Our Cruise, Day 5

Day 5

Our last day, and the one we were probably most excited about. Nassau, Bahamas. And the Atlantis Water Park. Atlantis is a MASSIVE resort built on a beautiful island, and they have an awesome water park in the backyard. Jess was really excited about this one, and so was I, but first, we had to fix something.

You see, Jess has always been afraid of aggressive water slides. As she tells it, she was never able to go on them when she was young, and she never got over the fear. Well this place had a lot of slides like that, and Jess decided she wanted to try them out. So she was nervous, but she had her husband with her who would go down first to make sure it was safe. :)

We got to the water park early on, and as soon as the rides were open, we got in line for the “Leap of Faith”, a massive drop down a long chute that then goes *through* a shark tank. It’s really impressive, and Jess was nervous, but intent on defeating her fear. So we got in line, got to the top, and I went first. Everything went fine for me, and so Jess got in position, steadied herself, and then took the plunge!

From Caribbean Trip

My brave girl conquering her fear.

I managed to get a shot of her just as she was coming out of the ride. She was laughing and excited, and kept saying “I did it, I did it!” over and over. I was really happy for her, and I could feel her shaky adrenaline when I gave her a congratulatory hug. But she was glad she did it and thought it was a lot of fun.

From Caribbean Trip

After that, there was no stopping her. We went on this ride called ‘The Abyss’ right afterwards, which was the same kind of ride, but totally in the dark. At the end, it dropped us into a ‘hidden’ grotto with awesome aquariums filled with exotic amazon fish. Jess was all excited because if she hadn’t done the ride, she would have missed it.

After that, we did all the rides in the park, over and over. We especially liked their ‘lazy’ river, which had stretches with rapids and a long wave pool that we went through several times. My personal favorite was right next to the ‘leap of faith’ one. It was a twisty ride on a tube, and it went through the shark tank more slowly so you could see the fishes and get a good look at them.

From Caribbean Trip

After a long day of water partying, we took a tour, backwards, through the aquariums in the resort, and we nailed the timing, because it was feeding time. They had a massive tank with a couple of manta rays that would do slow, underwater loop-de-loops when their food showed up. There were a lot of other highlights, not the least of which was the style. Since the resort was called Atlantis, they had ruins in all of their tanks that looked really nice. There were also lots of lobsters, jellyfish, and other interesting sea life. Very cool.

The resort was very nice looking, too. They had several glass sculptures by Chihuly, there, too. Really beautiful ones. There were columns adorned with water accents and slowly spinning granite spheres among the paths. I really liked the place.

We picked up a couple of souvenirs on the way back to the boat. Some rum cake for work, some magnets for the Florida family, and a Conch shell for me, continuing my tradition of getting ‘containers’ from all the countries I visited. This one held fish. :)

Then another evening on board the boat, with food, music, and sleep.

Day 6 was our debarkation day, where we got off the boat. The one interesting note from this day was that if you were able to cary your own luggage, you could debark first, but everyone had to go through customs, so it would be a long day, and everyone just wanted to get home. So they gathered all the self-carying people all in the auditorium, had us wait until customs was ready, and then said, ‘okay, everyone, go!’ There was very nearly a stampede to get out there first. Jess and I, more restrained, just found our route and quickly made our way off the boat, through customs, and on to the mainland. Mom Swanson picked us up, and off we went.

So that was our vacation.

-N

Our Cruise, Day 4

Day 4:

Day four found us in Half Moon Cay (pronounced ‘key’, I think), a private island owned by the cruise ship companies. It has, no lie, on of the most beautiful beaches I think I’ve ever seen. I think they probably filter the sand during the off season, it’s so white and clean, and the water is very, very nice.

We anchored off the island and took a boat (tender) onto land, and when we got there it was HOT. We had some time to kill before our excursion, and we spent it mostly trying to find good shade.

From Caribbean Trip

We made a good choice, though, because our excursion was a glass bottomed boat tour. Covered from the sun and out on the ocean, the weather was much, much nicer. And the glass bottom tour itself was very, very pretty. It started off simply enough, cruising along the ocean and seeing the occasional fish, but before too long we were at a very tall coral structure that was teeming with ocean life. We got a really nice view through the bottom of the boat. After that, we got to feed the fish, and as you can imagine, they were excited for the food. Every piece of bread you threw would get instantly snatched up by hungry fish. So bright and colorful, it was a lot of fun to watch.

