The Official Trippingpara's Chasing the Canadian Sunshine in the Maritimes Review

[trippingpara]

Another fabulous review from Mr. Trip!! I loved all of your NYC photos... really makes me miss my old stomping grounds! I look forward to reading the rest of your review to get me through the last few days before I leave for my own cruise next week (although I am going somewhere a bit more tropical than you went!) :D

 

Hi deladane! How are you? Long time, no talk. Thank you very much for the kind words. Am I reading this right? Are you going on the Paul Gauguin to French Polynesia? I am SOOOO done talking to you! My dream cruise is to French Polynesia and going on the Paul Gauguin is one heck of a way to go!! Can you say "jealous"!!!!

[deladane]

Hi deladane! How are you? Long time, no talk. Thank you very much for the kind words. Am I reading this right? Are you going on the Paul Gauguin to French Polynesia? I am SOOOO done talking to you! My dream cruise is to French Polynesia and going on the Paul Gauguin is one heck of a way to go!! Can you say "jealous"!!!!

 

Haha yes, it is our honeymoon and we wanted to do it right!! I plan to write another one of my long photo reviews when I get home, so definitely go look for it in the PG forum in late September! Maybe it will convince you to take the plunge so you can experience it for yourself ;p In the meantime, I look forward to reading more about your time aboard my old friend, the Sunshine! :cool:

[VolzCruiser]

Really enjoying the review looking forward to the rest of it.

[JaniceB]

I love whale tail pictures going under bridges, yours is one of the best I have seen.

[pghsteelerfan]

Hi deladane! How are you? Long time, no talk. Thank you very much for the kind words. Am I reading this right? Are you going on the Paul Gauguin to French Polynesia? I am SOOOO done talking to you! My dream cruise is to French Polynesia and going on the Paul Gauguin is one heck of a way to go!! Can you say "jealous"!!!!

 

Hey Trip...sorry for the hi-jack, but I agree with your comment. Sounds strange, I've heard of the Paul Gauguin but don't know much about it. Will have to research. But French Polynesia is also a dream, probably an unrealistic dream, of mine...unless we're holding that winning Power Ball ticket, which I doubt. And thank you for the information on the Tamron. The distortion of wide angle and highest zoom are exactly the reasons I'm holding back on getting one. Although most pictures would be in that mid range. I went back and looked, Lady Trip also got great pictures too. Are you sure she hasn't been practicing behind your back?

 

 

Haha yes, it is our honeymoon and we wanted to do it right!! I plan to write another one of my long photo reviews when I get home, so definitely go look for it in the PG forum in late September! Maybe it will convince you to take the plunge so you can experience it for yourself ;p In the meantime, I look forward to reading more about your time aboard my old friend, the Sunshine! :cool:

 

deladane...I don't know if you remember me or not, but we've commented on each others' reviews here on CC. Anyway, I just saw your comment and want to contratulate you on your wedding/or up coming wedding!!! :) I'm wishing you many years of happiness together & it sure looks like you will have a great start with your upcoming trip. I will be sure to look for your review when we get back from our upcoming trip. Nope, not a cruise this time. ;p

[deladane]

Hey Trip...sorry for the hi-jack, but I agree with your comment. Sounds strange, I've heard of the Paul Gauguin but don't know much about it. Will have to research. But French Polynesia is also a dream, probably an unrealistic dream, of mine...unless we're holding that winning Power Ball ticket, which I doubt. And thank you for the information on the Tamron. The distortion of wide angle and highest zoom are exactly the reasons I'm holding back on getting one. Although most pictures would be in that mid range. I went back and looked, Lady Trip also got great pictures too. Are you sure she hasn't been practicing behind your back?

