Saturday, August 06, 2005
Best day of my life (Part II)
... Anyway, as soon as we pulled the anchor up, the festivities began. I've recently read a blog entry from someone who took the same excursion, but he didn't care for it very much. Not an exact quote, but she mentioned thae fact that he had a hard time being on a replica of a 14th Century ship which was pirated by 17th Century pirates - and on the wrong coast!
O.K. This guy had a serious broomstick-up-the-butt problem. Seriously, we pulled anchor and left the harbor and the Celebrity Mercury behind with background dance music. Once we were far from the harbor, the captain came on and made some "safety" announcement. Right afterwards, they started the "pirate show". O.K. I was thinking it was going to be pretty cheezy and corny (yum cheezy corn). The music started and all the ship hands started dancin' & singing. It was like they practiced for this. Like really practiced. They had some sword play, which is always cool. I had to admit, the show was much better than I thought it was going to be. I was very entertained.
Finally, we ended up in a "Blue Lagoon" type setting with lots of clear water and land in the distance. We all piled into another, smaller boat and went to the snorkeling area. We all had yet more "safety" announcements and we were off. I'd never snorkeled before and wasn't sure what to expect, so I got all my stuff together and fell backwards from the little boat like we were all shown. Instantly, I felt how warm the waters were. It was like a heated pool, only natural. I was floating with the aid of a life vest, so getting around was pretty easy. I casually put on my mask and snorkel and bowed my head into the water.
Zoinks!!! I was amazed! Where did all these colorful fish come from?! I immediately pulled my head up to see if everyone else could see what I was seeing - it was like a Jacques Cousteau film! Really! I don't have enough exclamation marks to do it justice! We swam for a while and the ship hands would occasionally dive deep and come up with a spiny thing or jelly fish (ouch) or other exotic creature from the not-so-deep. I really wished I had an underwater camera, but the images in my head will have to do until October (not sure if I'm going to get an underwater camera though - cha' ching!). I'd really like to go back to Marieta Island.
After snorkeling, we went back to the Pirate Ship Marigalante and set sail for Majahuitas beach for some beach time. I'd already gotten my money's worth with the food, drink (open bar - did I mention?), entertainment and snorkeling. We got there, and there was basically too much stuff to do! We were like the children in Gene Wilder's, Willie Wonka seeing the candy factory for the first time. I made a dash fo r the kayacks, but I soon realized that kayacking is 1) not that exciting and 2) a lot more work than you'd think. We got to shore and boarded the banana boat. I couldn't find a really good picture of one, but if you ever get the opportunity to ride one - GO! Oh, but it helps if the boat in front is piloted by a madman.
We all got thrown off the banana boat and almost drown because we were laughing so hard. I think we all made it though. Anywho, we got back to the beach and I was overcome by a Charlton Heston mood. I saw the long, stretching beach and a monolithic shape jetting out from the sand. I tried to fight it, but I just couldn't. I fell to my knees and shouted with my arms outstretched, "AH, YOU BLEW IT! YOU BLEW IT ALL UP!" People started to stare as I continued by pounding my fist on the wet sand just outside the reach of the current surf. "AH, DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!" Well, Dad knew what I was talking about, and for that, he thought it was pretty darned funny. Did I mention that they had a free open bar on the beach too?
So, having enough fun and sun to last a lifetime, we all piled back onto the Pirate ship where we were all treated to another pirate show. This one had the captains sister being kidnapped. The captain almost picked Kim to be his sister, but Kim, "didn't want to be his sister" (wink wink). Anywho, the second show was just as good as the first if not better because we were all loose and comfortable by now. Then, for the last hour or so of the cruise, we had games. "Dance until someone says margarita - then jump on someone's back", "tug-o-war" stuff like that. We pulled into the harbor and reports came later that we were quite loud with the music and laughing and dancing, etc. They could hear us from the 14th deck of the Mercury.
By this time, I have had one of the best days of my life and I was pooped. There's a picture of me with my jolly roger flag sitting on the stairs and you can see it in my expression. I'm smiling, but can't stand.
We went back to the room to change and we met at the pool area where the Jamaican band was playing. We sat in the hottub with drinks and watched the coastline begin to move into the background as the Mercury pulled from the harbor. O.K. this was definitely the best day of my life.
I can't recall if this was a formal night or a semi-formal night, but for the purposes of embellishment, I'll say it was. We all dressed up in tuxedos and little black evening dresses and made our way to early seating. By this time, I was just ordering the whole left hand side of the menu - this is the "The Chef Recommends" section. No thinking required. I had frog legs and it was wierd and wonderful and different and all the food was the best I'd ever had.
