MITSUGIRLY has a JEWEL of a time on my 1st RC cruise in years!

[mitsugirly]

Into the winding building of shops we went. Like last time, not many were open in the morning.

 

 

 

 

We finally made it out the doors. Whew

 

 

 

We ask for a cab to Pirates Cove and they put us in a mini van with several other people and off we went. They price was $5/pp and when I ask about the price for children, his reply was "It's still $5 for everyone because if I was to get in a wreck, it would only cover her if she paid the full price" SAY WHAT? First off, that's a load of crap. A child paying full price has nothing to do with you having an accident and insurance paying. Second of all...did you just mention the possibility of getting in an accident? While I know this is always a possibility, way to make one of your customers feel extra worried!!! Just do us all a favor and just say it's the same price for everyone and leave it at that. The only reason I ask was because kids were cheaper last time we were here.

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We pulled out at 8:39am and we were winding around in town and they stopped to let some people off at The Boatyard. Wait, Pirates Cove is closer than the Boatyard! What's going on? Did the driver not hear me? I yelled up "hey, we are going to Pirates Cove" but didn't get a reply.

 

 

He drove some more and let everyone else off at Harbour Lights. I once again yelled up to let him know where we were going and he finally acknowledged and said "you're next". Well of course we are because we are the only one's left in the taxi.

 

We arrived at 8:50am. So even though it wasn't a long ride (11 minutes stopping 3 different places), it was still weird that we was the closest to the port and we were last to be dropped off. Maybe it has something to do with the way the roads are designed? Either way, I didn't mind. I was just worried he hadn't heard where we were going.

 

 

We have arrived.

 

 

 

Huge building inside with a restaurant and plenty of places to eat at.

 

Then they had this neat pirate ship. My how Sakari has grown up. Remember a few years ago she wouldn't even go to "Pirate night" at the kids club on NCL because she was afraid she would be killed by pirates because she was a mermaid? Now she is hopping on Pirate ships like it's nothing.

 

 

We headed out the door and onto the beach.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

They had huts everywhere. Some bars, some dining and so on. Nicely set up outside I thought.

 

 

There's a lot of room at this place. Plenty of seats for lounging and eating. Sun or shade. Whatever you wanted.

 

 

We picked a spot in the front row of course. We tried to spread out some because we knew that Kia and the kids would be coming soon.

 

 

So far I'm liking this place. It's beautiful and they are a bit spread out. No chairs sitting on top of each other and plenty of room to walk between them.

 

I also like it when we get actual palapas instead of flimsy umbrellas.

 

 

I loved the front row of the beach...a line of palm trees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

So a guy finally approached us after awhile and asked about what we'd like to do for the day. We told him the chair rental and snorkeling. He said it was $30 (which we already knew) and gave us what all it came with including the drink.

 

We also told him that we were waiting on 3 other people that was meeting us there. He started talking about the group goes out at 9am and there's a group at 1pm. He said he'd check back with us.

 

When he checked back with us, the story changed to the 1pm group was full and they were coming from the cruise port and being picked up there and it's a totally different group blah blah blah. We were still waiting on Kia and he said they'd make the trip a little later around 9:30am. Well, Kia didn't show by then either.

 

I was starting to freak out, not to mention get annoyed with this guy because his stories kept changing with times and bookings and then he could do a later, then he couldn't.

 

Finally we agreed that if they didn't show by 10am, then they probably wasn't coming and we'd go ahead and go. He made it a point to tell us to watch for them and make sure we grabbed them the minute they got there and not have them pay up at the building because it "cost more" that way. I found this weird since I had already researched this and knew that they charge $30 for what we were doing and it's even listed on their site. So what the heck was he talking about???

 

We ended up paying him at that point and he ran off to get us wrist bands and also these...

 

 

We were the only one's there that day that got these. I have no idea why but I was thinking that maybe he found out I was a celebrity on cruise critic. LMAO...since this is a running joke on here...I just had to throw that in the review.

 

I took a few more pictures of our surroundings since it was so beautiful.

 

 

The guy kept talking about how full the place was going to get and how many people would be doing the snorkeling tour and so on...but yet...

 

 

 

And remember, there was already another ship in port before us.

