Cruising – The Travels and Tales of TLC

Cruising Crows have Carnival Glory

April 27, 2017April 25, 2017 tracycrowblogLeave a comment

It’s been almost three years since our last cruise in 2014. It was just four of us, quite a relaxing trip and our last with our friend David. We didn’t know that at the time, but we are sure glad we took that trip together, these memories will be treasured forever. We left out of Miami and our stops were Half Moon Cay, Bahamas; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI and Grand Turks, Turks & Caicos. We opted once again for Carnival and aft balconies. I think we’re hooked on the aft balconies!

We started by flying into Miami and getting to our hotel room. We walked across the street to the outdoor mall, where the Hard Rock Cafe was, of course! It was Halloween so there were lots of little kids and some adults dressed up and trick or treating at the stores. We did a little shopping, grabbed some dinner and got to bed early. The next morning we got up and took a cab to breakfast on South Beach, beautiful! We walked on the beach for a while after we ate. It was a nice start to a pretty great week.

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Sondra and I decided we wanted to book a cabana in Half Moon Cay and surprise the guys. That was absolutely one of the best decisions! I have great memories of that day. What a relaxing and peaceful day. We rented a cabana away from the crowds (see pic below) with our own chairs, snacks and drinks all brought to us. We pretty much stayed there all day, away from all the people, except for lunch. The water was gorgeous. Sondra and I read and relaxed on the beach, the guys hung out and walked the beach, snorkeled some and just enjoyed the day. One of the waiters came by and said we were the only ones on the beach reading so he asked what books we were reading. I remember this because he wrote down the name of the book I was reading (The Glass Castle) in his native language…not really sure what it was, but I thought that was cool!

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The next stop on the cruise was San Juan, Puerto Rico. We’ve been here a couple of times to board ships in the past, but we’ve only walked around Old San Juan and the old fort by the cruise dock. We decided we’d go ziplining this time. There was a new place that had just opened recently and was super nice and a little out of the city in the “rain-forest.” The guides were great and they picked us up at the pier. I had only been ziplining once before in Tulsa at Post Oak Lodge. It was okay, but the Oklahoma scenery was a little lacking! This was pretty, but from what I gather from the others, it wasn’t quite as pretty as the place they went in Puerto Vallarta. Well, I liked it and I had fun. We did get rained on quite a bit, the irony of being in the “rain-forest”, but we didn’t let that spoil our day.

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We went to get some food and look around before getting back on board. We were docked in San Juan for quite a while, so we got to go shopping and hang out afterward.

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Our next stop was Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI, again, we’d been here…well, all of us but Dave! This was the stop that he was quarantined on back in 2009 on the Adventure of the Seas. We took a cab to a beach we had been told was THE place to go. Sapphire Beach was nice, the bar tender was from Texas, of all things! We kept smelling the barbecue and saw they had a Tito’s Vodka bottle (a Texas made vodka) AND he didn’t have an island accent…so we asked. Nice guy, he had the mesquite shipped in from Texas with supplies to use in the smoker! It had been raining and was a little cloudy, but the pelicans were entertaining and the fish kept nibbling our toes, legs, hands, etc. while we were in the water. Again, a nice relaxing day…see the theme?

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Last stop was Turks & Caicos, Dave & I had this place built up in our minds from seeing it in magazines and on TV. It was stormy all week on this cruise, so the waters were churned and not the bright blue we were hoping to see. We took a cab to the beach and it was nice, but not as pretty as we were hoping. And because the waters were churned, we couldn’t really snorkel since the visibility was so poor. We had a great day, but not the day we had hoped for. About when it was time to leave it started to get pretty and sunny…I guess that means we’ll have to go back!

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This was a nice cruise, dinners took a while and our service was not that of Royal Caribbean, but I would do another Carnival cruise someday. It was relaxing, it was fun and it was full of great memories of a great guy that we all miss like crazy. I’m sad to think I can never go on vacation with him again and be annoyed by him and love him like a big ornery brother! We’ll miss you always, David…

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In Memory of David McEntire 1962-2016.

Cruising Crows make Carnival Magic

March 30, 2017March 28, 2017 tracycrowblogLeave a comment

My husband and his buddies from school were all turning 50, so we planned a cruise…of course. There were about 26 of us on that trip. Most I had only met once or twice, but we invited our trusty friends, Chris & Julie and David & Sondra, so at least I didn’t feel like I didn’t know anyone. We even got our travel agent to go with us, because, well, we’re that much fun!

First we picked our itinerary, then the ship. We were trying to stay in a budget, so we went with Carnival, which is a little less expensive than Royal. We picked the Key West, Freeport and Nassau, Bahamas route. Second, Galveston or New Orleans? I really wanted to go out of NOL, I have never been there. But one of the couples’ daughter was getting married the weekend that itinerary sailed out of there, so we went to Galveston again. I was praying for no fog and great weather! We got just that, it was great weather. Also, this put us on the newest ship in the Carnival fleet, Carnival Magic, it wasn’t even a year old yet.

No problems boarding, it was very smooth and our luggage arrived quickly. The only difference I was seeing in Carnival vs. Royal was that we didn’t meet our room attendant for a while. But we had booked a nice aft balcony and it was a fantastic room. Our friends booked on the same deck so we had the whole aft of that deck, we opened the doors between the balconies and could walk the width of the ship from room to room!

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Like my normal cruise with Royal, I went to the head waiter and discussed my gluten issues. They were very responsive. I really felt like they may have been better than Royal with this one! There was even gluten free bread on the buffet in different flavors every morning! One of our fellow cruisers also has a gluten issue AND dairy, poor guy, one is hard enough.

Our first stop was Key West, Fl, I loved it here. The vibe was a lot like Eureka Springs, AR, which is sort of laid-back-hippie-artist, if you haven’t been there. Weather was great and it was a nice place to walk. We started at Sloppy Joe’s bar, it was a hangout of Ernest Hemingway, he was the theme for the day. We had a drink and some snacks and looked around. Then we walked to the Southernmost Point, which is not actually the southernmost point, if you didn’t know that. Hawaii actually has the southernmost point. But anyway, it was a fun and touristy thing to do. Afterward, we grabbed some lunch at a nice outdoor cafe, with roosters everywhere. Then, we walked to the Hemingway house. It was not really what I expected, but I liked it. The cats, polydactyls, were everywhere-NOTE: If you are allergic to cats DO NOT GO HERE! The house itself was old, but nice and I loved the pool. After this we went to the sandal shop (Kino) and bought a pair for my daughter (they were her favorites, by the way) for, I think, $10 you get a handmade pair, quite a deal and they’re very well made. Then we just meandered through town and back to the ship. While standing in line to get back on-board, I looked down at this woman’s toes…OMG! I have NEVER seen toe nails that long and well manicured…EW! Anyway, it scarred me, if you can’t tell (wish I’d gotten a picture.)

