Explorer of the Seas - Day 6 - Grand Cayman

This is another stop where tenders take you ashore. I really liked riding in the tenders - this one was an especially short ride, though.

We were going to do the under water exploration boat tour, but there was a mix-up somehow in telling us where to wait, and we missed our tour. The Royal Caribbean tour person suggested we try the Jolly Trolley tour, which turned out to be not so Jolly. It was a fun trolley ride, but very short, and with a not-so-talented tour guide from Canada who had been on the job for 2 months. I did love seeing the beautiful gardens and the storybook houses - so very pretty.
Dick was just disgusted with the whole thing.

We went to find Margaritaville, because we planned to meet everybody there at 2 p.m. for lunch, after their snorkeling excursion. Fortified with a little air conditioning and some iced tea, we set out to find a George Town cache in the Seven Mile Beach area. We caught a cab which dropped us off 30 feet from the cache! Dick found it in about 3 minutes. We walked over to a condo resort called Treasure Island and called for another cab back to Margaritaville. It was a lovely, cool, breezy place to wait.

The whole bad experience of the Jolly Trolley was trumped by our lunch with everybody at Margaritaville. We were all in a great mood and Margaritaville at Grand Cayman is not a bad place to be at all!

It was lively, with great music, a fun staff, and wonderful food. We were having a party. They have a pool and a water slide right there, and Chip and Dylan had a ball with that. Chip estimates he went down the slide 15 or 20 times.

After riding the tender back to the ship, Laurie and Jana discovered that they had bad sunburns on their backs from snorkeling. Jana's seems to be especially bad, but they are both hurting a bit. Mostly because of the sunburns, we decided against going to the formal dinner in the dining room tonight. Dick, Tom and I ate at Windjammer together.

We weren't interested in the Palace Show tonight, so we just went back to the room after dinner. I was delighted to find Pride and Prejudice on the cruise TV.

Explorer of the Seas - Day 5 - Cozumel

Chip, Laurie and Tom's excursion today is three hours of biking in Cozumel - from 8:30-11:30 a.m. Jana's excursion is an all day tour to Mayan Ruins at Tulum. Dick and I won custody of Dylan for the morning.
We had a terrific time - we had a great breakfast at the Windjammer, and then watched part of "Spirited Away" in the stateroom. He had picked out three movies to bring on the trip but Spirited Away was the only one we saw part of. After that, he invented a new game called "Walrusie Get There", and we played the inaugural version. It's very much fun for about 45 minutes and then it begins to wear a little thin!

After biking, Laurie and Tom took Dylan into town for a little snorkeling on the beach. Dick and I walked to town to find a cache at a dive shop. It was very hot, and so I stopped to watch the snorkelers and Dick went on to find the cache (Cruise 'n' Cache). We took a taxi back to the shopping center near the pier - I found the walk to be hot and tiring, and I was glad to be back in the room. Just for the heck of it, I ordered room service lunch on the TV! It was just like using the computer, and it was great fun, and it worked! Everybody else walked to the Windjammer for lunch.

Souvenirs for the day - Dylan bought me a beautiful turquoise necklace, and Jana gave us a Mayan calendar version of our wedding day - unique and beautiful.

The show at the Palace tonight was the Beatles, performed by Rain. I loved it. They played all of the great, familiar Beatles songs except they didn't play All You Need is Love. I was only mildly disappointed.

After dinner in the dining room, the younger generation went to Studio B to play Quest, an adult scavenger hunt game. We headed for bed.

Explorer of the Seas - Day 4 - Costa Maya

We've been meeting for coffee every morning in our room. Dick orders coffee at 7 a.m. and more is ordered as more is needed - we have decaf and regular coffee drinkers, so it always involves more than one carafe. Today in our room we had 4 trays of coffee with 8 cups! At 9 we went to breakfast at Windjammer.

Tom, Laurie, Chip and Dylan went kayaking and biking in Costa Maya.

Dylan was fascinated with the coconut - he enjoyed watching the man open it up, and he was thrilled to be able to drink the coconut milk. He brought back part of the shell so we could all have a bite of the coconut.



Jana spent some time in the hot tub. All of the shops on board were closed until 5:30 p.m. when the excursions get back.

Tonight we went to an ice show - "Planet Ice" in Studio B. It was spectacular. I don't know where you could see a better show. Half or more of the skaters were from Russia, plus the Ukraine. Four were from Canada, and there were a couple from the USA. It was a fantastic show.

