Category Archives: Royal Caribbean

Cozumel

12 Thursday Apr 2012

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Cozumel was fantastic! I was sure that the tourist board came out each morning and dyed the ocean this bright turquoise.

Our time in Cozumel was absolutely wonderful. My sister had chosen the excursion for the day -we rented a speed boat as part of a tour. We were in a group; 2 couples and a pair of buddies from the carnival cruise ship that was also in port.

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After our speedboat adventure we headed back to the port. We did a little bit of shopping and found Senore Frogs where the tequila flows. My sister decided she needed a necklace after drinking so it was very entertaining as she did her bargaining, she ended up with a very good deal.

We are definitely going back to Cozumel!

Grand Cayman

11 Wednesday Apr 2012

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Wednesday April 11 the Voyager laid anchor in Georgetown, Grand Cayaman – the start to my 50th birthday.

This was the only stop on the cruise where we were dealing with tenders. We were of course confused and attempted to board a tender at the front of the ship – simply because we saw others doing the same. We stood there waiting for our turn… and we just happen to meet our Cruise director. I thanked him for calling out my birthday in the morning TV show … he made a point then of escorting us to the other side of the ship and making sure we were first on the next tender.

We arrived with a bit of time to kill in the town. Neither of us were in the market for diamonds, so we browsed through some stores. My sister bought some turtles made out of shells for her coworkers. I already knew my coworkers could care less about little shell turtles so I did some people watching instead.

We finally met up with our tour group and headed out in our mini van. The guide was very informative – letting us know that everyone works in Grand Cayaman…only the elderly or disabled are given any type of help from the government. They said their nearest neighbor is Cuba and they have no quarrel with them, but as Cubans arrive by boat, they are turned away.

Up first – a visit to the Cayman Turtle Farm. Huge pools of turtles climbing all over each other to eat what appeared to be dog food. Each pool had different sized turtles… when we reached the pool where people were picking up the turtles I noticed that they were slippery little creatures. Rather than try and fail as my neighbors had, I simply requested my neighbor to let me hold the turtle they had already plucked out of the pool.

http://www.turtle.ky/turtle-album

Once we had spent a considerable amount of time looking at turtles, we finally headed across the street to Dolphin Discovery for my life long dream of swimming with dolphins. This wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be. They give you a life vest and assign you in groups of 12. Your leader takes you into a pool where you touch a manta ray – then they lead you to other side of the pool where you get to be with a specific dolphin. This is much more of a photo op than a swim with a dolphin.

1) Dolphin Kiss – You pose while the dolphin kisses you and you kiss the dolphin back
2) Hold the Ball – You hold the ball up high and the dolphin comes up and touches it
3) Dolphin Push – You swim out to the other side of the pool with a boogie board and the dolphin comes behind and pushes you back to the group by your foot
4) Dolphin Pull – You swim out to the other side of the pool and the dolphin comes, flips over on it’s back – you grab the flipper and it take a tummy ride back

http://www.dolphindiscovery.com/grand-cayman/cayman-location-overview.asp

It rained, but didn’t pour until we were standing in line for the tender to get back to ship. We were absolutely starving by this time – we had no lunch planned during our excursion.

We had our Murder Mystery Dinner that night – which was a total flop.

Falmouth, Jamaica

10 Tuesday Apr 2012

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Falmouth Pier

We arrived at Falmouth, Jamaica first thing in the morning on Monday, April 10th. This is a brand new pier, built especially by Royal Caribbean. It seems to have revitalized an impoverished town on the north side of Jamaica.

While most of our fellow cruisers were off to climb Dunn’s River Falls – I had been warned about this excursion. I heard that you needed to hold hands to climb up the waterfall… and by the looks of it, this is after a long long bus ride. Instead, I had found an excursion called “Montego Bay At Your Leisure”. By the looks of it, I would have leisure time in Montego Bay. Awesome! I heard about Montego Bay on a beach boys song, so I was all for it. I looked up the best place for Jerk Chicken on Trip Advisor and we were off. We got in a van and suddenly were captive. We had a tour guide – she taught us to say “ya mon” and showed us some of the real estate. We drove through the town of Montego Bay, looking at the poverty and I needed to use the restroom. I was relieved that I wasn’t roaming around town looking for a clean facility. We eventually stopped (my bladder was about to burst) at a fenced facility – we were the only people there. We were invited to try the banana bread and taste the coffee. I opted for a Daquiri and Jerk Chicken while the DJ played “Name that Tune” with the handful of tourists trickling in from cruise ship excursions. At the end of the 90 minutes of “Leisure” at this fenced in spot.. we boarded our van for some “shopping”. We were taken to another fenced in area that offered a secure mall – “The Shops at Rose Hall”. There were only cruisers here as well. I finally asked one of the merchants if the mall was owned by Royal Caribbean – yup…. No wonder I saw the same exact stuff back at the Falmouth Pier.

