Bloggings

Just needed something to post about

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So I just installed WordPress on my android phone and I needed to post about something to test it out. Neither Andi or I have really made an effort to keep this blog updated with what’s going on. Though I imagine since we will be traveling soon that we’ll have some vids and such to post. Not really sure why I keep this site going. I guess it’s cause I’ve had it for so long that I just can’t let it go. I think it has been about 10 years now. I’ll have to check what the earliest post is. It hasn’t always been through WordPress, but I have kept an online journal for awhile now. Though I don’t think there was ever a year that I really kept at it. Even though this archive goes awhile back, and I’m pretty sure there posts somewhere on the Internet even earlier than that. I am certain I had an account somewhere during the 90s where I kept thoughts. If I ever take the time to find those posts ill have to add them to the archive. Thing about blogs though is unless you really have a specific category of topics you want to discuss, you really are just talking about your ever day crap. And since most of my everyday crap revolves around my job (and I don’t think I should really put any thoughts about my job, work, coworkers, bosses, etc on the internet) I don’t really have much to talk about. Maybe I’ll review something. Hmmm well I guess I did post a picture with this entry. Really, I just picked a random image off my phone to test this app. Oh wait, how about this app…. Well it’s my first time using the app. Sooooo so far… It’s good….. I guess. Hmmm I really need to reevaluate the point of this.

Bloggings, Reviews - Travel, Travel

St. Maarten :(

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Today we got up early because we really wanted to check out beaches in St. Maarten. I wanted to go to the beach that is known for low flying planes near the airport and hopefully get some snorkeling in on our last day. We went up to deck 9 for breakfast and we noticed the boat was still moving and there really wasn’t any land in site.  It was kind of cloudy and we knew that weather was a topic the night before so we thought maybe we were just delayed.

Then during breakfast it was announced that there was a tropical storm called Rafael that had popped up over night and was now over St. Maarten.  We would not be going to St. Maarten we were going to have a day at sea and try to get away from the storm.  This was really disappointing.  We were so pumped and ready to get off the boat and now we would have to spend the entire day here on the boat. It was hard not to be upset but at the same time there was nothing we could do. The crew did their best to come up with more activities for people to do and they made a new itinerary for the day.

So we started off our day by laying out for awhile by the pool.  I brought my book and was reading. Don was kind of resting.  There was some sunlight.  The captain kept saying he would try to get us to some sunlight.  It was getting pretty hot so we went inside the boat and went to the library.  It was a first time there and we rented the game Scrabble.  We took it to our room and started playing.  It got my mind off my disappointment.  Don wanted to go to the Coral Cafe to see what the puzzle and games thing was at 11 am so we paused our scrabble game and went.

At the Coral Cafe we played Battleship together.  Then we played a pictionary game. Don was really good at drawing; I was horrible.  We did not win that game. We pretty much played games and trivia all day.  We tried to win $1000 from a game in the casino.  It was frustrating because it looked so easy but we could not win. We played Movie Clip Trivia, Sea Feud, General Trivia, Entertainment Trivia, and Picture Trivia on the big screen on the lido deck. We did not win any of these games. Don wanted to win so we went back into the boat and played another General Trivia game.  The questions were hard but this time we actually won!! We won a little trophy of the Carnival Victory Ship. The last trivia game was Food & Drink and it was ridiculously hard.  Then we went back to our room and finished our game of Scrabble. We started packing a bit and then went to dinner with Mike and Teresa.

For dinner I had a salad which was very good and Bacon Mac & Cheese.  It was pretty good.  I got Melting Cake for the last time but I could not finish it. After dinner we went to a comedy show and saw the same guy from the other night. He is really good.  Then we saw another guy who was not so good. We thought maybe he just couldn’t do family friendly comedy. There were a lot of awkward moments.

That was our last day. Tomorrow we will leave. I don’t know if I have been very impressed with the cruise. The food has been okay, not as good as I thought it would be. I think if we do a cruise again I would definitely want to try another cruise line. Carnival was okay but I think there’s better.

Bloggings, Reviews - Travel, Snorkeling, Travel

St. Kitts

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Today I had booked an excursion with Greg’s Safari.  This was the first booked thing we did that wasn’t through Carnival and I am thinking it was the best.  While we were waiting for Greg we were bombarded with guys with about 6 little monkeys.  The monkeys had diapers on and some had clothes.  Before we could discuss anything they were putting the monkeys on us and taking pictures with our camera.  Then they told us $20 a piece!  Don said he would give them $20 for both.  I think that was a rip off but we did get a lot of pictures.

