Barbados - home of rum (malibu or gay)
Wednesday brought us to Barbados and probably the most anticipated port for me. One reason, RUM. Barbados is home to two big rum distilleries - Mount Gay and Malibu. I am fans of both versions and was excited to be able to tour one of the two distilleries, if not both.
Another reason - caves! Barbados, like most of the West Indies, has a volcanic past. This past is much further past than many of Barbados' neighboring islands (some of which have active volcanics). Old volcanics typically means certain types of rocks and those types of rocks typically mean caves. Barbados is no different, and we went for a spectacular spelunking at Harrison's Cave. This was no Indiana Jones cave adventure, this was cruise ship spelunking all the way. We arrived via a/c'd motorcoach to the cave and after a 5 minute wait, we boarded our open air tram for a drive through the cave. Talk about luxury - a drive through cave with a guide and all. I mean yuck, we got wet and stuff from the ewwwie water dripping from above.
The cave was pretty awesome despite the eeeeeeeeewwwie water.
Last reason I was excited about Barbados - BEACH TIME!
After our spelunking excursion, Maria went shopping with her Nonna and Papa while Jule, Alyssa, and I headed to Malibu beach, located on the property of the Malibu Rum distillery. This is MY kind of beach - warm, crisp blue waters, hot sun, ample shade and chairs, and of course, RUM within walking distance.
Give me a second here..... Mmmmm RUM
Frankly, I was a bit disappointed in the beach - high current made it tough for swimming especially with Alyssa in tow. Secondly, the long anticipated spectacular Caribbean view was either of the industrial ship yards to the west or the distillery lined beach to the east - not much of a view. The sand was nice - hardly anyone there except those on our tour bus and we had plenty of room to get tossed about in the surf. The steep drop off was another bad characteristic of this beach - hardly 10-15 feet from shore and I was to my nose in water. Again, this made it hard to swim with Alyssa and the current was strong enough to knock me off balance every once in a while.
Still, we had a good time. The beach had a snack shack from which to buy burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, and lots of rum drinks. Alyssa got a bit grouchy and whiney for a while and was put in a time out. Eventually she and Jule both took a good nap while sunbathing. I elected to ditch the sun and sand for the distillery tour which wasnt much - another disappointment.
Here is the Malibu Rum Distillery tour.
Put on a hard hat.
Walk around some rickety old wherehouses.
Enter one of them and stand next to a big stainless steel tank.
Guide says "this is phase one" and then says a few more things about what is added in phase one but the heavy Caribbean accent is making it hard to gather the other ingredients beyond sugar and water.
Leave this wherehouse and enter another with a similarly shaped yest much larger tank.
Guide explains that this is step 2 which seems to be just an advanced version of step 1 - as many tanks of step 1 converge into step 2.
We leave this part and the guide points to another room and says we cannot go there because that is the bottling operation and it is dangerous (so why the hard hats?).
The hard hat is starting to make me sweat quite a bit - so we leave step 2 and go into a small room remeniscent of an old school house with chairs and a small TV/VCR combo in the front.
Here we are treated to a 10 minute video showing historic Malibu rum commercials from the late 70s as far as I can tell. I kept waiting for Ricardo Montalbon to step out and welcome me to Fantasy Island with that shrimp Tatoo yelling "Da plane! Da plane!" (I'm fairly certain that midget made a porno following that stellar career of being known for pointing at planes and for being a side kick to a rich corinthian leather enthusiast ).
Anyhow, back to the tour - we leave the coolness of the school room and VCR entertainment and walk back past step 2's room, carefully around the bottling area and enter another room filled with cases of Malibu and Cockspur rum and a forklift. The guide explains that this is the shipping room. Really?
We leave that room, head back to where the tour started, ditch the hard hats (thank god!) and she sets up a bar with three different rums and starts pouring out the samples! Yummmmmm.
The Cockspur VSOP was stellar.
The tour left me cold - I wish I had visited the Mount Gay Rum distillery instead.
Anyway, I did pick up some samples to bring home and the best part was they didnt catch me at security while boarding the ship, so I had alcohol to drink on board should I have chosen to.
Anyway, another bonus of that day was seeing the big Cricket stadium where the World Cup final was played last year. The island nations of the West Indies co-hosted the tournament last year. I have no clue who won. I am sure it was not the US, nor Italy since we dont really waste our time with the sport.
Another bonus of the day was winning $200 at the blackjack tables on board the ship. Score!
Back home now and I was so eager to check real news. The onboard TV choices are slim with NBC and Fox affiliates out of Denver (WTF?) combined with a spanish CNN, some MTV style channel that actually plays videos (but the same 12 over and over), TNT sometimes of the day, and 4-5 channels dedicated to the ship.
These choices include:
1. the captain's and navigator's log showing you the ship's position, bearing, air temperture outside, pool temperature, the atmospheric pressure, wind direction and speed, ship speed, distance to next island, distance traveled...
2. Two channels showing replays of the ship's Cruise Director's talks (one on excursions, one from the opening show in the theater). The thing is showing us a talk on all the possible excursions is useful for the first day or two, but after you have been to a port and they keep showing the same information, its a bit old
3. Another channel showing videos made from around the ship (say of salsa dancing or hairy chest contests) or of certain excursions (videographers will go on some excursions capturing moments specific to this cruise so they can sell a cruise video with footage from just this one week). The only time this came in handy was after Alyssa got to be in the Christmas show at the end of the week and we got to see it replayed on the TV.
4. A channel showing artwork up for auction during different days of the cruise. BORING.
Anyway, back to reality... I got to see some football at the Dallas airport and someone apparently threw a shoe at Bush (what took so long?) but I was so eager to grab a newspaper to see that Central Michigan is indeed favored by 6 over Florida Atlantic in the Motor City Bowl the day after Christmas. Whooo, my plans are SET!
