Well, its Wednesday. Mid way through our trip. For me it always seems that the beginning of the week goes by slowly, I feel like I have all the time in the world to enjoy the ship, then Wednesday comes and suddenly I realize that this amazing trip is more than halfway over! Wait, what happened?? Maybe I can go to the “Future Cruise” sales team and see if I can just stay on! Coincidentally, I did go visit the future cruise folks, but sadly, not for next week but for next year.
So we are in Falmouth, Jamaica today. This is a port that Royal Caribbean built in conjunction with the Jamaican government in order for Royal’s big girls (Oasis and Allure) to be able to dock. The last time we were here, OD and I did Horseback Ride & Swim with Chukka Tours and that was AWESOME!! Got to check “horseback riding in the ocean” off my bucket list! We had also spent a few minutes walking around “old” Falmouth, outside the gates of the port area. I say a few minutes, because from the moment we left the gates until the moment we rushed back in, the local were all over us to buy stuff. Tours, hair braiding, coconuts, ganja, all sorts of stuff. It was a bit unnerving so we decided to stay within the confines of the port or on an excursion. Parts of Jamaica are terribly poor and I totally understand why the locals act this way, but it was a bit much for me at that point.
So this time, we are only getting off the ship to find a Jamaican soccer jersey and then back on-board to enjoy the Splash Zone/Juice Bar while the rest of the passengers all got off and did their thing! As it turns out, we did make one more stop at Margaritaville…I mean, ya gotta do that. Its the Senor Frogs of this port. So we found our Jamaican National Team soccer jersey, shopped for cute stuff for KT and then GM and M headed back to the ship while OD, KT, P and I headed for the first bar we could find at Jimmy Buffet’s fine establishment.
I ordered a Havanas and Bananas (special thanks to Gwen Stefani for ensuring I sing every time I spell the word banana!!). It was good, but no match for the awesome banana drinks that were to come later. We wondered around a bit while we drank and then headed back to the ship…why pay for drinks when you can drink for free on board!! We did stop to watch a random performance of this guy doing some crazy dance with fire. It was already 7 billion degrees outside, I have no idea how he could stand to be near fire, and in fact, we left because it was just too hot to watch!
On our way back to the ship, we stopped by the Customs House to see if we could get our passports stamped. Apparently Jamaica has a rule that you have to be on the island for more than 24 hours in order to earn a stamp, sigh. Other than that, returning to the ship was uneventful and we headed up to the Windjammer to meet up with GM and M and get some lunch. With food in our tummies and a mostly empty ship, we made our way to the pool deck to let T and KT play in the H2O Zone while we relaxed at the Juice Bar with our favvie bartenders, Sirjohn and Sanjay until it was time to get ready for dinner.
One thing I need to remember when I cruise is exactly how much food they throw at you at all times. It is nearly impossible to go anywhere and not be confronted with some little nibbley thing. We stopped at the Champagne Bar a little earlier than usual pre-dinner to see Erwina and she handed us a plate of hors d’oeuvres to go along with our martini’s du jour.
They were cute little pre-dinner snacks, that we certainly didn’t need, but none the less enjoyed. So off to dinner we went. Norbert and his assistant had finally gotten into the swing of things with us and we had a wonderful dinner. I have to say here that while our service was not the greatest on the first night, by tonight we were back up to the service we had come to expect from the dining room on our previous cruises. This was our first time doing My Time Dining and we were a bit skeptical after our first meal on Monday, but they more than made up for it by the end of the week.
After dinner, OD and I headed to the Headliner show, a Bon Jovi tribute band. OD is a huge Bon Jovi fan so we were hoping for the best with this. Final verdict: They were pretty darn good! They did all the songs you would expect to hear from a tribute band and had great energy throughout the show. OD really enjoyed and was overall happy with the show!
So after the show, OD headed up to the teen club where he had met a group of friends and I headed to the casino to meet M and P and to once again donate to Royal Caribbean’s new ship fund. Up tomorrow…The best excursion I have had to date in Grand Cayman.
