Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Antigua dropped


Well, Carnival dropped Antigua as a port call from the March cruise. Carnival said it was due to ‘operational concerns’ in the email they sent us. I wonder if it was because some Carnival passengers were arrested there recently for a problem they had with a taxi driver.

The port was replaced with St. Maartens. We have been there and it was fine. Maybe we will make this a ‘sea day’ and stay on the ship and enjoy some of the ship board activities.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Cancun- Crown Paradise resort- 2009


Cancun - Crown Paradise Resort.
19-26 Jan 2009


19 Jan 2009 Monday

Barak Obama is inaugurated as President Tuesday. Patti and I leave the country Monday. Coincidence? Possibly.

Got up at 4:15 AM. Dropped the car off at Park and Go. It is getting expensive, maybe we will get a ride from family next time. Flew from Dayton to Philly for our connection to Cancun. Flying again on US Airways. Not my favorite, but there were not any issues this time. We got into Philly a few minutes late because we had to be de-iced prior to departure in Dayton. We hurried to catch a shuttle in Philly. The flight to Cancun was moved to another gate. They downsized the plan and we took off about 30 minutes late. Both us, and the bags made the flight. The plane was not full so Patti and I were able to stretch out over 3 seats.

We had to pay the new baggage fee on the way down (but for some reason, not on the way back). No more movies- they removed the equipment to make the planes lighter. I did buy a snack box on the flight- (5 dollars) and it did have lots of stuff in it.

We landed only a few minutes past scheduled arrival time. It took about 25 minutes to get through immigration. We found our bags right away and cleared customs. We had a “concierge” shuttle to the hotel which was a nice surprise. Rode in a GMC Yukon. No stops-- right to the hotel. It only took about 15 minutes to get there.

Our travel agent had got us a Crown Club package. This put us in an upgraded building and room. The room was great- Jacuzzi, balcony great view. We also had express private check in. We were on the top floor (the 8th) and just a few doors down from the Crown Club members lounge. Sounds kind of snobby, but it was included in the package. We had Champaign and a plate of fresh fruit waiting for us in the room. The room had a mini fridge that had water, soda, and beer and it was refreshed daily.

We ordered some room service for lunch/dinner. I had shrimp salad in an avocado half that was pretty good. We were tired from the traveling and called it a day.

20 Jan Tuesday

We had breakfast in the Crown Club Lounge. Food is ok, fantastic view. The wall facing the ocean is completely glassed. We went and walked around the resort to check the place out. The time share sales people are aggressive, but back off when told no.

Our package included a lagoon cruise. We met the bus at 11:30 am and 10 minutes later we were at the marina. This was a party/drinking trip not a scenic cruise (surprise!) As soon as we boarded drinks were flowing. The entertainment staff from the hotel was hosting the trip. There were no kids on the cruise and they really cut loose. We had about 20 couples on the boat. They were playing music trivia. Get the question wrong-- a squirt of tequila into your mouth, not clapping enough- shot of tequila, not smiling… well you get the picture. Tequila was the operative word.

They were giving out points for right answers to go towards a t-shirt. The big question was at the end. The played a few bars of the Village People- “YMCA”. I was to slow and did not make it to the chair. A guy beat me, but was not ready for the question. It was: Name all 5 characters in the Village People. He could only name 2- the Cop and construction worker. I ran up and said cop, constructions worker, cowboy, Indian and… and… I forgot. At the last second I remembered- the Sailor!! Not bad after 2 hours of beer and tequila huh? Yeah, I got my shirt.

Lunch was included on the cruise. The party came to a break and we all went downstairs to the dining lounge. Had some tasty chicken and shrimp. Back to the resort at 3pm for a vacation nap.



21 Jan Wed

Patti has spent the first part of the vacation with a chest cold that is making it hard for her to breath. We went to the breakfast buffet in the main restaurant. The food is OK, average at best. We are not picky, just being honest as compared to other places we have been.

Got chairs by the pool. Temps in the upper 70’s cool for Cancun but warmer than Ohio! For lunch I got some Japanese take out from a place they have pool side. Patti had a cheeseburger. We had read reviews prior to coming and knew to bring our own large glasses. They poor drinks into little 8oz cups. But if you have your own cup they will fill it up. 8 oz of Corona or 16 oz? Do the math… ha!

Went back to the room. I read on the balcony. Patti took a nap. The walking and stairs have been tough on her breathing with the congestion. Got dressed for dinner and went to the Members only lounge for some pre-dinner drinks.

Dinner was at the Mexican restaurant ‘Los Gallos’. It was a disappointment. Poor quality food and extremely uncomfortable chairs. We were in and out quick. I always try the local stuff. Note: pass on the cactus salad.




22 Jan Thursday

Patti had a rough morning and slept in while I read on the balcony. Went down and brought some plates from the buffet for lunch. We went for a walk in the early evening and checked out the other side of the resort.

It is definitely a little more worn then our building. Some rusty chairs and hand rails. We saw the adults only pool and hot tubs. Tried to get back to the main floor but the elevator was constantly full to the max. Tried taking some stairs and ended up getting lost in a maintenance area. Eventually we got back to the main lobby. We stopped in the bar for a few drinks.

Buffet for dinner.



23 Jan Friday

We had breakfast on the balcony from the members lounge. We went down to the pool and hung out. I got into the water but the pool was chilly! Cheeseburger and wings from the pool grill- very tasty.

Later in the afternoon we went down to the beach. It was not far, down some steps and onto the sand. The beach is not large. The water temp was n the low 80s, much better than the pool. I went out and played in it for a bit. There were some large waves which made it fun. Sitting there with sand on my toes looking out at a turquoise blue ocean was not a bad way to be spending the afternoon.

Went back to the room and took a shower then had coffee with the balcony door open enjoying the breeze. It was very relaxing.

We went to the Italian restaurant for dinner. The best dinner so far. Patti had lasagna and I had scallops. They also had a very good creamed spinach soup. We went back to the room around 10 pm and watched a movie on TV. We had CNN, a few generic English channels and the major network TV shows relayed from Miami.

24 Jan Sat

Got up and had coffee on the balcony. Every day it has been getting warmer and warmer. With just 2 days left I would say we are finally back to normal temps in the mid 80’s. The regular pool was crowded- no chairs, so we went to the indoor pool area and sat and read. The sun got hot and we had to move to some shade. We played a round of put-put golf then went to the main Lobby bar.

Our bartender was Jamie (Hymie), the J pronounce liked an H. He was very good. He wanted to learn our names. He got close with trying to say Patti- he ended up calling her ‘Party’. As hard as he tried he could not pronounce ‘Dan’. He would say, Stan, Sam but not Dan. I finally told him to call me ‘Julio’. He thought that was hysterical and introduced us to the other bartender as ‘Party and Julio.’

Got a late lunch from the buffet. Then another vacation nap.

We went to “Wayne’s Boots” for dinner. It is a restaurant at the resort decorated to look like an old west salon and had pics of John Wayne on the wall. It was even better than the Italian the night before. I had a BBQ Rib loin and Patti had steak. Baked potatoes and corn on the cob as sides. Great service and good food.


25 Jan Sun

Last full day. Got breakfast from the Crown Club lounge and ate on the balcony. Hung out for a while staying on the balcony it is a beautiful day. We went to the lobby bar. Jamie took care of “Julio and Party” again. A few cervezas and margaritas then we ate lunch at the buffet. The food was better today then it had been. There is an Asian food station- you pick your ingredients and they stir fry them together for you.

Went to the pool and got a couple of chairs overlooking the ocean. Stayed there for about an hour then went back to the room. I had to meet our travel Rep at 4:00 pm to confirm our shuttle to the airport for tomorrow. We were scheduled for an 8:50 am departure from the resort.

Later that afternoon we went and did some shopping. We got some shot glasses and a couple of T-shirts. Not bad prices- only $16 for a long sleeve T shirt. We fixed up a couple of plates in the buffet and took them back up to the room for dinner. Then, sadly, it was time to pack.



26 Jan Monday.

Had room service for breakfast. Took a last look at the ocean from the balcony. Leaving is always so sad!! Did the final few minutes of packing and left the room. We checked out at the main lobby and waited for our ride to the airport. No semi-private ride this time. We were packed into a van.

Check in was very quick. We had some time to kill so we hit a gift shop, I needed another book. We went to the ‘Air Margarita restaurant’ It is a knock-off of Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville restaurants. We had some fresh table side made guacamole and a soda. The plane left on time. We had a 3 ½ flight back to Philadelphia. Immigrations and customs went quick. Got the bags (yeah, US Airways always makes me nervous).

We took the bus shuttle over to the other side of the airport. We landed at about 4:30 PM. We had a long layover, our flight to Dayton did not leave till 8:30 pm. When we got to Concourse F there was a food court. We got something to eat and checked in with all the kids with my cell phone.

The flight to Dayton was on time. By the time we got to baggage claim, our bags were ready. Took the shuttle to the Park and Go and got the Mustang and headed home. Temp when we left Cancun about 80. Temp when we got home about 22. We walked in the door about 11:00 PM.

Two days later we got 9 inches of snow. I am ready to go back to Cancun

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Notes: How would I rate the resort? First I think to be fair, I have to rate it in context. It was a very good value. It was the least expensive resort trip we have taken so far. Not as good as the rest, but ok for the price. It helped that we had a “Crown Club” room with Jacuzzi and the members lounge down the hall with private dining room and lounge.

So not up to 4 or 5 stars, but again we did not pay those prices.

Room- 4 stars. Great view, Jacuzzi tub.
Food-
Mexican rest. 2 stars, bad food, and uncomfortable chairs
Italian Rest- 4 stars
Wayne’s boots (steak house) 4.5 stars. Good food and service
Main Buffet- 3 stars. Limited variety
Room service- 3 stars
Japanese- (lunch take out) 4 stars
Pool side grill- 3.5 stars
Bars- 3.5 stars (Jamie at the Lobby bar, 5 stars)
Resort appearance- 3.5 stars
Staff- 4 stars
Entertainment-
Pool side- 2 stars
Lagoon Cruise- 5 stars
Nightly shows- did not go.
Beach- 3 stars, small area

The weather was unusually cool the first few days.

The room safe was with a key, I would have preferred an electronic swipe card.

Dreams Resort- Punta Cana Domincan Republic 2008


Dreams Resort
Punta Cana
Dominican Republic
7/5/08 to 7/12/08


Getting there:
Well we were over-due for another tropical get away. This time we chose the Dominican Republic. The Dreams resort is in Punta Cana on the NE tip of the country. Prices were good and it was a great package. It was all inclusive with air. The Resort is marketed/listed as 5 stars, but I think that is a bit generous. But, overall I would give it a solid 4.

We left our house about 4:30 am and drove to the airport. We dropped the car off at Park and Go and shuttled over for check in. We were flying US Airways and we were dreading it since they have lost so many of our bags in the past. This time- no lost bags. Had to stop for a Cinnbun then off to the gate. We took off at 7:30 am and flew to Charlotte NC for a connection. We had about a 2 ½ hour lay over. It gave Patti time to get her nails done at the airport. I decided not to get my nails done, so I just walked around, and then read my book. Still had some time to kill so we had a sit down lunch at Chilies.


We had an ‘on time’ departure leaving about 11:45 am and landed in Punta Cana about 3:00 PM. It is a fairly small airport with thatched roofs. We cleared customs as a band played. They charge you 10 dollars a person for a tourist card. You get the card, walk 20 feet then give the card back. I guess its one way to make money. I read that the airport has 2 million visitors a year pass through it. Most of those being tourist means that is quit a little money maker. It took a while to get our bags then we were of to the transportation area. Patti found our shuttle company and we left the airport about 4:00 pm.

We had read reviews mentioning how bad the ride was. We knew it was 30 miles and would take about an hour. It did. We were not shocked by the roads or shack houses along the way since we have traveled to the Caribbean before. Most of the area was scrub farm land with small trees. The farms mainly had cows and horses. There were lots of motor scooters. To save money many farmers used limbs from trees as fence posts. The ground is so fertile that the posts start to grow back into trees.

At 5 pm we finally got to the resort. It was very nice. Check in went smooth. After the bags were unloaded and left with the porters we went into the main open air lobby. The lobby has ceiling fans and lots of ceramic and stone. We were given Champaign and cool wash clothes for our faces. The staff greeted us by saying “Welcome home.”

We had requested a regular room, but with an ocean view. The room itself was ok. We give it a ‘3 star’ for the room. We were in an un-renovated room. It was ok, but the air-conditioning was only minimally acceptable as was the cooling of the mini fridge. The fridge was stocked by the maid on an irregular basis with soda, beer and water. The maid service was spotty. Some days she would not leave water, other days no wash cloths. Irritating, but not the end of the world. Since we were on an all inclusive plan all food and drinks including alcohol were included at no extra charge.

We had a balcony with a small table and 2 chairs. We liked to drink our coffee there in the morning and we did have room service on the balcony for breakfast one day.
We had satellite TV. The network shows were relayed from Denver Colorado.


The Resort:

The resort was shaped like a rectangle with the skinny sides to the beach and road. We did lots of walking. Our room was in the middle and it was about a 10 minute walk to the main building or to our favorite pool area. 10 minutes does not sound like a long time but it was very warm and humid. Temps were in the upper 80s every day and humidity probably the same.

