Welcome to the Chronicles of

~ the Second Noordam Adventure ~ the 15th Anniversary Cruise ~
12/06/2008 - 12/17/2008

12/18 - Orlando, Florida

8:02pm - Hilton at the Walt Disney World Resort

Hi all! There is so much to get you caught up on!

First of all, I should probably start with the morning view (yes, I even remembered to take it!). Its not quite the same as the views at sea, but then, a tradition is a tradition!

The weather for today was predicted to be mostly sunny, with a high of 81F. But let me start where the blog left off......

Yesterday, we debarked the ship with Grace & Chuck, as it turned out. After we got off the ship, we got our luggage out of the warehouse (that was fun!) and had to go thru customs. We (Carol & I) got into a different line than Grace & Chuck (thanks to the person putting people into lines - there was quite the crowd) - so we were naturally racing. Carol & I won by a person or so, and I am not sure how many people were looking at us (okay, me) as we "jockeyed" for position. Hey, entertainment is where you can find it!

Then they decided to go on the bus to the airport by taking the bus to the car rental counter with us. Now, they were not getting a car, and we were not getting a car from the sponsoring car rental companies, but if you know to say that you are getting a car from one of the sponsoring companies, they'll let you take a ride for free. Again, it is the idea of doing something you are not supposed to be doing, and it is the taking advantage of a stupid policy (they should take any car rental company customer). So we got to the airport and parted company with Grace & Chuck.

Once we got our car, we headed north to go to my mother's for a visit. The trip was fairly uneventful, although I must say that people down here drive a little faster than they do back home (and we're not slouches) - at least in southern Florida.

My mother and her husband Joe live in a place called the Villages. It is an amazing place. Huge complex of condos and free standing homes, lots of golf courses, community centers (with snazzy decor - all differently themed), shops, restaurants, and nightly entertainment. And we took the complete tour!

Really the most impressive part of the whole tour was my mother's lemon tree - or more to the point, the lemons that it produces. Here she is with a lemon (yes, I said lemon):

And I have a couple of them I am bringing home.

One of the community centers we visited was having a model railroad fest - HO, O, G, and N scale trains (translation - from really small, to really large trains). Here Joe is in one of the rooms:

The guys who were setting the trains up were really into it. The details were amazing - tiny little cars, animals - they even had a car accident in the models. Anyway.

We had dinner at this Cuban restaurant they have on the site. I had a classic Cubano sandwich, which was very good. In fact, we all enjoyed our meals. They told me that this was considered one of the more expensive restaurants in the Villages, but back home we would consider it mid range, pricewise. The other funny thing was that they bring everyone their own check (apparently they rarely have one person pay for the whole meal - the look on the waitresses face was funny when I told her I had the whole thing).

After dinner, we went to one of the town squares to see it lit at night and hear the band. They were good (line dancing was going on).

They have a dock on a lake - and a nice hotel overlooking the water

Carol & my mother

The Christmas tree in the square.

Here we are in one of the community centers, Carol & I, and Joe & my mother. These places are amazing - both in size and in decor. The whole place is Disney for over 55s!

Okay, enough family pictures. We drove back down to Orlando, and checked in at the Hilton. We got in around 11pm, and I have to tell you, it is a strange thing to arrive at Disneyworld at that hour. Spookily quiet.

The next morning, we headed out to SeaWorld's Discovery Cove to swim with the dolphins. Actually, i should say that swiming with the dolphins is why you go, but it is a complete and amazing day.

You arrive there, and walk into what amounts to a botanical garden.

The Cove is an all inclusive activity. And they really mean it. We got checked in, and were then met by a guide who gave us the lay of the land. It is not a terribly big place, but basically there are four pools. On one side, you have the dolphin pools. On the other, you have a coral reef pool, a stingray pool, and a freshwater pool, that includes a lazy stream that goes around the coral reef and stingray pools. There is also an aviary, which I thought wouldn't be all that interesting, but I was wrong on that - more on that later.

