Heres the link to my pictures from our New years Caribbean adventure.
Slide show
Enjoy!
Friday, January 14, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Docked
Well, we're back in port now, docked and about to get off the ship. It's been a very relaxing cruise and I did spend part of yesterday organizing a photo album so I can upload to Picassa once I get home. It's not ready yet and when it is I'll post a link on this site.
Our visit to Princess Cay in the Bahamas yesterday was cancelled. We were watching the small tender boats from our balcony and noticing how they were moving up and down a LOT. The captain came on the speakers and said that with 5' swells and 20 mph winds from the southwest, it was right at the safely limits for tendering passengers. So with conditions expected to be worse in the afternoon, he was canceling the stop. Since Mary and I did not have much planned this was no big deal for us.
Mary got some sun, I played bridge and participated in a golf chipping contest, and we did take on that ugly task of packing our suitcases. 8-((
Yesterday morning we did catch a beautiful sunrise. I'll have a whole sequence of pictures in my web page so this one will have to do for now.
I hope you've enjoyed my daily notes and pictures and hope that each of you will experience the joys of travel at some point in your life!
Our visit to Princess Cay in the Bahamas yesterday was cancelled. We were watching the small tender boats from our balcony and noticing how they were moving up and down a LOT. The captain came on the speakers and said that with 5' swells and 20 mph winds from the southwest, it was right at the safely limits for tendering passengers. So with conditions expected to be worse in the afternoon, he was canceling the stop. Since Mary and I did not have much planned this was no big deal for us.Mary got some sun, I played bridge and participated in a golf chipping contest, and we did take on that ugly task of packing our suitcases. 8-((
Yesterday morning we did catch a beautiful sunrise. I'll have a whole sequence of pictures in my web page so this one will have to do for now.I hope you've enjoyed my daily notes and pictures and hope that each of you will experience the joys of travel at some point in your life!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Last Day at Sea
After 5 ports in a row, we are enjoying our day at sea. It's a bright, sunny, warm and beautiful day as you can see from this picture. 
Mary is catching some rays, I did my laps around the Promenade deck, and we enjoyed Pub Lunch today. (Pub lunch is an English style lunch featuring a limited menu such as: Bangers and mashed, Fish and chips, Plowman's lunch.) Princess hosts this special lunch on days at sea. We go there nearly every time it's offered; will be interesting if they offer it during our British Isles cruise next summer!
I played bridge this afternoon, then we have a Captain's reception followed by the second formal night. Lobster is on the menu!
Not excited about heading back into the cold, but the end is in sight.
Mary is catching some rays, I did my laps around the Promenade deck, and we enjoyed Pub Lunch today. (Pub lunch is an English style lunch featuring a limited menu such as: Bangers and mashed, Fish and chips, Plowman's lunch.) Princess hosts this special lunch on days at sea. We go there nearly every time it's offered; will be interesting if they offer it during our British Isles cruise next summer! I played bridge this afternoon, then we have a Captain's reception followed by the second formal night. Lobster is on the menu!
Not excited about heading back into the cold, but the end is in sight.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
St Thomas
We had a relaxing day in St Thomas. Had a very nice, non-stressful excursion around the island, enjoying the nice, sunny 80 degree weather. 
The picture is of the Emerald Princess with St Thomas in the foreground. If you look carefully you can see the Norwegian Sun sailing towards the harbor. This was our last shopping stop so Mary had a few things to pick up. I got a neat Cari-loha polo shirt. These shirts are made from bamboo fibers and are extremely soft and comfortable. Can't wait to wear it to dinner tonight! Mary also got something special to wear to dinner - a ruby ring to match a necklace given to her by Pat (in Australia). She's been looking for a ruby to match for quite some time and we finally found one today.
Tomorrow is a day at sea, then Princess Cay (in the Bahama's), then to Ft Lauderdale. I've lost track of what day of he week this is, but it's back to the real world on Friday.
The picture is of the Emerald Princess with St Thomas in the foreground. If you look carefully you can see the Norwegian Sun sailing towards the harbor. This was our last shopping stop so Mary had a few things to pick up. I got a neat Cari-loha polo shirt. These shirts are made from bamboo fibers and are extremely soft and comfortable. Can't wait to wear it to dinner tonight! Mary also got something special to wear to dinner - a ruby ring to match a necklace given to her by Pat (in Australia). She's been looking for a ruby to match for quite some time and we finally found one today. Tomorrow is a day at sea, then Princess Cay (in the Bahama's), then to Ft Lauderdale. I've lost track of what day of he week this is, but it's back to the real world on Friday.
Dominica
Yesterday was our visit to Dominica. This is not the country of Dominica that shares an island with Haiti. When pronouncing it, you put the emphasis on the 3rd syllable: Do-min-I-ca. 