The resort was nicely landscaped. The tropical trees, plants, and flowers were well maintained and the grounds were immaculate. The pool is the largest in the country; it is about 1/3 of a mile long and free form in design. The pool ran the length (center) of the resort a series of small bridges connected the buildings to the main path way. It never gets more than waist deep which is convenient when you are walking around with a drink in your hand. There are plenty of lounge chairs. The only place that it was difficult to find chairs would be in the pool bar area (our spot). I would go down on our way to breakfast and place our stuff to save some chairs. The water temperature was refreshing in the morning. But by late afternoon the sun had warmed it to the point where it felt like a heated pool.

The resort had flamingos and peacocks that could walk were ever they wanted. The flamingos would usually stay in their pond but would occasional get out on the walk paths with us tourists. The staff would move a pair of Amazon parrots around between two trees. I also saw a pair of wild Green parrots in the resort also. We had heard stories of and seen pictures of tarantulas. I saw one small one on Tuesday night and took a pic. Some fool stepped on it later because I saw it crushed the next morning. I hope he got bit.

The beach looked nice but we did not use it since we were always at the pool. Heather Rich and the kids went to the beach once. Rich had a small cut on his foot from a rock.




Food:

There was the World Buffet restaurant that was open for Breakfast, lunch and dinner. You could get cook to order omelets, most regular breakfast items and some really good fresh fruit and juice. Patti loved the potatoes with onions and green peppers. Lunch options were the buffet and a stand on the beach that served burgers and hot dogs and a restaurant that served sandwiches.

There were about 5 Restaurant choices for dinner. We went to the buffet 4 nights. We also tried the Sea Side grill and it had very good BBQ chicken, ribs and steaks. On 2 nights we went to the Mexican restaurant which was very good.

We usually went to dinner around 6:30 pm and never had to wait for a table. Our last night there Patti and I took Payton, Cody and Alyssa back to the Mexican restaurant. The kids had fun with us and had their pics taken with big Mexican sombreros on. The service that night was outstanding. For that night Patti and I surprised Heather and Rich with a Romantic dinner on the Beach. It was an extra charge and they said they really enjoyed it.

Unusual food items? The juice was great and lots of variety. Patti tried the Watermelon Juice once. There was a coconut dessert that would dissolve in your mouth. I tried a few of the local dishes including goat. They had great chicken stir fry. I had some almost every time we went to the buffet for dinner. Once, it was desert!!

There was a fresh fruit stand that opened after lunch every day. She had watermelon, cantaloupe, papaya, pineapple, bananas, and other tropical fruits. It was very good.

Room service was available 24/7. The variety was ok, and it only took about 30 minutes. When we read the reviews some warned about getting sick. The water was listed as filtered but we mainly stuck with bottled water. But we used the tap water for coffee in the room a few days. We did not get ill.


The people:

The staff was very friendly. If you make an effort about 99% of the time you got a smile and a wave. Lots of “holas”. (hi). The Dominicans call all young girls the age of about 15 and under “Baby”. At dinner they would say, “And what for baby? Since they knew I was there with kids that would address me often as “Daddy” or “Poppy” which is showing respect. Our favorite employee was Willy, a bartender at the Pool bar. He took very good care of us. Some moderate tipping and he got the vacation of to a good start. Patti and I had a wild first day and ended up taking a little snooze in our pool chairs on the first day- hey it was vacation. The rest of the time we went at a slower pace. But the bar did open at 9:30 am!

One morning I asked them to add an extra shot of rum to our Pina Caldas. It wasn’t until drink three that I saw they were already using Bacardi 151 to start with. Two shots of 151 per drink? I guess that’s why my pupils were dilated in the pictures we took then.

The guests were probably about 70 percent American. The rest were mainly from Canada and Europe. Patti and I were adopted by a large group of Canadians from Toronto. Bruce and his family could put away the beer and tequila. I tried to represent my country well. But they could out drink me with ease. They were a great group to hang out with.

Entertainment:

The entertainment staff worked very hard. They not only put on the shows but they led events throughout the day. I played water polo, trivia, and pineapple toss. Patti and Heather did the pool aerobics several times. The evening shows were held at 9:30 and were ok. Not Vegas quality, or Cruise ship level entertainment, but they worked hard, 16 hour days!

I signed up for a 4 wheeler ATV excursion with my grandson Cody. It was a 2 hour ride on the beach and through the countryside. I talked the vendor down from 80 to 70 dollars. Cody was driving when we started out. He kept bumping into people and swerving off the trail. I asked him what was going on and he said, “Grandpa there are no brakes.” He wasn’t exaggerating. No brakes at all.

We were coming up on a Dominican road that had busses and trucks. I told him to swerve off to the side. The conversation between me and the guide wasn’t pretty. I brought the convoy to a standstill. Abuello (grandpa-- me) was pissed and refused to go any further. The tour guide got on his cell phone and was talking about the old, mad, chubby white guy. He came over after the call and said we were 5 minutes from their ranch and they would give me a new one. It was five ‘Dominican’ minutes, 20 USA minutes. We did get a new ATV and the rest of the ride was fine. We went through farm land and small villages. The little kids were sweet and all waved and wanted to shake/slap your hand. It is a very poor country, but only once did a kid ask me for money.

I have been in 3rd world countries before so I was not shocked by some of the living conditions. Cody is 14, and it was a real world social studies lesson for him. He saw some of the sheds people were living in and told me that people back home have nothing to complain about. You can tell kids things like that, but seeing it for themselves is another thing.

Trip home:

We did not have to check out till noon. We went to breakfast with Heather, Rich, and the kids. Afterwards we said our good byes and Patti and I went down to the pool for the last time. No sense sitting around the lobby all morning. After a 1 hour swim we went back to the room and finished our final packing.

I called for a porter for the bags. Check out went smooth and only took a few minutes. We waited for the shuttle to the airport in the open air lobby. We were sitting next to a bar… so well you know, we had a drink. Never stingy, these drinks were half rum and half coke.

After the 1 hour ride to the airport we did lots of standing in a variety of lines. They scared us at check in. The guy was looking through all his paperwork and finally asked Patti, “When did you make the reservation? Not Good. But he did find our tickets. We stood in line again for immigration, customs, and security. Patti and I bought a couple of sandwiches for lunch.

The flight took off almost on time at about 4:30 pm. There was a “typo’ on the departure board and we thought we were going to be delayed an hour, but it was a false alarm. It was a little over 3 hours to Charlotte, North Carolina. There we had to go through US customs but it went very fast. We had a 2 hour lay over before our connection to Dayton. We were late leaving for Dayton due to:

Late Flight Crew
Humidity in the plan
Paperwork
Fuel

We finally took off about 10:45, 30 minutes late. Thunderstorms slowed us a little and we got in to Dayton about Midnight. Yeah!! Our bags made it too. Picked up the car from storage and got home a little after 1am. Good to be home to sleep in our own beds.







Shell Island resort- Wrightsville Beach, Wilmington NC 2006


Shell Island Resort: Wrightsville Beach,
Wilmington North Carolina

11 Aug 2006 to 19 Aug 2006
Fri 11 Aug 06-
This Vacation is another trip to the beach. Patti and I both worked today but were able to get off work early so we could head out. We are driving instead of flying. Total drive time will be about 11 hours. We will stop and spend the night tonight. We finished loading up the Mustang and pulled out of the driveway about 4:30 PM. I had packed up most of the stuff into the car the night before.

We drove for about 5 hours and had to drive in rain when we entered the mountains in West Virginia. We stopped for the night in Beckley, WV. The Best Western was full, so we checked into the Marriot. Not one of our favorite hotel chains based on past vacations and trips. Everything in the town of Beckley was very expensive. I guess since it is the only big town in the southern part of West Virginia. The only room available was $145 (nice room though). A dinner at the Omelet shop was 24 dollars, about twice what it should have been.

Sat 12 Aug 06-
After waking up we used the in-room Jacuzzi. We paid for it, why let it go to waste. We packed up the few things we brought in from the car and headed out. A quick stop for gas and we were on our way. Breakfast was a Danish and corn nuts from the gas station. Ok, it wasn’t the breakfast of champions. We still had 400 miles to go. It was still drizzly off and on until we got out of the mountains and down into Virginia. The drive was very pretty. We stopped at a McDonalds for lunch and got to Wrightsville Beach about 4:00 PM. A problem at check in. They declined my debit card. That was odd because we knew what our balance was. I tried Patti’s debit card and it was declined also. The desk clerk gave me ‘the look’. They tried using a credit card as a deposit and it would not go through either. I was about ready to jump the counter. She finally said, “Oh our computers are down.” We got our key but that was not the end of the story.
The suite is a one bed room Condo with a balcony overlooking the beach. We were on the fourth floor. This unit was smaller and not quite as nice as what we have had in the past but it was ok. It had a small kitchen area with a half sized fridge and 2 burner stove top. After unpacking the sun broke through the clouds. The ocean view was great. and we could hear the waves roll in. It was a bit of a walk to the waters edge. The resort was the last building on the north end of the island and wasn’t very crowed most of the time. I headed out to a nearby grocery store for some supplies. We sat on the balcony for a while then had ham sandwiches for dinner.

A bit of history about the area: The first permanent settlers came to Wilmington about 1720. The town of Wilmington was incorporated in 1739. A number of the first settlers of the region came from South Carolina and Barbados. Slavery came early to the region, as landowners used slave labor to work the region's natural resources. Forestry was the region's major industry through the 18th and most of the 19th century: naval stores and lumber fueled the economy both before and after the American Revolution. During the Civil War the port was a major base for Confederate blockade runners. A blockade runner was a fast frigate that would out run the union ships to bring supplies into the port. It was captured by Union forces only in February of 1865, approximately one month after the fall of Ft. Fisher had closed the port. The city of Wilmington was never attacked by Union forces and original buildings still stand.

Sun 13 Aug-
I woke up about 8:00 AM. Made coffee and had a cup on the balcony. It is starting out to be a nice day. Clear skies, low humidity and the high for the day is supposed to be in the low 80s. Patti got up and had coffee with me. We ate a banana for breakfast and decided to go check out the resort.

About 10 years ago they had to modify an inlet because the resort was not to far from being washed away by the ocean. The work redirected currents and waves and now it has a very large beach and is protected. The resort was saved by the construction but the ecologists and tree huggers were not happy about ‘fooling with mother nature’.

The indoor pool had a glass roof that let in the sun, and it was heated as well. After the swim we changed and had lunch in the restaurant. Patti had a burger that was pretty good; my hot wings were pretty good too. Patti noticed that their dining room could have used a good cleaning. We had a few drinks with lunch and enjoyed the ocean view.

The over-all impression of the resort is that it is “ok”. On the 5 star scale I guess I would give it a 3. No major complaints other then it could use a little work and cleanliness of the dining room. Maybe we have been spoiled by the Edgewater Resort in Panama City Beach.

We figured out why the debit card was denied. Our account has a security feature that does not allow a transaction over $1500 to go through. That is good I guess. I had them split the charge and it went through fine. We sat out front of the hotel and enjoyed the breeze. We watched the new arrivals check in. If they were big tippers I might have helped with the bags. I went back to the store for some bottled water. The tap water in the room tasted bad.

After a nap we went down to the outdoor pool and read, then went down to the beach and read. This became the theme of the vacation- days of just relaxing. The ocean water was warm in the 80s. After it started to get dark we went back to the room and made tacos for dinner.

14 Aug Monday-
We woke up early again and read for a bit on the balcony. It was getting hot. We made omelets for breakfast and watched a little TV. We decided to drive in to Wilmington and take a tour of the Historic District. It was only 20 minutes a way. The historic district is right on the Cape Fear River.

We took a horse drawn trolley ride. The trolley was pulled by a matched pair or Percheron draft horses. It turned out the horses were rejects from an Amish farm in Indiana. I guess the Amish give a horse 3 years and if the can’t cut it they sell them. Pulling a buggy is probably easier on them the plowing a field. The tour was pretty neat. We were on old cobble stone roads. The homes we saw were all originals from the early 1800s to the 1920s. Our tour guide said the only part of the homes we saw that were not original was the iron work. All the original iron work was melted down during the Civil War to make bullets. We saw 2 sets of homes that were identical. On set was built by a sea captain for his two daughters. Of course they had to be exactly the same! The other set was a pair of homes ordered and built from the Sears catalog in the 1920s. The entire house was ordered by the catalog -- wood, paint bricks tools and nails. It was delivered to the site and built by the home owner.

After the tour we had lunch in a building that had been a warehouse storing cotton, peanuts and indigo in the 1800s. I had seafood chowder and a crab salad sandwich. Patti had fried cod and Cole slaw.

Wilmington lacks a lot of the ‘tourist type attractions’ you find in some of the bigger beach towns. No put-put golf courses and parasailing boats. A little quieter and more laid back.

Went back to the resort. At about 5:30 we took our beach chairs back down to the beach. It was our favorite time to go because the sun was not glaring down, yet it was still sunny and warm. We stayed down there till it got too dark to read. We had a late dinner- BLTs, watched some TV and called it a day.

