cruising – Page 3 – The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales

Day 6 Sea Days and Mardi Gras Nights

The juxtaposition of wide open ocean and relaxing sea days with wild party nights and non-stop music on this cruise is dramatic. After two port days in a row, I was really looking forward to a bit of deck time with my new Kindle, finally getting around to reading the “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. This morning after breakfast, Deb went on her way to explore some of the day’s offerings while I found the 11th deck, as you can see, completely empty. I had the deck chairs all to myself, but the problem with this ship is that there is so much protection from the wind, that you don’t even get much of a breeze and the pool is very far away. I drug my chair into the shade and gave up on getting much of a tan this time around. I am red-haired and freckled anyway, so I shouldn’t be doing such things. It was rather amazing to spend a couple of hours on the top deck without the presence of one single other human being on a rather small cruise ship. The faint sounds of music emanating from several sources explained it, however.

Deb managed to get down to the Lido aft deck for the Sisters of the South and the rest of the afternoon just sifted away till we ambled up to the Crow’s Nest to see Ryan Shaw, one of my favorite performers on the ship. Ryan won a couple of R&B Grammies, and his blues slips into that RB thing more often than not. Not being a particularly big RB fan, there was something amazing about this young man’s art. He sang about love and spirituality and humanity in ways that reminded me more of Rastafarian lyrics than anything else, but with a blues twist. I loved hearing him and watching him, and found myself heading toward whatever venue he happened to grace. In fact, when he sang Imagine, I cried big silly tears all alone behind my sunglasses.

The Crow’s Nest was fun, more intimate that some of the other stages, and Deb joined me there at the bar where I had managed to save a couple of seats right at the dance floor. I had one more “cruise drink”, a pina colada again, but still didn’t get any umbrellas. I guess that umbrella in a pineapple boat with all sorts of fruit is saved for old ladies on old lady cruises. Ha!

After the great music we headed down to the 9th deck and the Lido pool to try to actually get in a swim before dinner and the big Mardi Gras celebration to follow. One thing about this cruise that was different was the absence of children. I think there were only 2 kids on the ship, and one of them was Joanne Osborne’s little girl. The other child on the ship was in the pool with his dad, but it was still fairly uncrowded considering it was a reasonably warm sea day. Deb’s braided hair was great for swimming, but I had taken mine out after getting tired of the headache and the stupid gray haired scalp showing through my skinny braids.

By the time we had some supper at the Lido (skipping the dining room tonight) the party antics were swinging into high gear on all decks. I have never seen so many people in so many crazy costumes this side of San Francisco, although I have to admit, I haven’t been to New Orleans during the Mardi Gras either. One previous evening during dinner, we were joined by two Norwegian couples who told us how popular the blues are in Norway, in fact most of Scandinavia has a rather large blues loving population that frequents the big blues festivals held there. It seems that they called the 10th deck “Little Norway” and referred to the 40 plus Norwegians on the cruise as “The Vikings”. They were all great people, who certainly knew how to have a good time. Cruisers will recognize the “formal portrait” lineup in the photo, but the get-ups of the subjects are a bit different than the formal wear usually reserved for ships dinners and portraits. The Vikings were especially good at this part, and I wondered just how much extra they paid for all the luggage flown from Europe.

The night was loud and raucous and great fun, with the Mardi Gras costume parade as a high point that just set everything up for a long night on all the top decks for those who had the stamina to stay up. Again, I reminded Deb that we had a port day tomorrow and an early kayak trip scheduled and needed to be ready to disembark as soon as the ship landed. Do I sound like the Mom here? Or some kind of old fuddy-duddy? Deb was patient with me, and I’m sure she would have done just fine without my mom worry stuff. I think the crew enjoyed this cruise tremendously as well, they all sure looked like they were having fun and loving the crowd and the music. While Deb danced away into the night, I fell into the bed around the toweled animals and slept like a rock.

Day 5 Deb celebrates a turquoise birthday on St John, USVI

For me, this was the day I had been waiting for the entire cruise. When Mo and I cruised in 2009, we ported in St Thomas and didn’t have enough time to take the ferry across a few miles of water to explore this magnificent island paradise. I read about St John, and wanted to see the lovely land covered by forests and trails and surrounded by pristine beaches and pure white sand.

Cruz Bay, located on the west coast of the island, is the largest commercial center and the location of the main port. We heard later in the day that it is rare for a cruise ship of this size to actually port in Cruz Bay, with most cruise lines choosing the more commercial port of Charlotte Amalie on St Thomas. The population of the town is under 3,000 people, and while there are shops and restaurants, the island is much more celebrated for it’s beautiful beaches and national park.