 

 

 

 

deladane...I don't know if you remember me or not, but we've commented on each others' reviews here on CC. Anyway, I just saw your comment and want to contratulate you on your wedding/or up coming wedding!!! :) I'm wishing you many years of happiness together & it sure looks like you will have a great start with your upcoming trip. I will be sure to look for your review when we get back from our upcoming trip. Nope, not a cruise this time. ;p

 

Of course I remember you! Just because I haven't sailed with Carnival in a few years doesn't mean I forgot all of my old friends in this forum haha We actually had our wedding last September (nearly a year ago!) but waited until now to take our honeymoon for several reasons. Before researching this trip, I had never even heard of Paul Gauguin Cruises nor most of the islands where we will be visiting! This has been a wonderful learning process for me, and I plan to write all about it in my review in hopes of educating others about cruising in French Polynesia. Definitely post a comment on that thread once I start the review so I know you found it!

[trippingpara]

Really enjoying the review looking forward to the rest of it.

 

Hi VolzCruiser. Thank you for joining in, glad you're enjoying it.

 

I love whale tail pictures going under bridges, yours is one of the best I have seen.

 

Hey JaniceB, I love those too and I was so excited to finally get a chance to capture that photo myself! Thank you so much for such great praise!

[trippingpara]

Hey Trip...sorry for the hi-jack, but I agree with your comment. Sounds strange, I've heard of the Paul Gauguin but don't know much about it. Will have to research. But French Polynesia is also a dream, probably an unrealistic dream, of mine...unless we're holding that winning Power Ball ticket, which I doubt. And thank you for the information on the Tamron. The distortion of wide angle and highest zoom are exactly the reasons I'm holding back on getting one. Although most pictures would be in that mid range. I went back and looked, Lady Trip also got great pictures too. Are you sure she hasn't been practicing behind your back?

 

Hey pghsteelerfan. Since Lady Trip and I are still trying to figure out what we are going to do for our vacation in 2019, Deladane motivated me and I threw French Polynesia into the mix. Cruise prices were surprisingly reasonable (I'm talking the Spirit or NCL/RCL/Princess cruises, NOT Paul Gauguin Cruises! Never say never or so they say. I'm planning on renting the Tamron 150-600 G2 in the Sony mount for our Alaskan cruise. I'm not sure how often I'd be carrying around such a heavy lens day to day, so I'm not too keen on dropping that kind of money on that lens (especially not after buying the Sony Zeiss lens for this trip! That actually cost more than my pro camera body!) That's the beauty of renting them!

 

Lol, I seriously doubt that Lady Trip has been practicing behind my back considering I had to show her how to turn the camera on! But she is a great student, not afraid to try different shots and naturally has a great eye. I think she's going to surpass me once she learns her camera and it's capabilities.

[trippingpara]

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tuesday, August 8th – Somewhere in the North Atlantic

Ahh…sea days. Lazy. Hazy. And cold? What the…? Where the hell are the palm trees and the warm, salty sea air? We’re completely shrouded in fog and it’s freakin’ freezing!! But I’m on a Carnival cruise ship! How the bleep did this happen? Oh yeah, that’s right. We booked a cruise to Canada!

[

The view out our balcony when we woke up.

Yep, this is definitely not your normal cruise! The only palm trees that you’ll see around here are the fake ones planted around Serenity. But we’re going to have fun anyways! Who needs sunshine and warmth? Okay, those little tidbits are pretty nice to have but we’re on vacation dammit so we’re still going to have fun!

 

Being a lazy, hazy sea day, we eventually made our way over to the Sunrise Restaurant for Sea Day Brunch. We were given a nice table right by the floor to ceiling windows at the stern of the ship. I love watching the ship’s wake so it was a perfect location for me. We ordered our food and chatted for a while enjoying the morning and our time together when the ship suddenly heeled over.

I'm not talking about the gentle roll that you normally feel but a sharp and severe heeling to one side. Lady Trip was chatting away when she stopped and stared at me.

“What's wrong?” she asked. "You look concerned."