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Our next stop was Freeport, Bahamas. We had booked an excursion to swim with the dolphins. Well, some of us, Chris, Julie, Sondra, Sharon and me, the other guys went to hang out in the port area. This was one of those once in a lifetime things. I loved it! They were so sweet. Three old girls, retired movie stars that were about forty something. I don’t always like these type of things, since I feel like they treat the animals poorly, but this one seemed to be well ran and the dolphins did seem to enjoy what they were doing, especially at the end when they put on a show for us.

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There were also these really pretty birds that I got to hold and take pictures with. This place was nice, I really enjoyed this excursion.

Last stop, Nassau, Bahamas, we had a private snorkel guide booked for the day. Lynn and Dennis, David and Sondra, Chris and Julie, Ray and Sharon and Dave and I went on a small boat out to this beautiful little island. We started there so Dave could get some shore snorkeling in. Then we went out into the deeper water. Lynn got this great picture of me! You see, we already had one like this of Dave that David had taken, so we planned this, to have one just like it of me. We have them on 16×20 canvas, hanging in our guest room, still enjoy them.

Funny story, when we first arrived in the port, we saw a boat get pulled over, it was our captain! He was great, we had a lot of fun. I would highly recommend Captain Carl with Bahama Boat Tours, our last trip to Nassau, booking Captain (Cranky Pants) Randy, was not as pleasant.

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This was a great trip. I didn’t hate Carnival, like some of the “Loyal to Royal” people do. It was fine, there were differences, but not significant enough to boycott them.

One of the guys that went with our group won the Karaoke contest and was Neil Diamond on the last night, it was a riot, there were actually old women flogging him!

Here are some random pictures from the ship. (I always enjoy the fruit soup!)

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Cruising Crows go Alaskan on Rhapsody of the Seas

March 1, 2017February 21, 2017 tracycrowblogLeave a comment

***Warning…LONG post, so much to talk about!***

So I’m a beach girl, I’ve already said this, but this cruise opened my eyes to a whole new world. We started in Seattle, which my son loved, and went north to Junea, then Skagway, and, lastly, Victoria, BC, Canada. Let’s just say, I am in awe of all God’s creation. It was a very satisfying cruise, vacation, trip, experience, whatever you want to call it, it was FABULOUS!

We started by leaving a day earlier than we normally would for a cruise so we could spend a whole day wandering around Seattle. My in-laws went with us and our son and about 26 people total. We invited my in-laws, of course, Chris and Julie, and then as word started getting around about our trip, it snowballed and we ended up with a huge group, some of them, we didn’t even know. It was great! We drove to OKC to fly to Seattle, it was about a $400 savings for 5 people, so we decided it was worth the extra effort. We parked and got to Seattle in the late afternoon. We took a limo/town car from the airport (for our group of five it cost the same) to our hotel. We checked in and went out to see the Spaceneedle.

We went up to the top and went through it, then we walked across the street to eat dinner at a sports bar. We had about 8 of our group together by then, we had met up with them at the Spaceneedle. We ordered dinner and, on TV, the basketball playoffs were on. Let’s just say, we’re big Thunder basketball fans. This was 2012 and the Thunder were doing very well in the playoffs. BUT we’re in Seattle, that’s where the team came from…and the people there aren’t happy about that. We watched the game in relative silence until our food came and we were ready to leave. We knew better…

We spent all the next day wandering around Seattle, mostly at Pike’s Place market. What a great place to spend a day. We saw beautiful flowers, fish tossers, I bought some great gluten free pasta! For lunch I had gluten free seafood soup, bread, etc. they had so much I could eat here, I was really in heaven. We went to the first ever Starbucks…tiny. Of course, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. We met up with Julie’s cousin Beverly then, she’s a sweetheart! Later that afternoon, we took an “Underground Seattle” tour. Super cool, we had about 15-20 booked for the tour, so it was pretty much a private tour for our group. There’s a whole city down below what you see on the surface, and quite an interesting history to go with it. One of the guys in our group, not being very discerning, like us, wore a Thunder basketball shirt, needless to say he got a lecture from our tour guide! Really?

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That night almost our entire group went to dinner at Elliott’s Oyster House. That was so nice to have everyone together. Since the trip was technically Dave’s birthday trip, someone started a coaster around and everyone signed it for him. We still have it and it still makes me smile to see all the names. The dinner was absolutely outstanding, except for the guy in the Thunder shirt, he had such a spicy plate, he couldn’t eat it…again, really?

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The next day, we hired a shuttle, actually, two shuttles to get us all to the cruise port. We all boarded and got our rooms without much incident. Alex was sharing a room with two other teenage boys, we had about 7 or 8 rooms down one hall and then there were others scattered in balconies. We decided not to pay the extra for the balcony, because it was so cold we likely wouldn’t use it. Since we were sailing in early June the average temperature was around 40/40 degrees F, a little chillier than balcony weather.

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Our first stop was Juneau, Alaska. We had a afternoon excursion of whale watching and seeing the Mendenhall Glacier, so we started with a walk around town. It’s a pretty small town, especially being the capital. We ended up asking a police officer where the best place for lunch was, they know their stuff. It was a crab shack, appropriately name “Tracy’s Crab Shack.” It was soooo good! I had a crab bisque and it was quite delightful. Dave, being Dave, bought a t-shirt that says “Tracy gave me crabs.” Ummm, yeah, she thought it was hilarious when we told her my name was Tracy also. I just wonder how many women named Tracy have husbands that buy those t-shirts?

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After lunch, we got on board a bus to take us to the Mendenhall Glacier. It’s huge so impressive to see. Truly awe inspiring.

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We got back on the bus and head to the whale watching boat. When we got on there were about 30 or so people, including a couple of small kids. We went up to the outdoor deck to watch for “wildlife.” It was pretty chilly, but so crisp and the views were spectacular. There was a really heavy door that went out to the deck and a small child got her finger smashed in the door. Oh, it looked awful! So the boat turned around and headed back to shore to let them go to the ER. We lost a little time but we got back out and we saw bald eagles, whales and had a fabulous time. (We did see the girl later on the cruise and she was bandaged up. She actually lost part of that finger!)

We get back on the ship and have a great time bumping into all our friends. Since there were so many of us, we were always seeing someone and that was nice and made it feel more like being around home. Here are some pictures from the ship, with some of our friends.

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Our next stop was Skagway, Alaska. We had a very adventurous excursion planned here. We took a train halfway up the mountain, got off and hiked four miles up to the Loughton Glacier and four miles back down. We had lunch/snacks at the top. This was a very strenuous and fun excursion. It took all day and was absolutely one of the best days. My son still says it’s his favorite excursion/day of any vacation. We started off in jeans and t-shirts, but the closer we got to the glacier, the weather began to change and we ended up with coats on in the snow! The outhouse halfway up has an interesting story. They airlift the containment drum located inside, up and out with a helicopter when it’s full. The entire cover is hinged to allow the drum to be removed!

