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Live the adventures of Dan Walker's travels through reading his travel journal. The travel journals are listed below in descending order of date. To search the travel journals, use the keyword search at the bottom of the page.

Journal Entry:

Sunday, January 05, 2014 16:08:17

CARIBBEAN CRUISE 2013/14: 2 The Cruise

Cast of Characters:

Victoria & Duncan, BC, Canada, San Jose & Alajuela, Costa Rica

Scott & Sandy Piercy, Michelle Walker, Ryan & Eugenia Piercy, Dan & Marilynn Walker, Samara, Saisha & Sela Brayden Alejandro, Daniel, Adrian, Marianne

Monday, December 30, 2013

On our first morning aboard the Norwegian Pearl we woke up in Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas. This is a small island owned by Norwegian Cruise lines. They have spent a lot of money developing it, creating a protected harbour for the tenders and building restaurants, bars, washrooms, etc. There were also liberal groupings of deck chairs along the beaches.

We spent most of the day on the island. It was a good opportunity for the grand kids to get used to snorkeling, although there was little to see in the water. Most of the coral was dead, and there were few fish except in one area near some offshore rocks. It was mostly a day to relax and swim.

In the evening Marilynn, grandson Alejandro and I tied into the booze pretty well, ending up with the three of us laying on a king sized band beside the dance floor in the Bliss lounge, the one that stays open the latest. Marilynn and I even stopped the dancing as the young people stood around in a circle to watch us do some serious rock and roll! The night ended with Alejandro and I snacking in the Blue Bayou restaurant, the only place still open at 2:30 AM.

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Today was a day at sea, spent mostly by eating, drinking and laying around. We got into a battle with the people in the kids club. We have two 10 and one 9 year old in our group, and as a company policy they divide where the kids go at 9 years old, so they were not permitted in the same area. The reason for the cruise is to bring the kids from Canada and Costa Rica together, as they are best friends, but this is a cruise line with completely inflexible rules and no on board discretion. They even seemed proud of the number of families they managed to split up on the Christmas cruise in spite of the protests of parents. Needless to say, the kids were really upset and never went back to the clubs again. The "teen club" wasn't worth it either apparently.

There was a beer tasting advertised that Scott, Ryan and I attended. There were about 11 of us that turned up for it. The company dictates the beers to be tested, no doubt from companies that pay to be in the tasting, and the selection was pitiful, with two US light beer leading and only one decent non-US beer on the list of 5. Six of the people voiced their disgust and left immediately. We asked about trying just the one import beer, and the waiter went to talk to his supervisor, who said to give us each a free beer of our choice! I guess all is well that ends well!

In the evening we brought in the New Year on the pool deck, the only place on the ship where we could drink with entertainment and children were allowed. The ship is really not child friendly! We spent the night dancing at the bar above the pool, or in a nearby bar with a good live band. Most of the young kids had gone to bed before midnight, worn outs. The New Year was brought in with an adequate amount of hooting and hollering, but the cruise ship really did nothing in the way of celebration - pretty much the same bands and entertainment as on a normal night, no party favours or anything else out of the ordinary. Marilynn and I got a group of young people going who were standing around on the dance floor in the bar by taking 3 of them each and dancing with them, but we headed for bed after the band quit at about 1 AM.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Today we were in Ochos Rios, Jamaica. I had contacted Liberty Tours to lay something on for us, and they did a fantastic job. They bussed us to the Blue Hole and Secret Falls, a place they recommended over the much better known and massively overcrowded Dunn River Falls. Here we hiked up stream a bit before entering the water to swim from one deep hole to another, heading down stream. We would dive or jump from waterfalls or various heights of cliffs into the deep pools, in one place we swam through the falls into a cavern where it was possible to climb through a narrow cave to exit about the falls. In another place there was a rope to swing out into the middle of a pool. The water temperature was comfortable, and a great time was had by all

From there we went to a restaurant overlooking the ocean for a lunch of famous Jamaican jerk chicken or beef washed down with Red Stripe Beer before driving a short distance to a beach where a boat took us out to a reef for snorkeling. The reef had a more live coral, and many more fish than yesterday. From there we were transported back to the ship for dinner, and for me an earlier night to catch up on some sleep.

Liberty Tours would be highly recommended for anyone coming to the area. The owner, Rob Richmond can be contacted at 1876-398-4897 or by email at libertytoursja@yahoo.com.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

I was up early for breakfast and to line up for tender tickets so we could get ashore early, as our friend Harry Lalli had arranged a day of activities in the Cayman Islands. He was waiting for us with a bus to take us to a large, comfortable boat to transport us out to Stingray City. The boat was powerful, and we were soon racing through the waves, outdistancing other tour boats headed for the same place.. There were quite a few boats there, but we saw lots of sting rays. Some were held by people used to handing these amazing creatures, so the kids could touch them, or hold them. The water was crystal clear, making it easy to see rays of all sizes as they swam around us.

We then boated to an area called the coral garden, where we snorkeled, viewing many types of coral and hundreds of brightly coloured fish in incredibly clear water. When we were tired out, Roger, the boat owners, took us to a restaurant on the beach were we could swim, drink and have lunch. Our table was on the sand only a few feet from where out boat was tied up. It started out with the the restaurant's signature drink, the mudslide, which certainly got us going. Harry and his wife Bernie had also ensured there was a good selection of food and drinks on board the boat. They were accompanied by their delightful daughter Chloe, and a couple of friends. It was another amazing day.

At the dock the bus Harry had laid on took us back the cruise ship port via his hotel, were after fond farewells we were tendered back to the ship. Dinner was in the Indigo Restaurant where our favourite waiter, Tony, looked after us. Once again the kids had decided to go their own way rather than join us for dinner.

Friday, January 3, 2014

The ship was an hour later than originally scheduled arriving in Cozumel, Mexico. Marilynn and I took a taxi to a beach club we rented about 10 km from the ship while the others went shopping. They joined us a couple of hours later. The place had a good sized pool, and a good supply of beer, cold drinks for the kids and chips with home made chimichurri or guacamole. The beach was just across the road from the club area where the snorkeling was good in the clear water. There were live corals and a lot of types of fish, including sting rays and moray eels. The kids spent most of the day between the beach and the pool, while the adults put a dent into the beer supply. We had the whole place to ourselves.

The skies opened into a downpour as we reached the ship, all crammed into a taxi van with seats for 12. The kids invited us to dinner in the self serve restaurant which was having Mexican night so we all ate together. The rain and wind had become dangerously heavy out on deck, so we retreated to a quiet bar to spend some time before some of us headed for the Bliss Lounge again. Gravol had been handed out to everyone, as the sea was quite rough.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

The sea had settled into big rollers and no rain by the time we got up. After breakfast I picked up the immigration forms for the US tomorrow, and baggage tags for everyone to have suitcases taken off the ship. They must be outside the door before midnight tonight. We elected to be among the last group to leave the ship at 10 AM, as the Costa Rica crew flew at 3:30 PM and the Canadian contingent not until 5:30 PM.

I got some writing done during the day, and took advantage of a last day package on the internet which reduced costs from $0.75 per minute to $0.40. In the afternoon our whole group took over two of the four bowling lanes for a family game - my score was unmentionable!

The last dinner was in the Summer Palace Restaurant, and was compulsory attendance by all the family. It was a super get together, with everyone high & happy. After dinner we split up, kids in one directions, adults split between the Bliss Lounge Karaoke and the Top Deck, our local, where we met up with the two waiters that had looked after us so well. Even though their bar was closed, them went and got us drinks from nearby Spinnakers. We got together with other regulars and had a great time. All and all a good last night!