I stared past her shoulder out the floor to ceiling windows just a few feet away. The fog had lifted to reveal a rather gloomy, overcast day. However, it was the horizon that bothered me. Or the fact that it was awkwardly tilted at an unnatural level that was holding my gaze. Or was I awkwardly tilted at an unnatural level? Either way, it didn't seem right!

“Umm...ah..., just the fact that we’re listing about 10 degrees to port,” I replied in as nonchalant manner as I could muster.

 

Lady Trip nodded her head like that was an everyday response.

“Oh. I heard everybody gasp and even the waiters look concerned. So, I should be concerned?”

 

Before I could answer, the ship suddenly heeled over in the opposite direction and started turning in a radical ‘S’ pattern. By now, nobody was talking and everyone was staring out the giant aft windows at the slanted horizon.

Glasses clicked and plates slid a bit on the crowded tables. About 60 seconds later, the ship settled back down to a level position and straightened out. It was like somebody hit a switch. The silence evaporated. Everyone started talking and laughing, the waiters went about their business like nothing had happened. I felt like I was in an episode of the Twilight Zone. I kept looking around for Alfred Hitchcock to come strolling out.

A couple minutes later, the captain came on to explain that one of the ship’s stabilizers had become stuck in place and caused the ship to heel over. They were able to fix it and everything is fine. Cool.

In my head, all I could think of was "This was just a test of the Emergency Adrenaline System. It is only a test." Well, it was a great test of the adrenaline system. All was working there too. As my heart rate settled back to normal, we resumed our conversation like everyone else.

 

Since the weather was rather cheeky still (fog, overcast and high winds), all of the activities that was scheduled to be outside on the Lido deck was either rescheduled for Friday or brought inside to another location. We were going to do the Urban Myth trivia but that became the bingo area (which was PACKED!). So, we ended up going to the spa to take advantage of our spa cabin benefits. The spa was nice but it didn’t have a whirlpool which I was bummed about. Oh well, I’ll survive.

 

It was very peaceful and relaxing until a lady came in with several others. She complained about everything (why couldn't she get the special spa slippers like those people in the spa cabins have? What made them so special!?) And in between the complaints, she shouted across the room to the other people in her party. It didn’t take too long before everyone else started clearing out of the Thermal Suites. What a way to break the peace and solace of the spa by being rude and inconsiderate.

After changing our clothes, we decided to explore the ship some more. We finally opted to go and catch the early show of Motor City, a tribute to the great Motown songs from the 60s and 70s. It was a great show. I know there is a thread going on now about how it should be shut down because it's been running for so long. (Somebody might want to tell Broadway about 'Cats' or 'Phantom of the Opera') We saw Motor City once before on our first cruise several years ago and we still found it entertaining. I sure as heck don't cruise for the shows anyways. They entertain me for the hour that they're on and then I'm off to the next thing. No big deal.

However, I was surprised to see how many songs that I not only knew, but also really liked. The only problem with the show came right at the beginning when they asked for 3 men to come up on stage and join them. My lovely wife that I used to adore so much, bus chucked me quicker than the Flash running to the bathroom with the runs!

Before I knew it, I had a pair of singers pulling me out of my chair and escorting me to the stage. They gave us a brief dance lesson then slapped a wig on us and our performance began. We had to dance and sing to “Stop, in the Name of Love.” I must say that I nailed it Gov'na!. I’m talking mic drop style!

Cameron explaining what the hell my wife just got me into

 

My bloody phone won't stop ringing off the hook with all of the talent agents calling me now!!

 

The song finally ended and I was able to slink back to my seat and give my wife dirty looks all night. After the show, we eventually settled back into our favorite spot, the Alchemy Bar. Since it was Elegant Night, most of the patrons were dressed in their best. We, of course, were still slumming around in our jeans and t-shirts. About an hour later, our friend from the sail away party showed up and the party began. We were then joined by Cameron, one of the singers that escorted me on stage. I must say the night eventually got a little fuzzy but according to our photos, we had a great time. The scary part is, Javorka our bartender, ended up taking most of them!