Word of the Blues Cruise landing here had spread throughout the local islands, and many folks from the British Virgin Islands, and the US Virgin Islands were also on shore ready to jam with the musicians on our ship. The St John department of tourism planned a full lineup of the local entertainment, cultural activities, and educational events to complement the arrival of such legendary performers. My daughter knew of musicians in St Croix that made the trip especially to be part of the shoreline activities on this day.

It was Deb’s birthday, but I was the one with a particular agenda for this day. No matter what we did later, I really wanted to spend some quality time on a St John Beach. With Trunk Bay being the most famous and listed somewhere as the second most beautiful beach in the world, I thought it would be a good choice. However, most of the blues performances were across the island at Coral Bay, all the pubs filled with great music all day long. The famous pubs there included Skinny Legs, Island Blues, and Shipwreck Landing, and the pub crawl was the order of the day. We compromised on a plan that included a taxi trip to Trunk Bay, possibly going on to Cinnamon Bay and ending the day at Coral Bay, taking the ship provided shuttle to return in time for the sail away.

The trip to shore was Deb’s first experience on a tender, and we were in line for an early departure from the ship so were on the first tender ashore. In this case, the tender process required a visit to the Main Stage to get a tender ticket, and then on to the tender. Deb went down there first and I was to follow immediately, but then realized that I had forgotten something, and had to run back to the cabin. Another long walk before I discovered I was going toward the wrong end of the ship made for more confusion. By the time I showed up at the Main Stage, they were calling my name and Deb was a bit distraught. It ended well, and we still managed to get on shore in plenty of time to locate an open air taxi to Trunk Bay.

…

At Trunk Bay, the magic of the Caribbean washed over us completely. Deb rented chairs and an umbrella, and we walked down to the far quiet end of the beach to settle in for the morning.The air was warm, the skies were clear, and the water was translucent turquoise. The seas were still a bit rough from previous storms, however, so the famous national park snorkeling trail at Trunk Bay was closed. It would have been Deb’s first time with a snorkel, so we though better of trying to teach her the technique in choppy water, and instead filled our hours with swimming and floating and oohing and ahhing over the clarity and color of the water, the brilliance of that magic blue line between sea and sky, and the sound of palm fronds waving in the warm breezes.

If I were to think of a perfect vacation, it would include a week or so in a little house somewhere on this island, with time to explore every single one of it’s beaches and hike as many trails as possible that thread throughout the national park. I loved St John, and so did Deb. The photos of her on this beach are some of my favorites of all time. What better way to spend a birthday than this!

As mid afternoon wore on, we thought it might be time to amble on to Coral Bay, so reluctantly packed up and found another taxi. It seemed more reasonable to go back to Cruz Bay rather than try to get all the way around the island, so we did that with the encouragement of the taxi drivers. Once back at Cruz Bay, the entertainment going on at Frank Powell Park sounded fun, and someone said, “Hey, the music here is better than anything at Coral Bay”. That sounded fine to us, since we were tired and hungry and just wanted something good to eat and drink. Wandering down the walks through town led us to a little open air restaurant along the bay with a view of sailboats and water and our ship around the corner. We waited in the bar area for a seat, and a sweet looking man came up to us asking if we wanted lunch, and when we said yes, he led us to a big table for four right on the waterfront. Laughing, he said, “ I am the owner, I can seat you anywhere I want!”

I had a pina colada to die for, and we ordered some truly fabulous yummies for our late lunch. Dang if I can even remember what I ate, but I remember Deb saying hers was the best she ever had, and I know mine was. Again, I am reminded of just how much I can lose about a trip if I don’t write about it while I am doing it. As Erin reminded me recently, the goal is to have fun, not to write about it, so that is exactly what I did on this trip. So I have no clue what we had for lunch, but I do remember feeling absolutely and wonderfully happy and a bit tipsy as well. Perfect feeling for an afternoon on a tropical island, I think.

We sat there for a long time watching the water, listening to the distant music, before we decided we had no need to go anywhere else except this sweet little town. We ambled around town a bit, and then back in a park somewhere Deb ran into a young man who was incredibly sweet and friendly, offering her a bit of rum and talking about his life on the island. The flirtations were quite adorable, and safe, since her mom was with her and we were heading for the ship! I laughed with them and felt like “mom”. I was sure our sweet little guy had all sorts of ulterior motives, and Deb decided that she wanted to quit her job and move to the USVI where everyone was cute and friendly. Instead, we managed to return to the ship and to our cabin.