 

 

 

Well....it was a few minutes until 10 and he said he really couldn't wait any longer. We started to gather our things and then Kia appeared....WHEW! Here I thought she had stood me up. LOL

 

He went to go grab her and lure her away from a lady that had stopped her by the building. He rushed her over to us, like the celebrity that she is, and told us to grab what we needed and head to the boat (after collecting her money of course).

 

When we ask about our belongings, he told us to just leave them there and take what we thought was valuable. Um...weird. At least at The Boardyard they collect your things and put them up so that no one could get them.

 

We headed out to the boat. You had to go out in the water while they tried to stabilize it long enough for the wave to go out, come in, go out, INCOMING....move back and try to get on quickly before it goes back out. Whew wee wowzers. It was like a game of dodge ball only I think I was tagged out a few times.

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Sakari thought it was a lot of fun too and at this point she was already soaked.

 

 

For such a busy tour that they couldn't wait, there really wasn't many. We made up 6 of the 10ish people or so.

 

 

Then off we went...after having us switch around our seating choices to level things out on a pontoon boat. Really? Who you calling overweight? I worked hard on this cruise body!

 

 

Well this was a neat contraption with slides and trampolines on different angles. I'm sure I'd break something on it.

 

 

 

We arrived to our destination 5 minutes later and there were tons of boats already there.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Once we anchored they said ok, everyone off. Everyone kinda looked at each other like...um...equipment???? He kept saying "gear up, everyone should be ready". I finally said "how can everyone gear up and get ready if you haven't even gave any equipment out to anyone yet?" Others didn't have any, I had mine, Sakari was wearing her regular goggles, but hubby only had a mask without a snorkel and needed a snorkel to use. Kia and family had theirs, but others still needed some. I found the guy to be quite rude actually.

 

Sakari geared up in full mermaid form and at some point he threw her overboard.

 

 

There she goes...first one in of course. It was nice of him to ask if she could actually swim or need a life jacket...or anything (sarcasm because he didn't). I guess you just assume that mermaids are able to swim...in the ocean...that's wavy...and very deep.

 

 

I went in and it was pretty darn wavy to me and for some reason I was struggling a little. I remembered...oh, I don't have flippers on. I should probably get a snorkeling vest. I'm still tired from the day before.

 

 

I seriously HATE these things. You would think people would wise up and get the real life jackets and then you could wear them around your waist or noodles or something (I did see others from different tours with the noodles-they were on the smart tour) that doesn't pull and tug at your "parts" that you are constantly fighting with the straps.

 

I managed to get back to the boat, climb back up, then get a snorkel vest on. Then off me and the hubby went. Sakari was long gone in the sea of people by the turtles. I did not like this at all. Not knowing where she was at and I think this was the first time we ever snorkeled in the ocean, without her having a life vest on, and not being in my sight (all 3 things combined). I was honestly a little freaked out and was looking for her.

 

 

I looked down and immediately saw this...

 

 

 

Can you tell what it is? The water was pretty deep in the area we anchored in. Much deeper than the last time we were here. Of course all the other boats that were already here where over in the "circle" of boats in the better area where all the turtles were.

 

This might help a little...it's a zoomed picture. It's a terrible picture. I took some very crappy pictures that day. I have no idea what was going on with my camera. Maybe it was just too deep for me to get any good pictures. This is why I don't like to go snorkeling from a boat. Things are just too far down to obtain a decent and clear picture.

 

 

IT'S A FLYING GURNARD!! Another first for me!! I was so excited and hoped to see one of these one day. Every time I catch a glance of a lizard fish, I always think it might be a gurnard and never is.

 

So, about gurnards: They have fins that spread out like a wing. It helps scare off predators and they also use them to "walk" on the ocean floor and poke around the sand looking for food. It was so cool to watch.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

I'm still moving right along, trying to get to where my daughter might be in the sea of arms and legs and I spotted a stingray.

 

 

Ok...but where's the turtles???

 

So, I finally spot Sakari in the sea of people...she was over close to Kia and the kids...thank goodness. I felt so much better that she wasn't out there alone.

