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Europe goes Caribbean, MSC Poesia cruise, March 30 2013


Tatka
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We found some place to swim though though. Somewhere near Playa Bonita or Punta Murena, don't remember exactly. If you have a mask you can even do some snorkle here

 

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Sea turtles sanctuary. No transpass allowed!

 

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Edited by Tatka
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Our next port was a Roatan, Honduras. Isla Roatán, used to be known as Ruatan или Rattan, the largest of Honduras' Bay Islands.

 

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Roatan was British for a long time, so most of the people know English very well. I believe it is their first language, unlike in Honduras, where Spanish is the first one. Most of the people here have Jamaican and Caymanian roots, or they came from there.

 

In Caribbeans two largest cruise ships corporations are fighting for the territories.. Just like British and Spanish 500 years ago. :) Royal Caribbean & Carnival. This island was "conquered" by Carnival. :smile: Our port - Mahogany Bay.

 

You can see Crown Princess from a distance

 

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Edited by Tatka
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Very colorful pier

 

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Carnival invested a lot of money and made this port very pleasant. There is even chair lifts to the beach. We didn't try.

 

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And it is really nice to see it all from our own balcony :) later...

 

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We could not wait to meet our tour guide from http://www.boddentours.com/ . I like how all best tours can be found on CC!!! Customer service before, during and after a tour was wonderful. Not only they were responding promptly via email, they even sent us a pretty extensive list of advices about what to do and not to do in Roatan

 

This island is famous for its Ziplines, as well as snorkeling and diving

 

We picked a simple drive around excursion Fun-N-Sun with Victor's Monkey Business, and some time on the beach. Too bad Poesia was somewhat late to dock, and our sailaway time was 2 PM... so we spent maybe 30 minutes on the beach.

 

Island is very beautiful and hilly, although very poor.

 

Of course there are mansions for rich politicians.

 

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Majority of roatanians are ... well not rich. Especially on East Side

 

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Looks like many people are out of work.. Just seating around doing nothing. Many unsupervised young kids running around.

 

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Or selling coconuts

 

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We have been told that parents are forced to do community service if kids are alone on the streets... It is hard to believe.

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Then we have been let into a cage :)

 

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We did not have to wait for monkey to come to us. They WANTED to play

 

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Edited by Tatka
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Our last place in Honduras was a beach on the west side. Beach itself is beautiful.. white sand, blue water

 

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Except it is really overcrowded, and filled with street sellers

 

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Monkey are working here too

 

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Hmmm... school is mandatory... All kids MUST be in school

 

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Georgetown, Grand Cayman

 

This is a tender port. As usual we are in a good company of other ships.

 

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Poesia is lowering her tenders

 

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You need to get tender tickets.. if you are in a hurry, try to do it as early as you can. We had number Q, which was OK as after four visits we did not have huge plans. I believe we left ship about an hour after "docking:

Edited by Tatka
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Unlike our previous stop Caymans is a wealthy place. I believe it is an offshore of more than 450 companies.

 

You have following options

 

Usual drive around excursion with tourist trap Hell (from where you can send a postcard). It can include Turtle Farms, which is a wonderful place to visit with kids... and even for adults. :o

 

Of course it is an island, so you can do lots of snorkeling and diving. Caymans have near by reef. We have already been there done that.

I would definitely recommend https://www.captainmarvins.com/ for snorkeling and Stingray City. Swimming with stingrays is a highlight of this island.

 

Seven Miles beach is a choice for a beach, although I did not find it particularly great.. too many people, not exotic enough.

 

All of this we have already done before. I love to snorkel, and my friends gave as a great ides. To snorkel near Shipwreck of The Cali, right near the port

 

Georgetown has tons of places for this.

 

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One bad change that happened recently to this island, or I'd say to us. They only sell Duty Free liquor around the port. It is very difficult to find something that you can drink right away. :(

 

GC Museum

 

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Many stores with jewelery. Something we don't like to spend our precious time on vacations

 

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Of course a sign that we, Americans, are present here...

 

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Wreck of Cali

 

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At first we were not sure we can stay there for a long time.. Did look too safe and secure.

 

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But we stayed and were not sorry!

 

Unfortunately I did not have my underwater camera with me. If you plan to go there you NEED camera. It is like swimming at Boston Aquarium. Tons of fish, large silver, and smaller colorful.

 

You can see some even from above

 

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O, happiness!

 

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If you want to learn or to improve your skills you can join a lesson. They also take people to the actual wreck, although I am not sure if more fish can even exist. :)

 

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Or eat in the restaurant

 

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Or both :smile:

 

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Edited by Tatka
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On our way back we noticed a cute church.

 

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Bye-bye Pirates! :smile:

 

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We are waving goodbye to Celebrity Equinox & RCCL Mariner, which sailed next to us to Jamaica.

 

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Am I only one who thinks Celebrity added to many cabins to their new ships? Where the open space?

 

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Jamaica was our long awaited port. We missed Ocho Rios 5 years ago on Ruby Princess. Back then tt was too windy and we just sailed by. My DH kept teasing me "How did you like Jamaica? It was nice!" ... Well no anymore!:)

 

This time we docked in Falmouth.

Falmouth - is a Royal Caribbean built port. It was built specifically for Oasis and Allure, but other ships visit too now.

 

 

We though about what to do there long and hard. Most private tour guides wanted to have credit card deposit, and my DH did not want to give his CC number...

 

Our options included

 

- Dunn's Riverfalls

- Bobsled

- Mystic Mountain

- River tubing

 

Finally I found something that looked interesting and new. Rafting on Martha Brae, MSC sponsored tour.

 

First look at Falmouth

 

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By the way MSC has organized shuttles to Montego Bay and some other Beach. I believe it was around $20 for a round trip.

 

Our neighbor for today is RCCL Mariner of the Seas

 

Fountain

 

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We were greeted by these "short" people in Jamaican colors

 

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You can buy tons of souvenirs right in port

 

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