We changed excursions for this island but should have stayed on our original planned one since I failed to screen the difficulty level. This one had 2 very strenuous hikes to see waterfalls. We ended up walking over very rough ground in pouring rain. I did not have rain gear so I bought a very fashionable poncho (as you can see in the picture). Mary thought she'd be OK with her windbreaker since it was raining lightly at the time. We both ended up quite wet and our socks and shoes were soaked. But that's how it goes...
Once back on the ship I played water volleyball for an hour, mostly in the deep end. That was quite a workout! Watched a movie in the evening and generally relaxed and took it easy.
On to St Thomas!!
We changed excursions for this island but should have stayed on our original planned one since I failed to screen the difficulty level. This one had 2 very strenuous hikes to see waterfalls. We ended up walking over very rough ground in pouring rain. I did not have rain gear so I bought a very fashionable poncho (as you can see in the picture). Mary thought she'd be OK with her windbreaker since it was raining lightly at the time. We both ended up quite wet and our socks and shoes were soaked. But that's how it goes...
Once back on the ship I played water volleyball for an hour, mostly in the deep end. That was quite a workout! Watched a movie in the evening and generally relaxed and took it easy.On to St Thomas!!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Granada
We had a very nice visit to Granada. Weather was fabulous - sunny and not too hot. Our tour, however, was a 4 hour bus ride around the island with a number of stops. 
Our first stop was Annandale Falls, the tallest falls on the island. While diving into the pool is not sanctioned, a group of locals do just that to that to entertain the tourists - and collect tips. If you look in the top left of the picture you'll see a something red - that's a diver jumping into the pool.
The roads around this island were all quite narrow, without a center line, and barely wide enough for cars to pass. I'm not sure that there is more that 100 yards of flat road on this entire island. Every road resembled a high Colorado mountain road, twisting and turning, up, and down, with steep grades. Also, the road to Annandale Falls was very crowded, with one line of parked cars, and lines of vans trying to get in and out which was an amazing process to observe, involving much cooperation between the drivers and some very tight tolerances.
We started on the Caribbean side, crossed a 1900' mountain pass to the Atlantic side where I captured this classic Caribbean beach scene. Yes, that's black sand, quite beautiful and just like regular sand even though it's volcanic.
We eventually made out way back to a fort overlooking the city, then to the ship where we made out way to the adult pool for a refreshing dip before dinner in Cafe Caribe (it was Italian night).
Our first stop was Annandale Falls, the tallest falls on the island. While diving into the pool is not sanctioned, a group of locals do just that to that to entertain the tourists - and collect tips. If you look in the top left of the picture you'll see a something red - that's a diver jumping into the pool.The roads around this island were all quite narrow, without a center line, and barely wide enough for cars to pass. I'm not sure that there is more that 100 yards of flat road on this entire island. Every road resembled a high Colorado mountain road, twisting and turning, up, and down, with steep grades. Also, the road to Annandale Falls was very crowded, with one line of parked cars, and lines of vans trying to get in and out which was an amazing process to observe, involving much cooperation between the drivers and some very tight tolerances.
We started on the Caribbean side, crossed a 1900' mountain pass to the Atlantic side where I captured this classic Caribbean beach scene. Yes, that's black sand, quite beautiful and just like regular sand even though it's volcanic. We eventually made out way back to a fort overlooking the city, then to the ship where we made out way to the adult pool for a refreshing dip before dinner in Cafe Caribe (it was Italian night).
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Bonairre
Yesterday we visited Bonairre. It was a small town, and being New Year's Day, most of the shops were closed. We did walk around town and visit an open are craft market.
It was raining when we arrived and our outdoor excursion, riding a skiff thru the mangroves, was cancelled due to weather. That was unfortunate, but it's better than paying to be outdoors in the rain.
Today we are sailing to Grenada, arriving at noon. Over all the cruise has had much rougher weather than our past cruises. It guess sailing thru the open Caribbean sea will do that. We attended a lecture by the First Officer about navigation which included a virtual bridge tour. I was amazed that this ship only draws 27', yet reached 215' above the waterline. He mentioned how they move 4,000 tons of ballast water around to keep the ship from leaning over since it has 120,000 sq meters of surface ares exposed to the wind. With the winds we've been in, I can appreciate that!
It was raining when we arrived and our outdoor excursion, riding a skiff thru the mangroves, was cancelled due to weather. That was unfortunate, but it's better than paying to be outdoors in the rain.
Today we are sailing to Grenada, arriving at noon. Over all the cruise has had much rougher weather than our past cruises. It guess sailing thru the open Caribbean sea will do that. We attended a lecture by the First Officer about navigation which included a virtual bridge tour. I was amazed that this ship only draws 27', yet reached 215' above the waterline. He mentioned how they move 4,000 tons of ballast water around to keep the ship from leaning over since it has 120,000 sq meters of surface ares exposed to the wind. With the winds we've been in, I can appreciate that!
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