Anyhow, we have come home to a broken heater so it is a bit cold in the house. But we are all in one piece and happy and had a great time.
Now, how do I get back on Pacific Time? Its 930am and it feels like lunch.
dr
15 December 2008
14 December 2008
Dominica the rainforest Island
Tuesday brought our arrival to our first real volcanic/rainforest island. It seems as you travel south from Puerto Freako the islands become a bit more volcanic and tropical - but some of this might be lack of development. Then as you get to the furthest south (on this trip at least) which was Barbados, the island is relatively flat again.
Anyway, Tuesday brought Dominica (Dom-ih-nee-kah) and the most undeveloped and least beachy of the islands. The capital of this independent island nation is Roseau and this is a very poor town. Dominating the city was a old cathedral up the hill from the port. Roseau has a backdrop of lush tropical mountains all promising waterfalls, parrots, and mud. This is probably the wettest of the islands we visited and there is also active volcanic activity in the form of a boiling lack and natural hot mud baths.
We had an afternoon tour of the rainforest and waterfalls lined up. Jule decided to stay on board with the girls and go swimming and relax. Thus, first thing my parents and I trekked the mile or so up the hill to the cathedral to take a look. The people along the way were friendly and we passed several construction sights that would make your cringe from safety and UBC violations.
The cathedral was absolutely gorgeous for a building roughly 150 years old and in a crumbling state. However there was a beauty of this place that i am not sure my camera caught. I really enjoyed my 20 minutes roaming around looking at beautiful stained glass, a gorgeous nativity scene, some amazing statuary, and an historic charm I last truly experienced in rural England or Italy. The only drawback was being followed around the church by local laypersons who wanted to make sure I made good on a promise of a donation, which I was glad to give but not be harrassed about.
Dominca was very steamy and very hot. One nice thing was that from the dock you could see a myriad of tropical fish swimming around - needlefish, angels, yellowtail, tigersnappers, barbarellas, snapperfins, and groupers.
The afternoon brought time for our tour - a 3 hour tour in fact.
I really enjoyed this tour. We learned a bit of history, but also saw a lot of lush rainforest, a beautiful waterfall called Jaco Falls (without Michael Jackson anywhere), lots of wild fruits growing in the trees, and a big highlight, wild poinsettias in full bloom.
We got a free sample of rum punch (Caribbean staple drink), some fruit (their pineapple is smaller and sweeter than Hawaiian varieties). Just a great time all around.
One thing I saw right away was a rather modern looking sports stadium hovering above the poverty filled capital. I asked "Football or cricket?" - I was told "China".
Huh? Well the Chinese have been busy in the Caribbean building sports stadiums to promote these island nations attending the 2008 Olympics. I even noticed in other islands some buildings or apartments built by the Chinese. Insteresting government that has so much of their own population in poverty can spend billions world wide to promote sporting events.
Anyway, I really enjoyed Dominca - but would not stay there. This is an island for the adventuresome who want to get out into the rainforest and hike and live with monkeys and bugs and live off the land. This is the only Island that still has a resident population of Carib Indians, the very people that Columbus "rediscovered" as they say here in the Caribbean. I learned that the Carib Indians are believed to have originated in Asia, crossing the land bridge and eventually ending up in Central American and then across the Caribbean sea to the various islands.
And you thought military families moved around. Sheesh.
I bet when Columbus showed up they were like "ah shit, time to move again"!
Currently I am typingf this from the Dallas airport on our return flight.
I still hate puerto freako and this morning did not help - crappy airport and service.
Home soon - I am in shorts and tee shirt and it is apparently mid 40s and raining back home.
Uh oh. I arrive at 10pm
dr
Tuesday brought our arrival to our first real volcanic/rainforest island. It seems as you travel south from Puerto Freako the islands become a bit more volcanic and tropical - but some of this might be lack of development. Then as you get to the furthest south (on this trip at least) which was Barbados, the island is relatively flat again.
Anyway, Tuesday brought Dominica (Dom-ih-nee-kah) and the most undeveloped and least beachy of the islands. The capital of this independent island nation is Roseau and this is a very poor town. Dominating the city was a old cathedral up the hill from the port. Roseau has a backdrop of lush tropical mountains all promising waterfalls, parrots, and mud. This is probably the wettest of the islands we visited and there is also active volcanic activity in the form of a boiling lack and natural hot mud baths.
We had an afternoon tour of the rainforest and waterfalls lined up. Jule decided to stay on board with the girls and go swimming and relax. Thus, first thing my parents and I trekked the mile or so up the hill to the cathedral to take a look. The people along the way were friendly and we passed several construction sights that would make your cringe from safety and UBC violations.
The cathedral was absolutely gorgeous for a building roughly 150 years old and in a crumbling state. However there was a beauty of this place that i am not sure my camera caught. I really enjoyed my 20 minutes roaming around looking at beautiful stained glass, a gorgeous nativity scene, some amazing statuary, and an historic charm I last truly experienced in rural England or Italy. The only drawback was being followed around the church by local laypersons who wanted to make sure I made good on a promise of a donation, which I was glad to give but not be harrassed about.
Dominca was very steamy and very hot. One nice thing was that from the dock you could see a myriad of tropical fish swimming around - needlefish, angels, yellowtail, tigersnappers, barbarellas, snapperfins, and groupers.
The afternoon brought time for our tour - a 3 hour tour in fact.
I really enjoyed this tour. We learned a bit of history, but also saw a lot of lush rainforest, a beautiful waterfall called Jaco Falls (without Michael Jackson anywhere), lots of wild fruits growing in the trees, and a big highlight, wild poinsettias in full bloom.
