Welcome to the Chronicles of
~ the Second Noordam Adventure ~ the 15th Anniversary Cruise ~
12/06/2008 - 12/17/2008
12/12 - At Sea
9:46am
Good morning all! We are currently steaming thru calm rolling seas today. Sounds like it is much nicer here than it is going to be on Wall Street today! Here is the morning view:
It is a really pretty day, and I am typing from the balcony this morning. Its about 80F out, and the seas are running at about 3-5 feet - the boat is hardly rolling. There are seagulls flying along around the ship, diving for fish that no one can see. We did breakfast up on the Lido deck, where we ran into a couple from our dinner table. They're, as near as we can tell, about 80 or so. They went scuba diving yesterday (or more accurately, tried to - the rocky beach kept them from going in), and they went yacht racing the day before. I hope I am in as good a shape as they are when I get to their age!
So, about yesterday! Let's see. First of all, as I think I mentioned, Dominica is a volcanic island. The terrain is amazing. Apparently there are some dozen or so volcanos on the island - but we were told that these were attached to the volcanos on Monserat, and that is where the pressure is relieved (I guess they had an eruption a couple of years back). It also rains alot here. And we saw ample evidence of that while we were out yesterday. One side benefit is the rainbows that show up, like this one, just off the ship:
There were people talking about setting up an excursion to dive and get the pot of gold!
Originally, there were supposed to be 6 of us going out on the whale watch - 3 couples. We got a last minute call from Peg that Neal was sick, and that they would have to beg off. So, now we were down to an excursion for 4. We met Dave and Vicki on the dock at 9am, and it was raining lightly (apparently it was raining pretty good 5 minutes before we got down there). Went to the end of the pier, and sure enough, Ken (the guy I had talked to about the tour) was waiting with a sign with my name on it (makes you feel famous). We walked over to his office (literally 50 yards from the end of the pier), paid for the tour, and walked down their pier to meet our skipper for the day.
Now, one interesting thing about this excursion was that there was a minimum of 6 people, and a maximum of 10. This gets you wondering about how big the boat you are going out on really is. After all, this is the Caribbean, and some of our more conservative mainland ideas are not necessarily shared with the people of the islands! I mean, this could have been our charter:
Who knew?
Well, the Proud Mary (our charter) is a Sea Ray fishing boat, about 35 feet in length, with a small cabin, a fly bridge, and a classic fighting chair for big game fishing. It was captained by Jerry, who is a quiet and very personable guy.
He had a deckhand named Natasha, I believe. She was really quiet:
While on the subject of who was on the boat, this is Vicki:
And her husband Dave:
You have to watch Dave. He's a great guy (they are from Texas), and when we got underway, he promptly went up on the Fly Bridge with Jerry (I went up there, too for a bit), but when Jerry would leave, Dave would try to take over the boat!
Okay, the truth is that while I was sitting on the bow, I told Dave I wanted to go a little more left - and Dave was more than happy to fulfill my request! I told you he was a good guy.
On the way out, we passed a ship, whose crew obviously knew Jerry. They were waving and and joking - very jovial group!
This guy reminded me of Samuel L Jackson, so I took a quick shot.
Once about a mile or so out, the first thing we came upon was a pod of spotted and common dolphins. We drove around and thru them a few times. They rode our bow wave, and played in the wakes:
I started to get comfortable and got close to the bow. You can see the boat's bow on the right. Another 5 minutes, I would have gotten a little more comfortable (we were tossing a bit), and I would have gotten closer to the edge - but timing is everything, so you will just have to be satisfied with this shot:
Then we headed off in search of our real quarry - Sperm Whales. Now, back home, we see a lot of humpback whales. The nice thing about humpbacks is that they feed on krill near the surface. Sperm Whales, on the other hand, feed on squid at depth. So, when they come up, they are only there for 10 - 15 minutes, before diving to the depths for food - and here we are talking depths of over a mile down. In fact, being a volcanic island, when you pull out of port, the depths drop of rapidly. Less than a mile out, the depth chart showed a depth of over 6,000 feet!