Explorer of the Seas - Day 3 - Belize

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We all had an early breakfast at Windjammer - because we were boarding the tenders at 9 a.m. When we were planning the cruise, it was decided that at least one excursion we would do all together - all 7 of us. And so today we're all going on excursion BE60 - The Mayan Ruins of Xunantunich and Marimba Lunch! This is the description in the brochure:

Travel across the rolling hills of Western Belize to the Mopan River, located near the Guatemalan border. A hand-cranked ferry awaits to take you across the river, where you will board a shuttle to the Mayan Ruins of Xunantunich (Maiden of the Rock) Plaza several hundred feet above. Your guide will share his knowledge of the Mayan civilization and the Xunantunich site along the trip. From El Castillo, the tallest temple at the site, you will have a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside and portions of Guatemala. Afterwards, travel by bus to the San Ignacio Hotel for a Mayan-style buffet lunch accompanied by music from a local Marimba band.

The bus ride was long (two hours) but it gave us a chance to see the people of Belize, their houses, schools, and living conditions. The bus was comfortable and air conditioned! Our guide was Raoul and our driver was Pech. Raoul is actually of Mayan descent - he claimed that his late grandparents could only speak Mayan. Raoul was well educated and articulate and knowledgeable about the people of Belize and the Mayan ruins. The ferry was fun,and the shuttle vans took us up the hill to a parking lot - however, there was still a half mile of quite steep uphill to climb to get up to the ruins. Everybody climbed the ruins except me, and they all got to the very top of the temple, except for Chip, who said it was out of his comfort zone - very understandable.




The resort hotel at San Ignacio was like a diamond in a sea of poverty. It was gleaming, spacious and bright. The lunch was OK - the marimba music was great - and Dylan fell in love with raspberry lemonade!
On the way back, the bus stopped for shopping at a craft area - Dick bought me a wooden box, Laurie bought a wooden bowl, and Dylan got a top.
I fell asleep on the bus ride back to the dock and the tenders. My lasting impressions of Belize are the aching poverty, school kids in uniforms, grass fires, few Caucasians, a car accident on the side of the road, and a bus breakdown (not ours) - but our tender did wait for the broken down bus people to get there before returning to the ship. That trip was the last time we saw Dylan's Boonie hat - he thinks he left it on the bus.
We skipped the dining room tonight and all 7 had a family dinner at Windjammer. Afterwards we went to the stage show at the Palace - Dylan's comment was "When are they gonna have the juggler?"

Explorer of the Seas - Day 2 - At Sea

We all had breakfast in the dining room on deck 3.

Dick and I checked in at the Concierge Club. Laurie is busy planning and booking excursions.

At 1 p.m. we met in our room for a champagne toast (mimosas).



We had lunch at the Windjammer - have you every heard of tuna pizza? From our balcony we can see flying fish - they fly really far over the water. When I first saw them I thought they were some kind of insect. They looked to be about the size of hummingbirds, but of course I was far above the water on deck 10.

It was fun exploring the ship. It was hard to believe how many people were around the pool today!

Dylan has discovered a "ball machine" and wouldn't rest until he had shown it to me. It's a Rube Goldberg kind of set up where the golf balls keep moving around a structure, triggering other balls to start moving, etc. He loved it!

At 2:30 I went to Scrapbooking - it was OK - Jana sat with me, and then she went downstairs and bought me lots of cruise scrapbooking stuff, with stickers and papers and everything one would need!

Afterwards we met everyone but J. for the Oceanographic Tour. Explorer of the Seas has two on board labs for monitoring ocean conditions - very interesting and important work.

Formal dinner tonight at 8:30 p.m. It seems like it lasted forever - it's been a long day!

Explorer of the Seas - Day 1- Boarding

Left Laurie's at 10:30 for the drive to Miami to pick up Tom at his motel and to go to the cruise ship. (Jana is flying in later and Royal Caribbean will pick her up at the airport.)

Boarding Explorer of the Seas was relatively painless - there were no long lines, and everything went smoothly.

Our stateroom is fantastic - large, nicely furnished, and lots of closet space! It has a huge balcony! The bathroom is especially luxurious - it's almost as big as a regular stateroom! We're in the Gran Suite 1556. Laurie, Chip and Dylan are right across the hall, and Jana's next door to them. Tom is down the hall just a bit.
Our room is decorated with a Happy Anniversary motif - very much fun! Dylan thinks that the decoration hanging from our ceiling looks like an alien mother ship! We even have a big Happy Anniversary sign on our door. The kids provided a champagne bucket and gift basket in honor of the occasion.

The obligatory cruise life boat drill was fun and it went fast - it turns out that our lifeboat station is just around the corner from our elevator, so it was very handy! Jana and I are windblown but happy! Jana already has her free refill Coke cup.

We had lunch in the Windjammer Cafe - as much of everything that anyone could ever want.

Dinner tonight in the dining room was casual. Our waiter's name is Wilfredo, and the assistant is Alen. The seven of us almost filled up one big table, but we do have 2 dinner companions from Peru - Mr. Wong and his daughter Maria-Ximena (Hee-may-nah), who is about 30.