We got a free sample of rum punch (Caribbean staple drink), some fruit (their pineapple is smaller and sweeter than Hawaiian varieties). Just a great time all around.
One thing I saw right away was a rather modern looking sports stadium hovering above the poverty filled capital. I asked "Football or cricket?" - I was told "China".
Huh? Well the Chinese have been busy in the Caribbean building sports stadiums to promote these island nations attending the 2008 Olympics. I even noticed in other islands some buildings or apartments built by the Chinese. Insteresting government that has so much of their own population in poverty can spend billions world wide to promote sporting events.
Anyway, I really enjoyed Dominca - but would not stay there. This is an island for the adventuresome who want to get out into the rainforest and hike and live with monkeys and bugs and live off the land. This is the only Island that still has a resident population of Carib Indians, the very people that Columbus "rediscovered" as they say here in the Caribbean. I learned that the Carib Indians are believed to have originated in Asia, crossing the land bridge and eventually ending up in Central American and then across the Caribbean sea to the various islands.
And you thought military families moved around. Sheesh.
I bet when Columbus showed up they were like "ah shit, time to move again"!
Currently I am typingf this from the Dallas airport on our return flight.
I still hate puerto freako and this morning did not help - crappy airport and service.
Home soon - I am in shorts and tee shirt and it is apparently mid 40s and raining back home.
Uh oh. I arrive at 10pm
dr
12 December 2008
Puerto Freakins estan muy cornholios -
As an aside from catching up, please allow me to comment on Puerto Ricans.
Puerto Rico apparently doesnt educate their children the entire mnth of December, so they are all on vacation, and half the effing bario is on this ship. Screw A Rod.
Puerto Ricans are rude sobs. They are pushy, they take over, they are loud, they disobey rules pretending not to speak Ingles except that the stupido sign is en espanol tambien.
There have been times on this trip that I have had the thought to take down the many PUerto Rican flags people have placed here or there and piss on them. Usar el bano muchacho on tu flago porko.
Here is a thought, let Puerto Rico be free - eff em. They are living a goddam dream and it is obvious they have tremendous wealth tucked away but make their city look crappy to keep getting handouts. I have loved the people an places on every one of these islands except Puerto Freako. This place sucks. Its a shittole and we should just dump the place and all this talk of the 51st state. And you know what, we are taking baseball with us. Go ahead and have your chicken wing looking men box for all I care - dump Puerto Freako.
Let me describe Puerto Freakins... the guys all are Yankees fans. They wear XXXXXXXXXXL sirts on their size S frame. They wear XXXXXXL hats crooked and big ass chains aound their necks. Their shorts are down to their chicken bone knees and they act like aholes until someone hits a drum and then they all begin to do some wicked dances and half of them come out with drums of their own (god knows where they hide them in all that baggy clothing).
Hand these cheeky monkeys a freakin set of bowling pins and let them juggle like the clowns they appear to be.
Oh, and the finger wag that the women have developed. Oh no yoooo didnnnn! Oh yes I did.
Take that fat finger an shove it up yor fat a$$. Apparently Puerto Freakins buy one size clothing between couples and the men just wear the women's size and add a hat and bowling pins.
I feel better. Do you??
We are havig a great time despite the Freakins. I hope I can blog some more.
Tomorrow is St Kitts - aall of the islands have been so great and unique.
One highlight was sailing past the island of Montseratt at first light. If you recall, Montseratt was tge Carib island destroyed by a volcanic eruption a few years ago. Amazing site tosee a half blown away island.
So we have been to:
St Thomas
Dominica (Said "Dom-ihh-neee-kah)
Barbados (Malibu and Mont Gay Rum)
Antigua (not Antigua - I wll explain - ours is said "An-teee-gaah" instead of the other called "An-tee-gwaaah")
St Lucia (Loo-see-aaah)
tomorrow
St Kitts (pronounced "Hahkeeenah") just kidding
ciao for now.
As an aside from catching up, please allow me to comment on Puerto Ricans.
Puerto Rico apparently doesnt educate their children the entire mnth of December, so they are all on vacation, and half the effing bario is on this ship. Screw A Rod.
Puerto Ricans are rude sobs. They are pushy, they take over, they are loud, they disobey rules pretending not to speak Ingles except that the stupido sign is en espanol tambien.
There have been times on this trip that I have had the thought to take down the many PUerto Rican flags people have placed here or there and piss on them. Usar el bano muchacho on tu flago porko.
Here is a thought, let Puerto Rico be free - eff em. They are living a goddam dream and it is obvious they have tremendous wealth tucked away but make their city look crappy to keep getting handouts. I have loved the people an places on every one of these islands except Puerto Freako. This place sucks. Its a shittole and we should just dump the place and all this talk of the 51st state. And you know what, we are taking baseball with us. Go ahead and have your chicken wing looking men box for all I care - dump Puerto Freako.
Let me describe Puerto Freakins... the guys all are Yankees fans. They wear XXXXXXXXXXL sirts on their size S frame. They wear XXXXXXL hats crooked and big ass chains aound their necks. Their shorts are down to their chicken bone knees and they act like aholes until someone hits a drum and then they all begin to do some wicked dances and half of them come out with drums of their own (god knows where they hide them in all that baggy clothing).
Hand these cheeky monkeys a freakin set of bowling pins and let them juggle like the clowns they appear to be.
Oh, and the finger wag that the women have developed. Oh no yoooo didnnnn! Oh yes I did.
Take that fat finger an shove it up yor fat a$$. Apparently Puerto Freakins buy one size clothing between couples and the men just wear the women's size and add a hat and bowling pins.
I feel better. Do you??
