Reflections of My Travel

Cruise Day!!! We woke up ready to go this morning and, after a trip to the hotel’s hot continental breakfast, go we did. We dropped the car off at the rental place and caught their shuttle bus to the Port of Miami with another lovely couple from England who were taking their first cruise on one of the Carnival ships. The shuttle dropped us off right outside the Norwegian Pearl’s terminal and we portered our big bags and were inside the building in minutes. Though I really was not blown away by Miami, I have to give credit where credit is due – their cruise terminals are immaculate! Truly, a much nicer port than Canaveral. I guess we were early enough that we missed the crowds because we got through security, check-in, and photos, and we were on the ship within thirty minutes or so. It was a breeze, especially when compared to the holy mess that was last week’s embarkation process on the Bahamas Celebration. When we boarded the ship, we were given champagne and told that the staterooms wouldn’t be open until 14:00 so we followed the crowd to the first buffet.

you'd better believe it!!!

First, let me say that the ship is absolutely gorgeous! It’s really a much nicer ship than any Carnival we’ve been on, even the Glory (why haven’t i ever posted that trip?). Not only is it spotless, but everything just seems higher-end. And the buffet… it was like a casino buffet in Vegas. So much food to choose from and tastes from all around the world. After we had sampled a few of the foods, we made our way around the upper decks.

storms moving in on miami

The pool deck is beautiful. There are two spacious pools, one that is for adults only. Each pool has two jacuzzis. The deck has a very open layout.

adult pool and hot tubs, kiddie pool in background

kiddie pool and slide, adult pool in background

We then went up one deck to the sports deck where hubby enjoyed hitting some golf balls in the “driving cage” and then serving some balls on the tennis court.

hubby in serving action

We sat and made our “bon voyage” calls to family and then it was time to see our stateroom. As with the rest of the ship, the stateroom is nicer than any we’ve had yet. The first thing I noticed, which nearly brought tears to my eyes was a thermostat.  Finally!  A ship that allows me to control my temperature!!!

how do i love thee? let me count the ways!

We went with an inside cabin this time so we expected the smaller size, but the appointments are much nicer.

very comfy bed

And the shower is a full size shower with glass doors so there is more than enough room for showering and we won’t have to worry about the water sloshing all over the whole bathroom.  Very exciting stuff.

pic just doesn't do the enormity of the shower justice

well appointed bathroom

We unpacked our luggage and went back out to explore the rest of the ship.

making our way out of the pass

putting miami behind us for 7 days

it may not be as distinctive as carnival's "whale tail" but there sure is a lot of machinery in there

There are several specialty (read: extra charge) restaurants in addition to the two main dining rooms, the two buffets, and a “comfort food” diner that is open 24×7.

elegant entry way to the main dining room

The main theatre on this ship is a true theatre with rows of stadium seating going up about three floors. There is a small “club” a few floors above the theatre as well as a bigger one on the other side of the ship that includes two bowling alleys and several beds on which to lounge. I got very excited when I saw the bowling but it turns out they charge $5 per person/per game. That’s pretty darned steep for bowling, especially when the movement of the ship would certainly guarantee an increase in my gutter-to-pin ratio. Personally, I think they could do the bowling for free and still make good money off the bar service for it.

i wish this pic showed just how beautiful this blown glass in the lobby really is

Before we knew it, we found ourselves back at the buffet for dinner. While eating, I noticed that the folks at the next table had my camera and ended up giving them some quick lessons on how to use it since it was new to them. They are from Alaska so we enjoyed talking to them about our travels there and what it’s like to live there.  I also thanked W for his service since he just got back from Iraq a week ago.  We then headed to the show where we ended up sitting right next to them. The show was well done but not really my style – dancing and singing to South Beach / Latin tunes.

Today was a day at sea which meant mucho relaxation. The inside cabin leaves it dark enough that hubby was able to sleep in a bit with me. After a very late breakfast at the last buffet open – the outdoor one – we went back to our room to relax and watch movies. We made it out again for a small lunch and made reservations for dinner in the main dining room and then back for more rest. Hubby has been fighting a cold for two weeks so resting up is definitely a good thing. We had planned on trying to make it to the early show since our dinner reservation was at 20:30 but we slept right through it. We woke up just in time to throw on some clothes and head for the dining room.

After seeing two menus, it seems to me that Norwegian tries to get a little fancier with their food than Carnival. For many people, I’m sure that’s a good thing.  We’re, however, not foodies. On Carnival, we’ve always enjoyed the meals as a nice treat to our simple palates. The Norwegian menus really are not appealing to me – just too much going on.  Tonight, I ordered from the “staples” part of the menu – the stuff that they will prepare every night for us snoops – a Caesar salad, steak and fries, and sherbet for dessert. The salad and fries were good. The steak was okay. The dessert…. Who knows? Hubby ordered the apple pie a la mode. Apparently, either that or the sherbet was too tall of an order. After nearly 25 minutes of not even seeing our server, we got up and left. As we were walking out, the server chased me down and asked me why we were leaving, our dessert would be right out. I told him that I didn’t believe that and that we could go up to the ice cream machine without a ridiculous wait.

So there’s my first real complaint about this cruise. While I get the whole “freestyle dining” concept, I think it diminishes service.

On Carnival, you have the same serving team every night. Here, servers were running all over the dining room waiting on tables. And a twenty+ minute wait for any dessert on a cruise ship is absurd.

Of course, by the time we decided to give up on our dessert, we had missed the first part of the late show but we managed to catch the second half of it. We don’t like to miss the comedy shows and tonight’s comedian, David Naster, was especially funny. I’m glad we were able to get to see part of it and I look forward to his shows/lectures later in the week.

