>We didn't go to the show after dinner, but we again met our partners
>for trivia, and had the best score of anyone.
Actually the trivia was on the 80s and we didn't do well on it. The
next day (Nov 2nd) the trivia was on movies, and we had a hard time
with that too, although Bob did get the answer to the person who got
the most awards for costumes (Edith Head). We only got 12 right - we
missed the name of one of the Gish sisters (got Lillian and missed
Dorothy), couldn't remember the name of the guy who sang or played the
piano "Play it again Sam", didn't know who did the Academy Awards in
1986 (I think that was the year - it was Jerry Lewis), didn't know the
theme song from the G.s of Wrath, etc.
Today, Bob is finally going to go off on an excursion without me. I'm
going snorkeling on the Wreck of the Antilla, and he is doing the Town
and Country tour. He was under strict instructions to take pictures
of the California lighthouse (named after a ship that sank there),
which he did, and he also saw the Natural Bridge one part of which has
fallen down. The tour also visited the Bushirbana Gold Mill ruins,
the and the Casibari Rock Formation which is sort of similar the Baths
at Virgin Gorda. He only took 28 pictures, but the ones he took were
good.
Link starts here =>
http://www.photoworks.com/share/shareLanding.jsp?shareCode=A3BB3A2BF0C&cb=PW
<== Link ends here
He got off the boat ahead of me, and since I was going snorkeling, I
wanted a towel. Instead of the towels being at the gangway on deck 3
as they have been at all the previous stops, there was just the water
(for purchase) and the towels were up on deck 5. So I had to get the
elevator back up and then I couldn't get one down, as they were all
full already by the time they got to 5.
They told us to assemble out on the dock in the sun, but after the
other excursions cleared out then brought us inside and had us sign a
hold harmless, and then eventually an old catamaran with ragged sails
came in on the other side of the pier from the Crown. They had
benches on two sides and in the middle, a hard bimini, and two marine
heads, one of which didn't work. The captain didn't seem to have any
instruments at all - no compass, no wind speed indicator. All he had
was the engine RPMs.
The captain was named Jost - a very sunburned Nordic type, and he had
two crew - a white boy named Ian with one earring, and a black boy
whose name I couldn't understand but who seemed older and more mature
and competent than Ian. There were only 14 of us and they usually
take at least 20. We motor sailed out to the lighthouse (I think we
are in one of Bob's pictures - #7). Fortunately I listened to Bob and
had put on my bathing suit (which I hate to do too far in advance
because it makes it so difficult to use the bathroom) because there
was no place to change here.
I didn't take the digital camera, but I did take the film camera and
the dive camera. I finished up the rolls in both of them. I put on
my new dive skin, and got out my mask and snorkel. They gave us fins,
and snorkeling vests and everyone else got masks and snorkels too.
When I said I had my own mask (which has diopters in it so I can see
to read gauges etc) they asked if I was 'a professional'. I said no.
No one else had thought to buy or bring an underwater cameras.
They also told us about the wreck. Apparently it was a new German
ship at the beginning of WWII and was captured when hostilities
started -- the German captain was afraid they'd use the ship against
Germany and did not want to surrender it so he dropped the crew off
(had them swim to shore) and heated up the boilers as hot as they
would go and then let seawater into the ship. The explosion that
resulted broke the ship apart and sank it.
There was quite a lot of wind, and some current at the site. One of
the ladies had not snorkeled before. We picked up a mooring (of which
there were 3), and they explained that the dive boat next to us was
tied to the wreck (which it was). They said swim up current toward
the bow of the ship, and then drift back, being careful not to let
yourself get around on the stern side of the boats because you might
not be able to swim back.
So I finned up to the end of the wreck and then came back on the other
side taking pictures. There were schools of sergeant majors, and some
coral on the upcurrent side of the ship. I did this twice, and then
was out of film, so I handed the camera up and went out and did the
whole thing again. The divers were down on the bottom - maybe 30
feet. The ship was broken into two pieces and they were between the
pieces so I swam through their bubbles. About 10 40, they got us all
aboard again. By this time two other catamarans and two other
schooners or that type ship were there, and they wanted our moorings.
