"LIVE" from the VISION of the SEAS With Trainman-2 & Judith

[Luvscruising44]

Marine Stop Lights For Boats

 

The bridge was too narrow for two boats to pass so they put up stop lights.

 

Note the current flowing under the bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bird of the Day!

 

 

Jim, loving your review and the picture of the "bird of the day" made me want to find out what kind of bird it was. I'd never seen one like this before. This bird is called a kiskadee which was brought to Bermuda in 1957 from Trinidad to control the Jamaican Anolis lizards. This lizard was brought to Bermuda from Jamaica in 1905 to control fruit flies, but like most species brought from their indigineous environment, the lizards became a pest. The kiskadee was brought over to control the lizards, but hasn't been a successful venture. The kiskadee like the eggs of other birds and is very aggressive even to much larger bird species than themselves. They also eat insects and are thought to have brought about the extinction of the Bermuda cicada. Seems they have little to no appetite for the lizards. I thought this was interesting and that you might enjoy this little bit of bird history.

 

Luvs

[relaxatsea]

Trainman and Judith,

 

It is so nice to see you back here and I am loving your review and photos.

 

Thanks so much!

[Trainman-2]

Luvs,

 

Thanks so much for the info on the Kiskadee.

 

The story reminds me of the ad for a "fake" butter many years ago which used to say, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!"

[Trainman-2]

Day 9, Tuesday, 9 September 2014

 

We are at sea on the way to Nassau. We are scheduled to arrive at Noon and are due back on board at 10:30 pm.

 

Tomorrow we will visit Coco Cay.

 

Thursday we debark in Fort Lauderdale and head home.

[Trainman-2]

Daylight is coming...

 

 

 

 

[hkinfl]

Bump from page 2 for you from a fellow Floridian. Wife and I will be on Vision in about 2 weeks and are really enjoying the review.

[Deatsch]

Is the casino on the Vision pretty small?

 

FlaGang,

 

It's pretty cozy all right. A nice little casino however. Smoke gets bad sometimes because it's so small.

 

You'll enjoy it all the same.

 

hth,

[bradntx]

Trainman, Really enjoying the thread. I came over to cc from corvette forum thanks to a cross post you made when you did the panama canal trip. That thread got me to following cc and where I found the deal for the Navigator cruise we took in May. I had always wanted to take a cruise and the deal we got for the May cruise sealed the deal. RCI should have given you a commission. :D

 

On that cruise I experienced the on ship wifi and now have an incredible appreciation for anyone willing to spend their time uploading pictures. I do admit it was nice to have an excuse not to log into my work email though.

[Trainman-2]

We are back from a great afternoon ashore.

 

We hired a Taxi and went up to the top of the hill, visited Fort Fincastle, walked by the water tower with the broken elevator, and then went down the Queen's Staircase.

 

Our driver picked us up at the bottom of the stairs and toured us all around and even stopped at the Zoo which was run down and very disappointing.

 

We got back to the ship just as the rains came and it is still raining heavily. The pool deck is empty.

 

I feel a nap coming on...

 

More later...

[dacsmom]

That is a shame about the zoo. I was there last February and it was wonderful.

[fla gang]

Will be onboard on the 20th.

[karena1]

Will be onboard on the 20th.

 

So will we! We were on Vision Aug 29th for a 4 nighter, and now are doing the 5 night cruise with sis/BIL and nephew/Partner on the 20th. Looking forward to going back to the Caymans. Have not been there since 2008. Heading to Seagrape Beach to chill for the day. Hubby and guys are going snorkeling at Eden Rock. Snorkeling there is amazing.

[Trainman-2]

Trainman, Really enjoying the thread. I came over to cc from corvette forum thanks to a cross post you made when you did the panama canal trip. That thread got me to following cc and where I found the deal for the Navigator cruise we took in May. I had always wanted to take a cruise and the deal we got for the May cruise sealed the deal. RCI should have given you a commission. :D

 

On that cruise I experienced the on ship wifi and now have an incredible appreciation for anyone willing to spend their time uploading pictures. I do admit it was nice to have an excuse not to log into my work email though.

 

I am glad that I was able to get you interested in cruising.

 

The photo uploading process is very slow but I do it in the background while I post on other forums or here on CC threads.

 

The simple fact is that I enjoy doing live reports while I cruise.

[Trainman-2]

We had a great dinner in the Windjammer tonight and hung out on the pool deck for awhile afterwards.

