it used 2 engines and maintained a speed of 13 knots (14 or 15 mph). Top speed for the ship was 23 knots. The ship’s draft i.e. the part that was underwater was a surprising 29 feet. When you see how high the ship goes up above water (at least 70 or 80 feet), it’s surprising that there is so little ship underwater. During the question and answer session, Chief Engineer Isaksen said at top speed the ship burned 20,000 gallons of fuel a day. The ship carried over 1 million gallons of fuel. The ship made all its fresh water through its own desalinization plant. There are engines in the front of the ship that enable it to push away or pull to a pier. At the rear of the ship are engine pods that can be rotated enabling the ship to push to or away from a pier. The ship has 4 stabilizers which come out when the ship is at sea enabling a smoother ride. The ship can tilt up to 45 degrees and still recover. The worst situation Captain Nyseter was ever in on a ship was during a hurricane induced storm which caused visibility to be zero. The ship rocked a bit too but otherwise life carried on. If someone went overboard, the ship could stop in approximately 3 ship lengths and go back for them. Captain Nyseter said he’d had one person go overboard though he wouldn’t illuminate the cause of the incident. It was during the question and answer session that I learned of the new class of ship that Royal Caribbean will be coming out with. It’s called the Genesis Class and will be able to accommodate 5,400 passengers. Currently, the largest class ship Royal Caribbean has is the Liberty class which can hold over 4,000 passengers. The Adventure of the Seas was of the Voyager Class which will be their third largest class once the first Genesis Class ship is finished in 2009. With crew, the Genesis Class ships will have over 7,500 people on board. They will be literally floating towns.

I found the Captain’s Corner really interesting. It was also neat to get to meet Captain Nyseter. He was very friendly and likable. I didn’t envy him his job. He has to efficiently manage a ship that is over 100 feet long and over 130 feet wide. He has an international crew of over 1,200. He has to keep an eye on ship, restaurant, hotel and shop operations. He also has to keep on eye on the passengers on board, no small task considering we had 3,689 this cruise alone. It is a huge task. From what I saw, he does a great job of it. I hope I get to cruise on another ship he commands.

After having some lunch, I went in search of the peekaboo bridge. The peekaboo bridge is a spot on the ship where a passenger can look into the ship’s bridge and see its workings. They have a display board that identifies the equipment on the bridge. The seats that the captain can use to control the ship look like something from a jet. There is a radar screen that shows everything around the ship, how far from the ship it is and if it’s another ship whether their paths will cross. They have another screen that shows the ship’s position, the planned course and how close they are to the planned course. At sea, the ship in on autopilot though there is at least 1 officer on watch at all times to keep an eye on things. In the event of a computer failure, the ship carries paper maps, pencils to chart courses and sextants so they can figure out where their position is. It was really interesting.

I’m a big fan of trivia. I like learning things even if the knowledge isn’t terribly important. I saw on the Cruise Compass that they had a single traveler’s trivia game. It turned out it was organized an Australian lady named Jacarda who hailed from Melbourne. After the game, I told her I’d visited there and proved by telling of her of the some of the sights there. The game itself was fun and to my surprise, I won. My prizes were a Royal Caribbean pen and leather luggage tag. Ok, they weren’t the most exciting prizes but, I was still delighted to win.

The ship advertised a t-shirt sail in the Cruise Compass. I wanted a t-shirt from the cruise so I decided to check it out. Little did I know how fierce some people on board could be when it came to shopping. It seems that some folks go on cruises for the bargains that can be had in the various ports. They are on the prowl for a bargain. The ship was promising as much as 50 percent off on t-shirts and other items. Those were magical words to such avid shoppers. I was surprised by the crowd at the tables. One lady refused to make any room so I had to reach around her and grab t-shirts and see if I could find my size. Eventually, I found 3 t-shirts which I liked as well as a nice looking white fleece jacket. To my annoyance, the last night of the cruise, they discounted the t-shirts even further. Still, I got some nice t-shirts which I’ll wear showing that I was on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Lady luck wasn’t with me when I played bingo for a free cruise. You had to fill in an X on your playing card in order to win. Cards weren’t cheap going at $15 a piece with a free card thrown in if you bought 3. I managed to get down to 3 numbers of one of my cards before an unknown lady won it. Damn!

