Enchantment 5 Day - Day 3 (Feb. 20)

[NboroGirl]

Who: Me, DH, DS17 (17 year old) and DS14 (14 year old).

5 Day Enchantment of the Seas

February 18 – 23, 2006

Day 3: Sunday, Feb. 20 – Ocho Rios, Jamaica: I slept better last night, waking at 3:30 and again at 5:30. I stayed in bed until 6:30. At 7:00 DH woke up and we woke the boys up. DH and I went to WJ for breakfast, then DS17 joined us. He told us that he got an adult Compass today, but still no shampoo in the shower dispenser. After we ate I changed into my bathing suit for our tour later, and went to deck 10 to watch us dock. It started sprinkling (it was mostly cloudy, and scattered showers were forecast), so we took a few pictures and went back to the cabin. We left the ship around 8:45 and it was again sprinkling. It started raining steadier as we waited for our Peat Taylor tour, and it poured as we boarded the minibus.

Our first stop was Dunn’s River Falls, and it stopped raining by now. DS14 did not want me to buy him water shoes back home, so I told him he would have to rent them ($5), and he griped about it the whole time. Our guide was Andre Lopez. We stripped down to our bathing suits, put on our water shoes, and put our clothes, cameras, etc. in a rental locker (they are large, cost $8, but $3 gets returned). It was sprinkling again. We formed a long, human chain, holding hands, and climbed up the waterfall. In some places the current was so strong (cascading water) that I almost lost a water shoe. You also have to be sure where you are stepping. There were sudden dropoffs, holes, crevices, etc. you could step in. Several people in our group were barefooted, so the water shoes apparently are not mandatory. I would not want to be barefoot, though – some of those rocks are sharp, and slippery. Our group was videoed and Andre let us stop for pictures along the way, and would also take pictures of us with our camera. By the time we reached the top, the sun was shining. We said goodbye to Andre, tipped him, and headed for our locker. The climb was not physically challenging, but it was a little scary in places. One woman in our party kept falling down.

We retrieved our clothes from the lockers, changed, and ate our chocolate chip cookies that I brought from the ship. We were dropped off at the falls at 9:30 and Peat Taylor said he’d pick us up at the entrance at 11:30. It was close to that time so we headed out. We skipped the “marketplace”, where the exit signs directed you to go, although there were people out there trying to get us to go out that way. We bypassed them, stopped to purchase the DVD of our climb, and came out the way we went in.

Peat Taylor informed us there was a change in plans. He was taking the rest of our group to go tubing, and his son, O’Neal, would take us and another couple to Fern Gully on a tour. We were also planning for my sons to go parasailing. Peat quoted me a price in an email of $50 for the parasailing (apiece) and then said he wasn’t sure of the price. O’Neal called the place to get the price and confirmed that yes, it was $50 each. On to Fern Gully. This was very lush and pretty, but we viewed a lot of poverty (and trash) along the way. O’Neil pointed out cave dwellings where men lived. There were also "Fern Man" men along the way - men dressed up with ferns all over them. O'Neal kept asking us if we wanted to stop for pictures, but no one in our party wanted to. I guess if you take their picture, you pay them money for the privelege.

O’Neal stopped at points along the way to show us some of the plants, often picking samples for us. He pointed out banana, nutmeg, and mango trees, gave us garlic flowers to smell, (they smelled just like garlic) as well as allspice leaves and lime leaves, explaining that smelling lime leaves will calm an upset stomach. He showed us some kind of impatiens that, when squeezed, actually popped like popcorn! He dropped off the other couple at one of the shopping areas and took us to the parasailing beach, where we learned it was actually $60 each. The sun kept peeking out now and then but as we boarded the boat, it started raining again. The ride was very choppy and I could scarcely videotape or take pictures because I was bouncing so much. DS14 parasailed first, and all of a sudden the boat was so bouncy I was afraid we’d all fall out, or we'd lose the cameras. (I’m surprised DH didn’t get sick but he said he was okay.) DS17 went next, but the seas were calmer in the area we were in and the rain stopped. They both got to parasail right next to our ship.

O’Neal and our driver were waiting for us when we returned. They dropped us off at the ship where we had lunch in the Solarium and exchanged our pool towels for clean ones. The kids went back to their cabin and DH and I went shopping. I bought some postcards and wanted to buy a Jamaican T-shirt, but they didn’t sell adult smalls at all the places I checked, only mediums, which would be too big. DH bought a T-shirt. Walking back to the ship, it got windy again and started to rain.

Back on the ship I took my shower while DH did his run on the treadmills.

Tonight we had reservations at Chops. We were seated at a round table for 4 in the back, next to the windows. Our waiters were Julian and AJ. I had the onion and cheese soup (good), and DH and DS13 had the shrimp cocktail. DH also had clam chowder. Three of us ordered filet mignon and DS17 got the NY strip steak. The steaks come with a choice of sauses, which they bring right to your table - there was peppercorn, bernaise, and au jus. The steaks and sauces were all delicious. The sides came in large dishes, to eat family style (each dish probably was enough for 2, maybe 3 people). DS13 and I split mashed potatoes (yum), DH got a baked potato (which was big enough for 4 people!), and DS17 got rice pilaf, which I tried and liked (it tasted somewhat like buttery popcorn). For dessert DH had the apple pie a la mode, which he liked. I was leery of ordering the pie after the apple pie I had on the first night, so DS17 and I ordered the chocolate mud pie after Julien said it was a must for chocolate lovers, and it was the most delicious, decadent, chocolaty dessert! DS13 had cheesecake, which he loved. DH said the apple pie was much better than what was served in the dining room. Our dinner and service were wonderful so we tipped them well. As we were leaving, at about 7:30, we noticed the place was more than half empty.

After dinner DH and I headed to the Spotlight Lounge for the Crown & Anchor cocktail party. No one checked to see if we had an invitation, which was lucky because we forgot to bring it. Several staff members introduced themselves to us and thanked us for coming back. We were given complimentary drinks (champagne and some frothy looking pink drink that I wish I tried). There was also a buffet of some sort in the back, but we were too stuffed from dinner. A band was playing, which was nice. The captain talked for a while, and took questions and answers. We saw a woman with a broken leg in a cast being wheeled in and learned later that she had broken her leg climbing Dunn’s River Falls. This cocktail party was very enjoyable to me and I'm glad we decided to attend.

We came back to the cabin to change our clothes, met up with the boys, and went to see the show: Tim Hill, a comedian/magician, who was pretty funny. DH and DS13 went back to the cabin afterwards, but DS17 and I stayed to watch the Love & Marriage Game show, and DH later joined us. It was also funny, and all three couples ended with a tied score, so they each got a bottle of wine. After the show we came back and went to bed, at midnight.