Cruisin’ Again
Ok, show of hands… who thought I quit blogging again? LOL sorry, still here. Things have just been a bit hectic around here with our bathroom remodel, now front porch repair, and in between, a 9-day cruise. Then coming home and having to do loads and loads… and loads of laundry.
With Cruise 2 behind me, I can say that my feelings about cruises haven’t changed. I can take them or leave them… actually lean toward leaving them because being stuck on a floating shopping mall is still not for me.
This time we sailed out of Fort Lauderdale on the Odyssey of the Seas (I preferred the Allure of the Seas. It’s just overall a nicer, prettier ship). We were in a family and friends group of a total of 18 people but I vowed that I would do my own thing and not care what everyone else was doing, and certainly not dictate what what we should do, and that’s exactly what I did. Starting with the excursions. I had told Greg that I would only go on this cruise if we got to decide what we wanted to do (no more booking whatever everyone else was doing!)
We had a room with a balcony again, and I spent time sitting outside, reading. Or early in the morning I would quietly sneak out of the room and go to the Solarium to photograph the sunrise, then enjoy a cup of coffee at a window table in the Windjammer (the buffet style main restaurant). One morning, when I was walking to the seating area, breakfast in hand, I saw Greg walk through the Windjammer, on his way to meet up with some of the guys of our group (for some reason the women all liked to sleep late. Weird.) and like the expert ninja that I am, I weaved through the food stations to avoid being seen by him, JUST to make sure I got to enjoy my coffee in peace.
I wandered the ship, mostly did the trivia games and a scavenger hunt or two. The headliner shows in the evening weren’t all that impressive, although the comedian was pretty funny, especially when he did his adult show. I didn’t really spend any time in the Solarium this cruise, except early morning (too crowded during the day) and avoided the pool deck like the plague. Too many kids and too many annoying people.
Day 1*, 2, and 3 were sea days. Aka stuck-on-the-ship days. On Day 4 we arrived in Willemstad, Curaçao and we were booked on the “Curaçao Highlights & Beach Fun” tour. Such a pretty and colorful place! We spent some time on the bus, learning about the island, then stopped for some Curaçao Liqueur, then spent some time on the beach before heading back to the ship and some exploring on foot and port shopping. Sara and her boyfriend ended up on that same excursion with us. Others in our group booked the same excursion but at a later time, which was just fine with me.
Day 5 we arrived in Oranjestad, Aruba and were booked on the “Aruba Sights, Scenes & Tastes” bus tour with stops at the (collapsed) Natural Bridge, some kind of gold mill ruins, the California Lighthouse, and about 30 minutes at Eagle Beach. Then some exploring on foot and port shopping again after we were dropped back off at the ship. Sara and her boyfriend got back from their excursion not long after we did, so we met up with them for a late lunch at one of the restaurants in town.
Day 6 and 7 were stuck-on-the-ship days again, and Day 8 was spent on CocoCay which is Royal Caribbean’s private Island. Yeah. Was not impressed. Too many things you had to pay a fortune for to get in ($150 per person to get into the waterpark, anyone?) or do ($70 per person for a 10-minute helium balloon “ride”… with 30 other people) so we spent a few hours on the free beach and headed back to the ship early afternoon, after lunch at the (complimentary) buffet. Since this was our last full day, we (I) had to pack anyway and finally got off the ship around 8:30am on day 9.
* On Day 1 I wore my “I’d rather be in London” T-shirt (so true!!) but disappointingly none of our group seemed to notice, or just decided not to comment on it. Pfft. But as we were wandering the ship while we were waiting for our rooms to be ready, we walked by a couple of Royal Caribbean team members and one of them says to me “I like your shirt!!” And one day at breakfast, one of the waiters stops at my table to offer orange juice and then asks what that is on my left arm. I show him and tell him it’s a skyline of London. He looks at it… and looks at it.. and looks at it some more, and finally says “it’s niiiiice.”
Inner Workings
Have you ever wondered what a lens looks like on the inside? I have, and decided to take apart my 10+ year old, much used, completely worn out, very favorite lens, the 60mm Micro Nikkor after I replaced it with another macro lens.
It was surprisingly difficult and I never did manage to get it completely apart. Those things are solid and certainly well made. After several hours of poking and prodding and pulling and prying, I gave up and had a little photo shoot with the bits and pieces I ended up with.
The Daily Click 