After the bingo game, Harvey and I had a couple beers at the Promenade Café. It was a nice way to relax before dinner and discuss plans for tomorrow. Tomorrow, we’d go deep sea fishing out of Philipsburg, St. Maarten. Deep sea fishing can be very exciting with the big reels, big rods and BIG fish. I went a couple times with my step-grandfather and I really wanted to try it again. I looked forward excitedly to my next adventure. Stay tuned for my deep sea fishing adventure in St. Maarten.

Curacao

It was another hectic morning. I discovered the hard way that the early bird breakfast at the Windjammer is a continental breakfast. I hate those. Continental breakfast is two words meaning starve. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to wait for them to put out the regular breakfast items. I rushed back to my cabin, grabbed my diving gear and did the same routine again. Luckily, this would be the last time I’d go diving on this cruise so I wouldn’t have to mess with security again over my dive knives.

A guy named Jeremiah was waiting for the dive group at the pier. I forget what his nationality was but, he told me was married to a Dutch girl and had worked at a dive spot in Egypt before coming to Curacao. He’d travelled a good bit of the world. He seemed pretty cool. Once everyone had arrived, Jeremiah directed us to some taxis which would take us to Ocean Encounters. The drive was interesting as we got to see a bit of Willemstad.

Once we arrived at Ocean Encounter’s dive shop, we started setting up your gear or were issued gear if we rented it. Then, we received a briefing on how things were going to work. We were going to do a beach entry. Once we were in shallow water, we’d slip our fins on then, we’d work our way out to the dive point. Once there, we’d let the air out of our BCDs and descend down to the reef. If someone hit the halfway point on their air, they’d let the leader know and they’d head back with the leader’s assistant. The rest would carry on until it was time to turn back.

We made our way out to the beach. I waded into the water and promptly had problems getting my fins on. Then, I put air in my BCD and swam with the rest of the group to the dive site. While swimming out there, I swallowed damn salt water again. That stuff is nasty. I ended coughing some of it up when we got to the dive site. Thankfully, once I started breathing through my respirator, I was fine.

The reef itself was impressive with a large variety of coral and fish life. Visibility was outstanding at 65 feet plus. The reef wall supposedly descended down to 350 feet though the deepest I went was 62 feet on the first dive and 63 on the second. I didn’t have any problems equalizing on the first dive but I did on the 2nd to my great annoyance. I tried to overcompensate and ended up giving myself a bloody nose. I was frustrated with my left ear and pretty certain I had an ear infection.

In regards to Ocean Encounter and their people, I was very pleased with them. I thought they really tried to ensure we had some nice dives. The only thing I would do differently is make sure I go out on a boat vice doing a beach entry. Boat entries are loads easier.

After we returned or packed up our gear, we got back into the taxis that brought us to Ocean Encounter’s and returned to our ship. I grabbed some lunch and decided to stay on board. It looked like it might be a long walk to some shops in town. It turned out I was wrong. There is an easy walk to a number of shops and the remains of one of the old forts.

Departure time was 4:30 p.m. Apparently, some people thought that meant they could return at 4:35, 4:40 and two ladies even showed up at 4:45. They got royally razzed by those of us who were stuck waiting for them. They also got lucky Captain Nyseter didn’t depart. If he had, they would’ve had to fly to St. Maarten at their own expense to rejoin the ship.

I chatted with my friend Harvey and found out what he’d been up. I watched as we sailed east along the coast of Curacao. I decided to see one of the shows the ship out on in the Lyric Theater. It was called “Can’t Stop the Rock.” It featured music from films from the past 40 years. It turned out to be a nice production. I wouldn’t have paid money to see it but it was fun to watch and something to do. Afterwards, I had a nice dinner at the Windjammer. Later, our ship Adventure of the Seas changed tack and sailed northeast to St. Maarten. We would be at sea for an entire day. Stay tuned.