Once back on board, we had no need for supper and instead enjoyed the wild music sail away party on the back deck before going back to our cabin and dressing up for the evening. It was Deb’s birthday, after all, so she wore one of her prettiest dresses and we went back upstairs to listen to more music, dance, and have birthday toasts. Deb’s name was listed on the Daily Program with a few other birthdays, and a lovely chocolate cake was delivered to our stateroom. She also got several happy birthday coupons for spa treatments and such, but most of them including spending a fair amount of money, so she didn’t bother.

A perfect ending for her birthday celebration was the ships Dessert Extravaganza on the Lido Deck at 11pm. I have to say, I wasn’t that impressed with the artistry of the offerings at the Extravaganza. I guess I may have been spoiled by the beauty of our formal buffet’s at sea with Celebrity, but Holland America seems to be lacking in the expression of true loveliness and creativity that used to be standard with these kinds of specialties. More sweets, more music, and I went back to the cabin to fall into a deep rocking sleep while Deb danced up on deck until who knows when.

Not a bad birthday for this first born child of mine.

The rest of the photos for our day on St John are located here.

January 25 Antigua

Today we port in St John’s, Antigua, largest of the British Leeward Islands, where Lord Horatio Nelson headquartered for his forays into the Caribbean to do battle with the French and pirates in the late 18th century. Appropriately, the theme for the night is “Pirate Night”, with the highlight of the evening to be the Pirates Parade at 10:00 PM on the aft deck.

In the mean time, we have a beautiful sunny day to explore the island and soak up the sunshine. With a mostly sunny forecast and a temperature of 77 degrees F, it couldn’t be any better. I am excited about seeing this island, since I haven’t been here before, and it’s Deborah’s first landfall anywhere in the Caribbean. There’s something really special about being around for a “first” like this with Deborah. Her eyes light up and she gets excited in the way that a jaded traveler might not. It’s like having the experience for the first time myself all over again. For some unknown reason, Antigua was on one of Deb’s long time lists of places to see, and today we were going to be there.

We had planned a room service breakfast the night before, so we could be on deck for the sail in. Each day we ordered coffee and tea in our room and it was always delivered right on time. The breakfast we had only once, and it was terribly bland and boring compared to the offerings upstairs, so we didn’t do that again. On this morning, however, the small sweet rolls and coffee were just enough.

I love the morning arrivals, and we found our way to the 11th deck to watch the ship sail into the harbor, watching the landscape appear as we approached the dock. The island looked green and beautiful in the warm morning light and before long, the captain announced that the ship was cleared and we could go onshore.

I thought that Antigua was small and simple enough to explore on our own, without being tied to the timing of a group tour from the ship. Sometimes it makes things easier, but it really is a lot more fun to amble off the ship when we want to, and walk through town at our own pace, to see what we want and leave when we want. It worked perfectly for us this morning, as a sweet woman met us coming off the dock with offers of hair braiding. I know, I know, but it did sound like fun, and she really was a sweet lady. In a moment, she led us to her outdoor salon and had Deb in her chair. Deb has very curly hair and often wears hair bands, so the braids and beads looked perfect on her. I somehow got pulled into the fun, and while braids and beads looked rather stupid on me, I was still glad I did it.

Jenny, our braid lady, was originally from Montserrat, but was run off the island a few years ago when the volcanic eruptions caused 80 percent of the islands population to leave. I hadn’t realized that this famous volcanic island was so near to where we were traveling. Jenny’s story was fascinating, as she discussed her 11 aunts who had to leave Montserrat and their home forever. Living is expensive on Antigua, more so than it had been on Montserrat. Jenny laughed with us throughout the morning and her sweet warm nature was a delight. I was glad to pay to have my hair braided even if it looked a bit silly on me. It was great for swimming at least, and Deborah looked gorgeous. She might have to try to find a hair braider back in Portland!

After our little island culture experience, we ambled up the streets of the town, outside the slick confines of the port area, the town was a bit shabby, and felt very real. We found a shoe store where Deb bought a great pair of sandals cheaper than they would have been back in the US, and then perused the standard linen shop with all the embroidered tablecloths and runners, where we found a great runner for Deb. ( I have plenty of such linens from my previous Caribbean voyage, so didn’t need more). We talked to Jenny about getting around the island and she pointed out some of the tours offered up the street. We found one that looked good, and for 20 bucks each, joined 4 other folks in an enclosed van that promised a trip over the island and commentary on island history with some stops along the way.

