~ the Equinox Adventures ~
3/5/2010
Good morning all! Its 77F here, cruising into St Thomas at a leisurely 11 knots in slight seas. Its partly cloudy, with little wind. A fine day to be pulling into our last port of call (sniff). Here is the morning view. As you can see, we are just off the coast here (if I had to bet, I would say we are waiting for the pilot to board, or waiting for the Customs Dept to clear the boat). One thing that is different about this trip - usually Customs require everyone to walk past their officers to show their passports. It is something of a farce, since you could smuggle someone in pretty easily by going thru the line twice (there is a way to do it - as I had figured out from trips past), and getting the slip of paper they required. Of course, this meant the whole ship had to be up at pretty obscene hours for the evolution. Thank goodness they did away with that! We have a pretty early excursion - snorkeling, of course! So I am going to head off to get something to eat before we hit the gangway. When I get back, I'll tell you about last night's adventures! Oh, and Hey, Itch! Glad your broadband is working well! Welcome to the 21st century (Itch, for those who don't know, is my father - the nickname came about in a sort of long convoluted way - ask me some time if you are curious. He read the first couple of blogs with a dial up modem, and was the reason that I went to an index page, so the download wasn't too long for him). See y'all later!
1508 - St Thomas
St Thomas really is a gorgeous place to pull into. There are all the boats moored out in the harbor, the yachts tied up at the pier (and some are quite impressive), the sea-planes landing in the harbor..... Very picturesque. So naturally...
Anyway, about last night... Dinner was really good - and was the six of us again. Deb & Mike announced that they wanted to do the Tuscan Grille (they were thinking tomorrow night), and did anyone want to join them? This is a big deal since they tend to want to not spend money too frivilously, and quite frankly, I would not have been surprised after the other night at Murano that they wouldn't want to invite us at all! Carol and I accepted, and my mother declined. So it will just be 4 for dinner tomorrow. After dinner (did I mention that the food was good here, and that you could ask for your preferred waiter when you check in - the guys we had the night before were not that good, and these guys we asked for are really good). we went to the show, which was kind of a variety show. They had a taste of what was coming our next formal night - tomorrow - the guy who sang and played trumpet, and the comedian we saw the other night. Overall, pretty good show. The comedian did too much of the same act he did the previous night (as in 85% of it was a repeat), and the song and dance guy uses patriotism as a tool to get at people's heartstrings. And you know me, I am not into really fake people, or pop patriotism (I think Carol and I were the only ones not standing during the song. I was surprised my mother didn't ask me why I didn't stand up with them). But it was a good show. Later in the evening, they had a show up in the Observation Lounge. We haven't talked about the Observation Lounge, because quite frankly, I have barely been in the place. It is on Deck 14, all the way forward. Think of the space known as 10 Forward on Star Trek the Next Generation - same sort of lounge. But bigger. They have a stage, a wicked cool lighting system (which I think they are still figuring out how to use, based on the lighting scheme used last night), big bar, and everything. They also have a bank of windows that give I think a 180 degree view of the front of the ship. I'll have to take some pictures for you tomorrow. Its a great space. The show they were doing there was an interactive boogie-woogie kind of deal - big band theme and everything. They had the 8 piece band playing, the singers singing, the dancers dancing, and then the cruise director staff was also dancing, and for some numbers, it was all show staff, for others, people from the audience danced with the dancers and the cruise staff. It was actually pretty good. If they could get the lighting worked out, and stop the CD staff from being a little too over the top (it would also help if you felt a real connection with the Cruise Director's staff), it would be fabulous. Then it was bed time, with an early start in the morning. So, after breakfast this morning, we headed down with our gear. We met the guy who was taking us to the boat, and he announced that you had to have photo IDs with you to get back on the pier once we left. Now, they say that at every stop, but I guess this is the first place where they mean it. Of course, I had our driver's licenses with us (no need for passports on US soil), so no problem. A few people had to go back and get their's, and one woman argued that it wasn't fair (why I am not sure, but who cares anyway?). Would you believe that on our way back in, some people (not from our group) were not allowed on the pier without their photo IDs? It was almost funny to hear them arguing! The boat we were on was definitely a power catamaran, and at67 feet, it could hold 114 people - we were only 57, so it was perfect! The crew was great, very personable, making sure everyone was happy, had what they needed, and wouldn't give out booze til after the snorkeling. Our first stop was at Christmas Cove. We had been here years ago aboard the Sea Blaster, and it was here I photographed my first wild sea turtle. It is a pretty cove where it is said that Christopher Columbus was to have anchored over one Christmas, hence the name. The water in the cove was pretty much flat calm, temperature of bathwater, with good visibility. And I had Rice Krispies! For those of you who don't know about this, we discovered a number of years ago that fish, generally speaking, love Cheerios. I bring them in a bottle (wide mouth sports bottle sort of thing), and while swimming, open the top, shake some out, and watch the feeding frenzy before my eyes. This trip I didn't have a bottle, and the Cheerios here come from a bulk server, not a bunch of little boxes. But the Rice Krispies come in little boxes for some reason, and in those boxes are hermetically sealed pouches (as in they are waterproof!). So now I did not need the bottle.
