Water water everywhere
Turning into Montego Bay
Originally uploaded by sh1mm3rWe returned from our roadtrip/cruise vacation Sunday night, but I've been absorbed in attending to my dog who can't stand on his front two legs. We picked him up Sunday evening instead of Monday after getting calls from the kennel and the vet upon our return to Miami. I took him to two vets on Monday and they both said that they thought he had a herniated or ruptured disc that could only be treated with surgery and was beyond their expertise. I'm taking him to a surgeon tomorrow but he is in a lot of pain and has to be carried everywhere. Monday was hard - it took me 15 minutes to get him out of the car after the first vet because he would help in pain every time I touched him and I just kneeled in front of him and cried.
I think it will be expensive, but it sounds like they will work with us. The other alternative is what? They said steroid treatment might give him a limited amount of movement back, and he's on them now, has been for a week but nothing has improved. It is a horrible thing to have a pet in pain.
I feel like I should say more about my vacation, so I'll try to summarize for now (and if you click on the photo you'll see maybe ten other photos, let me know if you want to see more, I have them in a protected web album and would have to invite you).
We drove down to Miami instead of flying, because we had a bad experience catching the plane home on our last cruise and because we wanted to see more of Florida. We left on Thanksgiving day but traffic wasn't too bad. Luckily I had packed sandwiches because I'm not sure anything was open on the way, but when we hit St. Augustine quite a few businesses and restaurants were open. We had made reservations at a Spanish restaurant but got pulled in by a seafood restaurant with outdoor dining that seemed more laid back. So for our Thanksgiving meal we had fried shrimp, yay!
Friday we drove down to Miami, halfway on a toll road, which cut some time out of the trip. It was a shorter leg but seemed longer, strange how that happens. We stayed at the same hotel as my in-laws, and ended up with this crazy room with a curved window, a separate place for the bed, and a huge couch and desk. We were worried we got the wrong room and would be charged more than we had budgeted so it took a few phone calls to discover it was fine. Funny how too nice of a thing can be stressful. It was all decorated in red and gray, very modern, but the couch was comfortable. The hotel was really near the airport and on a lagoon so we spent some time sitting outside and watching the jumping fish, hoping to spot a manatee, but never did. That evening there was a shuttle accident at the Miami airport and several people were injured. Let's just say I was relieved that we hadn't flown that day.
We cruised on the Liberty of the Seas, the biggest ship from Royal Caribbean until Oasis of the Seas opens, which will have a central park in the middle of the ship. This ship was crazy, and while last time around I never felt the number of people on board, this time it seemed hectic and crowded. Decks 5-7 had a Royal Promenade in the middle, with shops and restaurants, and they'd also have things like parades and dance parties there. Our cabin was deck seven, but we had a balcony which we escaped to several times, including when we embarked.
Staying next to use was one family of a five room group for a family reunion. They even had matching t-shirts. They were Bostonians, and loud. The first thing they did was group together on the balcony and see how loudly they could shout swear words. No joke.
My natural sleep patterns are strange. I kept waking up at around 5:30 so by 9 or 10 I was exhausted. We missed a lot of the evening activities, which I'm not sure matters - I've never been the hugest fan of cruise culture, although I did partake of a few things like musical trivia night (we won), bingo (I won one round but had to split the winnings with other winners), and we went to the ice show and one of the other productions. The ice skaters were incredible and had to skate on a small rink along with any ship movement that would happen. The other production was disconnected and while the aerial ballet was cool and the props were cool, it was kind of unimpressive for all the stuff they had going for it.
Our ports of call were Labadee, Haiti; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Georgetown, Grand Cayman; and Cozumel, Mexico.
Haiti was an interesting experience because we went to an island owned by the cruise line, otherwise I'm not sure they would take people to Haiti at all. We swam in the ocean, read in some chairs, had fruity drinks, explored a little, ran from the people trying to sell their wares at the market, and got back on the ship. The ship is so huge that it can't dock there and you have to take tenders back and forth. Most of what we saw of Haiti was not very developed so as we left that port and I was sitting on my balcony watching the sun set, it felt like it was me alone watching a silent island. Hard to describe, but really beautiful.
In Jamaica we had paid for an excursion that included rafting on the Martha Brae, and shopping at two controlled areas (one was part of a resort), where we finally tasted Blue Mountain coffee. Truly, truly, the best coffee ever. I bought some for my co-workers but decided to keep it, hehe. They drink it with condensed milk, which was just perfect. Jamaica had some fun street signs and a lot of huge homes and resorts right next to very poor areas. I would have liked to explore it on my own; the beaches we saw from the bus were beautiful but we had an agenda for the day.
In Grand Cayman they almost cancelled the port of call because the water was so stormy, and taking the tender in was pretty hairy. The water was so beautiful there, and we were disappointed it was so crazy because there is a restaurant there that rents snorkel gear for really cheap and you can see black coral stuff but we decided maybe another time. Instead we ate at that restaurant (conch!) and did a little shopping. The problem with doing these kinds of things from a cruise ship is that everywhere you turn there are all these crazed tourists trying to do as much as possible in the short amount of time you are given - I like a less hectic pace, myself. The moments I enjoy the most are those where I sit back and absorb the feeling of a place.
In Cozumel we had paid for access to a beach resort called Playa Mia. We did some swimming, some snorkeling, and sat around in the sun for a while. I even talked to the cab driver in Spanish.
Our last at sea day was filled with tours behind the scenes. Since the in-laws cruise so often, they get a lot of perks, so they managed to get us invited to the bridge tour as well as the galleys. It was really cool. N- ended up winning $100 in the casino, but we both didn't feel great the next day because of the cigarette smoke there.
Since we elected to transport our own luggage, we were among the first people off the ship. The customs people were actually friendly (I have to say that's a first in my traveling experience - usually other countries' customs agents are wonderful and coming back to the USA is a jolt to reality, but not this time) and we were on the road again by 7.
I know this is just a summary. Ask me anything you want!