New Year's on the Explorer + An Added 5 Nights ~ 12/27 and 1/4 ~ My Diary

[kat144]

Hi Jane, it was great to meet everyone at the Sky Bar:D . Great job on your review.

Kathy

[maxs mom]

Hi Jane, it was great to meet everyone at the Sky Bar:D . Great job on your review.

Kathy

 

Kathy......nice to meet you, too. Too bad we didn't have a Meet and Mingle. I would have liked to chat with everyone a bit more.

[maxs mom]

Next, I went up on deck for sail away. It was really nice. This was a totally different kind of crowd than last week. Lots of adults of all ages.

 

I got up on deck just in time to watch the Freedom sail by. She was going out on a 2 night cruise before her refurb. There were lots of dueling horns.

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

Just a really nice vibe on deck tonight. Everyone was having so much fun!

 

 

 

 

Of course there was line dancing! These guys were good, too. "To da right, to da right, to da right, to da right.......now walk it by yourself........"

 

 

 

Here we go!

 

[maxs mom]

I really enjoyed this sail away!

 

 

 

 

 

[CRUISEMAMI]

Beautiful pictures!

Nice review!!!

 

 

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Franca

[LA Law]

Loving your review, as always...

Counting down to ours!

[Kcjarvis]

All hail the Queen of CC reviews!!!!!

 

Thanks for the pics of the new terminal, and great to see my buddy Roberto, what a great guy!!!!! All the best to you and John...

[maxs mom]

Franca, Andrea, and Ken......Thanks for reading and stopping by to say hello! I need inspiration to keep going!

[maxs mom]

So after getting underway.....I went back to the cabin to get ready for the evening. We met Al and Phyllis in the Concierge Lounge. It was GREAT cruising with them again!

 

 

When we were in the CL this evening we saw two other couples that we sailed with on the Vision in July. It was great seeing them again. As a matter of fact, we saw lots of folks that we have cruised with before on this sailing.

 

 

Another couple, that we've cruised with before, Mieko and Ed, joined us as well.

 

 

 

 

We were asked by some other cruise buddies to look out for a friend of theirs from the UK. She would be sailing alone on this leg. And sure enough......we found her in the CL this evening, too. We thoroughly enjoyed Margaret's company on this cruise!

 

Edited January 27, 2015 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

Well......so much for Old Home Week! It was time for dinner in Portofino!! We thoroughly enjoyed our meal here tonight. Our waiter was a little overbearing, but he DID bring us two delicious pastas to try along with our regular meal.

 

 

 

Desserts were good.

 

 

 

After dinner....we were off to the casino! Since I won a little something on New Year's Eve.....I felt a little more confident......but that didn't last long. $40 was sucked into a machine in about 2 minutes! So much for that! Oh well......I guess it was time for bed. It had been a long day.

[go noles]

I'm not surprised you had rough time turning around. We got off after the New Year's cruise and it was by far the worst I've been through. As soon as they got all the luggage off they called the rest of the numbers.

 

I thought about waiting as I was concerned there would be too many people down there. Then I talked myself into getting off thinking the new terminal might be different. Amazing how quick I forgot about the embarkation debacle. It was just hordes of people with no lines.

 

Very disappointing to hear the Captain wanted everyone off.

 

Please tell me they did a better job after your second leg.

[maxs mom]

I'm not surprised you had rough time turning around. We got off after the New Year's cruise and it was by far the worst I've been through. As soon as they got all the luggage off they called the rest of the numbers.

 

I thought about waiting as I was concerned there would be too many people down there. Then I talked myself into getting off thinking the new terminal might be different. Amazing how quick I forgot about the embarkation debacle. It was just hordes of people with no lines.

 

Very disappointing to hear the Captain wanted everyone off.

 

Please tell me they did a better job after your second leg.

 

Yes....that's exactly what the custom's guy said......they called off all the numbers at the same time!! Can you imagine!? Well....I guess YOU can, because it happened to you!

 

Our debarkation was much better......I must say. Everything moved along very nicely......now we had luggage tags number 1. I don't know what happened later. I think it will all smooth out with time.....but the first time in any port, even if the ship has been there before....a repositioning or whatever....it's always crazy!!

[maxs mom]

Monday ~ January 5, 2015 ~ Coco Cay

 

It's been a while since we've been to Coco Cay. The last time, the seas were too rough to tender in, but it was an absolutely beautiful day today. We had such a nice beach day here!