 

So...what kind of pictures does a mermaid get? Well I'll show you her pictures of her gurnard. As a matter of fact, I should probably just let her take over my picture portion of the review after seeing my pictures versus her pictures that day.

 

 

Can you tell how much closer she is to it?

 

Yea...what about this one? She was diving down to get closer and better pictures. Meanwhile...I'm stuck with a darn life jacket on the surface like a little kid.

 

 

 

 

Then all of a sudden I hear the guy from the boat yelling "Come on! Times up! Everyone back on the boat!"

 

Wait what?!? Are you serious? I just made it out here. I yelled back "Are you kidding me? I haven't even seen a turtle yet!" So the next smartarse comment that came from him was "Well maybe you should stop looking at the sky and look in the water where the turtles actually are". Oh W-O-W! He just hit my trigger button...from there on out he was on my shizzle list. How rude!

 

I absolutely refused to come here and not see a turtle! I did not pay to get out in the water, not see a turtle and him yell to come back in a smartarse way. No way, no how.

 

FINALLY I spotted a few.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

So that was the extent of my turtle sightings. Hey, at least I got to see two of them.

 

Then I heard twice from him "Let's go. If you don't get back on the boat, we'll be leaving without you" and some other rude comments about we'd be left behind and on our own. Like seriously dude...you just did yourself in with that one. I dare you to leave me.

 

Here's the mermaid in action...

 

 

She might as well just become a free diver. Forget scuba diving. I think she enjoys this more. She just amazes me with how long she can hold her breath. She practices all the time.

 

 

Sakari's pictures

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

She was pretty close!

 

 

And even closer!

 

 

 

 

I'm so happy that she got to experience the turtles like this because that's what it's really all about. It's providing her the thrill and experience of doing this and making memories. This is something she'll always remember and even though she's done it before, this experience was a little different I believe because she was free. She was a mermaid. She had no restrictions of life jackets or someone holding her back in a group. She had her fin and could dive down far just like the other guys did from the other excursion boats. She was able to swim alongside the turtles, fish and stingrays. She was part of their world.

 

 

So close to her! I tell ya, animals just trust her. I don't know what it is. She can get so close to them and they don't scare off. Pshh, they see me coming and run.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

Now I'm going to share the most AMAZING CAPTURE OF THE DAY!!! And done by Sakari!!!!

 

I know I said it's all about her seeing things and experiencing it but.....I would have loved to have seen this and I'm VERY jealous that I didn't! There, I admitted it. I'm mad she got to see it and I didn't.

 

Remember how I said she was the first in the water? Well that's when she seen it going by. She got only one picture and she hadn't started diving down yet. She told me she seen it and I wrote it off like it was something else...until I got home and seen the picture! I should know by now not to doubt her...she knows her animals and the difference.

 

 

But...I'm going to keep you in suspense because it's time for my shower and bed. hehe :p

[canadianbear]

What awesome photos of the turtles Sakari got!!! And yes, she may as well be a free diver, forget the gear!

[pghsteelerfan]

 

But...I'm going to keep you in suspense because it's time for my shower and bed. hehe :p

 

OK, now you're on my shizzle list! :') Just couldn't resist. Sakari's pictures are GORGEOUS, so gorgeous that if I had one turn out like that, I'd have it enlarged and framed for a wall. I really, really, really can't wait to see the picture you're holding us in suspense with.

 

BTW, I did get the Olympus Tough TG5!!! Hubby got me the fisheye lens as a gift, so I need to play around with it. I did find the underwater settings, so just need somewhere nice to go where I can get some actual practice.

[Beachiekeen]

Sakari's pictures are amazing of the turtles. We are frequent visitors to Hawaii and I have seen some amazing pictures of sea turtles taken by very experienced snorkelers and photographers and hers rank right up there with some of the best I've seen. Amazing.

[LuCruise]

Wow wow wow! Amazing pictures! And yet, other impressive things from Sakari with that mermaid swimming!

 

Hmm..the suspense. :-)

[mitsugirly]

Do you know about mini logo (skateboarding)?

Just curious. Our son is the brand manager for mini logo (a division of Powell (Skate One Corp.).

