Well, we did it again. Joanna and I just returned from an 8-night cruise to the Eastern Caribbean celebrating our 5 year anniversary, and boy was it an enjoyable experience. During the trip we started reminiscing about the previous cruise we took on our Honeymoon, and realized we couldn't remember nearly as much about it as we would have liked. So, during a few of the more relaxing days at sea, I took on the task of archiving where we went and what we saw on my trusty Netbook. Below is a day-by-day description of our travels, but I'm warning you now: you will probably get bored reading this, so proceed at your own risk.
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
The cruise started off with an early morning rise and drive to the Philadelphia airport. We parked our car at the Speed Park lot near the airport for a fair $8/day (better than $11/day at the airport itself). We dropped off our bags, hopped on the plane, and were in Fort Lauderdale without issue before we knew it. We flew with Southwest Airlines, which was a very pleasant experience (not to mention dirt cheap with the credit card deal we cashed in). Once in Fort Lauderdale we walked out to find a taxi to take us to the port. Of course the kind gentleman who grabbed some bags from our hands and wheeled them 15 feet to the taxi was quick to ask, “got anything for me, boss?” Fifteen minutes later we were dropping off our bags at the port and started the check-in process! Of course, their network was down, so lines were very long as each Carnival attendant had to write down cruiser’s credit card info manually. Once through the lines, we were on the ship and taking advantage of the buffet lunch on the Lido deck. The rest of the day was spent exploring parts of the ship, eating, moving into our rooms, and more eating. We fully intended to make it to the welcome and comedy show in the Victoriana lounge that night, however, a “short nap” found us waking up the next morning.
Sunday, June 21st, 2009
Sunday was a day at sea on our way to San Juan, Puerto Rico. We found plenty to do and explore on our massive fun ship (the “Carnival Freedom”). On just the top deck (outside), the ship has a large water slide, multiple pools and Jacuzzis, a giant chess game, ping pong tables, basketball and volleyball nets, mini golf, shuffleboard, water-balloon wars, a big screen outdoor theater screen, and a jogging track. Of course there are plenty of deck chairs scattered throughout to lie out on. We did a little sunbathing which turned into sun burning. Whoops. We also enjoyed some outdoor games, swimming, and watching some of the activities that Carnival had going on outside.
Monday, June 22nd 2009
By 5 PM on Monday we finally arrived at our first stop, San Juan Puerto Rico. We had plans to visit the bioluminescence bay (“Bio Bay”) in the city of Fajardo. This is one of 4 areas in the world (all in the Caribbean) that contain this splendid little bioluminescence phenomenon. Essentially it’s a small body of water with a very high concentration of an organism called “Pyrodimium bahamense”. Like plants, they use photosynthesis to soak up energy from the sun. They store the energy and give it off in the form of light when perturbed as a defense mechanism. We had reserved a glass-bottom kayak tour in Fajardo through the bay, but had not reserved any transportation to get there. After debarkation, we talked with a taxi driver who said the 1 hour drive each way would cost us $160. Ouch. We kept walking and walked into a local Sheraton Hotel to see if we could rent a car and drive there ourselves. After phone calls to seemingly every car rental company on the island, the helpful receptionist finally found Charlie’s Car Rental Company that said they could rent us a Toyota Yaris for $50 for the night. It was a $20 taxi ride to get there and another $20 to get back, so all in all we saved $70 by driving on our own. Even on a cruise, deal hunting never ceases. We arrived at Fajardo around 7:15 PM, but our tour group had just left. Fortunately they had kept one of the guides behind waiting for us, and we were soon in our sleek 2-person glass-bottom kayak and had caught up to the group. To get to the bay, it required kayaking through a narrow and windy stretch of water that was heavily forested. It reminded us of a rain forest, and was absolutely beautiful. What also made it neat was that it was pitch black and the only guidance you had was following the glow stick on the back of the kayak in front of you. However what was not fun were the relentless mosquitoes. I got the worst series of mosquito bites up and down my arms that I’ve ever had. Of course, bug spray was sitting happily in our car, unused. Once at the bay, it was completely dark with almost no moonlight. Our paddling motion started to perturb the microorganisms, and the result was an extremely cool streaking of light through the water left by our paddle. Looking straight down through the glass of the kayak reminded me of the screen saver in Windows of space where all the stars are flying by. We kayaked over to an area where lots of small fish were, and found that when they swam away from our moving paddles it caused hundreds of small light streaks under the water in the wake of their escape. It was really, really cool. Getting out of the bay was a little more tricky, since the current was against us and there were quite a few novice kayakers that would get spun around and push the group back. Eventually we made it through and were back at the starting point. We drove back to Charlies’, returned the car, and got a taxi back to the ship just in time!