We are havig a great time despite the Freakins. I hope I can blog some more.
Tomorrow is St Kitts - aall of the islands have been so great and unique.
One highlight was sailing past the island of Montseratt at first light. If you recall, Montseratt was tge Carib island destroyed by a volcanic eruption a few years ago. Amazing site tosee a half blown away island.
So we have been to:
St Thomas
Dominica (Said "Dom-ihh-neee-kah)
Barbados (Malibu and Mont Gay Rum)
Antigua (not Antigua - I wll explain - ours is said "An-teee-gaah" instead of the other called "An-tee-gwaaah")
St Lucia (Loo-see-aaah)
tomorrow
St Kitts (pronounced "Hahkeeenah") just kidding
ciao for now.
Catching up is hard to do....happy Friday y'all!
Hey everyone - today we are in St Lucia in the Lesse Antilles or more commonly known as the West Indies. I've either been too busy or incapable of finding good internet service to post all week. However, St Lucia is the place.
To catch you up, lets chat about St Thomas, last Monday, and the last place I posted.
We took advantage of Camp Carnival's all ages times that morning to do some shopping. Other than 4-5pm each day, Alyssa can spend all day in Camp Carnival if she or we wanted. Maria however is still too young with the program beginning at 2 years old. NOnetheless, each morning they have babysittig hours fro 645am to noon that we can drop Maria off for $6 per hour. Well worth us having a break.
So our first attempt at ths was Monday inSt Thomas (sorry for th typing, ths keyboard sucks).
My parents and us went shopping in Charlotte aAmelie, the capitol of the USVI. We also got to see quite a bit of the city and government buildings.
That afternoon we met the kids for lunch, relaxed for a few moments, and then got off th ship again - Jule took the kids to the buttefly world while I blogged.
All in all St Thomas was nice, and as I would soon find is true for almost all the islands, the people were great. St Thomas has a super honest taxi service as you book taxis through a government run agent explaining exactly where you want to go an what yo want to do an they have standard rates. This really puts one at ease using local transportation. On our way back from shopping, our taxi (which ar really big open air buses) had a driver who liked to be a tour guide as well. The best part here was that he was so eager to show off or collect tips that he not only pointed out siland features an government or historic sites, but also the KFC, the slums area, the local dump, how many square miles a small island was, the population of the jail, etc.
Very educational!
The temperature has been fairly consistent from island to island - the only difference being cloud cover and rain. Humidity is arond 80 percent. Temps ranging from upper 70s to upper 80s, but no where too hot and always a break. St Thomas seemed the hottest except maybe Barbados, but that might ave to do with us shopping in developed areas the entie time (ie concrete!).
Monday night brought our first dinne in the formal dining room and a disappointement. The asst waiter was sick (tooth ache) so we had horrible service. This is since improved.
Gotta hit blog.... time is out
Hey everyone - today we are in St Lucia in the Lesse Antilles or more commonly known as the West Indies. I've either been too busy or incapable of finding good internet service to post all week. However, St Lucia is the place.
To catch you up, lets chat about St Thomas, last Monday, and the last place I posted.
We took advantage of Camp Carnival's all ages times that morning to do some shopping. Other than 4-5pm each day, Alyssa can spend all day in Camp Carnival if she or we wanted. Maria however is still too young with the program beginning at 2 years old. NOnetheless, each morning they have babysittig hours fro 645am to noon that we can drop Maria off for $6 per hour. Well worth us having a break.
So our first attempt at ths was Monday inSt Thomas (sorry for th typing, ths keyboard sucks).
My parents and us went shopping in Charlotte aAmelie, the capitol of the USVI. We also got to see quite a bit of the city and government buildings.
That afternoon we met the kids for lunch, relaxed for a few moments, and then got off th ship again - Jule took the kids to the buttefly world while I blogged.
All in all St Thomas was nice, and as I would soon find is true for almost all the islands, the people were great. St Thomas has a super honest taxi service as you book taxis through a government run agent explaining exactly where you want to go an what yo want to do an they have standard rates. This really puts one at ease using local transportation. On our way back from shopping, our taxi (which ar really big open air buses) had a driver who liked to be a tour guide as well. The best part here was that he was so eager to show off or collect tips that he not only pointed out siland features an government or historic sites, but also the KFC, the slums area, the local dump, how many square miles a small island was, the population of the jail, etc.
Very educational!
The temperature has been fairly consistent from island to island - the only difference being cloud cover and rain. Humidity is arond 80 percent. Temps ranging from upper 70s to upper 80s, but no where too hot and always a break. St Thomas seemed the hottest except maybe Barbados, but that might ave to do with us shopping in developed areas the entie time (ie concrete!).
Monday night brought our first dinne in the formal dining room and a disappointement. The asst waiter was sick (tooth ache) so we had horrible service. This is since improved.
Gotta hit blog.... time is out
08 December 2008
San Juan-t to Get On the Ship! And Big A$$ Fans -
Well, we made it to the port just fine after leaving the Embassy Suites. A portage bagger took our bags to check them in, we waltzed up to the terminal after dad inquired where our luggage went 3 or 4 times, and were told that instead of allowing us to board at noon, we would be boarding at 330pm! Ugh, another delay. San Juan's cruise ship terminal is very small by modern cruise port standards - so small that when you put 2500 passengers waiting into this room of maybe 300 chairs, things start to get a bit crowded and anxious. Lucky for us, we were there early enough to snag seats, however they were directly under these giagantic ceiling fans. The fans were called "Big Ass Fans" - no kidding, I even snapped a photo of them.
