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Adios
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Posted: Sat Jun 17th, 2006 06:41 pm | 1st Post |
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May of 1986 aboard a small ship called the Starward of the then Norwegian Caribbean Lines. The ship was 525 feet long and only 16,000 tons. She was a great ship with plenty of outdoor space. The food and service was outstanding. Very personal.
Our cabin was very small. You could almost stand in the center of the room and touch both walls. The bathroom was so small that your could sh*t, shower and shave in the same spot but it hooked me for life.
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OceanGirl
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Posted: Sun Jun 18th, 2006 12:34 am | 2nd Post |
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My first cruise was in 1981, to celebrate my divorce!!!! :D :D
It was on an old NCL ship (can't remember the name---something like the Seaward or the Starward). We had one of the cheap cabins---inside cabin on the lowest deck. It had one bed plus a pull-down berth. My mom slept on the bed and I got the "hanging bed". The cabin was miniscule and stank to high heaven. But, we had a BLAST and I was hooked on cruising after that. I had met a family with kids my age (25) and we hung out the whole week together.
Last edited on Mon Jun 19th, 2006 10:48 pm by OceanGirl
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DOLPHIN- A FREE roaming mammal found throughout the world's oceans. There are no confines large enough to justify CAPTIVITY.
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hstrybuf
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Posted: Sun Jun 18th, 2006 04:42 am | 3rd Post |
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1999 on the Carnival Sensation. We were land vacation type people, but DH decided he wanted to try a cruise if the price wasn't too steep. He had me, a novice to the internet, begin looking into prices. We had seen the Carnival commercials and so I called them. We booked the cheapest cabin they had, probably an inside 1A, for August the 28th. (We live in the Midwest. What's hurricane season?)  We even ordered the preview tape with Kathy Lee Gifford showing off the ship and singing "Sensation! Sensation! The perfect vacation!" LOL And I can still hear it in my head today.
We were soooo green back then. My how times have changed. We didn't know the first thing about cruising. Just hopped a plane, took the transfer and wow! That ship looked huge! Every waking moment from then on was truly a voyage of discovery. The ship itself was a new experience or sight every minute. I'm sure we made many newbie mistakes, but I don't remember those. I remember that we made new friends, saw new places, tried new foods and had new adventures. I remember being in a tropical storm with 12 foot waves that made us walk like drunken sailors. I remember standing by another Carnival ship that had become disabled in the Gulf, waiting for the tugs to come out to get it. I remember the sheer joy of it all!
We didn't know about the Carnival guarantee back then, but apparently a lot of people did as they disembarked at Coz and went home. Not us! We were having the time of our lives!
We missed Grand Cayman but made New Orleans, Cozumel and Playa del Carmen on that cruise. It was wonderful! I snorkeled for the very first time in the waters off Cozumel, strolled the streets in Mexico and NOLA shopping for souvenirs and seeing the sights and had a dream come true when we visited the ruins of Chichen Itza. I don't visit ruins anymore. I figure I've seen the best there is outside of Peru.
It was two years before we decided to try another cruise and that's when I found my first of many cruise boards. That's also when we become hooked on cruising and spoiled by having our first balcony cabin. I have seven cruises under my belt now and have learned sooooo much in the last five years. I hope we can continue to cruise for a long time.
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Deb - Research, research, research!
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Liberty 10/07; Miracle 10/06; Navigator OTS 10/04; Legend 04/04; Grand Princess 09/03; Dawn Princess 01/03; Enchantment OTS 10/02; Destiny 01/02; Sensation 10/99
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TexasRed
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Posted: Mon Jun 19th, 2006 09:31 pm | 4th Post |
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| Our first cruise was to celebrate our 25th anniversary, in Dec. of 2002. I didn't know the first thing about cruises, or cruiselines, only what I had seen on TV. I found the boards AFTER we had booked with a local TA. We went on Celebrity, the Horizon, one of their smaller, older ships. The food was amazing, the service was pretty good (no towel animals though) and now we are hooked. We came home, I surfed the Net and found a great deal on a Carnival cruise out of Galveston, went on it four months after the first one, then took two more 10 weeks apart in Dec '04 and Feb '05. The last one was where I met GC, and so many other wonderful people. We have #5 and #6 booked...hubby doesn't know about that one though...lol. I am sure our reaction when we first boarded was like everyone else's, we just walked around in awe. I had tears in my eyes when we pulled up to the pier in Tampa, I couldn't believe we were actually going on that big, beautiful ship! A couple at our table told us on the last day that she had seen me walking around the port in one of our stops, and said I looked like a little kid, huge eyes looking at averything, didn't want to miss anything. And, every cruise since then has lived up to that initial pleasure, I go with having a great vacation as my one and only expectation. Cruising has not failed me yet!! Last edited on Mon Jun 19th, 2006 09:32 pm by TexasRed
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hstrybuf
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Posted: Mon Jun 19th, 2006 11:50 pm | 5th Post |
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| My husband says the same thing about me. Just like a little kid with each new experience. :D
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Deb - Research, research, research!