The island is actually quite nondescript, not particularly scenic as Caribbean islands go in my opinion, but it was green and the air was spectacularly fresh. Our guide Nathanial offered stories of the history of the island as we wound through the streets and neighborhoods and traveled to the central part to St Barnabus Anglican Church, established more than 250 years ago and is the oldest church on Antigua. Continuing to the southern side of the island, we saw a lovely view of English Harbor and Eric Clapton’s big rehab house on the hill above the bay.

Once on the south side of the island we had a misty view of the island of Montserrat on the horizon. A low cloud obscured the top of the volcano, and it looked mystical and dangerous.The Soufrière Hills volcano on the island began erupting in 1995 after a long period of dormancy, and has been active ever since. It destroyed the capital city of Plymouth and more than half the island is completely uninhabitable now.

We had time to wander a bit on the beach before arriving back in St John’s and the ship. We were a bit worn out from the day, and we needed some cash after spending most of what we had, so needed to return to the ship. Once there, however, we found it too hard to get back off the ship and just decided to stay onboard and relax a bit before supper and another night of music an parties.

Blues Day 4 Antigua (72) Pirate Night on the ship was great, with amazing, detailed pirate costumes paraded around the ship by a majority of the cruisers. People who have done this cruise in the past are known for bringing a complete extra suitcase of simply costumes, although it isn’t as easy any more with all the baggage restrictions on the airline.

Can you see the Jolly Roger flying on the aft deck as we sail away from Antigua?

January 24 Another! sea day

It’s not often on a short 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise that you get to enjoy two sea days in a row. Seems as though the most important thing to do is shop for diamonds and tanzanite in as many ports as possible. Since the focus of this cruise was music and not diamonds, we had only three port days and two full sea days in a row.

My idea of a sea day is a lazy morning by the pool, a brisk walk on the upper deck, some reading on the veranda before a nice dinner and a show. Ha! Not so on the Legendary Blues Cruise. The theme for this day was “Gimme Back My Wig”, but thank goodness we didn’t have to do anything about that theme until after dinner. The schedule for the day was filled with all sorts of activities, including a harmonica workshop, a presentation by Taj Majal on the history of the blues, and a silent auction for items donated by Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, Kenny Wayne Sheppherd and others to support the Music Make Relief Foundation, and Gimme 5! New Orleans Artist Relief Fund.

I actually have no clear memory of what I did all day before the “Wig Parade” at 10 pm and I wasn’t imbibing either! It’s just that sea day thing, where it all starts to run together. Deb and I had a lovely breakfast in the Lido before she went off to the Autograph Signing Party to get her poster signed by the greats. We shopped a bit for Legendary gear and I did succumb to a Blues Cruise tee shirt. I do remember my walk, and how gorgeous the indigo seas looked through the white portals on the third deck. I took some photos of the frigate birds following along the ship, and actually saw flying fish from the veranda.

The Wig Parade was much more than merely wigs, with people dressed up in all sorts of crazy costumes to support their wig of choice. Deb and I sat back on the deck watching the people lining up for the parade and Deb even participated, getting her photo taken on stage for another one of the twenty buck cruise photos. They sure didn’t miss any chances for photos on this cruise, even more than usual.

After the parade, I fell into bed while Deb danced into the night and slipped into the stateroom long after the midnight hour. I told her I wanted to be on deck by 6:30 in the morning for our sail in to Antigua, and she said, “Sure, Mom, no problem”. Tomorrow, finally, we should have a nice warm day on an island. Tomorrow, Antigua!

Jan 23 First Day at Sea

The Eurodam is a moderately sized ship, at 86,700 tons and carrying 2,104 passengers. After being christened by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in July of 2008, she entered service as the 80th ship for Holland America. She has 11 passenger decks with a split 12th deck for sunning and watching morning sail-in’s. Every day on the cruise has a theme, and today it was “Don’t Come as you Are”. I had no clue what that meant, so donned a pair of shorts and a shirt for the moderately cool day ahead.

On our first day at sea, we had a lazy morning and went upstairs to the Lido buffet for a delicious breakfast. I often have oats and yogurt with fresh fruit on cruises, but this time I just relaxed and enjoyed the the made to order omelettes with my fruit. The skies were no longer overcast but the air was cool and the seas were rough enough to keep the ship rolling around a bit. Our cabin was in the very rear of the ship, on the 5th deck. It’s a spot I wouldn’t have chosen, but with this cruise you are lucky to even get a cabin at all if you aren’t a previous cruiser. I had to jump through all sorts of hoops last year to try to get tickets for us. The cruise is so popular it is usually sold out by the time the ship is back in port. Even though we were low in the ship, the rear location kept us rolling around a bit more than is usual. Deb and I both wore wrist bands, and took ginger to help with seasickness, and Deb did just fine. After that night rolling around, I gave in a put on a patch, but they make me feel so creepy I was really wishing I hadn’t. I took it off after a couple of days and the wrist bands did their magic. They even keep me from getting car sick in busses and back seats!