15 Aug Tuesday-
A very lazy day. Slept in and made pancakes for breakfast. It was a little too hot for the balcony so we hung out in the room read and played yahtzee. We went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant called “On the Boarder.” Food and service were fine. After dinner we went to Wal-Mart. I needed a new book to read. We also wanted to get some kiddy pool floats for our pool at home. We were hoping since they had a longer pool season here we may find something. Got a book, no floats. We did get a jigsaw puzzle. The weatherman was calling for possible rain the next few days (they were wrong). We had a tropical low off shore but it never made it ashore. Just a few sprinkles.

16 Aug Wednesday-
Even more relaxed then the day before. Coffee on the balcony then ham and eggs for breakfast. We went down to the pool and sat in the shade and read and swam. We also used the indoor pool and had it to ourselves. Went back to the room and had leftover Mexican food for lunch. Since the morning had been so strenuous we took a nap. Later that afternoon we grabbed our beach chairs and headed out to the beach. It was nice just sitting watching and listening to the waves roll in. Ordered hamburgers from the restaurant and took them to the room for a late dinner. They were the size of a dinner plate. I thought I could eat the whole thing but I was wrong.

17 Aug Thursday-
I went down to the restaurant and made up a couple of plates from the breakfast bar. Their breakfast was free but this was the first time we had tried it out. It was a pretty good lay out- donuts, fruit, cereal, waffles and scrambled eggs. After we ate we went down to the outdoor pool and read and hung out.

We went to the ‘Draw Bridge” restaurant for dinner. Slightly upscale- sea food and steaks. And yes, it was next to a draw bridge over the inter-coastal waterway. We had a nice view from or table and did get to see them raise and lower the bridge.

Sat 19 Aug
Time to check out. We were mostly packed and loaded up so there was not much left to do. We checked out of the Resort about 10:00am. Patti and I stood on the balcony for one last look at the beach and ocean before leaving.

Before leaving we had a scare. Patti had looked out and saw rescue vehicles on the beach in front of the resort. She was afraid somebody had drowned. I peaked over the parking garage as they were loading the person into an ambulance. It was an older lady who had her leg in a brace. I could see her gesturing with her hands talking to the medic. I am guessing she fell and twisted her knee or ankle.

The resort had a four story parking garage attached to the hotel so we were able to walk down the hall to our car. Driving home is not near as exciting as heading to it to start. It took about 3 ½ hours to get out of North Carolina and into the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. We stopped for lunch at Shoney’s, then headed back out. More rain in the mountains of West Virginia. We stopped at a rest stop on the WV turnpike and got a couple of cups of Starbucks coffee. Patti and I both agreed it was the worst tasting coffee we have ever had in our lives.

Just about the time we finally got out of the mountains the rain stopped. We ended up just driving on to get home. We pulled in the drive way about 10:40 PM. Emptied out the cooler but the rest can wait till morning. It’s good to be home, but we do love our vacations!!

Carnival Miracle- Western Carribean 2006



Carnival Miracle 12-19 Feb 2006
Port: Tampa, Florida Cruising to: Grand Cayman Island
Cozumel, Mexico
Belize
Costa Maya, Mexico

11 Feb. Saturday, Fairborn, Ohio

Patti and I are going on a Western Caribbean cruise with her Brother Jim and wife Sheryl. We drove over to Jim and Sheryl’s house. We left our car there and Sheryl’s parents drove us all to the Dayton Airport. The van was loaded down and Jim volunteered to ride in the back with the suitcases. Security was a breeze. It took only a few minutes. We got coffee and a cinnibun at the airport while we waited for take off. The flight to Atlanta took about 2 hours. We had been nervous about this day of travel because a big snowstorm had passed through. It split and went north and south of us; leaving us in the clear.

Leaving Atlanta we had a 10-minute delay on take off due to a special “security sweep” of the plane. That made us a little nervous. We also needed a Pilot. Ours was stuck in Florida and did not get in. Based on my expertise with my computer flying game I told Patti I could volunteer. She advised that would probably not be necessary. The flight from Atlanta to Tampa only took an hour. When we landed we even had our luggage there! No missing bags this vacation. We all shared a taxi-van into town. We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard. We had a great government rate and got the room for 84 dollars for the night.

Checked in and just hung out in the room and relaxed. A little later we went down to the desk and signed up for the shuttle the next morning that would take us to the cruise ship terminal. We were down for the 11:30 am run. While in the lounge having a drink there was a group of 14 that were cruising the next day also. They were trying to agree on who would taxi with who. It was wild. “Shut ups” and “No we can’t get 8 in the vans.” They were loud and lively for sure.
We ordered Italian food for delivery. When the order came we just stayed in the lounge and pushed a couple of tables together to eat on. We walked around and checked out the hotel. It was too cold to use the pool. It was so cold in Tampa that the unusually cold temps even made the news. Then back to the room for bed. Tomorrow the vacation really starts!

12 Feb. Sunday, Tampa, Florida

We had a terrible night of sleep. The hotel does not have soundproof doors to the hallway. It had been a Pirate parade night in downtown Tampa and the partygoers were out in the halls late into the night. At 12:30 I called down to the desk and asked them to send somebody up to our floor. No action. At 12:40 Patti opened the door and yelled at them. I think she got their attention, at least that group left.

We all ate breakfast the hotel restaurant then caught the shuttle to the terminal. It was only about a 5-minute ride. We found out the ship was not there. A “Ship” being an essential element of cruising… this was not a good thing. But no worries. The ship was on the other side of the Tampa port. The Carnival Miracle was not able to get to its usual dock because a tanker had the channel blocked. We still processed in at the terminal. Having pre-registered it went fairly quick. We got our sail and sign cards, waited about 30 minutes and then took a 15 minute shuttle ride to the ship. We were on the ship by 12:30 PM. Our rooms were not ready yet so we went to the grill for lunch.

Afterwards we went and checked out the rooms. We were on Panorama deck midship room 8166. Jim and Sheryl were next door in 8164. We had balconies and the usual nice size cabin. One new feature Carnival had done was to put feather comforters and plush pillows on the beds. I loved the pillows, but I was the only one in the group that did. We all went for a walk around the ship. We went topside as we left port and it was cold and breezy. We were on deck as we went under the Tampa Bay Bridge, very cool. It seemed like few only cleared it by a few feet but I am sure it was by a larger margin than that.

We went to the casino it was not set to open until 7:00 PM. Jim and Sheryl stayed to gamble while Patti and I went back to the room to change for Dinner. Our bags were there. We had late seating in The Bacchus dining room. Some of the cruise review web sites complained about the shape and color of the lights. If you are on a cruise and that’s what you have to complain about… well, just shut up!!! Ha-ha. Our headwaiter was ‘Ninja’ from Indonesia and the assistant waiter was ‘Ronne’ from Haiti. They were very friendly and attentive. After dinner we went back to the room to unpack.


13 Feb. Sunday, at sea

This was an at sea day. No port calls until tomorrow. We woke up about 8:00 am. The ship was still rolling a little. This was very unusual. This is our 3rd cruise and we had barely ever noticed the ship moving before. The first night had been unusually rocky. It had smoothed out by midmorning. We had breakfast at the Buffet with Jim and Sheryl. The fresh fruit and tomatoes were excellent. I guess leaving from Florida helps with that. Tried our luck at the casino. The Casino, ‘Mr. Lucky’s’, has a variety of slots and table games. Jim would say that the “Casino is only making it harder on themselves.” Because they were not hitting big payoffs. I could play on 10 bucks for an hour or so on the video poker, Patti who is usually lucky. Did not fare well.
We all walked around the sun deck for a bit then Patti and I decide to hot tub. It was much warmer today then it had been in Tampa. Today I am in shorts and sandals. After the hot tubbing we got some sandwiches from the deli. Patti is watching her soaps on TV while I kick back on the balcony and write this update.

We are on the Miracle, which is a twin ship of the Spirit that we cruised to Hawaii on. So we are kinda familiar with the lay out. Only a few wrong turns so far. The winds have died down and we are in calmer water. The rocking stopped. Jim and Sheryl felt it again towards the end of the cruise but I did not notice it anymore.

Tonight was formal night. Jim and Sheryl went with us to dinner. We had a table for four. We had some pictures done prior to dinner. Like most first formal nights it was lobster for me (two) and prime rib for Patti. After dinner we changed and went to the 10: 30 PM show. It was a music review form to 40’3 to 80’s. Everything from Elvis to the village people. It was pretty good.


14 Feb. Monday, Grand Cayman Island

When we woke up we were anchored just off shore. This is a port we would have to be ‘tendered’ to. Carnival had contracted with several local tour boats to shuttle people from the ship to the pier. Today started off a little cool and cloudy. We had breakfast with Jim and Sheryl and took a tender to shore about 11:00 am. The Caymans had been ripped pretty hard by a hurricane in 2004 but had mostly recovered.

We went to the Palm hotel and planned on just hanging out on the beach. The hotel is on 7-mile beach. Advertised as the best beach on the island. It was ok. I still think Panama City has the best beach I have ever been on. The water and air was cool. I was the only one in the group to get into the water. I would describe the town like a medium size Florida coastal town. Some nice beaches, ok hotels and stores. Nice but not in the same class as Hawaii or St Thomas. Many people like to visit the island for the Dolphin and stingray swims.

I went to the beach bar and got a few drinks. I had 60 dollars and our ship cards in a plastic bag in my pocket. Somehow the bag fell out of my pocket. So if you screw up like that this is what you have to do to get back to the ship:

1. Borrow money from in-laws for taxi
2. Convince guard at port security to let you on to the pier
3. Pass a screening by carnival security to let you back on to the tender
4. Advise Carnival security at the ship to checks notes that you have to be manual processed
5. Go to the Pursers desk and get new ship cards
6. Call room service to open and reset your room safe

I had been using a parking lot card as my safe ‘key’ so at least I did not lose a credit card. I started using my Kroger grocery card as my new safe key. After all that hectic activity, Patti took a nap and I read, as the ship got ready to leave port.

Update!!! I got a call on the room phone. A couple had found the money and cards in the bag on the beach. They tried to find us there and ended up bringing it back to the ship for us. Wow! There were eight ships at the island as well as the regular hotel guests at the beach. To have shipmates find it and return was wonderful. I offered to buy them a drink but that said that was not necessary. A happy ending but more stress than we needed for a vacation day.

We went down to the atrium/lobby bar with Jim and Sheryl for some drinks. The atrium is a 7 story open area lobby. The glass elevators run all the way to the top deck. The elevators are worth taking just for the view. Patti was trying the special- melon margaritas. We all went to the Casino and to see if ‘Mr. Lucky’ would make us lucky. He was still making it hard on himself. Got dinner at the buffet and deli then went back to the room. We were thinking about going to the deck party at 10:00 pm but are having second thoughts.


15 Feb. Tuesday, Cozumel, Mexico

Well we never made it to the deck party, got too tired. Cozumel is an island off the Yucatan Peninsula. We had planned on taking the tender ashore but decided to just stay on the ship and relax. We will hit the island on a future cruise. We just kicked back in the room in the morning and read and napped. We went to Lido deck to sun and used the hot tub. I used the pool but it was a little cool. We got ribs for lunch and ate on deck. We also got some spring rolls from the Chinese buffet. The spring rolls were excellent we had to have some almost every day. We then went back to the room and napped again. I guess vacations make you tired—yawn!

We sat on our balcony as the ship left port. Jim and Sheryl were on their balcony too. We used Sheryl’s binoculars to look at the damaged hotels. The place was almost wiped clean. In some hotels every window was broken out. It may be a nice port call again in a few years. Hurricane Rita sat on this area for 36 straight hours and did catastrophic damage to the area. Cozumel is on a very flat island that is only a few feet above sea level. After leaving port Patti and I went to dinner in the dining room.

After dinner we walked through the casino to ‘Frankie’s and Jonnies’ lounge. In the Casino we saw Ed and walked over and said hi to him. We had recognized him from our cruise on the Sprit to Hawaii. He seemed pleased we recognized him and took a moment to say hi. The lounge was playing 70s music and was crowded. We sat in the outer lounge area but could hear the band just fine. We just sat there people watching having a good time.

When we got back to the room we went onto the balcony. There was a nice reflection from the moon on the water. One our favorite ways to end the day. It was a warm night if we had a hammock we would have slept outside.

16 Feb. Wednesday, Belize City, Belize.

We had a wake up call for 7:00 AM. Patti and I booked a tour of the Howler Monkey sanctuary through the ship’s excursion desk. We head breakfast with Jim and Sheryl. We were all leaving on a 9:00 am tender for the dock. They were going on a City tour. Patti was not feeling well so she was ‘iffy’ about the tour. She wanted me to go without her. At the last minute she felt slightly better and decided to give it a shot. It was a long tender ride-- about 3 miles to shore.
We could definitely tell we were now in Central America. The heat and Humidity were in the upper 80s. The tour to the howler Monkey sanctuary had only 15 people on it. We had been undecided on what to do today. Actually one of the tiebreakers was the fact that Angel likes Howler monkeys. We were watching a nature show about five months ago. Angel just piped up and said, “Look Mamaw, Howler Monkeys!”

Our tour guide spoke fairly good English. We headed north out of the city. He provided a running commentary on the history, culture and local sites. Belize had once been a British colony (British Honduras). There primary language is English. It is a small country only about the size of Connecticut. It took about an hour to get to the Sanctuary. On the way we passed several rivers. We saw 3 ft orange iguanas in the trees.