There were 3 whale watching boats out where we were. The other 2 were ship's excursions (one was just a whalewatch, the other a whalewatch and snorkel trip). They do communicate with eachother when they sight something, which is good. Our first whale was a short lived sighting, because he was just diving as we got to him.
Then we saw a pod of Mellon Head Whales. They were just hanging around the surface, and we could see their dorsal fins. Being very small whales, they looked alot like dolphins, so no great excitement there. So we waited a while. In the meantime, Vicki did some drawing in a book she had:
And I took a picture or 3 of Carol:
Then the word came we were waiting for! Someone had spotted a whale at the surface! Now, as I said, these guys are all very collegial, but when it comes to a sighting, there is something of a race to get to the scene. And we had the faster boat!
When we got there, the whale was just relaxing on the surface, logging a but. It was pretty big. Then it decided it was hungry!
And then it was gone, leaving nothing but a small patch of flat sea to mark its passing.
The Proud Mary has a portable hydrophone onboard, so we killed the engines, tossed out the microphone, and listened as the whale dove, and began clicking in seach of squid.
I tried to convince Jerry that his next boat should be a submarine, so we could follow the whale down a bit, but he was having nothing to do with that. He said that he didn't want to be avobe the water, nor below the water - he was happiest on the water (apparently Dave was trying to convince him earlier that he should get a plane, and spot whales from the air, and charge the whalewatching captains for the info). Well, you can't say we didn't try...!
At this point, we had pretty much run out of time on our 3 1/2 hour tour (I think they figure 3 hour tours are jinxed). So we turned back to port. On the way, we decided that yes, we did want to go snorkeling! Dave had gear from he and Vicki, and I had gear from Carol and I, so why not? This was an option that we had, but didn't have to decide on until we were on the trip. So I went down and told Jerry, and he showed me on his chart (he had a very nice electronic charting system) where we were going. So, course corrections were made, and off to snorkeling we went.
The place we were going is called the Champagne Reef. It is touted as one of Dominica's unique features, and as it turns out, happens to be a few miles south of where the cruise ships dock. This was good, since it gave us a chance to cruise along the coastline of the island a bit, and see the terrain a bit closer. It is incredible terrain. How would you like to live in this house:
At the base of this mountain (not sure how you'd make out in a huricane)?
This island reminds me alot of what I imagine the Island of Dr Morreau or where they found King Kong - you know, the place that you can't ever see the mountaintops because of the mist and the clouds.
Anyway, as I mentioned, the island is volcanic. One of the byproducts of it being active is the formation of methane. This methane apprently leaches out of the ground at this reef, forming bubbles that give the impression of swimming in a glass of champagne. So, when we got there, we jumped in, and swam to the reff, about 100 yards out. There are all sorts of fish out there - beautiful fish, and tons of parrotfish with coloring I have never seen before. The pictures don't do it justice, but I know how much Mr Beecher will miss them if I don't incluse a few.
And then we saw what we came to see - the bubbles!
The last one is looking down the bubble column, which I thought was a neat perspective.
To be honest, I was worried that when we got here, the site would smell. Typically, when gas leaves the earth with volcanic origins, there is quite a bit of sulfur involed, and that stuff stinks. I remember going to the hot baths at Yosemite as a kid, and being amazed at how bad that place smelled from about 1/2 a mile away. Since this is methane, which is odorless in its natural state, it didn't smell at all. I was also expecting snorkeling there to be like snorkeling in a hottub, with the heat turned off. It wasn't. I suppose that also lets the methane disapate rapidly, preventing a flamable buildup of gases at the surface. I asked - it is not possible to cause a big flameover with a flare or match. They take all my fun from me!
Now, while I wouldn't travel far out of my way to see it again, the Champagne Reef is interesting. And now I can cross that off my list of things to do before I die.
Tired and hungry, we headed back into port, and onto the ship. We just beat a large rainy squall to the ship - timing is everything! We showered and headed up to the Lido Deck for some food, and to watch is undock and head out to sea.
The other Holland America ship (not sure which one) headed out with us, and crossed out wake as she left for her next port.
