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Riviera January 3 - It's the (Old) Girls Gone "Wild" cruise!

Leejnd4

By Leejnd4,
in Oceania Cruises

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CintiPam

CintiPam

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Thanks so much for sharing your experiences and fabulous photos with us. It is refreshing to read after all the negativity on this forum lately.

 

We are on the same itinerary on Riviera next month. I am glad to read that you found others to share the catamaran at St. Bart's because you had such aggravation arranging it and to top it all off, that was going to be one very expensive day.

 

Keep on enjoying.

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Leejnd4

Leejnd4

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We're at the Sunset Bar next to the airport on St Maarten, watching the departing planes blow morons into the ocean. Hilarious! Fabulous dives this morning...sharks, Rays, turtles...wow! I promise to post a write up and pics as soon as I can. :)

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Leejnd4

Leejnd4

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Day 3 – San Juan. Didn’t get off. Pouring rain when we pulled in. Did my 2-mile run, worked out, then had an 80 minute massage. Heaven. Napped. Ate. Read. Napped and read some more.

 

Dinner at Polo Grill. Un-freaking-believable! Seriously, the entire experience was just top-notch dining. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten that much at one sitting. I had lobster bisque – different and darker than most lobster bisques I’ve had before, but I’ve had it like this too…foamy at the top, and they top it with some Spanish brandy. Yum. The rack of lamb was just sublime. Better than Signatures on Regent. Lobster mac-n-cheese…WOW! The capper was the sampler of desserts, supposed to be just one bite of each but these must be bites for a giant! Each dessert was better than the last. The Key Lime Pie was an explosion of flavor. That’s the way food is supposed to taste.

 

Day 4 – St. Barts. Before I even begin to describe it, I have to say this was one of my favorite days on a cruise ever. I mean EVER! Can’t give Oceania the credit for this day, tho…it was good planning and a whole lotta luck.

 

If you’ll recall, we had a half-day combined scuba/snorkel trip on a Catamaran booked since February. At the last minute the a-hole torpedoed us – two weeks before the cruise! – in order to take a full load of snorkelers from our ship. I was very lucky to find a dive shop that was willing at the last minute to take me out on a private dive (just me and the divemaster), and found a private Catamaran to rent for the afternoon.

 

The dive was unbelievable . One guy on a rigid inflatable… a very sweet Frenchman who took me to an advanced site since he knew I am an experienced diver. This dive totally put Grand Turk to shame. Turtles, lobsters, lion fish, sharks (not close enough for pictures), and I even found my eel. I ALWAYS find the eels – they call me the eel whisperer! We were perfectly matched – our air consumption was exactly the same throughout the dive. We both came up at 500psi after a full hour-long dive. I’ll try to get the photos posted in a bit.

 

He dropped me off right at the same dock where our Catamaran would pick us up in 30 minutes, right next to the tender, so that was awfully convenient!

 

At our Meet-n-Greet we’d found some other people to join us…all but Edith showed up. Poor Edith got the time wrong and was there an hour early! :(

 

So anyway, we ended up with 8 total, which brought the price down nicely. But I have to admit I was worried – would the boat be trashy and thrashed? Would it be a diesel monster spewing fumes? Would the crew be stuck up French people who don’t speak English?

 

No on all accounts. It was a spectacular 45-ft luxury Catamaran, filled to the brim with all the possible drinks we could possibly want (both alcoholic and non), open bar. The crew was one amazing guy named Eric, who spoke fine English, and was the most skilled sailor I’ve ever seen…he managed that boat, and gave us full service, all by himself.

 

And we didn’t motor…we SAILED! There was a stiff breeze, and as soon as we got out the harbor he raised the sails, shut down the motor, and off we went, with him jibing and tacking as needed to get us to the best snorkel spot (called Columbia, I think), which took about an hour of awesome sailing under a gorgeous blue sky.