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When we got back into town our son began to feel ill so we didn’t get a chance to walk through town. Even so we had quite a full day and enjoyed it more than we ever imagined. The next day was our on ship port of Tracy’s Arm, meaning we didn’t get off the ship, but we weren’t really moving. The icebergs were too overwhelming for the ship to get into Tracy’s Arm, so we ended up seeing Dawes Glacier. The ship sat in the cove and did a 360 degree turn very slowly so everyone got a chance to see. There were many waterfalls and some sea lions. We went to cousin Beverly’s room, since she had a balcony, and we watched from there. Fabulous and eye-opening to all the wonders of the world. Again, this cruise was an awakening to the great big world outside of the beautiful beaches.

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Our last stop, before heading back to Seattle, was Victoria, BC, Canada. I really wasn’t all that enthused about this stop, but one of the pastors at our church told us to go to the Butchart Gardens, that they were really pretty. So, okay, we booked a gardens and mansion tour. Let’s just say the Gardens without the mansions would have been great. It was the most gorgeous place! We loved it. The gardens are an old quarry that was ugly and looked horrible, so the owner’s wife wanted to plant some things to make it look better. I think she might have gotten carried away, but I’m, oh, so glad, that she did! We were very impressed with Victoria and thought it would be a lovely place to return.

After the gardens we went to the Craigdarroch Castle. It was okay, we have a museum in Tulsa in an old mansion that is much more impressive. So we were a little disappointed that we didn’t stay at the gardens longer and skip the “castle.”

We wandered around downtown Victoria for a while before we had to be back on board. The city is lovely and picturesque. There were some street artists that were very talented. I loved the illusion that was on the sidewalk, it felt like you were balancing and going to fall over when you stood on it looking down.

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I have to say, that if you like maple syrup this is your place to be. Every shop you entered sold it with a Canadian flag on it. Oh, and anything with a Canadian flag, yep, you name it. The people were all quite friendly and easy to talk to and very proud of their maple leaf.

Canada was our last stop and we were headed back to Seattle. We decided to book the hop on and hop off trolley tour in Seattle since our plane didn’t leave until late afternoon. My in-laws did the same. Our luggage was to be sent to the airport but you had to pick it up and check it back in through security. Well, we had split up with my in-laws when we decided to get off and see some things and they wanted to continue on. We told them to follow the instructions when they got to the airport. Needless to say, I had a bad feeling.

When we finally got to the airport, running late, the trolleys seemed to be a little overcrowded and hard to come by, we saw their luggage sitting there. Knowing them, I knew they were sitting up at the gate assuming their bags were already in queue to be loaded. Uh-oh! We tried our best to hurry to the gate, but the security line was endless. I’ve never seen one that long before or since. We rushed up there, explained it to them and they rushed downstairs to take care of it. They came back all flustered and confused, actual tears in my mother-in-laws eyes. They couldn’t find their luggage. They were boarding our plane, not good.

We went to the counter and explained to the nice Southwest Airlines ticket agent the situation. I have never been more impressed with a customer service person. What could have been a complete nightmare, was handled very politely and efficiently by the lady at the counter. She not only rebooked them, but booked them into Tulsa, since we would be driving our car from Oklahoma City and they wouldn’t have anyone there to pick them up. She also gave them vouchers! Really? WOW! Southwest Airlines, I am now a very loyal customer, you did what almost no one does, took care of the customer.

Bottom line, Alaska was magnificent to see and I highly recommend the cruise. Seattle was fun. Canada was beautiful. And Southwest Airlines, you rock!

Cruising Crows chill on the Mariner of the Seas

January 27, 2017January 24, 2017 tracycrowblogLeave a comment

We’ve started to become old hats at this cruising thing, but we’re headed to a different coast. This is our sixth cruise, fifth on Royal Caribbean, and we’ve developed quite a taste for them. Our itinerary for this trip sailing out of Long Beach, CA is to head south to Cabo San Lucas first, then Mazatlan, and, finally, Puerto Vallarta (Did you start humming the Love Boat theme song? I certainly can’t help hearing Puerto Vallarta and not hum …”the Love Boat soon will be making another run…”in my head!)

We start by flying into John Wayne airport, a smaller airport that is easier to navigate in and out. We rent a van for the six of us and play our game of luggage tetris and then proceed to drive to Long Beach. We stop for lunch at Huntington Beach and take a walk along the pier. Nice but a little cool. We get to our hotel in Long Beach and head to meet Julie’s cousin Beverly for dinner at a fancy seafood place on the ocean by the Queen Mary. Very nice dinner, we walked around the shops and I found a really nice sand dollar Christmas ornament, now to get it home without breaking it! (Side note, it’s six years later and I just packed it up again after Christmas, it made it home safe.)

When we first booked our cruise, we scheduled for the week following the week we actually go. We heard from the cruise lines that our week was cancelled, the week we’re going is the last sailing out of Long Beach for Royal Caribbean, they will no long sail out of California, and still don’t today. We board only to discover the crew is less than happy about this turn of events. Some have no idea where they’ll be next week and some are unhappy about their assignment for the next week, making a very cranky and not so willing to please, crew. So begins our week…

On board, in our normal fashion, Sondra and I head to the spa to schedule our massage(s) and I head to the dining room to make sure I have gluten free food for dinner. I started this practice after a cruise when I tell my waiter I need gluten free and, being the first night of the cruise, they freak out. I begin going to the dining room as soon as I board to inform them and meet the head waiter, who will take my preorders every night for the duration of the cruise. They’re usually more than helpful and glad I’ve come to find them before the dinner madness of the first night is underway. This cruise they were less than helpful and I felt as though every time I ordered I was taking my life (or my stomach) into my own hands. Not a comforting thought, I might have lost some weight on this cruise!

We have a balcony room again, like we’ve come to expect, but the temperature outside is less than warm and we don’t really hang out there like we want to. Heavy sigh. We have booked an excursion for each of our stops and we start with a “whale watching and snorkeling” tour in Cabo. Well, we were on a sailboat in the Sea of Cortez, by the well known arch in the ocean. We were told, “Here’s your snorkeling spot. Jump off the boat.” We had done a little research and knew the water was cold, so we had on “shorties” (the wetsuits, with short sleeves that comes down to the knees) little did we know the water is 58 deg F and so cold it took our breath away and caused a few expletives! REALLY?? We recover and start to put our heads in the water to snorkel and the water is so churned up and so busy there’s nothing to see but sand swirling, not to mention the water felt like needles on your face because of the temperature. Not good, okay, we’ll just go see some whales.

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Dave had seen some whales from the ship on our way into the port, so we expected when we told them so they would head that way. I don’t think they ever intended to take us anywhere. They took us out to the ocean and proceeded to tell us we didn’t have time to go any further and there wasn’t anything to see…uh-huh, likely story! To appease us, they let us girls take turns at the wheel and gave us some food and drinks. Okay, whatever, we felt slighted but shrugged it off and did our best to have fun with the rest of our day.

