ROUS

From our port stop in Ponta Delgada, The Azores. The paving stone art there is pretty cool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmYb4S6jQOo

We're doing a little film series on our April repositioning cruise. The first episode finds us at the center of the Atlantic. Our Epic Transatlantic Adventure

Near the Azores.

I snuck in some diving just before a Miami departure. 😀

Thanks! Bonaire is a special place. I had a second video from Bonaire last week, and then a dive at Curacao this week. If anyone would like to see more of this stuff, go here: Roadtrips Of Unusual Size channel

Cruising along the Cimarron River in Oklahoma. (Insta360 One X2)

George and Clara were awesome.

I finally made it to Bonaire. Holland America's Zaandam got us to the island in February. Click to see the video

Grandson found my new ride.

On the island of Bonaire, there is a commercial pier where ships load salt from the island's salt works. It's just called The Salt Pier. I spent some time under that pier during this week shooting video. Here are some stills that I cut from the footage shot during Week 6 .

There would be some Action Camera lines in that price range, eg Akaso. Not sure about still cameras.

Yes! My valentine was nearby when I took these! We were diving in Grand Cayman on 2/14. (DJI Action 2, single BigBlue 4600BP, no filtering)

We were on the Zaandam as she passed. We prefer ours to theirs.

One more. A small Hawksbill and a diver.

I hung out over an old winch on the ocean floor off the Florida Keys this morning, just waiting to see if an interesting fish would swim by. I was happy to see a pair of French Angelfish come for a visit. (DJI Action 2, no filtering, single BigBlue 4600PB)

Lots of music venues overhead. If you like to listen to thumping bass beats, deck 1 is the place to be. Never again, for us.

Last Friday, off Gun Cay, Bahamas.

I dove Bimini for the first time yesterday through Neal Watson's Bimini Scuba Center. I'd been hesitant to book a dive in Bimini, hearing that the only reason to dive there is for their shark experience. Baiting sharks into a frenzy is a popular dive in the Bahamas, but that doesn't interest me. Your mileage may vary. But, I signed up for their 2-tank reef dive and had a ball. The operator was very professional and the boat crew was great. Both dives were pretty shallow, as seems to be typical for the Bahamas. But, it was scenic and there were plenty of fish to see (including a couple of sharks that came by without being baited there). If you want a fun, low-stress dive, consider this on your next Bimini stop.

I'm diving St Thomas for the first time in February. It doesn't have a great reputation as a dive destination, but I'd like to see it for myself. My dive buddy and I are going with Admiralty Dive. They've been good to work with so far and have pretty good reviews. Puerto Plata. Again, I've not dived there. My understanding that the best dive locations are on the opposite side of the island and there's not enough time to get over there and back. Others that have dived there might weigh in with better info.

Thanks for all the great info. We climb aboard Eurodam in about two weeks. It will be our second time on her and we can't wait.

It's not a healthy industry these days.

There's two connections to think about. One is the satellite to the ship, then there is the ship to your cabin. If your connection is too slow, and if the nature of your work allows it, you might move around to different spots around the ship to test speeds. This has helped me a time or two when I download files or when I need to send up something.

I'm not going to be much help on this, as I only know those islands as a diver. Of the three, Grand Turk should have the most impressive underwater environment. I just don't have direct experience from a snorkeling perspective. However, all three of those islands should have a popular snorkeling reef or two that snorkel boats frequent. All three locations will provide organized snorkeling excursions and your cruise line will most likely offer them as a ship excursion. Snorkeling operators seem to make these trips look fun and high energy. These operators take thousands of cruisers out each year and your family should have a safe, fun experience. Note: boat music might be loud and, depending on the type of excursion, the booze could be flowing. Look for info about 'free drinks' or a boat bar if you're concerned about the environment for the kids. Cruise ship organized vs. independent. In diving, this can be a big issue and a highly-ranked independent operator will almost always provide a better experience. But with snorkeling, I'm guessing that the experience would be similar with all operators. T'were I doing it, I'd go with the ship organized trip. Those outfits should be working hard to keep their biggest customer (Carnival) happy. Hopefully someone with more snorkeling experience will weigh in. Best of luck. Give us a report here about your experience. Future snorkelers will like to hear of your experience.

We do unlimited laundry every trip. The crew always does an excellent job and we're able to bring fewer clothes with us.

Thanks for sharing those moments. Barbados is one of my favorite places.