The parties started early in the day, with the “Virgin” party on the aft deck at 10 am and the “Veteran” party downstairs in the Queen’s Lounge at the same time. We were entertained by one of my favorite bands on the cruise, “Big James and the Chicago Playboys”, and said “It’s five o’clock somewhere” when we were served our choice of unlimited glasses of champagne, bloody mary’s, and mimosa’s. Free drinks on a cruise are not the normal way of doing things, and while I am not a particularly big drinker, I did enjoy the free mimosas. Even though we had breakfast in the morning, by 11 am the Legendary Gospel Brunch was in full swing down by the main stage, with honey dipped fried chicken, catfish, greens, mac and cheese, bbq wings, pecan pie and many more southern delights. Maybe we could eat lunch a bit early?

The music was great, with the Holmes Brothers, Denise LaSalle, and Janiva Magness carrying on as if it were the middle of a Saturday night in Memphis. After all that food it seemed like a good idea to do some walking, so I checked out the 3rd deck, delighted to find that it made a complete circuit around the ship and only required 3 laps to get in a mile. I usually prefer doing my walking on the upper decks, but this ship doesn’t have a really good walking deck on top, so this would have to do.

We explored the ship some more during the afternoon, checking out the Lido pool and the various bars. I was a bit disappointed with the pool, it was terribly small for a ship this size, especially with the aft deck pool closed down for dancing, and there was no way to get to an upper deck from the pool deck without going back to the elevators and then back outside. Because the roof slides open during the day and closes at night, we didn’t have the open decks above the pool to enjoy the sun and then run down the stairs for a cooling dip. As a result, I noticed that the pool area was quite still, with no access to the fresh ocean breezes. This was fine on a cool sea day, but when things warmed up enough to actually enjoy swimming, it wasn’t very pleasant.

After relaxing in the late afternoon with more music, we decided to try the reservations only “Cannaletto” Italian restaurant for dinner. The meal was quite nice, as the restaurant is located in a quiet corner of the Lido deck. There are two other specialty restaurants on the ship, but this is the only one that didn’t charge the extra $25 per person for dinner. With all the free food around, I find it hard to ante up that extra charge. The antipasto platter was especially good, although the surprise cotton candy dessert was a bit strange. Cute, but strange. It made us both laugh a lot. We had some time to kill, so wandered around listening to various musicians in the various venues until my favorite, Joan Osborne, showed up on the Main Stage at 10:45. My kids know it’s pretty useless to call me any time after 9 pm, so will be amazed at my stamina and ability to party into the wee hours of the morning.

The main stage theater on the Eurodam is a bit subdued after the gorgeous Celebrity Solstice theater, and is even less pretty than those on the Princess ships. The colors are dark and low key, and supposedly more sleek and modern. Gimme glitz, I say. Initially we sat down on the main floor to look up at the performers, but by the time the show started, fans were jamming the area in front of the stage and our front row seats were worthless. We opted instead to climb up to the balcony where we had a great view. Joan Osborne is a wonderful singer, but I was truly enthralled by the Holmes Brothers and their musical skills. What a great bunch of old guys playing blues. Wow!

We ambled back to our stateroom, admiring all the decorated doors on the way. It’s a “thing” on this cruise to decorate your door, and it is one of the many contest awards handed out at the end of the cruise. Once in our cabin, Surprise! We got towel animals with the turned down beds and little chocolates!! I was glad for Deborah, since this was her first cruise, and many ships are no longer doing this silly special little touch. We also received some of our Legendary Blues Cruise goodies, including a hot/cold cup, an insulated beach bag with the cruise logo, and last but not least, Legendary Blues Cruise logo condoms. Ok.

Our stateroom steward was close to perfect. He wasn’t visible much unless we needed him, yet every single time we left the cabin he was there cleaning up and refreshing everything. His skill at towel animals was excellent as well. We had big bottles of water in the cabin, and the documentation said somewhere that they cost 3.39 a bottle, but I never saw a bottle charge on my bill, so I’m not sure if it was really complimentary, or if our steward just didn’t bother charging us.

Yes, unless you were there, the photos are a bit boring, and won’t be otherwise until a couple more days when we actually get a port day. In the mean time, you can still check them out here if you are so inclined.