St. Maarten :(

Today we got up early because we really wanted to check out beaches in St. Maarten. I wanted to go to the beach that is known for low flying planes and hopefully get some snorkeling in on our last day. We went up to deck 9 for breakfast and we noticed the boat was still moving and there really wasn't any land in site.  It was kind of cloudy and we knew that weather was a topic the night before so we thought maybe we were just delayed.

Then during breakfast it was announced that there was a tropical storm called Rafael that had popped up over night and was now over St. Maarten.  We would not be going to St. Maarten we were going to have a day at sea and try to get away from the storm.  This was really disappointing.  We were so pumped and ready to get off the boat and now we would have to spend the entire day here on the boat. It was hard not to be upset but at the same time there was nothing we could do. The crew did their best to come up with more activities for people to do and they made a new itinerary for the day.

So we started off our day by laying out for awhile by the pool.  I brought my book and was reading. Don was kind of resting.  There was some sunlight.  The captain kept saying he would try to get us to some sunlight.  It was getting pretty hot so we went inside the boat and went to the library.  It was a first time there and we rented the game Scrabble.  We took it to our room and started playing.  It got my mind off my disappointment.  Don wanted to go to the Coral Cafe to see what the puzzle and games thing was at 11 am so we paused our scrabble game and went.

At the Coral Cafe we played Battleship together.  Then we played a pictionary game. Don was really good at drawing; I was horrible.  We did not win that game. We pretty much played games and trivia all day.  We tried to win $1000 from a game in the casino.  It was frustrating because it looked so easy but we could not win. We played Movie Clip Trivia, Sea Feud, General Trivia, Entertainment Trivia, and Picture Trivia on the big screen on the lido deck. We did not win any of these games. Don wanted to win so we went back into the boat and played another General Trivia game.  The questions were hard but this time we actually won!! We won a little trophy of the Carnival Victory Ship. The last trivia game was Food & Drink and it was ridiculously hard.  Then we went back to our room and finished our game of Scrabble. We started packing a bit and then went to dinner with Mike and Teresa.

For dinner I had a salad which was very good and Bacon Mac & Cheese.  It was pretty good.  I got Melting Cake for the last time but I could not finish it. After dinner we went to comedy and saw the same guy from the other night. He is really good.  Then we saw another guy who was not so good. We thought maybe he just couldn't do family friendly comedy. There were a lot of awkward moments.

That was our last day. Tomorrow we will leave. I don't know if I have been very impressed with the cruise. The food has been okay, not as good as I thought it would be. I think if we do a cruise again I would definitely want to try another cruise line. Carnival was okay but I think there's better.

St. Kitts

Today I had booked an excursion with Greg's Safari.  This was the first booked thing we did that wasn't through Carnival and I am thinking it was the best.  While we were waiting for Greg we were bombarded with guys with about 6 little monkeys.  The monkeys had diapers on and some had clothes.  Before we could discuss anything they were putting the monkeys on us and taking pictures with our camera.  Then they told us $20 a piece!  Don said he would give them $20 for both.  I think that was a rip off but we did get a lot of pictures.

We met Greg around 830 for our tour of Philip's Rainforest.  Michael and Teresa came with us on this excursion.  I was excited because it looked like it was just going to be us 4 and then another couple but then 4 other people ran over to Greg and booked last minute.  Then when we got to the land rover there were already people in it. I was a little disappointed because I didn't want a repeat of yesterday, but turns out the vehicle was pretty spacious and we had a good amount of room.

The tour started with a drive to the rainforest that was about 45 minutes.  It was a cool drive, very scenic.  Then we got out and started our hike.  Along the way Greg would tell us about the plant life.  It would rain and then it would be sunny.  It was pretty awesome.  We came to a waterfall and put our feet in the water.  The hike was pretty good, some of it was a little rugged.  While hiking I got bit near my wrist by some kind of ant.  It was painful, but didn't look too bad. At the end of it Greg gave us some local fruits.  Then it started pouring and we got back in the land rover and made our way back. I will post some pictures of some things we saw on our rainforest hike.

On our way back we asked Greg if he would be able to drop us off at Frigate Bay to go to the beach.  He told us earlier it was a good place for snorkeling. He said that would be fine. He told us about a good restaurant there and to ask for Greg's Special.  He also told us to tell them we are with his tour and they would let us use their beach chairs for free.  Then he even offered us a ride back to the boat later because he was picking people up from the beach at 430.  That gave us plenty of time to eat and snorkel.

