Land Ho!! On Tuesday, February 28th, 2012, we spotted Jamaica out the starboard side of the ship when we went up to Deck 11 for breakfast. Soooooooo exciting--land
really does exist! I still could not wrap my head around the immensity of the ocean.
We were supposed to dock in the port of Falmouth around 9AM, so after breakfast, I suggested we go to the open decks on top to watch this happen. On our way up, we realized the boat was actually moving
backwards. The captain was backing in to the port! Whoa...talk about impressive!
We lathered up in our 50 SPF sunscreen, wore just our bathing suits (because I wasn't sure if there'd be a place to change into them once we got to our excursion) and off we went to disembark. Much to our surprise, we didn't stand in line too long, when you consider that about 2,000 people were being funneled down to one deck. They have this down to a science. On our way out, we ran into Todd and Jen our other table mates.
Jen commented on my bathing suit, saying how much she liked it. It's a one piece--very modest for moral reasons but also to protect my delicate skin that doesn't see much sun, regardless of how much tanning is done before hand. I spent HOURS and DAYS scouring the internet before our cruise trying to find such a bathing suit. I was at the point where I felt like giving up and was just positive such a bathing suit didn't exist. The $80-$100 1 piece bathing suits or tankinis from designer clothing lines might have been cute, but they weren't offering any more coverage than a $40 tankini I could get at Target. And I did get one of those because it's suggested you have 2 bathing suits to rotate through while on the ship and then on land. (I was stunned to find the bathing suits out on the clothes racks in January!!) The tankini would be my suit for the ship.
And then, out of nowhere, I stumbled across this website:
www.swimmodest.com I still don't know how I came across it, but I
did. This bathing suit has MORE coverage for protection and modesty than I ever dreamed was possible and I felt so incredibly blessed to find it. I ordered one right away and it was perfect! I noticed that the prices have gone up quite a bit this past year. I paid $75 for mine. They're now $100. But honestly, it's a fair price compared to the other options for suits out there. I'd totally buy another one in a heartbeat! It was seriously the most ideal thing I could have worn for our land excursions, because it's like a 2-for-1. Bathing suit, but could pass for outerwear because of the coverage it gives. I was worried about just wearing a bathing suit off the ship and in the ports, but this suit solved that problem.
The port looked just like the map I had received at the shopping show. The "stores" and "kiosks" were right off the dock. We got off the ship as soon as we could so we could get our shopping done before our trip to the beach. (Our tickets were left on our bed the night before so we knew what time to meet and where). I tried to get a picture of the boat after we disembarked, but it took 3 pictures to do so since it's so big!
I got a free silver pendant from Colors Duty Free (a shopping show tip :). We got Cooper, Karcyn and Calvin color changing shirts from Del Sol (plus a free color changing bag). Then we went to another shop that had spices and got 14 Jerk Seasoning bottles (2 for $6!) for our friends. We cleaned them out. Jared bought 3 bottle of Jamaican hot sauces (buy 2 get 1 free). We also got Jake and Jared both a shirt. (Watch out...some of those shirts are definitely X-rated--I found it best, in this case, to keep your eyes down or at least at eye level).
I wanted to buy something cool like these carvings, but just didn't know what to get or where I'd put it in our house. It was neat just watching these Jamaicans working their creative magic.
At the market further down the way, I found a bag for my mom (who deserved a gift from every port and then some for watching our kids). I thought I'd try my hand at bartering. The man said $15, I said $10, he said $13. I said, "Okay." I'm not sure how I did. To be honest, it makes me uncomfortable. I like finding deals that are already established sale prices. Jared said he doesn't like bartering either because he's lived in a third world country in the Caribbean (the Dominican Republic) and this is how the people make their living.
After walking around and taking in all the sights, we went to the meeting place for our bus that would take us to Chukka Beach. I loved watching the people and listening to them talk (Yah Mon!) and couldn't help but think of the movie "Cool Runnings" :)
We drove on the LEFT side of the road! That was wild. We were even given a small tour of downtown Falmouth on our way to the beach which was unexpectedly delightful. The transportation was nicer than any cab ride we had in New Orleans, too, go figure.
The back end (aft, right?) of our ship as we drove to the beach.
Some pictures of downtown.
A lot of the homes and buildings looked really familiar to Jared from his D.R. days.
And this rare creature, we were told was a "Jamaican Reindeer" :)
Ahhh, the ocean from land!
The hospital...small but decent. I asked Jared if he wanted to work there ;)
A school (we think).
The beach!! Isn't it beautiful? Chukka Beach is a private beach owned by Royal Caribbean with private security guards and lifeguards. We were each given a lounge chair and our group also had a gourmet lunch being prepared for us that we'd be get to enjoy around 1PM.
We started our beach break by laying on our chairs and reading our books. Sometimes the best thing to do on a vacation, is nothing. Divine.
About 45 minutes later, we got in the water. It was definitely warmer than when you first get into our subdivision pool. A smidge cool at first, but nothing that stunned you or made you breathe in a sudden gasp of air because of the shock. Once you were in the water, it was very warm. And when you got out, it was warm enough outside, that even with the gentle breeze blowing, you weren't cold at all and dried off fast.
We also love our Olympus Stylus Tough camera that is not only waterproof, but shockproof, freeze proof, can be used underwater up to 33 feet and can withstand up to 220 pounds of pressure. Truly, this is a Hough-Tough camera. However, if it falls in the Puget Sound while dumping your kayak on High Adventure with your ward Young Men's group, please be aware that it is
not sink-proof! (This would be our second Stylus Tough camera).
