Cruise Day 3

December 25, 2007
Christmas Day on Legend of the Seas

We all agreed that there would BE NO GIFTS, since the cruise WAS the gift. There were some gifts. I bought Carrie and I scrapbooks. I know, I know. "My Caribbean Vacation" photo albums SHOULD be cheesy. I wanted them to be cheesy. Carrie wanted not to like them. But we both did, so I gifted us with them and we made plans to scrapbook together.


















There was a very fancy Christmas buffet. Here's some of the food art:

































































See also Lee's Day 3: here and here.

Cruise Day 2

December 24, 2007
Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Also read: Lee's Day 2 synopsis.

You could fill a book (or a hundred thousand books!) with the things I don't know. When asked where our cruise was going... I'd shrug and say "Caribbean". Even when I knew the names of the islands we'd be visiting, there was nothing else attached in my mind. Here are a couple of things I didn't know about St. Maarten:

• It has 2 capital cities: Philipsburg (the Dutch capital) and Marigot (the French capital)
• The island was taken over by the French and Dutch because of the salt flats that produce excellent salt.
  

Just so you know, flip-flops are comfortable for the 1st 2 miles, but the 2nd 2 miles is asking for it. Oh! Also, that scarf/wrap I bought, I saw in the very 1st shop on the boardwalk. I bought it on our way out, and it was only $6. I'm not a very good tourist. We did not go in one single jewelry, booze, or duty-free shop, although we saw roughly a million of them.

Me with my scarf/wrap, and very handsome man:

























We bought foot cream in a tiny, cramped hole-in-the-wall "pharmacy". A man (tourist, also) asked me if I knew how much such-and-so cost, and I said "Does it really matter? You know you're going to buy it anyway." He laughed and said "You're right."

You know in stores how they often put expensive, or age sensitive, or shop-liftable items behind the counter? In this pharmacy, where I was expecting to see, oh, I don't know, condoms, cigarettes, or magazines, they had 3 packs of men's underwear.

This "throw-away" shot turned out to be one of my favorites from that day. I was fiddling with my polarizing lens, trying to get the sky bluer. Like it really needed my help ("Don't tamper in God's domain", and all that.), but anyway... I like how Paul's orange shirt keeps the balance with the orange building, or at least keeps drawing my eye.


















And from the Thanks for the Heads Up Department:






























I don't know if you've experienced this... I hadn't until Cozumel in 2004. A whole bunch of places in the world do not have toilet systems that can handle toilet paper, so you throw it in the garbage. I remembered in 2004 that I had seen this as a child and it didn't make sense until just that moment. I was at John Ball Park Zoo in Grand Rapids, MI with my folks? and possibly other family members, and I was in the bathroom, and a family of non-English speakers were in there and they threw their used toilet paper in the garbage. I reported this to my family, and I can't remember what they said, probably because it didn't make sense to me and didn't connect to any experience I'd ever had in my 7 years. Now I know. Huh.

Cruise Day 1

December 23, 2007
Legend of the Seas, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines

Also read Lee's Day 1.

After breakfast at the Marriott and our mad dash through the food lines, we met a family who had just come off the cruise we were going on. Santo Domingo is trying to build a more touristy image. The cruise right before ours was the 1st ever to leave out of SD. This family told us that everyone leaving on the ship had to pay $20 because of the Leaving Tax. (It costs $10 to enter the country, and $20 to leave. By this point we thought "money well spent to get out of this place.") They said the cruise line was pretty upset about it, but this being a new port, they didn't know about it, or it wasn't communicated to them.

We took taxis to the port. Of course, the price quoted by the Marriott people was way less than what the drivers were offering. Once again, our bags were being held hostage, so we had little choice.

This is our Ship: The Legend of the Seas. This is at the port at Grenada.
















We got on the ship a few hours before we were to sail, so we went to look around. Once I saw the pool, I knew what I wanted to do. I had heard that pools on cruise ships were filled with salt water, but I didn't believe it since I smelled chlorine. I jumped in and... AUGH! My eyes! It IS salt. Once I reconciled myself to that fact, it was fun... no need to work too hard in salt water... it provides extra buoyancy. Of course, you feel like you weigh a TON when you get out.











I'll write about ports of call later, because I've got to get the following goofy pics out of my system:

Cruises provide AMPLE opportunity for people watching. You will see people at their best and worst, and more of some of them than you ever wanted to. As we were looking around before the ship sailed, I spotted this guy:

Dude! If your back is that red on the FIRST DAY, you're in for a world of hurt on this trip.

By the way, in my 38th year I have finally come to terms with the fact that I Do Not Tan. I burn. I did not even try to tan on this trip. I put on 55 spf and a goofy tourist visor and mostly stayed in the shade. It worked, as I am just as pasty now as before. Perhaps my flip-flop line shows a tiny bit.











I mentioned buffets in my earlier posts. Anyone who has ever been on a cruise talks about the 24/7 food. It truly was. I'll post later about our dining places, but for now, I'll leave you with the thought that buffets make for interesting food choices. You can have your key-lime pie and broccoli together, just like you always wanted. (This was my MIL's plate one day.)