My pics: http://community.webshots.com/user/hstrycrsr
Liberty 10/07; Miracle 10/06; Navigator OTS 10/04; Legend 04/04; Grand Princess 09/03; Dawn Princess 01/03; Enchantment OTS 10/02; Destiny 01/02; Sensation 10/99
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colette5479
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Posted: Tue Jun 20th, 2006 06:10 pm | 6th Post |
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Our first cruise was on the Jubilee in 2002. Not knowing a thing about cruising, I had to pick one of the oldest ships on the CCL fleet. I will never forget the feeling I hasd when we pulled up to the pier and saw her...I could not get over how big she was! And she was only 40,000 tons! I did dp enough reseach to know about formal night and tipping but I didn't know about one thing....tipping room service! Let's say I learned a lesson and never forget to tipp the room service staff!
The Jubilee was older and vibrated hard constantly to the point it was hard to stand up straight at times. I was so dizzy and brought scopolamine patches with me and put one on. The side effects made the dizziness worse and I remained dizzy for a week after the cruise.
Some may think I had a bad time but I really had a blast despite everything. I would now have to say that the Jubilee was my worst cruising experience yet I liked it at the same time.
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Adios
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Posted: Wed Jul 19th, 2006 02:28 am | 7th Post |
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| Never made it on the Jublilee but did cruise her sister the Celebration twice. Loved that little ship.
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seawitches
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Posted: Wed Jul 19th, 2006 06:34 pm | 8th Post |
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Splendour of the Seas March 1998 Caribbean
This one will be hard to do, as it's been awhile, but it is another one of fond memories as it was our first. (Don't we all remember our "first"?)
Embarkation - Miami An overcast day, and totally exhausted when we arrived. Long wait to get onboard, but once we were there, we promptly dumped the carry on's (loaded with wine), and left the ship to seek out shopping at the port.
Walked around the shops, and caught a cab to find the nearest liquour store. What a hoot that was!!
Sail away was great on the top deck with the customary souvenier glass in hand. We learned quick, that those specilities really add up.
Muster drill was one of the best, no drill sargents yelling, alot of friendly smiles, and laughing.
Couldn't believe I was seeing all the homes featured from LifeStyles of the Rich and Famous from my balcony as we sailed away. We enjoyed watching all the cargo ships and cargo containers sailing past on our way south.
Once we were about 1 1/2 hr out of Miami, the rough water started to hit, instant feeling of loneliness, my first taste of cruising, and them WHAM seasickness!!
Cabin 7028. Nicely decorated (I still don't like that goldy orange and blue)
Very little closet space and drawer space, but we managed. Bed ok. Couch a bit saggy. Clean and suited us fine. Balcony was great. Spent many a sail-a-ways sipping wine in the sun, and watching the Captain manover the ship in and out of ports. Loved watching all the cruisers make it back to the ship after a wild day ashore. And was always up for the entries into each island. I loved the sounds of the locals, the flowers and greenery as we approached.
King and I Dining Room was nicely decorated, and food good. Service was fantastic. Fell in love with our waiter Martin ( only to rediscover him 8 years later). Long story.........
Windjammer Cafe was better IMHO back then, that last year. Less noise, better food, and no one pushing wine.
ShowTime- I enjoyed the shows more then than now. I think the entertainment was actually better on RCCL than it has been lately. Chairs were comfortable, and waiters pushed the booze heavily. Saw Charo (Coochie Coochie ) and the Platters, and an amazing concert pianist.
Love the Cigars Under the Stars - attended usually every night, and thoroughly enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere. Weather was great (Mar)
Loved the Schooner Bar, and it still is my favorite to this day.
Cozumel- docked - We booked a booze cruise here, which sailed south of the town to a hotel spot. Beach, booze, and snorkeling. Will always remember this excursion for all the reasons you can imagine!!!!!! Had a wonderful time, and yes, you must be careful of all the nice drinks they serve you on the top deck, and ontop of the bar on the beach..... I now know why there is a roof on each deck of these party boats! We shopped downtown til the booze cruise left in afternoon.
Cozumel was very "quaint" if that's any way to describe it then. When we arrived, we were the only ship in, and the locals were busy with their stores. It gave to great atmosphere, and wonderful pics.
This is were I first learned about rat cones on the ship ropes. We parked beside a navy supply ship, and enjoyed watching the crew working onboard.