I blurred out our friend's face to protect the innocent. Notice the rest of us are NOT blurred out. What does that tell you?

.

[Jaymndad]

Great Review so Far. I am really enjoying it and getting more and more excited as I am sailing on the Sunshine in October from NYC to Canada on a 7 day cruise. :cool:

[trippingpara]

Great Review so Far. I am really enjoying it and getting more and more excited as I am sailing on the Sunshine in October from NYC to Canada on a 7 day cruise. :cool:

 

Hi Jaymndad. Thank you so much. Glad you're enjoying the review. You're going to have a blast on that cruise! You'll be tromping around in my neck of the woods in Boston then!

[Big Mama K]

OMG LOVE your review we are sailing on Sunshine Sept 23-30th, now if you could just plan this trip for me that would be excellent. Any suggestions on what to do in Boston, Portland and Canada??? I get so overwhelmed just looking at NYC we are staying a few extra days when we get back. Your pictures are great loved looking at them.

[Big Mama K]

PS: You look great in the black wig!!!!! Makes me want to sing Stop in The Name of Love too!! LMAO

[10Jan54]

Love the pictures, can't wait to see more. Leaving on the sunshine Sept 9th. Not sure if you mentioned it yet or maybe I am jumping the gun, but did you see any whales?

[trippingpara]

OMG LOVE your review we are sailing on Sunshine Sept 23-30th, now if you could just plan this trip for me that would be excellent. Any suggestions on what to do in Boston, Portland and Canada??? I get so overwhelmed just looking at NYC we are staying a few extra days when we get back. Your pictures are great loved looking at them.

 

PS: You look great in the black wig!!!!! Makes me want to sing Stop in The Name of Love too!! LMAO

 

Hey Big Mama K! Thank you so much! Glad to hear that I looked good in the wig. As my hair keeps getting shorter and thinner, I might have to resort to a wig soon. Or look like a bowling ball with my big 'ol round noggin! Don't tempt me with planning your cruise. That's one of my favorite parts about traveling. I'm currently planning our big vow renewal trip to Hawaii in October. We have several family and friends coming and none of them have been to Hawaii before, so guess whose playing vacation planner?!

 

There is so much to do on the 7 day cruise to Canada. In Boston (where Lady Trip and I both work), I would suggest walking the Freedom Trail. There are also a bunch of different harbor cruises that you can do, but our friends and family from out of town always like to do the Freedom Trail. Easy to walk and hard to get lost - just keep following the red bricks. The Freedom Trail is literally a trail that winds through downtown Boston to all of the major historical sites in the city. We still do it regularly and we've been living here for quite some time now.

 

For Portland, it's all about the lighthouse and Casco Bay. Although anytime that we're up in that area, I'm usually at Cabela's, Kittery Outlets and Kennebunkport (Lady Trip's favorite place) which isn't too far away.

 

In Saint John - it's all about the tides. Fundy Bay has some of the largest ranging tides in the world and they are dramatic!! I'm about to start posting on our day in Saint John and you'll see the incredible difference from low to high tide. There are the Reversing Falls in Saint John, the sea caves in St. Martins or the Fundy Trail. All are great!

 

In Halifax, the big draw is Peggy's Cove, about an hour away. Halifax itself, has a lot of big draws too, such as the Citidel, the Public Gardens, Titanic gravesites, maritime museums, etc. So much to do, so little time!

 

For NYC, there is too much to do for one visit (or 20 visits!). Just focus on the main things that you want to see or experience and go with that. We concentrated on certain areas of Manhattan and ignored the rest. It made it much easier to determine what to do that way.

[trippingpara]

Love the pictures, can't wait to see more. Leaving on the sunshine Sept 9th. Not sure if you mentioned it yet or maybe I am jumping the gun, but did you see any whales?