Once we arrived at the sanctuary we had a short introduction. We sat in a cement building in plastic chairs. This is not a US style animal park. It is actually a preserve controlled by several villages. The monkeys are totally wild. We split into 2 groups and our guides led us off to find one of the Monkey tribes. No luck at the first area. We did see ant mounds of leaf-cutter ants- all marching along with bits of leaf going back to their mound. We crossed the road to the river side and we could soon hear them. We were still about ¼ mile from them. And yes they ‘Howl’. Hence the name I guess!!! They were especially noisy today because two tribes were very close to each other. The Alpha males in each tribe were screaming and making noise to try and convince the other tribe to leave their area. We got close to the tribe-- about 40 feet away. We could see them but not as close as in a zoo. But I guess the trade off for that is that we got to see and hear them in their natural environment. We did see a baby Howler monkey too.
After the sighting we had to walk back to the Bus. About a mile uphill. Remember I said ‘heat and humidity?” We were dragging by the time we got back to the bus. We used the outhouses, bathrooms they bathrooms were still in the early stages of construction. They had a sign up for donations but we did not donate a dollar to the “build a bathroom fund.” As I mentioned this is not a US attraction. They had 2 outhouses. Belize is in the early stages of eco-tourism. Exotic wildlife, the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world and Mayan ruins and cave tubing are making it a tourist destination. I really believe in a few years when their infrastructure can support more tourism it will really take off.

When we got back to the ship we took lunch to the room. Patti took a nap and I read on the balcony. When Patti woke up we sat on the balcony and watched the ship leave port. We saw a Dolphin off to the rear of the ship. It was time for drinks on Lido deck. We skipped the dinning room and ate at the buffet with Jim and Sheryl. We went back to the room, watched some TV and called it a night.

17 Feb. Thursday, Costa Maya, Mexico.

A very beautiful port! The water color is almost a neon-like turquoise. We are docked at a pier. No need to tender ashore. After breakfast we walked part way to the reception area and caught a trolley ride the rest of the way. The port area is a tourist only shopping complex. There is free entertainment (dancers, and a band). There are numerous shops and a large restaurant as well as a huge swimming pool. They had Mayan dancers posing for pictures. The sales people in the shops were definitely high-pressure.

They were all after that American dollar. We bought a Mayan mask as a birthday present for Heather. We took a break in the thatch roof covered restaurant and had some chips and salsa with a couple of drinks to wash it down. Patti had a multi-flavored Margarita. I just wanted a coke.

We window shopped for a bit then went back to the ship. Our balcony was facing the shore. We were 8 decks up. But the water was so clear we could look down and see fish. Then we saw a large sea turtle swimming around. It was so cool to sea one ‘wild’ and not in an aquarium. We went up to Lido deck for burgers from the grill for lunch. Jim and Sheryl went up to the sun deck and Patti and I stayed in the shade, listened to the band and had a drink. After that we just went back to the room and relaxed.

We watched some TV, and then we fixed some plates from the buffet and took dinner back to the room. After dinner Patti and I went to ‘Frankie and Johnny’s Lounge. At first there was a DJ playing Country music. But at 10:00 PM a band started, they were really good! Jim and Sheryl met us there right before the band started. They played a lot of old rock songs. They ended with a set from ‘Queen’. What an outstanding group. This was actually the first time we had gone to hear music in one of the lounges at night- on any cruise. It was well worth it.

When the band ended we all went to the casino. Patti and I tried our luck at the dollar slots and lost 50 dollars in three minutes. But we made it back plus a little more in the quarter slots. At 12:30 am Patti, Sheryl and I went to the midnight Buffet. It was decked out with ice carvings and a big spread but it was not al that good except for the desserts. They had almost any kind of cake you could think of. Back to the room at
1:00 am. Only 1 more day of the cruise left!


18 Feb Friday, At Sea.

We slept in then went for an early lunch. Patti and I had tuna sandwiches from the deli. For the last day of the cruise one of the regular buffet stations was turned into a chocolate buffet, including a chocolate fountain. You pick the item to be dipped and covered in chocolate. I chose pineapple chunks. They were very tasty!!

We went back to the room and planned on setting out on the balcony, but we were back up in cooler temperatures so it was a bit cool. We went to the on board shops instead. I got a t-shirt and Pattti got a coffee cup. We also got a few more magnets for our refrigerator collection. We had to quit doing souvenir shopping for all the kids and grandkids every time we go on vacation. With our crew it is just too expensive.

We were playing on 20 dollars in the casino and ran into Jim and Sheryl. We all went to the grill and had dinner. Patti and I did not eat in the main dining room very often this cruise. It just worked out that way and it seemed the menu was not as varied as in the past. After dinner we all went back to the casino and made another donation. Patti and I got a drink and went to watch the last half of a hypnotist show. Then back to the room to pack- always the saddest part of any cruise! We could always use an extra day or two. Well the bags are packed and in the hall. Back in Tampa in the morning.

19 Feb, Saturday, Tampa, Florida

We woke up at the pier in Tampa and tried to keep the tears from flowing. We showered and did the last minute packing of our carry on bag. We all had a leisurely breakfast and waited for them to announce we were cleared to leave the ship. We were not in a rush; our flight out of Tampa was not till 4:30 PM.

At about 9:15 we exited the ship and went into the terminal to collect our bags. We stood in line for a taxi to the airport. We knew from they flight to Tampa that the taxi fare was 20 dollars flat rate. After we got going this joker tried to tell us it was 25. The taxi driver down got 20 plus a 5 dollar tip. This guy got 25 also (no tip.) Except we know he did because he was over charging us.
Well when we got to the airport and went to check in I realized I had booked the wrong date for the return flight. The dangers of pushing the wrong button on the computer. That cost us an extra 200 dollars to fix. We were able to get a flight out at 1:15 PM. We actually got into Dayton before Jim and Sheryl Left Tampa. They did not get home till about 1 in the morning I think. We landed about 5:00 PM. Ashley picked us up at the airport.

When we got back to the house we had a note on the door. Ron, Jeff and Veronica were in the area. They had left, but came back around 8:00 PM. They stayed for about a day and a half. I still had one more day of vacation left and Ron and I went skiing at Mad River Mountain the next day. It was nice having them all there and swapping stories.


End Notes: To me any cruise is a good cruise! Temperatures were a little cooler on this one but all in all another fun time.





Edgewater Beach resort, Panama City Beach 2005


Vacation Journal
Panama City Beach/Edgewater Beach resort
8 Oct 2005 to 15 Oct 2005

8 Oct Saturday
We were headed back to the Edgewater Beach Resort at Panama City Beach, Fl. It was a rescheduled vacation from September after losing our Grandson Hunter. We had booked a direct flight out of the Cincinnati airport. If we had booked from Dayton we would have been forced to change plans in Atlanta. Total time for the trip via Atlanta would have been about 5-7 hours. By leaving from Cincy we added an extra 45 minutes of drive time to the airport but the direct flight in to PCB was only 90 minutes.

We used the ‘park and fly’ lot. It was 7 dollars a day. We pulled in and unloaded our bags at the rear of the Mustang. After about 5 chilly minutes a shuttle pulled up to take us to the terminal. We checked in at the Delta counter. It was all high tech self-service. I scanned our tickets at a kiosk. This checked us in and generated our baggage tags. It went fairly smooth. Security was a little slower than what we usually experience at the Dayton airport. To get to our terminal we had to take a train and then a bus. We joked that we could have been halfway to Panama City by then.
When we landed we were met Mom, Ron and Nang. Ron had generously offered us the use of his Toyota 4Ruuner SUV (sharp truck!). Ron and I headed out in the truck followed by Nang, Patti and Mom. Some family members think I have a lead foot it seems!!! Ha-ha. We went to Golden Corral for breakfast. A Manager tried to seat us in the main area but Nang would have nothing to do with that. She had a friend who worked there and headed out like a shot to the back. The manager stood there with his jaw drooped. “But, but…. I have a table over here. That is a meeting room”. Ron just shrugged and said, “You go tell her.” Hurricane Nang had just blown through. Too funny. Patti and I just followed along.

After breakfast Patti and I headed out to the condo. We had stayed at the Edgewater resort in June of 2003 and loved it. We were leasing from a private owner, Trina Holloway. What a nice Lady. We literally canceled the original vacation the night before we were supposed to leave. Trina understood and offered us a total refund. Something she did not have to do. Instead, we asked to be rescheduled, again something she did not have to do. She not only did that, but we ended up in a 2 bedroom suite instead of a one bedroom at no additional charge. There are some nice people out there. While I am at it- kudos to Delta Airlines who were fantastic in rescheduling the tickets with minimal effort.

As always Patti ‘did good’. The room had a breath-taking view the master bedroom and living room both faced the beach and was floor to ceiling glass. There was a balcony with 3 chairs and a small table. It was nicely decorated, kind of a “British-East India’ décor. Rattan and elephants etc. We had been up since about 4:00 AM Florida time. After a one hour nap, we headed down to the lagoon pool. We hung out by the pool and read and sunned. The water was cool but I jumped in for a few minutes. Had a drink and a quesadilla from the restaurant.

After that we headed down to the beach. We lay down and closed our eyes and just listened to the waves. While there, a lady walked bye and said, “What are they doing?” We looked out and 2 girls were bobbing up and down waving. We realized they were yelling something. It sounded like “shark bite.” I jumped up. Patti said, “Go!” There was a guy to there right who heard them also. It happened very quickly. He swam over. I did not see a shark as I ran out. As it turned out… There was no shark but the Japanese Mom and daughter were going under because the water was over their head. I guess they did not know the English words for “Hey I’m drowning.” But I guess they had seen the movie ‘Jaws’ and could yell “shark bite.”

My big fear when I saw it was two Japanese ladies-- was that a shark was nearby just using the two skinny Japanese girls as ‘bait’ to get the chubby white guy into the water. Anyway me and the other guy got them to the beach. When I got back to Patti and sat down on the towel my body was shaking and my chest hurt. Patti said, “My hero.” Humm… maybe I could milk that a little.

We watched a pretty sunset as we walked up the beach a bit and then headed back to the room and sat on the balcony. I went to the grocery store and got some supplies. Had an easy dinner Bratwurst and chips. Mom had made us a lemon meringue pie. Had 2 big slices of that for desert. Very tasty. Mom also hand painted us a couple of Champaign glasses and gave us those as a gift with a bottle of Champaign. (The glasses are now in our dining room buffet)

9 Oct Sunday
Woke up and had coffee on the balcony and looked at the ocean. Always one of our favorite vacation pastimes. The beach was only half as long to the water as it was two years ago. The hurricane the year before had taken away quite a bit of it. But it was still very nice. It was like walking on powdered sugar. The beach was actually vacuumed and groomed every few days. We went down and checked out the hot tub at the base of our tower. It was very hot. The hot tub over by the lagoon pool was a little cooler so we soaked in that.

After about 30 minutes we switched over to the beach chairs by the pool to sun and read. It got warm! Afternoon highs why we were there were about 86-90. Not to bad for October. Se we switched chairs to sit in the shade. I had smelled French toast all morning and had a craving that would not go away. Back to the room and I cooked some up.

We stopped and got Mom some flowers and headed up to visit Mom, Dean, Ron and Nang. They live in Youngstown about 20 miles north of Panama City Beach. Mom and Dean have a trailer on Ron’s Property. They both have very nice landscaped yards. We sat on Ron’s patio and reminisced and told stories. Ran had his outdoor bar put to good use. At one point Mom and Nang disappeared to their respective kitchens, reappearing a short time later with a nice array of snacks. We had fun just sitting, talking, and spending time together. We said our goodbyes and made plans to meet the following night to go out to dinner.

On our way back to the Condo, Patti and I stopped for dinner at Po’ Boys. Southern cookin! Pattti had beef liver and onions and I had fried chicken gizzards. “Amight tasty y’all.” Later we had coffee on the balcony and had a few more large slices of lemon meringue pie.
The Edgewater Resort is about the size of a mall. There is a beach side with 5 towers and across the highway is the golf course side with about 20 small condo buildings. The resort has a restaurant, Pizza hut outlet and a bar.

10 Oct Monday

Woke up about 8:00 AM. After coffee we had scrambled eggs and toast. Back to the pool for a repeat of the previous morning. We did try the pool again still somewhat chilly. I would get in occasionally but Patti was a chicken!! We went for a walk up the beach to a pier we could see off in the distance. We learned that when on the beach-- things are farther away than they appear! Later I went to the deli and got us a couple of turkey sandwiches for lunch.

We got a phone call from Josh that Ashley was going into labor. Brooklynn Little was born while Grandma and Grandpa were on vacation. Mom, Dean, Ron and Nang met us at the condo for a pre-dinner drink. We went to Angelo’s for dinner- a very popular Panama City Beach steak house. They were only open a few more days before they closed for the season. The food was pricey but very tasty. I had steak and shrimp Patti had a T-bone that made my eyes pop out it was 25 ounces and looked great. She brought almost all of it back to the condo and it made 2 steak sandwiches with more left over.

Josh phoned in updates every so often. The baby was doing fine. I spoke to John on the phone (my uncle by about 30 days). We had not talked in about 30 years. He lives South of New Orleans and we talked about hurricane Katrina and tried to condense 30 years into a short phone call. It was nice talking to him.