Georgetown Grand Cayman- tender- We booked a snorkelling excursion here. A little rough this day, but hot and sunny. They picked us up right off the ship, and motored to a great little snorkel sight, old wreck, lots of fish. When we returned to the ship, we dressed and caught the tender to town. Pretty town, but we stayed in the vicinity of the tender location as it was getting late. Shopped for the usual stuff. Everyone has to buy the rum cake here. And it was my first taste of driving on the wrong side!! How confusing is that!!!!
Really enjoyed the tender ride back to the ship, with the sun shining and music blarring out of the speakers..... felt young again (oh wait I was!) It was interesting watching how the ship while anchored swings the ship back and forth to hold it in one spot. What a sight to see these ships bobbing on the sea and getting bigger and bigger as you approach. They all look so beautiful. The Splendor is really nice with all the glass.
Ocho Rio Jamaica - dock - Well I'm not a great person to recommend Jamaica, but will try to be nice!! The island is a beauty!!! I just wish they would get their stuff together to clean up the crime.
Went to Dunn's River Falls,and did the touristy thing... climb the falls. It is not as easy as it looks, esp if you're a short legged woman. Thank goodness for the young Brit infront and the big Jamaican that would give me the odd boast up to the next rock. Then at the top... the backward baptism into the falls! It was a fun day.
After we did the market... a little scary here, and that was only due to the locals and a mood they got in that day. Enjoyed the drive thru the small parishes (St Anne's etc) Nothing much to buy here, but the usual drugs (only kidding... but there was lots for sale)
Shopped at the little mall near the ore mining areas (bauxite?) Got some great deals on watches, and tanzanite.. Headed back to the ship early, and laid on the decks soaking in the sun, listening to reggae, and sipping the drink of the day.
As we sailed away... looking up into the hills, I thought... hm I would love to buy one of those little condos, or villas.... note to self, "check realty when we get home".
to be continued.................
Part Two 10 day Caribbean Splendor of the Seas
St Thomas- docked- WOW what a docking it was. One ship in front and one ship in back... good ol Capt Tor Olsen parked that big baby right inbetween, better than a parallel park... he just pushed it in sideways! First memories seeing the crew rushing to the telephones, and the hill with the tram.
Beautiful weather, amazing view from the top of the hill. Islands dotted everywhere. Villas climbing the hillside across from the bay.
We walked from the ship to the tram, and walked around the top of the hill, then grabbed a cab, and did the shopping expedition of the century (it equaled St Maarten!). Jewlery everywhere!! A woman's dream!
Lovely private yachts bobbing in the bay, and an interesting one beside the ship, loading lovely ladies aboard for a day of??? Hmm it made for some fun jokes!
After a day of shopping, we grabbed another cab, and headed for Magen's Bay. We arranged for the cabbie to pick us up later in the day, and he was right on time.
An afternoon, I will always remember. Floating in the warm water for hours, with very little humans in sight. Soft warm fine sand on the feet. No boats, no motorized vehicles, just peace....Sitting under some sea grapes for shade, and the hiliarious bar tenders from the little beach shack delivering half melted frosty drinks.
Puerto Rico- docked- Wonderful old city. I loved it here. Hot Hot Hot day.
We had decided that we wanted to try and see as much as possible in little time, so were up early, off the ship within minutes of clearing it. We walked the whole old city, and were exhausted afterwards with a touch of heat stroke.
RCCL had a small bar, with washrooms etc in the old city, which we actually used to cool off. This is a good idea. It was airconditioned, and offered clean washrooms etc.
We walked the fort, the gate, up and down, and up and down all the old streets. Ventured into a few stores. Took some of the best pics we've ever had. History here was really good. Be careful you don't take the wrong turn and end up in the barrio below the fort. Not a good area to end up! We did not go to the new San Juan. Really had no interest there, just wanted to see all the old. Pidgeons, plants, school children, convents.... on and on. It was great. I'd go back in a heartbeat.
Becareful walking, the cobblestones are dangerous, wear good shoes.
Sail in and out is awesome! The surf pounding against the forts.
Don't you just love the fact that your nice cool ship is awaiting after a day of exhaustion, cool drinks, clean cool sheets, and a gourmet meal that you didn't have to lift a finger to cook?
Labadee - tender- This was my final place I had decided to "drain my brain" in. I had saved up all these years of brain crap, and wanted to let it all go symbolically by lying on my back in the sea for hours just floating.... and I did it.
Bit of a schmozal getting everyone off the ship, but we weren't in a hurry. Crew took all the food and drink off too. Cooked a picnic over by the dragon rock.
No motorized vehicles, just humans languishing in the heat. We had a fantastic beach lunch, and all of us were "out cold" for 2 hours on lawn chairs. The palm trees were so small, we had to crawl under them with our chairs to get out of the sun. Far beach by the dragon rock (yes, I have a video of the water blowing out the hole and the roar it makes! don't we all??) was too dangerous to swim in, due to coral, but the regular beach was great. Great pics of the ship from the area behind the old building ruins.... wasn't there history to that? Something about a prostitute living there??
