We (Mike and I) were pretty lazy this morning ...slept til about 8:15am. the girls slept even later which was a real treat for Kendall as she gets up at 5:30am every day to catch the school bus at 6:30am (too early!!)! Dressed and Mike and I went to Topsiders for breakfast. Met up with several others in our group for a great breakfast....that fresh fruit is wonderful!!
After breakfast, went back to the room and woke the girls up. they were soon dressed and off to meet with their friends. Mike and I headed up to Quiet Cove pool area...actually our group gathered each day on Deck 10 port side near the little bar over looking the pool. It was their that we met Kadir - or as we came to call him "Mr. Turk". He was and always will be the best cast member we came to know. He has such a nice personality!! The kids all hung around the family pool and jacuzzis and went to lunch on their own. We all headed down to Parrot Cay at 11:30. We went up to deck10 to watch as we sailed in to Key West....it is so pretty. Several of our group headed in to Key West to shop as soon as the all ashore was given.....I stayed up by the pool relaxing.
Our group of 26 (3 chose to go on the kayak excursion) had pre-rented jet skis at 2:00pm from KeyCat rentals (on Shirleys recommendation). So we all headed over there about 1:30pm. It was crazy getting everyone signed up and as they only had 10 jet skis the one family of 6 chose to rent a speedboat. Well off we went 2 to a jetski following behind the employee who was taking us to an area where we could all just ride around. Things were going okay (i ahd a hard time with my ski as it kept stopping turned out there was seaweed in the motor which the employee got out for me) for about 30 minutes....we were all having a blast. I was very conscientious about their instructions about keeping 300ft from another ski but two other moms with their 15yo and 9yo daughters got too close and realized they were going to hit so they tried to turn and one, thinking she was using a brake (like on a bike) squeezed the handle which actually gave her more power and she slammed into the side of the ski with the mom and 9yo on it. The ski hit the mom in the mouth (it actually came up out of the water) and knocked both mom and daughter into the water. I was not nearby and did not see what happened - just saw the KeyCat employees and their boats trying to get the moms and daughters out of the water. They were taken back in and the rest of us were really unaware of what had happened so it was not until we were told to come in because of lightning that we saw what had happened. Both jet skis were damaged - one had a pretty good sized hole in the hull and the other had some major scratches. The two moms and their daughters were all crying, the dads were trying to get things sorted out so......the other adults all decided the best thing to do was to take the kids back to the boat and get them calmed down. On the way back the skies opened up and it started pouring, thundering and lighning. Once back on the ship, it actually was hailing. Nobody was seriously injured...the mom who was hit in the mouth ended up just having bruised her jaw and and mouth...no broken or lost teeth!! By the time everyone returned to the ship it was about 5:30pm and tonight was our Palo night.
I thought everyone would be really upset and that todays jet ski disaster would put a reall damper on the trip but it did not. Everyone bounced back and went on to have a great trip!
Palo was fantastic...we had a table for 12 (one dad was with his 2 girls) and Liz was our server. She was also great. Brought 3 pizzas as an appetizer in addition to the appetizers we had already ordered. I had salmon over a asparagus risoto which was delicious. Dessert was the souffle of course!! Great as always. We did not finish their til after 9pm....some went back to Dueling Pianos but i was tired and went to bed!! The kids had dinner on their own at Animators Palette and then went to the Family Dance Party and line dancing.
Next up: a calm day at sea!!
After breakfast, went back to the room and woke the girls up. they were soon dressed and off to meet with their friends. Mike and I headed up to Quiet Cove pool area...actually our group gathered each day on Deck 10 port side near the little bar over looking the pool. It was their that we met Kadir - or as we came to call him "Mr. Turk". He was and always will be the best cast member we came to know. He has such a nice personality!! The kids all hung around the family pool and jacuzzis and went to lunch on their own. We all headed down to Parrot Cay at 11:30. We went up to deck10 to watch as we sailed in to Key West....it is so pretty. Several of our group headed in to Key West to shop as soon as the all ashore was given.....I stayed up by the pool relaxing.
Our group of 26 (3 chose to go on the kayak excursion) had pre-rented jet skis at 2:00pm from KeyCat rentals (on Shirleys recommendation). So we all headed over there about 1:30pm. It was crazy getting everyone signed up and as they only had 10 jet skis the one family of 6 chose to rent a speedboat. Well off we went 2 to a jetski following behind the employee who was taking us to an area where we could all just ride around. Things were going okay (i ahd a hard time with my ski as it kept stopping turned out there was seaweed in the motor which the employee got out for me) for about 30 minutes....we were all having a blast. I was very conscientious about their instructions about keeping 300ft from another ski but two other moms with their 15yo and 9yo daughters got too close and realized they were going to hit so they tried to turn and one, thinking she was using a brake (like on a bike) squeezed the handle which actually gave her more power and she slammed into the side of the ski with the mom and 9yo on it. The ski hit the mom in the mouth (it actually came up out of the water) and knocked both mom and daughter into the water. I was not nearby and did not see what happened - just saw the KeyCat employees and their boats trying to get the moms and daughters out of the water. They were taken back in and the rest of us were really unaware of what had happened so it was not until we were told to come in because of lightning that we saw what had happened. Both jet skis were damaged - one had a pretty good sized hole in the hull and the other had some major scratches. The two moms and their daughters were all crying, the dads were trying to get things sorted out so......the other adults all decided the best thing to do was to take the kids back to the boat and get them calmed down. On the way back the skies opened up and it started pouring, thundering and lighning. Once back on the ship, it actually was hailing. Nobody was seriously injured...the mom who was hit in the mouth ended up just having bruised her jaw and and mouth...no broken or lost teeth!! By the time everyone returned to the ship it was about 5:30pm and tonight was our Palo night.
I thought everyone would be really upset and that todays jet ski disaster would put a reall damper on the trip but it did not. Everyone bounced back and went on to have a great trip!
Palo was fantastic...we had a table for 12 (one dad was with his 2 girls) and Liz was our server. She was also great. Brought 3 pizzas as an appetizer in addition to the appetizers we had already ordered. I had salmon over a asparagus risoto which was delicious. Dessert was the souffle of course!! Great as always. We did not finish their til after 9pm....some went back to Dueling Pianos but i was tired and went to bed!! The kids had dinner on their own at Animators Palette and then went to the Family Dance Party and line dancing.
Next up: a calm day at sea!!
Jillie, how frightening about the jet skiis! Oh my! I love to jet ski, and have done it several times. I would have to say that inexperienced riders are very dangerous, even though they are trying to be cautious. Where I live, several people are killed every year riding them
