State room on Nieuw Amsterdam
Every night I returned to the room to a different towel sculpture.
Monkey towel sculpture
The first night was high winds. I went out on deck and it was really exciting. That night the bed felt like it was vibrating. We didn't make our first stop at Half Moon Cay because it wasn't safe. This is a little island owned by the cruise line. There was mostly just swimming and laying on the beach so I didn't mind. It really is possible to overeat on board. From 1:00 to 6:00 I ate pizza, lasagna, linguinni, shrimp cocktail, fish soup, prime rib, strawberry pie and chocolate torte.
The ship has about 2000 passengers.
I usually got up early to watch the sunrise.
Sunrise
Scene of Crime
I was suprised how low the railings were. It made me think of a plot for a murder mystery. A husband takes out a life insurance policy on his wife and books a curise. She jogs around the deck every day. One day he waits for her when no one else is around. He tells her to look in the water, because he thinks he sees a shark. While she bends over the railing, he grabs both her feet and dumps her in. (For this to work he has to be bigger). He casually returns to their stateroom and pretends to take a nap. Two hours later he reports her missing: " She never returned from her run". When I shared my plot device with a fellow passenger, it was pointed out that ships now have a heat sensor to detect whenever some one goes overbaord.
There were 2 pools, inside and outside. At first I was reluctant to do my pool exercises because there were deckchairs all around all occupied with people looking at me. Then I realized they were either reading a book or asleep (I never realized how many people sleep with thier mouths open.) Anyway, the pools were too small to lap swim, everyone was just splashing around. I exercised every day I didn't have a tour scheduled.
Indoor pool with roof slid back
I think the ship looked best when I returned from a tour at night.
There were many lounges and a showroom and a library and computer room. The library was a disappointment. No news magazines but advice about how to achieve a "flat stomach, great butt." My favoirte space was the Silk Room. There was usually no one there. It has a very strange exhibit of small shoes. There was no explanation but I am certain it was for women with bound feet.
There ware also two full antique samauri costumes.
Junior entertained us most afternoons on the steel drums. I asked him how the drum was able to make such different sounds. I thought it had to do with the thickness. He said it was caused by hammering. Most drums came from Tobago.
I liked most of the shows, expecially the Hal Cats.
Several times I played team trivia with Dennis and Betty from the Pav Pool. There was a guy on our team from Pittsburg who really wanted to win but unfortunaly there were always better teams. He had a Russian wife and when I saw the couple I thought "mail order bride" because she looked younger. Later when Betty asked how they met he explained that he was vacationing with a Russian friend who was visiting his home town on the Black Sea. There he was approached by a middle aged women who asked him if he was looking for a wife. He said he was and after more questions, she introduced him to her daughter. They went to the opera and dated for a week. Then she moved to the states and married him.
The first stop was GeorgeTown on Grand Cayman and I booked a Duck Tour. One of those vehicles that goes on land and water. I saw seven mile beach which is only six miles and a cool beach cemetery. The cheapest land was the beach, that's why they put the cemetery there. On water we fed the ducks and looked at a shipwreck. It sunk when all the hands were on land. It was an old ship, the rivets came loose and let water in the cargo. The rice flour in the hold exploded and blew the ship apart. Our tour guide was a native of Georgetown and very beautiful.
The tour ended with a visilt to the Seven Fathoms Distillery.
The owner explained that they "agitate" the rum differently. They put the rum in Marker's Mark oak barrels and then take it out to sea and submerge it for three years. The current prevents sediment from forming and helps mingle the rum with the oak. They make rum from cane extract, not molasses or brown sugar. There was rum tasting at the end.
Our tour guide said that 30% of the island is owned by a billionaire tax dodger named Dart. He invented the styrofoam cup. He didn't want to pay taxes and moved to Belize, than to Grand Cayman. His mansion is healivly guarded. The only picture of him made public is from grade school.
One of the main attractions for me of this cruise was a chance to vist the Mayan Ruins Tulum. It was an 8 hour excursion. Cozemel is an island where the ship docked. I needed to take a boat to Playa de Carmen and then a bus to Tulum. On the way to the ruins we stopped a at Mayan village to use the bathrooms and to shop.
Here I made the only purchase of the trip. I bought an obsidian carving. Obsidian is used for arrow heads and knives but it is volcanic and must be imported to the Yucatan. It is considered sacred by the Maya.
I first told the salesman that the carvings were too heavy to take on a plane but he found something suitable for me.
I didn't unwrap until I got home but I have no buyer's remorse.
Our guide explained that the name of the penninsula is a corruption of the Mayan Lanaguage. When the Spaniards asked what the place was called the native replied, "I don't understand your lanaguge."
The site of Tulum is the only Mayan ruins on the sea and was used for trade and astromomy. There were plently of Iguana and birds. I saw a young blonde women taking pictures of herself with the ruins in the background so I thought I would try it.
The guides kept saying how small this ruin is compared to the others so of course I must come back and see the big ones. We had a half hour on our own and then we were to meet at the bus. This place was not so small I couldn't get lost. After walking for about 20 minutes I realized this was not the way we came. I asked someone and discovered I was on the road to the beach, not to the village and bus parking. I had many cab driver's offer to drive me but I returned to the entrance and for $2.00 took a shuttle to the parking lot and made it on time.
I wish I knew the name of the rabbit sized creature than ran across the road at Playa de Carmen. It seemed to have longer back legs than front legs.
That night was a Mexican Fiesta and they had a Mariachi band and dancers aboard the ship
I took Betty's suggestion and took the Conch Train at Key West
This is a place I wanted to see but I am glad that I didn't drive down highway 1 to do it. I am not a beach person and I don't swim or sail and the only other occupation appeared to be partying. There were black chickens everywhere. The guide said they were left over from Cuban cock fights. The banyon trees were pretty impressive.
The "wreckers" of Key West seems to be of a different breed than the ones in Great Britian. There the wreckers were known to kill any survivors so there would be no wittness to looting the cargo. In Key West it was legal to salvage anything from a ship wreck. The wreckers were led by a captain who was entitled to 30% of all the salvage. During a storm, the captian who kept watch from the widow's walk on top of the house would sound the alarm. (It was only called a widow's walk when his wife was up there, when the captain was on the look out it was the captain's walk.) Since their activities were legal they first tried to save any survivors which this statue in the park depicts. At one time Key West was the richest city in the U.S. due to its wrecking activities.
There was a speed boat competition during this week-end. There are five classes, includilng extreme. From the ship I could watch the speed boats and sail boats.
We docked in the morning at Ft. Laluderdale and I had time to take a tour of Saw Grass Recreation Park. I rode an airboat across the Everglades.
I have pictures of alligators in water but they are difficult to spot. I also saw egrets but several birds posed for me on top of signs.
They had a sanctuary with rescued Florilda Panthers.
The tour included transport to the airport and I got there in plenty of time. I don't deserve any credit for this. I first got on the wrong tour bus but the mistake was corrected in time. The Tour Guide looked at me funny and asked, "Are you with me?" That's when I realized that this was not "my" tour guide and found the right bus. It was my first cruise and I hope to try this again sometime without getting lost.
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