Couldn't wander around too much. We had armed guards in the bushes surrounding the areas that we were in. You didn't notice, unless you looked for them. RCCL stated they were hired by the cruiseline to protect the cruisers. Land was rented by RCCL. Just prior to reboarding the ship, a few local folks set up a couple of stands, and sold some of their crafts.
Enjoyed watching the local fishermen coming back from a day's work in their row boats, and nets... talk about hard work.
Will always remember sailing away from Labadee, sitting on the balcony, gazing at "jungle", and seeing puffs of smoke wafting up. Could it have been women starting the evening dinners? Or fog forming?? Guess I'll never know.
As you can all tell, this was a very memorable cruise. It was 6 friends (for 30years) that decided to take the step to be stranded on a ship for 10 days. We are a really crazy bunch, and this vacation was the craziest. I guess it was our last blast at youth...We had the money, and the confidence to try anything, and that's what we did.
I'll remember, the tall blue Save the Waves shooter glasses (had my first shooter on this ship... a French Kiss Mmmmm), my husband in the Not so Newlywed Game wearing a bra, the Emergency after leaving Labadee (heart attack pt), the storm of the century and we spent it in the Viking Crown Lounge!! what a ride! My newly developed gambling addiction (hee hee). And then there were the elevator carpets that they changed every night at exactly midnight (Monday, Tuesday), and the voice "deck seven"....
The crew on this ship were fantastic. Our cabin steward (stewart ha ha) was so descreet that he actually covered me up after Cozumel when I was a little "under the weather" and ontop of the bed.
I would love to relive this cruise... friends, Puerto Rico, Labadee, and that perfect smooth silky French Kiss.
____________________
~ I am an educated woman...but..."why am I so freaked about this". freaked and fascinated"~
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goincruisin
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Posted: Fri Jul 21st, 2006 10:27 pm | 9th Post |
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I'm loving hearing all these stories!!! Yes Sheila, we do always remember our first!!! :D
Sheila, GREAT review there!!! You have a great memory!
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Next!
Destiny B2B 10/30 & 11/3/08
Splendor 4/26/09
Legend 10/18/09
Dream 4/24/10
"Because change is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy" -Rudy Giuliani
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xpcdoojk
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Posted: Sat Jul 22nd, 2006 07:24 pm | 10th Post |
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All I know is that my first cruise has ruined my snow skiing! We had been married 15 years, my DW, was forced to learn to snow ski before we were married. I was a poor gradual student and she a RN. Our vacations were usually a trip to Colorado or Europe for a week plus of snow skiing. In the summers we would take long weekends and visit the beaches of NC, VA, and SC and either camp or rent an old house a few blocks off the beach. My wife, always wanted to take a cruise, but I had seen the Love boat and I wasn't going to be caught dead doing anything so square for a vacation at the time of the year when I could be schussing down the mountains of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, British Columbia, New Mexico or even the alps when we made our first vacation to Europe together in 1985 for two weeks. My wife became a very accomplished skier despite not liking the activity all that much. I always seduced her into skiing by buying her cool ski outfits and cool equipment. As long as she looked marvelous she was happy. We skied at least 2 weeks a year until 1995.
In the early 90s I started to feel guilty for denying her a trip to a warm climate in the winter time, so we almost booked a cruise on the Windward I think maybe it is a NCL ship now. Our good friends, who were now our ski buddies, as I drug them to Colorado and Utah to learn to ski though, were going thru a personal crisis as Shelby's mother was dying from cancer. So, we ended up going on another ski vacation. Sue and Shelby were star crossed skiers on our first ski trip to Colorado and Winter Park they had done a nice job and were progressing nicely enough that I turned them loose on their own. My Uncle Bob lived in Fraser during ski season and was a retired college football head coach and high school football coach taught skiing in Winter Parks exceptional handicapped ski program in order to ski for free all winter long. (Uncle Bob passed away a couple of weeks ago in Norman, OK at 84 a couple of months after Dorothy Mae his wife of almost 65 years died. He skied until last year when he had his first heart attack.) So, I always took rookies to ski school in WP and then after they graduated Uncle Bob skied with them and helped them progress. They had gotten far enough that they ran a run or two with us and Uncle Bob before he had to go to ski school and we said we will meet you at the top of the mountain for lunch at 11:30 at the nice restaurant. We never saw them at lunch. So, after finishing lunch we rocket down to the bottom and our lockers (a perk of having an uncle as a ski instructor) and found a note from Sue saying Shelby was in the clinic with a broken collar bone. A couple of years later we were skiing with them at Deer Valley in Utah, and I think it was the first day of a 6 day trip and about the 3rd run of the trip when Sue fell and turn a knee ligament. She ended up flying home early, but Shelby stayed with us and we finished a low key week in some amazing snow conditions. So in this environment we booked a trip in 1996.