We took a badly needed nap before getting dressed to go to the Pinnacle Grill for dinner. We stopped at our usual bar for a cocktail (we had a few minutes), and were joined by Grace and Chuck. We talked about our adventures of the day, and then it was time to go to dinner - and Chuck graciously bought our drinks for our anniversay. They are really nice people!
Actually, it is amazing how many nice people we have met on this cruise. More than the usual, I think.
When we made reservations for dinner at the restaurant, I took some pictures of the new menu they have.
I think you should be able to read it.
The food was fabulous, and the service impeccible. Carol and I both had the lobster bisque as an appetizer (they had really good looking shrimp salad, too!). Carol had the surf and turf, and I had the Fillet Steak Diane. Both were great. For dessert, Carol had creme brulle - which is done as 3 separate brulles (a vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry) in 3 separate troughs of a wavy dish. I had the baked alaska, which was Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia, with a meringue that was flamed (at the table) with cherries jubilee. It was pretty impressive.
After I got rolled out of there (this was the first meal I felt stuffed after), we took a nice walk around the promenade. It was a great evening for it, too, since there wasn't a 30 or 40 mph wind running, and since the ship was moving at a leisurely 13 knots. Then we turned in, and I typed last nights message for the blog.
So now, dear friends, you are up to date on the latest part of our adventure. Today has been a nice, lazy, relaxed day thus far. And it is time for lunch. Where to go....
I think I could get used to this!
I'll talk to you all later!
3:45pm - Still at Sea
Well, here I am, sitting on my balcony, enjoying the 84F weather, on a ship tooling along at a mere 15 knots in a following sea of rolling 5 foot swells. Other than the pina colada that I don't have at the moment, what more could a person want?
We had lunch today in the main diningroom. We figured it wasn't something that we had done thus far this cruise, so why not? The lunch is a 3 course sit down meal. When you walk up to the desk on the lower level (Deck 2), they ask you for your room number (not sure why - maybe to make sure you are not a stowaway or something), how many in your party, and then they say "You don't mind sharing a table, do you?" The correct answer is "YES! We most certainly do mind sharing a table with strangers! We are anti-social, and under a lot of stress! We are likely to snap at any moment!!!!" Carol said "no." We ended up sitting with a couple from NY - Long Island, to be exact. She may have convinced me that I should never again say that I grew up on the Island. He was okay, but she was the sort that had issues with the food, complained that they fed you too much, that there wasn't enough time between meals, that they should hurry up and eat before they threw us out because they had to get ready for high tea, which only started in an hour and a half in the upper level of the diningroom, and how did we ever get a permanent seating assignment, did we book early, isn't it nice to have a waiter who gets to know your likes and dislikes, and when did we book, isn't it a shame they have cut so many corners, and honey you shouldn't have that dessert, but ice cream is my downfall, but this ice cream is really more like ice milk, and how was the Pinnacle Grill, did they treat you better there......
It just made me appreciate the other 29 meals I have or will be getting with the other people we have met on the cruise thus far.
Wow...... I am still shaking my head, even thinking about it.
We headed forward, and the art auction was just about to start, so we got our number back, sat down, and confirmed that the auctioneer is an idiot and quite annoying. But we did get a second piece of free art - now we have 2 to add to the collection.
We headed back to the room to put the precious free artwork away, and got a note from out nextdoor neighbors about the snorkeling tour they are taking tomorrow in Curacao. We didn't have anything planned, so we figured we'd book the same tour. This will be the first ship's excursion we will have taken this cruise. The excursion desk is on Deck 1, and our room is on Deck 8. There are 2 decks above ours at this point in the ship, but the elevators only go up one deck from ours. When the elevator doors opened, the elderly woman inside asked if we were going down. We said yes, and she said that she always asked, because she had gotten on more elevators going the wrong way than she cared to think about. I casually mentioned that were we trying to go up, that we would have just walked up the stairs. She looked at me as if I had suggested that I had cold fusion going on in my stateroom, and that it was powering the whole ship. Presuming of course that she would have a clue as to what cold fusion was. Luckily, she got off on Deck 6.
