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Cruise Sightings Caribbean days at sea
by Bosley Wilder
Cruising down the shores of High Barbaree!
--Mythical island folk song
O What fun it is to ride the Royal Caribbean Enchantress of the Seas! For five days last month, while the North chilled out in huge snow cups, we cruised the nose of Florida, sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale, deploying at Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman Island, stumbling up Dunn's River Falls and patting stingrays. The temperature stayed at about 80.6 F.
The part of Jamaica we visited, Ocho Rios, a tourist town, was littered where you wouldn't expect it to be, which involved jumping over Pepsi bottles and pizza wraps as we cruised down the road. But worth it: there was soul-stirring solo jazz being played on street corners-reggae and jazz both-guitars, ukuleles, saxophones, clarinets, hurtling wonderful sounds into the air, drowning out youngsters who stretched their hands through fences wheedling "A dollar, Miz, one dollar..." Security people, male and female, were numerous along the strip, in or out of uniform, but palpably gum shoe-y.
At lunchtime, we made our way along the many small art, dress and schlock shops to one of Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville cafes, where guests are called Parrotheads, and both the food and the security are good. The margaritas go without saying, tastily cold and frosty, (although I do make a better one, said the modest writer and margarita lover.) But they were just right for an afternoon on a tropical island.
A good number of the cruise guests had made the well-advertised trip to Dunn's River Falls, the famous visitor attraction of Jamaica, a 600-foot limestone rock formation known as the Niagara of Jamaica. The local sport is to ascend the falls as a group, holding hands, and enjoy being splashed. Special shoes can be rented, but are not required. It sounded like fun, but a little vertical for my present state of being. The margarita activity, on the other hand, required only lounging around near the beach and enjoying the view of white sand, turquoise waters, and the comical antics of local schlock vendors trying to get past the security forces. All in all, a memorable afternoon, including the fresh fish, crab and scallops, and some vague karaoke antics far indoors-from which heaven happily distracted us. We thought about swimming with dolphins, another advertised activity, but opted for quiet amusement rather than putting those beloved mammals to work entertaining humans. After all, this is their year. The UN has declared 2007 the Year of the Dolphin. I believe in giving them a break..
Toot, toot! At five p.m., we hurried back to the ship, and set off for Grand Cayman Island, a whole other chest of swag. Pirates' wrecks mingle with coral reef; in Sting Ray City, humans mingle with sting rays.
After signing on for a group charter tour to Stingray City, we were warned that the ride would be most comfortable (for those with bad backs) to sit at the stern of the launch. The heeding was taken to heel by a young British couple who came close to falling backwards into the water when the launch took off. Speeding against the waves, we all bounced several inches off our seats at each cross wave.-You probably lose weight, but you also get bunged up! However, numbers intact as we arrived at the heavily-populated-with-stingrays area known as Stingray City, we dove into the water and maneuvered toward what looked like at least a hundred people playing with, say, a hundred stingrays, in water about three feet deep, in the center of the crowd, surrounded by a circle of various sized tourist boats. . We were instructed in how to hold squid to feed the kite-shaped rays, who have no teeth (their mouths are UNDER their bodies), but a great sense of smell. We were warned not to touch any parts of our bodies with our hands holding the squid, as the rays were apt to give us a big suction kiss if they smelled the treat on any other part of our anatomy.
Once you get over some initial trepidation, you realize the rays are normally gentle creatures-they lollop around, the babies with a wingspan of about 18 inches, the big females over three feet wide. My bravado emerged, after an initial bout of squeamishness.
Later, we sped off to one of the local coral reefs for a splendid snorkel about those most beautiful, spectacular tropical fish of all shapes and sizes! How do they manage such delicate, clear beauty? God must love those coral reefs under the azure sky!
Food Glorious Food
Although Grand Cayman boasts both a Margaritaville and a Hard Rock Cafe, we opted for a tiny Thai restaurant set back out of the tourist area, around where we had decided to take an after-launch pre-lunch shore walk. My father also cautioned me while traveling to eat where you found a lot of natives eating. This was a good example; the pad tai was excellent, as was the chicken and the eggplant. No margaritas, but the local beer was cold and tasty.
