Back to island life

Spent a few days with Jean and Rick. Thank you so much for putting us up or is that putting up with us? Lots of eating and of course shopping: all of us to Bealls; Jean and I to the Croc store (4 pairs); Rick and Gerry to Harbor Freight (miscellaneous junk). Also played the game - girls won of course!

Flew back on Silver Air which only allows tiny carry ons and $25 for a checked bag (stuffed our suitcases into a sail bag). Spent hours packing and weighing. I did some fast talking at customs to get our bags in without being searched and interrogated, whew!

Today was perfect at the beach and no pesky tourists. Seem to be finding these shells this year - never found them before, at least not intact
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November 15- 22 Cruising Royal Caribbean

Independence of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) had just arrived from England and they claimed it was US Immigration and Customs who caused the delay in boarding. Honestly, over 2 hours to get on was ridiculous.

Ship specs:

Tonnage:	154,407
Length:	338.95 m (1,112.0 ft)
Beam:	38.6 m (127 ft) hull 56 m (184 ft) extreme width of superstructure
Draught:	8.8 m (29 ft)
Decks:	15 (passenger); 3 (crew)
Propulsion:	Diesel-electric Two ABB Azipods and one Fixipod, 14 MW each
Speed:	21.6 knots (40.0 km/h; 24.9 mph) 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) (maximum)
Capacity:	4,370 passengers
Crew:	1,360

Cabin was more spacious than expected, good thing we brought a night light, it's really dark when you don't have a window.

Unlike on Carnival we were told we'd have to empty the "fridge" ourselves and find someplace to put the overpriced goodies. There are quotation marks around fridge because it was more of a cooler, that didn't work well.  We clued in that we'd have to ask for ice if we wanted anything cold to drink in the cabin and if we wanted to eat in a timely manner  or have a good breakfast don't go to the dining room.



Sunday was a sea day, spent it trying to get the lay of the ship. They have interactive screens near the elevators that will draw out a route to wherever you want to go - very handy. The Promenade deck was very impressive but I don't think overall that our Carnival ship was any less impressive.

Monday, very very hot. Our first stop Labadee, part of Haiti that RC has leased, fenced off (with guards) and developed.

What you see is pretty much what there is.

Ship at the dock.

Just a "tourist" spot. Rode the tram, took a quick dip (promised great snorkeling - wasn't),  bought souvenirs (very very pushy vendors) and got back on the ship to cool off in the pool.



Tuesday, sea day, hot, humid, partly sunny. Not a lot to do during the day but stayed up till 3 dancing and taking a dip in the pool.

Roatan

Wednesday - Roatan. It was cool and raining all day so we didn't bother getting off.  Were there last year so it wasn't too disappointing. Spent some time in a hot tub trying to get warm.








Thursday - Cozumel. Nice warm sunny day. Despite warnings of renting scooters we did. Piece of cake - a large paved 2 lane bike path runs right alongside the road (with grass and trees between us and traffic). We were here last year but took an excursion to the mainland not seeing any of this picturesque island. Along the way we came across a lone rider and invited him along - Al, a personal trainer from Dallas and a fun guy (on Carnival Triumph). Scooter cost $45 plus $5 for gas - they took little personal information, didn't want to see a drivers license or a ship card from us but the people Al rented from insisted he buy insurance and kept his ship card.

Al

Quaint bar at bottom of island.

Front of bar

If only the sign were true!

Stopped for a short tequila tour which one of the ladies at the table below claimed cost $90 off the ship (we paid $25 for the 3 of us). We did have to rent a scooter to get there but we also went other places as well.

They give you these pretty drinks first then take you on a short tour explaining how tequila is made and then give you a bunch of free shots!

I tried their drinks, tasted like soap.

The virgin version was better than the real thing.

Road shots taken from the scooter:

And back to the ship.

Friday, day at sea and Patriot night. Every night had a theme but the festivities didn't start till 11, a bit late for seniors LOL.