They serve you a continental breakfast, which you can eat before or after you get your wetsuit (long or short) or vest, get changed, and put your stuff in your locker. You also get a snorkel (which you keep), a mask (which you don't), a sample of suntan lotion (there was enough in one packet for both of us), and all the towels you want.

I should also mention that other than souveniers and photos (which is the same thing, I guess), you can't spend money on anything. Nada. Not food (included), snacks (included), drinks (included), or even beer (included - Anheiser Bush products). Its great. And the food is pretty good, too (the burger I had at lunch was a bit overdone).

When you check in, you get the time of your dolphin encounter (you can go to Discovery Cove without doing the encounter, but really, why would you?). Ours was at 1:45pm.

The dolphin, stingray, and coral reef pools are kept at 77F, while the freshwater pool is kept at 86F - or put another way, the saltwater pools are colder than the freshwater one. So, we did the coral reef pool first. Gorgeous water, huge fish, and lots of them. Far beyond the anything you would see in the wild (at least anyplace I have seen - when you didn't have food to feed the fish).

They have a "wreck" in the middle of the pool, which had "debris" all over the place - cool

The wreck had some interesting residence:

These guys are full grown, 6 foot long baracudas. Honestly, I have never seen them this big before, even at Atlantis in the Bahamas. And their teeth are amazing. Luckily for me, swimming 2 feet from them, they are in a tank, which glass you can barely make out. And these guys (some 10-20 of them) are looking out that glass, wishing they could get to the fish or small children so close, yet so far away.

Then we went to the Stingray pool.



The pool is only a few feet deep, and the rays feel amazing - they are willing to swim right by you, as long as you don't chase them. It is amazing. I found a good spot to sit, and they came right by me - by the score. They also have photographers in the water who will take your picture in the pool with the rays cruising by.

Then we headed off to lunch, which was quite tasty. Its pretty much all you can eat. Then we went to the aviary.

When we walked into the aviary, we met a guy who worked there. We chatted a minute (where you from, how was the cruise, etc), and then he asked us if we wanted to feed the birds. Who would say no? So he gave us a couple of cups of stuff (Carol got maggots), and the birds came like flying.

It was great.

Then it was time to meet Flipper. They give you a quick introductory movie to watch, then break everyone up into groups. There were 6 in our group (us and a family from Canada). We started with a younger female dolphin (I forgot her name). This is us kissing her:

She was having some issues paying attention to us, because she had a calf (a 4 year old) in the pool with another group, and she was kind of watching over her. So we got a different dolphin, called Capricorn. He was a wild caught dolphin, some 40 something years old. Yes, I said over 40, and incredibly elderly age for a willd dolphin, but obviously possible in captivity, since they have a few of them. Other than missing some teeth, he is in great health. He is supposed to be the dominant male of the 40 or so dolphins in the Discover Cove program. He is 10 feet long, over 700 pounds, and has a huge fluke.

We got to pet him, feed him, and made him do some tricks. Then we got to take a ride on Capricorn.

And, of course, pose for a picture with him:

After the encounter, we did a bunch of laps in the freshwater pool (the river goes around that side of the complex, including theu the aviary, which is neat). Then we showered, changed, and bought the CD of our high rez images (hence how I have the pix of us riding Capricorn, with the rays, etc.).

Then we headed back to the hotel, stopped at Pizzeria Unos for dinner, and then relaxed (Carol is snoozing, she is so relaxed), and I am doing the blog.

I should mention that the Hilton here at Disney is a great hotel. Far better than the Grovsnor across the street, where I stayed on a business trip a couple of years ago. Priceline had the rooms at $100 a night, and I did the bid thing and got it for $75. Well worth it, if you need a hotel this way.

Not sure what we're doing tomorrow - possibly going to SeaWorld, since access to the park for the next 2 weeks is included with our admission to Discovery Cove. We'll see. Whatever we do, I'll let you know about it in the blog.

Oh, one last thing - I am so glad we are here at the moment. Freezing at home, and its supposed to snow 5-8" tomorrow. 81F here. Yeah, I know - payback's a bitch.

Talk to you soon.

Til then....

Keep Smiling!!!

Your Intrepid Servant, the Timethief Beachbum