Key West

Key West is a small place in the South of Florida that seems to attract beach bums and retirees. In the last few cruises to Key West I did two Nature Kayak excursions. On these excursions we kayaked all around and learned about the environment of the Keys.

We kayaked in mangroves which are fascinating trees that live in salt water. The water here is absolutely clear because of the natural process of the mangrove filtration and the sea grass. Mangroves are fresh water trees able to live in Salt Water due to their use of a sacrificial leaf. The mangrove takes in the water and filters the salt out and puts it all into one leaf which will then turn yellow die and fall off for the sake of the whole tree. The mangroves will grow in a way that they seem to form their own little islands. They create protective areas from hurricanes and such. In high winds going into the mangroves can protect you.

On our excursion, we were able to see all sorts of birds I’ve never seen in the wild such. Especially Pelicans! So cute these birds are. Then as we kayaked more, our guide would find, capture and show us all kinds of sea creatures and pass it around so we could touch and feel. There were: spiny sea star, sea cucumbers, sea hare, conchs, tree oysters, anemone, and all kinds of sponges. She would explain the habitat their defense mechanisms and about how we need to preserve these creatures for the greater good. The conch is a protected species in the area as the numbers which were once in the tens of thousands are now in the thousands.

Another time in Key West I did a pub crawl. There are a ton of pubs in Key West. From seedy to shiny they have it all. Many have these “slushy” style drinks that are like any slushy you find in your local 7-11, but these are made with alcohol. Some with pure grain alcohol even. Restaurants abound boasting every type of fare, but the specialty being local seafood such as grouper and conch fritters. However, the thing to get here that you cannot get any other place that is truly a specialty of Key West is the Key Lime pie. YUMMY! I went to THE place for Key Lime. It was featured on the food network as having one of the ten best desserts in the nation. After my nibbles I would agree that this pie is delicious. They even have chocolate covered Key Lime Pie. In addition to perfectly prepared Key Lime Pie that is not too tart and not too sweet with a perfect texture and a divine graham cracker crust the place has a delicious ambiance. It is peaceful with a koi pond in the middle and trees to protect you from the throngs of tourists all around. All in all Key West is a nice little destination with some fascinating things to offer.

Coco Cay

We sailed to Royal Caribbean’s private island, Coco Cay, in the Bahamas. This island was a trippy experience. It was as if we dropped anchor and the ship services were teleported to the island and a few more added. Much of the staff from the ship had to work the places on the island and most of the musicians played on the main stage at the island. The food was pretty much prepared on our ship and delivered early morn to the island. They had grills and everything to cook burgers and such.

The Bahamas are all low lying islands with very little landscape due to all the hurricanes. If you ask me, they all look fairly desolate, but will have these magnificent white sandy beaches. Our ship was anchored out and there were boats that transported people back and forth to the island. When you get to the small island there are all sorts of brightly colored buildings each with its own purpose. There were shops and bars and such. These shops were all run by our ships own shop keepers. Other huts provided services and gear for rent such as: snorkeling equipment, jet skis, paddle boats, kayaks, hobbie sail boats, and wet suits. There was a huge water slide and this “aqua park” with inflatable activities.

I went snorkeling. With my injured ankle I could not do much, but I still saw a great deal by simply floating around. Fish would just come around me with this incredible curiosity. It was amazing. There were so many colors of fish-yellow, blue, orange, green, red, purple, black, and every color in between. I saw a Barracuda and this gorgeous eel. There was a sunken ship to explore and further out there was a sunken plane, but with my ankle I just kept to the reef and ship wreck. It was a truly beautiful day.

In addition to snorkeling I walked around the island as it is not really that big. At one part of the island you can walk more then 100 feet out into the water whilst it remains shallow and below the knees. There were people out in the far distance that seemed as though they were walking on water. All around the island are thousands of lounge chairs and hammocks. It is a truly peaceful place especially when you get away from the central area where most people congregate. It was had a good, but trippy time.

Stingray City

In Grand Cayman I had the fantastic opportunity to go snorkeling at a coral reef and then swim with Stingrays at Stingray City. The coral reef was so fun. There were so many cute fishes with so many colors. I would just float around mesmerized by all the colors of fish. I also loved the Sea Fans they were so amazing in color and grace. These purples and blues I couldn’t believe. In all Crayola would be hard pressed to find the method to making any one of these colors. I would just take picture after picture and I just loved it.

