Friday, January 24, 2014

Sailing North to the Snow

We left Labadee and set sail for the return trip to New York City. The onboard activities kept us entertained.The highlights were, the Ice show  which was spectacular and very impressive.




The "Rewind show" which was a song and dance show remembering the songs of Flashdance, Saturday night fever and several other musical films.








The farewell parade on the Royal Promenade. 











The final Crew show was very good and a variety of crew members came on stage and were warmly applauded for all their efforts.









When we arrived back in New York it was a bit of  a shock to find it snowing quite heavily, it was slow progress to make it from Bayonne to JFK airport. When we finally arrived we found out that most flights had been cancelled, thankfully our British Airways flight made it out with just a few hours delay.





Thursday, January 23, 2014

Labadee, Haiti

Labadee is set on the Northern side of Haiti, its an area that is rented from Royal Caribbean from the Haitian government. The cruise company has built a beach resort just for their cruise ships.















We both thought that it was a lovely resort for a relaxing beach day, a superb bbq a chance to buy a local souvenirs. 

Back on board we were entertained by the funny cruise directors Leigh and Erky from turkey who really gelled as a double act and kept us smiling with their daft antics.



Samana, Dominican Republic

On day 6 we sailed into the town of Samana in The Dominican Republic. There was not much to see shoreside as the stop is really just for trips into the interior to see the rainforest.












As we left port we saw such a beautiful sunset from our balcony.


ST Thomas and the Turtles

The next island we visit was St. Thomas which is part of the US Virgin Islands.


Docking in the port of Charlotte Amelie we joined the Schooner "Bones" for a day's sailing. A choppy ride over the bay brought us to Turtle cove.
We changed into snorkel gear and had the pleasure of snorkeling with green back turtles.



















We then sailed to Honeymoon cove for a BBQ lunch, a walk along the beach and a refreshing swim in those beautifully clear waters.
















Mandy's birthday in San Juan

                                                      Happy Birthday Mandy.

Our first Port of call was San Juan, Puerto Rico, the entrance to the port is very impressive with the views of the Fort of Castillo San Felipe de Morro.


















We wandered off the ship and that gave us the chance to explore the old Town of San Juan.














In the evening we went to  Airenumo restuarant for drinks and Tapas.  
  

Cruise part 1 -Sea days

We spent the first two days at sea learning our way around this huge ship.



In the evening we went to The Place theatre to see the 60's group "The Happenings" perform a very polished set. We then went to the formal evening in one of the 3 main restaurants.










The next day started with International  "The Belly Flop competition"












Explorer of The Seas

From New York City we took a drive over to the New Jersey port of Bayonne where we joined the Royal Caribbean ship the "Explorer of the seas".
On a chilly bright afternoon we sailed out of the Hudson harbour with some great views of the city.




















Our passage took us under the Verranzo bridge with only a few feet of clearance between the ship and the bridge.





We then headed into the Atlantic, heading South for Warmer climes.

Final Day in the City

On our final morning in New York City we took a stroll around the Columbus circle and Central Park area before heading over to New Jersey to begin the second part of Mandy's surprise birthday vacation.