 

He doffed the sails and dropped the anchor (again all by himself) very close to the beach, and we had a nice long snorkel. The people we were with were just phenomenal…a family of four (Mom, Dad, two grown daughters), and a man named Reed whose wife didn’t feel well so didn’t want to come. They were all delightful, fun-loving, rum-punch-drinking, fabulous people and we just had a gas. Lots of laughing, pouring more rum punches, jumping in the water, and more laughing.

 

Towards the end of our stop it suddenly started POURING, but none of us really cared. We were wet anyway! And it was kinda romantic. We finally raised anchor and Eric did the work of 3 people all by himself again, raising the sails, tacking, making sure we had drinks, etc. It got kind of rough, but it was so beautiful that at one point I slithered my way out onto the seat at the point of the bow, held onto the rails for dear life, and rode that rockin’ boat like a cowgirl, hootin’ and hollerin’. At one point I thought to myself, life just doesn’t get better than this, nothing could make it better. And then a rainbow came out, lighting up the sky behind the tall peaks on the island. A freaking rainbow. Come on! It was St. Barts telling me I shouldn’t have worried so much.

 

Some stayed on the island to go to Baz Bar, but Sandy and I went back to the ship. I did pop back off the ship after dinner in Terrace for a short visit to Baz Bar, but the band sucked so back to the ship it was.

 

I will try to post my photos later.

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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Oh LeeAnn,

 

so happy that catamaran worked out for you after the last minute change!

 

It sounds like it was truly all for the best.

 

Aren't they fun? Sounds like you are having an absolutely wonderful time and so happy for you :)

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Leejnd4

Leejnd4

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Oh I forgot to mention...I am only an amateur photographer...but I do have a friend who is a professional and teaches underwater photography, and I've taken a few lessons with him. I'm flattered that someone thinks that highly of my photos. :). But I'm just a diver who liked snapping shots underwater.

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Mura

Mura

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Lee, your photos underwater are just gorgeous (amateur or not), and since I will never go underwater myself (!) they are as close as I will get. I have learned to trust a snorkel but I'll never scuba ... too old to learn now anyway!

 

So I thank you again. Personally, I much prefer your underwater photos to photos of the ships which I have seen many times up front and personal. This is NOT said to discourage people from posting such photos! If I'd never been on any of the ships I'd love to see those as well. But the fishies are so gorgeous!

 

Glad to hear you are having such a wonderful cruise after all the recent negative comments.

 

Mura

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Iamthesea

Iamthesea

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Love the beautiful underwater photos (especially the little guy with the yellow eye. :D) I am on IE again and the photos are one on top of the other this time. Go figure!

 

Just finished booking the snuba tour in St. Maarten. That's as close as we will get to a dive, but we will be underwater. Guess I will have to get one of those inexpensive underwater disposables. :rolleyes: Or perhaps my son-in-law will let me borrow his Go Pro.

 

Thank you for the Polo review. I am getting everything that you ordered! :)

 

I have not seen this must activity on the Oceania forum since I started researching my upcoming cruise.

Edited by Iamthesea
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Leejnd4

Leejnd4

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What is the central image in that top pic on the second set? It's beautiful!

It's a type of nudibranch...basically a sea slug. There are many different types, some quite elaborate. Google nudibranchs! They can be gorgeous. This one is not that exciting, but it's the only one I've seen.

 

I'm in the Riviera lounge waiting for the tender to Tortola...another day of diving. 3 days in a row might be a bit much for this ol' girl.

 

Oh, and I think I figured out what I was doing wrong with the photos, both in terms of size and showing up all in a row. Next set will be better, I promise!

 

Off I go...

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buggins0402

buggins0402

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It's a type of nudibranch...basically a sea slug. There are many different types, some quite elaborate. Google nudibranchs! They can be gorgeous. This one is not that exciting, but it's the only one I've seen.

 

.

 

Thanks for the information, I did Google and was truly amazed!

 

You thread is now not only entertaining....but also educational.:)

 

By the way, as for the Catamaran...Eric would have been all the scenery/entertainment I would need for a great day.:D

 

Looking forward to the Tortola pics.

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