 

Hi 10Jan54. Thank you, I'm glad that you're enjoying them. Got any room in your suitcase for me? I'd love to go back on the Sunshine again! We didn't see any whales, but that was us. On several occasions, we did see something in the water out of the corner of our visions but when we watched that area, we didn't see it again. However, there were a lot of dolphin sightings.

 

The weather did hamper us quite a bit as the first sea day did not make for very good whale watching due to the fog and very heavy winds (the high winds wrecked havoc with the satellite service for in-room tv and movies.) And we had very heavy fog again when we left Saint John, so the only good days to watch for sea life was on Thursday evening (departing Halifax) and Friday, our final sea day.

[pghsteelerfan]

Of course I remember you! Just because I haven't sailed with Carnival in a few years doesn't mean I forgot all of my old friends in this forum haha We actually had our wedding last September (nearly a year ago!) but waited until now to take our honeymoon for several reasons. Before researching this trip, I had never even heard of Paul Gauguin Cruises nor most of the islands where we will be visiting! This has been a wonderful learning process for me, and I plan to write all about it in my review in hopes of educating others about cruising in French Polynesia. Definitely post a comment on that thread once I start the review so I know you found it!

 

Glad to know, wasn't sure since there are so many CC members. I sure hope married life is treating you well. My hubby and I just had our 25th anniversary a couple of months ago and still just can't believe it. It didn't seem that long ago that we were celebrating parents' 25th anniversaries, seems like 15 maybe, and that was even before my husband and I were dating each other! :o:o:o I will be sure to look your review up and comment so you know I've found it. I am really, really looking forward to it. I have seen pictures of Polynesia, but don't know if the were French Polynesia though, but just gorgeous!!! I hope you have a wonderful time!

 

Hey pghsteelerfan. Since Lady Trip and I are still trying to figure out what we are going to do for our vacation in 2019, Deladane motivated me and I threw French Polynesia into the mix. Cruise prices were surprisingly reasonable (I'm talking the Spirit or NCL/RCL/Princess cruises, NOT Paul Gauguin Cruises! Never say never or so they say. I'm planning on renting the Tamron 150-600 G2 in the Sony mount for our Alaskan cruise. I'm not sure how often I'd be carrying around such a heavy lens day to day, so I'm not too keen on dropping that kind of money on that lens (especially not after buying the Sony Zeiss lens for this trip! That actually cost more than my pro camera body!) That's the beauty of renting them!

 

Lol, I seriously doubt that Lady Trip has been practicing behind my back considering I had to show her how to turn the camera on! But she is a great student, not afraid to try different shots and naturally has a great eye. I think she's going to surpass me once she learns her camera and it's capabilities.

 

If you and Lady Trip decide to do this, that would be great. I have to confess, my husband and I have splurged quite a bit for an upcoming vacation. Since we just celebrated our 25th anniversary, we decided to go to Hawaii for two weeks and that trip will be here soon. We did have a budget and didn't think we'd be able to do it within the budget, but we did. We even got a direct flight...10 hours but we'll be getting there shortly after noon. We have a few things we know we want to do, but for the most part, we have no clue, so I need to start with the researching. And here I am reading reviews on CC. :')

 

One one of the other threads (I think photo/camera discussions), someone else recommended renting lenses to try out before buying. That is a great idea and I just might consider that in the future, especially seeing as how most lenses out there are more than I paid for the camera. And showing Lady Trip how to TURN ON the camera...awww come on, get out! :') I still use the automatic settings and the "P" setting on the dial for vacation/landscape pictures because it automatically keeps everything sharp/focused. When I'm using the camera on that "P" setting, I'm still able to adjust the ISO, but don't think I can in full "auto". So I do need to make the time to look into, and take, a photography course to learn how to take advantage of the settings on my camera. My issue, and it's always been my issue, is that I'm a visual person and learn that way (reading instructions is like reading a different language), so an actual class would probably be my best bet. And after seeing the big difference in your pictures (and they were great before), it would definitely be worth it to improve my own. Getting ready to read your next installment and looking forward to both yours and Lady Trip's pictures and adventures.