Then we went to this place called stingray city. It was just off the coral reef area known for being a great natural area for these gorgeous creatures. There were about six stingrays around us of all different sizes. It was such an amazing and different experience for me. They are so gentle and graceful and watching them transports you to simpler place. The guide actually caught one to show us up close and point out where the stinger was. Then they gave us some squid so we could feed the stingrays. They are wild and everything so it was just a very different and interesting experience. While in the water the stingrays would see you and swim towards you it was so awesome. Feeding them was awesome they would take the squid right out of your hands and move on. They are so curious too. I wouldn’t have any squid but they would swim up to me to just check me out. I began to try chase them to pet them more. I couldn’t help it, I just wanted to touch them.

Then we went to this 5.5 mile strip of beach called 7 mile beach… At the beach we received a rum punch, lunch, and lounge chair on the beach. Not sure what was in the rum punch, but it was good. It was nice to sit on the beach and just relax. Just as the tour was ended the clouds rolled in and the rain began. So I went back to the ship and just relaxed. It was another good day in the sun.

Jungle Buggy

I did an excursion in Cozumel Mexico called “Jungle Buggy Adventure” and it was so much fun my face hurt from smiling so much. I drove an ATV buggy which was basically an off road souped up go kart with roll cage. We went on trails that went in and out of the Cozumel jungle to a Beach area. The Cozumel jungle which is actually very low plants because of hurricane season. The land of Cozumel is not too friendly to growing much plants making tourism the number one economy here.

On the ATV we went fast and the trail was so so bumpy and it was totally fun. Driving the buggy was a lesson in just letting lose and being free. At first I was really tense trying to prevent shock from the rugged terrain. But the more I went, the more I realized I had to not fight it and to just let it be and let go my tension. The more I did the easier it was and the more fun it was.

The views were spectacular along the trail. The water is absolutely gorgeous-so blue and reflective. When in the jungle it would get dusty and therefore hard to see, but we would get views of the beach and it was amazing. Half way we stopped a Mayan Ruin where I learned that Cozumel was basically a honeymoon retreat for the ancient Mayans. It was a place that after marriage couples went to make offerings to the fertility goddess they would stay for about a week in worship. We visited this 600 year old Mayan temple. It was not huge because they knew about hurricanes so would build it low and sturdy.

After the trek we went to a beach and had some traditional Mexican food. Of course, I had vegetarian the option of a fajita. They basically grilled a bunch of yummy vegetables and then served it with rice, beans and handmade corn tortillas. They also gave us a free drink of choice so I had a margarita. Yummy. It was a great day in Cozumel!

St. Thomas Swim with Turtles

The next day we were in St. Thomas. St. Thomas is a part of the US Virgin islands so we were actually in the united states at this time. I was on an excursion to take this ship called the Doubloun to turtle cove and snorkel. The ship was this mock up pirate like ship. It was double masted at least. The waters were rocky getting out and we were under power not sail. One guy got sea sick. I don’t get sea sick, but hearing seeing or smelling someone vomiting makes me sick. I was able to block him out enough to keep me from getting sick. The sights of ST. Thomas definitely gave a sense of wealth to these vacation islands. Large hotels and vacation homes splashed across the surface. There are a few islands around St. Thomas one named Water Island. It is so named because it was the first island found to have fresh drinkable water by Christopher Columbus in this area. Another island was Hideaway island where pirates would lay in hiding to ambush ships headed to Water Island. The cove we went to swim with the endangered Sea Turtle was called Back Island, but I did not get the story behind that. There was a lighthouse on the top that our guide said during hurricane Ivan waves actually covered. That was amazing and a good example of how tall wave can get in storms.

