A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVES
Well only a week actually!
So here I go on the 1st long haul trip of my break.
As usual, there was a sort of plan. As the flight from London to Miami was an early morning affair, with a 4.00am check in time, I decided to travel down by train and underground, aiming to arrive 10.00pm ish the night before.
My theory was that I could spend time around one of the worlds largest airports, having a beer, a nice light supper, nose around the shops and hopefully grab a snooze in a comfy chair. Well, not in Heathrow apparently! My description of the airport at 10.30 would be…….closed!
I met an elderly gentleman from Canada, who had had the same idea, and like me, could not believe the lack of facilities. Even the toilets were screened off.
That was a very long night. At least I know not to try that trick again.
Happily, the flight went well and I arrived in a lovely warm Miami and quickly transferred to my hotel, dumped my case and headed off to explore.
Next day I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before taking a taxi to the port.
I had taken advice from experienced cruisers and turned up 2hrs before the recommended boarding time. This worked well, avoiding the long queues I’ve experienced before.
Because of this, I was on board almost alone and able to reacquaint myself with this wonderful vessel.
The strange looking thing I am holding in the picture (no, not the beer) is a flashback to last weeks light stick things from Centre Parks. I was supposed to get a photo of it at every port of call, sadly, it jumped ship on day two!
Sorry for the rather poor quality of this photo but I have decided to include it anyway. It was taken just as we were leaving port and it is of the nearly new Freedom Of The Seas, the biggest cruise ship in the world (for now anyway, there is an even bigger one launching early next year apparently!).
While on the subject of size, I have always struggled in trying to explain the magnitude of these things to people who have not seen them in the flesh (as it were). So, have a look at this picture, which I took from a tender boat on route to Belize. The passenger tender boat was a massive double decker catamaran, it carried around 150 folk and as you can tell from the shot, kicked up a huge wake from what were clearly two massive engines. Not small. Now take a careful look at the waterline of the cruise ship, can you see the tiny boat next to it? That was the same size as the one I describe above! These things have to be seen to be believed!
Belize.
I had gone ashore for a trip I had planned before the cruise. It was accurately described as a ‘Jungle Canopy Zip line Adventure’ and I thought it would have been just the jungle venue that was going to be the adventure but no.
As you can see, our tour bus was not in its first flush of youth. Apparently, when the USA replaced these coaches at the end of their useful lives, they were picked up for a song by operators in Mexico, dusted down and run into the ground for another couple of decades. Then when Pedro upgraded to a brand new 1957 US cast off, they headed south again, this time to Belize. There, they are loaded up with unsuspecting foreigners from a nearby cruise ship! After an exciting hour and a half, most of which was on dirt tracks, we arrived, amazingly, at our destination. By the time I alighted, the driver had already got his head stuck behind the rear wheel and was thumping the axle with a mallet! Was there any way we would get back to the ship? Hilarious and the best back massage I’ve had but trust me, not all the passengers enjoyed it as much as I did!
It is hard to tell just how steep this climb up to the first zip line (or as I used to call them, aerial runways) was from this picture. There is no way that our health and safety people would have licensed this! Notice how everyone is holding on for dear life, but what are they holding on to? A stick tied to a tree with a bit of string. We all survived!
There are five runways, (and vampire bats apparently!) ranging from 105 - 500 feet apart, that flew me across the fallen ceiling of an enormous open air cave. Yes, that is me in the picture! It certainly got the blood pumping!
Another coach induced back massage on the successful journey back to the ship….phew!
Next port of call was Costa Maya in Mexico. This time a very civilized coach trip in the company of an absolutely brilliant guide, took me to the site of an ancient Mayan village. A bit of very interesting culture to calm the adrenaline flow from the previous day.
Returning to the port, I had a nice relaxing afternoon lazing in a beach café and enjoying the lovely view. May be it was because I was so relaxed that I made a rather stupid mistake! I ordered some food to help wash down my beer. It was ‘Steak Mexican Style’ and it was very nice, surprisingly a bit bland so I asked if they had any hot sauce….. on a beach in Mexico….. I ask for hot sauce! He did give me a strange look but I got the hot sauce. For hot read volcanic!!
I did not get to see any of the alleged vampire bats in Belize, but my cabin attendant did his best to make up for my disappointment!
Now, I could be cruel and blame the captain for hitting the port of Cozumel a bit to hard and damaging the pier! The truth is that half the pier had been destroyed by a recent hurricane!
Another nice view of the ship but also showing more of the hurricane damage to the port. Must be really shocking to experience weather of that power.
Really pleased I invested in the underwater camera, otherwise I would never have got these wonderful, crystal clear shots of the tropical fish! (must be your PC!)
What nature of creature is this? The blob from the blue lagoon!
It is always a bit of a gamble who they might choose to seat you with for dinner.
I am pleased to say that my partners for the excellent food and service, were very good company. John and Pat (opposite me) were good enough to put together a suggested itinerary for the USA leg of my major expedition which starts at the end of January.
Good of them to arrange this sunset for my last night on board.
As I stood on my balcony enjoying this, something in the water caught my eye. Fifteen to twenty or so dolphins heading back the way we had come from….. I know how they feel.