Tuesday, June 23rd 2009
On Tuesday morning we arrived in St. Thomas, one of the popular U.S. Virgin Islands. We had booked a 3-beach adventure tour with Homer’s Dive and Snorkel shop. Homer picked up us and a family of 4 from a different cruise ship right at the port. Homer was a neat guy, somewhere in his 50’s, who had been living in St. Thomas for 25 years. He came to the island to teach scuba diving lessons, and has been doing it ever since. The family we had the tour with was from Calgary, Manitoba so we were able to talk some hockey with them. Homer took us on the tour in a mini van, and even though St. Thomas is a U.S. Virgin Island, everyone drives on the left side of the road. The roads were very narrow, windy, and hilly. This proved to be a common theme in most of the islands we visited from this point on. Our first few stops were some very pretty lookout points, with one featuring a nature trail. Joanna went a little picture happy with the unique flowers and different styles of plants, but to her credit, pictures are free so why not? Our next stop was Hull Bay, which is a very small and private beach where Homer has his scuba and snorkel shop. We did some snorkeling there and saw lots of cool fish and coral reef formations. Our next stop was Coral World, a miniature aquarium that comprised of lots of Caribbean fish tanks, a sting ray tank, parrots, large sea turtles, a shark tank, and very large random iguanas walking around loose. Coral World usually required a $20 entrance fee, but was included free as part of our tour. After that we traveled to the Sapphire Beach lookout…an awesome view of surrounding islands. Throughout the tour Homer provided us with much welcomed snacks and drinks from his cooler, which was a nice touch. Next we drove to Secret Harbor and did more snorkeling. This was even better snorkeling than before, as it seemed like there were many more fish and living things to see. Here we saw a wild sting ray and a school of large black fish. I came to appreciate the true feeling of solitude and the quiet nature of snorkeling as the day progressed. It was neat to be able to spend some time with the Lord in prayer, just praising Him for the beauty He has created. The last stop was back towards the port, where Homer took us out to lunch at a great pizza place. We were sorry to see the day come to an end, but it’s always nice to get back on the cruise ship and get a clean shower and fresh set of clothes.
Wednesday, June 24th 2009
Wednesday our ship arrived in Antigua early in the morning. Today’s excursion would find us on another guided tour, except this one was by way of boat. The tour was called the Eco Tour, in which we took a 52 foot power boat with Adventure Antigua around the island. The boat held about 20 other people along with 3 crew members (Tony, Jason, and Stevie). The crew was very nice and informative as they sped us around the island, stopping at various spots to show us the beautiful scenery. One place we stopped at was called Bird Island, and we were able to hop off the boat and hike to the top of the island (5 min. hike). Here there were lots of nesting birds and pelicans. It was so windy that they would just push off the ground and hover in the same spot in the air a few feet off the ground. Our next stop was a neat island called Devil’s Bridge. We got off the boat and swam to shore where Tony led us on a slow journey to the top. The island was completely made of limestone, which is a very sharp and porous rock after having been eroded from the ocean water for hundreds of years. Devil’s Bridge was a short formation of rock that formed a bridge with some caves underneath. Hiking in and around this was quite an experience. Back at the boat we were served lunch by the crew, which was a mean BBQ chicken, salad, pasta, and banana bread. Our last stop was snorkeling at a small private lagoon where turtles, sharks, lobster, and sting rays were known to reside. We didn’t get to see any of those unfortunately, but had a great time amongst the exotic coral formations all around out boat. After this we started the trek back to the port, where our tour came to an end with Joanna posing with our fearless leader Tony for a picture. It was a good end to a good day.