I wanted to take a picture of Jared while he bobbed at the top of a wave. And I succeeded...
but didn't think it through very well. I forgot that the wave would eventually reach me. And that expression on Jared's face is him anticipating me getting slammed by the wave.
It happened so fast that I got a mouth and nose full of saltwater instead. Ugh...it burned my throat. Yuck! But I did get the picture I wanted.
While we were wading out to the roped off area (it was pretty shallow), I stepped on a sharp rock. Ouch! Jared pulled me over closer to where he was. At another spot though, I stepped on something round that was also sharp and thorny. We headed back to the beach chairs but it hurt to walk on my left foot. I rinsed it off and saw about 8 thorns stuck in one patch on the outside of the bottom of my left foot. Jared pulled three thorns out with his fingers but needed some tweezers to get the rest.
He called out to one of the security guards who got a lifeguard to come over. Before we knew it, 4 Jamaican men were working on my foot. A few people gathered around, two of which were nurses to see if they could offer any assistance--which was very appreciated. One of them works in an ER and the other one said she liked my bathing suit :) The lifeguards took turns using a safety pin to dig out the thorns embedded in my foot.
Someone walked by and yelled, "Give her some rum!" One of the nurses even asked if the safety pin had been sterilized. (I'm up to date on my immunizations, I wasn't worried ;) Finally one of the lifeguards said he got them all. They had to scrape and dig to get those blasted thorns out. They poured hydrogen peroxide on the area (someone had suggested urine also works!) and then they told me to get in the ocean to clean the wound.
My foot was a little tender and it hurt a bit to put pressure on it, but it was better than it was.
After that fun little diversion from a restful afternoon on the beach, we went and got our gourmet lunch. We were given three pieces of jerk chicken, beans and rice, a hush puppy and cabbage coleslaw with vinegar. It was A.MAZ.ING! My
favorite meal of the
whole trip! I could have easily eaten two plates of this stuff. Easily.
There were buses leaving the beach about every 30 minutes so we could stay as long or as little as we liked (before the ship left port, of course). After lunch, Jared got back in the water one more time. I declined. Then we read for another half hour or so before catching a shuttle back to the dock.
Once we got back to the port, we went to Del Sol one more time to get me and my mom a shirt (helpful tip: buy a size or two
larger than you normally would!) then we went to the spice store again for 6 more bottles of Jerk seasoning. (They had restocked the shelves since we were there that morning).
I thought I'd try some coconut water while I had the opportunity. It was fascinating watching this lady hack it to pieces with what looked to me like a mini machete.
The water was yummy, there was just a lot of it! I couldn't finish it without Jared's help.
And then we had to say goodbye to Falmouth and get back on the boat--going through a process like security at the airport. We had to slide our sea passes through a scanner so they could a) take attendance and b) verify that the person holding the pass was the same one in the picture attached to the account. We also had to go through security and place our souvenirs on a conveyor belt just like at the airport.
Once we got to our cabin, we rinsed off and changed out of our bathing suits. We went to see what was on the menu for dinner outside the dining room and decided to skip it because it didn't sound good to me (yes, this trip was all about me :) Plus, I wanted to see the boat depart around 5:30 and catch the sunset which is when dinner started for us. We watched the "all aboard" call (whoa...some peeps were cutting it too close for comfort...
running to get back on the ship) and the departure from Port Falmouth.
Check out this little sandbar or whatever it is. This was a shot we took without using any zoom function on the camera. We were
that close to it, making the reverse entrance into the port all that more impressive! Yeah, I know the Captain has fancy schmancy instruments, but still...
Ahhh, Jamaica. You stole my heart...thorns and all. You were the perfect first port!
Then it was off to Johnny Rockets for dinner. Johnny Rockets is a specialty restaurant, so it wasn't included in the price of the cruise. However, it was only $5 per person to order as much as you wanted off the menu, minus a couple of desserts. So for $10 we had unlimited French fries and onion rings and two big burgers--I couldn't even finish mine.
But, even though I don't like ice cream, I made sure there was a room for a shake that we shared--which was a small additional charge. STILL cheaper than eating at the real place and a fun environment. I can't recall the specific cue, but periodically the entire staff would break out in a song and dance. And every time a patron would leave, the waiter or waitress would yell goodbye and the other restaurant staff would follow suit.
Just to prove that it's a super crazy small world, there was a guy in the booth next to us with a female companion. I noticed his shirt said "Alaska" on it. Since I went to high school there and he seemed just a little bit older than me in age, I asked him where he was from. He said "Anchorage." I asked him what high school he went to, and he said, "Service" (the same school I went to). So then I had to find out what year he graduated. He said 1992. That was the same year we moved up to Alaska and I started at Service as a sophomore. He was already gone when I started, but seriously...what are the odds??
We saw
no one in the Solarium (the adult only area) or in the hot tub. I still couldn't get over the fact that on a ship with over 2,000 passengers, not one soul wanted to be in a hot tub so we happily jumped at the chance to have the place to ourselves.
It was an unbelievably exciting day! I had been to Jamaica!! Our stateroom attendant (whose name I can't spell let alone pronounce, but whom I really liked) was nearby when we came back to retire for the night. He told me, with a twinkle in his eye, that we must have left our balcony door open because something flew into our cabin :)
