Villainous Voyage - May 20th, 2006 7-night Western Caribbean **Completed, No Lie**

[Verandah Man]

Next installment coming soon!!

We can't wait!!!

 

[pppiglet]

I think I'll add a notebook to my packing list!

 

[churchlady]

We were on your cruise,too! I am LOOOOVing the report! It makes me feel like I am still there!

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

Isn't there suppposed to be more here? Where is it!!!!!!

(I am NOT impatient...I am NOT impatient....I am NOT impatient....)

Where is that smiley with a whip?

 

[noahsmom]

What??!!! This is the end of the thread? It's only been a few days-----I can't wait much longer.

We leave on July 15th, I need all your details for my planning. The notebook is a great idea, I bought one last week with your plan in mind. OMG - am I reading your mind??

 

[MBFergie]

it can't end this way...quit your job and start typing!! your new career is here entertaining the desperate..those in DCL withdraw.

hope all is well and we will hear from you soon..it's been fun reading. thanks

 

[Almagetty]

Subscribing to the thread so I can catch your next installment!!!

I just got off the cruise after yours and I've greatly enjoyed your comments on the "Gotcha" game. My DD16 played for the second time this last cruise. I always thought it was kind of a weird idea.

LOL at your description of poor Tarzan!

And, although I must confess to never having been up early enough to encounter the "BEAST", I will be on the lookout on future cruises. Poor Sadie!!

Keep them coming, pleeeeeeasssse!!!

 

[zzzzjohnzzzz]

RoyalVizor is a friend of mine and he has never been on a cruise he just wanted to see if he could make a cruise report up that everyone would like!!!!!







Only kidding. Great report wheres the next installment

 

[RoyalVizier]

Here you go guys! So sorry that it's taken so long to get this next installment posted. Life has a way of getting in the way of the fun stuff sometimes.

Cast of Characters:
Ward – that’s me
Cheri – the lovely wife
Sadie – the lovely 13 year old daughter

Tuesday, May 23rd – Day 4 Part 1: The Purple Pumbaa Paddle of Power and Soothing Chin Rubs

Today is Grand Cayman day! I got out of bed at about 6am this morning (wow, sleeping in…) and went to Guest Services to check on our shipboard account total so far. We learned last time that thing can add up quickly and surprise you in the end. All seemed well so far so I went up top to watch us approach Grand Cayman. This is a port where tendering is required and we pulled up right next to the Carnival Miracle just a ways from shore. We were booked for the Island Tour and Snorkeling with Stingrays Excursion with a tender time of 9:15am in Studio Sea. So at about 8am we went up to Topsiders for breakfast (still no toasted ham and cheese croissants ) and dined out on deck. We went back to the room to grab all of the day’s essentials and went to Studio Sea to meet for tendering.

Pikey from the cruise entertainment staff was there to help get people signed in and where they needed to be. When we were all present and accounted for, they handed out purple stickers with Pumbaa on them for us to wear (in case we got lost.) Then he raised the great Purple Pumbaa Paddle of Power ( ) high into the air and we headed off to deck 1 forward. This was our first experience with tendering and it was a turbulent one. Wow. We really had no idea that it was going to be the way that it was with the lurching of the tender boats. It was pretty scary to tell you the truth. Getting off the ship and onto the tender is enough to give mild heart attacks seeing the way that they push that metallic gangplank out to the boat all the while it sways back and forth. And you’re supposed to walk across that thing? It was a wild ride!

We were surprised by the port area of Grand Cayman once we arrived. The Purple Pumbaa Paddle of Power was handed off to another Cast Member once on shore and we made our way through a very nice shopping mall area to a parking lot where we were going to divide up into busses for the tour. We were loaded in groups of about 20 and then we were off. We drove by some of the residential houses of the island and the Governor’s house on our way to our first stop, the Cayman Turtle Farm. This place is SO COOL! We got to look at the breeding tank (which is huge) full of huge turtles, some up to 600lbs. Then the tanks with the smaller turtles that you could actually hold. So we all held turtles for awhile. The guide told us that is your turtle gets panicky that they just need to be rubbed underneath the chin (well yeah, doesn’t that calm everyone?) So of course my turtle spazzed out on me when I got him so my wife stepped in to save the day and talk nice to him. Hey, I can’t hold the thing and stroke his chin at the same time… it takes two! We were given some free time to use the restroom and get a snack or look in the store. Of course we opted to look in the store where we all bought something. Me a T-shirt (that turns out doesn’t fit in the slightest even though it is a 2XX ), Cheri a pair of sandals (more shoes!) and Sadie some trinkets and a deck of cards. Then we got back on the bus for the next stop: Tortuga Rum Cake Factory.