We went to Cabo Wabo and the Hard Rock, of course! And walked around a little. We headed back to line up to get on the tender and found several young “adults” that had imbibed a bit too much and were being dragged to the tender stops…wow! All sorts of thoughts about safety, their intelligence and what a waste of money for a trip you won’t remember, etc. went through my head. I guess it’s the mom side of me, but I just really hoped they regretted that choice and learned something.

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Our next stop was Mazatlan, now this stop was a little scary! We were to meet our tour guide by the gated entrance to the cruise port. We didn’t want to go outside! It was just a not safe feeling and we felt like we were stepping into an HBO crime show. Well, we meet our guide and he takes us to a resort where we get on a small boat and head to Sea Lion Island (or whatever it was called.) It smelled horrible! We froze all the way there and then when we get to the spot we were supposed to snorkel and hang out at the beach, we were told, “Jump in and swim, it’s right there.” Ummmm, “What’s the water temperature?”, “55 deg F”, “No thanks!” SERIOUSLY?? We get back to the “resort” and they give us sandwiches, which I couldn’t eat and tell us we can hang by the pool. It was nicer by the pool, but we had a sour taste in our mouths…this excursion was not as advertised. Sort of like Cabo, you seeing a theme here? Side note…The next week, there was a shooting and a cruise passenger was killed in Mazatlan, none of the ships stop here anymore. Doesn’t surprise me!

The resort

The beach we could have swam to…uh huh!

The white is poop, be glad this isn’t smellavision.

Sea Lions, hold your breath!

We got back on the boat and sat on the balcony until I couldn’t stand it anymore and went in and turned the heater on! Ugh!

Our last stop is Puerto Vallarta, at least it’s warmer when we get here! Chris, Julie and I have decided to do a tequila “factory” tour and David, Sondra and Dave are going ziplining. I should have ziplined, but, hindsite. Don’t get me wrong, the three of us had a fun day, but I do NOT like tequila! But it was an interesting tour, it was an actual processing plant! We saw a church in town on our way there and, when we got back, we walked along the beach a bit. It was the best of all the stops. Dave thoroughly enjoyed the zipline, it was his first time and, he still thinks, the best.

We were in the port until late that night, so we decided to go on shore for dinner. We picked a restaurant where we could sit upstairs and get beautiful sunset views. Of course, David being a photography enthusiast and me, just wanting to have fun, decide we’re going to get THE sunset picture! We had a lot of fun. I cherish these memories of him, he’s since passed on and it just breaks my heart! (see my blog Life and Death…)

The next day was a sea day. We were laying out by the pool and it was warm but not real warm, tolerable. By noon, we were getting a little chilly and it was getting a little misty out so we go inside and decide to take a nap and then fiddle around the ship. We were in our room and heard this weird noise. We couldn’t figure it out. We looked outside and, WOW! Did you ever watch Scooby Doo? I loved Scooby Doo! Remember the episodes where he’s in the fog and has to cut it to get through? It was Scooby Doo Fog outside!! And it was the fog horns on the ship we were hearing! Super cool! That was a first time experience, hearing the horns, anyway. The last cruise we took out of Galveston, TX (see Cruising Crows go on a Voyager…) we were fogged out of port and couldn’t dock. The fog was so thick that when it finally lifted a few hours later, you could see the color of the eyes of the people on the ship next to you and you didn’t even know there was a ship there before! I was just glad we were moving and not sitting in the harbor waiting to dock this time.

100_2063 — *The fog behind us after we sailed out of it.*

We had a great cruise, but only because we enjoy our friends. This was my least favorite cruise I’ve taken! It was just the whole package, last sailing with a cranky crew, cold climate when we were expecting warm, excursions where we felt conned, you name it. But, we sail again and nothing seems to spoil our addiction to being on a ship in the ocean!

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Cruising Crows take Majesty of the Seas

January 23, 2017January 10, 2017 tracycrowblogLeave a comment

Until now, we have not cruised out of Miami, this will be our first. We’ll be going on Majesty of the Seas and stopping at Coco Cay, Bahamas and Nassau, Bahamas. We invited a few folks-Carl & Val and Bob & Dionne and kids and our kids for their first cruise, 12 total-to join us for a 3 day weekend birthday cruise, I’m turning 40.

We were supposed to be in Miami for dinner and spend the next morning roaming South Beach. Have I mentioned I don’t care for Delta airlines? Well, this was the last straw for me and Delta Airlines developing a decent relationship. We are supposed to leave Tulsa at 3:30. It’s after 5:00 and they finally start rerouting us. We end up in Atlanta for the night with no luggage and no dinner. This is a less than satisfactory way to start my birthday party!

We finally get to Miami in time to go from the airport to the ship. Ugh! We met this really cute young couple in Tulsa that was doing the exact same trip. We ended up sharing a cab with them to the ship. She was so disappointed, she had bought a cute dress to wear to board the ship and ended up wearing the same clothes to board that she wore the day before.

When we get to the cruise terminal, we spent forever in line behind a group of people. I think it might have been a man with his wife, mother and several extended family members that spoke heavily accented English. Once we get on the ship, there were several of this persuasion on board and, I’m guessing, their customs are different from ours in the US, because they were some of the rudest people I’ve ever met. I don’t really consider myself racist, but this was out of hand! We couldn’t get off the elevator because they were getting on and blocking the doors. I had one of the women take a ladle from my hand at the buffet, while I was using it! I’m sure it’s a cultural thing, but I wasn’t dealing well with it. Hopefully, if I visit their country, I don’t come across as rude to them.

Okay, rant over, for now…we’re on-board, let’s have some fun! We head to the pool deck and see this wonderful little older woman having a great time, all by herself, dancing around in these wild sunglasses! I just want to have that much fun at that age!

The first stop is Royal Caribbean’s private island, Coco Cay. In the last several years, most, if not all, of the cruise lines have developed their own islands in the Bahamas. We’ve read about the island and we are super excited to spend the day here. There were lots of things to do and it was perfect water!

When we get up that first day, it is cloudy and looks like it could just pour down rain. We got on the tender boat. These islands have shallow waters around them and corral so most islands must be tendered to in smaller boats, similar to ferries that only carry people. While we’re getting on the tender it starts to rain a little harder. We get to the island, get off the tender and it stops raining. Great! Carl has researched and said we should go to the far end of the island, a short walk, and it will be less crowded. So we start to walk, it starts raining, we duck inside a beverage stand, it stops, we walk some more, it starts raining again…you get the point. We duck in another beverage stand and it just begins to pour down rain, thundering and lightening. Doesn’t really look like it’s going to let up this time. Next thing we know, a big crash of lightening and our daughter and son get zapped! They were leaning against a cooler in a beverage shelter and get a jolt. Lightening had struck the island! WOW! The crew starts clearing the island and we’re herded back to the tender boats.

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While we’re in the shelter, in line for the tender, lightening strikes and thunder claps loudly. We’re from Oklahoma, it’s nothing to us, we have storms like that all the time. I guess wherever these other folks are from, it’s not the case. There was a boy about 14 years old, maybe, that actually screamed and broke into loud wailing. The women were right behind him, crying loudly and getting out of control. This is nuts, it’s just rain, people! They push and shove their way onto the tender. It’s a rough ride back to the ship, but not a long one, thankfully.