Our trivia partners were on the MiDushi.
On the way back we saw the SubSeeker submarine or glass bottom boat
type boat, and also saw the people on the Rhino Riders (a 2 person
inflatable motor boat one of which had three people including a young
child). Also we saw a motor boat pulling two long pontoon type things
with 5 or 6 people seated on each one.
After the snorkeling, they opened the 'bar' where they had all kinds
of hard liquor and juices. I had a plain pineapple juice and then I
went to the head and changed clothes. Some of the others got pretty
drunk. The skipper said that he had a sunset cruise also, but I don't
see why one would take an old boat with not much in the way of comfort
of luxury out to see the sunset. We saw the sunset at dinner, and it
wasn't particularly spectacular. All the other boats looked better.
We came back to the dock and I walked back to the boat - I saw Bob
coming back just ahead of me. When we got back to our room, we found
a towel monkey hanging on the mirror. We could have gone on out into
town and shopped, but just had lunch and took a nap..
For dinner Bob had a fruit compote and I had a fish pate with crackers
and celery and carrots. I liked the carrots, but didn't care for the
pate. That's the only thing I've had all cruise that I just hated. I
had the Wisconsin cheese soup, and then the prime rib for dinner. Bob
had fried catfish. We were sitting with the old lady and old man from
the previous night, and also a mother and daughter. For dessert I had
the blueberry slump.
This is our last stop - we are at sea from now until we arrive on
November 5th - Saturday. I've run out of my original allocation of
minutes, and contrary to what the computer room guy said, the next set
of minutes was NOT discounted although I did get him to give me some
extra as he did before..
They've taken away the carved pumpkin decorations of the buffet lines
and replaced them with a flower pot made of a watermelon with various
carved fruits as 'flowers'. For instance half and orange carved into
petals and a cherry in the middle.
On the 3rd we attended a towel folding demonstration - they did a dog,
elephant, turtle, seal, rabbit, and kissing swans in addition to the
lobster and the monkey. Our steward did the lobster and the turtle.
Dinner was the 2nd formal night, but Bob didn't see that in the
bulletin so he was wearing dockers and a golf-type shirt. There was
an old guy at our table who was complaining - I think directed at Bob
although he didn't come right out and say so - he complained that
people were wearing shorts in the main dining room at breakfast.
Which of course is quite OK - it's only at dinner that you are
supposed to be more dressed up than that.
I had Oysters Rockfeller for an appetizer and a watercress salad and
then a roast duck with orange glaze which was to come with a
'vegetable bouquet'. The bouquet turned out to be brussels sprouts
and carrots. Bob had the fruit cup appetizer thing, and filet mignon
bearnaise. They had what was supposed to be baked alaska for dessert,
but really it was just ice cream cake.
After dinner we went to the show, which was the staff presentation and
our steward sang a solo.
During the night we went around the tip of Haiti and on the fourth we
were passing between Cuba and Andros in the Old Bahama Channel. We
had a late lunch, and a freighter passed us in the channel going the
other way. On the other side of it we could see the barrier islands
off Cuba.
For dinner I had the New England clam chowder (the cooking light
selection) and the cheese tamales. I think Bob was tempted by the
liver, but he had the mahi-mahi which he likes even better than liver.
Then he had them bring me a birthday cake (it was my birthday). The
steward took some pictures of us. I had ordered the Viking ice cream
coupe and was too full to eat any of the cake, so I took it back to
the room. We never did eat it.
We went to see the puppet/ventriloquist show after dinner. Bob had
seen him on a previous night with our trivia partners but I hadn't
gone. We also missed the liar's club show because of going to trivia.
On our previous cruise they showed that later on the TV, but did not
do so this time.
We went up to the last trivia, but the way they added up the scores
made NO sense, so I don't know how we actually did. For instance the
people whose paper we graded got 22 points, and they gave them credit
for 38 points. And they said at the beginning of the trivia that our
total score to that point was 111 points, and then that dropped to 80
points at the end.
grandma Rosalie |
115564. November 2 (Aruba) and return to Miami
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