11 Oct Tuesday

Lazy morning. Coffee, cereal and another walk on the beach. The calves of our legs were a little sore from the walking. Collected a few seashells. We went back to the condo and wrote up our store list for dinner. We were having Mom and family over for a Mexican dinner. Made the run to the grocery store for the food items and stopped by the liquor store for some tequila for margaritas. I found out tequila is unusually expensive in Florida, at least compared to Ohio prices.

Patti and I prepped for dinner. We were having chips and salsa, guacamole dip, quesadillas, Tacos, Mexican rice and beans. Mom was bringing a mixed green salad. I kept the blender going making margaritas for everyone. I stuck to my Coronas. Got Ron to try a Corona and he liked it. I will make a beer snob out of him yet! After dinner Ron and Nang went for a walk on the beach while the rest of us sat on the balcony and visited.

12 Oct Wednesday

Patti and I woke up early and had coffee and omelets on the balcony. Ron loaned us his cell phone so we were able to check in with the kids to make sure all was ok up in Ohio. The phone started to ring. I had left a message for Trina the night before that the air conditioning had barley been working. She said she would, “Get Jimmy right on it.” She was true to her word by the time we came back to the condo after the morning trip to the pool the air conditioner was working like a champ. Thanks Jimmy!

That morning we used our tower hot tub. It was not as hot as the last time we checked. We met a nice family from Dothan, Alabama. He was an attorney who came down for a short family vacation. They had a cute set of twin girls.

We went over to the main lagoon pool and sunned and read for a while. A fire alarm went off in our tower. It was a false alarm. Good thing because were in bathing suits and no wallet or debit card even! Finally back to the room for a nice lazy vacation nap. Fixed BLTs for dinner then went down to the pool area. A band was playing Jimmy Buffet music for a private business party. I joked with Patti we could crash the party. They had an open bar and snack table. I had my line ready… “Hey didn’t I see you at the last meeting in Miami?” Patti reeled me in and we just sat nearby and listened to the music for a bit.

13 Oct Thursday

Blueberry pancakes for breakfast. We just had a lazy morning in the room. We were going to Mom and Dean’s for lunch today. It took about 15 minutes longer than it should have due to the lunch traffic getting through Panama City. Mom made a pot roast, veggies, and mashed potatoes. It was a very tasty home cooked meal. Even after we got home we raved about her mashed potatoes. May she could mail us some.

We all sat and visited and enjoyed the view of their nicely landscaped backyard with tropical plants, a pound and several fountains. The birds were coming in and using the feeders. The squirrels used the fountains as their private drinking fountains. Mom showed us a picture Jeff had done for her on his visit and we looked at some of the pictures in the trailer. Mom gave Patti a hand painted rock for her to bring home. Mom’s number one son (as Ron calls him), Casey their Dachshund, had warmed up to us by the end of the visit.

On the drive home we stopped at Winn-Dixie for a few things. Now how ‘Southern’ is that? Tomorrow is the last day of vacation and we looked for a souvenir shop. They were all closed for the day, some for the season. Maybe better luck tomorrow.

For dinner I grilled some onions and we had steak sandwiches made from Patti’s leftovers from the night out at Angelo’s.


14 Oct Friday

Last full day of vacation- sigh. Cereal and toast then a breakfast of hot tubbing and sitting in the sun/shade. Sounds boring huh? We loved it nice and relaxing. Later that morning we went out and checked a few souvenir stores. We wanted to get Ashley, Josh’s wife some dolphin stuff for her birthday, which was a few weeks away. We did not do a mass souvenir shopping spree for all the kids and grandkids this time. Sorry guys!!

After shopping we drove west along the beach- so much development. There are many high-rise condos going up. A few years ago Patti and I briefly discussed buying one to lease out. But with the current prices it is not likely anymore. We stopped at a Waffle House for lunch then back to the condo for an afternoon nap.

We went down to the beach for a list visit and dip in the ocean. No drowning Japanese tourists to save this time. For dinner I got Patti some manicotti from a little shop and I got some peel and eat shrimp from the grocery store. It was only 6 dollars for a pound and a half, I did my best, but I could not get through the whole pile. But it was tasty trying. We spent some time cleaning up the condo. Trina had been really good to us and did not even ask for a cleaning deposit. It was spic and span by the time we got done. Then the dreaded packing to go home.

15 Oct Sat

Last minute packing and we were on the way out. We stopped to top off the gas tank in Ron’s 4-Runner. I guess the main holding tank was very low because the gas was pumping slowly. We were running out of time. By the time 15 minutes had gone by I had only put in 10 gallons, which almost filled it up. We really appreciated the use of the truck. Thanks Ron.

Mom, Dean, Ron and Nang met us at the airport for final goodbyes. It was nice having a family send-off. Again the short direct flight to Cincinnati. We got our bags and literally stepped out of the terminal on to a shuttle back to the parking lot where the car was parked. 1 hour drive back to Dayton and we went straight to Josh and Ashley’s to see the new Grandbaby Brooklynn. We have tentative plans to return next summer with all the kids and grandkids we can muster. We will see if that works out.


Jamaica- Sandals Resort Ocho Rios


Jamaica : Sandals Resort- Ocho Rios Grande. Jun 27 to Jul 3, 2005.


Day 1-- 6/27 Monday.

We are flying to Ocho Rios, Jamaica for a 6-night stay at a Sandals resort. We are going down to see Heather and Rich get married as well as having a vacation. It is all-inclusive-- food and drinks included. Ocho Rios is on the North Central coast of Jamaica. We flew from Dayton to Charlotte, North Carolina and then onto Montego Bay, Jamaica. In Montego Bay we connected to an Air Jamaica flight for the 20-minute hop to Ocho Rios. Cheryl gave us a ride to the airport.

Check in at the Dayton Airport went fairly smoothly but that is about all that went right on day one. Take off was at 7:30 AM. We had a 20-minute delay in landing in Charlotte due to fog. That still left us 20 minutes to make our connection to Montego Bay. Patti and I walked to the gate and still had 5 minutes before take off. I asked a guy at the counter about an information screen to check on Heather’s flight. He said, “Are you the Littles? We are holding the plane.” Patti and I quickly headed down the skyway to plane. We saw a flight attendant pop her head around the corner. She said, to somebody behind her, “No that’s not them.” Heather was waiting in the door to make sure we made the flight. The flight attendant was expecting us to look older!

The flight to Jamaica was 2 ½ hours long. We flew down the coast of Florida, across the Bahamas and Cuba. We landed at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay about noon. The heat and humidity get you right away. We cleared immigration and went to baggage claims. No Bags. They never made the flight. After 30 minutes of literally running back and forth between the missing bags department and the Sandals desk I finally got the missing bags paperwork filled out. We were coming up on the departure time for the flight to Ocho Rios. I was a little stressed. I was running to the front of lines cutting people off, but they all understood.
We flew on a small propeller driven plane, an Air Jamaica Dash 8 from Montego Bay (MoBay as the locals call it). We landed at the Ocho Rios airport 20 minutes later. The ‘terminal’ was a one room tin building/shack about the size of my bedroom’. Too funny. We got a taxi ride to the resort. The ride was only about 15 minutes long. Taking the hop saved us a 2 1/2 bus ride from MoBay.

We arrived at the resort for check in. The desk clerk called to check on our bags and we waited there about an hour. We were tired and just wanted to get to our room. Finally, I told her to just check us in and call the room later with an update. We finally got to our room on the beach side. It was not what we had paid for and booked. No balcony and the room smelled like wet moldy carpet. I called the desk for a room change and they said they would not be able to move us until the next day.

We got an update that our bags were located and would be delivered about 8:30 PM. We went to dinner. It was ‘Beach Party” night. A very good buffet with all kinds of local foods- meats, salads, fruits and deserts right on the beach with a Reggae band. I do like jerked chicken. Rich always checked out the desert bar first. We were all tired from traveling and made it an early evening. I called the desk about 8:30—no bags. To shorten the story, the bags finally arrived about 10:30 PM.

Day 2-- 6/28 Tues.

A much, much better day!! Clean clothes, tooth brushes, etc. We went to breakfast at ‘Valentino’s. It is one of their nicer restaurants that serves Italian food at dinner. But it also serves a regular sit down breakfast. It was downstairs in the Rivera building where we were staying. Patti and I got there about 20 minutes after it opened and we were their first guests of the morning. For breakfast each day we had 2 choices to eat at-- the buffet in the Bayside Restaurant or the sit down at Valentino’s. We had a corner table with a great view of the water.

After breakfast we went down to the beach and found a couple of beach chairs right next to the water. This became our favorite spot. We were in the shade of some tropical trees with the water lapping at our feet. It was very relaxing to close your eyes and listen to the sounds of the waves. The beach is kind of small but we were never really crowded. That morning we did not have anyone within 30 feet of us. Patti read a book while I did some snorkeling. I saw lots of fish and a small Ray. We made good use of the beach bar. Patti slipped the guy a tip and we were hooked up with ‘special’ service the rest of the morning. Ok, yes we were drinking in the morning, “Yeah Mon, the vacation thing.”

Heather and Rich came over from their side of the resort and found us at about noon. They had been meeting with their wedding coordinator. We went back to the room and checked on the room change. Good news!! We were getting the room we asked for. Patti and I got the key and checked it out. Much nicer. Good room, nice balcony view. They were going to send a bellman to move our bags so all we had to do was pack up the few things we had got out. We left the bags and went to lunch at the buffet. We went back to the beach and laid around till dinner. That night we ate dinner at the “Arizona Grill.” They serve Tex-Mex food and have tables set in the sand right on the beach at sunset.

The resort is in 2 sections and is fairly big, about the size of a college campus. It is laid out nicely with lots of little paths and little areas for privacy. A shuttle runs back and forth between the 2 main areas and we never waited for more than a few minutes for a ride. Patti and I were on the Riviera, or Beach side; and Heather and Rich were on the hill, or Manor side. Heather and Rich had a condo-like room with a small pool they shared with only a few other couples. There were over 85 pools in the resort. The best pool was on the Manor side. It was a huge Sandals signature pool like you see in all the advertisements with the Sandals logo painted on the bottom. That pool was about the size of 2 Olympic pools and had a cool swim/wade up bar. We had not used the pool there yet, but had looked at it.

A very good day. The resort is beautifully landscaped. The buildings are painted in tropical colors. There are lots of flowers, tropical tress and several fishponds. The staff is very nice.

Day 3-- 6/29 Wen.

Heather and Rich’s wedding day. We have been going to bed early and walking up early. No sleeping in yet on this vacation. We had coffee on the balcony and enjoyed the view of the ocean and boats. We had planned on trying the buffet for breakfast but did not make it in time so we went back to Valentino’s. We got the same corner table we had the morning before. Patti and I both ordered French toast. Patti ordered banana bread French toast and it was actually that. Two chunks of banana bread fried up with butter and syrup. She said it was ok but preferred the regular French toast I ordered. After breakfast-- back to our favorite beach spot.

We climbed onto the beach chairs and did nothing more strenuous than close our eyes and relax. The weather had been cooperating- not a drop of rain. Heather and Rich found us around 11:00am. We did the lunch buffet. Afterwards, Heather had a beauty shop appointment at 1:30 to get her hair done and Patti went with her. I packed up the clothes I was going to wear for the wedding and went to get ready with Rich. I ironed the shirts and pants Rich and I were going to wear for the wedding. Those years of ironing uniforms in the military were not wasted. Rich and I both wore tropical Island shirts and sandals. It is the tropics, Mon. Rich had on a pair of white linen pants and I wore a pair of khakis.

A wedding van picked Rich and I up about 45 minutes before the wedding. I told Rich, “How does this look… 2 guys getting into a wedding van together!” The wedding was being held in a gazebo on the dock right on the water. When Rich and I got there we met with the Jamaican Reverend who was doing the wedding.

Right on time (4:00 PM) I could see Patti and Heather at the end of the dock. They both looked gorgeous. Heather was in a white wedding gown and Patti had on a melon colored gown. I met Heather half way down the dock and walked her arm-in-arm up to the gazebo. I shook hands with Rich, gave Heather a kiss on the check. The ceremony was short, but nice. A photographer took pictures.

We were shuttled by the wedding van to a reception they had set up for the four of us. Hor derves, wedding cake and Champaign. Heather and Rich had their wedding dance together. Heather had brought a CD of some music with her for the wedding. Heather released the photographer and I took some pictures. I had been watching the wedding photographers the past few days and ‘stole’ some of their locations and poses. We grabbed a few drinks at the pool bar and killed time till dinner.

We had dinner on the Reef Terrace restaurant. Spectacular view and open air. The service was outstanding. It was a 5-course meal. They served Jamaican pea soup, which is actually almost exactly like Pinto bean soup. It was very good. After a Caesar salad I had steak and shrimp, Patti just had the steak. The desert was kind of neat. Patti and I shared a baked Alaska that was served in half of a carved out pineapple.

We went back to the room and Heather and Rich packed up a few things they had left in our room. Some how our room attendant got confused. She saw Heather leave our room in her wedding dress and thought it would be somebody’s wedding night in the room. There were rose petals and flowers on our bed and 2 towels folded like swans kissing that made a heart shape. And two bride and groom tee shirts. Heather and Rich took the tee shirts. After they left Patti and I tried to make the best of a romantic situation.