We went to the Welcome Aboard Show in the Palace Theater. It featured our cruise director, Allen, a gentleman juggler (juggled top hats) and a comedian who was actually funny! I loved the whole thing. What a day!

A Day on Saint Creek Drive

This morning I played WoW with Dylan - a fun experience!

We left at 10 a.m. to go see Cirque Odyssey. It's Cirque de Soleil for children, and it was fantastic. The jugglers were amazing, and they use lighting to give the juggling special effects - it's a knock out. The performers have bodies like gymnasts - and such strength - we all really enjoyed it.

Laurie, Dylan, Dick and I sat with Lisa and her kids Kyle and Jessica and Jessica's friend Julia. Afterwards we all went out to lunch at Flanagan's. The kids were all very well-behaved - it was charming and delightful!

Off to Florida

We left TC at 7 am on a Northwest AirLink to Detroit. The McNamara Terminal in Detroit is huge, and the ticket agent said that our gate for departure to Palm Beach was more than a mile away. Luckily there was a very willing young wheelchair redcap standing there, so I hopped in and was wheeled in style to our gate. His name was Benjamin and he's a student at U of M Dearborn.
It was a relief to be in First Class after riding the AirLink!! We had a relaxing and enjoyable flight. Laurie picked us up, and after we changed clothes and unloaded everything, we went to pick up Dylan from school!
We had dinner at Benihana - and it was memorable for 2 main things - one was that our chef's assistant must have been new because the items that he needed for cooking were not always available where they should have been. The funniest was when he went to get the rice to do the fried rice, opened the container and it was empty! She also neglected to set out the chicken for one of the dishes, and various other things went awry, so that our poor chef was livid by the end of the whole cooking segment. I must say, though, that the food was delicious, although somewhat seriously delayed by the assistant's lack of competence.
The other thing that was memorable was that four young couples who were obviously out to dinner prior to their prom, were seated across from us. We were in stitches (politely, of course) watching them - the boys' reactions when they saw the prices on the menu, and most of them feeling a little stiff and uncomfortable in their prom clothes. One of them, the girl in yellow, acted like she was at home in her back yard - she was not trying to act "proper" at all - she was jumping around like she was passing notes in study hall.

The Hokies

We used to giggle at Virginia Tech because their sports name is The Hokies. But we'll never look at it that way again. The Hokies have been through unconsolable horror.

I think Jacquelyn Kennedy said it best all those years ago when Pres. Kennedy was assassinated: All of that bright light gone out of the world.

This last part of the above article seems spooky to me - what are the odds?

Erin Peterson, age unknown, graduated in 2006 from Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va., along with a second victim, Reema Samatha. That is the same high school that the alleged gunman, Cho Seung-Hui, graduated from three years earlier. It was not known if Cho knew the victims.

Exciting Plans!

I've been having trouble logging on to my blogger account - I just tried it over and over again, and I finally was logged in but I'm not sure why. I'm hoping that this was just a one time glitch (c'mon, it's possible!) Anyway, I'm here now!

We're planning a big family event on our computer game today (Dick&Nan, Tom, Laurie, Dylan, Jana, Dylan's friend Kyle, Tom's friend Val). Dick and I have been gathering herbs and making potions and other healing items (all virtual of course). I think it will be a memorable occasion.

We have begun seriously thinking about the cruise. Some shirts, jackets and suits are even already in the garment bag! We arrive at Laurie's on Friday. On Saturday we're all going to a Cirque de Soleil performance for kids - I'm really excited about that. On Sunday, we'll be boarding the ship!

We've ordered tickets for this summer at Interlochen for just two nights - Capitol Steps and Nickel Creek. For the Nickel Creek concert Laurie&Chip and Dylan will be here and we're all going.

Easter 2007

HAPPY EASTER DAY

This year the Easter Bunny is barely visible through the blinding snowfall. The bunny is having some tough sledding trying to hop around in over a foot of snow. We hope you all have a pleasant Easter anyway - dream of flowers, chicks, bunnies, and bright blue skies.


Today, the poor Easter Bunny will need ear muffs and boots.


At least the chocolate eggs won't melt!


Traverse Citizens returning from Spring Break today are in for a big surprise!

Neverending Snow

It snowed all day. I never left the house. We're thinking that this is the longest lasting neverending snowstorm that we've had all winter. It will be interesting to see the final report.


TODAY'S HEADLINES FROM YAHOO:
• Troops, militiamen battle in Shiite city
• Iranian: U.K. can help mend relations
• NATO troops take over Taliban stronghold
• Bush plan sparks ire, immigration rally
• Mysterious illness at Mexico school may be psychological
• Scientists discover source of Milky Way's red glow
• Tori Spelling says she has reconciled with her mother