Reflections of My Travel

port of st thomas

We didn’t sign up for an excursion in St Thomas so it was a leisurely morning of taking our time getting around. We got off the ship late in the morning and walked around the picturesque harbor.

picturesque harbor

they look like toys in a bathtub

We walked all the way around the waterside

frankly just because i think i look pretty decent

hubby, me, and the pearl

the norwegian pearl and carnival glory (our first cruise)

the pearl

and then crossed back a couple of blocks and walked back. It was interesting to be in a place that so closely resembled the states and felt very safe to walk around.

strike a pose!

I really need to read up on US Territories and what exactly that relationship means as I was surprised to see so many familiar political signs. After walking about seven miles, we stopped at Kmart for some much needed water before returning to the ship.

The afternoon was much of the same routine – buffet, nap, and watch movies. The show tonight was a comedy troupe by the name of The Second City, which is where a lot of the SNL stars like John Belushi and Bill Murray got their start. They did some rehearsed sketches and then they did some improv games. It was a really fun show.  After that, we hit the outside buffet with S&W for some ice cream

carved watermelon on the buffet

carved watermelon on the buffet

and then headed to bed.

finally, a good towel animal properly fitted with eyes/eyewear

We had talked earlier in the week with one of the ladies at the excursion desk to find out about snorkeling. We told her that we had been twice last week, in Nassau and in Key West, and that we found the reefs to be a huge disappointment what with them being practically dead and all. She recommended that we skip the snorkeling at all of the ports except Tortola.

hubby in port

She said that would be our best chance to see an intact reef. Happily, she was right. I’m not going to say it was as nice as what we saw in Hawaii or what hubby saw in Australia, but it was by far the best we’ve seen in the Caribbean. We took a boat out to Norman’s Island and snorkeled

in two different spots. First they stopped by a couple of caves

snorkel caves

and we were given forty-five minutes to explore the caves and surrounding areas. This was where the good coral was

brain coral and fishies

staghorn coral and fishies

fan coral and fishie

– not in the caves but at the point of the cliffs.

the point where the pretty coral was

The caves were pretty neat too. There were giant schools of little minnow-like fish that were all swimming and turning in unison.

It was hypnotic to watch thousands of fishies all moving together perfectly. Also, we saw our first squid!

Two of them.

calamari anyone?

They were a lot of fun to watch

fishie squid sammich

because as we followed them around,

single squid

they’d keep changing colors to blend into their new environs.

double squid

poke!

Next we went to a little beachy area where we pulled up to a dock and were given another forty-five minutes to do what we wanted around there. I think most of the folks headed straight to the beach to rest. We stayed in the water and continued snorkeling.

yellow tang

There really wasn’t much in the way of coral around this area

coral and fishies

pretty colors

but there were tons of devil fish

lots of devil fish

look deep into my eyes

and even some barracudas

barracuda

and rays but they were too fast for pix.

fishies

blue tang

pretty red and black urchin

mini-swordfish-looking fishies

We had a great time and it was definitely the best snorkeling that we’ve had this trip.

hubby and me at norman island

view of the norman island cove

Back at the ship,

the pearl in the tortola harbor

closeup of the pearl

we enjoyed a quiet afternoon, had an early dinner, showed up a bit late to the early show, went to a mini-improv show by last night’s comedy troupe, and then went back to catch the late show too.

Tonight’s main show was a comic juggling duo by the name of Sharkbait. Good grief, they were HILARIOUS! We wanted to see what we had missed at the beginning and to see how many of their “mistakes” in the first show were actually part of the shtick (most of them). I thoroughly enjoyed the show both times and laughed heartily.