 

We saw this poor little Kiskadee who apparently flew onto the ship while we were in Bermuda. He has been showing up all over the ship and was with us in the Windjammer for breakfast this morning.

 

He doesn't like to stay in one place so I can get a decent photo.

 

 

I am going to quit for tonight. The Heat and humidity in Nassau really pooped us both out today.

 

More tomorrow morning...

[Trainman-2]

Wednesday, Day 10, Cococay, Bahamas

 

 

Good Morning Everyone,

 

 

We are scheduled to arrive at Cococay at 8:00 am and the Tenders are scheduled to start running at 8:30 am.

 

The last tender will leave Cococay at 4:15 pm.

 

The weather should be partly cloudy with temperatures hitting 82 degrees F.

[Trainman-2]

We had another excellent dinner in the Windjammer last night.

 

In the evenings, only one half of the Windjammer is open and it is calm and quiet. There are lots of staff people around to assist who drop by your table often to see if you need anything.

 

They had a nice Mexican selection which Judith enjoyed.

 

 

I had the carved Roast Beef with Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, and a bit of Horse Radish. It was cooked to "well done" and I prefer a "medium" but ti was still excellent.

 

[Trainman-2]

When ever or where ever I am dining out, I always try to ask myself two questions:

 

- It is cooked properly and well presented?

 

- Is it cooked exactly the way I like it.

 

If I want things "exactly the way I like them" then I should be eating at home.

 

But when dining out, ashore or on board, I accept that things are rarely offered as I am used to.

 

Last night I was getting a bowl of New England Style Clam Chowder when a lady walked up, looked around me, and said, "That doesn't look like my clam chowder at home! I will skip it!" I was proud of myself for not telling her that if she wanted food that was "like at home" she should have stayed home!

[Trainman-2]

We went ashore yesterday about 30 minutes after the gangway opened toallow the initial rush ashore to thin out.

 

There is a lot of construction and re-building in the port and terminal area (long over due) and the place was more of a "Mad House" than normally.

 

 

 

We were approached by lots of people selling stuff and tours and eventually picked a young female taxi driver with a great personality.

 

(NOTE TO SELF- Always ask if the cab's A/C system is working)

 

[Trainman-2]

It is still dark outside. There were a few lights on an island off in the distance.

 

[Trainman-2]

We started our tour of Nassau at the top of the hill behind the city with a visit to Fort Fincastle.

 

 

 

 

 

I was disappointed to learn that the Water Tower was closed. It had been damaged in a hurricane years ago and never completely repaired. The old elevator to the top is inoperative. The view from the top was always spectacular and on a clear day you could see the entire island.

 

[Trainman-2]

From the old fort it was only a few steps to the top of the Queen's Staircase. We walked down (we don't do up) and the shade and coolness from the artificial waterfall was just what we needed.

 

 

 

 

[Trainman-2]

Our driver picked us up at the bottom of the staircase and then took us on a whirlwind tour of the city.

 

There is a major new hotel complex going up way out beyond Cable Beach that is owned and being built by the Chinese. Unfortunately, I didn't get any decent photos of it.

 

We stopped at the Zoo and visited there for awhile. There were only a few visitors and it was clear from the lack of maintenance that they were hurting financially.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Trainman-2]

The Zoo - Continued

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Trainman-2]

From the Zoo we headed back to the ship.

 

We could see dark storm clouds coming and the rain arrived as we were boarding. The heavy storm came about 10 minutes after we were on board and it rained off and on into the evening.

 

It was a good afternoon.

 

But there was a stark difference between the cleanliness of Bermuda and the lack there of in Nassau.

[KeywestK]

When ever or where ever I am dining out, I always try to ask myself two questions:

 

- It is cooked properly and well presented?

 

- Is it cooked exactly the way I like it.

 

If I want things "exactly the way I like them" then I should be eating at home.

 

But when dining out, ashore or on board, I accept that things are rarely offered as I am used to.

 

Last night I was getting a bowl of New England Style Clam Chowder when a lady walked up, looked around me, and said, "That doesn't look like my clam chowder at home! I will skip it!" I was proud of myself for not telling her that if she wanted food that was "like at home" she should have stayed home!

 

What a great attitude! I will never understand why people on vacation seem to complain so much! Those folks should stay home if they go on a cruise, or any vacation, and do nothing but complain!

 

I really appreciated all the pics and comments about your dinners in the WJ on this cruise. I'm at the point now that I could happily skip the MDR, at least for a few nights of each cruise, but DH prefers being seated and waited on. Oh well, gotta keep hubby happy if I want to keep cruising;):D