Since we’re back on the ship, we head to Johnny Rockets, the hamburger place and get burgers (bunless for me) and shakes. The Captain decides we are going to leave and go to Nassau early, since we didn’t get to stay on the island. We’ve never gotten to spend the night in a port before, this will be interesting.

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We arrive in Nassau right about 6:00. We eat our dinner in the MDR (Main Dining Room) and disembark afterward to see the sites. Carl and Val have been here before and stayed at Atlantis, so Carl gets us a cab and we go to Atlantis. If you pay for the excursion to Atlantis for the day through the ship, it’s about $150 per person and we weren’t interested in spending $750.00 for the five of us (daughter, son and soon to be son-in-law.) We get there and find that it’s open and we walk through the aquarium, without paying for anything, we really never even saw where to pay and it wasn’t crowded, I think they were about to close. We wandered the grounds, which were very nicely manicured. It was quite nice. However, I would have felt a little ripped off if I’d paid the $750.00! Just when we’re deciding to head back for a cab, it starts raining again…good timing!

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When we get back on board, we find out that Russell, our daughter’s boyfriend, has proposed to her. I’m excited. He’s a good guy. I think they’re a little young, but maybe I just don’t want to be old enough to have a son-in-law! We knew he was going to propose on the trip and had helped arrange some of it for him. We were happy for them.

We head to bed to rest up for our excursion the next day. Our room was in the hall that led to the disco…never crossed my mind how loud and busy it would be at night! Needless to say, we didn’t get a whole lot of sleep that night. Note to self for future cruises, look at everything on the deck to see what’s all around and plan accordingly!

The next day we have a private excursion booked with Captain Randy and his first mate, Travis. Randy was not an extremely pleasant guy, we began to refer to him (not to his face) as Captain Cranky Pants. He had a nice boat and took us to a great snorkeling spot, but he was not exactly the life of the party. We had a great time snorkeling. Those of us that snorkeled. You see, Bob & Dionne’s kids had gone to Senior Frog’s the night before and over indulged. They kept the head on Randy’s boat quite busy! The rest of us had a great time!

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After our boat ride with Captain Cranky Pants, we took a cab to Paradise Beach. I really think the water in the Bahamas is beautiful, very blue and clear, quite delightful!

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I didn’t really think it through, the weekend cruise thing, I thought it would be a fun getaway. What I was forgetting is the logistics of it-getting there, getting on board, disembarking, customs, airports, etc. I don’t think I will ever take a shorter than seven day cruise again. Oh, and I’ll NEVER fly Delta again either.

Cruising Crows Serenade the Seas

January 16, 2017January 10, 2017 tracycrowblogLeave a comment

We’re headed back to San Juan for another go at it. This time we’re taking my dad and stepmom, and Chris and Julie. No David & Sondra this time, bummer! They decided to take their son to an all-inclusive before he heads to Japan for a study abroad program. Understandable, I guess. This time our stops are Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, St. Martin, Antigua, St. Lucia and Grenada. Yep, five stops in seven days, not much sea time, but lots of island time.

Let’s just say, I come by my lack of patience from my dad. He was so antsy on the plane ride I was beginning to get worried! He hasn’t been on a plane but maybe four or five times in his life and he just didn’t really enjoy that part of the trip at all. I can’t say I blame him, the getting there is sometimes the worst part.Well, we did finally get there and we stayed at the same hotel we did the year before. Let’s just say we won’t be staying there again. Chris & Julie had a water leak in their room and their luggage got wet, fortunately, not the stuff inside and we just don’t even want to know where the “water” came from!

The next morning, we head to Old San Juan again and decide to tour the old fort. Little did we know this was the first of several old forts we would experience this week. It was fun, we went in it and through it and on top of it. We had a good time. It started raining while we were there so we just got our umbrellas out and made the best of it. We’ve always managed to have fairly good weather on our trips and we weren’t going to let a little liquid sunshine spoil our fun. This might be the biggest, most exotic trip my dad ever has, I want him to enjoy every moment.

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We board the ship and get in our rooms very quickly. It’s still sort of raining so we head out and explore the ship. Serenade is quite a bit smaller than Adventure, but it was a nice ship. We met our room attendant right away and he was very helpful and nice. Our bed was extremely hard and he was kind enough to bring me extra blankets and put them under the sheet for more padding. It was starting out to be a great week.

After dinner, we were sitting in the main lobby talking with Chris & Julie, when this band started playing. We were annoyed at first, thinking that we can’t talk anymore and it’ll just be noise. Were we ever surprised! We loved them. They played a variety of classic rock and did a fabulous job of it. They came over and talked to us on their break and we got to know their names and they got to know ours. We ended up following Trish, Rick, Bob and Dave, also known as Zig Zag, all week. We were groupies!

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Since we have five stops, we get to our first stop the next day. We pull into Tortola, BVI and it’s raining again. We didn’t care. We were going to catch the ferry and go to Virgin Gorda and hang out on the beach. We were shocked at how few people got off the ship! Really? We were going to get wet anyway, so we didn’t mind. We board the ferry and head out. There was a lady on the ferry that I swear was going to lose her breakfast-I was very glad she didn’t. We got to Virgin Gorda and we took an open sided truck to The Baths and Devil’s Bay. It was raining so we got out these rain ponchos I have had for 8 years and never used. We had to keep our backpacks dry! I was very glad I had brought them.

We had one of the best days ever! I absolutely cherish these memories made with my dad from this stop. We laughed and laughed and just had a nice laid back relaxing day. We climbed over the boulders and made it to the beach. The waves were a little rough in the water but we got in anyway. While we were hanging out a big wave came in and picked up me and my dad and set us up on the shore. We have never laughed so hard! Like I said, great memories here. I loved this place.

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Life is all about perspective, have you noticed? We were in a little shop in Virgin Gorda buying my Christmas ornament souvenir and there was this window in the shop that looked out to the most beautiful view I’ve ever seen. Julie said to the shopkeeper, “Aren’t you so lucky to see that view everyday?” She just shrugged. Wow! I just pray, Lord, don’t ever let me become so jaded to the beauty you’ve created that is all around me.

We enjoyed this stop so much. We were shocked when we got to dinner that night to find out that so many people stayed on board the buffet became overcrowded and they had to open the main dining room. Seriously, people, you missed a fabulous day!

The next day was St. Martin. We had nothing planned here, so when we got off the ship we took a water taxi to Philipsburg and hired a taxi driver to take us around the island. He took us to a restaurant on the French side in Marigot (the island is half French and half Dutch, in case you didn’t know). It was okay, I wasn’t overly impressed with St. Martin. Our guide then took us to see the nude beach. We didn’t even get out, I don’t need to see that! Then we went to the beach where the planes fly in low, right overhead. There weren’t any planes when we were there and I’m not sure I would want to be there for that either. We ended up at Great Bay beach in Philipsburg by the dock after our tour and hung out there for a bit. It was okay, the water wasn’t very pretty. I was a little disappointed especially since last time all I saw was what was right outside my balcony (See Cruising Crows go on an Adventure of the Seas…) and I was hopeful for more.