After the late show, we headed up to another lounge for the Dancing with the Pearl Stars contest. Earlier in the week, S had mentioned that she wanted to try to participate so we found them and waited to hear them call out names. As luck would have it, her name was drawn by the same crew guy that she had done the salsa class with earlier in the week. I’m not sure if other cruises we’ve been on have had this competition but it was a lot of fun to watch. Basically, there were nine crew members who drew names of nine volunteer cruise passengers and they paired up for several rounds of different dances.

gettin' down

The first few rounds, S and Jimmy were not in the top or bottom 3 so they just kind of eked by. Then they were in the bottom 3 but they made the cut. The next round they were the first ones in the top 3 and before long, they were in the final round with two other couples. The dances they did ranged from disco to polka to chicken dance so it was interesting to watch the… um… interpretations.

chicken dance, notice the couple on the floor

The final round was the last 3 couples doing the Time of My Life song from Dirty Dancing. There was some funky stuff going on up on that stage. S and Jimmy were the only ones playing straight and they were the only ones to do THE LIFT. Alas, they didn’t win,

no trophy tonight

losing to one of the topless floor wigglers. Most importantly, S had a great time and we had a lot of fun watching and rooting for her.  After that, we four headed up to the ice cream machine to find that it was closed. WHAT?! On Carnival, you can get ice cream 24×7. On this whole giant ship, the only place that you can get any sort of food after midnight is the little comfort food diner. That just doesn’t seem right to me. Also, they are much less flexible. For instance, there is a hand-dipped ice cream station in the main buffet but they refuse to put the ice cream in a bowl – cone only – and the comfort food diner serves brownie with ice cream but they will not serve ice cream alone. I just don’t get it. So, three of us got brownies with ice cream and one of us got a full meal (W must have skipped dinner!).

towel animal of the day - cool dog

For a day at sea, today ended up being a very busy day for us. Instead of breakfast, we headed to the theatre this morning to see the virtual tour of the ship’s behind the scenes areas. Most of it was far too technical to hold my attention but I did find it interesting to learn more about the crew’s living arrangements. When we headed up to the buffet for our breakfast/lunch afterward, we ran into S&W and enjoyed a nice meal together. We then parted ways so that hubby could catch the juggling class

hubby juggling low

hubby juggling high

that Sharkbait was putting on while they went to a fitness seminar. After the juggling, we went to the theatre to catch the crew talent show, which was surprisingly great. The finale, “Fountains”, caught me completely off guard and cracked me up. We rested a bit, had dinner, and went to a lecture by the comedian David Naster on why we have to laugh, even (or especially) during the rough times. It was a great (and funny) talk. We then caught the late show: “Garden of the Geisha”. It was a singing/dancing show but it focused on the two acrobats so we both actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Hubby even declared it the best non-comedy show he’s seen on a cruise ship yet. From there, we started to rush up the stairs to the adults-only Liar’s Club show and we ran into S&W on the stairs on our way up. While hubby found us some seats, us three made a quick dash to check out the chocolate buffet. 

chocolate sculpture

reflection of S taking pic of chocolate sculpture

ice swan

chocolate sculpture

chocolate sculpture

ice dolphin

Luckily, I’m not much of a chocolate person so there was nothing on the whole buffet that tempted me.  S&W got a few treats and we heaed back to watch the Liar’s Club with hubby and then we all stuck around for the adults-only Quest Game.

Wow. What a great time! This was a sort of scavenger hunt sort of thing. We got into teams (us, S&W, and another couple) and they called out either objects or scenarios that we needed to run up and present to them on stage. We all know that I carry the kitchen sink in my purse… but who the heck carries a purse around on a cruise ship when all you need is your room key to make purchases? We really had such a blast. There were guys wearing lipstick and bras, chicks wearing mens’ pants and shoes… just so much fun.

After that, the fun just kept coming with a toga party in the bowling lounge. 

S striking a toga pose

hubby feeling a little "dress"y

hubby and me lounging in our greek gear

Having never been to a toga party, it was fun to learn how to make one and watch everyone trying to dance in them.

towel animal of the day: who the heck knows? no, really. what is that supposed to be?!