We booked an inside cabin on the Majesty of the Seas for a week sailing from Miami on January 4 1996. This week incorporated my birthday and our 15th anniversary. Krystal and I decided to go 4 days before the cruise (even as a rookie cruiser, I was smart enough to know better than to cruise the same day as I flew! ) either that or it was just me doing my normal maximization of vacation. Why do a week when you can stretch it a day or two on either side of a weekend! Sue and Shelby planned to arrive the day before the cruise and we would hook up in Miami on I think Saturday night. They booked an ocean view stateroom because Sue is spoiled. I think our cruise fare alone was $1300 pp for a week including port taxes. (We actually got a future credit due to the fact that RCI was overcharging and some maroon did a class action lawsuit and we got a credit that I pitched into the trash for like $18 off a future cruise.) Since, I could not imagine a vacation where I went and sat in a lounge chair on a ship drinking Pina Coladas for a week. Not my style or interests. I had spent many days on the beach and if that was all we could do, I would go nuts. I am just way to activity oriented. So, I told Shelby if we were going to be forced to do this crappy vacation, by damned, we were going to make it worth doing. We signed up that fall to get certified as scuba divers. Our check out dives was at a local lake the weekend after thanksgiving. Surface temperature about 50 below the thermocline it was about 56 degrees F. Our instructor put us in 3 piece 6 mm wet suits with hood and gloves, visibility was about the length of my arm. We were so buoyant that we could not get negative enough to actually get below the surface even with our flippers trying to drive us under water. The instructor gave us each a huge rock that allowed us to get negative enough to submerge. We couldn’t see each other, we were completely disoriented, and the instructor could not really see us to know if we were doing things right or anything else. We continued this for another hour and he certified us. I was very disillusioned at this point and wondered why I had signed up for this crap.
Krystal and I booked a nice bed and breakfast on Simonton (I think) street in Key west for a few nights called The Heron House. My niece was a new travel agent and she had booked it for us and a rental car in Miami. Our flight was to leave at 6am. We awoke to about 10 inches of snow, and our 6am flight became a 5pm flight. Not a good start. We arrived in Miami at about 11:30pm and after claiming our luggage, Krystal went to call the rental car company to arrange getting to our car. The car rental company was closed! I became enraged. Finally, I settled down and we went to the car rental desks, and got on a shuttle to Budget rental cars. We explained that we had booked with Enterprise, but they were closed. I had such and such rate and what can you do for me. The guy said we just got a shipment of new (and the model was brand newly introduced) Pontiac Sunfire convertibles and that he could give me one of those for $3 bucks more than my economy Enterprise non convertible. I said perfect. We loaded the Sunfire and at 12:30 AM we began the drive down highway 1 to Key West. I drove for a couple of hours, then Krystal took over and then I took over about 30 minutes out. We hit Key West at about 5:30AM and we were amazed that kids were skateboarding down Duval Street and couples were walking home from bars and window shopping. The B&B had put a key for us in the mailbox, and we got to bed about 6am. We slept till about 10.
After a few nice days in Key West we drove back up Highway 1 and checked into our hotel (I think it was the Marriott) in Miami. We called Sue and Shelby’s hotel (maybe the Sheraton) and got them, and said we were planning on going to Joe’s, but the concierge told us that Joe’s was closed for the season and recommended Monty’s just across the bridge in SoBe as a good substitute since we wanted to experience Stone crabs. We had a wonderful and expensive dinner, and then we ventured out onto Collins avenue and gave up the crowds were so great on Ocean. We stopped at a liquor store on Collins and Shelby and I bought a case of wine to take onto the ship with us! We dropped Sue and Shelby off at there hotel. We spent the next day in Miami and the girls found the Bal Harbor shops and we blew out some more bucks on clothing that the ladies didn’t need, but were happy to get. Then we took the girls to the pier, with some luggage, and made another trip to get the rest of the luggage. Sail away was supposed to be 6pm, but there was a huge snowstorm hitting the Northeast, probably the same storm that hit us a few days before. Shelby had packed the wine in his scuba bag and we wrapped the wine bottles in our wet suits and booties and BCs. This turned out to be not quite adequate for the RCI and port baggage handlers. One bottle of red wine broke, and all of our scuba gear smelled like a bad Merlot! (Since this experience we have learned to pack all bottles in bubble wrap or scuba suits inside a Nylon and Rubber waterproof float bag. We have never had a problem since.) Anyway, poor Shelby had to spend an hour rinsing scuba gear in their micro shower. The ship did not sail, because many flights from the east coast had not arrived. So we went to one of the bars on the ship and watched the KC Chiefs play the Indianapolis Colts in the rain. This was the infamous game where Lyn Elliott missed I think 5 field goals and the Chiefs lost I think it was 10 to 7. Depressing. We ate dinner and to the introduction show. All the while sitting at the pier in Miami and not sailing anywhere! We finally went to bed around midnight and sometime shortly later we sailed away. We were told that about 80 people didn’t make the sailing due to the weather, and that some might be joining us a few days later in Jamaica. I made a note to myself right there and then. Never fly the same day as your cruise. I violated this only one time that was our 2000 cruise on the Millennium in October from Genoa Italy.