Edited August 24, 2017 by pghsteelerfan

[trippingpara]

If you and Lady Trip decide to do this, that would be great. I have to confess, my husband and I have splurged quite a bit for an upcoming vacation. Since we just celebrated our 25th anniversary, we decided to go to Hawaii for two weeks and that trip will be here soon. We did have a budget and didn't think we'd be able to do it within the budget, but we did. We even got a direct flight...10 hours but we'll be getting there shortly after noon. We have a few things we know we want to do, but for the most part, we have no clue, so I need to start with the researching. And here I am reading reviews on CC. :')

 

One one of the other threads (I think photo/camera discussions), someone else recommended renting lenses to try out before buying. That is a great idea and I just might consider that in the future, especially seeing as how most lenses out there are more than I paid for the camera. And showing Lady Trip how to TURN ON the camera...awww come on, get out! :') I still use the automatic settings and the "P" setting on the dial for vacation/landscape pictures because it automatically keeps everything sharp/focused. When I'm using the camera on that "P" setting, I'm still able to adjust the ISO, but don't think I can in full "auto". So I do need to make the time to look into, and take, a photography course to learn how to take advantage of the settings on my camera. My issue, and it's always been my issue, is that I'm a visual person and learn that way (reading instructions is like reading a different language), so an actual class would probably be my best bet. And after seeing the big difference in your pictures (and they were great before), it would definitely be worth it to improve my own. Getting ready to read your next installment and looking forward to both yours and Lady Trip's pictures and adventures.

 

Yep, we are officially now looking at a cruise to the French Polynesia. Thank you Deladane!! I'll be sending you the bill! Anyways, we're hoping to convince one of our CC buddies that we became good friends with on one of our cruises with us! (You'll be reading about them later as they came down to hang out with us and play tour guide in Halifax!)

 

Congrats on 25th years! That's awesome! Lady Trip and I are celebrating 20 years this year and are going back to Hawaii (our favorite stomping grounds) to renew our vows in Oct. Where are you going to in Hawaii? We try to go to the islands every year on a land vacation. We love that state!!

 

A photography class can do wonders. I'm just like you, a visual learner. I took a couple classes and they weren't field based so I continued to struggle with the exposure triangle of aperture, shutter speed and ISO. But as soon as I got a class that was in the field, I was able to try out the different combinations of the triangle to the point that I finally understood their relationship. Once you understand how they work in relation to one another and the impact of changing one versus the others, coupled with good compositional setup, then you really have all the tools to take your work to the next level and beyond! One of the best pieces of advice ever given to me was to study your camera's manual and know it inside and out. The better you know your camera and it's capabilities (and weaknesses), the better you will be able to compose and capture what it is that you are trying to achieve. I hope this makes sense.

[pghsteelerfan]

Yep, we are officially now looking at a cruise to the French Polynesia. Thank you Deladane!! I'll be sending you the bill! Anyways, we're hoping to convince one of our CC buddies that we became good friends with on one of our cruises with us! (You'll be reading about them later as they came down to hang out with us and play tour guide in Halifax!)

 

Congrats on 25th years! That's awesome! Lady Trip and I are celebrating 20 years this year and are going back to Hawaii (our favorite stomping grounds) to renew our vows in Oct. Where are you going to in Hawaii? We try to go to the islands every year on a land vacation. We love that state!!

 

A photography class can do wonders. I'm just like you, a visual learner. I took a couple classes and they weren't field based so I continued to struggle with the exposure triangle of aperture, shutter speed and ISO. But as soon as I got a class that was in the field, I was able to try out the different combinations of the triangle to the point that I finally understood their relationship. Once you understand how they work in relation to one another and the impact of changing one versus the others, coupled with good compositional setup, then you really have all the tools to take your work to the next level and beyond! One of the best pieces of advice ever given to me was to study your camera's manual and know it inside and out. The better you know your camera and it's capabilities (and weaknesses), the better you will be able to compose and capture what it is that you are trying to achieve. I hope this makes sense.