From Caribbean Trip

When we got back to land, the weather had cooled down and so we hit the beach. We hung out and soaked up the ocean salts for a while, avoiding sunburn with floppy hats and shirts, and then we played around in the sand on the beach, avoiding sunburn by covering ourselves with sand. We made a sand ‘castle’, with a working river flowing underneath it, for a little while, until the river ate down the walls. Then we just buried Jessie until the tide unburied her again.

From Caribbean Trip

We took tender back a little bit early, after having some lunch on the island, and spent some time riding the water slides while they were unoccupied. The rest of the day was equally relaxing: dinner, cuddling and watching the ocean go by, and watching some more Blood Power up on deck.

Then to bed. We had to save our energy for the morning.

-N

Our Cruise, Day 3

Day three brings us to, finally, a port of Call. Our first one, in Grand Turk, known for its beautiful beaches and excellent snorkeling and scuba. We had two excursions planned, one in the morning, where we would snorkel, and on in the afternoon for SNUBA. More about that later.

We had to get up early for our morning jaunt. Quoth Jessie: “Whose idea was it to wake up this early and go snorkeling?” We ordered some room service for breakfast, which did show up late, but there was smoked salmon with bagles, so I forgave them. Delish.

From Caribbean Trip

We did snorkeling at two places. The first was about thirty feet deep, a coral bed with lots of fish and neat looking underwater plant life to look at. And then right over to our right, directly to the side, was a 7000 foot drop. No exaggeration. And it was a sheer drop, too. A couple of coral clinking to the cliff face, and then *nothing*. It was a good thing we float, or we might have fallen over. The guide there brought some food for the fish, and so there was plenty of life to be seen. Jess and I, more experienced snorkelers, jumped right in first and swam around mostly on our own. We used the buddy system, though, so we were safe. As we came back to the boat, I got followed by a tiny, tiny little yellowtail fish. I think he thought I was some sort of manta ray or other massive fish he could take refuge beside. Either that or my sunscreen tasted good.

From Caribbean Trip

The second location was more shallow, only about 14 feet deep, and so it was much easier to see there, and boy was there a lot to see. There were more crags and crevices to look around in, which was nice for exploring, but a little intimidating, as far as hidden sea life goes. For example, Jess found a shark.

From Caribbean Trip

See that fin in the middle underneath the rock? Yeah, that's Jessie's shark.

It was sleeping, just lying there under an outcropping of coral. Jess told the guide and he brought everyone over to take a look. Meanwhile, Jess and I zipped around to see tons of urchins, fish, and other creatures that may or may not have been poisonous. I’m just saying I was the nervous one, that’s all. On the way back into the boat, we saw some jellyfish. Very small, and almost transparent in the water.

After a quick lunch break, we did some SNUBA. Now snuba is like scuba, in that you breathe air from a tank, but whereas scuba requires some training and you strap the tank to your back, in snuba the tank floats at the surface of the water, so you can only go down about 15 feet, the length of the tube. At that distance, decompression and the bends aren’t a consideration at all, so you don’t need to be certified to do it.

From Caribbean Trip

Anyway, we went out to the location, got all suited up, and then got to swimming around underwater. Having been scuba certified was definitely helpful, and Jess and I felt really comfortable in the water. It was very relaxing and a lot of fun. Being able to swim around wherever you want is a very nice sensation. You do tend to keep it slow, though. Nice and relaxed. There were fish and shells and coral and other strange sights to see, and all too soon it was over and time to head back to the boat.

After that, we came back, had some food, and relaxed away the evening. Jess found the new Star Trek movie on TV, and we watched it 1.5 times while I goofed off, read a book, and jotted down some notes about our trip. So that I could write this, as it turns out.

And then, once again to the rocking of the cruise ship, we fell asleep.

-N

Our Cruise, Day 2

Caribbean, Day 2

When we woke up, we went out on our balcony and saw flying fish. Yeah, actual flying fish, darting alongside the boat. I’d never seen them live before, but Jess tells me they follow boats all the time in that part of the world.