Thursday, June 25th 2009
Thursday we arrived in Tortola, one of the British Virgin Islands. Here we went to see the Baths at Virgin Gorda. We booked a ferry ride with Speedys Ferry service, which included the 40 minute ferry ride and 10 minute open air bus/taxi ride to the Baths. The Baths is a very popular and beautiful National Park in Tortola. It consists of large rock and cave-like formations right along the beach, which make for some pretty spectacular views. There is a trail that allows you to hike right through them, along with some man-made help such as rope and wooden stairs to help along the way. I think my favorite part was underneath some of the longer, slanted cave-like formations there was crystal clear water about knee high to wade through. Some of the rocks were 50-100 feet high and seemingly stacked on top of one another. Once through the Baths (about a 30 minute hike), it took you out to a beautiful beach, Devil’s Bay. This was a small, quiet beach among the rocks with what else but crystal clear, perfect water. This was another common theme at all of the stops in the Caribbean. We got in the water and did some swimming to cool off from the heat and to enjoy the bay. Eventually the heat got the best of me, so I sought out some shade to hide in while Joanna continued her swim. After spending an hour or so at the beach, we ventured back to the parking lot to catch our shuttle to the boat. We didn’t exactly expect the hike back to be as grueling as it was, but soon enough we found ourselves squishing into the shuttle for the ride back to the boat. After an uneventful ferry ride back to the port, we walked around through the small arts and crafts stands that the local talented people had made. Back on the boat that night we caught a really neat show put on by the Carnival singing & dancing team called Ticket to Ride, a tribute to the Beatles. All 3 of the shows they put on during the week were done very well and impressed us both.
Friday, June 26th 2009
Friday was our second day at sea. It was a welcomed, relaxing break from the previous 4 days where we were constantly on the move at the different ports. We did some lying out on the ship’s upper decks, watched a movie on the outdoor big screen, played a good game of giant chess, and watched some outdoor entertainment put on by the Carnival staff. Examples of things they did throughout the week include a hairy chest competition, marriage game, ice carving demonstration, and battle of the sexes. There was also a short dance class with Eli that we took part in, where we were able to add a few moves to our repertoire. Eli was a pretty cool guy from New Zealand (with an awesome accent), who while leading programs like bingo, game shows, and outdoor activities was able to single handedly add a whole new dimension of fun to our cruise. He’ll definitely be a cruise director soon. Another thing we enjoyed while lounging around on Friday was how we could choose to go to the adults-only section in the back of the ship (very quiet and peaceful), or go to the front of the ship where the activities and big screen theater were located. No matter where you sat, there was never a shortage of bar staff walking around seeing if you wanted a nice, cold, $10 drink.
Saturday, June 27th 2009
On Saturday around 12 noon we arrived in Nassau, Bahamas. Based on a recommendation from the cruisecritic.com forums (where we learned about all of the excursions we did), we spent the day on an island called Paradise Island. This was a privately-owned island, and the company that owned it also conducted dolphin and sea lion programs on the island. We did the “Blue Lagoon Beach Day”, which covered the ferry ride to and from the island, lunch on the beach, use of all their facilities and water activities, and being able to watch the dolphin and sea lion programs. The ferry ride to the island passed a lot of famous homes in the Bahamas… Michael Jordan, Oprah, Jim Carey, and more that have slipped my mind. We arrived, got lunch, and took some inner tubes out into the clear water. Only later would we find out there were barracuda in the water, which was a bit unnerving but exciting all the same. After spending some time on the beach we walked over to the dolphin encounter and dolphin swim. We realized as we watched that the dolphin swim program would have been awesome to try, but with a price tag of $185 per person, we were happy to watch from a few feet away. Partakers were able to get in the water with the dolphins, get a kiss from them, hug them, dance with them, feed them fish, rub their bellies, play catch, and coolest of all, get pushed across the water 50 feet or so. The person would float on their stomach with their legs spread and locked, and once instructed to, 2 dolphins would quickly swim up to you from behind, put their noses on the bottom of your feet, and push you (up to 25 mph according to the instructors) across the pool! It was quite a sight, and must have been quite an experience too. The videos we took of a few random people trying it will have to suffice. After this we spent a little more time on the beach and lying in a hammock, then took the ferry back to the boat. The beach day was one of our favorite excursions because it was just so peaceful and relaxing. All of the staff on the island was very nice and friendly, and the island itself was very clean and un-crowded. Back on the boat we enjoyed an evening movie, singing and dancing show, and comedy show.