So here I go on the 1st long haul trip of my break.As usual, there was a sort of plan. As the flight from London to Miami was an early morning affair, with a 4.00am check in time, I decided to travel down by train and underground, aiming to arrive 10.00pm ish the night before.
My theory was that I could spend time around one of the worlds largest airports, having a beer, a nice light supper, nose around the shops and hopefully grab a snooze in a comfy chair. Well, not in Heathrow apparently! My description of the airport at 10.30 would be…….closed!
I met an elderly gentleman from Canada, who had had the same idea, and like me, could not believe the lack of facilities. Even the toilets were screened off.
That was a very long night. At least I know not to try that trick again.
Happily, the flight went well and I arrived in a lovely warm Miami and quickly transferred to my hotel, dumped my case and headed off to explore.
Next day I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before taking a taxi to the port.I had taken advice from experienced cruisers and turned up 2hrs before the recommended boarding time. This worked well, avoiding the long queues I’ve experienced before.
Because of this, I was on board almost alone and able to reacquaint myself with this wonderful vessel.
The strange looking thing I am holding in the picture (no, not the beer) is a flashback to last weeks light stick things from Centre Parks. I was supposed to get a photo of it at every port of call, sadly, it jumped ship on day two!
Sorry for the rather poor quality of this photo but I have decided to include it anyway. It was taken just as we were leaving port and it is of the nearly new Freedom Of The Seas, the biggest cruise ship in the world (for now anyway, there is an even bigger one launching early next year apparently!).
While on the subject of size, I have always struggled in trying to explain the magnitude of these things to people who have not seen them in the flesh (as it were). So, have a look at this picture, which I took from a tender boat on route to Belize. The passenger tender boat was a massive double decker catamaran, it carried around 150 folk and as you can tell from the shot, kicked up a huge wake from what were clearly two massive engines. Not small. Now take a careful look at the waterline of the cruise ship, can you see the tiny boat next to it? That was the same size as the one I describe above! These things have to be seen to be believed!
Belize.I had gone ashore for a trip I had planned before the cruise. It was accurately described as a ‘Jungle Canopy Zip line Adventure’ and I thought it would have been just the jungle venue that was going to be the adventure but no.
As you can see, our tour bus was not in its first flush of youth. Apparently, when the USA replaced these coaches at the end of their useful lives, they were picked up for a song by operators in Mexico, dusted down and run into the ground for another couple of decades. Then when Pedro upgraded to a brand new 1957 US cast off, they headed south again, this time to Belize. There, they are loaded up with unsuspecting foreigners from a nearby cruise ship! After an exciting hour and a half, most of which was on dirt tracks, we arrived, amazingly, at our destination. By the time I alighted, the driver had already got his head stuck behind the rear wheel and was thumping the axle with a mallet! Was there any way we would get back to the ship? Hilarious and the best back massage I’ve had but trust me, not all the passengers enjoyed it as much as I did!
It is hard to tell just how steep this climb up to the first zip line (or as I used to call them, aerial runways) was from this picture. There is no way that our health and safety people would have licensed this! Notice how everyone is holding on for dear life, but what are they holding on to? A stick tied to a tree with a bit of string. We all survived!
There are five runways, (and vampire bats apparently!) ranging from 105 - 500 feet apart, that flew me across the fallen ceiling of an enormous open air cave. Yes, that is me in the picture! It certainly got the blood pumping!Another coach induced back massage on the successful journey back to the ship….phew!
Next port of call was Costa Maya in Mexico. This time a very civilized coach trip in the company of an absolutely brilliant guide, took me to the site of an ancient Mayan village. A bit of very interesting culture to calm the adrenaline flow from the previous day.
Returning to the port, I had a nice relaxing afternoon lazing in a beach café and enjoying the lovely view. May be it was because I was so relaxed that I made a rather stupid mistake! I ordered some food to help wash down my beer. It was ‘Steak Mexican Style’ and it was very nice, surprisingly a bit bland so I asked if they had any hot sauce….. on a beach in Mexico….. I ask for hot sauce! He did give me a strange look but I got the hot sauce. For hot read volcanic!!
I did not get to see any of the alleged vampire bats in Belize, but my cabin attendant did his best to make up for my disappointment!
Now, I could be cruel and blame the captain for hitting the port of Cozumel a bit to hard and damaging the pier! The truth is that half the pier had been destroyed by a recent hurricane!
Another nice view of the ship but also showing more of the hurricane damage to the port. Must be really shocking to experience weather of that power.
Really pleased I invested in the underwater camera, otherwise I would never have got these wonderful, crystal clear shots of the tropical fish! (must be your PC!)
What nature of creature is this? The blob from the blue lagoon!
It is always a bit of a gamble who they might choose to seat you with for dinner.I am pleased to say that my partners for the excellent food and service, were very good company. John and Pat (opposite me) were good enough to put together a suggested itinerary for the USA leg of my major expedition which starts at the end of January.
Good of them to arrange this sunset for my last night on board.As I stood on my balcony enjoying this, something in the water caught my eye. Fifteen to twenty or so dolphins heading back the way we had come from….. I know how they feel.
posted by Hamish at 10:15 pm
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