This was our ‘day at sea’, which is to say the boat didn’t stop anywhere, so we took our time and explored most of the nooks and crannies of the boat. We found a pool at the back of the boat and hung out there for a while, which was really fun because the boat was rocking a little bit and so the pool had this neat, wavy motion pretty much the whole time. We boated through a downpour, too, but only a brief one, and since we were in the pool already, we didn’t have to worry about getting wet.

From Caribbean Trip

Jess took another nap (hey, we’re on vacation!) and I went on the galley tour. I got to see the big, main kitchens where they do the dinners in the fancy dining rooms. It was a lot of stainless steel, and they had set up a little ingredient tour for us where we got to see some of the stuff they work with and some of the things they make with it. They had a guy carving elaborate patterns in a cantaloupe there. I’d seen pictures, but never anything like that in person. Very pretty.

I also dropped by the art auction, which was nice in its own way, if not a little silly, and the Cigar bar (where Blood Power would be performing later!)

From Caribbean Trip

Then it was time for dinner. Formal night, this time, which meant we got to dress up in the fancy clothes we brought along. Something I hadn’t mentioned before was that you always had dinner in the same location, with the same people. We were with a nice couple from Boston and another from the Florida area. We would sit and chat about cruising, what we had done, and what was upcoming and exciting. There was another couple there the day before, but we never saw them at dinner again. The may have just hung out by the Pizzaria.

After dinner, we went to the ‘Show’. They had one on the boat most every night. This night it was a ‘revue’ of a sort, which is to say people singing and dancing and some ladies in costumes with massive feather fans and the like. I sat there through several of the songs trying to figure out what the point was. I didn’t like the music much, and if I want to see scantily clad ladies, I don’t have to put up with bad music to do it. Eventually we just dodged out of the theatre early and hung out on the balcony, watching the sun set and the boat move. The motion of the waves against the bow is really hypnotic.

And then more blood power band! We saw them in the cigar bar and listened for quite a while, but not quite so late, we had to get up in the morning. There was *adventure* to be done.

-N

Our Cruise, Day 1

So, because people seem to like reading about it, is a rundown of our Caribbean vacation. In brief, though, because there’s a lot of stuff that happened.

How about we start with DAY 1

From Caribbean Trip

This was monday, and we got in a little early to check in and enjoy the lunch buffet. They were smart to make the check in process as much as possible like an airport, because that way everyone knew what was going on. There was a pretty long line, what with 5000 people all trying to do the same thing, but they did a pretty good job of ferrying everyone through the process and before we knew it, we were on board and enjoying a lunch buffet. The rumors are all true, there is a lot of food on a Cruise Ship. There was different stuff at the buffet every day, and we had to be careful not to stuff ourselves to destruction every time we sat down for food.

We checked out our room next, and then we had to do something called a ‘muster drill’ where we all went down to where we would have to go in the event of an evacuation and put on our life vests. After ‘passing muster’ we come back to the room, where Jess took a nap and I looked over some options for stuff to do on the boat and in the various ports. And then it was time for dinner.

We had dinner in the Universe Dining room, and while understated, I have to say that dinner was the most impressive feat on the boat. Simultaneously serving 1700 people, in two dining rooms, with delicious prepared foods...while at sea. For a week. But they did it, and they made it look easy. We just had to sit down, order appetizers, entree, and dessert, and the food just started coming out. You could order whatever you wanted, as much as you wanted, and it was all covered by your ticket. The food was delicious, too. Jess and I would order food and then taste each others stuff to see who had the best dinner. I like being married. Jess also ordered the ‘Chocolate Melting Cake’, with extra ice cream. That became her favorite dessert on the trip. I generally went for whatever they were serving that I hadn’t tried before. With the exception of the one time I ordered the smoked salmon, because I love smoked salmon.

After dinner, Jess went off to get a massage, which is always nice because I ask her to teach me things she liked every time she goes. I’m slowly becoming a massage expert. While she was doing that, I consulted the ‘Carival Capers’ newsletter, which is this thing they hand out every day that details what will be happening on and around the ship. It’s a good summary of events, times, and places to go do things.