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That night we went to the Crown and Anchor Society (this is Royal Caribbean’s loyalty club) event and saw our friends Zig Zag and got to see the Captain. There was a couple there that was on their 108th cruise…wow!

The next day we got off the boat to an aggressive mob of taxi drivers and tour guides, and finally found Sean, the guide we had booked ahead of time, and went to tour the Fort Blockhouse for spectacular views. We saw Eric Clapton’s house from here! We went to Shirley Heights for more spectacular views, Sean was a wealth of information and knowledgeable on all the history of the island and current politics (they named a mountain after Obama, yeah, seriously!) We went to Nelson’s Dockyard and got a tour with Melissa, pretty pillars and interesting history of the plantations. We stopped on the side of the road and had “finger-roos” (tiny bananas) these were so good, very sweet. We also had the best pineapple and tried sugar cane-not a fan, too much work! We went to Turner Beach where the staff was very rude, so we skipped lunch rather than buy from them. It was very hot here and the water at the beach was rough with no visibility for snorkeling. We had a good time, no thanks to the locals, but we tend to have fun wherever we go, even if we have to make our own party!

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From Antigua, we could see the island of Montserrat. There is an active volcano there and it was steaming. That’s pretty neat!

Our next stop was St. Lucia. Our poor guide, Spencer, was surprised that we asked for ID after our Antigua experience…he said he’d never had that happen, I felt a little bad, but we just wanted to make sure we had the guide we had paid. We met a family from Virginia that was also on our tour, they were a little obnoxious, but fine for a day. We stopped at a banana plantation on the side of road, interesting lecture, but not so spectacular tour. I felt like we were just trespassing on someone’s banana farm. Then we headed to the beach via twisty, turny, up and down and around and around and around the mountains to get to the Jalousie plantation. This was the smallest public beach in the world! Very beautiful but crowded and rocky and NO facilities. We ended up changing clothes behind a building, that wasn’t very pleasant. Spencer fed us lunch of wonderful Creole chicken, rice, lentils, potato salad, banana salad, mac & cheese, cabbage salad and breadfruit and plantains…way too much food! We left after a quite brief snorkel where I saw the cutest little yellow and purple fish! My dad, however, found an eel. I laughed so hard, I think he walked on water trying to get away! After the beach we went to the Souffries. These are collapsed volcanos that smell strongly of sulfur. It was an interesting tour, but the smell was overwhelming. After that we headed to the waterfall and botanical gardens, these were gorgeous. I saw a huge hummingbird! I love hummingbirds. I have feeders out all summer at home.

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Last stop, Grenada. Okay, to start with when they say “factory tour” that’s not exactly what they mean. We went to what was supposed to be a rum factory. It was basically a shop where they had tasting set up and, of course, a store to buy stuff. We didn’t see any equipment or processing of any kind. I felt a little scammed. Then we went to the spice “factory,” maybe they use that word differently than we do? A very nice lady gave us info on the spices and the view from her shop was great. I saw a high school band practicing outside on the field! I could hear them playing, that was pretty cool, I was a band kid in school. Then we went to the waterfall and the old fort. After two or three of these old forts they start to run together, but the views are always breathtaking and so we trudge through another fort and marvel at the view up top. Our guide, “Alice in wonderland” (as she called herself) was very sweet. The volcano lake, Etang, was pretty, but talk about a tourist trap. Last stop on the tour, Grand Anse Beach absolutely gorgeous! Loved this beach, wish we’d have spent all day here, I was glad the tour was shorter at this port…but beach had no food or drinks?? Oh, well, we went back to the ship and ate a late lunch after quick showers and headed back out for last minute shopping. I thought the people of Grenada were the most friendly, even though everyone was looking for tips, they put on a happy face to get them unlike Antigua.

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On board that night it was our last formal night…lobster night, our favorite! As with the rest of the cruise, we were not disappointed in the food. We went to the show, a little lame and then to see our band play…before the band was Quest. We’ve never gone to that and now I know why! Talk about letting your hair down and releasing your inhibitions…let’s just say, it’s adult’s only for a reason!

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Our last day, a sea day. It was far too hot to stay at the pool for more than a couple hours. The chairs were ALL full, hard to find one even at 9:00. And there were so many people actually in the pool you couldn’t even see the water! We had a leisurely lunch at the Seaview Café, which was really nice and quiet and different. They had sandwiches and salads made to order, like a Panerra Bread, not like the buffet. Then we went to our rooms and showered and changed. We found a quiet spot and read a while and then went to book our next cruise. The last night is always bittersweet, this was such an excellent cruise, we’ve never had better food, service or been able to do just about anything without waiting in line or feeling crowded. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this ship!! We found out after dinner, that this ship has won best in the Royal Caribbean fleet for service and food. I can definitely agree with that. It was a noticeable difference.

Cruising Crows go on an Adventure of the Seas…really!

January 6, 2017January 6, 2017 tracycrowblogLeave a comment

We’ve cruised twice out of Galveston, we’re going big this time! San Juan, Puerto Rico, it’s an island. I admit, I didn’t know this at first. Guess I should have paid more attention in geography class! We’re taking another Royal Caribbean cruise going from San Juan to Aruba, Curacao, St. Martin and St. Thomas…woohoo!! We start with flying into San Juan…longest flight I’ve been on, I was very ready to get off that plane! We rented a van for the 6 of us. We had done some research online and determined that would be the easiest for all of us and luggage. Let’s just say, we almost fit! It was tight but, being Tetris experts, we managed.

We get to the hotel, the elevator was a little scary. I could probably have left my luggage in the lobby and brought each item up one at a time and still beat the elevator…yeah, that slow! We went to dinner at a little local place…here’s a good one…Chris doesn’t eat meat, only fish. He sees plantains on the menu and asks how they’re cooked. “Oh, yes, sir, they’re vegetarian. We only add bacon for flavor.” Facepalm! Really??

The next day we head to Old San Juan to tour around and eat before we board the ship. Pretty cool looking, they have this festival in January, San Sebastian Street Festival, which is going on while we’re there, sort of. You see, we didn’t know about it, but there were beer cans and trash everywhere. We soon figured it out, it’s basically a Puerto Rican Mardi Gras. We decided to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe, of course! Then we head to board the ship.