Some general thoughts: Even though the vacation started out rocky on the first day we are having a great time now. The staff at the resort is wonderful and they bend over backwards to take care of you. Tipping is supposedly not allowed by Sandals but many guests do some discreet tipping anyway. “The Jamaican handshake”. Slip a five or one dollar bill into the palm of your hand and say, “Thanks mon.” Shake hands. They say, “No problem Mon.” The money magically disappears. We now have several favorite bartenders who make sure we are well taken care of.
Patti found out today that the exchange rate is 1 US dollar is equal to 61 Jamaican dollars. A five dollar tip is like 300 dollars to them. As I write this it is getting late. (9:20 PM.) Vacations make you tired Mon. I hear the sounds of a jazz band drifting up from the patio area on the first floor. The room is standard hotel fair- king size bed. We love the balcony and view.

Day 4- 6/30 Thurs.

Woke up early again and did the coffee on the balcony thing. We watched the deep-sea fishing boats pull in and pick up their day charters. Next a big catamaran came in and picked up guests for a cruise to the waterfall. They were playing some loud reggae music and having a good time. We went to the breakfast buffet. The have average choices and quality except for the pineapple which is exceptional-- It was so sweet and juicy.

Started the day out on the beach again. I did some more snorkeling. I swam by a school of foot long silver fish with black-tipped tails. I swam in a circle to look at them, and they swam in a circle to look at me. We were sitting next to a vendor on the beach who was doing woodcarvings. Patti asked the guy to finish up a turtle for her that she had her eye on. He worked on it off-and-on for most of the morning.

Heather and Rich showed up about 11:00 AM. We went out on the water on a couple of Aqua bikes. Huge tricycles with big wheel/floats that seat 2 people. It was hard work! You have to peddle very fast. Patti and I got into a strong current and had to pedal very hard to get back inside the beach area. It was hard on Patti because of her shorter legs. Mine felt like jello when we got done. A pina colada with a shot of dark Jamaican rum made me feel better.
We all went to lunch at the buffet. We went back to the room and were ‘jus chillin’ as they say in Jamaica. I read for a while and Patti took a nap. We had put a ‘do not disturb’ tag on the door. Housekeeping saw that tag, called the room and asked, “Since you do not want to be disturbed when should we clean the room?” How about later in the afternoon. I had to laugh. I went down to the beach and bought the turtle from the vendor. He had it lying on the beach chair we were sitting in earlier. I guess lots of people asked about it and he had to keep telling them, “Sorry Mon, not for sale.” The turtle now sits on our hotel room dresser.

Later, we took the shuttle to the Manor side and met up with Rich and Heather at the big pool. Hung out at the big Sandals pool bar and put away several drinks by our favorite bartender Denny. His specialty was a drink he called the ‘Land Shark.’

We left the pool bar and went to Heather and Rich’s condo and changed for dinner. We went back to the Manor house where the big pool was and ate at the dinner buffet. They had a pasta station where you could choose your own sauce ingredients and style of pasta. It was little slow but very good. We went to the piano bar for a drink. We wrapped up the night and headed back to our room. Patti and I had planned on doing a waterfall climb and also horseback riding in the ocean surf. We ended up deciding not to do the riding because we had not packed any jeans.

Day 5—7/1 Fri.


Slept in a little later then we had been. Grabbed breakfast at the buffet and headed over to the Manor side. We wanted to review some pictures that were taken of Patti and myself the day before. The pictures were very funny. The photographer posed us with palm fronds in front of us so it looked like we were naked. “Yes, we are having a GREAT time in Jamaica!!” The pics were funny and we bought them.

We went to the reception desk to gets some change-one dollar bills for the tipping we weren’t doing (ha ha). As we finished at the desk an alarm went off. It was a fire/disaster preparedness drill. We were all evacuated to a large tented pavilion. We ran into Heather and Rich as we were being herded to the tent. To make the drill look real they were actually burning wood and palm fronds to make smoke outside the building. They had fire, police, and EMS crews all participate in the ‘disaster.’ Sandals employees were role-playing the victims and they were hamming it up. When one lady was brought out by stretcher next to us she really played it up for us with fake crying and screaming. It was a riot. When the exercise concluded they did not release us. They had to have a small recognition ceremony recognizing all the local crews. We all dutifully applauded as each team was recognized.

Finally, all lives saved and heroes recognized, they let us go. Patti and I took some pictures of the pool area and got a couple of burgers for lunch at the grill. It started to rain and we went to the gift shop to do some souvenir shopping. Next a stop was at the tour desk where we booked our waterfall climb. The trip was 31 dollars each.

Patti and I caught the shuttle back to our side of the resort. It was raining buckets! We waited about 10 minutes in the reception building on our side but it did not let up. We had about a 3-minute walk to our building so we finally just took off. We splashed in the puddles like a couple of kids. When we got to our room we opened the veranda doors and just sat and watched the rain. It was a nice prelude to a one-hour pre-dinner nap.

Heather and Rich met us at our room to go to dinner. We were dinning at ‘Valentino’s which is the upscale Italian restaurant. Up-scale because we had to wear pants (not shorts.) But it was nice. The waiters were friendly and even wore white gloves. We drank the house Champaign and had a nice 5 course Italian meal. I had shrimp and fettuccini and Patti had spaghetti. When the waiter brought out the desert he carried mine in his hand and balanced Patti’s desert plate on his head. He would kneel down for her to get it and the stand up before she could grab it. It was funny.

Afterwards we went to the lobby of our building. It was a large, open on two sides, room with sofas, chairs, game tables and several slot machines. We had a few more drinks and then Patti and I played some slots. I had put about 6 dollars into a slot machine and then hit it for 80 dollars. I quit right there. It paid for our waterfall trip. I shot a couple of games of pool with Rich. He beat me each time. He is very good. We thought we were making it a ‘late night’ but when we got back to the room it was still only 9:00 PM. Also when we got back to the room there was an envelope under our door confirming our departure information. Yuck!! We do not want to leave. We watched a little TV. Patti is now asleep as I write this.




Day 6—7/2 Sat.

Did the breakfast buffet and then headed over to the Manor side to catch the tour bus for Dunn’s River falls. The tour cost $31 each which covered the entrance to the park. I seriously doubt that the locals had to pay a 15 dollar US entrance fee. But that’s ok.

The falls were awesome and were definitely a highlight of the vacation. The water was much cooler (about 65 degrees) than the ocean and came down from the Blue Mountains. We started out on the beach. It was a 45 minute hike up through the falls rising a total of 985 feet. It was not like a rock climb, by that I mean we did not go straight up. It took about a half mile. Some parts were a little steep. We were in a group of 22 with a guide. Everybody held hands as we made a human chain. The waterfall is actually a series of falls with pools and flat spots in between.

We took pictures as we went along. I had purchased a waterproof disposable camera in the gift shop for this climb. There was also a Jamaican lady who videotaped the group. We bought a copy on DVD. It cost us $40 dollars. But it was worth it. It was dropped off at the hotel later that night. They did a good job. It had a music sound track and a nice intro showing some of Jamaica.
When we got back to the resort we had a sit down lunch on the manor side. Then we all went to try a pool on our side of the resort. The pool was much smaller than the big pool but it did have the wade up bar. It turned out our favorite bartender Denny was working there. His assistant Nicholas was very funny too and kept us in stitches. A little discreet tipping and our glasses rarely got close to being half empty. We were telling jokes and playing bar games.

Everybody at the bar was having a good time. There was a young couple sitting next to us from Pennsylvania that had just got married. I think they had a good time hanging with ‘the old people.” Another couple had gone for some snacks and came back with a plate of onion rings. Patti was staring at them and said they sure looked good. Denny took the plate from the lady and let Patti take one. Denny said, “We are all family here Mon.” funny.

Denny was watching our drinks closely and kept topping them off. We were there about 3 hours. Heather and Rich left for there room. By then we had downed quit a few ‘Denny specials”. We were… just a tad lit up. Ok more than a tad. But what the heck it was our last day and we weren’t driving anywhere. We ended up missing dinner but got a couple of cheeseburgers when the grill opened later. After that, we packed to get ready for our departure in the morning. How sad is that? I was able to get a broken zipper closed on one of our big bags…whew, last trip for that bag.

Day 7—7/3 Sun.

We sat the room alarm as well as placed a wake up call to make sure we got up in time. We showered and did the last minute packing of the bathroom stuff. Our bags had to be in the hall by 8:00 AM for the bellman to pick them up. We got a quick breakfast at the buffet and then Patti tracked down our room attendant and gave her a tip. We did some last minute souvenir shopping and dropped off our room key at the desk.

Our bus to Montego Bay left at 9:00 am. The trip to the airport took about 2 ½ hours with a stop about halfway at a little roadside stand on the beach. A 20oz coke cost 2 dollars. Again not what the locals pay I am sure. We saw many homes that were nothing more than shacks. One even had a blanket as a door. It does make me appreciate that by the grace of God we were born in America.

We got to the airport and got our bags off the bus. A skycap took us to the middle of the check in line not the end. Check in was very long because the Jamaican airport did not have x-ray machines to screen the luggage and it all had to be done by hand. After finally getting checked in, we found out our flight was delayed about an hour. I guess the plane taking us back to the States was delayed coming in due to a medical emergency. We had time to get some lunch.
We ate lunch at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaretaville restaurant. Patti and I ordered the Cheeseburger in paradise’. The menu read just like the song lyrics…. “Tomatoes, lettuce, Heinz 57… and French fried potatoes.”

Boarded the plane to Charlotte, North Carolina. The delay in take off caused us to miss our connecting flight to Dayton. We waited an hour for the next flight. Believe it or not, our bags again missed the flight. We did not get our luggage until about 7pm the next night.

After thoughts:

Like the song, “Come back, come back to Jamaica” we hope to. Other than the baggage issues we had a wonderful vacation. “Yeah Mon, no problem.” It turned out we picked the right week to go. Hurricane Dennis swept through the following week. It did not get Jamaica too bad but still they probably had to evacuate parts of the resort. We found ourselves worrying about the people we had met there like Denny and Nicholas.














Carnival Spirit- Hawaii 2004


Vacation Journal Carnival Spirit 4/18 to 1 may 2004
Ensenada Mexico to Hawaii


Visiting the islands of:
The Big Island of Hawaii- Ports of Hilo and Kona
Maui
Kauai
Oahu



18 April- Day 1 Sunday. On the way to the ship.

We left home at 5:15 am. Jason gave us a ride to the airport. Check in went quick, only slightly longer then the last time we flew. Security was good; they found a small penknife in a guy’s briefcase. We were pleasantly surprised that we were sitting together for both legs of the flight to San Diego. Originally we were split on the Dallas-San Diego part. Patti is guessing my complaint calls to Carnival and American Airlines may have fixed it.

We arrived in San Diego about 12 noon local time and went to pick up our luggage. We had put colored headbands looped through the luggage handles on all our bags. It made it much easier to find our bags. A lesson learned from our last trip. Then we went out the door of the terminal to check on busing to the Ship terminal. Even though our ship was leaving from Mexico we still processed in San Diego.

What a mess. There were about 200 people milling around outside the terminal waiting for the busing to the cruise terminal to start. Eventually we were on a bus. The busing for the last cruise in Miami was better organized. Carnival uses the terminal to process the guests. We checked in and got our sail and sign card. It had the dual function of being our room key and our cruise account card. The actual check in went very quick since we had done a ‘pre check in’ on-line before the trip started.

After check in we had a few hours to kill before the buses to Ensenada Mexico were to start, so we went to Seaside Village a waterfront area about ¼ mile from the terminal. Had a few drinks (Patti said the vacation had started!!) and some tacos. It was a pretty area. We walked back to the ship along the waterfront. We walked past the aircraft carrier Midway which is being turned into a museum.

At 3:30 PM we boarded buses and headed south. Ensenada is about 45 miles south of San Diego, about 2 hours by bus. It was only 15 miles to the boarder. Due to a federal law that protects US registered ships, non-US registered cruise ships have to start, end, or visit a foreign port. At the boarder we were treated to the scenic views of the slums of Tijuana. After going further south the view of the coast actually was scenic. The coastline was pretty, if not somewhat scary. Their roads are not quite up to US standards. We did see some very nice seaside villas (gated of course). A seaside condo was selling for about 50 thousand US, but they have an unreliable water and electrical system.

We got to the ship about 5:30 PM. It was cold and windy. We went to our room and found our bags waiting for us. We changed and went to the dining room for dinner. Since this was the first night it was open seating. We shared a table with a couple from Columbus, Georgia and a lady from Kansas. She was traveling alone. He husband of 35 years had passed away a few years ago but she still gets out and travels. Good for her.

Some things are fairly standard on all Carnival ships like nice size staterooms and lots of storage. This time we had a slightly larger than average balcony. We had a King size bed, sofa, table and small bathroom. I will forgo nightly dinner menus and will just say that the food was very good and you could have what ever and as much as you wanted.

We went back to the room to unpack. It was 9:00 PM local time, but midnight for our Ohio body clocks. Patti and I are in the ‘young’ category for this cruise. The average age is in the 60s it seems. Probably because this cruise is a little longer and a little more expensive than others. Patti is asleep now as I write this. The ship was supposed to pull at 9:00 it is 10:00 now. I am not waiting, I’m tired, lights out.