As popular as I am when I am home, I am not nearly as popular as I am when in the water shaking out cereal. My mother was snorkeling with us today (first time this trip) and had never seen this trick. She loved it. I shook some right under her, and the swarms came. I was even a little disappointed, because there were not too many yellow jacks, so the fish were more timid than I had seen in the past. But there were these blue gars (little fish, maybe 8 or 10 inches long, with a really long pointed snout) that few in and out, and kept running into my hand as I shook out the food.
Then we did the with some Cheerios my mother brought with her in a baggie. A big fish came in (I think it might have been a red snapper - not sure but it was over 18" long, and pretty fat. The other fish definitely got out of its way) and was eating. He's the one with the dot in the middle of his body.
It was really neat, because even without feeding the fish, they follow you on the chance you might feed them. I had a little parade going as I swam along the reef. Then we saw a stingray being harrassed as he swam by a fish, who stayed really close on top of him. It was interesting to watch.
Then it was time to leave. Our next stop was at a cove called Great Cruz Bay, where the Westin is on St John. This was more of a beach excursion than a snorkeling one, since the bottom was all sand, and it was churned up a bit, so you couldn't see much. We managed to get Joe in the water this stop, and he loved it. We gave him a little intro to snorkeling there in the water, so maybe next time he'll go for it. I think he would find it opens up a whole new world for him. It is a really pretty bay, with lots of nice boats moored there.
And it is surrounded by really nice houses, overlooking the water. This was one of our favorites, because it looks like it will have a pool, as well as be a gorgeous house. In case you are wondering, the Westin Hotel that is there has its own ferry to take you between St John, and St Thomas, and if you fly in, they have someone meet you at the airprot to drive you to their ferry, to take you to the hotel. We might have to do that someday - maybe when we tire of cruising!
Does Joe look like he is having a good time?
Do we? We took those on the way back to the pier after leaving St John. That was such a nice trip - best of the cruise, and a great way to go out! We got back, had a little snack (okay, a meal - burgers, fries, and onion rings - with chocolate chip cookies (and ice cream) for dessert! No lack of food here, let me tell you!). Now Carol is snoozing while I type up the blog. We pull out in an hour or so, and it is really hot out, so I am not headed to the pier again. Just got off the phone with Mike, and it sounds like they had a good time. We'll be going down for dinner together again tonite, so we'll hear all about over dinner. So, I will upload this installment, and write more later or tomorrow morning. Most likely tomorrow. And while I am sad the trip is drawing to a close, one advantage is that there is no island that we have to get up early for, so we can sleep in! And then explore this ship a bit more. I'll bet there are more places like 14 Forward (as I think of it) that I have yet to see. We'll talk to you soon. Hope everyone is well!
Keep Smiling!!!
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All Images and Accounts of this Adventure are strictly the doings of the Author, and have Nothing to do with the Official Positions or Opinions of Timethief Photography, its affiliated divisions, or anyone associated with the company. If you have any issues with the accounts, how people or places are portrayed, or with any statements of fact, take it up with him! Of course, he'll probably be off on another adventure!
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