We met Greg around 830 for our tour of Philip’s Rainforest.  Michael and Teresa came with us on this excursion.  I was excited because it looked like it was just going to be us 4 and then another couple but then 4 other people ran over to Greg and booked last minute.  Then when we got to the land rover there were already people in it. I was a little disappointed because I didn’t want a repeat of yesterday, but turns out the vehicle was pretty spacious and we had a good amount of room.

The tour started with a drive to the rainforest that was about 45 minutes.  It was a cool drive, very scenic.  Then we got out and started our hike.  Along the way Greg would tell us about the plant life.  It would rain and then it would be sunny.  It was pretty awesome.  We came to a waterfall and put our feet in the water.  The hike was pretty good, some of it was a little rugged.  While hiking I got bit near my wrist by some kind of ant.  It was painful, but didn’t look too bad. At the end of it Greg gave us some local fruits.  Then it started pouring and we got back in the land rover and made our way back. I will post some pictures of some things we saw on our rainforest hike.

On our way back we asked Greg if he would be able to drop us off at Frigate Bay to go to the beach.  He told us earlier it was a good place for snorkeling. He said that would be fine. He told us about a good restaurant there and to ask for Greg’s Special.  He also told us to tell them we are with his tour and they would let us use their beach chairs for free.  Then he even offered us a ride back to the boat later because he was picking people up from the beach at 430.  That gave us plenty of time to eat and snorkel.

We ate at Sunset Cafe which was part of Timothy Beach Resort.  We got Greg’s Special which was Conch Fritters and Rum Punch.  The fritters were delicious but the rum punch not so much.  I kind of just wanted a cheeseburger and fries but then decided I had to get an authentic meal so I got Stewed Chicken with Macaroni Pie and a Salad.  It was pretty good.

Don got the fish and chips.  Both meals I would say were great. We mixed it up and had a little bit of each other’s meal.

After eating we got in the water.  It was raining off and on but it didn’t bother our snorkeling. I would have to say I thought this was the best location of snorkeling we did on the trip so far.  There was a lot of coral and sea life.  Of course we didn’t swim with turtles but it was a really cool place to explore.  It had a dock that had a lot of coral and rocks with sea life.  Then out further there were rocks and the water got a bit rougher. Don did not want to go out that far but I had to see it.  As I was swimming I saw something pretty big in the rocks so I looked and it was a sea turtle!! I was so excited to see a sea turtle on my own!  I told Don but when we looked back in the water I couldn’t find it. Don had the camera so we also didn’t get a picture.  But it was so cool!  It was a bit creepy in this area of the water for some reason and Don was getting annoyed because he didn’t have his fins so he made his way back to the beach.  I went behind him a little bit after. I wanted to see if I could find the turtle again but I never did.  So then I slowly made my way back up to the beach.  I saw a sea snake!  I was totally freaking out when I saw it but I had to get a picture. Then I swam away keeping my eye on it.

Here are some more pictures of the snorkeling…

Around 430 Greg picked us up along with some other people and gave us a ride back to the ship.  It was a great day.

Then we had dinner with Michael and Teresa in the dining room.  I had a Thai Chicken Appetizer. It was okay. Then I had Shrimp and Fries for my main course; it was probably one of my favorite meals on the ship so far. Don had Filet Mignon.  During dinner Mike and Teresa told us they got a notice that their excursion in St. Maarten was canceled due to weather. This got me bummed out because I was afraid of what the weather was going to do and how it would effect our day.  After dinner we went to a magic show and then to a comedy show.

Bloggings, Travel

St. Lucia

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We woke up this morning and it was rainy.  We had our breakfast and got off the boat to explore St. Lucia. We hadn’t made any plans for shore excursions in St. Lucia so we were not sure what we would do exactly. As we were walking into the port terminal a guy yelled at us about an island tour.  So we went over to talk to him and another couple with two kids followed.  At first the guy said $40 per person for an island tour.  Don talked him down to $30.  So we were going on an island tour. We were not really sure what that entailed but the guy told us to meet him on the other side of the fence and to ignore all other tour guides that tried to talk to us.

Finally the 6 of us made it to his van.  It was me, Don, a couple from Boston and their kids Jonathon and Aaliyah.  They were 5 and 6 years old.  We were somewhat disappointed to see that Phillip our tour guide had already brought another couple and their daughter into his van.  They didn’t speak English so I was thinking well maybe he is just dropping them off somewhere, because we have had tours do weird things like that.  So we all piled into this van.  Phillip was in the front with the man that didn’t speak any English.  Don, the couple from Boston (I can’t remember their names) were in the middle row of seats.  And the woman her daughter, the 2 other kids and myself were in the back row.  It was extremely crowded.