After the show, we headed upstairs to the lido deck for some soft serve ice cream, as promised to our dinner server. The ice cream was wonderful and no wait was required.

lousy towel animal - seal

Today was our first trip to the Dominican Republic and I was surprised to find Samana to be an absolutely stunning island. It is very green and lush.

bienvenidos samana!

lovely lushness

It is also poor. We did a horseback excursion to Salto Del Limon waterfall. We got on a bus and rode about thirty minutes inland, past many tiny, rundown shacks. There were dogs all over and you could count every one of their ribs.

The interesting thing about bus rides on excursions is learning some of the location’s history. Samana was actually colonized by Americans; slaves that had escaped via the Underground Railroad.

When we arrived at the horse ranch, we were given a demonstration on cocoa. They picked a cocoa pod (?) off a tree, busted it open, and handed out the seeds for us to sample. Sadly, they did not tell us that the proper way to sample them was to suck on them, not bite into them. As the guide was telling us how sweet the seeds are, I was wrinkling my face at the bitter taste of the one I had just bitten into. The seeds are coated in a slimy substance, which is sweet, and that is what you are supposed to suck off. Next, they explained that the cocoa we are used to is actually made from grinding up the seeds once they’ve dried. They then passed around a plate of cocoa powder, mixed with a little bit of sugar, for us to sample. Yummy.

After that, we got fitted for our horses

my horse luka

or in hubby’s case, mule.

hubby's mule manuel

Unfortunately, it turned out to not be the horseback ride that I was expecting. Instead of us getting to ride to this waterfall, we each had a non-English speaking guide that led the horse the entire way.

line of riders and leaders navigating steep terrain

The upside to this is that the trail was very muddy, rocky, and steep in places so, as an inexperienced rider, I would have been very intimidated trying to control the horse on my own. 

hubby, me, and our "steeds"

I did have a good time, though, especially when the horse, Luka, would pick up his trot a bit.

looking down on luka and his shadow

We were carried by the horses (and mules) for forty minutes or longer, up hills

beautiful terrain

land and sea

and across rivers

me and luka fording

until we got to another small ranch where we dismounted and continued on foot down a steep and rocky trail,

the trail and the falls we're headed to

zoom-in

us and our destination

across a small waterfall pool,

quick stop at the smaller falls

to the beautiful 120′ falls of Salto Del Limon.

crowded but beautiful

Truly, it was gorgeous. And, after such a wretchedly hot ride and hike, I was beyond ready to jump in.

cooling off

hubby under the falls

The pool was clear, cool, and wonderful.

falls from the pool

i was trying to take one looking up from under the falls but i kept getting pushed out

We swam around for thirty minutes or so and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

self-photo at the falls

hubby and me

love this pic of my hubby

hiding behind the rock

When we felt that we out to be going, we got out, redressed, and grabbed our guides to head back up to the horses. The refreshing feeling from the dip didn’t last long on the steep and ridiculously hot hike back up but at least there was a covered pavilion at the top for us to rest a bit while waiting for our other cruise-mates. Hubby even managed to get himself in on a friendly game of dominos with some of the locals.

hustler

On the ride back, we passed by women washing laundry on rocks in the river and their children playing nekkid in the water around them.

i didn't even notice the nekkid kid in the background when i was taking this

It was a glimpse of a very different life. Along the ride, I marveled at the fortitude of my guide, hiking effortlessly alongside my horse across steep and rough terrain in ridiculous heat. I tried my best to converse with him but my Spanish is not very strong. Hopefully he at least recognized the effort. Either way, he did his best to tell me all about our surroundings while we travelled and i did my best to understand and ask questions.  

his description: "pina colada!"

When we had returned to the ranch, hubby asked the bus guide what the average wage was for the residents here – the equivalent of $250 USD per month. I was very happy that we had remembered to put some cash in our pockets before leaving the ship this morning so that we could tip our respective guides but I wish that we had had more for them. What a life!

our guides miguel and omar

On the bus ride back to port, we made a stop in front of a school where we were quite the attraction for the children coming and going through the gates without any adult supervision in sight. The bus guide got off for a few minutes and came back with a couple loaves of fresh, warm “English bread” so named because it is the type of bread that the original American slave colonists baked. He allowed all of us to take chunks of the bread, which was very yummy. It was a sweet bread, made with coconut milk. And it helped stave off our hunger until we made it back to the ship and, ultimately, the buffet.

We ran into the Alaskan couple, S&W, who had done an ATV excursion to a waterfall. Unfortunately, it sounds like it wasn’t nearly as nice as the waterfall we went to but at least they enjoyed driving the ATVs.

Since we were already wet from the waterfall, we grabbed some food and then went to test out the pool. In the five cruises we’ve been on, this is the second time we’ve gotten in the pool. It was actually a very nice pool but the chlorine and salt water combo was a bit much for me. We sat in the Jacuzzi for a few minutes watching the deck games before finding some loungers in which to nap. Sadly, the nap didn’t last long thanks to being right in front of the very loud steel drums but our room was mere minutes away and much more comfortable for napping anyhow. We napped straight through the early show and decided to forego the late show for a late dinner. We didn’t feel too bad since it was a singing/dancing Vegas review style show and those just aren’t our favorites. We ran into S&W and went with them to the karaoke lounge where both hubby and W were brave enough to get up and sing.

hubby singing pearl jam's cover of "last kiss" - notice the giant bed lounger on the right

W singing jimmy buffet's "come monday"

W&S enjoying some karaoke

today's mediocre towel animal - snake