From Caribbean Trip

One of the things that caught my eye on the guide was a band called ‘Blood Power’. I had no idea what they were, but with a name like Blood Power, I had to go check them out. As it turns out, they were a rock cover band, four gentlemen of Phillipino descent. When I got there they were halfway through the solo to Freebird, and were doing quite well. I decided to stay until they played something I didn’t like, and I ended up staying for the entire first set. I went back to the room to get Jessie, and we came back and listened to them until 1 in the morning. We are big fans of the Blood Power Band.

While we were listening I also discovered that I like whiskey. My drink of choice for the tour was Jameson on the Rocks. I would get that whenever I ordered a drink, which wasn’t often. Jess liked the big fruity things with little umbrellas in them. It’s a cruise, what did you expect?

After a long night, we crashed in bed and slept. Jess loved sleeping on the boat, neither of us (evidently) gets motion sickness and the gentle rocking of the boat put us both right to sleep.

-N

Back on the Mainland

Good morning, everyone.

I'm back from the cruise, which means my cell phone is back on and my e-mail is getting checked once again. We took a lot of pictures, some of which even have to be *developed*, like *cavemen* used to do. So I'll write up a big long diary of the trip later. I just wanted to let you know that we have made it back to areas where the ground is not constantly swelling and sliding beneath your feet. Which is sort of a shame, because that puts both me and Jess to sleep really well.

We're heading back to Austin tomorrow, and we're all excited to see our kitties and see if our tree made it through the week okay. It's been really dry, and our sprinkler system is on the fritz where the tree is. Real world concerns come flooding back once again. It was a nice vacation, though, and I'm excited to get back to my real life, being as my real life is pretty fantastic.

-N

5K finished

Waking up at 5:45 in the morning on vacation is unusual enough. Doing it so that I can run a 5K is downright weird.

Regardless, 'Team Venture' managed to run our 5Ks today just fine. I brought up the rear at 41:23, which is a pretty slow pace for a 5k, but I did beat...8 people in the race out of 177. Shannon was a few minutes ahead of me, and Jess was about ten minutes faster, which makes her *really fast*. Quite a change from the girl that used to stay beind me while I went running for TKD. No doubt I would do a lot better if I ran with any regularity, but unfortunately Texas summer heat procludes me from getting outside and running until the sun goes down.

Still though, the most important opponent when running is yourself, and I made my personal goal of running the entire time, despite being completely soaked through by the end of the run. The one upside of having to wake up early for a 7:30 run is that the sun wasn't fully up and toasty for the entire time. Humid, though. I would however, like to point out that I also was faster than everyone who did not go running today, and that's several million people, at the very least. So that certainly makes me feel better.

Tomorrow we're heading down to Miami to depart on our CRUISE which is very exciting. Communication will be somewhat limited, but cell phones will work if there's some sort of emergency. We do get charged international roaming rates, so use this power wisely. E-mail will be better. For some reason the ship has free wi-fi. Odd, that.

-N

Vacation Time

Tomorrow Jess and I head out to travel the world, or at least small, warm, beautiful parts of it. We'll start out by hanging out in Fort Lauderdale and running a 5K with Jessie's sister. You know, relaxing stuff.

Jess and her sister got all excited about doing more running together and running a 5K the same weekend after they got faster together. Well that weekend is this weekend, and since, as luck would have it, we'll both be in the same city, we're all going to run together. Well, 'together', I guess. Jess and, I'm sure, Shannon, are both a lot faster than I am, being as I can't go running with any regularity in Texas summer heat. Still, we are signed up as a team, so yay for us! Being as Jess and I just finished a 5K run around the neighborhood, I feel confident that I can, at the very least, finish the run. It's all about setting achievable goals.

On monday, we go Cruising! Very exciting. We've signed up for some shore excursions, though a great deal of them involve water, so it's hard to know what, if any, pictures will be drawn from our experience. I'll definitely write about it, though. Having a journal to look back on is very nice.

We get back from the cruise on, I think, Saturday, spend a little more time in FLA, and then fly back on Sunday. So wish us luck, though it looks like we're already pretty lucky. Hurricane bill looks like it will miss us. :)

-N