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Callmecrazy

(3,065 posts)
Fri Jan 10, 2014, 07:32 PM Jan 2014

The Callmecrazy Cruise... Part Two.

We arrived in Cozumel at 8:00 am. Boy, these guys know how to park a boat. Had I not watched them do it, I would have never known that we had arrived. They parallel parked this massive ship next to the pier and we never felt it stop, bump,or shudder. A couple days later I watch a documentary on the ships engines and thrusters and understood why. More on that later.

Here are a couple shots taken from the pool deck 14 stories up and also from the pier.

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A bit of trivia: You see where the lifeboats are on that other ship? The smoke stacks of the Titanic only reached that high. On my ship, that's the promenade deck. Deck 5! There were 14 decks on my boat. The Titanic was only about two-thirds as long and only half as wide.

I did a little shopping on the pier and didn't sign up for any activities so I went back around noon and hit the pool deck to eat, drink, read, and gawk at the lovelies. We left Cozumel at around 6:00. Next port of call- George Town, Grand Cayman. It's New Year's Eve. Calm seas, warm breeze, and you can just feel the great vibes of everyone on the ship. Time to get sexy...

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The dancers from the theater shows put on a wild show on the pool deck and got everybody pretty fired up. Party hats and horns. Great music and lighting. The Captain came up to the stage with his family and did the countdown. Booze was readily available. I fell in love at least three times. I ended up smooching with a woman I didn't know. And went to sleep at around 3:00am pretty tipsy.

I slept in that morning. That means I woke up around 8:00 feeling great. No hangover. I went to the buffet for breakfast and the place was a mausoleum. Nobody eating or sitting around the pool. Only about seven people doing Zumba on the pool deck. We weren't due to arrive in George Town until around 10:00 so I kicked back and did a little reading until we anchored.
There are many coral reefs around Grand Caymen and the water is too shallow to tie to a pier and we have to be tendered in on smaller boats. So my family and I went ashore to go snorkeling and swimming with the stingrays.

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More trivia:
Grand Cayman has the worlds largest lagoon. It's about five mile wide and only about twenty feet at its deepest. We first went out to the reef to do some snorkeling. On the lagoon side of the reef the water is a light blue. As I looked beyond the reef the water turned a dark purple. The guide said that that was the edge of the Cayman Wall. A sheer cliff that plunges 6000 feet into the depths.
I've snorkeled before and if you've seen one reef, you've seen them all. So I splashed around for about half an hour and got back in the tour boat for a refreshment. Then we went about 500 yards to the sandbar where we swam with and fed the stingrays. Now, living in South Florida, I know to keep away from stingrays. You shuffle your feet in the sand to prevent stepping on them and getting a nasty sting. I'm told the pain is intense and long lasting. But these guys know where their bread is buttered and they are quite comfortable around so many feet and legs. I was on a boat with about 30 people. There were other boats there with well over 100 people and the sandbar has a lot of activity. These stingrays swim right up to you and let you hold them and pet them. I have to say that I thought it was pretty cool. After about 45 minutes of that we headed back to shore and to the ship.

All in all, a great way to spend New Year's Day.

We got back to the ship and had probably the best meal of the week: Shrimp cocktail, Caesar Salad and a perfect lamb shank that just fell off the bone, followed by cheesecake and cappuccino. I was kinda knocked out from the day in the sun so I went to my stateroom pretty early and went to sleep.

That's all for today my friends. I hope I'm not boring anybody. Check in tomorrow for part three.



Michael


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The Callmecrazy Cruise... Part Two. (Original Post) Callmecrazy Jan 2014 OP
Thanks! Looking forward to the next installment... Demo_Chris Jan 2014 #1
Fun read! Suich Jan 2014 #2
Dude! You were really high! In_The_Wind Jan 2014 #3
Excellent trip report so far. GoneOffShore Jan 2014 #4
You sure as hell ain't boring ME. trof Jan 2014 #5
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