The weather on our cruise was not good. It was about 60 degrees and rainy. We could not stop at Labadie due to the conditions and we sailed right by. We did stop the next stop in Jamaica. In Jamaica, I bought a Louis Vuitton Series Sailboat races watch that had all sorts of cool scuba functionality and looked great that I still wear today. Sue and Shelby also bought watches Sue a Movado and Shelby a Tag Heuer. My poor wife didn’t and had to wait until September when we went to Bonaire for a scuba vacation. After the shopping tour to the Taj Mahal shops we returned to the ship and a booze cruise to Dunn’s River Falls. We drank rum punches and then linked hands to walk up the falls in a light cool drizzle. We all wore scuba boots and we had gone about 50 feet up the falls when Krystal stepped between two nasty rocks and twisted her ankle and put a really nice gash in her shin. Ouch! After a quick inspection we continued up the falls and she soldiered on gamely. She is quite a woman. After we reached the top of the falls they were asking for $25 for a video of our experience and we bought one. In which I think we appear for about 2 minutes. On the boat ride back we listened to reggae and drank lots of Rum punches especially poor Krystal.
I really have missed an important part of this first cruise, and I will now retrace to this turning point in our lives. The first night dinner we were with a pleasant 50 something pair of ladies. Not being, too, sensitive Sue asked where their families were. I kind of thought, O O! The ladies said that they were both unmarried at this time, and being the open trusting fun loving people we are Sue continued to try to carry a conversation with them and said good night hope to see you tomorrow. The next night arrived and the head waiter came and said that the ladies would not be returning as they had moved to early seating. I guess our insensitivity and naivety offended the two obviously non heterosexual ladies. Poor Sue felt terrible when I explained that they were probably not married for a reason. Anyway a few minutes later the head waiter escorted a couple approximately our age to our table. Then we met Michael and Kay. They are our beloved English friends that we have cruised with 3 other times. They have spent a few vacations with us in our home and we visited them in England in 2004. We all went to our friends honeymoon in Key West in 1999. We will be rejoining them in the Canary Islands this year at Xmas.
Let me return to the narrative at this point. The next stop was Grand Cayman and Shelby and my first real open water dive. The certification dives really don’t count in my mind except to prove I didn’t completely panic in utter blindness 25 feet below the surface. We booked thru RCI and the operator was Red Sail Sports. It was about 70 degrees the hottest and only really pretty day of the whole trip. They loaded us onto a deck boat and drove us a very short distance down 7 mile beach and we went over the side with a group of about 30 people. Including another couple from our home town who were both professors at the school where I went to undergrad and one of them was our friend Susie’s (not on the trip) graduate advisor while she was working on her MBA. Small world. The first dive was exciting. Shelby had a problem with equalizing his ears and he blow so hard trying to clear his ears that he had a bloody nose when we surfaced 45 minutes later. There was a huge Barracuda that followed us closely for most of the dive. We saw a pair of Green turtles and lots of fish. After the dive the dive guide said for us to pair up and dive on our own. So we wandered around for about 45 minutes making sure we knew where the boat was.
After the dives we hauled our gear back to the dock and tendered to the ship and hosed down the gear in the shower, hung it in the shower and retendered to shore at lunch at a British pub close by and then met back up with our two wives and did a little shopping. We decided that the shop keepers in the Caymans are not the friendliest on the planet. About all we purchased were a couple of Rum cakes.