Because of our early arrival, we were assigned boarding group 10, whatever that meant. Port authorities were encouraging us to walk to old San Juan while we waited - but without a stroller for Maria we were a bit hesitant to walk into the unknown. So we waited and waited. Luckily for me and Jule, Bacardi, Cruzin Rum, Baileys, and a few other liquor makers were ready to make us happy by offering samples of their mouth watering products. Mmmmm.
Well, eventually at 3pm they started boarding passengers - VIP priorities first, the boarding group 1.... 2.......3.....4-6, 7-9...10-13 (holy cow they are moving fast!).....14-16... whoa, we are going too fast. Essentially, the person calling out the boarding groups stopped because she ran out of numbers. At this point, the terminal was a mad house of people all in different board groups pushing and tugging their way from 5 lanes of peole down to 1 lane, back to two, back to one... and so on until a good 45 minutes later, we were finally on board, starved, tired, and ready to set sail.
The rest of the day went well. Alyssa, Maria and Jule attended the orientation for Camp Carnival while I rested. Then Jule bumped off both kids to nap while she scooted around the ship. At 930pm the dreaded muster drill happend - which meant squeezing in to uncomfortable life vest for a very long explanation of what will become of your dying carcass while you drift at seas after the ship goes under. I dont like muster drills. Especially with kids.
Anyway, it was another day, but we instantly relaxed while on ship, enjoyed some food and music and all were happy to nod off to a nice sleep, swaying back and forth in the seas.
We have a very nice balcony room on the top most deck with rooms - just about 100' from the nearest pool, one stair case below the kids pool, and two floors down from the water slide and 2 floors above the cafe. Its a nice location on the ship, just 2 minutes from the kids room and 3 from the gym (yet to use, but for good reason).
Not much to write about the first day on the ship. There are a lot of pushy Puerto Ricans on board - which is getting anoying fast, but man these people know how to party and know how to dance. The pool deck quickly became a salsa dance last night - fun to watch.
Today we are in St. Thomas, USVI. This place is gorgeous and the weather is ideal.
I will write more now - I have found a great internet cafe here in St Thomas 2 blocks from the ship and directly across a tiny street from Butterfly world, where the kids and Jule are enjoying themselves.
Is it winter? Couldnt tell from here except for the occassional xmas decor.
ya mon
Well, we made it to the port just fine after leaving the Embassy Suites. A portage bagger took our bags to check them in, we waltzed up to the terminal after dad inquired where our luggage went 3 or 4 times, and were told that instead of allowing us to board at noon, we would be boarding at 330pm! Ugh, another delay. San Juan's cruise ship terminal is very small by modern cruise port standards - so small that when you put 2500 passengers waiting into this room of maybe 300 chairs, things start to get a bit crowded and anxious. Lucky for us, we were there early enough to snag seats, however they were directly under these giagantic ceiling fans. The fans were called "Big Ass Fans" - no kidding, I even snapped a photo of them.
Because of our early arrival, we were assigned boarding group 10, whatever that meant. Port authorities were encouraging us to walk to old San Juan while we waited - but without a stroller for Maria we were a bit hesitant to walk into the unknown. So we waited and waited. Luckily for me and Jule, Bacardi, Cruzin Rum, Baileys, and a few other liquor makers were ready to make us happy by offering samples of their mouth watering products. Mmmmm.
Well, eventually at 3pm they started boarding passengers - VIP priorities first, the boarding group 1.... 2.......3.....4-6, 7-9...10-13 (holy cow they are moving fast!).....14-16... whoa, we are going too fast. Essentially, the person calling out the boarding groups stopped because she ran out of numbers. At this point, the terminal was a mad house of people all in different board groups pushing and tugging their way from 5 lanes of peole down to 1 lane, back to two, back to one... and so on until a good 45 minutes later, we were finally on board, starved, tired, and ready to set sail.
The rest of the day went well. Alyssa, Maria and Jule attended the orientation for Camp Carnival while I rested. Then Jule bumped off both kids to nap while she scooted around the ship. At 930pm the dreaded muster drill happend - which meant squeezing in to uncomfortable life vest for a very long explanation of what will become of your dying carcass while you drift at seas after the ship goes under. I dont like muster drills. Especially with kids.
Anyway, it was another day, but we instantly relaxed while on ship, enjoyed some food and music and all were happy to nod off to a nice sleep, swaying back and forth in the seas.
We have a very nice balcony room on the top most deck with rooms - just about 100' from the nearest pool, one stair case below the kids pool, and two floors down from the water slide and 2 floors above the cafe. Its a nice location on the ship, just 2 minutes from the kids room and 3 from the gym (yet to use, but for good reason).
Not much to write about the first day on the ship. There are a lot of pushy Puerto Ricans on board - which is getting anoying fast, but man these people know how to party and know how to dance. The pool deck quickly became a salsa dance last night - fun to watch.
Today we are in St. Thomas, USVI. This place is gorgeous and the weather is ideal.
I will write more now - I have found a great internet cafe here in St Thomas 2 blocks from the ship and directly across a tiny street from Butterfly world, where the kids and Jule are enjoying themselves.
Is it winter? Couldnt tell from here except for the occassional xmas decor.
ya mon
07 December 2008
Dallas hell - American Airlines bungholios:
Well, what Dallas did for my colon, it did little for our patience and heart rate. Not long after my movement, the time came to board the plane. So the American Idiots called us up, asking for priority and pre board customers. So of course the entire plane crowds to the front. There we all stand for about 7 or 8 minutes before the lady announces that the flight attendants for our flight have not yet arrived, will be doing so shortly, but are arriving at the A Terminal and we are in D (remember a good dookie is in the Dallas D Terminal).
So we stand, and stand, and stand, and stand..for about 30 minutes. Finally they let the old people on board, then first class, then business class, then boarding group 1.... wait, what happened to preboarders?? I mean, at this point we already have to knock every first class and business class passenger in the head with a car seat.