Sunday, June 28th 2009
On Sunday, our cruise ended but our vacation didn’t. We kept our luggage with us and did the self-debarkation around 7 in the morning. By 8 AM we were off the boat and through customs. Our flight was scheduled to leave early the next morning, so we had a day in Fort Lauderdale to do whatever we liked. We reluctantly said goodbye to the Carnival Freedom and found a taxi to take us to the airport. Having reserved a rental car with Budget, we proceeded to the desk. We expected the Ford Focus we had reserved, but the woman at the desk said they were having a sale on upgrades, and for only $13 more we could get a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder Convertible for the day. Count us in. Between the 2 of us we had ridden in 2 convertibles total (both by Joanna), so this had the makings for a fun day already. Throughout our stops at the various Caribbean islands, we had seen people riding around on jet skis and having a blast. I figured we had some time to kill, Fort Lauderdale was on a beach, and a jet ski rental would be much cheaper here than in the Caribbean. So, after a quick stop to Starbucks to grab breakfast and to search the internet for jet ski rental companies, we found one just a few miles away in Pompano Beach called American Watersports. We quickly changed in the car and made our way to the beach. We each got our own jet ski for 30 minutes for $100 total…not a bad price at all. What a BLAST this turned out to be. It was easy to get the hang of steering and accelerating, and let’s just say I did mostly all accelerating. The jet skis got up to 45 mph, and I had the pedal to the medal most of the full 30 minutes. Then we had an even more exhilarating experience. While out about 1000-2000 feet from shore, we had stopped about 50 feet from each other to talk. Out of nowhere, 6 dolphin came swimming up RIGHT TO US! And were they beautiful! We had seen dolphin in the wild from a great distance, and had just seen the trained dolphin up close, but never wild dolphin a mere inches away. The best part was, they seemed to be playing with us, because they swam under and in front of and all around our jet skis. They swam in pairs and would surface dive together right next to us to breathe. They were surrounding our jet skis, all around, to the point where we were afraid to move anywhere with the motors underneath. At one point I tried to turn and leave slowly, but they playfully followed my jet ski and hung around. It was definitely one of the coolest encounters with the animal kingdom I’ve experienced (hard to beat the groundhog story). Finally I escaped the circling dolphins and sped away. We thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the half hour, which was over all too soon. We told the owners about our dolphin experience, and I half expected them to say it was a common at their beach. Quite the contrary; they said they’ve been working on that beach for 10 years and had seen dolphins only ONCE during that time. Pretty incredible. After turning in our jet skis, we took a quick dip in a local pool, got a bite at Wendys, and headed back to the hotel. I was able to catch up on some website work while Joanna caught up on some sleep. We used a gift card to Olive Garden (thanks Mom!) for a nice dinner to round out our night.
All in all, the Carnival cruise & day in Fort Lauderdale turned out to be an excellent vacation - a much needed break. We saw so much of God’s beautiful creation that it will probably take weeks and many times looking through our pictures to appreciate and reflect on all of it. It was also a blessing to be able to get away during these tough economic times, and we each are very thankful for the steady employment God has given us. Let us not take it for granted.