 

Yea, I ask him about it. He said he's had some issues with them and they pissed him off, so he cut them off and is not selling their stuff now. LOL Said the guy he was dealing with was a jerk. :')

 

 

What awesome photos of the turtles Sakari got!!! And yes, she may as well be a free diver, forget the gear!

 

Yea, she did a great job. She loves diving.

 

 

OK, now you're on my shizzle list! Just couldn't resist. Sakari's pictures are GORGEOUS, so gorgeous that if I had one turn out like that, I'd have it enlarged and framed for a wall. I really, really, really can't wait to see the picture you're holding us in suspense with.

 

BTW, I did get the Olympus Tough TG5!!! Hubby got me the fisheye lens as a gift, so I need to play around with it. I did find the underwater settings, so just need somewhere nice to go where I can get some actual practice.

 

Haha, now I'm on your list. hehe

 

She did a really good job with her pictures. But then again, she got really close to them and that helps out.

 

 

Yippee on the TG5 and fish eye! Have fun practicing! Just remember any under water pictures you get will be darker than without the lens. So, try to compensate by adjusting the settings to let in more light.

 

 

You need a cruise now!

 

Sakari's pictures are amazing of the turtles. We are frequent visitors to Hawaii and I have seen some amazing pictures of sea turtles taken by very experienced snorkelers and photographers and hers rank right up there with some of the best I've seen. Amazing.

 

Aww, that's so nice. I will have to tell her that. She'll love it.

 

 

Wow wow wow! Amazing pictures! And yet, other impressive things from Sakari with that mermaid swimming!

 

Hmm..the suspense. :-)

 

Yea, she did a good job and she's amazing with that tail! I've tried it before...it's not as easy as it looks and I'm sure I looked like a fish out of water :')

[bbstx]

following

[mitsugirly]

I have a little time before I pick up Sakari from school so, on with the review.

 

Here's a video of her coming up from the bottom. She thought I was taking a picture so she was being still. lol

 

[YOUTUBE]nxLNe_RM1oE[/YOUTUBE]

 

So....drum roll please...

 

 

A SPOTTED EAGLE RAY

 

 

Now people may get these mixed up with a stingray. They are a little different.

 

They can weigh about 507 pounds and their "wings" can grow up to 8 feet and overall body with its tail as long as 16 feet. The spotted eagle ray is one of the largest eagle rays (with manta rays growing a little bigger). They have a snout (nose) and use it to look for food buried in the sand. They do have teeth in both their upper and lower jaws. They can also jump.

 

Unlike Stingrays, who usually bury themselves on the bottom in the sand, the eagle ray is usually swimming around in the open water.

 

So there you have it and I'm still salty about her getting to see one while I was fumbling with my equipment. Ugh! Maybe some day.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

I have a little time before I pick up Sakari from school so, on with the review.

 

Here's a video of her coming up from the bottom. She thought I was taking a picture so she was being still. lol

 

nxLNe_RM1oE

 

So....drum roll please...

 

 

A SPOTTED EAGLE RAY

 

 

Now people may get these mixed up with a stingray. They are a little different.

 

They can weigh about 507 pounds and their "wings" can grow up to 8 feet and overall body with its tail as long as 16 feet. The spotted eagle ray is one of the largest eagle rays (with manta rays growing a little bigger). They have a snout (nose) and use it to look for food buried in the sand. They do have teeth in both their upper and lower jaws. They can also jump.

 

Unlike Stingrays, who usually bury themselves on the bottom in the sand, the eagle ray is usually swimming around in the open water.

 

So there you have it and I'm still salty about her getting to see one while I was fumbling with my equipment. Ugh! Maybe some day.

 

Cool. I saw one of those a couple of years ago when I was on an excursion with Soualiga Destinations at St Maarten.

[TimeToGetNauti]

I have a little time before I pick up Sakari from school so, on with the review.

 

Here's a video of her coming up from the bottom. She thought I was taking a picture so she was being still. lol

 

nxLNe_RM1oE

 

So....drum roll please...

 

 

A SPOTTED EAGLE RAY

 

 

Now people may get these mixed up with a stingray. They are a little different.