According to the American Idiot associate, they do not preboard as a company policy. Of course, they did the opposite in Sacramento. So she wont let us preboard. Luckily we were in boarding group 2, but this still meant we had to hoist Maria and her car seat above 20 heads, then stand in line as everyone packs their wardrobe into the overhead bins. How annoying. As we were boarding, I said angrily to the American Idiot associate that their policy is a crock...and she says "Oh, I didnt know you were carrying the seat on board" Uhh, I told you three times b-----!
"Oh, I guess you COULD HAVE preboarded."
I think they still lynch folks in Texas...so I avoided causing bodily harm.
The flight went okay except we were 45 minutes late, making our 4 hour layover a 5 hour layover. This was the trickle down effect. Maria really started to get a bit fussy about half way into the 4.5 hour flight. Alyssa was a gem. Instead of arriving in Puerto Rico at 930pm local we got here closer to 1020 pm local. By the time we let everyone else off the plane except the old people, it was closer to 1050pm - and by the time our luggage arrived, we stood in a 30 minute line for a taxi at 1115pm. This meant we got to our hotel around midnight Puerto Rico time.
Trickle down? Well, the American Idiot associate back in Dallas forgot to gate check Alyssa's booster seat (not that we needed it here) which meant we had to wait for all baggage to clear the claim to see if they tucked it at with the baggage. Being 11pm, no one was working the lost and found. Arriving here at midnight rather than maybe 10pm or 1030pm meant the restaurant (Outback steakhouse) had closed and we had not had food in a long while. Maria was fussy, so her and Jule stayed in the room while my parents, Alyssa, and I took another cab to a nearby Chilis to eat. Chilis took roughly 45 minutes to bring 3 sandwiches and a burger.
We got back to the hotel at 130am.
My mom and I took a quick peek at the hotel's casino...so I was down at 2am PR time, which is 10pm pacific time. Having awoke in Sacramento at 3am, I was pretty tired as was the entire family.
Anyway, amongst other things yesterday. My dad misplaced his license, I misplaced our luggage claims tickets so we had to have security check our IDs. The charger for our iPod broke. We were informed by the very honest and well regulated local Taxis that we well overpaid for our cruise ship transfers today. And the damned remote control for the TV in the room was broken!
SIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH....
thats okay. It's Sunday. our first look out of our hotel window at Puerto Rico (we are facing the moutains) is absolutely gorgeous! The holiday decor on display last night was amazing. The night life here is outstanding....as we were eating and hoping to get to sleep last night around 1am, most folks, dressed to the nines, were just getting out. San Juan seems like a really nice resort area, but I can only say from a glance from the window of a cab, a hotel room, and a Chili's.
In about an hour we drive to the cruise ship and leave all of our worries and Alyssa's booster seat behind for a few days. American Idiot airlines says it will be waiting for us, along with our regular lives, in Sacramento next week. Riiiight.
Bon voyage for now.
dr
Well, what Dallas did for my colon, it did little for our patience and heart rate. Not long after my movement, the time came to board the plane. So the American Idiots called us up, asking for priority and pre board customers. So of course the entire plane crowds to the front. There we all stand for about 7 or 8 minutes before the lady announces that the flight attendants for our flight have not yet arrived, will be doing so shortly, but are arriving at the A Terminal and we are in D (remember a good dookie is in the Dallas D Terminal).
So we stand, and stand, and stand, and stand..for about 30 minutes. Finally they let the old people on board, then first class, then business class, then boarding group 1.... wait, what happened to preboarders?? I mean, at this point we already have to knock every first class and business class passenger in the head with a car seat.
According to the American Idiot associate, they do not preboard as a company policy. Of course, they did the opposite in Sacramento. So she wont let us preboard. Luckily we were in boarding group 2, but this still meant we had to hoist Maria and her car seat above 20 heads, then stand in line as everyone packs their wardrobe into the overhead bins. How annoying. As we were boarding, I said angrily to the American Idiot associate that their policy is a crock...and she says "Oh, I didnt know you were carrying the seat on board" Uhh, I told you three times b-----!
"Oh, I guess you COULD HAVE preboarded."
I think they still lynch folks in Texas...so I avoided causing bodily harm.
The flight went okay except we were 45 minutes late, making our 4 hour layover a 5 hour layover. This was the trickle down effect. Maria really started to get a bit fussy about half way into the 4.5 hour flight. Alyssa was a gem. Instead of arriving in Puerto Rico at 930pm local we got here closer to 1020 pm local. By the time we let everyone else off the plane except the old people, it was closer to 1050pm - and by the time our luggage arrived, we stood in a 30 minute line for a taxi at 1115pm. This meant we got to our hotel around midnight Puerto Rico time.
Trickle down? Well, the American Idiot associate back in Dallas forgot to gate check Alyssa's booster seat (not that we needed it here) which meant we had to wait for all baggage to clear the claim to see if they tucked it at with the baggage. Being 11pm, no one was working the lost and found. Arriving here at midnight rather than maybe 10pm or 1030pm meant the restaurant (Outback steakhouse) had closed and we had not had food in a long while. Maria was fussy, so her and Jule stayed in the room while my parents, Alyssa, and I took another cab to a nearby Chilis to eat. Chilis took roughly 45 minutes to bring 3 sandwiches and a burger.
We got back to the hotel at 130am.
My mom and I took a quick peek at the hotel's casino...so I was down at 2am PR time, which is 10pm pacific time. Having awoke in Sacramento at 3am, I was pretty tired as was the entire family.
