A Three Hour Tour…

Here’s the final journal entry from the cruise.

19 May 2009, 1430 GMT-5
N 25° 4.810′
W 077° 20.407′

Nassau, Bahamas

Well, it wasn’t raining when we got up this morning, but it was very cloudy and windy. We went down to disembark and meet up for our snorkeling excursion. When we got down there the people running the excursion told us that the sea was going to be rough and we could get a refund if we didn’t want to go. We decided to go. To get out there we rode a catamaran. We’ve been on this type of boat a couple of times and they are always very stable. Unfortunately they don’t have a lot of covered deck area. Marissa and I were sitting on the front of the boat with no cover, and about the time we cleared the harbor the bottom fell out. It wasn’t just kind of raining, it was raining big ol’ fat raindrops. The kind that hurt when they hit you. Luckily I had thought to bring our wind-breakers so we were better off than most people. When we got to the island (which looked disturbingly like Gilligan’s) and reef where we would be snorkeling the rain broke, and the sunlight got a little brighter. That worked out good because I brought an underwater camera to take pictures, and I really needed the light. So we swam around looking at the coral reef and taking pictures for about an hour, then loaded up to head back to the dock. This time almost everyone crammed into the tiny cabin, which was a good thing because it started pouring down again on the way back.

Once we got back we went up to dry off and change, then went out into Nassau to do some shopping and see the sights. About the time we stepped off the boat the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day. Wish that could have happened a few hours before.

We spent most of our time in the Straw Market, bought a few gifts and some stuff for ourselves, then spent the rest of the time just walking around the area around the cruise terminal. The traffic in Nassau is crazy (from what I’ve heard it’s the same everywhere in the Carribbean). Lane markers are really just suggestions, traffic lights are mostly ignored, and I’m pretty sure people were blowing their horns in some kind of code. I’m very glad I had no need to drive down there.

We got back on the boat about an hour ago, got a snack, and now we are sitting out in the sun killing time ’til supper. Tomorrow will be a day at sea on the way back to Jacksonville, hopefully the weather will be better than it has been these past couple of days.

The Weather is Here…

Third journal entry from the cruise

18 May 2009, 0845 GMT-5
N 24° 34.693′
W 075° 57.149′

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

Just got settled here on the beach at Half Moon Cay. It is absolutely beautiful. It’s partly cloudy and looks like we may get some rain later, but right now it’s awesome.

Half Moon Cay is what they call a “tender port”. Most ports have docks that the ship can pull up to and you disembark on a gangway. At a tender port, the ships anchors a ways off-shore and they pull ferrys (tenders) alongside, then the ferrys take you ashore. I wouldn’t want to get off a ship like this that way very often, cause it took a while.

The beach here is pretty amazing. Our ship is the only one here, so the beach is not very crowded. The water is that clear Carribbean blue, and there is a great breeze blowing. Right now the day is perfect, but it seems like the clouds are slowly getting darker.

Update
1300 GMT-5

Yeah, so those clouds kept getting darker all day and now it’s pouring down rain. The bad part is that we were supposed to do some horseback riding this afternoon, but it got cancelled. The worst part is that we are still on the island and have to ride the tenders through the storm back to the ship. I sure hope this clears off by tomorrow at Nassau, because we are supposed to go snorkeling in the morning. At least we had several hours of good weather this morning.

Float On

Here’s the second journal entry from the cruise

17 May 2009, 1030 GMT-5
N 27° 18.412′
W 079° 22.600′

Atlantic Ocean NE of West Palm Beach, FL

The ship got moving about 1630 GMT-5 yesterday. We had a great supper last night. Turns out one of the couples at our table is from Huntsville, so that was kind of cool. After supper we went to a late show. It was…interesting. Kind of a variety show with singers who were not as good as they thought they were. Marissa enjoys them, but they are a little too corny for me.

Slept in this morning. Then headed up to the top deck, which is where I’m writing this from. There is something incredibly relaxing to me about being able to look in any direction and see only ocean. It makes it hard to worry about much of anything.

Of course right after I write that I look up and see a speck of land on the horizon. I think it must be Grand Bahama Island.

I’m looking forward to the stop tomorrow, it’s a private island owned by the cruise line. Should be a good day at the beach.

Uhh…It’s Not Mine I Swear

Here is the first entry from the journal I kept during my cruise last week. Enjoy.

16 May 2009, 1230 GMT-5
N 30° 24.448′
W 081° 34.870′

Port of Jacksonville

Just got on board the ship, the “Fascination”. Wonderfully cheesy name right? Anyway, spent last night in Albany, GA. Got up this early this morning and drove the last 3 1/2 hours to Jacksonville. For me the highlight of the drive was going through a wide spot in the road called Ty Ty, GA. Yes, Ty Ty. Apparently they are proud of that name, because all 3 businesses in town used it in their name. I can’t believe someone would name a place Ty Ty, or that people would want to live there.

Found the port no problem, but had one minor hiccup at check-in. After my bag went through the x-ray machine the security guy asks if that is my bag. I nod. He then asks me to show him my knife. At this point I break out in a slight cold sweat. I tell him I don’t think I have a knife. He assures me that I do. Cold sweat increases. He tells me where he saw it in my bag. I dig around in it for a second and pull out one of my Case pocket-knives. Evidently I had left it in my backpack and forgot about it being there. The security people tend to frown on that type of thing. I made it out without the full cavity search though, so that was good. What was kind of odd was that they let me keep the knife. You can take knives on board as long as the blade is less than 4″. That was kind of disturbing to me given the quantities of alcohol people tend to consume on these things, but I guess we’ll see how it goes.

(Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge, Jacksonville, FL)

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

Saturday afternoon (16 May) I’m going to be headed out on a cruise for vacation. We are leaving from Jacksonville, FL and making two stops in the Bahamas, then heading back to Jacksonville. One stop is a private island owned by the cruise line, the other is Nassau. I’m really looking forward to it. The last cruise I went on was four years ago, and we had a blast.



That said, I’m not going to have internet access pretty much all next week, unless somewhere in Nassau has wireless. So, I won’t be around the usual places. I’m planning on keeping a little travelogue of the trip, which I will post here if I like how it turns out. Hopefully I’ll get some good photos too.



Talk to ya’ll in a week.