Once back at our secure pier, we wandered into a Duty Free shop where my sister tried her hand at bargaining… no go… she paid full price for those sunglasses. Later that evening over dinner – our tablemate Sean told us all about the successful bargaining he had that day. Oh well.

I am still kicking myself for not buying one of these hats

Rasta Hat

Voyager of the Seas – April 2012

08 Sunday Apr 2012

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Saturday morning was very exciting as my sister and I made our way to the Port of New Orleans.   We were one of the first to embark and we were delighted that we had a special line.  We had upgraded to a junior suite about a month before the cruise.  I had been watching the website and noticing the prices had gone down for our balcony room as the date got closer.  I called Royal Caribbean and upgraded us to a Luxury Junior suite for only an extra $160 total.  This meant we were now special!  I loved it.  Even though we weren’t allowed in our stateroom until after 1pm, and we were not due to sail until 4pm, we were there before noon.

Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas – Deck 11

We sat up on the deck and my sister checked in with her son.  This was to be her first time in his lifetime that she would be out of communication and unreachable.  Her son was born with Spina Bifada 29 years ago.  I was proud of her for booking the cruise knowing that she would be out at sea.  Wouldn’t you know it, her son did have a medical issue and was admitted to a hospital on the very day we embarked.  My sister was ok with it not being a life threatening ailment but was not pleased that he went to the hospital that they know provides less than stellar care.  She worried for the remainder of the cruise but kept it to herself.

Our Awesome Junior Suite

We had arranged to meet some Cruise Critic members at the Sail Away party.  We wore our Mardi Gras beads as instructed and showed up at the right place at the right time – but we didn’t see anyone else wearing beads. Nobody approached us at all.  We enjoyed the Sail Away music, our cocktail and the view of New Orleans as we sailed down the Mighty Mississippi.   That’s one mighty long river!  It seems it was midnight before we reached the open waters of the Gulf coast.

We met our Stateroom attendant (Tony) and I promptly tipped him $20 and asked for comfy toppers for our bed.  Later that evening I also requested he find us another deck chair, since only one of us was able to recline on our balcony.  Tony was happy to oblige, and did so with a smile.

Our first night in the dining room we were shocked to find ourselves sitting at a table for two.  I had requested a table for 6-8 when we had registered with Omar, the RCL Travel Wizard.  I already knew all about my sister, so the next morning we requested to be moved to a larger table.  The meal the first night was good for me, not so good for my sister.

We were amazed when we returned to the stateroom to find that my sister’s luggage had been labeled “contraband”.  We had followed the advice of Cruise Critic and brought along a surge protector so that we could power our many electronic devices.  Apparently this is not allowed… go figure.  I had also smuggled in a similar cord, but I suppose they didn’t look in my luggage.  Turns out we didn’t need it anyway, since we had upgraded to the Junior suite, there were plenty of power outlets.

Our first day at sea we arranged to take full advantage of the Spa – I booked a full massage and my sister booked a neck, shoulder and foot massage.  I had a very small woman from China.  She applied a lot of pressure in my deep tissue massage.  It was absolutely wonderful to release all my stress right at the start of my trip.

The rest of the day was a bit boring.  I no longer worship the sun – I try to stay out of it as much as possible, so while the deck was crowded with sun bathers, my sister and I looked for a shady, adult spot to read our kindles.  We migrated back to the cabin and found that our balcony was just right.

My sister kept cranking up the air conditioning in our state room – I had to wear sweats and a jacket – or go out to the balcony to warm up.  I guess this is a critical factor when selecting your travel partner – be sure you agree on the best temperature for your room.  I kept turning up the thermostat, she kept turning it down.

I got a bit bored and so we went down to the little theatre and watched a movie I had already seen.  I wished I gambled or shopped, so that there would be more options.  As it was, I barely even read for pleasure… this was a boring day!

New Orleans Pre-Cruise – April 2012

07 Saturday Apr 2012

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Jackson Square – New Orleans

My first time out of the country since I was a teenager.

