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BAMA X 2
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Posted: Sat Nov 24th, 2007 11:51 pm | 1st Post |
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We arrived in San Juan to buckets of rain being dropped on us! I began to think about who I would take resumes from to become our new FOMT Weather Mermaid! Karen was out as far as I was concerned and I was kind of leaning toward Erby or Jane to replace her. Our travel companion Erby decided to stay at the airport and wait for some other FOMTs as Denise and I stood in the infamous San Juan Airport Taxi line. It took about a half hour and we were on our way to the exclusive Howard Johnson’s Casa di Armas hotel in Old San Juan. Denise booked this place and I was a little concerned. Sure HOJOs is a great place to get breakfast at 2 am after going out all night but to actually stay at one? As it turned out the place was awesome for the price. If you ever stay there make sure you get one of the forward facing balcony rooms. I would stay there again without hesitation.
After an adult afternoon nap we ventured out into the streets Old San Juan. We were just around the corner from the home of the original Pina Colada (disputed) and just a short walk to Christo Street. Our first stop was the Pina Colada Place and as we sat down in the courtyard I heard a voice yell “BAMA, Hey Bama”! I looked up at the bar and saw Mr. Tractors cousin Robyn and her Eagle Scout husband Frank, So we joined them for an afternoon of Pina Coladas and nachos in Old San Juan! I don’t get much better than that in my opinion.. It was still raining off and on and I could believe our mermaid had let us down like this.
We left Frank and Robyn and walked around a bit and ended back at the hotel for another adult afternoon nap and got ready to meet some of the group at the Tractors lifestyle of the rich and famous hotel for drinks before dinner.
The Hotel was one of the most unique I have ever seen. It was located in-between their two Forts on the highest points in OSJ. The Tractors had a long delay and had not arrived from the airport yet so we went to Robyn and Franks room. It had a huge balcony overlooking the city so we hung out there and waited for the Tractors to arrive so we could go to dinner.
We ate at the Parrot Club right in the middle of a San Juan music festival. It was a great pre cruise party. The food at the parrot club was very good but the music on the streets was outstanding. There was a different band on each corner of the district. The FOMTs roamed the streets of a couple of hours after dinner and all headed off to our different hotels only one day away from the cruise we had all been waiting for.. It is often said that things happen for a reason. Planners Edge (John) who is famous for running from San Juan parties did not make this cruise. The moment I saw the wild party on the packed streets of OSJ I knew he had made the right choice by not coming this time. LMAO!!!!
We woke up early the next morning and we were getting pretty excited about getting on the Crown Princess. We had all day to goof off so we decided to walk to the Fort. It was fun. We had been to El Morro before so we decided to go to the other one. We spent a couple hours there and landed at a hotel for breakfast. We sat in an atrium courtyard which reminded us of what Embassy Suites has tried to mimic in their hotels but they don’t come close. We were surrounded by a jungle with all the sounds that go with it. It took us about an hour and a half to finish and we could have stayed longer. Another great hotel choice in Puerto Rico. Denise did some shopping on the way back to our hotel. We got our stuff and headed to the port for our first southern swing and our first time on Princess.
Embarkation was a mess. The line to get on the ship was out the door all the way to the street. We decided to check our luggage and go get lunch in town. We ran into the Tractors , Frank and Robyn and ended up at the Rum factory. The girls enjoyed Pina Colodas and we had Rum and Cokes. The place was empty and they just kept giving them to us. We stumbled from there and ended up at a little restaurant close by. I picked up a bottle of rum and gave it to Mr. T to bring on the ship for me. I never saw it again the entire cruise. There was a long story that want along with it but I figured he needed it more than me so I let it go. I was on vacation LMAO! We walked right on the ship after lunch. It was a great plan not to wait in that mess!
Wow This review is already this long and we are just now on the ship! If you haven’t already either dump this now or get a beer or a glass of wine because this cruise was packed with twists and turns, Lost and damaged cameras, A karaoke quartet that had to be seen to be believed, romance, and someone even had a coming out of the closet celebration (does not make him a bad person) If you missed this cruise you missed a lot! Not only was it packed with FOMTs but there were also Doggatinnis and Cruising Halibuts! From the sail away meet and greet to Debark we had a blast. Both were great groups of cruisers and I would cruise with any that I met any time!
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goodml
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| Joined: | Mon Jun 19th, 2006 |
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Posted: Sun Nov 25th, 2007 12:04 am | 2nd Post |
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| Sounds great so far. Have my wine in hand. Let's go.