 

They can weigh about 507 pounds and their "wings" can grow up to 8 feet and overall body with its tail as long as 16 feet. The spotted eagle ray is one of the largest eagle rays (with manta rays growing a little bigger). They have a snout (nose) and use it to look for food buried in the sand. They do have teeth in both their upper and lower jaws. They can also jump.

 

Unlike Stingrays, who usually bury themselves on the bottom in the sand, the eagle ray is usually swimming around in the open water.

 

So there you have it and I'm still salty about her getting to see one while I was fumbling with my equipment. Ugh! Maybe some day.

 

Wow! What a beautiful shot. I bet she was super excited. I need to take some swimming lessons from her.

[KelSny1011]

Coming out of lurkville to comment:

 

Your review has been very enjoyable to read. I love your straight shooter attitude, and your sense of humor that goes a long with the "situations" that every family vacation has. I feel like it's my review bc I have the same thought process and attitude towards everything you are sharing. Lastly, all of yours and even your daughters pictures are amazing!

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app

[mitsugirly]

It was somewhat of a struggle to get back to the boat. The water was flowing against us and you sometimes felt like you weren't even moving. The guy kept yelling "come on or we're going to leave you".

 

We all finally make it back to the boat and he was still making his rude comments and said "What were you doing? Bird watching? You need to stick your head down instead of up". Like seriously dude. I don't stick my head "up" and I'm not a beginner...more like a concerned mother looking for her child while still trying to see what's under the water and not missing anything. Like where were you when we were out there? Safely on a boat with not a care in the world!

 

We sat down, pulled away and within 2 minutes the boat stopped again. We were already at the shipwreck. Back in we went. This time I was prepared and not wasting time!

 

I'm going to share all of my pictures first and then Sakari's.

 

The minute you get in, there were tons of Ballyhoo fish everywhere. I don't think I have ever seen this many in one place before.

 

 

I looked up to see Sakari taking the plunge into the water.

 

 

The shipwreck.

 

 

Kinda creepy and scary looking from above.

 

 

Fish everywhere

 

 

Just look at them! And I spotted some divers too!

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Sakari caught up to me and was busy snapping pictures of course. I was so happy that she was having fun and getting pictures. Other than the 5 or so pictures she took in Martinique, she hadn't even used her camera this cruise. I was beginning to wonder if she would. She has her own phone now, so that was what she used most of the time on the ship.

 

 

There was a lot of coral all over the ship.

 

 

We spotted a rather large trumpet fish.

 

 

Of course Sakari was following him to get that "perfect shot"

 

 

There were a lot of sergeant majors there that day.

 

 

Wondering what could be lurking down there...the scary black hole.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

As you can see, part of the shipwreck was in fairly shallow water and then the other end was in a lot deeper water.

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, I completely freaked out when I caught a glimpse of 2 fish down in this area. I REALLY tried and tried to get good pictures of them, but this was in the deeper area and I was just too far away. I took A LOT of pictures of them from regular to zoom and they just did not turn out good at all. So...I tried to put them in PS and lighten them and adjust the colors just so you could see them.

 

Look right above my name stamp. Do you see the black and white polka dot fish? I believe it was a whitespotted filefish. However, they usually have some clear orange in them as well and most pictures I have seen they are not as dark black and bright white as this one. So maybe it was at a different stage in it's life or .....???? I don't know but it was beautiful!!!!

 

 

Just a little fyi, they can turn their spots off and on when needed. How cool is that?

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Then right along with it was another. This one was also beautiful and the colors were an amazing bluish purple and dark brown. I believe it's called a female brown barred filefish. She is right in the middle of the picture and above the coral.

 

To the left is a red fish, which is a squirrel fish.

 

 

Trying to get another close up of the

whitespotted filefish, which is located right above my name.

 

 

Female brown barred filefish on the left. You can see her yellow fins and yellow eyes better in this one.

 

 

My favorite of her. It looks beautiful in this picture and you can actually see her markings.

 

 

 

 

 

I have no clue how I ended up with a green picture, but it happens sometimes. My finger must have rotated a button.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

Blue tang/surgeonfish

 

 

 

Here's a parrot fish that was a beautiful bluish-green with a bright red pelvic fin. So pretty.

 

 

Invaded by fish everywhere.

 

 

VIDEO...trumpet fish and divers.

 

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