 

Thank you! Neither of us can believe it's 25 years, that time just flew by. It didn't seem that long ago that my parents were celebrating their 25th. Congrats to you and Lady Trip on your upcoming 20th!!! You're not far behind us. I love how you'll be renewing your vows in Hawaii.

 

Hawaii...this is my first trip (hubby was there when he was 18 with his family) and we're going for two weeks. Spending the first 5 days in Oahu and staying in Waikiki Beach, but will have a rental car and plan to tour all around the island. Next stop is Kauai for 4 days, and will again have a rental car to see as much as possible. The last 5 days will be in Maui, with seeing as much as possible with a rental car. We have some ideas, but I'm still researching. We just booked last month, so not much time left. :o We booked our Liberty cruise (out of San Juan) with 77 days until sail date, but at least we pretty much knew what we wanted to see and do, thanks to CC. Where do you usually stay when you're there and do you island hop or stay in one place? I'm probably going to hop over to the Hawaii threads in the "Ports of Call" boards to see if there is anything that stands out as a "can't miss". We do want to spend some time just kicking back.

 

Thanks for the information on how much more I can get out of a photography class. I've gone through some of the manual, just not all at once. I also bought the "Dummies" book for my camera. I hope you have a very nice vow renewal and trip to Hawaii. I'm sure you, and Lady Trip, will get spectacular pictures too. Too bad you can't do a review on that trip.

[trippingpara]

Thank you! Neither of us can believe it's 25 years, that time just flew by. It didn't seem that long ago that my parents were celebrating their 25th. Congrats to you and Lady Trip on your upcoming 20th!!! You're not far behind us. I love how you'll be renewing your vows in Hawaii.

 

Hawaii...this is my first trip (hubby was there when he was 18 with his family) and we're going for two weeks. Spending the first 5 days in Oahu and staying in Waikiki Beach, but will have a rental car and plan to tour all around the island. Next stop is Kauai for 4 days, and will again have a rental car to see as much as possible. The last 5 days will be in Maui, with seeing as much as possible with a rental car. We have some ideas, but I'm still researching. We just booked last month, so not much time left. :o We booked our Liberty cruise (out of San Juan) with 77 days until sail date, but at least we pretty much knew what we wanted to see and do, thanks to CC. Where do you usually stay when you're there and do you island hop or stay in one place? I'm probably going to hop over to the Hawaii threads in the "Ports of Call" boards to see if there is anything that stands out as a "can't miss". We do want to spend some time just kicking back.

 

Thanks for the information on how much more I can get out of a photography class. I've gone through some of the manual, just not all at once. I also bought the "Dummies" book for my camera. I hope you have a very nice vow renewal and trip to Hawaii. I'm sure you, and Lady Trip, will get spectacular pictures too. Too bad you can't do a review on that trip.

 

When we go to Hawaii, we normally just stay on one island and completely explore it. Every time we go back, we go to a different island. My favorite place is Waikiki on Oahu. I'm a city guy so I like being in a city. Rural is nice but after a while, I really miss the convenience and ease of a city. In Waikiki, we always stay in a condo in Fairway Villas which we rent through VRBO. Parking is extremely difficult to find in Waikiki (and uber expensive!) and this is one of the few condo buildings that provide free parking and we love it's location. On the other hand, Lady Trip prefers the Big Island because of it's ruggedness and extremes. That's the great thing about Hawaii, it has something for everyone!

[trippingpara]

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Wednesday, August 9th – Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

Our alarm went off incredibly early or at least it seemed like it. I’m getting too old for these late-night party sessions. But it sure was fun! Our plan for today was pretty basic. We reserved a car from Budget Rental which was located just down the street from the cruise terminal and drive it over to St. Martins on Fundy Bay to see the sea caves.