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hstrybuf
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| Joined: | Sat Jun 17th, 2006 |
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Posted: Sun Nov 25th, 2007 12:18 am | 3rd Post |
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| Ahhh, I love the Parrot Club! More please!
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Coka
Casual Cruiser
| Joined: | Sun Feb 18th, 2007 |
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Posted: Sun Nov 25th, 2007 12:52 am | 4th Post |
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looking forward to reading more!
Coka:popcorn:
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BAMA X 2
Teeny Bopper
| Joined: | Mon Jun 26th, 2006 |
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Posted: Sun Nov 25th, 2007 01:03 am | 5th Post |
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The Crown Princess is a beautiful ship! We were lead strait to our inside cabin near the art gallery that would later become known as the Paraquat Suite. We have been in inside cabins a few times before and this one seem comparable. It was a place for adult afternoon naps and to crash when the party came to an end each night. Our luggage was at the door when we arrived. We had loaded up with a case of beer and 5 bottles of wine. No Problem. Princess seemed to be way more laid back about booze smuggling than the other cruise lines. That was an automatic point in their column in comparison.
We checked out the ship a bit before the first Meet and greet. The Crown is huge! I have never been on a cruise before where I felt so unfamiliar with the ship when it was all over. The MUTS screen was awesome. I had mixed emotions about it but it was one of the best features of any cruise ships we have ever experienced. We watched the Cowboys Giants Game on it and it was one of my personal highlights of the cruise. It helped being surrounded by FOMT Cowboy fans because they had my back as I was taunting many of the Giant fans in our area! The screen is HD quality and the audio is Stadium like. It was almost like being at the game itself except I was wearing swim trunks! But I am getting ahead of myself, Back to the Meet and Greet!
I guess 40 or 50 people showed up at the bar on the back of the ship for the meet and greet. Many were the regular posters on the roll calls on the various cruise sites. Erby did an outstanding job with the nametags and set at a table to wait for and greet everyone as they arrived. A special thanks to Mach 1 for bringing me a Budvar beer all the way from Cali via Chech. Thanks dude that was awesome. I would also like to ask that you guys change your screen names! It would be much more appropriate if you were Mach 1 and Mrs. Mach was Mach 2! If yall do decide to switch please do not be confused when I referenced Mach 1 in the FOMT Cruise star song! I have no desire to be in a king sized tub with you! LMAO!
The groups that showed up could be identified easily. The Halibuts could always be spotted by their daily change of matching hats. TheDoggatinis could be ID by Mrs Doggatinis flashing Ice cubes that were a regular in her cocktails. All of those that we met that were not in any group are now FOMTs in my mind. I don’t think we could have hand picked a better group of people. The internet is an awesome thing. Although you never really know what you are going to get……………………..We happened to get an outstanding mix of fellow cruisers.
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BAMA X 2
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Posted: Mon Nov 26th, 2007 01:18 am | 6th Post |
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St. Thomas
The first day was a stop on St. Thomas. Our Weather Mermaid was the coordinator of a group catamaran cruise. The actual weather was amazing. Karen got us all to the Cat on two open air buses, and dingy trips from the shore to the cat. The winds were perfect. The boat was awesome. The crew was fantastic, especially for the ladies. We sailed for a few hours and landed on a beach on St. John. We hung out and watched Jane chase a football around for much of the afternoon! It was an awesome beginning to an awesome cruise! The trip back to the ship was fun. The every time in St Thomas stop at Gladys was a wash because everything in St. Thomas seems to close at 3pm on Sunday. This was my first stop in St. Thomas without a stop at Gladys!
St. Kitts
St. Kitts is a beautiful Island. We went to MR X’s Shiggidy Shacks for a beach day. We were taken care of by John and Elvis on the beach. There were FOMTs all around the entire day. The best way to the beach is by water taxi. Lunch of jerked snapper was the best I have ever head. Jane even ate one of the Eyes of the fish which freaked me out a little. We tossed the football again, drank beer and I was shot down by the ladies by telling them it was a topless beach, there were no takers much to our dismay. I don’t think there was anyone on the beach that day that would say the tops staying on was do to a lack of effort on my part!
Bonaire
This was our big dive day. Probably the biggest reason we decided on this itinerary. Bonaire is dive central. We were picked up at the ship and taken by boat to this really cool dive shop about 20 minutes away. We were on the same dive boat as the Maui Lovers and were glad we were. This was our first official dive since being certified in Jamaica this summer and Denise especially felt so much more comfortable being with two divers with the Mls experience. She really felt that they were looking out for us, plus they had underwater cameras and gave us our first underwater dive shots. The power of this internet is amazing. Chances are we would have found the Mauilovers anyway but the Bond we felt with them from our roll call on CC made them feel like friends before we ever met. Again Guys, thanks for everything you did, and I hope to do the Maui dive thang with you guys in the near future! After meeting them and the Machs I would like to take back everything I have ever said bad about all left coasters! LMAO again!