We got to the excursion desk, and booked our trip with little fanfare. We took our tickets, and headed back up to the room. When we turn into the bank of elevators, who is getting on ahead of us to go up? The annoying art auctioneer! He's already hit his floor (Deck 9 - all the way to the top), and is talking on a cell phone. I hit Deck 8, and hope he doesn't want to talk to us. Instead, he stays on the phone talking to someone, and we have luckily hit the express trip to Deck 8. We get off, and guess who gets off woth us? Yep, the elevator's only other passenger.
Full moon out, or what?
So now I am sitting here relaxing, and talking to you guys.
You know, one thing I said I would talk about that I haven't yet is the room. Its not bad. Comfy by cruiseship standards. Here are a couple of shots looking both ways:
It is certainly ample, although another foot wider would be helpful. Grace and Chuck are in a full suite, and have graciously offered to let us see it if we'd like sometime. I think I'd like to see it just to compare.
The bath is pretty nice, again, very roomy by cruiseship standards. This one has a short, but deep, tub. Good for rinsing out snorkeling gear!
The deck is wonderful. It is the width of the room, and about 6 feet deep. The other cruiselines we have been on have decks maybe 4 feet deep (I used to wedge myself into a chair on the deck, with my knees pressed up against the glass to read a book). And while this is much nicer, it doesn't compare to the stern stateroom balconies - our last one was 12-15 feet deep (we had a lounger, tavbe, chairs, and still a ton of floorspace). If one of those had been available when we booked, we would have taken that. Great rooms!
I should talk about the ship a bit, too. At least about how this one is laid out. The decks are laid out 1-10 (maybe even an 11, but I can't think of where it would be at the moment), with 1 being the lowest, and 10 being the highest. There is also Deck A, located below Deck 1, which is where the infirmary and gangways are located. Deck 1 has the front desk, excursion desk, and ship's offices (Cruise Director's, Beverage Manager's, Hotel Manager's offices, etc.). Decks 2 and 3 are bookended with the main diningroom and the show theater. In between are the ship's stores, Pinnacle Grill, photo gallery, meeting rooms, casino, nightclub, etc. Decks 4-8 are staterooms (there are some on Deck 1 as well). Deck 9 (the Lido Deck) is the highest deck that runs the majority of the length of the ship. It is the pool deck, in this case housing 2 pools and 3 hottubs, I think. There is also the alternative or casual dining option - where the buffet (a series of different mini-kitchen stations), the ice cream bar (although they have differnt desserts there, as well), a buger grill, taco buffet, etc are. It is also the home to the spa, where carol got her pedicure done, the gym (which I have yet to get to), and the fly bridge (open decked are a deck above the bridge, traditionally used as an auxillary bridge) are located. Deck 10 has open areas that include the basketball court, and the Crow's Nest, a panoramic bar/meeting area/nightclub with great views. I laughingly call it 10-Forward, because like on the starship Enterprise, this recreational space is located on Deck 10, all the way forward on the ship. They have lounge chairs along the windows, and people sit in them, watching the ocean, and fall asleep. Its pretty funny.
There are 3 sets of elevators on the ship - forward, midships, and aft elevator banks. The midships bank has two pairs of elevators that ride along the outside of the ship, which give gorgeous views (albeit thru 2 layers of glass). There are corresponding staircases with each elevator bank.
As large as this ship is, it is really a mid size cruise ship. But it elegantly appointed, and not nearly as garishly decorated as some of the ships we have been on. And as large as the ship is, it really doesn't take long before the "big ship" seems pretty cozy - and then you realize that you want to go somewhere, but you are standing there thinking that you don't know where, because the ship is so small! It doesn't take long to get used to.
I think I had a huge house like that once upon a time....
And that's the ship. Maybe later I will take some more pictures. Let me know if anyone has any special requests.
Tonight is the second of 3 formal nights. Carol and I got dressed for the anniversary dinner at the Pinnacle Grill, and a bunch of people were looking at us as we walked wondering if they got the date wrong for the formal night. You could tell from the looks on their faces. So, it is back in a tux for me tonight. No biggie - I didn't spill anything on it last time!
Well, that's it for now. Hope all is well! Talk soon!
Til then....
Keep Smiling!!!
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Your Intrepid Servant, the Timethief Beachbum |
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