All things taken into consideration I don't think RC is worth the extra cost (maybe I'm not fussy enough?) - Carnival seems to have better deals. Maybe we should try Norwegian or Princess or ?? next - what do you say Gerry?

and the adventure begins

November 14, took the ferry to Florida. There was confusion over what time it left, web page said 6 p.m., ticket said 7. After 4 phone calls it appeared to be 7. They were wrong, it left at 6:30.

Gerry waiting to get on - he was right we didn't need to get there so early.

Very nice ship, went 32 knots and had wifi. Took under 3 hours to get there but of course getting off and through customs and immigration seemed to take forever.

Checking his chart plotter, making sure we're going in the right direction.

Big thanks to Lerry for picking us up so late at night and giving us a bed for the night.

Boarding the cruise ship tomorrow, my birthday!

November 8

Would you believe we're at the beach again? This time we had 2 birds, one on either side of us fishing - they were pretty good at it. One of them wasn't afraid of us (too much) and got this close.

Remember the swamp in the middle of the road? It's almost dried up but not enough! This guy didn't realize how deep the hole is and drove right into it. Wonder how many choice words were exchanged between them. That road is getting too busy - another guy came along and helped out as well.

Yep, she's stuck.

They jacked it up to get stuff under the wheel.

And this evening's entertainment was another ray - this time in the canal behind the boats. Another first - a spotted eagle ray! This one must be a baby, they can be massive in size. The funny thing is that Gerry was the one that spotted (LOL) something in the water.

My pic

Someone else's better pic

November 6 Beach, Full Moon, and of course never ending boat maintenance

Didn't want to drive too far so we opted for Shallow Beach today. Forgot that with the full moon the tides would be higher and lower than usual. Pity I didn't get a picture of low tide at this beach, had to walk half a mile to get to water deep enough to sit in. Won't make that mistake again.

Found a few shells and this creature in a pool of water:

Picture doesn't do it justice - the flora growing on it is deep mossy green

A conch alive and well and pretty mad that we were messing with it. I'm not sure that all that growth on it is usual. I think it's in disguise.

Tucked in

Untucked and mad

 In this video Chris was trying to get a picture not realizing that the video was on. A happy mistake.

 Watch closely, who knew these creatures could flip over so fast.

The boat builders in their infinite wisdom drained the anchor locker into the bilge so when it rains all the water runs off the front deck into the locker and then into the bilge and then the bilge pump has to run. This is the pump that now must be switched on manually until we replace the switch. Gerry (and a wee bit of help from Chris and I) decided to reroute the hose and now the water goes right out through this lovely new thru hull.

Wonder how long it will take to grow back.

Got around to cutting the bushes down that were giving the rats easy access. Gerry did the cutting, Chris and I the removing. Betty claims we were messing with poison wood but we didn't get a rash.

Why is he wearing his good clothes?

And here is the cause of the tides. Some days I wish I had a better camera. Why aren't Steve and Anita here with theirs?

November 2 - back to the shallower beach

Much cooler weather (almost cold at 23) and cloudy (sun did come out) but we went to the beach anyway and found the following:

Remnants of a blue crab

And further down the beach, more remnants

A cousin of the deceased

Another ray! Much smaller than the other 2.

Gerry and Chris decided to spiff up the ship wreck and put it up for sale while I nursed a migraine (day 3).

Comes complete with mismatched shoes, fishing accessories, open transom on starboard side for easy access. Almost like new, may need work. Will throw in the cooler. Survey not available. Free, as is, where is, close to the Atlantic Ocean.

That Day at the Beach

Despite the tire trouble (October 30) we persevered and finally arrived at one of our desirable beaches. And weren't we glad that we did. For the first time we saw not one but two rays in this particular stretch of water.

Chris noticed this very large dark shape coming right towards us, she got out of the water rather quickly (insert chicken noise), and I ran to get the camera. Unfortunately this is the best shot I could get, he was in a hurry to get away from us. 









While the others were beach combing I spotted a ray coming down the beach almost parallel to where they were. Had to run to get the camera again.

He/she wasn't as big but this time I managed to get a video:

Chris is trying to call it over and I think it flipped it her the bird with its tail.