19 April day 2—At Sea. Monday.

Today is still a bit cool. We have heard that after day 2 at sea we will be in warmer ‘tropical’ waters. We woke up at about 6:30 am. It was 9:30 am back in Ohio so we felt like we had slept in. Patti and I went to the breakfast buffet on Lido deck and shared a table with a couple from Tampa Florida. They were nice and we swapped travel stories. We went back to the room and just lounged around till lunch. I brought lunch back to the room. I had picked up a plate of Chinese including Sushi. But… I just could not try the Sushi.

We had a few of the tropical drink specials of the day- ‘The Yellow Bird’. It had banana, orange juice, and rum. The drinks were not included in the trip package, but the cost was not bad. The daily tropical drink specials were only $2.95. We tried our luck in the casino. At one point Patti was up about 75 dollars but gave it all back. It killed a few hours. We went to the photo gallery and looked at the picture of us boarding the ship in Ensenada. It was a good pic so we bought it. Changed, and went to one of the Hot Tubs. We chatted with a couple from San Diego.

Again on this cruise we had the late dinner seating (8:15 PM). We liked it better than the early 5:45 seating because you have more time during the day for doing important stuff like sightseeing on shore and taking naps. Our table was for 3 couples but one couple did not show up. The other couple who did show was Mike and Jacqui who were from Ypsilanti Michigan. They were our tablemates for about 3 nights but then stopped coming. I think Jackie was more of a buffet person.

We went to the after dinner shows. Both were comedy acts. We got some desert at the midnight buffet then off to bed.

20 April Day 3- At Sea. Tuesday.
We woke up and had coffee on our balcony. The sky was clear and baby blue. The sea was totally calm and a deep cobalt blue. It was gorgeous. After coffee, we ate breakfast in the room. Later we went to the Lido deck and listened to some Hawaiian music. The singer who was playing and singing the Hawaiian music had an assistant who did some hula dances to a few of the songs. Went through the grill line for some lunch.

We went back to the room to plan our shore trips for when we got to Hawaii. We were able to book them right on our room TV with the remote control and they were charged to our account. It was pretty easy and convenient. Tonight was formal night so we got ‘fancied up’ for dinner. The dining room is very elegant. It reminded me of what the old cruise ships probably looked like back in the 20s and 30s. It had a curved staircase, murals on the ceilings and crystal (or glass) chandeliers. We had a small orchestra playing while we dined. Patti had Prime Rib and I had a Lobster Tail. OK, I had 2 Lobster tails. Lesson learned from the last cruise—your waiter staff will give you what ever you want. Our Headwaiter was Carlos from Brazil and his assistant was from Croatia. They were outstanding in every way. Carlos was watching for us every night to have the chairs pulled out and always had a smile. He told us often that we were an easy table.
After diner we went to the casino lounge to listen to some country music. The guy’s name was Ed. Most of the night not to many people were paying to much attention to him, but we clapped after every song. I guess a casino is probably not the best place to keep an audience’s attention. At his break, he came over and talked to us. He had been working on Carnival cruise ships for the past 7 years. Patti left for the ladies room and asked for directions. A member of the crew told her there was one just around the corner but it was flooding. Patti said, “Probably not the best choice of words to use on a cruise ship.”

We decided to pass on the Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis tribute in the Pharos’s Theater. About 5 Margaritas and Coronas later- hey we weren’t driving ship, it was about midnight. We went to the Midnight comedy show. It was ok, but nothing spectacular even though our alcohol content was well over the legal limit.

21 April day 4- At Sea. Wed.
We had ordered room service for breakfast and lounged around the room. We went up to the grill on lido deck and had Mexican food for lunch. Very good tortilla soup and tacos. Then we went up to the sun deck and soaked up some rays for about 30 minutes. Next we went to review pictures again in the picture gallery. They constantly are taking pictures of you hoping you will buy them all. We were very selective.

We played cards in the room. At about 5pm the decks start to clear out due to some leaving for the early dinner seating. Although it was never really crowded we did like having a hot tub to ourselves if we could. We dressed for dinner. We met Jim and Goldie an older couple from Utah who live near Lake Powell. He is a retired schoolteacher. They had been at a table all-alone for the cruise and wanted to meet some new people so they were seated with us. They were very nice and we enjoyed spending time with them. At dinner I asked Carlos if the Australian Lamb was good. He said it was, but he wanted me to try the center cut fillet mignon- so he brought me both. They remember how you like your beef cooked and after the first night never asked again.
The 10:30 PM comedy show was Norm Crosby. I have seen him on TV. He mainly played well with the over 60 crowd. (No offense if you read this MOM!!!). We turned the clock back another hour as we continued to head west to Hawaii.



22 April day 5-at Sea. Thurs.
We woke up at 6:45 AM due to the time change. Got dressed and went up to Lido deck for the breakfast buffet. Afterwards we put on our swimsuits and went to the pool area and did some hot tubbing and got in the pool. We had got into warmer seas and the air was warmer too. We had the pool to ourselves most of the passengers probably still thought it was cool. The water for the pools was pumped right from the ocean each morning. The bar opened at 10. Not wanting them to stand around with nothing to do, we kept our account active.

The ships Captain was Italian. Every day at noon he would make an announcement over the intercom giving us the weather and ship’s position. He came on today and said, “Well here we are…our fourth day at sea and we are still out in the middle of nowhere.” We went to the buffet for lunch and sat and enjoyed the view. It was something we never tired of doing. At the Buffet we stood in line. The lines were usually short, only about 6-7 people. A lady pushed her way right to the front and told Patti, “I am from Reno, we don’t do lines.” I told Patti later you should have told her. “I’m from Ohio, we’ll kick your ass for line jumping.” Oh well, it was a thought.
We watched the ships version of the TV game show ‘Survivor’ with contestants from the ship. One of the assistant Cruise Directors was the emcee. We actually got regular TV in the stateroom via satellite from all the major networks. We played some cards in the room then dressed for dinner.

Tonight we had dinner reservations in the Nuevo Supper club. It was an extra charge to our account of $25 each. I guess it would be like dining at a 5 star dinner club in New York or something like that. So for 50 bucks we were big time for one night.

The dining salon was very elegant and I had reserved a window seat with a view of the ocean. The place settings were fine china on an embroidered linen tablecloth. We got to choose what kind of bottled water we wanted with our meal (we declined the wine list). The bottled water was chilled like Champaign in a bucket tableside. For appetizers I had an excellent Shrimp cocktail and Patti had French Onion Soup. The next course was a complimentary appetizer from the chef. It was chilled asparagus soup and a black olive hor derve. I liked the soup. Next came the salads and a bread tray with a choice of 3 butters Garlic, truffle, or Paprika. In between courses they came and brushed up any crumbs with a little brush/scrapper.

The hostess presented the entrée choices to us. She brought a cart to the table and showed all the cuts of meat and how they were prepared. Patti and I both ordered the Porterhouse. It was 24 ounces and melted in your mouth. The presentation of the food on the plates was very impressive. For desert Patti had a flourless chocolate cake which was very good and I had “trio of crème brulee”. We thought we were finally done but next we had round 2 of dessert. The Hostess brought us a tray of chocolates courtesy of the dining staff. Chocolate covered strawberries and little hand made treats. We were so stuffed already. I made a token gesture of trying a few pieces. It was good, wish we could have asked for a doggy bag!

Stuffed to the gills we waddled to the magic comedy show at 10:30. Then to bed to sleep off that dinner. Our room steward had made a hanging monkey from towels and washcloths that were hanging in the room. It was cute and we left it up till the end of the cruise.


23 April day 6. Last day at Sea. Friday.
We slept in till about 9:00 AM. We went to the breakfast buffet then to a presentation in the Pharos’s lounge about shopping opportunities in the different islands. We played a bingo game for a free cruise and lost-Damn! Did some shopping in the one of the gift shops on board. Had lunch at the New York deli. The sandwiches were outstanding. Patti had a turkey roll and I had a Ruben. Here is the irony-- 3 guys who were actually from India staffed the New York deli. Shouldn’t it have been the New Delhi deli?

An afternoon of hot tubbing and relaxing. We watched the sun set from the bow of the ship. At dinner our original tablemates from Michigan had quit coming to the dinning room for dinner. But Jim and Goldie were tablemates still, and were so till the end of the cruise. After dinner Patti asked if I wanted to go to the 10:30 show or do something else. I chose something else.

24 April day 7. Hilo Hawaii, the Big island of Hawaii.
An early rise, we got up at 6:00. We had to clear customs. We stood in line for about 40 minutes and finally got down to the pier. There was a group of older Hawaiian Ladies dancing Hula in the terminal. After a short wait we boarded our tour bus. We were on the Volcano’s National Park tour. As we headed out of town we could see Mt. Mona Loa to our right it is over 13,000 feet high and had snow on it.

We stopped at a Macadamia nut farm for some samples and Kona coffee. We drove to the Kiluea Caldera volcano crater rim and drove around the park. It was like being on the surface of the moon. In the past they have actually trained astronauts and tested equipment there. Just after entering the park we stopped at the Thurston Lava tube. It is like walking through a cave. It was made by flowing lave that had the outside layers cool. The insides then flowed out leaving a long tunnel.

We did see an actual erupting Volcano. We were 26 miles from it and could see the smoke coming up. Out Tour guide and driver was a Hawaiian lady-she was a riot. She kept saying that they got more ‘bonus points’ for running over Japanese Tourists than statesiders. She Said the Japanese were smaller and faster. She also warned us not to remove any rocks from the volcano because it will anger Madam Pele the goddess of fire who lives in the volcano. She did not relate this to us a folklore-- but as fact. The story goes that if you take a rock you will suffer bad luck. I guess every year lots of rocks are mailed back to the park. That was good enough for us. No rocks from the volcano in our baggage.

We went to the Jaeger museum at the park. There was a warning sign that
said, “ Warning fumes may be fatal.” Not every day you see a sign like that. On the way back to the ship she drove us through her town to show us were she lives. The Hawaiians are very proud of their Islands.

That night Patti and I sat on our balcony (with the tropical drink special of the day). And enjoyed the view as we pulled out of port. We were docked next to a Holland America Cruise Ship. The view leaving port was very pretty





25 April day 8. Kona, the Big Island of Hawaii.

Over night the ship had sailed to Kona, which is on the other side of the big island. Patti and I did not book any tours for this port. Our plan was to just do some shopping. Kona is a small town and their pier is not large enough for cruise ships. We had to be ‘tendered’ to shore. The cruise ship lowers some of its big motorized lifeboats down and uses them as shuttles. These boats carry about 150 people at a time. It did take a while to get to shore.

Our tender number was called around 11:00 am. The tender was pulled up against the ship, but there were swells. It took timing and a big step to board the tender. Once we got to the pier there were free shuttle buses to the stores. Kmart had a shuttle bus so we decided to go there. We did some souvenir shopping and used a pay phone to call the kids. I put the calls on my credit card.

W next took the shuttle to an outlet store. When we went to pay our credit card was declined. That was scary. She had called the credit card number and I had to talk to the people. After I answered questions they told me my card had showed unusual phone charge activity and they froze the account. It had been used 4 times from Hawaii in a short period. I explained the charges were ok! I guess it is good that they watch for stuff like that.

We made it back to the ship for a late lunch and a few drinks in the Artist’s lounge. Lots of artwork on display. We had the lounge to ourselves. On a ship of almost 3,000 people it is not hard to find a place to have to yourselves. Back to the room, Patti took a nap and I read my book on the balcony.

Tonight at dinner Carlos sat with us for a few minutes afterwards. He mentioned his Mom getting on him for not calling. He said he is the ‘baby’ in the family and gets spoiled when he goes home. Mom makes him his favorite- pasta with fried eggs on top. His dream is to open his own restaurant some day in Brazil. We decided to get Carlos and his assistant phone cards as an extra thank you along with the tipping we added to our account.

We went to the 10:30 show with Jim and Goldie. It was a ‘Salute to the Temptations.” They are a group from Las Vegas and were pretty good. Went back to the room and sat on the balcony. A full was moon reflecting off the water. A nice way to end the day.

26 April day 7. Maui.

On to the next island. The ship traveled over night and again we woke at the pier. We took a taxi to Thrifty rent a car by the airport. It was only about a 10 minute trip. We had reserved a Dodge Neon but we got an inexpensive upgrade to a Jeep Wrangler convertible top. We left with the jeep and drove over to the heliport on the other side of the airport for our helicopter flight with Air Maui. We had booked this ourselves in advance over the Internet and phone. It was rained out!! Rainsqualls were moving our way. We drove over to the resort town of Laihna on the SW part of the island and spent the day doing some souvenir shopping and sight seeing. The drive along the beach was nice. It did start to rain so we were not able to put the top down.

After shopping and lunch at Burger King we drove pack to the ship. We found a spot for the rental car next to the pier. We ran into Jim and Goldie who said the Luau was cancelled for the evening due to rain. We rescheduled for a different luau in a few days in Honolulu. We found out later that Carnival was fibbing; they actually cancelled because they did not reserve buses to get us there. Hummmm! This was the only day of the vacation that was impacted by rain, but we were disappointed.

We went to bed a little early this night because we were getting up at 2:30 AM to drive up the volcano to see the sun rise.

