A tale of two sisters at sea (part three)
Mar. 29th, 2023 08:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
webgirlukOn the Wednesday we woke up to find ourselves docked up at La Romana, Dominican Republic and the view from the ship was spectacular.
We had a bus trip organised to a local resort called Bayahibe, which was situated on a beach. The sand was really gorgeous and although rocks made it too tough to swim in the sea, there was a pool based there so we wandered over there after a while and had a drink in the pool. We enjoyed a burger and chips for lunch all inclusive as part of the trip.
We visited the port area on the way back as it was pretty and were things to do/see. I think had we been on the ship longer, I'd have been ok just hanging out at this immediate area in the afternoon, rather than taking a trip further away. The lighthouse was stunning and in the background to this photo you can see part of the ship.
After we returned to the ship, we settled ourselves in on the balcony to watch the "sailaway" as we witnessed the pretty port area of La Romana fade out into the distance whilst a band played.
We "crawled the ship" again that evening, popping in and out of different venues, live music in the Clubhouse, Skydome and Helen introduced me to the ship's casino. Oh and I ended up eating a whopping big hanging kebab at the Beach House restaurant, which was another photo opportunity. I really enjoyed taking photos as they end up being souvenirs for me. I'm not really someone who usually buys actual souvenirs from places I end up at as I feel my photos tick that box for me. There was a shopping area on the ship we visited a couple of times although I didn't actually buy anything at the ship shops at all.
The following day was another sea day. I tended to enjoy the sea day's just as much as when we ventured off the ship, really. I sunbathed, read a little of my book, dipped into the pools/whirlpools again. We ate lunch at the Keel & Cow and dinner at an Indian place called Sindhu. And we finished up the evening by heading into a late night theatre performance within the ship. One highlight of the day was visiting the infinity pool, at the very back of the ship and glancing out to sea. It was amazing to be a part of this "floating city" over the vast ocean.
Helen relaxing in the sun.
Cocktails at sea.
The ship.
On our final proper day, we made a visit to Philipsburg, St Maarten. On this island there's a Dutch area and a French area. We docked up at the Dutch side of the island and made a trip by bus to Orient Bay beach on the French side.
Once back at the ship, we enjoyed a late lunch at the Glass House and I don't really remember how we spent the rest of the afternoon. I think we got back outside on deck and in the whirlpools for a while and Helen popped off to the casino whilst I relaxed on the balcony. For this sailaway, there was a little disco in the Skydome with the idea that we have a dance whilst the ship sails off again but we were late leaving and the ship started to leave just as we arrived back up onto our balcony. I really enjoyed the sailaway sing off and dance off, though. That evening we ate at the Zenith/buffet, had a drink at the Clubhouse, wandered the ship and so on.
Saturday was time for us to sadly disembark at Antigua. We sat out on deck in the morning and had to meet at the theatre at 1.30pm in readiness to be escorted off back to the airport. The airport there was quite chaotic and it seemed to be a massive walk to the plane! We arrived back in the UK during the early hours of the morning and took a taxi home from the airport.
Other random thoughts
♥ I enjoyed the random "lift interactions" on board. Whilst with some we'd all stare at the door in silence trying to avoid eye contact, other times people randomly chatted or cracked a joke as they whipped themselves on and off the floors. I recall one time getting in with my glass of wine and a guy cracked a joke over it being for him .. lol. People often said "goodnight" to each other as they departed as well. Had I been on the ship a lot longer, maybe I could have just spent a couple of hours whizzing up and down the lift to note the interactions in the name of a blog post and because the human experience fascinates me, haha.
♥ I wish I'd been a bit more social on the ship and maybe got chatting with random people for a couple of hours or so one night to become immersed in their life/ship experiences. However, we had limited time being there for a week and I wanted to spend time with Helen and pack as much as possible in.
♥ I randomly enjoyed the ship wide announcements from the Captain and the First Officerthis wasn't *just* because I thought the assistant captain guy in particular had a nice voice and in a way I guess reminded me of the radio girlie side in me as they announced the weather and compass ship direction on the map in their radio announcing voices.
♥ The trip ended up being "plain sailing" (no pun intended) and we didn't encounter any major issues at all. It went as well as a holiday goes and the staff were brilliant.
♥ We thankfully didn't catch covid over our venturing out in the world but I think with us not long having had it, I didn't really expect we'd catch it again so soon. So I wasn't too worried about it.
♥ Even though the trip is complete, I still really enjoy reading the experiences of other people on the "ship group" although whilst it's very well run, there is a bit of a "group culture" there where some of the memberbase tell others off if they moan about anything on board or share a bad experience. My personal "take" on this is yes some moaning can be extremely petty but other types of moaning I feel are perfectly reasonable. In truth, though, I see more *moaning about the moaners* than actually any moaning going down these days. And here, I guess I moan about the moaning about the moaners, LOL.
♥ I loved the "escapism" of going on a cruise and not having to worry about the every day irritations or obligations of life in the UK. We could just spent time together enjoying something different. And I could get a holiday from my mind as well, I guess.
♥ Cruising definitely was for me and I did really enjoy it :-)
We had a bus trip organised to a local resort called Bayahibe, which was situated on a beach. The sand was really gorgeous and although rocks made it too tough to swim in the sea, there was a pool based there so we wandered over there after a while and had a drink in the pool. We enjoyed a burger and chips for lunch all inclusive as part of the trip.