We ate at Sunset Cafe which was part of Timothy Beach Resort.  We got Greg's Special which was Conch Fritters and Rum Punch.  The fritters were delicious but the rum punch not so much.  I kind of just wanted a cheeseburger and fries but then decided I had to get an authentic meal so I got Stewed Chicken with Macaroni Pie and a Salad.  It was pretty good.

Don got the fish and chips.  Both meals I would say were great. We mixed it up and had a little bit of each other's meal.

After eating we got in the water.  It was raining off and on but it didn't bother our snorkeling. I would have to say I thought this was the best location of snorkeling we did on the trip so far.  There was a lot of coral and sea life.  Of course we didn't swim with turtles but it was a really cool place to explore.  It had a dock that had a lot of coral and rocks with sea life.  Then out further there were rocks and the water got a bit rougher. Don did not want to go out that far but I had to see it.  As I was swimming I saw something pretty big in the rocks so I looked and it was a sea turtle!! I was so excited to see a sea turtle on my own!  I told Don but when we looked back in the water I couldn't find it. Don had the camera so we also didn't get a picture.  But it was so cool!  It was a bit creepy in this area of the water for some reason and Don was getting annoyed because he didn't have his fins so he made his way back to the beach.  I went behind him a little bit after. I wanted to see if I could find the turtle again but I never did.  So then I slowly made my way back up to the beach.  I saw a sea snake!  I was totally freaking out when I saw it but I had to get a picture. Then I swam away keeping my eye on it.

Here are some more pictures of the snorkeling...

Around 430 Greg picked us up along with some other people and gave us a ride back to the ship.  It was a great day.

Then we had dinner with Michael and Teresa in the dining room.  I had a Thai Chicken Appetizer. It was okay. Then I had Shrimp and Fries for my main course; it was probably one of my favorite meals on the ship so far. Don had Filet Mignon.  During dinner Mike and Teresa told us they got a notice that their excursion in St. Maarten was canceled due to weather. This got me bummed out because I was afraid of what the weather was going to do and how it would effect our day.  After dinner we went to a magic show and then to a comedy show.

St. Lucia

We woke up this morning and it was rainy.  We had our breakfast and got off the boat to explore St. Lucia. We hadn't made any plans for shore excursions in St. Lucia so we were not sure what we would do exactly. As we were walking into the port terminal a guy yelled at us about an island tour.  So we went over to talk to him and another couple with two kids followed.  At first the guy said $40 per person for an island tour.  Don talked him down to $30.  So we were going on an island tour. We were not really sure what that entailed but the guy told us to meet him on the other side of the fence and to ignore all other tour guides that tried to talk to us.

Finally the 6 of us made it to his van.  It was me, Don, a couple from Boston and their kids Jonathon and Aaliyah.  They were 5 and 6 years old.  We were somewhat disappointed to see that Phillip our tour guide had already brought another couple and their daughter into his van.  They didn't speak English so I was thinking well maybe he is just dropping them off somewhere, because we have had tours do weird things like that.  So we all piled into this van.  Phillip was in the front with the man that didn't speak any English.  Don, the couple from Boston (I can't remember their names) were in the middle row of seats.  And the woman her daughter, the 2 other kids and myself were in the back row.  It was extremely crowded.

So from 9 am until about 4 pm we were cramped inside this van.  We got out in various locations to take pictures. I will try to remember the route we took.  We started at Castries.  From there we went down the west coast, the Caribbean side.  The next town I remember was Soufriere.  Along the way we took pictures with a man and his boa constrictor and views of the pitons.  Phillip also took us to a banana field and told us a bit about the banana crop.  I tried the local beer here called Piton. It was pretty good. The views of St. Lucia were amazing, absolutely beautiful.  That made up for being cramped into the van.  Here are some pictures from the Caribbean side of St. Lucia.

Then we made our way down near the airport.  At one point I thought he was going to stop and take pictures by the airport and I was thinking to myself "awesome, now is our chance to pay Phillip and get a cab out of this awful cramped van!"  But that didn't happen we stopped at the lighthouse near the airport to take pictures of the Atlantic side of St. Lucia.

