jam19872016

Never seen these drinks before, I considered trying them but I'm not a big fan of aperol. No idea why this didn't make it, but I don't see it so here is a bonus gratuitous cake shot. I didn't get a lot of sunsets on this cruise, lots of cloudy days, but Nassau did not disappoint during an evening walk on the track.

Deleted scenes: I took a bunch of photographs that I didn't post for one reason or another. Some were pointless and not worth sharing. Like this one. Actually, that was for a time stamp so I knew when I made it in the terminal, but not really worth posting, except I did anyway. Most I intended to post, but I just didn't right away but I wanted to share them at some point so that is what I will do now. Some may have been posted, I'm trying to keep them straight which ones were not posted, but its likely some of these are duplicates at this point. My first view of the Freedom as I am getting ready to board. I read a lot of reviews and watched a lot of videos on Freedom leading up to the review, and they all had to point out the Disney ship and how they wished they were on it, I'm good over here but I got the mouse shot anyway. More ship spotting as I do my first day on the walking track. I am not sure but going to assume this is Independence of the Seas. Mardi Gras as we left Grand Turk Random MSC cargo ship near Amber Cove.

I'll be starting another live soon 🙂 Thank you!

I have a limited understanding of Spanish. I found myself understanding conversation better after being immersed in it for as long as I was. They also speak English better than most of the Spanish people I encounter daily in Florida. The black sand was not appealing, looked almost like an oil spill. I'll take white sand, or pink sand, but it was interesting to see.

Thank you 🙂

Something that drives me a bit crazy is when I'm reading a live review and then when it's over, it takes forever for the author to wrap it up. Ooops! Sorry everyone. Work has kept me busy and then I was on my little weekend cruise and I did not purchase Wifi, just used my free 90 minutes to keep me occupied here and there. I'm off until Saturday visiting my mom for Thanksgiving so I am going to get this thing wrapped up, finally 😄.

I don't expect it all to myself, but a room with like minded people who would like quiet, or need to work or study would be nice. If not, no big deal I'm not going to switch lines because of it or be upset. It is what it is. The space is available, all they need to do is not turn the music up so loud in an empty room. I did book and sail Cunard. It was a bit TOO quiet 🤣. Lovely cruise though.

I can see multiple people on their balconies right now so unless they are all B2B or they just ignored the request to leave, I think so.

This! I don't need a "library " so to speak. I would just like a quiet public room to sit in when I need a break from the hustle and bustle. On my recent Transatlantic every room either had an event going on and when it didn't, the piped in music was turned all the way up. One day I figured out how to turn it off, and within minutes it turned into a public phone call on speakerphone room.

Just got another message which I was sure to read this time. Boarding will begin at 2.

The port is handling things very well. Lots of communication about the reality of how long boarding will take and advising us to come back later but not being pushy about it. They are now checking us in outside on tablets, giving us a wrist band which will allow us to bypass the line when things begin. Win-win as less people are likely to hang around creating lines if they are not worried about losing their spot and they will be able to process people faster since some will already be checked in. I won't be testing my luck in the casino as I just got strike two, message popped up that I have to check in at counter. They still gave me a wristband to skip the line just need to go to a desk still before boarding. I live in south Florida, and the weather has been extra nasty the last couple days. I'll be sure next time to always read the messages the cruise line sends me 😆

Shame on me it's totally my own fault, but.... I received so many messages yesterday reminding me to arrive during my check in window (I honestly lost count but it was at least five times because i didn't hit the "confirm message" button) that I didn't bother reading the messages I got today. Cruise line equivalent of the boy who cried wolf. Their "important" messages weren't really important and today they were but I didn't believe them. Now I'm here and the ship still is not. My own fault, not blaming the cruise line or the port just venting.

Today was a very successful port day for both my mom and me. I think today was my favorite day for exploring on my own. Pisa was the best since I was on a real tour, and I got to share the memory with my mom, but for independent exploring, this was the best. Looking back, the best ports for exploring were all the Spanish ports. Valencia wasn't great, and Barcelona was certainly overrun with tourism, but Malaga, Las Palmas, Ibiza, and Palma de Majorca were all fantastic days of exploring and left me with great memories that I will treasure for as long as my memory remains sharp!

Making my way back now. I tried to take the walk back a little more inland to get a different view, since I really didn't travel very far today (I did get a new steps record so I guess I really did it just didn't feel like it), but I got a little turned around so I went back towards the water pretty quickly and hugged the coastline back until I knew how to get back to the port. Forget the palm tree, I'm digging the Christmas tree. Back at the black sand beach. Almost back. There she is, ready to take me back across the pond.

Apparently, we are under a heavy surf warning. Who knew 🙂?

Nearing the end of the shoreline. I walked out onto the rocks for these final pictures.

The black color of the beach does not look very inviting, but the locals were enjoying it. This didn't really come out, I was trying to get it at an angle where you couldn't see the homeless man camped out in front of it.

As I got further along, the sand turned black. Trying to look the other way a little.

I'm not making a lot of progress. But finally I continue on. Surprise, Surprise, more looks of the water. You think this one got me?

If I lived here, I could just sit out staring at this all day long and be completely at peace. Stood back a little for another perspective of how rough the surf is.

Before I knew it, I was drawn back into the siren song of the ocean.

I finally broke myself free to keep exploring. Looking back to the spot I was at taking those first crashing wave photos.

I could see the water up ahead so I walked in that direction. I did not realize what I was about to discover. A beach? Not just a beach like you find at every Caribbean port of call. This took me back to the beaches of my childhood growing up in Florida. A beach with waves crashing into the shore. The sounds of the waves crashing and the smell of the salt in the air was triggering a lot of happy memories for me and I got a little carried away with a lot of pictures. The boardwalk. All my photos which appear to be taken in the water, were actually taken from up on the boardwalk - the water was just that high. Rogue crashing waves also completely soaked me a time or two.