14 posts tagged “cruising”
Many people consider Memorial Day Weekend to be the kickoff of summer. Show us what you're most looking forward to this summer!
Duh.
Okay, so I couldn't think of a creative way to title an entry that will likely be all over the place since I haven't written much about the happenings in the life of Nicole in a while. Most of my recent brain power has been used gathering, sorting, revising, and composing policies and procedures for work. Rip-roaring stuff, I know. But the crazy part is, I actually don't mind doing that kind of stuff. And I got to work from home for two days. With Rob.
Rinse and repeat one day next week as well.
What would likely make others feel as if someone was slowly pulling off their toe nails one by one actually energizes me. But it also saps all my mental energy by the end of the day, which means I got nothin' to give here.
So, in an effort to at least be somewhat organized and coherent in this post, I will give each section a nice generic heading and attempt to hit the bullet points.
Work
As aforementioned, I've been working on a project with Rob, revising the Policy and Procedure Manual. Perhaps that should be creating, as they have never actually had a church-wide P&P manual. What they have had is a bunch of policies and memos in various places. Our job has been to grab those, figure out what's missing and write those, then bring them all together in an organized fashion, create one succinct manual, and then a few "for public consumption" guides that will be accessible to the volunteers.
It is a lot of work, to be sure, but as it is work I enjoy, it made the two days spent on such fly by. Tuesday we will have another go at it (yay to working at home again!), and hopefully at least have the employee handbook portion ready for the Lead and Executive Pastors to review.
There are also some upcoming organizational changes that I am not at liberty to discuss yet, but if things go as I hope, I am very excited. The shifts should better utilize folks' strengths and giftedness, including yours truly.
Home
Rob finished his first grad school class last week (with an A!), and the next one doesn't start until mid-June, so the plan is to work on a few projects around the house during the lull. We are having new windows put in on the addition, and we took the cover off the pool yesterday. For the latter to be ready, we still need to add more water, shock, and vacuum it. But the yay factor is that what water is still in it (had to lower it about a foot to put the cover on) is clear.
I'd also like to get some of the painting projects done, such as finishing the study and our bedroom. We added a pet door out to the garage a few weeks ago, which allowed us to move the cat boxes to said area (woohoo!), but we still need to finish organizing the space (we've given up on the idea of actually using it as a garage since it is quite narrow) and moving the bins from the screen porch into the garage and/or shed. My wish at that point is a glider or chairs or a pair of rockers for the screen porch, but so far the spousal unit has simply rolled his eyes at me.
And then there is a project that is quite daunting to me because it is so not in my skill set: landscaping.
When the previous owners were getting the house ready for sale, they were also prepping it for rent - whatever came to pass first, they were going to run with. This totally worked in our favor, allowing us to rent for a month while our house in DE sold. The downside was that they prepped the house for long-term tenants - meaning not only did they paint every wall with semi-gloss (gross!), they also stripped the yard of anything that might be high maintenance - or any type of maintenance - save mowing, weed wacking, and edging.
We had a company come out and quote re-vamping the yard with lovely shrubs and perrenials, but I about fainted when I saw the cost.
By the same token, Rob, nor I, have ever planted a shrub. Nor have we ever really had an interest in doing such.
But I also hate the nakedness of our front yard.
This could provide some interesting blogging fodder in the weeks and months to come.
Kiddos
The school year is winding down to the final weeks, praise God! I am quite frankly tired of nagging motivating the children to stay on top of their assignments. The Daughter continues to struggle with her honors English class; however, we did see improvement last marking period and the teacher is working closely with her now, so if we can get her through it with a C, I will be quite pleased.
She took her SATs the first weekend of this month - not sure how long it takes to get those back. She chose the four colleges to send them to - two local, one in western VA, and one in DE. Her plan at this point is to take one of the two years of cosmetology training via the tech school (free!) next year, since she only has to take 4 academic classes to graduate. This will also allow her to explore her interest in cosmetology at no cost - then if she does like it, she can pay for the second year of training. Following that, she plans to use her cosmetology certification to help her through college - either business or pre-law.
The Middle has been doing quite well with his classes, so we allowed the reinstatement of xBox for one hour on school nights ("I've been getting all As and Bs for a while now, Mom!). But alas, that was short lived, as his Science grade dropped to a C this week because he got a big fat goose egg on his homework ("I lost it...").
He continues to do quite well with his guitar playing - he picks up new songs quickly and easily.
The Youngest had his final strings concert of the year on Tuesday - I am amazed at how far these 5th graders have come this year. He can't decide if he wants to stick with violin or switch to cello next year. I am just happy he wants to continue with orchestra.
With some trepidation, I am not looking forward to next month when his best friend moves to TX. These are the kinds of hurts that I wish we could shield our babies from!
The Cruise!
I am still spending an inordinant about of time reading cruise boards and reviews for our ship. It officially moved to Baltimore a few weeks ago, and I have been eating up any and all info posted about the move and subsequent cruises. Overall they have been positive, save some embarkation and debarkation issues, which will hopefully be resolved by the time our vacation is here (just over 100 days from now!).