Anyway, amongst other things yesterday. My dad misplaced his license, I misplaced our luggage claims tickets so we had to have security check our IDs. The charger for our iPod broke. We were informed by the very honest and well regulated local Taxis that we well overpaid for our cruise ship transfers today. And the damned remote control for the TV in the room was broken!
SIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH....
thats okay. It's Sunday. our first look out of our hotel window at Puerto Rico (we are facing the moutains) is absolutely gorgeous! The holiday decor on display last night was amazing. The night life here is outstanding....as we were eating and hoping to get to sleep last night around 1am, most folks, dressed to the nines, were just getting out. San Juan seems like a really nice resort area, but I can only say from a glance from the window of a cab, a hotel room, and a Chili's.
In about an hour we drive to the cruise ship and leave all of our worries and Alyssa's booster seat behind for a few days. American Idiot airlines says it will be waiting for us, along with our regular lives, in Sacramento next week. Riiiight.
Bon voyage for now.
dr
06 December 2008
Dallas Airport
Well, we had a wonderful fliight to Dallas... Alysssa was a gem. maria slept and was mostly playful until the very end, but even then, typical Maria, gripes with smile.
the plane wasnt full, so we could spread out a little bit.
gotta be quicck since I am on a pay perr use machine.
Wanted to give a traveler's handy tip.
Dallas fw airport - if you are departinng out of d terminal there are private toilets upstairs.
In the middle of this triangular shaped terminal are shops. two restaurants are up on a mezzanine. go up the escalators and turn left and private poopers are yours.
no kidding, 15 x 10 rooms that you can lock.
I feel better.
So I have 4 minutes.
The flight was earlybut easy. Dad misplaced his driver's license, but nowadays we travel with passports so this is not an issue.
In abobut 2 hours we board the fllight to San Juan for another 4 hour jaunt.
Cant tell you how much we are all excited. Even more so that I got my own pooper at the airport.
gotta go.
I hope to post from San Juan at the Embassy Suites.
ciao
dr
Well, we had a wonderful fliight to Dallas... Alysssa was a gem. maria slept and was mostly playful until the very end, but even then, typical Maria, gripes with smile.
the plane wasnt full, so we could spread out a little bit.
gotta be quicck since I am on a pay perr use machine.
Wanted to give a traveler's handy tip.
Dallas fw airport - if you are departinng out of d terminal there are private toilets upstairs.
In the middle of this triangular shaped terminal are shops. two restaurants are up on a mezzanine. go up the escalators and turn left and private poopers are yours.
no kidding, 15 x 10 rooms that you can lock.
I feel better.
So I have 4 minutes.
The flight was earlybut easy. Dad misplaced his driver's license, but nowadays we travel with passports so this is not an issue.
In abobut 2 hours we board the fllight to San Juan for another 4 hour jaunt.
Cant tell you how much we are all excited. Even more so that I got my own pooper at the airport.
gotta go.
I hope to post from San Juan at the Embassy Suites.
ciao
dr
03 December 2008
THANKSGIVING DAY
The most wonderful holiday of the year - Thanksgiving Day - has come and gone once again. Although one would think that this holiday is probably the most likely to be exactly the same from year to year, I have learned that it is the subtle differences that make each one unique.
Yes, we eat turkey and stuffing like everyone else. Yes, there is football and parades to watch on TV. Sure there are more desserts that humanly possible to consume - but each year offers some unique difference that makes each Thanksgiving a bit special.
This year I can think of a few things that happened around the Rizzardo household that I will most likely remember for about, maybe a week or so - but noteworthy. By 1pm both Moms (Rizzardo and Humberstone) had arrived at our house to help with the final preparations for Thanksgiving dinner (starting at a kid-friendly 3pm this year). By 1:20pm the debates of turkey basting, gravy mixing, and mashed potato mashing was in full swing. We have learned over the past few years to give each mom their own "kingdom" to have say over - my mom gets the turkey basting as she is easily offended by anything other than her own turkey tastes. Joan gets the gravy and a few other chores - having a fine mixing technique and the focus to work on detailed jobs. Jule hovers over last minute seating arrangements, napkin folding, and this year at least, Maria feeding. I have learned to give a very wide birth to the kitchen, table, or zip code that will host Rizzardo Thanksgivings. Alyssa was happy to hold a spoon or spatula and "help" for 30 seconds before she was off to play princess or pony or attack daddy.
One change for me this year was avoiding the crap NFL choices given to us (someone take away the Detroit Lions franchise altogether) and watched live UEFA Cup soccer online. My choice was far better watching a dramatic last second goal enabling Milan to tie Portsmouth. I know that means nothing to most of you. To me it was instant jubilee as displayed by my yelping and fist pumping. This drew a bit of raised eyebrows from the tri-kingdom kitchen!
By 3pm, most guests had arrived, but the salad did not. So my Uncle Gene had to rush back to their place to find the salad, and eventually we started eating around 4. By this time, the potatoes were a fine whip of mash, the gravy was smooth as butter, and the turkey was basted so many times, it must have figured it had died and gone to turkey heaven. Well, it was dead, but I wouldn't describe being carved by an electronic serving knife as heaven. Much laughter ensued when Jule broke out the electronic knife in favor of the traditional serving knife. My dad compared the knife to a Sawz-All. Anyhow, dinner went off without a hitch - we had the regular turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, bread, vegetables, two different green bean casseroles, two different salads, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Why is a partridge sitting in a pear tree? Pears are a fall harvest, correct? So by the first day of Christmas, your true love is giving you a tree with decaying fruit and a bird sitting in it. My true love gave me an XBox last year - no damned decayed fruit.