This stop was literally one minute from the Turtle Farm. It’s just a small place right there next to the ocean where they have a small selection of merchandise, tons of rum and tons of rum cake that you can sample. All kinds from banana rum cake to chocolate rum cake to pineapple rum cake… they were all great! Cheri went for the free samples of rum and liked the banana rum! Now, I regret not getting some boxes of rum cake for the folks back home but I feared that we had a good portion of our journey left and it was possible that the cakes wouldn’t even make it back on board. Another bus load of people had just arrived when we were getting ready to leave and their driver ran inside and came back out with an entire tray of rum cake for their bus! How do you like that? So once we were all caked up, we boarded the bus and went straight to Hell.

I’d heard about Hell and done a little research on Hell before this trip, but still didn’t quite know what to expect. It’s really a creepy sort of lava rock formation that’s been there for thousands of years. There is now a bar on sight called the Inferno that you actually walk through to get to the viewing area. One thing that I can say for Hell… there’s an awful lot of iguanas there. We took some pictures. There was an opportunity to send postcards from the Hell post office but we passed this up and then it was back on the bus for the boat to Stingray City!!

Up Next: Free Massages and An Anniversary Surprise

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

Ah....life is good. The Royal Vizier is back!

 

[Downrivermama]

Yeah! All is right with the world, your back!

 

[Esteri]

I read your trip report to my husband last night. He's not been all that interested in the cruise (after all it's two months away) until I read this to him. He just about bust a gut at your description of getting into the tux.

Thanks for inspiring him...

 

[RoyalVizier]

Glad to be of service Esteri!

It's been a tremendously busy week on my end here. Sorry I haven't been cranking the reports out faster! I'm really hoping to have some time tomorrow and Sunday. Stay tuned...

 

[WldWcnWmn]

I'm really hoping to have some time tomorrow and Sunday. Stay tuned...

I am hooked on your trip report you are so funny! I have laughed out loud a few times! Keep it coming! "Purple Pumbaa Paddle of Power" - that's brilliant!

 

[my3m]

Please.... Come on, don't let us wait. You are making us more excited...

 

[geffric]

waiting...

 

[cinderella_mom]

Wonderful report. Keep it coming...

 

[DutchsMommy]

Bumpity-Bump

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

No no no no no!!!!!!!!!
I thought I waited long enough for the whole report to be here. When am I going to learn to read the last page first- skim to see if it's completed before reading it? I always do this. Get all involved in the best trip reports ever! ..(you all seem to write so well and give me belly laughs- hard) ... then I realize it's not finished... me want more, me want more.

Thanks for sharing your trip report (but me want more)- it's great!
Maybe getting up in the morning is a good thing. You certainly seemed to have more time to do things than we did! LOL That's a nightowl for ya... wasted time because DH is so not a nightowl so he kept going to bed early and I'd just waste time walking around until the kids wanted to go to bed too. LOL Then we'd get up late, have room service breakfast and barely leave the stateroom by the time "normal" people were having lunch! (atleast by the club standard lunchtime LOL) No wonder our days seemed so short.. between leaving the stateroom and members of my family (ahem- first DH then kids one by one) going to bed there wasn't a whole lot of "day time" there. LOL

Thanks for the info about your daughter! Our eldest will be in the teen shack during our next cruise and while she'll be just turned 14 at that time- unless she does a LOT of maturing by then.. I'm a little concerned at how much she'll like the teen shack and their activities. She's not about "chillin" like I read in the navigator for the teens (a lot of "chillin" time)- and had a blast in the lab 10-12 age group during our recent cruise! I'm now totally prepared for the possible demise of my dear daughter during the cruise. LOL (I wonder if they do that- especially with the rules about not in the shack, restaurants and such- to get the kids to "seek" out other teens in order to make friends, see them outside of only in the shack/activities type thing? Kind of a weird way to do it though... to pretend kill them. Thanks for the warning. LOL)

 

[Diamond_Girls]

This is the funniest trip report ever! I can't wait to see more! I especially love all that you've written about your daughter. I have two, 12 & 14 and can't wait for them to experience some of what Sadie has! Thanks!!