Marie's Vacation

I realized, upon looking back on the posts, it appears that Marie didn't enjoy the same restful vacation the rest of us did. Neverfear, she had a wonderful time!!

Marie at Grand Cayman.


Marie and Mom enjoy the view of the blue blue water.



Marie especially enjoyed the pampering service:


She greatly enjoyed the balcony and spent many a pleasant afternoons experiencing the sunshine and sea breeze.


Perhaps most of all, Marie loved meeting all kinds of new friends:

She got to ride a stingray and an elephant:



and they all say "HI AMY!!!"

The Aftermath

It was pretty much business as usual when we got home:

laundry laundry laundry.

All of your treasures:

At the End (Last Day Pt 3)

The afternoon of last day at sea there was a On Deck for the Cure, Susan G Komen one mile walk. We all participated (and got you a shirt!)

Freddy says "Hi!!"

At supper, the servers sang "Leaving on a Jet Plane"

Our backwaiter Steve (cher!! he was super sweet) and our server Virgel.

Martin saw this painting on one of the first days of the cruise - this was his idea.

As always, a little goodbye towel.

Sodoku Challenge (Last Day Pt 2)

Mid-morning the ship held a Soduku Challenge. Emily showed up for one previously, but arrived 15 minutes late and therefore didn't win the prize (almost though! she was super close condsidering she was behind everyone). This time we made sure to show up early. Both Emily and Jonah participated. Martin and I got kinda bored watching them (it's suprisingly not an intertaining sport) so this resulted:

Emily and Jonah later said they had no idea we were taking pictures.

Martin helpfully points out where we are in the Gulf.


Later in the afternoon there was a reception for all the people who had cruised with Carnival previously. There was hors d'oeuvres and drinks!

Marcelo, one of the cruise directors, was sad you couldn't make it.
Off to our last supper on the ship (sniff sniff)

Towel Folding Class (Last Day Pt 1)

The last day was perhaps our busiest. Early that morning Mom, Emily, and I participated in the Towel Folding Class. It was fun! It was kinda hard! Dad was on hand to take some pictures.




After the class we went get coffee and wondered a little bit.


Both Emily and I had worn our Freddy shirts in hope of getting a picture with him - it was our last chance!! Sadly, this is the closest we got. We waved at us though! Us personally! Not just the crowd!

Yet Another Fun Day at Sea

Kinda a quiet day - we took it easy after our two busy days. This was supposed to be Cozumel but that got canceled in the swine flu scare. It was another Elegant Evening where you dress up for supper.



The dining staff danced to Flo Rida's Low as seen in the background - classy. It was super fun.


Because we were all dressed up, we took some formal pictures.




After supper we just went watch a movie on deck - nothing big.

Grand Cayman (Pt 2)

Most of our shopping in Grand Cayman was for cheap jewelry - and even then we didn't get much, mostly just whatever coupons we got on the ship.
Señor Frog says "Hi!" (with a little help from Daddy)

After a little bit, the boys headed back to the ship and me, Emily, and Mom stayed on a bit longer to poke around. Emily made a new boyfriend:

Big Black Dick says "Hi!" (with minimal assistance from me). There's a Tortuga Rum Cake ad in the background.
As copied from the sign next to the statue:

Big Black Dick

It is believed that Big Black Dick was born of ‘Royal’ African parentage before being kidnapped by French Slavers who gave him the name of “Richard Le Noir”. Unable to subdue his efforts to regain his freedom, his French captors, tossed Richard overboard near a Caribbean island, which may have been Grand Cayman Island.
***
Miraculously reaching land, he served for several years laboring in a sugar cane field where he learned the secretes of how to turn the sugar cane into the Caribbean’s finest rum. Dick also learned to cultivate the tobacco plants and hand craft the richest flavored cigars. His kindly Caymanian master recognized his hard work and honestly rewarded him his freedom in the early 1700’s.
***
A free man and a skilled seaman, Dick tossed away his French name and became known as Big Black Dick. He sooned earned the rank of captain of a three-masted-square rigger named “Caymanus”. She was a ship carrying 20 cannons with a crew of nearly 200 men that were known as the best in the Caribbean.
***
History tells us that “Big Black Dick” was a dashing and handsome figure of a man, wearing a bright purple velvet coat and four pistols in his red silk sash. Those who knew him most intimately, know how much of a man he, indeed, was…possessing certain physical attributes unequaled by most ‘all’ other men of his gender.
***
After a successful career, Big Black Dick retired to a more peaceful venture of making the best original pirate rum and the finest hand made cigars in the Caribbean.

[sic sic sic. All of the random commas and quotes are the signmakers]
What's even better, is this statue is EVERYWHERE. We saw a half dozen in the couple blocks we walked.

After we got back on the ship, showered, snacked, and rested, it was supper time! Hurrah!! All of the waiters/backwaiters/dining room staff did a musical number for us - complete with napkins waving and much dancing. It was the end song from Slumdog Millionaire.


As usual, the towel animal was awaiting us when we returned.

Grand Cayman (Pt 1)

Grand Cayman was wonderful.

We docked on time and had ample time to get to shore excursion, an off road jeep tour. This wasn't nearly as intense as the other jeep in Cozumel, but was still fun. We drove first to Morgan's Harbor to see the North Sound and then through Barkers National Park, a mangrove forest area. It was neat, but sounds a lot more impressive than it actually was. We had a quick stop for Rum & Rum Cake sampling and purchasing (mmmmmmmm yum) and then on to HELL!!

Essentially a tourist trap, it's a limestone formation turned black. There's a Post Office, a store, and lots and lots of photo ops.

After hell we drove to Seven Mile Beach, a long crescent shaped beach.

It was beautiful, the water super super clear. We went snorkling over the barrier reef. In some of the pictures, the water's so clear it looks like we're in the pool!

Jonah & Dad and then Martin & Emily took turns on a waverunner; they looked like they had lots of fun.




After the beach, we went into town a bit to shop!