I think I have decided on what excursions we will do. I am leaning toward just going with the flow in Grand Turk, since they have a nice beach and cruise center with shops, Margaritaville, and a pool. I know we can safely take a taxi out to the lighthouse for some photo ops as well. And since Rob and I plan to purchase our own snorkeling equipment, the teens can give it a whirl in calmer, shallower waters within our view in prep for a snorkeling excursion later that week.
Next stop is supposed to be a private island in the Bahamas, so another beach day, which is fine by me! The boys may do a sting ray excursion, but The Daughter and I have no interest in that, so we will stay behind and work on our tans.
In Nassau, I am hoping to book a snorkeling excursion with Stuart's Cove (if they would ever email me back!). They have good reviews and go to 2-3 different sites. And it's only a half day, which would allow us time to have lunch on the ship and then still go into town and shop a bit if we want.
Our final stop, Freeport, doesn't get a lot of positive reviews since you basically dock in an industrial area, so I plan to book a dolphin encounter. We are all really excited about this excursion - I hope it lives up to our expectations.
I think that about covers it....for now. I am going to post this before I accidentally delete it; I can always go back and fix the typos later, eh?
Before I try to remember our last cruise day, which was a sea day, here are a few of the underwater photos we took (yes, I finally got them developed) when we did the sting ray and snorkel excursion in Grand Cayman.
I am not sure why I am smiling in an underwater photo...
And so, back to Day 7, our final day of the cruise. We were both pretty crispy sun-exposure-wise from our snorkeling the day before, so we spent the day just wandering the ship, watching movies in our room, and checking out the cruise sales (I found a cute top and a lovely sterling silver cross necklace). As the evening came upon us, we hurried aft in hopes of finally catching an amazing sunset.
This time, we were not disappointed.
Our final port was Grand Cayman. This was another replacement port, so once again we found ourselves lacking in information, save the fact that we wanted to snorkel at some point on the trip. We signed up for the Sting Ray and Snorkel excursion. Upon arriving at the island, we boarded a tender to shore, waited a bit, boarded a bus, and were taken a few miles out to a large motor boat.
We'd purchased an underwater camera for this excursion, and I have neglected to get those photos developed to-date (Bad Nicole!), so at this point you will just have to use your imagination. We donned snorkel vests and masks, jumped into the water, and proceeded to be mauled and molested by dozens upon dozens of sting rays. The waters were choppy and crowded with both the sea creatures and screaming, squealing tourists. I tried my hand at feeding the buggers a few times, but I didn't care for how they bumped and brushed against me in search of the calamari even after it had been sucked away by one of their own.
After we'd all been groped sufficiently by the creepy sea animals, we climbed back on the boat and were motored out to the edge of a reef. After a brief yet informative orientation, we were snorkeling.
And I loved it! Once I understood the physics involved - the choppy waters were not kind, and I swallowed my share of salt water - I loved gazing upon the reef, watching the colorful fish dart here and there, seemingly oblivious to our presence in their world.
I can't wait to go again on our cruise at the end of the summer!
We returned to the cruise port after the excursion and went back to the ship to shower, change, and grab a bite (ha, who am I kidding - more than a bite - we are on a cruise, people!) of lunch. Then we returned to the town and wandered about, doing a bit of souvenir shopping.
This was also the long-awaited lobster and Baked Alaska night. We dressed for dinner and headed to the dining room with anticipation.
That night was also "Champagne Waterfall" night. I couldn't convince Rob to go down to the Piazza with me (he is not a champagne fan), so I wandered down on my own.
The bubbly was blah, but the display was beautiful. The highlight was when a 60-years-young man proposed to his equally young girlfriend.
I returned to our cabin with bittersweet thoughts that our lovely vacation would soon end - just one more day left.
I was trying to be playful, but I am thinking I probably just look silly.
Ocho Rios, Jamaica was our first "substitute port". I felt a little apprehensive about it since I'd done zero research (obviously).
The first thing I noticed about Jamaica was how green and hilly it was compared to the Bahamas and Grand Turk. It looked very lush and tropical as opposed to the open, flat landscape of our first two ports.
We decided on a catamaran excursion to the popular Dunns Falls. The crew was upbeat and accommodating, as we sailed slowly along the shoreline to our destination.
As we tracked back toward the port, they cranked the music up and encouraged us to dance. One person in our duo was a bit of a party pooper, but the other one...
We headed back to the ship, showered, and had some lunch, then made our way down to the many shops. I wasn't that impressed with most of them, and the staff didn't seem as happy to have tourists as the folks in Grand Turk were. We eventually found a little hole-in-the-wall store with a jovial storekeeper, so we purchased most of our souvenirs from him.
Suffice to say, I am glad we got to visit this verdant country, but it's not a port I'd really be interested in visiting again.
Once we'd bid Ocho Rios adieu, we made our way to the most forward part of the ship in yet another attempt to catch a breathtaking Caribbean sunset.
If I remember correctly, this was lobster night, but I didn't take a single photo of anything at dinner except my dessert. It is the closest I will ever get to such a thing*...
I wasn't sure what this port-of-call would be like since it'd only reopened a few weeks prior, after Hurricane Ike had devastated it a month or two before. But the Cruise Center was virtually untouched, save some landscaping and miscellaneous cosmetic blemishes.