We get on the ship and head straight for the pool. I’m liking sailing out of San Juan, you start in a warm place and have nice weather from the beginning. We head to our rooms to get ready for dinner and I’m not feeling so good. What? I go ahead and go to dinner, order my food and when my salad arrives, I run for the restroom! Oh my gosh!! I go back to the table, drink some water and decide, I don’t really want dinner. I’ll see you guys in the morning. I miss the sail away…bummer. I felt like death warmed over! I guess you shouldn’t drink water at the Hard Rock Cafe in San Juan, lesson learned, the hard way! Next day, I’m fine. We had a sea day the first day, which is a great time to relax and get over whatever random sickness I had. Then, that night, Chris mysteriously gets sick. He did about the same thing I did at dinner. I think our waiter was beginning to get worried already.

The next day, we stop in Aruba. Cruise director Sondra has found a guy named Dave that rents us a couple of jeeps and takes us on a tour of the island. Some of it we enjoyed. Some not so much! We went to see the natural bridges, the ones that hadn’t fallen from being driven on, and the natural pool. We began referring to our guide as “Island Dave” since we had a Dave and a David already. Maybe Chris should change his name?! Anyway, Dave drove our jeep with four of us and David and Sondra rode along with Island Dave. This was quite the adventure. At one point, Island Dave stops and gets out of his jeep and comes back to Dave. He then says, “Whatever you do follow me and don’t stop.” Umm…okay? Well, we head straight up a hill, I mean straight! We felt like we would tip over backwards! Intense! We get over the top and uh-oh, flat tire! Island Dave stops and puts the spare on. As he’s doing that Dave notices that the sidewalls of these tires are patched. That’s really not how it’s supposed to be done…no wonder we had a flat. Well, carrying on, we spend all day up and down hills and seeing different sites, even a “house of ill-repute” in town (why??) and we were offered many illegal substances, which we refused. We’re winding down and headed to the beach…uh-oh, flat tire number two. Good thing there are two jeeps with “spares” his tires on these jeeps are garbage! Oh well, the beach was okay, the view of the refinery was a little disappointing, but we head back to the ship happy we’ve had a full day.

We then decide, since we’re in port until 8:00 PM, which rarely happens, we’ll go out on the shore for dinner and watch the sunset. That was spectacular, what a gorgeous view. I can say, I really was underwhelmed with Aruba and not exactly sure I’ll ever go back. But it was a memorable day.

Our next stop is Curacao. This is a Dutch island and the colors are magnificent. Very pretty rows of brightly colored buildings. We go to a beach and plop down for the day. It was quite relaxing. We snorkeled some from the beach and walked around town before getting back on the ship. It was very laid back.

We have a sea day and then our next stop is St. Martin. The night before we’re to port in St. Martin, Dave gets deathly sick. Are you seeing a theme developing here? This was not our idea of a great time. Dave gets so sick he decides he’s got to go to the infirmary. So we wait until it opens at 7:00 in the morning and head down to the bowels of the ship. They look him over and decide that he must be quarantined. SERIOUSLY? And everyone who is traveling with us. Well, we decide, it’s just us, we’re not ratting out our friends. I had booked an island tour for the day and everyone else should go even if we can’t. Then I start to cry. Wow, I felt so bad! I really didn’t mean to make Dave feel worse. I was so exhausted and so frustrated that I just cried! The doctor tells me that I can come see him in 24 hours and, if I show no symptoms, he’ll release me the next day. But, poor Dave, is quarantined for 48 hours, dang! We had to sign a form from the CDC saying we were cooperating and, thus, would not be arrested. What?? Wow, they’re serious. Needless to say, it was a long day. We were not allowed out of our rooms. We were, however, allowed any movie, room service item and phone calls for free. Okay, we watched a few movies and ordered steak for dinner. We were feeling much better and were well rested by then.

Our sweet friends went on the excursion and came back with a gift for me. I started collecting Christmas ornaments as souvenirs in about 2004. I read about someone doing that and thought it was an excellent idea. You don’t need all those t-shirts, snow-globes or whatever else you might want that would just clutter up the house. But how fun is it, every Christmas, to pull out all these ornaments and remember these trips. Well, just this Christmas, I pulled out that ship ornament and smiled, remembering what an adventure the Adventure of the Seas was!

The next morning, I rushed downstairs at 7:00 on the dot and got a release letter from dear old Doc. We had a fun day planned of snorkeling and I was ready to go. I felt bad for leaving Dave, but he insisted we all have fun in his honor. So we head down to get off the ship. When you get off the ship, you swipe your card, to get back on the ship, you swipe again. Well, my card set off all these alarms! Man did I scramble for that doctor’s note! How embarrassing! People ran from me, like roaches when the light is turned on. It started out with a bang, or loud noises, anyway!

Where we were docked was this huge yacht, we found out it belonged to a computer mogul. Talk about nice! Then we get into the small boat that will take us to the sailboat we’re on for the day. David and Sondra are big University of Oklahoma fans and she had an OU visor on her bag. The “kid” in the boat, aka the first mate, says, “Hey, are you guys from Oklahoma?” He had graduated from OU and was working in the Virgin Islands before going to get a “real” job! What are the chances! Well, if you know anything about Oklahoma football, you know that OU’s biggest rival is OSU, Oklahoma State University. He then proceeds to tell us his buddy that’s an OSU fan is first mate on another boat. When we get to our snorkeling destination, he says, “Let’s yell, ‘BOOMER SOONER’ to that boat over there!” We do and his friend yells back. If you aren’t from Oklahoma it might not be that funny to you, but we had a ball. This kid was the best snorkel guide ever. He saw things and pointed them out and knew all the names of the fish. We saw barracuda, octopus, parrot fish, you name it, it was really great!

As we are exciting the ship the next day to head to the airport for home. Dave gets to experience the same alarms I had the day before. We all had a little chuckle and got a cab and headed to the airport for the long plane ride home. I can’t say this was our best trip, but it was definitely one to remember!

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The Cruising Crows go on a Voyager of the Seas

December 26, 2016December 24, 2016 tracycrowblogLeave a comment

Our next cruise is on Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas out of Galveston. This cruise was fabulous! Our stops were Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. There are only six of us going this time and we brave a balcony cabin. Oh, yeah, I’m never going back inside! Balcony cabins are the BEST!! We enjoyed sitting on our balcony eating breakfast, drinking coffee, watching the water and listening to the sound of the ocean. Sigh…I’m really missing that right now and writing about it is making it worse! Back to the story, shake it off!

We stop first in Jamaica. We had booked ahead with a private tour guide and he was taking us to Mayfield Falls. Now the thing to do in Jamaica is to go to Dunns River Falls, but that’s about 3 hours from Montego Bay where the ship docks, so we opted to go to Mayfield Falls…little did we know, there’s a reason no one else goes there! It wasn’t awful, awful, but the drive there was very scary, with no shoulder, no guardrail, speeding, children and goats in the road and just a basic free for all. Our guide was a nice enough guy and took us to a great jerk hut in town and a shopping area. He was very protective and when we got back we could see why. He actually had a knife and a Bible in his van, that should probably have been a clue.Very aggressive locals trying to get you to buy their stuff hook or crook. Julie was accosted and a bracelet was attached to her arm before she knew what happened! Of course, then the guy wants money for it…what a scam! This was our least favorite stop of the cruise. The say, “No Problem” in Jamaica, I think that’s denial.