We made our way up along the Atlantic coast.  I remember going through the towns of Micoud and Dennery.  Then we went back to Port Castries.  Everyone in the van was very irritated by the time we got back.  It was way too long to be cramped up like that.  But we did get to see most of St. Lucia.  And now we know when we get an island tour next time to make sure we are not going to be cramped in a van with 15 other people for 8 hours.  Even though it wasn't the most pleasant experience, I loved St. Lucia.  I think it will be hard to find somewhere else more beautiful and I wouldn't mind going back.

Barbados

Today we got up early to go on our Tiami Sail, Turtles & Beach Excursion that I booked through Carnival. We took a bus to the catamaran.  It was a really nice boat.  It had a bar that actually had fountain soda and a beer on tap.

When we got to our first snorkeling site we learned it was more like a swimming site.  The crew didn't want us to wear fins because it scared the turtles.  We have snorkeled with turtles before and they didn't seem to be scared by fins, but whatever.  Basically we just got off the boat and swam with turtles.  Don't get me wrong, swimming with turtles was awesome.  We got some really awesome pictures and they are just amazing.  But when I booked the excursion I was under the impression we would actually be snorkeling and seeing more.  You can't really beat swimming with turtles but if you plan on booking this excursion for snorkeling there isn't any of that really.

After the swimming with turtles we got back on the catamaran and went to a beach.  The beach had the most expensive resort on Barbados. I believe the guide said the least expensive room was $1500 a night and the the most expensive was around $10000 a night.  Ridiculous.  There was no snorkeling at this beach.  We just swam and enjoyed the rum punch that the crew made us.  Don even did a rum punch bong through his snorkel. It was crazy! The beach was beautiful.  We saw a guy with a monkey on his head. He wanted us to pay him for pictures but I snuck a few without him noticing.  A rain storm passed through while we were swimming but then it was back to being sunny immediately after the rain.

On the way back to the port we had more rum punch and did a little dancing.  Of course everyone got crazy when Gangnam Style came on.  That song is so fun.  Once we got back we didn't want to go back to the ship because we wanted to experience Barbados as much as we could.  We saw Michael and Teresa getting ready to go the excursion right after us.  They booked the wrong time; they had the afternoon excursion.

So we decided to explore Pelican Village in Barbados because we knew it was pretty close to the port.  We ate at a place called Sylvester's Restaurant.  It was a buffet style place and it was delicious.  I had macaroni pie, which had a little spice to it, fried chicken and a salad.

Don had fried chicken, pork chop and rice. He tried a little bit of everything.

Everything was very good at Sylvester's.  It was a nice change of pace to have some authentic food rather than just the very Americanized cuisine on the cruise ship.

After lunch we just walked around the area.  We ended up at a market called Cheapside.  Or maybe the area was called Cheapside, I am unsure.  It was so hot in Barbados.  Just completely miserably hot.  We walked around for probably an hour then decided to walk back to the boat.  Once back to the boat we got cleaned up and then decided to go back off the boat to the port terminal to use the wifi. The wifi worked at first but it was really slow and we didn't really get to use it much.

Then we came back to the ship and went to a trivia game at the coral cafe.  After trivia we ate at the grill. We then laid out on the top deck and kind of fell asleep for a bit. It wasn't comfortable and we were tired so we went back to the room and took a 2 hour nap. Then we got up to go to some shows in the theater:  Battle of the sexes, Liars Club and a Scavenger Hunt. The scavenger hunt was fun. We had to divide up into teams and find things in the audience like an empty purse, a bra, a girl who can doing the splits, etc.  And that was our day.

Day at Sea

Today was our Day At Sea on the cruise.  I have to admit I was looking forward to it a bit because I have been tired.  My plans were to lay by the pool and that is what I did.

I went up to the deck on the 10th floor with an ice cold Dr Pepper and a slice of pizza.  I was looking forward to the pizza on the boat, but it really wasn't that great.  It wasn't horrible though.  It was neat to sit there listening to my music and drinking my favorite drink while staring out into the ocean.  But then it got hot, really hot.  So I decided to go down to the pool and try it out.

The rest of the day was spent between the 2 different pools on the ship:  the Triton Pool and the Siren Pool. The Triton pool was more towards the middle of the boat and it was where the big screen was and all the activities were held.  So needless to say it was crowded and loud.  I enjoyed the Siren Pool much more.  I was able to read here and then get in the pool when it got to hot.  And that is what I did until about 3 pm. Then I went back to the room and got cleaned up.  Don had spent some of his day at the casino.