I try not to be a prude, but I really don't want to see a stranger's dangly bits when I am on vacation.
So, we packed up our stuff, browsed the shops for a bit, then hailed a taxi to take us out to the other end of the island to see the lighthouse.
Our drive out showed us what Ike had done to that lovely little island. I don't think we passed a single building without damage, many of which were completely destroyed. Our driver described, with tears in his voice, the night of the storm. I was humbled to see homes that were no more than shacks leveled...these people had nothing to begin with and now they had even less than that.
It was heartbreaking.
What we also witnessed was the resilience and hope of this island's people. With the tears, there was hope in our driver's voice, as he spoke of rebuilding and their relief that tourists were coming back (it is there biggest industry - yes, they actually wanted us there).
I can't wait to go back on our trip in September to see how things have progressed and further support the rebuilding of this lovely island.
Our bellies happy, we headed back to the cabin and promptly feel asleep until just before dinner. Our dinner mates later told us we'd missed the best sunset thus far - go figure.
So I have this annoying little habit when it comes to vacation planning.
I like to plan in advance - especially "big" trips, like our drive to the Grand Canyon and West Coast in 2002. Planning is good, but this means that I spend the next week or two reading and studying and researching every spare minute, until my eyes glass over from staring at a computer screen too long.
And the trips are still a good 6 months away!
I am such a dork.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I can't begin to express how excited I am! Most of our port time will probably be spent beaching and snorkeling, but that's okay - those are the things I enjoyed most about our October cruise.
I also like that Carnival has "dressed down" their evening dining - it was fun to dress up when it was just Rob and me, but with the kids, it will be so much easier and practical to not have to worry about bringing two outfits for each day.
I hope no one misinterprets this post as bragging - I am so thankful and blessed that we have the opportunity to do this with our kids and make these memories that will go with them into adulthood and the start of their own families. And who knows? Maybe we will have three generation cruises one day (but not for a good decade or more, ha).
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Since we didn't have a port call, this was the perfect day to sleep in. I wish I could say that I did...for some reason, I did not sleep well the entire cruise, though this was probably the best night's sleep of all since I wasn't worried we'd oversleep and miss a scheduled excursion.
We awoke to a lovely, albeit rough day at sea. We took our time making our way up to the breakfast buffet, then proceeded to try and find a spot on deck to catch some rays.
It was during this time that I experienced my first negative of the trip: how folks act concerning the deck chairs and loungers. There are signs posted every where that say that you can not reserve the loungers. Of course, these go totally unheeded.
Rob and I made our way to the back of the ship first, the Horizon Terrace. This is an adult-only sunning and pool area. Of course there were no loungers so we grabbed a seat in the sun with a small bistro-style table between us. It didn't take long for me to be reminded of that scene in Finding Nemo where the gulls are perched and waiting for a bite of something - anything - and at the first hint of chow....MINEMINEMINEMINEMINE!
Now imagine a couple dozen scantily clad adults perched on seats and benches, just waiting for someone - anyone - to need the rest room....
You get the picture.
We didn't stay in that area long, eventually making our way to one of the main deck areas and finding decent seating rather quickly.
During this time I didn't take a single photo. Suffice to say we enjoyed just lolling about in the sun, bringing fresh fruit and yummy drinks to our seats and playing "Real/Not Real" as we watched many a youth-enhanced woman strut about the deck.
(Yes, we can be very mature that way.)
At about 2 PM, the captain came over the PA and announced that due to a hurricane making it's way toward Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, we would be having a change of itinerary. You could almost hear folks holding their breath as he announced that we'd be bumping up our stop to Grand Turk to the following day, with new stops in Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Grand Cayman the following two days.
There were some grumbles and groans, but a whoop of glee from Rob who'd wanted to go to Grand Cayman all along (but the cruise for the same week with GC as a stop was several hundred more per person, so we'd nixed that one).
I remarked that he must be living right because he was getting what he wanted after all. He just grinned.
Once we'd had enough fun in the sun, we made our way back to our cabin, showered, and changed into comfy clothes. We head out to the deck and once again tried to catch the sunset.
We reluctantly made our way back to the room so that we could get all dolled up for the first formal night. We had our photo taken professionally, but didn't end up buying any because I knew I'd want one from the second formal night when I'd be wearing my new black gown.
Our tablemates skipped out that night, so we had a quiet dinner for two.
After dinner we went up to the Explorer's Lounge. I think I said that we saw Phil Tag on Monday night; I was wrong. We actually saw Tony Laffan, a magician/comedian on Monday night in the same lounge - he was much funnier/entertaining than I expected. Tonight (Tuesday) was Phil Tag, and he was hysterical. As I mentioned before, it was standing room only, which was no small feet (pun intended) for me since I had on my favorite heels.
Since our tablemates went AWOL, we didn't have anyone to take a nice photo of the two of us with our camera. A polite crew member obliged as we were heading back to our room after the show.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
At this point in our trip, I realized that for the first time in I don't know how long, my dear hubby was finally able to totally and absolutely relax...
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