We tied the boat to a buoy and jumped in to snorkel. This is a protected cove for the turtles. In the cove are nursing turtles who are still just growing big enough to venture out into the big sea. The closer to land we got the smaller the turtle. Being a protected area we were not allowed on the land. Being protected turtles we were also warned to not touch or get in their way at all. The fine for doing so was $50,000! I didn’t chance that. The turtles were amazing. They would be grazing on the grass at the bottom of the sea and after a long while would come to the surface to get a few breathes of air before returning to the bottom to continue feeding. This is what they do and that is that, eat, breath, and sleep somewhere. I was able to dive down to see them better as the water was not very deep. But when they would surface it was too cute. There was also a reef around there with numerous colorful fish, but I was there for turtles! Then back on the ship we set sail to return. Avast ye main sail!

Samana, Dominican Republic

I went to Samana in the Dominican Republic. The ship was anchored out so we tendered in to the small pier using lift rafts. Tendering is not the most fun thing in the world because guests are always complaining and expecting it to be easier when there is no way for it to be. This was a very long tender ride, about thirty minutes. It did give a great opportunity to see the coast line, with it’s many palm trees. It was like a forest of palm trees swaying in the wind. They were of a lime green color. Not very dark green like we have in the evergreen state. In fact, a great deal of yellow came through. The palm trees went all the way to water so there was not much beach along this area of the coast. Every once in a while a house would peek through the trees. I wondered if these houses were vacation homes of rich foreigners or just normal homes of the locals. What a view they must have and a joy to wake up to everyday. It was humid a fairly hot even though overcast. Even while still not ashore I got a sense of the relaxed lifestyle I imagine the locals enjoy.

When we finally arrived to the dock we were whisked into the speedboat for the tour I was going to take, Cave and Mangrove Exploration. This was a little sad for me because it meant I could not explore the mainland area, but from the looks of it there was not much around close to where we were. From what I was told it was essentially a place where you could get a beer and be bombarded by locals. In hindsight, I also really enjoyed my tour making up for the disappointment in not exploring the mainland much. The tour I took was phenomenal. We raced across the Samana harbor to Los Haitisis National Park. As we approached the land it looked as if there were all sorts of hills and mini mountains. As we got closer I realized they were actually little islands. That dotted all around the area. Our speed boat went around various islands and it was fascinating. Each one would be full of trees. There was one section they referred to as Isle of the Birds. There were so many birds of all various kinds: frigates, vultures, pelicans, and boobies. The male frigates, when wooing the female would puff up there chest and it would be an amazing bright red color. The brown boobies had amazing contrast in colors, very striking to say the least. The birds would sore over these islands in flocks it was a stunning sight with the blue sky back drop. Some of the birds would dive into the water to catch their prey. There were nesting baby pelicans as well that were stark white and super baby cute.

Many of the islands had caves of varying sizes. The guide told us that Los Haitises actually had 34 caves, but to protect them from vandals only four are available to tour. One could see many of these caves from the water and just imagine people seeking refuge there in storms or the amount of bats that must be contained therein. We were able to tour inside two of them. The first one was modest in size. It was funny because as the guide was explaining the relationship of the Dominican Republic and Haiti we started to hear reggae music coming closer from inside the cave. Then a man in camouflage emerged with a little radio. He was a park ranger. In one of the rooms of this cave there was an opening in the top and a trees root system was growing down through the top. It was actually a fairly small shrub with a huge root system. I wanted to climb it, but that was not allowed. Apparently the flowers from this shrub would be used to make some of the ink they used in their cave drawing that we would later see. The guide told us how the ancient Taino people would use these caves for ceremonial purposes. We then walked to where the exit of the cave was and the guide pointed out a carving that they believe to be about 1500 years old of a face that was in the a stone. It was a very playful face. Makes me think that these Taino people must have been playful and fairly joyous in life. We then reboarded our boat to explore in some mangroves and another cave.