I took advantage of the experience of my friend and coworker. She tells me that she is “Loyal To Royal” and so I basically looked at only Royal Caribbean for my first cruise experience. I was attracted to the Voyager because it was out of New Orleans, which was also on my bucket list.

We arrived in New Orleans on Thursday afternoon. My sister and I flew into Dallas on American Airlines from different ends of California. DFW is huge and required some advanced investigation to meet up there and have some lunch before heading out to NOLA. Upon arrival at the Louis Armstrong Airport, we were met by a Limo driver holding a sign with my name – a special splurge for my birthday vacation. She took us directly to the Omni in the heart of the French Quarter. We had a lovely “double double” room overlooking Royal Street. There’s a rooftop swimming pool and bar with a fabulous view of the river.

Omni Royal Double Double – Larger than I expected for the French Quarter

We set out for Jackson Square for our introductory mule ride. We got a great feel for the town and a lot of history

We had dinner over at World Famous Brennan’s and had to try the Banana’s Foster – Hanna was new to the dish but it was fabulous. My Trout Almondine was also very tasty

We checked out Bourbon street after dinner. It was during the lenten season, but that did not deter the partying crowd. I consider myself to have an open mind, and I have noticed that the syle of dancing has become much “dirtier” over the years, and the style of dress, since Maddonna has been more and more lingerie. It was a warm evening in early April and the term “get a room” comes to mind. All up and down the street there were barkers luring you in to hear music, only it wasn’t the music you expect in New Orleans – it was just that same old club music you hear everywhere else. We pressed on and found a little square and a quartet playing to a fully seated crowd. We grabbed the last table, right up next to the band. It was a great vantage point for people watching. The most entertainment came from the 4 year old little boy who gave us all a show, dancing a few numbers before his mom made him leave – after taking several bows.

The Omni was very comfortable – I was pleased with our “double double” and loved that it had a bath tub. We tried the breakfast buffet in the morning – I learned not to get pancakes or waffles from a warming pan… best ordered fresh. It was a nice spread and we had an attentive waiter… got to sit in oversized chairs and watch the street musicians set up on Royal Street.

Street Musician as seen from Omni’s Rib Room window – not much foot traffic yet

We had pre-arranged a Cemetery tour – led by Jeremy of Strange Tour Tours – right next door to the Omni.

Our tour guide Jeremy in front of one of the many rumored voodoo queen burial spots

http://strangetruetours.blogspot.com/

I would recommend the tour – but keep in mind that you walk through the French Quarter to get to the cemetery, then you walk back. It gets hot out there – so if you have a parasol, this would be a good time. Maybe one of those funeral type parasols would be good.

We decided to try a Beignet for lunch – We tried Cafe Beignet right there on Royal street, on the other side of the courthouse from the Omni. I’m not a coffee person, so I didn’t get the full on New Orleans experience – but I was covered in powdered sugar and had some chocolate milk to wash it down. It was delightfully delicious.

After lunch, we found we had more time on our hands and very sore feet, the concierge booked us a tour from Cajun Encounters. I was amused at our tour guide, who was winded by climbing up the stairs to get to his driver’s seat. He would cough into the microphone and I found myself wishing he would take a moment to compose himself before speaking.

Isn’t our tour bus lovely?

And here’s our Tour Guide

This tour included the 9th ward – and we were pretty surprised to see it all cleaned up. We expected more debris to be honest. The bus did stop and let some children on board to sell their Praline’s… which my sister of course couldn’t resist (she’s gotta be nice to the cute kids). It tasted like pretty much pure sugar. I also enjoyed that this tour took us to see the Garden District, with all the stately homes and wonderful trees. We drove through New Orleans City park and saw a wedding in progress and another bridal photo shoot in front of the New Orleans Museum of Modern Art (NOMA)

This was our second and final dinner in New Orleans, and so I chose carefully, but still within steps of the Omni. We enjoyed the fabulous service at Emeril’s casual restaurant, NOLA. I had the Hickory-Roasted Duck with Whiskey-Caramel Glaze, Buttermilk Cornbread Pudding, Haricot Verts-Fire Roasted Corn Salad, Natural Jus and Candied Pecans. It was wonderful – really really wonderful. We also enjoyed conversations with the folks seated at either side of us – small tables for 2 situated so that you could ignore the person at the next table or you could engage them. We chose to share our experience with others around us, and found that everyone loved every bite.

Saturday morning we went ahead and dined once again at the buffet in the Omni and went down to the river walk before heading over to the cruise terminal.