O.K. time for a break. I'll continue this someday... Still to come:
The champagne bar.
Some relaxing time alone
Dance till dawn - boogie oogie oogie.
Keep in mind that this is still one day's events. ;-)
O.K. This guy had a serious broomstick-up-the-butt problem. Seriously, we pulled anchor and left the harbor and the Celebrity Mercury behind with background dance music. Once we were far from the harbor, the captain came on and made some "safety" announcement. Right afterwards, they started the "pirate show". O.K. I was thinking it was going to be pretty cheezy and corny (yum cheezy corn). The music started and all the ship hands started dancin' & singing. It was like they practiced for this. Like really practiced. They had some sword play, which is always cool. I had to admit, the show was much better than I thought it was going to be. I was very entertained.
Finally, we ended up in a "Blue Lagoon" type setting with lots of clear water and land in the distance. We all piled into another, smaller boat and went to the snorkeling area. We all had yet more "safety" announcements and we were off. I'd never snorkeled before and wasn't sure what to expect, so I got all my stuff together and fell backwards from the little boat like we were all shown. Instantly, I felt how warm the waters were. It was like a heated pool, only natural. I was floating with the aid of a life vest, so getting around was pretty easy. I casually put on my mask and snorkel and bowed my head into the water.
Zoinks!!! I was amazed! Where did all these colorful fish come from?! I immediately pulled my head up to see if everyone else could see what I was seeing - it was like a Jacques Cousteau film! Really! I don't have enough exclamation marks to do it justice! We swam for a while and the ship hands would occasionally dive deep and come up with a spiny thing or jelly fish (ouch) or other exotic creature from the not-so-deep. I really wished I had an underwater camera, but the images in my head will have to do until October (not sure if I'm going to get an underwater camera though - cha' ching!). I'd really like to go back to Marieta Island.
After snorkeling, we went back to the Pirate Ship Marigalante and set sail for Majahuitas beach for some beach time. I'd already gotten my money's worth with the food, drink (open bar - did I mention?), entertainment and snorkeling. We got there, and there was basically too much stuff to do! We were like the children in Gene Wilder's, Willie Wonka seeing the candy factory for the first time. I made a dash fo r the kayacks, but I soon realized that kayacking is 1) not that exciting and 2) a lot more work than you'd think. We got to shore and boarded the banana boat. I couldn't find a really good picture of one, but if you ever get the opportunity to ride one - GO! Oh, but it helps if the boat in front is piloted by a madman.
We all got thrown off the banana boat and almost drown because we were laughing so hard. I think we all made it though. Anywho, we got back to the beach and I was overcome by a Charlton Heston mood. I saw the long, stretching beach and a monolithic shape jetting out from the sand. I tried to fight it, but I just couldn't. I fell to my knees and shouted with my arms outstretched, "AH, YOU BLEW IT! YOU BLEW IT ALL UP!" People started to stare as I continued by pounding my fist on the wet sand just outside the reach of the current surf. "AH, DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!" Well, Dad knew what I was talking about, and for that, he thought it was pretty darned funny. Did I mention that they had a free open bar on the beach too?
So, having enough fun and sun to last a lifetime, we all piled back onto the Pirate ship where we were all treated to another pirate show. This one had the captains sister being kidnapped. The captain almost picked Kim to be his sister, but Kim, "didn't want to be his sister" (wink wink). Anywho, the second show was just as good as the first if not better because we were all loose and comfortable by now. Then, for the last hour or so of the cruise, we had games. "Dance until someone says margarita - then jump on someone's back", "tug-o-war" stuff like that. We pulled into the harbor and reports came later that we were quite loud with the music and laughing and dancing, etc. They could hear us from the 14th deck of the Mercury.
By this time, I have had one of the best days of my life and I was pooped. There's a picture of me with my jolly roger flag sitting on the stairs and you can see it in my expression. I'm smiling, but can't stand.
We went back to the room to change and we met at the pool area where the Jamaican band was playing. We sat in the hottub with drinks and watched the coastline begin to move into the background as the Mercury pulled from the harbor. O.K. this was definitely the best day of my life.
I can't recall if this was a formal night or a semi-formal night, but for the purposes of embellishment, I'll say it was. We all dressed up in tuxedos and little black evening dresses and made our way to early seating. By this time, I was just ordering the whole left hand side of the menu - this is the "The Chef Recommends" section. No thinking required. I had frog legs and it was wierd and wonderful and different and all the food was the best I'd ever had.
O.K. time for a break. I'll continue this someday... Still to come:
Keep in mind that this is still one day's events. ;-)