27 April day 8. Maui—2nd day
2:30 AM, we got dressed and grabbed blankets and a robe from the room. We were told it would be cold at the top of Mt. Haleakala an extinct volcano. The summit we were driving to was at 10,000 feet. We stopped at a gas station for coffee and donuts then headed out. The base of the volcano was about 12 miles from the ship. Then we started up the mountain. It is switchbacks and hairpin turns taking 29 miles of roads to go up. The Mountain is a national park. It took almost 2 hours to go the 29 miles. Our average speed was only about 15-20 mph.

About half way up I looked up and saw a bright light. I said to Patti, “Look, a plane.” She said, “No--look, a car.” She was right. It was a car a few miles ahead of us on a switchback. It was so high up it almost looked like a plane. We got to the summit about 4:30 AM. There was no moon. We saw one of the most awesome things I have ever seen in my life. The night sky was like a painting--so clear and bright. We felt like we could reach out and touch the stars… the Milky Way… the big dipper.

Words simply cannot describe it. It was an unforgettable life experience. Mark Twain had made the same visit to Haleakala in 1866 and wrote, “ The sublimest spectacle I ever witnessed…and the memory of it will remain with me always.” I agree with Mr. Twain.

It was cold! About 32 degrees with wind gusts to about 35. It was so dark that when we got to the parking lot and turned off the headlights we could not see anything but the stars. Not even our hands in front of our face. Gradually our eyes got use to it and we could see a walkway. I went to check it out straining to see the steps. It led to an enclosed observation room with glass all around. I was so out of breath. I realized it was probably due to low oxygen levels. Later we were able to see a warning sign for actually that.

We were the 2nd car to show up. Over the next hour the lot slowly filled. The sky slowly turned to a dark gray and the stars were harder to see. The late arrivals really missed the stars. Bit by bit we were able to see better and noticed the sun staring to rise above the clouds. It is an odd sight to watch the sun rise and look down on it as it comes up from the clouds. The sun rose at 5:56 AM.

Once the sun was up we noticed a small weather station and observatory. This area was used as a radio center during WW2. The drive down the mountain went a bit faster. But it was also a little scary. We could see how high we were. We saw a Hawaiian Goose called a Nene (nay-nay). It is unusual to see one since they are now rare.

Down off the mountain we drove to the airport. Our helicopter flight was rescheduled for 8:30…. But it was still rainy down below the clouds. We rescheduled again for 2:00 PM. This would be our last chance because the ship was leaving port at 6:00 PM. We got back to the ship and took a long nap.

Sunshine! We woke up grabbed some lunch and headed back to the heliport. It was a go! The itinerary of the flight was changed with our ok due to part of the island still being rainy. We were supposed to fly the north coast and the volcano crater. Instead we flew the South coast and crossed the channel to the island of Molokai. Molokai was an extra island we would now be able to see- at least from the air. We were given little life vests to make us feel better if we crashed into the ocean. About all they would do would be to make it easier to find the bodies!! The helicopter held a pilot and 3 couples. When the ground crew lady was seating us she asked if Patti and I were newlyweds. She said, “ No, we have been married for 27 years!” All views were good. Patti and I were seated in the right rear side, Patti had a window seat. We were on headsets so we could hear the pilot’s commentary. The flight was being video taped and had Hawaiian music playing when the pilot was not talking.

Airborne, we cleared the airport traffic and headed down the coast. It was a smooth ride. The pilot was good and talked about what we were seeing. We crossed the channel to Molokai and started across that island. It was only 12 miles over. He pointed out a big cattle ranch to Patti and told her those brown blobs were cattle-“Pee Pees” in Hawaiian. The Hawaiian word for hor derve is “PooPoo”. So… before dinner you can ask your Hawaiian waiter for a “PeePee PooPoo”.
As we got close to the west coast of Molokai the pilot –Capt Kirk, said, “As we cross over the top --what ever you do… don’t look down.” So of course we all look down.

We were seeing the cliffs of Molokai. A 1500-foot sheer drop-off covered with waterfalls cascading down to the ocean. Lush and green. The recent rains had made the waterfalls very full. For the second time in one day I saw something I will never forget. The only way to see this is by air. There are no roads and from the see you do not get the view. We then flew up a valley and saw another waterfall of about the same height.

Back across the Channel to Maui Capt Kirk said he was going to fly us through some valleys that are not usually free of clouds. The “Valleys of the Gods” were named because Hawaiian priests were buried there in the ancient days. When a priest died the flesh was removed from the bones and were wrapped in cloth. Then a “deserving” villager was chosen. His job was to be lowered into the valley to bury the bones in a cave as a secret. He pulled on the rope to be lifted back up. Almost to the top, the rope was cut and he fell to his death protecting the burial location.
What a flight!! After landing we could not get the smiles off our face. It was amazing! Even the video did not come close what it was actually like. I would recommend a helicopter flight in Hawaii to anybody who visits

28 April day 9. Kauai.
Another new island to visit. We had booked an island tour- the ‘Hanalei adventure’. Hanalei made famous in the song Puff the Magic Dragon. The beach was also the setting for ‘South Pacific” and John Wayne’s ‘Donavan’s reef”. Our first stop was at a Guava plantation. Free samples to try. Patti had jam and I tried a guava salsa. Both were good and we purchased a bottle of the jam to take home. I got a Guava Sherbet ice cream cone, which I though was pretty darn good until I tried Patti’s vanilla Macadamia nut. No fair!! I wanted hers. Man, that was good. She got tired of my pitiful look and shared some.

We drove through the countryside, which was typical Hawaii-lush green. Patti liked the Umbrella or “Monkey Pod” trees. Went past the Princeville PGA golf course. Where were my clubs? I have seen worse places to lose golf balls.

We got to Hanalei and went to the beach and the drive pulled in for about 40 seconds then pulled out. We were thinking, “What the hell? This beach was supposed to be one of the highlights. He pulled into a little shopping center about 5 minutes away for a 30 minute break. We were all asking the driver why we did not stop at the beach. He said he would take us back after break. It turned out his favorite ukulele shop was there and he wanted to hang out. After finally getting our pictures of the beach we continued our sightseeing. We stopped at a valley overlooking some taro fields. Taro is what the famous poi is made from. Hawaiian legend says that the Hawaiian people themselves were made from poi. Thick poi is better than watery poi. Our tour guide explained poi etiquette, “Really good poi is thick and you use one finger to eat it. Average poi takes 2 fingers. If it takes 3 fingers- you are a cheapskate!”

We drove along the mountains on the way back to town. We stopped at a waterfall that was next to the road The water fall was mostly hidden and going by at 50 miles an hour you would only see it for a split second. Since we had no cars behind us our driver slowed and stopped. Which surprised a young lady who was posing naked in the waterfall for her boyfriend. She was all bent hover covering herself up-- surprise!!

We stopped for a picture of Gorilla Mountain. It looks like the head of a gorilla and is seen in the opening of the first Indiana Jones movie. (True, we checked when we got home.) Next, we drove pass the sleeping giant mountain. Hawaiian legend says he was an actual giant who fell asleep on top of the mountain. When local warriors saw invading canoes coming to the island they threw rocks on him to wake him up. It startled him and he shook the rocks high into the sky, which landed in the harbor scaring away the invaders. Unfortunately he also choked on the rocks turning him into part of the mountain. The mountain looks like a giant lying on his back. Our tour guide liked pointing out that the silhouette of the male giant was anatomically correct…he just wasn’t ‘giant’ in all areas. The tour guide also said, “If islanders were to feed him enough poi he will return to life,” then adding, “I guess he will stay a mountain… Poi is expensive.”
We drove to the Wailua River and saw Opelaka Falls. It is not one of the tallest, but it is one of the widest and made a nice back drop for some pictures.

Back to the ship and had some German food for lunch. Then nap-nap time. Naps are wasted on the young I think. When we woke up we sat on the balcony with a few drinks as the ship left port. We were sad because this is the last time we would see the ship leave port. In the morning the ship will be in Honolulu and we will end up there.

Tonight we had our last dinner in the dinning room. We said goodbye to Carlos. It was our last dinner because in Honolulu we will be going to a luau for the last night. We went to the 10:30 show with Jim and Goldie. It was a hypnotist show. I volunteered to be one of the folks on stage. I would describe it as being in a very relaxed state. You do know all that is going around you. I was ‘surfing’ on stage and danced with another guy. Patti said it all was hysterical. After the show we said our goodbyes to Jim and Goldie in case we did not see them again.

29 April day 9. Honolulu day 1.
We booked the “Natural Highlights” tour of the island of Oahu. We drove along Waikiki beach to Diamond Head. The inside of the crater is a state park. We walked around and took some pictures. During WW2 it was used as an observation and artillery battery by the Army.
Next we went to Hanauma Bay. The water was so clear you could see the coral reef and the floor of the bay. Continuing along the south coast, we went to Blow Hole. If the tides are coming in just right the water goes through a hole in the coral and shoots up like a geyser. We happened to get lucky and got a picture of it. It only did it once while we were there.

We stopped at another beach and walked out to the surf. Patti took a picture of me; and the colors- shades of blue with the sky and water and the white sand made a nice picture. The next stop was at an ancient archeological site. It was a former war temple. These sites are called haneaus. They were also safety refuges. If you committed a crime and made it to one of these spots and stayed there for 3 days you were purified and free to go.

Our tour guide-Kinoa, was actually a travel ambassador for the state of Hawaii. Carnival had hired him to work our cruise. He was very good and explained the sites, culture, plants and animals. He also made a very cool bird from a coconut frond. He learned how to make it from his Grandfather when he left for college. His Grandfather said that it symbolized that ‘no matter where ever he went in life… Hawaii would always be his home.’

Our last stop was at Kooluai Mountains. The pass connected the leeward (south) And windward (north) sides of the island. Back to the ship for lunch and to rest up for the luau.
The Paradise Cove luau was on a 12 acre beachfront estate. An old Hawaiian family had owned it. The luau lasted about 6 hours. Our escort to the luau was on the bus with us. A popular expression in Hawaii is ‘cousins’. The locals call everybody cousin. When we got on the bus Lahani introduced herself to us. She said there are only 2 kinds of cousins: the good-looking sexy cousins and the ugly cousins. She said since we were the only bus of good looking sexy cousins, all those on the other buses must be the ugly cousins. So, of course she told us to make faces at them of as the luau buses would pass each other. Being a busload of older mature adults we of course did what she asked. Well, she was right; we were the sexy good-looking cousins.

When we got there we had very nice Hawaiian red and white flower leis placed on our necks. We had our picture taken with a male and female Hawaiian dancer. The half dressed young guy seemed to standing awful close to Patti!! There was a village of huts and crafts to resemble samples of life in the Polynesian islands including Hawaii, Tahiti and Samoa. Our Luau package also included unlimited mai ties. We watched craft displays, had a mai tie, played some games, had more mai ties, and took a very short ride in an outrigger canoe, had more mia ties.
We went to the “Imao” which is the ceremonial unearthing of the roast pig. They had 4 of the dancers showing us displays of the food we would be served. They asked for a volunteer taste tester. I was sitting front row, and yes I raised my hand. They picked me, the chubby white guy. I guess they though I would make a good food taster. I tried some of the poi- It was the ‘2 finger’ thickness. It was ok. but does not have much of a taste.

At dinner we had a salad plate with garden salad, macaroni salad (big in Hawaii) and Salmon salad, which is raw salmon, onions and tomatoes. I tried it and it was ok. The entrée plate had roast pork, fried chicken and baked fish. For desert we had coconut Jell-O, fresh pineapple and coconut cake.

While we were eating there were dancers on stage doing hula and fire dances. The asked for volunteers from the audience who wanted to learn to hula. Being that the unlimited mai ties had not gone to waste, I again volunteered. I am not bad-- 2 steps left…2 steps right, turn… raise arms… circle hips.

They played the Hawaiian wedding song and Patti and I slow danced to it. We had a good time and got back to the ship around 10:30 PM. We went out onto our balcony and tossed our leis into to the ocean. Hawaiian folklore states that if someone gives you lei and you toss it into the sea and it floats to the beach you will return to Hawaii someday. We want to return!!

Well, the bags are packed and in the hall. The journal is updated. Our last night! In the morning we disembark and have some sightseeing ending up at the Airport.


30 May. Honolulu day 12.
We left the ship about 8:30 am. Our first stop was at the Arizona Memorial. We got our group number and waited. It was about an hour and 20 minutes before we were called. They do groups of 150 at a time. Our group was called and we went to the theater for a 20 documentary on the Pearl Harbor attack.

The ride out to the Memorial took about 5 minutes. It was a very solemn experience. Part of Gun turret number 3 was sticking out above the water. And as everyone always comments on, oil still floats to the surface. After visiting the Memorial we boarded the bus for a visit to Punch Bowl Crater, which is a US Military cemetery mostly for veterans of WW2. We were not allowed to get out of the bus due to past vandalism and abuse of some of the grave markers, which is very sad. Next was a city tour of some of the main highlights of Honolulu.

Then the vacation was over! The tour driver drove us to the airport for drop off at the American Airlines terminal. The flight to Chicago took about 8 hours. We landed in Chicago at about 5:50 AM local. Connected to Dayton and got in there about 10:00 AM. Jason, Jamie, and Angel we waiting for us at the Airport. When Angel saw Patti coming up the walkway she ran like a shot to get to ‘Memaw’. Home sweet home.

But… we are ready to take off again!