Tonight was formal night on the ship so we had to dress up to go to the dining room. We were planning on going with Michael and Teresa but when we called them they were not going to be ready to eat for awhile and we were pretty hungry so we decided to go by ourselves.  We were seated with 2 other couples.  One was a young couple from Florida, the other was older from Seattle.  It was nice getting to know these new people.

Since last night I was very unimpressed with the steak from the dining room I decided to get a cheeseburger which was funny since it was formal night.  Don had lobster tail. We both had some kind of alligator for an appetizer.  It was kind of like a fish ball but with alligator.  Again, I wasn't impressed by the dining room.  The best part was the wine, bread and fries that came with my cheeseburger.

After dinner we went to the show on the ship.  It was a dance/singing show called City Lights.  It was okay, a little cheesy.  We saw Michael and Teresa there and we talked to them a bit after the show.  Then we went to an adult comedy show.  It was pretty funny.  I thought the Day at Sea was pretty good, but I couldn't imagine having to be on this ship much longer than a day.

San Juan Puerto Rico

Today I intended to wake up around 8 am but forgot about the hour time difference and got up at 8:30.  There was no hot water in the shower.  That was very disappointing.  Then we decided to go out for breakfast.  We found a diner like place down the street from our hotel.  I had 2 fried eggs with ham and toast.  Don had 2 fried eggs with bacon and toast.  It was okay breakfast.  I can’t remember the name of the place. 

After breakfast it was around 1030 and we decided to try to figure out what to do with our luggage while we explored more of San Juan. We had to check out the hotel at 11.  We talked to the hotel manager and she said we could keep our luggage in their luggage room until 4 pm, so that was perfect.  We got our luggage all situated and then checked out to explore San Juan for the few more hours we would be there. 

It was so hot outside! We couldn't decide what to do.  We knew we wanted to get on the boat around 2 or 3 to check in.  So our options were check out a couple of forts or the Bacardi Factory Tour.  We could see one of the forts from where we were standing and it just looked like the sun was beating down on it.  I knew the Bacardi Tour was free and I had seen a sign for it earlier so I convinced Don we should do it.  He was a little unsure of it because we had a feeling we had to take a ferry to get to it and he was worried about time.

We went to the port to check it out.  The guy said the boats run back and forth every half hour and the tour was only 45 minutes.  So we decided to go for it.  The ferry ride was 50 cents each way.  The next ferry was taking off at 1130 so we had about 15 minutes.  

In the ferry terminal a young woman came up to us and asked if we were going on the Bacardi Tour.  She said she heard you had to take a taxi once you got there to get to the actual factory.  We didn't know this; we just thought the ferry would take us right to it.  She asked if we wanted to share a cab and we decided yes. Her name was Anda and she was from Romania. We started talking while we were waiting and a man came up to us and introduced himself as Larry from LA. He had a friend with him named Anne.  We all started talking and decided we would try to fit in a taxi together.

On the ferry over to Catano we made friends with an older couple of women. They were also leaving on the Carnival cruise with us later.  I can’t remember their names right now.  I wonder if we will see them on the boat sometime.  They gave us some tips since this was like their sixth cruise. 

Once we got to Catano we were hurried to a taxi, which was really like a shuttle bus so we could all fit in it.  It was $3 per person. Once we got to the Bacardi Factory we signed up for a tour.  We had to wait for the English speaking tour so we had a 45 minute wait.  They gave us each 2 tickets to get free drinks at the bar. We all quickly went to the bar and got a drink. Don and I both got Bacardi Coconut with pineapple juice.  It was delicious, much better than Malibu I think. Don, Anda, Larry, Anne and I all sat at the same table and talked and enjoyed our drinks. The grounds of the factory were beautiful so we took a lot of pictures. My second drink was some kind of raspberry mixed drink. It was good, but not as good as the coconut.

Finally our tour was called and we went on the tour. We got on a bus to go over the factory, which was a very short ride but for some reason they said you were not allowed to walk. The tour was pretty good. I learned a few things about rum. The highlight of the trip though was the free drinks and meeting the people. Once we got back from the tour we checked out the gift shop. Then somehow we all got another free drink. I got the coconut and pineapple again because it was so good. We hung out for a little bit because it started raining. Once the rain seemed to have quit some we all ran to the shuttle bus. Once we got off the shuttle bus it was pouring. The ferry was leaving in 5 minutes so we all quickly paid and ran to the ferry in the rain. Then we got back to San Juan and said our goodbyes. We exchanged emails and names for facebook.