Incidentally, the food on all cruise ships has the reputation of being appetizing and woefully plentiful. This cruise was no exception: I gained four pounds in five days.
At sea
Cruises are notably relaxing, and the Enchantress was well-geared to tranquility when one wanted that sense, or activities at wish. The exception-true on most big cruise ships, I imagine, was that a number of kids seemed to pay little or no attention to adults, but gathered together in droves looking for entertainment and occasional mischief.
Some male parents even encouraged their small boys to plunge into the "Adults Only" Solarium. They were thrown out by the buxom, take-no-prisoners matron, one boy in tears, the father, embarrassed finally at the outcome of his "I'm in charge here" attitude, leading the small son away from the pool by the hand, other swimmers and sunbathers courteous enough to pretend not to be enjoying the malfeasance. In the big open-to-all swimming pool, such goings on would have been greeted by cheers and snorts, for it was a very bustling noisy deck of the ship, where kids with indemnity cavorted freely, ignoring such signs as those on the Jacuzzis that stated "children under 16 not permitted unless accompanied by parent."
Many kids also had the urge to run gleefully around the decks, poking elevator buttons up and down simultaneously, and initiating other giggly gestures of juvenile independence. You gotta love 'em!
The final night on the ship, we were regaled by Hank, a fine jokester. Unfortunately, his best jokes are unprintable in a family newspaper.
All told, it was a lovely trip. Marie, the Portuguese head purser, was on hand daily to make it so. And there's something regal about having your bed all made in the morning, and turned down at night- with that chocolate mint on the pillow. I was reminded of the, yeah- dark side of life, remembering that the towel I had probably left on the bathroom floor at home following my hurried final shower before leaving for the cruise would be there on the floor when I returned. Alas! My fairy godmother had come along with me to enjoy the angel fish on the coral reef , and to spend the evening (while I was out of my stateroom) draping my bed with fascinating little animals created out of towels. At least, that's what our dutiful cabin attendant storied..
The Enchantress of the Seas can be enchanting.
For further information and pricing, go to www.royalcaribbean.com/dealsandmore, or telephone 1 800 256 6649 for particular concerns.
Bosley Wilder may be reached via bosleywilder@comcast.net
Cruising down the shores of High Barbaree!
--Mythical island folk song
O What fun it is to ride the Royal Caribbean Enchantress of the Seas! For five days last month, while the North chilled out in huge snow cups, we cruised the nose of Florida, sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale, deploying at Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman Island, stumbling up Dunn's River Falls and patting stingrays. The temperature stayed at about 80.6 F.
The part of Jamaica we visited, Ocho Rios, a tourist town, was littered where you wouldn't expect it to be, which involved jumping over Pepsi bottles and pizza wraps as we cruised down the road. But worth it: there was soul-stirring solo jazz being played on street corners-reggae and jazz both-guitars, ukuleles, saxophones, clarinets, hurtling wonderful sounds into the air, drowning out youngsters who stretched their hands through fences wheedling "A dollar, Miz, one dollar..." Security people, male and female, were numerous along the strip, in or out of uniform, but palpably gum shoe-y.
At lunchtime, we made our way along the many small art, dress and schlock shops to one of Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville cafes, where guests are called Parrotheads, and both the food and the security are good. The margaritas go without saying, tastily cold and frosty, (although I do make a better one, said the modest writer and margarita lover.) But they were just right for an afternoon on a tropical island.
A good number of the cruise guests had made the well-advertised trip to Dunn's River Falls, the famous visitor attraction of Jamaica, a 600-foot limestone rock formation known as the Niagara of Jamaica. The local sport is to ascend the falls as a group, holding hands, and enjoy being splashed. Special shoes can be rented, but are not required. It sounded like fun, but a little vertical for my present state of being. The margarita activity, on the other hand, required only lounging around near the beach and enjoying the view of white sand, turquoise waters, and the comical antics of local schlock vendors trying to get past the security forces. All in all, a memorable afternoon, including the fresh fish, crab and scallops, and some vague karaoke antics far indoors-from which heaven happily distracted us. We thought about swimming with dolphins, another advertised activity, but opted for quiet amusement rather than putting those beloved mammals to work entertaining humans. After all, this is their year. The UN has declared 2007 the Year of the Dolphin. I believe in giving them a break..