The mangroves are amazing to me. They are fresh water plant that grows in salt water. There are three kinds Red, Black, and White. This area only had red and black and you can tell the difference by how the roots grew. Red ones the roots grow downward while the black ones grow upward. As I mentioned they need fresh water to survive, yet they live in some of the saltiest water on the planet. How they are able to this is through a sacrificial leaf system where they mangrove filters the water and directs all the salt into a few leaves that eventually turn yellow and die allowing the tree as a whole to survive. The root system of the red mangroves are amazing to see how they weave around in the water creating what in some instances becomes land like. On the roots many creatures live such as what they call oysters, but these are not the kind you eat, and many crabs. On the other side of where we were was a protected manatee habitat that unfortunately we could not see, but never the less the guide said the manatees are only out in the early morn. We then stopped at another island and explored another cave. This cave had numerous petroglyphs. Many ones depicting local animals like the humpback whale, sharks, and birds. Other depicted gods such as the rain god. Many were also of Shamans. Shamans in this tradition were people who had to be born with six fingers so in these cave drawings many people had six fingers. Then there were some cave drawings that elude to the Spanish explorers that came to the area. Because these people in the drawings had crosses associated with them. The Taino people did not have crosses. Crosses were first introduced to the area by Christopher Columbus. The drawings reminded me of something I might have drawn when I was little. The ink is made of a mixture of flower, root, and whale oil.

Then we were off on the speedboat directly back to the ship. These waters are where humpback whales come in the winter to have their babies in the warm water. I was on the lookout, but we did not see any. On the ship I then went to open deck to enjoy the sunset. It was a beautiful day.

Jamaican Situation

It is day three now on board and we are docked in Ocho Rios Jamaica. Ocho Rios is on the north end of the Island and is fairly small. I look forward to so many shore excursions. Some of the Shore Excursions include: River Tubing, Zip Line, Swimming with dolphins, Dunn River Falls, Horseback Riding, deep sea fishing, snorkeling and much more. Today I decided to just stroll around town.

Let me tell you Jamaica is a great place to practice saying no. Within an hour I had numerous offers for Marijuana, taxi rides, necklaces, crafts, people to braid my hair, and even a proposal for marriage. It was so annoying, but pure culture you could say. I did enjoy the vibe a great deal. Stroll is the perfect word for what people do here. There does not seem to be time line and no body seems to worry much. As the folks offer you this and that they introduce themselves with name and everything. They look you in the eye and they smile. It is charming.

Being close to Christmas there was a Jamaican Santa in the square. As well as a steel drum band with these ladies dancing with false huge bums. Music did seem to be in the air. As I strolled around I could just sway with the beat.

There was a beautiful environment around me. I saw beautiful butterflies, cranes, and I even stalked a tiny lizard for a while trying to capture a picture. I did not have much time here, but I had quality time.

The following trip to Ocho Rios I did an excursion called Jamaica Bobsled. We went up this lift into a jungle setting called Mystic Mountain and got to take ride on this roller coaster ride type thing modeled after a bobsled. There was a museum about Jamaican athletes which was interesting as well. What I enjoyed about this day was our guide. He explained that in Jamaica no body has any problems, only situations. I like that.

Return of the Century

I have begun my new contract on the Century, so far so weird. It has been one year since I last left this ship and it seems like it was frozen in time and not changed one bit. As I walk around so many people who were here when I left are still here, and they recognize me! There are the people I knew would be here, but every time I go out I see another person I know from before. The Spa manager, the future crew saleswoman, captain’s club host, shore excursions manager, environmental officer, crew administrator, youth staffer, guitar player, AV techs, numerous wait staff, and room attendants. Ship life is a small small world, but it does make you feel like you have a family away from family.

My cabin is actually big compared to others I’ve had and location is everything some times. That being said I am on deck 5. On this ship, sea level is on deck 3. So I am a bit above sea level, but when we are at sea I can still hear the waves hit the hull. There are only a few other cabins near by so it is not a high traffic area which is nice. However, my cabin is right by the entrance to our area so I can hear anytime anybody enters the hall way. As to my commute, it is ideal. The entertainment main office that I do my time cards and get my schedule is on the same deck. Where the main shows are is only about 20 stairs away, and the open deck promenade is 15 steps away.

The place to go on this ship as a crew member is the crew bar. Most ships have a crew bar and a staff bar. The major difference between the two is one is smoking and the other is not. The Crew Bar is smoking and is more of a night club feel where music is loud and people end up dancing. It is far more active then the staff bar on this ship. It is bigger then the staff bar with far more seating as well. The Staff bar is small and cluttered as it also has the crew library, foosball table, and the computer room’s entrance is here. There is always hanging out in guest areas, but it more expensive in general and we have to be very careful about appearance and behavior.