I digress. Dinner was great, desserts were even better, and then the alcohol began to flow. We'd already powered through about 6 bottles of wine (13 adults) - when it was time for the liquor. Grappa with coffee, rum with coke, cream rum on the rocks, and the Parampompoli (an Italian liquor you heat, light on fire, then serve to warm to subcockles of your heart). It was about the second batch of Parampompoli that I nearly caught my mother-in-law's hair on fire. I know because suddenly someone shreiked a very loud "OH SH*T!" that put an abrupt end to the conversation at the dinner table. The Parampompoli that was on the stove caught fire right as poor Joan was standing over it tending to turkey stock. So that was exciting - and immediately there was a lot more interest in drinking Parampompoli. So nearly setting my MIL on fire was a first, and one I will likely not forget. I am pretty sure she was understanding of the accident.
So turkey day had come and gone. Along with it the 19th straight time Jamal and I played tennis, a few bad football games, one big parade, lots of alcohol, and no need for my MIL to pluck her eyebrows for a few months. The kids were all well behaved - Maria enjoyed her first lickings of turkey and stuffing while Alyssa really got into the decorating and serving roles wanting to be Mommy's big helper.
Me? Well I just sit back and enjoy the ride. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it focuses on family. It is a chance to tell stories of the past while making new memories for the future. It is a holiday that is void of commercialism and full of tradition. It is the first day off of four, yet the last day before the holiday storm. What is so special about Thanksgiving is that in my 34 versions, I have only celebrated in 4 places: Mt. Shasta, my parent's house, my sister's house, and my house - all places we Rizzardos call home. For that alone, I am thankful.
The most wonderful holiday of the year - Thanksgiving Day - has come and gone once again. Although one would think that this holiday is probably the most likely to be exactly the same from year to year, I have learned that it is the subtle differences that make each one unique.
Yes, we eat turkey and stuffing like everyone else. Yes, there is football and parades to watch on TV. Sure there are more desserts that humanly possible to consume - but each year offers some unique difference that makes each Thanksgiving a bit special.
This year I can think of a few things that happened around the Rizzardo household that I will most likely remember for about, maybe a week or so - but noteworthy. By 1pm both Moms (Rizzardo and Humberstone) had arrived at our house to help with the final preparations for Thanksgiving dinner (starting at a kid-friendly 3pm this year). By 1:20pm the debates of turkey basting, gravy mixing, and mashed potato mashing was in full swing. We have learned over the past few years to give each mom their own "kingdom" to have say over - my mom gets the turkey basting as she is easily offended by anything other than her own turkey tastes. Joan gets the gravy and a few other chores - having a fine mixing technique and the focus to work on detailed jobs. Jule hovers over last minute seating arrangements, napkin folding, and this year at least, Maria feeding. I have learned to give a very wide birth to the kitchen, table, or zip code that will host Rizzardo Thanksgivings. Alyssa was happy to hold a spoon or spatula and "help" for 30 seconds before she was off to play princess or pony or attack daddy.
One change for me this year was avoiding the crap NFL choices given to us (someone take away the Detroit Lions franchise altogether) and watched live UEFA Cup soccer online. My choice was far better watching a dramatic last second goal enabling Milan to tie Portsmouth. I know that means nothing to most of you. To me it was instant jubilee as displayed by my yelping and fist pumping. This drew a bit of raised eyebrows from the tri-kingdom kitchen!
By 3pm, most guests had arrived, but the salad did not. So my Uncle Gene had to rush back to their place to find the salad, and eventually we started eating around 4. By this time, the potatoes were a fine whip of mash, the gravy was smooth as butter, and the turkey was basted so many times, it must have figured it had died and gone to turkey heaven. Well, it was dead, but I wouldn't describe being carved by an electronic serving knife as heaven. Much laughter ensued when Jule broke out the electronic knife in favor of the traditional serving knife. My dad compared the knife to a Sawz-All. Anyhow, dinner went off without a hitch - we had the regular turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, bread, vegetables, two different green bean casseroles, two different salads, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Why is a partridge sitting in a pear tree? Pears are a fall harvest, correct? So by the first day of Christmas, your true love is giving you a tree with decaying fruit and a bird sitting in it. My true love gave me an XBox last year - no damned decayed fruit.
I digress. Dinner was great, desserts were even better, and then the alcohol began to flow. We'd already powered through about 6 bottles of wine (13 adults) - when it was time for the liquor. Grappa with coffee, rum with coke, cream rum on the rocks, and the Parampompoli (an Italian liquor you heat, light on fire, then serve to warm to subcockles of your heart). It was about the second batch of Parampompoli that I nearly caught my mother-in-law's hair on fire. I know because suddenly someone shreiked a very loud "OH SH*T!" that put an abrupt end to the conversation at the dinner table. The Parampompoli that was on the stove caught fire right as poor Joan was standing over it tending to turkey stock. So that was exciting - and immediately there was a lot more interest in drinking Parampompoli. So nearly setting my MIL on fire was a first, and one I will likely not forget. I am pretty sure she was understanding of the accident.
So turkey day had come and gone. Along with it the 19th straight time Jamal and I played tennis, a few bad football games, one big parade, lots of alcohol, and no need for my MIL to pluck her eyebrows for a few months. The kids were all well behaved - Maria enjoyed her first lickings of turkey and stuffing while Alyssa really got into the decorating and serving roles wanting to be Mommy's big helper.
Me? Well I just sit back and enjoy the ride. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it focuses on family. It is a chance to tell stories of the past while making new memories for the future. It is a holiday that is void of commercialism and full of tradition. It is the first day off of four, yet the last day before the holiday storm. What is so special about Thanksgiving is that in my 34 versions, I have only celebrated in 4 places: Mt. Shasta, my parent's house, my sister's house, and my house - all places we Rizzardos call home. For that alone, I am thankful.
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