Toot, toot! At five p.m., we hurried back to the ship, and set off for Grand Cayman Island, a whole other chest of swag. Pirates' wrecks mingle with coral reef; in Sting Ray City, humans mingle with sting rays.
After signing on for a group charter tour to Stingray City, we were warned that the ride would be most comfortable (for those with bad backs) to sit at the stern of the launch. The heeding was taken to heel by a young British couple who came close to falling backwards into the water when the launch took off. Speeding against the waves, we all bounced several inches off our seats at each cross wave.-You probably lose weight, but you also get bunged up! However, numbers intact as we arrived at the heavily-populated-with-stingrays area known as Stingray City, we dove into the water and maneuvered toward what looked like at least a hundred people playing with, say, a hundred stingrays, in water about three feet deep, in the center of the crowd, surrounded by a circle of various sized tourist boats. . We were instructed in how to hold squid to feed the kite-shaped rays, who have no teeth (their mouths are UNDER their bodies), but a great sense of smell. We were warned not to touch any parts of our bodies with our hands holding the squid, as the rays were apt to give us a big suction kiss if they smelled the treat on any other part of our anatomy.
Once you get over some initial trepidation, you realize the rays are normally gentle creatures-they lollop around, the babies with a wingspan of about 18 inches, the big females over three feet wide. My bravado emerged, after an initial bout of squeamishness.
Later, we sped off to one of the local coral reefs for a splendid snorkel about those most beautiful, spectacular tropical fish of all shapes and sizes! How do they manage such delicate, clear beauty? God must love those coral reefs under the azure sky!
Food Glorious Food
Although Grand Cayman boasts both a Margaritaville and a Hard Rock Cafe, we opted for a tiny Thai restaurant set back out of the tourist area, around where we had decided to take an after-launch pre-lunch shore walk. My father also cautioned me while traveling to eat where you found a lot of natives eating. This was a good example; the pad tai was excellent, as was the chicken and the eggplant. No margaritas, but the local beer was cold and tasty.
Incidentally, the food on all cruise ships has the reputation of being appetizing and woefully plentiful. This cruise was no exception: I gained four pounds in five days.
At sea
Cruises are notably relaxing, and the Enchantress was well-geared to tranquility when one wanted that sense, or activities at wish. The exception-true on most big cruise ships, I imagine, was that a number of kids seemed to pay little or no attention to adults, but gathered together in droves looking for entertainment and occasional mischief.
Some male parents even encouraged their small boys to plunge into the "Adults Only" Solarium. They were thrown out by the buxom, take-no-prisoners matron, one boy in tears, the father, embarrassed finally at the outcome of his "I'm in charge here" attitude, leading the small son away from the pool by the hand, other swimmers and sunbathers courteous enough to pretend not to be enjoying the malfeasance. In the big open-to-all swimming pool, such goings on would have been greeted by cheers and snorts, for it was a very bustling noisy deck of the ship, where kids with indemnity cavorted freely, ignoring such signs as those on the Jacuzzis that stated "children under 16 not permitted unless accompanied by parent."
Many kids also had the urge to run gleefully around the decks, poking elevator buttons up and down simultaneously, and initiating other giggly gestures of juvenile independence. You gotta love 'em!
The final night on the ship, we were regaled by Hank, a fine jokester. Unfortunately, his best jokes are unprintable in a family newspaper.
All told, it was a lovely trip. Marie, the Portuguese head purser, was on hand daily to make it so. And there's something regal about having your bed all made in the morning, and turned down at night- with that chocolate mint on the pillow. I was reminded of the, yeah- dark side of life, remembering that the towel I had probably left on the bathroom floor at home following my hurried final shower before leaving for the cruise would be there on the floor when I returned. Alas! My fairy godmother had come along with me to enjoy the angel fish on the coral reef , and to spend the evening (while I was out of my stateroom) draping my bed with fascinating little animals created out of towels. At least, that's what our dutiful cabin attendant storied..
The Enchantress of the Seas can be enchanting.
For further information and pricing, go to www.royalcaribbean.com/dealsandmore, or telephone 1 800 256 6649 for particular concerns.
Bosley Wilder may be reached via bosleywilder@comcast.net