The next stop was Cozumel. Shelby and I were again booked to scuba the vendor this time was Aqua Safari. The girls and our English friends were going to Tulum so they got off the ship in Playa Del Carmen and Shelby and I got off on Cozumel. They had a nice day and enjoyed Tulum and drinking beer on the bus. They bought some cheap t shirts and souvenirs. Shelby and I got picked up by the Aqua Safari boat at the pier. We traveled south about 30 minutes in an ancient and crappy dive boat. The first dive the water was very smooth and it was a pleasant experience. I remember the dive master saying our plan was to not exceed 90 feet and we were to form a line and follow the dive master. So we dove, and I remember saying I am at 90 feet and the dive master is at least 20 feet below me. So, I followed him about 10 feet above him. Cozumel is an interesting place to dive, we have spent a week there since this time diving. Lots of coral heads with swim thru spots which make it a very neat place to dive. When we surfaced after about 30 minutes the sea had picked up a bit of chop. It was now partly cloudy and after our surface interval we drank a coke and geared up again and headed back to a dive to about 60 feet. This one was a pure drift dive and we covered a lot of bottom heading north with the currents. It was a lot like flying up and down over the coral heads as we approached them. It was a very neat experience. At one point we came into a school of groupers. They probably averaged a 100 pounds a piece. While they were swimming past us we watched them swim away. About that time I turned around and there was a grouper that was about 4 feet from me weighing I guess close to 200 pounds with his mouth wide open. I about had a heart attack. He swam slowly past me and swam away. Now it was time to surface. Standard dive practice is to swim slowly to the surface and at about 15 feet hang there letting the nitrogen go back into solution in your veins and arteries. When we got to 15 feet we could not maintain that depth. We were swinging wildly between about 8 feet and 25 feet. It felt like we were in a washing machine. About a minute of this and I started feeling sick. I fought it for about another 30 seconds and it overcame me and out came my Coke and breakfast. I said to hell with the safety stop and went to the surface. Everyone was there or joined me promptly the boat was several hundred yards away picking up someone who surfaced much earlier. So now we were on the surface with 6 to 10 foot waves all around us. The sickness returned and I threw up again and again. I was a bit afraid that something was going to come eat me in my chummed up section of the ocean. When the boat finally returned it started picking us up. This was a major problem because the dive ladder was not long enough to stay in the water in these conditions so you had to time it to grab on and then hang on for all you were worth. Meanwhile the crew was pushing and pulling trying to get you back on the boat. After a horrific 30 minutes they succeeded. I hung my head over the side back to the pier and puked frequently for the 30 minute ride back. I was miserable. Finally, we made it back. Shelby and I talked for the first time since before the dive. He too had been sick and according to him everyone else other than the dive master was sharing our misery. We went to our cabins repeated the hosing our gear in the shower and then we headed back to the pier to meet up with our wives and new English friends at Carlos and Charlie’s which used to be right across from the ferry dock from Playa. We shared our stories of adventure they said it was very hot on the mainland and that Tulum is a beautiful spot. We said we were just glad to be on solid land.
The next day was a sea day heading back to Miami it was overcast and cold. The seas were very large and very rough. I decided that the Caribbean in January is not the best place to be. Since then we have either traveled to the Southern Caribbean or the northern much later in the year. To me for a winter time cruise I much prefer sailing from San Juan and heading south to the ABC or the Windward Islands. We flew home a few hours after leaving the ship and we had officially finished our first cruise.
The English friends came to spend a couple of weeks with us by summer of 1997. We didn’t book another cruise until 1998 and that was on Carnival.
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abridalmaven
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Posted: Sat Jul 22nd, 2006 09:11 pm | 11th Post |
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Sounds like fun JC, but I have not even mastered snorkeling yet, no less diving!
By the way what is a gradual student? It that a graduate student that just takes a little bit longer than the rest? hehehe
Last edited on Sat Jul 22nd, 2006 09:12 pm by abridalmaven
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Adios
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Posted: Sun Aug 6th, 2006 07:17 pm | 12th Post |
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| Thanks JC for the story. I love to snorkel but will not dive. Love the Caymans for this.
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Catnip
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Posted: Mon Aug 7th, 2006 07:52 pm | 13th Post |
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xpcdoojk We didn’t book another cruise until 1998 and that was on Carnival.
jc!!!!!! I didn't know you were a Carnivore!!!!!
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planersedge
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Posted: Mon Aug 7th, 2006 08:11 pm | 14th Post |
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Does one cruise on Carnival make you a Carnivore???
PE
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next up NCL Pearl 4/4/08
after tht NCL Dawn 11/2/08 Repo Redux
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Catnip
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Posted: Mon Aug 7th, 2006 08:15 pm | 15th Post |
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I'm not sure............
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xpcdoojk
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Posted: Mon Aug 7th, 2006 08:22 pm | 16th Post |
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I was weak and younger. What can I say. I am not perfect! I enjoyed our Carnivore cruise. My wife and Sue didn't think it was as nice as RCI. I liked the price it was a lot cheaper than my firts RCI cruise. Of course, I had learned that I went at a premium time on my first cruise and I used this information to do a better job the second time around.
Carnivore is really a state of mind. I have explained my definition of a carnivore a bazillion times. Here is the short version. Carnival and RCI are the two giant corporations that compete hard to earn our cruise dollars. Carnivores are those that go to any other forum to defend Carnival any time, any place, and no matter what. They are guilty of my cruiseline is better than your cruiseline games that are played constantly. We have never found a suitable equal name for RCI die hards. I think Norweenies was used to describe FOMT supporters of NCL. We use scooter riders to describe HAL fans, etc.