We visited the port area on the way back as it was pretty and were things to do/see. I think had we been on the ship longer, I'd have been ok just hanging out at this immediate area in the afternoon, rather than taking a trip further away. The lighthouse was stunning and in the background to this photo you can see part of the ship.
After we returned to the ship, we settled ourselves in on the balcony to watch the "sailaway" as we witnessed the pretty port area of La Romana fade out into the distance whilst a band played.
We "crawled the ship" again that evening, popping in and out of different venues, live music in the Clubhouse, Skydome and Helen introduced me to the ship's casino. Oh and I ended up eating a whopping big hanging kebab at the Beach House restaurant, which was another photo opportunity. I really enjoyed taking photos as they end up being souvenirs for me. I'm not really someone who usually buys actual souvenirs from places I end up at as I feel my photos tick that box for me. There was a shopping area on the ship we visited a couple of times although I didn't actually buy anything at the ship shops at all.
The following day was another sea day. I tended to enjoy the sea day's just as much as when we ventured off the ship, really. I sunbathed, read a little of my book, dipped into the pools/whirlpools again. We ate lunch at the Keel & Cow and dinner at an Indian place called Sindhu. And we finished up the evening by heading into a late night theatre performance within the ship. One highlight of the day was visiting the infinity pool, at the very back of the ship and glancing out to sea. It was amazing to be a part of this "floating city" over the vast ocean.
Helen relaxing in the sun.
Cocktails at sea.
The ship.
On our final proper day, we made a visit to Philipsburg, St Maarten. On this island there's a Dutch area and a French area. We docked up at the Dutch side of the island and made a trip by bus to Orient Bay beach on the French side.
Once back at the ship, we enjoyed a late lunch at the Glass House and I don't really remember how we spent the rest of the afternoon. I think we got back outside on deck and in the whirlpools for a while and Helen popped off to the casino whilst I relaxed on the balcony. For this sailaway, there was a little disco in the Skydome with the idea that we have a dance whilst the ship sails off again but we were late leaving and the ship started to leave just as we arrived back up onto our balcony. I really enjoyed the sailaway sing off and dance off, though. That evening we ate at the Zenith/buffet, had a drink at the Clubhouse, wandered the ship and so on.
Saturday was time for us to sadly disembark at Antigua. We sat out on deck in the morning and had to meet at the theatre at 1.30pm in readiness to be escorted off back to the airport. The airport there was quite chaotic and it seemed to be a massive walk to the plane! We arrived back in the UK during the early hours of the morning and took a taxi home from the airport.
Other random thoughts
♥ I enjoyed the random "lift interactions" on board. Whilst with some we'd all stare at the door in silence trying to avoid eye contact, other times people randomly chatted or cracked a joke as they whipped themselves on and off the floors. I recall one time getting in with my glass of wine and a guy cracked a joke over it being for him .. lol. People often said "goodnight" to each other as they departed as well. Had I been on the ship a lot longer, maybe I could have just spent a couple of hours whizzing up and down the lift to note the interactions in the name of a blog post and because the human experience fascinates me, haha.
♥ I wish I'd been a bit more social on the ship and maybe got chatting with random people for a couple of hours or so one night to become immersed in their life/ship experiences. However, we had limited time being there for a week and I wanted to spend time with Helen and pack as much as possible in.
♥ I randomly enjoyed the ship wide announcements from the Captain and the First Officer
♥ The trip ended up being "plain sailing" (no pun intended) and we didn't encounter any major issues at all. It went as well as a holiday goes and the staff were brilliant.
♥ We thankfully didn't catch covid over our venturing out in the world but I think with us not long having had it, I didn't really expect we'd catch it again so soon. So I wasn't too worried about it.
♥ Even though the trip is complete, I still really enjoy reading the experiences of other people on the "ship group" although whilst it's very well run, there is a bit of a "group culture" there where some of the memberbase tell others off if they moan about anything on board or share a bad experience. My personal "take" on this is yes some moaning can be extremely petty but other types of moaning I feel are perfectly reasonable. In truth, though, I see more *moaning about the moaners* than actually any moaning going down these days. And here, I guess I moan about the moaning about the moaners, LOL.
♥ I loved the "escapism" of going on a cruise and not having to worry about the every day irritations or obligations of life in the UK. We could just spent time together enjoying something different. And I could get a holiday from my mind as well, I guess.
♥ Cruising definitely was for me and I did really enjoy it :-)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2023-03-30 11:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-04-04 06:36 pm (UTC)I'm ok. Just had a quiet life since x
no subject
Date: 2023-04-05 09:09 am (UTC)sometimes that's the best way x
no subject
Date: 2023-03-31 02:41 pm (UTC)Did you get the opportunity to star gaze on the deck at night? Or were the lights from the ship too bright for that?
no subject
Date: 2023-04-04 06:39 pm (UTC)I did a little gazing out at the stars/moon :)
Cruise
Date: 2023-04-05 02:33 pm (UTC)Wonder where next you will cruise too ?
RE: Cruise
Date: 2023-04-06 08:07 pm (UTC)I don't know if there will be another at all. I would love to go again, though x
Re: Cruise
Date: 2023-04-07 09:42 pm (UTC)Oh you must!! wait until you are 51 ;)