Then Don and I went back to the hotel to get our bags to take to the ship. It was raining. We got our bags and walked in the rain to the ship. It was about a 10 minute walk. Luckily the rain started slowing down. We went through the whole check in process and that took probably an hour. We saw our room. It is on the 1^st floor and has no window. It is pretty small but we expected that. Then we decided we would go to starbucks back up on shore so Don could do something for work online. We had been to starbucks earlier and there was a free wifi connection. The wifi on the boat is very expensive. So we got off the boat and went to starbucks. Of course the wifi was not working. And we both ordered ice coffees and they were horrible. So then we went to CVS down the street because we found out you can bring bottled water and soda on the boat. I got an 8 pack of Dr Pepper and we got a 12 pack of water. It’s just easier to have your own water for excursions and stuff.

Then we got back on the ship and Don had to suck it up and purchase some internet. We figured the best thing for us would be just to use the 75 cent per minute package. We won’t use that much. Around 630 pm Michael called our room and we decided to meet for dinner at 730.

We had dinner at the buffet. It was pretty good. We were so hungry since we hadn’t eaten since the morning. Then we just walked around with Mike and Teresa and explored the boat some. At 915 pm we had to do the mandatory safety thing where everyone has to go watch how to put on a life jacket and see where they go if there is an emergency.

After that we went back to the top of the boat to watch the boat sail away from San Juan. Don and I got some beer and we all went to the very top. We found a pretty secluded spot and we gave each other our own space. Then we looked over and Mike was down on one knee proposing to Teresa. We knew it was going to happen we just were not sure when. She was so surprised. So now Mike and Teresa are engaged!

After all that we went back to our rooms and slept because we were freaken tired.

San Juan Puerto Rico

Today we woke up around 5 am and quickly got ready.  We ran to kinkos real fast to print another luggage tag for the cruise.  We decided to check a bag with our fins. Then we got in a cab to head to O'hare. 

We had a some breakfast and then had about an hour to spare before boarding.  We started boarding on time at 8 am.  Once we started moving and getting ready to take off though we sat in one place for a long time.  Finally the captain said we had to go back to the gate to get a mechanical issue checked out.  That was annoying to hear but also scary. 

We went back to the gate and sat.  Why is sitting in an unmoving plane so much harder to do than when you are in the air?  I get so irritated.  Luckily the problem was fixed quicker than I thought it would be.  We finally took off around 930 or 10. 

The flight was about 5 hours.  I hate long flights!  We sat next to a family that had 3 young kids.  They were cute and luckily they were also well behaved.  We landed around 3:30 pm, an hour later than scheduled. 

We got outside in San Juan and it was hot!  We got a taxi to our hotel.  It took about 20 or 30 minutes to get there.  I was so tired and hungry. 

Our hotel looked very cute when we got here.  It's called Casablanca Hotel.  We picked it because we could get a night here free through Hotels.com. The guy at the front desk is from Indiana.  He asked how the weather was in Chicago.  We found out our room was on the 3rd floor and no elevator.  We are used to that by now.  I was shocked at how small the room was.  It is probably the size of our living room if not smaller with a bed, couch and a tiny tv.  It looks nice though. 

I quickly changed into some more weather appropriate clothes and got ready to go out.  We started walking around Old San Juan.  The area is very cool looking and everyone walks.  Things are very close. We saw where the cruise ship will take off from. 

We were having a hard time finding a place to eat so finally we asked these 2 guys.  They gave us 2 restaurants that were authentic Spanish food.  We decided on Mojitos.  It was pretty  good. We had a mashed plantain appetizer.  I had skirt steak with fries. Don had a pork chop with rice and beans.  The food was good, I ate all of it!

Then we started walking around more.  We went down by the water and came to a plaza that had vendors selling food and purses.  We got a bag of churros.  They were delicious.  Then we sat down for awhile because it looked like a concert was getting ready to start.  But after sitting for a long while we decided to go back to the hotel because we were tired. 

Now we are just chilling in the room.  Not really sure what we are doing tomorrow before we get on the ship.