 

Thank goodness, I’m such a stickler for researching everything and booking as much as I can in advance. There were a couple people that walked in after us at the rental agency trying to rent a car. Budget and Avis were all rented out and the lady working the desk said that all cars in the entire city and surrounding area were already booked. She said they always sell out every time a cruise ship comes into port and that you need to book several months in advance.

 

It was an hour drive up to St. Martins. We knew that we had arrived at the peak of low tide and were now up against the clock to see the sea caves before they were buried under water again when the tide rolled back in.

Fishing boats rest on the ocean bottom as low tide rolls out.

I pulled into the gravel parking lot next to the Sea Caves Restaurant and looked out at the ocean. The water was a good 150 plus yards away and the sea caves were fully exposed.

 

To give you an idea of the size of the low tide, I can be seen walking across the ocean floor heading towards the sea caves. In two hours time, where I'm standing now would be close to 20 feet under water.

 

We had to cross a bit of a stream that was still pouring water out into the ocean but once we were across that, we had unfettered access to a pair of awesome sea caves.

When we arrived here, this stream was easy to cross by stepping on a couple rocks.

 

Here is me when we are leaving. I am about halfway across the now much wider and deeper stream.

 

We have a habit of trying to be one of the first ones off the ship which helped us be one of the very first people here. It was incredible to have such a beautiful and incredible area practically to yourself. Now that Chris had the photo bug, we both went out on our own and clicked hundreds of pics of this incredible natural phenomenon.

I'm standing on a bed of seaweed looking back across the sea floor. About 20 minutes later, this bed was completely buried again by the returning tide.

 

This shot gives you an idea of just how far the tide recedes. You can see where cars are parked at the far right of the photo. That is how far the water returns to at high tide.

 

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[DCCruiser1013]

These are great pictures of St. Martins and the sea caves. I'm fairly certain we must have been very close to each other this entire time because we were also among the first off the ship and made a bee-line for Avis and subsequently the St. Martins area.

 

The tides in this area are so impressive!

[trippingpara]

These are great pictures of St. Martins and the sea caves. I'm fairly certain we must have been very close to each other this entire time because we were also among the first off the ship and made a bee-line for Avis and subsequently the St. Martins area.

 

The tides in this area are so impressive!

 

Thank you! Yeah, that's why I was surprised that I didn't blunder into any of your photos. When I was reading your review, I noticed that we always seemed to be in the same place at about the same time. I believe that you were right in front of us at Avis/Budget. When you showed a photo of your van, I remembered seeing it pull out as we waited for our Chrysler 300 to be pulled up. I believe this is your van parked on the right at the sea caves too.

 

[trippingpara]

Wednesday, August 9th – Saint John, NB, Canada (cont.)

Here are some more shots from the Sea Caves in St. Martins.

 

Looking at the first cave closet to the parking lot

Inside the first cave

 

Looking at the second cave closest to the water (taken from the giant seaweed bed at the water's edge).

 

Inside the second cave. Notice how large the cave is by the size of the person at the entrance. It's amazing to think that this cave will be completely underwater less than 2 hours from when I took this photo.

 

Sunbathing Canadian style!

 

A seaweed covered rock awaiting the water's return

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[trippingpara]

Wednesday, August 9th – Saint John, NB, Canada (cont.)

 

Lady Trip taking a break from her photography tour of the sea caves

 

Here comes the tide! Where the people are walking in the background is the seaweed bed that I was on earlier. But there was no water near it back then. Now it is surrounded in water and would very shortly be completely underwater.

 

I thought this was a great shot by Lady Trip. Nice and simple.

 

Be careful near the wall, as there were several minor rock slides while I was walking next to it. This photo clearly shows how much the rocky cliff erodes.

 

You can see how much the tide has come in while we were there. This was all dry ground when we arrived and the end of the cliff was where the seaweed bed was at where I took several of my earlier photos at. You can notice the two caves as well with water now past their entrance.

 

I think some little girl is missing her boots!

 

 

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