Our next stop was Grand Cayman, almost 10 years later this is still my favorite stop of all time. It was gorgeous and our private tour guide was absolutely the best one we have ever had, anywhere. He picked us up at a prearranged spot in town. We had to tender in due to the reef there. He had a nice vehicle, spoke great English, Grand Cayman is a British owned island. We felt perfectly safe, and there were no hostile sales people!

He starts by taking us to Sting Ray City where huge boat loads of people from the ship have yet to show up. We get there and see them and feed and swim with the sting rays well before the big boats arrive. About the time they get there, we’re back in his boat and headed to a marine park. It’s an area in the ocean that is protected and we go there to snorkel. It was the best snorkeling I’ve done (still in Dec 2016) He had some leftover squid that we had fed the sting rays, he threw it out and all these fish came out of the coral and it was just the greatest scene ever! Of course, hubby refused to jump off the boat for the snorkeling so he missed it. I was sad for him, but I understand, he doesn’t feel comfortable and he did enjoy some time relaxing on the boat.

We’re just loving this guide. He’s good, he’s done his homework and he takes us to the best places, without the crowds. Next we go to Rum Point, there are people here, but it’s a nice place. We get some food and relax a bit. He tells us to walk down the beach after a couple hours and he would be waiting. He called it “Starfish Beach” and it was the most amazing thing! There were literally starfish everywhere! This was the best day ever and we saw the most beautiful beaches and fish and it was just absolutely breathtaking.

The last stop was Cozumel, we’d been here last year, but we decided to go to Nachi Cocom, a private beach club. We took a cab and went there for the day, meals and drinks included. The water was gorgeous and a nice temperature. The food was great. We had such a nice day relaxing and hanging out on the beach.

I’ve decided I’m a beach girl and I could absolutely stay here forever. But alas, we must go back to work so we can afford to travel another day! We enjoyed the Royal Caribbean ship more than the ship the year before. So we decide, we’ll book another one…let the planning begin for 2009.

We still have a lot to do in 2008, we’ve got a couple of trips planned and our daughter is graduating…we will cruise again in 2009 but first…Graduation and Cancun, then Bristol, TN.

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The Cruising Crows

December 20, 2016December 16, 2016 tracycrowblogLeave a comment

Our last name is Crow and we found a new love in cruising back in 2007. Hubby had been trying to get me to go cruising for a while and, well, I get carsick, you really want me on a ship? But some friends of ours went and she asked if we wanted to go with them on their next one. Hmmm…I like these people, they’re fun…okay! Needless to say hubby was a little hurt that I would say yes to her and not him…but he got over it quickly because, we were going on a cruise!!

So this was 2006 and we had about a year to plan and save and get passports, I’d never been out of the country before and he had only been to Mexico by car before passports were required. Our official first trip “overseas” was in the works…woohoo!!

Our friends tell us they’ve invited another couple and we ask some of our newest friends, who said they’ve been on a cruise before, to join us as well. Eight of us, should be fun. We book an inside cabin, it’s the least expensive, less likely to get sick option and we plan to drive to Galveston to board so we don’t have to buy a plane ticket. We’re going on the cheap as best we can. You see, we just bought a new house, we’ve got 2 kids at home and our business has finally started to give us consistent paychecks, we didn’t want to over commit our finances on a trip we weren’t sure about.

Sondra is a very meticulous planner and she made an excellent cruise director for our first cruise. She planned everything and did a fabulous job. We didn’t have to worry about a thing. She did ask our opinions and gave us information, but we didn’t have to do the research, the booking, know the details, we just said, “sure” and she did the rest. Nice!

All the planning is done, and it’s January, time for the trip. Three weeks before we are supposed to leave, we get a hellacious ice storm. Streets are closed, power is out for days, it’s apocalyptic. We start to worry but we have some time. Everything starts to clear up and we drive down to Galveston. The broken trees and devastation to the landscape is just awful. The weather is only slightly better in Galveston, not quite as cold but not quite what we had in mind.

We are headed to the port to board the ship, we turn the corner and I completely lose it! ARE YOU SERIOUS?? THAT’S OUR SHIP?? Wow, that’s huge, not sure what I was expecting but it completely took me by surprise.

We board, we get situated. I think I’m gonna like this experience! We get up the next morning to our first sea day. It’s warm and nice on the pool deck. We left ice and broken trees behind. How relaxing! Our first stop is the following day in Costa Maya, Mexico. This is my first experience with a foreign country and this is what I see…

What?? Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore! Armed guards? Wow! We get off the ship and find our tour guide, we’re headed to the Mayan Ruins. We make a quick stop in “Pineapple Town” for him to buy us all a bite of fresh pineapple. It was so sweet and, as he said, “Yuicy!” To this day, we still refer to things as “yuicy” we found it quite humorous. Along with their difficulty with the English language…

Ha! They were great guides and the ruins were super fascinating. It’s amazing to think that a culture and a people just disappeared. They have a lot more ruins in the area that hadn’t been cleared. At one time there were many, many Mayan people there. Very cool!

Our next stop was Roatan, Honduras. Now this stop was a little unnerving. There were children begging and we were told don’t give them money because their parents keep them out of school to beg and if you give them money that just makes it worse. Ugh…I did NOT enjoy seeing these kids like that and I’m not even a big kid person.

We went to a private beach and had a snorkel guide. We had taken snorkeling lessons at the local pool, but Hubby got in the water and absolutely had a panic attack. Uh-oh. So he waited on shore for us and snorkeled from the beach. He had fun and so did we. It was rough water and there was a BIG drop off. It was my first snorkel experience and I loved it! After snorkeling we sat on the beach and relaxed and played in the water and got eaten alive by sand fleas…yep, sand fleas! We knew from Sondra’s research there were sand fleas and we even brought spray. But we only sprayed our ankles not realizing they would get our arms while sitting in the beach chairs!

The next stop was Belize. Wow, the cruise port is a bit of a ghetto. We have to take a tender boat to shore because of the reef. The water was not pretty and trash was floating everywhere. I was very disappointed. We get on a big bus and head out to the river to go cave tubing. First you trek at a faster than comfortable pace through the jungle to the river. Then you lock arms and legs and they drag you quickly through the river into the caves. Then we went to eat at a place in the middle of nowhere and we assume that was chicken we ate! Needless to say, we weren’t huge fans of Belize. It was a memorable experience and everyone in our group will have specific memories when you say, “Butts up!” But I don’t think it’s a tour I’d book again.

Last stop, Cozumel. Now this place was nice! We went to Passion Island, this is where they filmed the popular Corona beer commercials. Yep, it was paradise and I loved it there. I’ve never been in a place this pretty in my life. I am in love. The food was fabulous and it was so relaxing and pretty and ahhhh…my kind of place!

One more day at sea and it’s apparent, we’re hooked. We get home and immediately begin planning another cruise. But in the meantime, we’re taking our kids to San Diego!

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