So from 9 am until about 4 pm we were cramped inside this van.  We got out in various locations to take pictures. I will try to remember the route we took.  We started at Castries.  From there we went down the west coast, the Caribbean side.  The next town I remember was Soufriere.  Along the way we took pictures with a man and his boa constrictor and views of the pitons.  Phillip also took us to a banana field and told us a bit about the banana crop.  I tried the local beer here called Piton. It was pretty good. The views of St. Lucia were amazing, absolutely beautiful.  That made up for being cramped into the van.  Here are some pictures from the Caribbean side of St. Lucia.

Then we made our way down near the airport.  At one point I thought he was going to stop and take pictures by the airport and I was thinking to myself “awesome, now is our chance to pay Phillip and get a cab out of this awful cramped van!”  But that didn’t happen we stopped at the lighthouse near the airport to take pictures of the Atlantic side of St. Lucia.

We made our way up along the Atlantic coast.  I remember going through the towns of Micoud and Dennery.  Then we went back to Port Castries.  Everyone in the van was very irritated by the time we got back.  It was way too long to be cramped up like that.  But we did get to see most of St. Lucia.  And now we know when we get an island tour next time to make sure we are not going to be cramped in a van with 15 other people for 8 hours.  Even though it wasn’t the most pleasant experience, I loved St. Lucia.  I think it will be hard to find somewhere else more beautiful and I wouldn’t mind going back.

Bloggings, Reviews - Travel, Snorkeling, Travel

Barbados

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Today we got up early to go on our Tiami Sail, Turtles & Beach Excursion that I booked through Carnival. We took a bus to the catamaran.  It was a really nice boat.  It had a bar that actually had fountain soda and a beer on tap.

When we got to our first snorkeling site we learned it was more like a swimming site.  The crew didn’t want us to wear fins because it scared the turtles.  We have snorkeled with turtles before and they didn’t seem to be scared by fins, but whatever.  Basically we just got off the boat and swam with turtles.  Don’t get me wrong, swimming with turtles was awesome.  We got some really awesome pictures and they are just amazing.  But when I booked the excursion I was under the impression we would actually be snorkeling and seeing more.  You can’t really beat swimming with turtles but if you plan on booking this excursion for snorkeling there isn’t any of that really.

After the swimming with turtles we got back on the catamaran and went to a beach.  The beach had the most expensive resort on Barbados. I believe the guide said the least expensive room was $1500 a night and the the most expensive was around $10000 a night.  Ridiculous.  There was no snorkeling at this beach.  We just swam and enjoyed the rum punch that the crew made us.  Don even did a rum punch bong through his snorkel. It was crazy! The beach was beautiful.  We saw a guy with a monkey on his head. He wanted us to pay him for pictures but I snuck a few without him noticing.  A rain storm passed through while we were swimming but then it was back to being sunny immediately after the rain.

On the way back to the port we had more rum punch and did a little dancing.  Of course everyone got crazy when Gangnam Style came on.  That song is so fun.  Once we got back we didn’t want to go back to the ship because we wanted to experience Barbados as much as we could.  We saw Michael and Teresa getting ready to go the excursion right after us.  They booked the wrong time; they had the afternoon excursion.

So we decided to explore Pelican Village in Barbados because we knew it was pretty close to the port.  We ate at a place called Sylvester’s Restaurant.  It was a buffet style place and it was delicious.  I had macaroni pie, which had a little spice to it, fried chicken and a salad.

Don had fried chicken, pork chop and rice. He tried a little bit of everything.

Everything was very good at Sylvester’s.  It was a nice change of pace to have some authentic food rather than just the very Americanized cuisine on the cruise ship.

After lunch we just walked around the area.  We ended up at a market called Cheapside.  Or maybe the area was called Cheapside, I am unsure.  It was so hot in Barbados.  Just completely miserably hot.  We walked around for probably an hour then decided to walk back to the boat.  Once back to the boat we got cleaned up and then decided to go back off the boat to the port terminal to use the wifi. The wifi worked at first but it was really slow and we didn’t really get to use it much.

Then we came back to the ship and went to a trivia game at the coral cafe.  After trivia we ate at the grill. We then laid out on the top deck and kind of fell asleep for a bit. It wasn’t comfortable and we were tired so we went back to the room and took a 2 hour nap. Then we got up to go to some shows in the theater:  Battle of the sexes, Liars Club and a Scavenger Hunt. The scavenger hunt was fun. We had to divide up into teams and find things in the audience like an empty purse, a bra, a girl who can doing the splits, etc.  And that was our day.

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