And I apologize to Luis Acosto, Hotel Manager, right now. Luis, I know how hard you and your people work to keep everything on the ship running, and you certainly deserve a break. I'm just so, so sorry that I took several pictures of you sleeping. I couldn't help myself. And I'm sorry that I'm posting it now. But, not so sorry that I won't post it.... :)

Cruise Day 0

December 22, 2007
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

I call this Day "0" (that's a zero) because we arrived in SD a day before our cruise left. We all thought it was a good idea to have some lee-way in the timing. (ie: not having a schedule so tight that nothing could go wrong.)

We got to the airport on time and after paying a $10 fee each to ENTER the country.... Wha? (Turns out there's a $20 fee to LEAVE the country. More on that later.)... we went in search of luggage.

This is our first view of Santo Domingo:

Bienvenidos! Donde esta mis maletas?
(Welcome! Where is my luggage?)














Could have been worse: it was only one bag that had snorkeling apparatus. The "helpful" people at the counter said to wait for the next Atlanta flight which should arrive in "10 minutes". I'll do the conversion for you: 10 Dominican airport minutes = 10 American football minutes. An hour later, next flight comes in... no bag, and even more people to get in the missing luggage line.

We took a taxi to the Marriott hotel. Sounds easy, doesn't it? We were accosted upon exiting the airport by several taxi services. One group started loading our luggage. (You're supposed to negotiate prices BEFORE they touch your luggage... but we didn't move fast enough.) So, we "negotiated" a price... we pretty much paid what they asked for, since we were at their mercy.

Notice the lack of driving in your own lane. These are not a people who pay attention to traffic "laws." You'd think there'd be anger involved with all the cutting off. Not so... I cut you off and receive a gentle toot and a friendly wave.















Since it was now past dinner time, we ate in the Marriott and stumbled to bed.

Next morning - we're all ready to go sight-seeing. We step out of the Hotel and see this:

Nothing in our sheltered American experience has prepared us for lines of people stretching several blocks, with one end of the street barricaded with armed guards. Er...

Paul and Carrie went back in the hotel, but Mama and Papa G. and I decided to go on... we wanted to get to the Plaza Cultura on the next block, unfortunately on the other side of the barricade.












We asked the hotel people what was going on and was it safe. Turns out that every year on the 23rd, presidential hopefuls hand out food to the people. Bags of food and live piglets and chickens, as it turned out. The hotel guys escorted us down the middle of the street and through the armed barricade.

The Cultural Plaza was very telling about Santo Domingo... neglected, but with potential for beauty. The only part of the Plaza that showed any signs of recent work and thought was right outside the Museum of Modern Art.


































We left the Plaza and headed back to the Marriott. The color of our skin let us pass right through the barricade and down the middle of the street again. The guys from the hotel were laughing and taking our picture as we headed toward them. I asked them if it looked funny, because I certainly could see the irony, and it would have been a picture I'd have taken if given the chance. I asked the guy to email the pic to me and he did! We were clearly not from around here.





















All of this left us with a fairly bad taste in our mouths about Santo Domingo. The city redeemed itself later, but not until Day 8.

Those Who Know Me

Will Not Be Surprised...

My tendency is to pack very well, and then when I get to my destination, my items explode from my bag. Lee thinks this is humorous.





















I THINK he thinks it's humorous, or else he rolls his eyes in his mind. (He's not allowed to roll his eyes at me anymore.) :)

I hope he can live with it, because it appears to be part of my nature. Here's what happened when I got home. (It was worse earlier.)
















Also, this happened this morning. We've been gone a week. We had a friend checking in on the cats, but they were ALL OVER US this morning... regardless of what I was trying to accomplish.

Yes, that's Sibbie trying to push my laptop off my lap. She's a jealous one.

If this Ship's a Rockin'....

Well, you know the rest...

Remain prostrate in your cabin for the day and order room service.

I was worried about being sea-sick on the cruise. I was a little woozy on the 1st day, but I was able to mostly keep the nausea at bay by consuming COPIOUS amounts of food at REGULAR intervals. We all did. Thankfully, there was food 24-7. The buffet in the Wind Jammer was almost always open. Great food!

On the last day at sea... it was a travel day... we were heading back toward Dominican Republic... the waves and wind were really bad. I mean really bad. The crew put out barf bags on all the stairways. I made it to breakfast in the Wind Jammer... trouble is the WJ is at the front of the boat on the 9th floor, and so I staggered in like a drunken sailor, grabbed some cereal and milk, and careened back out to a more central location, hoping for less "lift."

Later I found a spot on the back of the ship which was ok, except for the pitching and heaving and wind... oh, and the creepy old guy rubbing suntan lotion on the nubile young woman's buns. Why anyone needs tan buns, Lee's mom and I couldn't figure out...

Lee didn't make it up to breakfast... he talked with Carrie on the stairs, then went back down. I made it until about 10:30, then I went to lay down too. We were ok when lying completely flat...but sit up, and ugh. We ordered room service and watched movies.

They closed the pool... you can see why!















I'll post more about our other adventures after I'm done sorting pics. I may have been just the tiniest bit click-happy, but I don't think 900 pictures is THAT many... er....

Lee says he can tell where I am by the click my camera makes. :)