If you ever get the chance you must dive Bonaire. The entire Island is dive central. They even have drive through tank filling places. We would love to go back for a land based vacation. The island was beautiful although the natives were friendly the Dutch dive masters were very nice and helpful. Denise loved the open air market just off the ship. Everything was closing when we finished our dive. We met up with the Machs for a drink in a bar just in front of the ship. Mach 2 ordered and slammed a long island Iced tea beacuse we were running out of time and we were about the last group back on the ship! Did not see mach for the rest of the night.
Grenada
Great Island. If I heard it once I heard it one hundred times “we love Americans and thanks for running Castros’ Cubans out of our Country! It is the only Island I have ever been to that I felt there was a true appreciation for our country! It was great! I know that we bring millions of dollars there every year in tourism but it was different! If you ever get the chance and you have never been give this Island a visit. We did an Island tour to waterfalls, forts and a rainforest. It was kind of a last minute choice and we would probably do it again. Its is spectacularly beautiful and it is the only Caribbean Island I have ever been to where I felt proud because I was an American! The people of Granada love Americans and Clint Eastwood in particular.
Aruba
I had very mixed emotions about even going to Aruba! We live close to where Natalie Holloway lived before she was abducted and murdered in Aruba. We really wanted to do Bonaire and it Aruba just happened to be on the same Itinerary . I didn’t want to spend any money there and wasn’t even going to get off the ship. The more I thought about it, I decided that the people of Aruba did not botch this case it was the government and the local police. As it turned out just a few days after we were there the 3 men allegedly involved were rearrested with new evidence so it appears justice will be served.
Aruba itself was a fun Island. We did a beach day with Mach1 and Mach 2. The only negative was the infamous banana boat ride to the lighthouse and back. Once Denise decides on something her tunnel vision takes over and she cant seem to shake it. The guy on the beach who set up our chairs and stuff made the mistake of telling us that he had this great banana boat ride and how much fun it was. I was very cool with chilling on the beach and drinking beer with Mach 2. As the day continued Denise seemed to be transfixed with the damn banana boat. I told her to go by herself or with Mach 1 or something. But nooooooooo, not only did she need to experience this ride but so did I, The Machs and another couple on the beach was also sucked in so off we went! We were dumped within 2 seconds of getting underway. I sat on the front of this boat being beat with saltwater to the face for a half hour. Seconds into it I was ready for it to be over. Mach 1 ended up in the fetal position on the bottom of the boat after being dumped for the second time. The only one that enjoyed the ride was an 8 year old Spanish kid who could not get enough. Bottom line Banana boats suck!
Our next stop was Carlos and Charlie’s. I was not aware that is the place that Natalie disappeared until after we got there. Denise said there were notes to her on in the ladies room. We each got a drink and danced with the Doggatinis and the Halibuts for about an hour. It was a good time. We somehow lost our camera there on the last island with all of our pics on it. I was pissed at first but after thinking the the Holloway’s lost their daughter there, I could certainly deal with losing a camera. Put into perspective the loss of a camera is really no big deal. We have gotten hundreds of pictures from thousands shared by the group since we got back.
The Sea Day
This was by far our best sea day ever for two reasons. First of all Debs Golf tournament was a blast as always. She does a great job organizing it and makes it a lot of fun. Mr. Doggatinii fired the low score on a very challenging course. There were prizes for many different things and I am looking forward to the next one.
Reason two was Denise and I discovered the sanctuary and decided to spend the entire day there. I would highly recommend checking this place out if you cruise on princess. It is a quite area on the back of the ship. They had nice loungers, MP3 players loaded with all kinds of music a semi private pool, they brought lunch to us, and best of all there were no kids allowed! We loved it. The only downside was being called a sanctuary snob for the day by the FOMTs but it was all worth it. I think this is the was cruising once was before the product became mass produced. We didn’t need to fight for pool chairs, listen to screaming kids or feel like we were packed like sardines. When we do princess again we will be sanctuary snobs on each and every sea day from now on!
Last edited on Mon Nov 26th, 2007 01:46 am by BAMA X 2
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Posted: Tue Nov 27th, 2007 01:47 pm | 7th Post |
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As always, Bama, you do a superb review!!!!!!! 
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