I am a defender of free enterprise and personal choice and responsiblity, therefore, I am a hateful human being. It is all a matter of definitions and points of view.
BTW, I love all of my carnivore buddies, and I am warming up to a few Norweenies. I have hung out with the scooter riders, too.
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Posted: Tue Aug 8th, 2006 01:40 am | 17th Post |
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I feel really uncomfortable agreeing with JC but I must agree, I love Carnival!
OK I said it! Carnival freakin rocks!
If ya have kids and water slides, life is good!
Carnival does alot of other stuff as good as the others.
Best comedy on the High Seas!
Last edited on Tue Aug 8th, 2006 01:41 am by BAMA X 2
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OceanGirl
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Posted: Tue Aug 8th, 2006 11:31 am | 18th Post |
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xpcdoojk wrote:
I am a defender of free enterprise and personal choice and responsiblity, therefore, I am a hateful human being.
Me, too 
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hstrybuf
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Posted: Tue Aug 8th, 2006 10:40 pm | 19th Post |
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xpcdoojk wrote:
BTW, I love all of my carnivore buddies, and I am warming up to a few Norweenies. I have hung out with the scooter riders, too.
Me too, jc, me too except I haven't been on HAL yet. And don't forget your Loyal Royal friends! :D (Hey, it was the best I could do!) 
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Adios
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Posted: Tue Aug 29th, 2006 01:13 am | 20th Post |
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| Got to try NCL again some day. My last cruise was on the Norway. I know that things have changed since then.
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mrBit
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Posted: Wed Feb 21st, 2007 05:55 pm | 21st Post |
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Conquest last May,
It was a blast, Cruising became the mainstay of vacationing for me, i just could not match the fun and value. I have been to Vegas, Disney, Japan, all over Mexico and Central America and Canada before I started cruising and for the money and fun Cruising cannot be beat.
So because of the addiction, since May 06 through Jan 08 I will have sailed on 6 cruises.
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Splendour (Europe) 9/11/2008
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Voyager 01/27/08 (canceled, expecting baby boy)
Conquest II 09/09/07
Ecstasy 05/19/07
Holiday 1/11/07
Sensation 8/31/06
Conquest 5/21/06
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Catnip
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Posted: Wed Feb 21st, 2007 06:55 pm | 22nd Post |
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mrBit wrote:
So because of the addiction, since May 06 through Jan 08 I will have sailed on 6 cruises.
WOW!!!!!!!! That's pretty impressive!!!!!!!!
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Next up: Last Atlantic crossing on QE 2 10-08/Celebrity Solstice 1-09/Jewel of the Seas 3/09
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hstrybuf
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Posted: Thu Feb 22nd, 2007 12:04 am | 23rd Post |
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mrBit wrote: Conquest last May,
It was a blast, Cruising became the mainstay of vacationing for me, i just could not match the fun and value. I have been to Vegas, Disney, Japan, all over Mexico and Central America and Canada before I started cruising and for the money and fun Cruising cannot be beat.
So because of the addiction, since May 06 through Jan 08 I will have sailed on 6 cruises.
Please adopt me!!!
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Deb - Research, research, research!
My pics: http://community.webshots.com/user/hstrycrsr
Liberty 10/07; Miracle 10/06; Navigator OTS 10/04; Legend 04/04; Grand Princess 09/03; Dawn Princess 01/03; Enchantment OTS 10/02; Destiny 01/02; Sensation 10/99
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mrBit
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Posted: Fri Feb 23rd, 2007 03:25 am | 24th Post |
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| lol
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Voyager 01/27/08 (canceled, expecting baby boy)
Conquest II 09/09/07
Ecstasy 05/19/07
Holiday 1/11/07
Sensation 8/31/06
Conquest 5/21/06
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BobBeaSea
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Posted: Sat Feb 24th, 2007 03:34 pm | 25th Post |
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My first was Sovereign of the Seas 1990. We had a great TA who knew cruising inside and out so we were well prepared except for one thing, flying the day of the cruise. The TA suggested flying the day before but the schedule wouldn't permit it. We did get the air through RCI and it was a beauty, flew out of Toronto at March break on Eastern Airlines (good old Whisperliners-727's, noisy as hell), with stops in Tenessee and Georgia before landing in Miami. Flew first thing in the morning and got to the port around 3:30 or so, geeezzz what a day.
The ship was massive, the biggest cruise ship afloat at the time. It was just beautiful, inside and out-I had never seen anything like it. The cruise was elegant as well as being tons of fun. We had an ocean view cabin, something like 130 sq. ft | | |