 

When we went into the special breakfast area this morning, I immediately noticed that the chairs had been replaced. Last cruise they had those tacky conference room type chairs in there. Today, the regular dining room chairs were back. They must have needed these chairs in the MDR somewhere last cruise. I liked these a lot better!

 

 

Many people used this area this week and the wait staff had a hard time keeping up. It took forever to get our breakfast this morning. We were to meet Al ad Phyllis to get off the ship together, but I had to call them and change our meet up time! They were just having a hard time in the DR today. The line to get in the regular dining area when we were leaving was really long!

 

 

We finally got it together and got off the ship around 9:30. We were the last to get on this particular tender, so we didn't have to wait long. The tender ride was painless! Here we go!

 

 

 

 

[Kteacher]

What a great thing to read on a snow day home from from school :). I always enjoy your reviews and photos (love the one of you dinking straight from the wine bottle!).

[maxs mom]

After getting off the tender, we walked out and to the right and found some chairs under the pines not too far from the jet ski area. There are some wonderful places to find chairs here, especially if you don't have a hard time walking. After we got settled, Al, Phyllis, and I took a long walk all the way around to the right. It is just gorgeous down this way. Not much shade there, though.

 

 

 

 

Here's our spot for the day!

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

This guy wanted to sit with us!

 

 

SO.....off we go on our walk. These are some of the sights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is just beautiful here. So different from Labadee. Given a choice between the two islands.....I think I would choose Labadee, but Coco Cay is great, too.

[maxs mom]

More sights from our walk:

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

Great walk!!

 

 

We relaxed for a while after that and then went over to the special party that the Hotel Director had......like the one on Labadee. This one was not anywhere near as nice as the one on Labadee, though. I was disappointed. It was crowded and the only thing they had to eat there were the cantaloupe/ceviche/lobster thingys. Al and Phyllis tried one, but I passed. John wouldn't touch one of those with a ten foot pole so he went back to our chairs. There was no place to sit here anyway. Did I say there were 26 Pinnacles on this sailing!? The only thing they were offering to drink here was the Coco Loco. I DID have one of those. It was very cold and icy.....not melted like some of the ones you get out on the island. Even though this was a little disappointing......we appreciated the invitation. Always like to go to special parties!!!!

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, back at our seats.....I got another Coco Loco.

 

 

[maxs mom]

Sooooooo......we ended up in the regular buffet line for lunch. I got a hamburger, ribs, corn, and slaw.....ALL COLD....every bit if it. However it WAS tasty. Coconut Ranger cookie for dessert.

 

We relaxed and read for awhile after lunch. The seagulls here are quite aggressive. Someone left a cookie on the chair next to ours and there was a free for all for that!! Shades of ""The Birds"! (Alfred Hitchcock!)

 

 

 

Sure enough......they ate that whole cookie!

 

We packed it in around 1:30 or so and got lucky once again with the tender. It was almost full, so we left right away. This was an enjoyable day on the beach! Fabulous weather today! Here are a few parting shots.

 

 

 

 

[cruisegirl1]

Jane - Love your Coco Cay photos. Yes, for this trip the weather and water were terrific. The week prior, the air temp was just a few degrees cooler but the water was TOOOO cold.

 

We must have walked past your chairs several times. Next time I'll look out for the clips.

 

We stopped in at the party but soon after we got there they ran out of Coco Locos, and places to sit. I had a bite to eat because I am not a fan of the standard BBQ. I usually get something back on board later in the day.

 

Fred said the snorkeling was very good. I just took a few dips in the water.

 

Hey - thanks for posting the informal Meet & Great photo.

 

We never bothered visiting the CL in the evening. Looks crowded from your photo. We usually had a drink at the pub. Great people watching there.

 

 

Marci

 

PS - you look lovely in the gold and white dress.

m

[CRUISEMAMI]

Years ago I loved CocoCay, but now, I prefer Labadee!

We will be there, next Monday, and a friend of our TA Doris, got a Cabana (everybody will share the price) and Bill told me that he would like to go! That will be the first time, in a long, long time!!!

Let's hope so!

Your photo are beautiful, thank you for sharing.... Still waiting for the feet shot:)

PS: are we going to Labadee in Dec? Maybe we can get a Cabana and maybe Bill will go!!! ;)

 

 

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Franca

[jzad]

Jane,

 

I want to be you when I grow up! :)

 

Thanks for sharing your journeys with us!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Champagne Cruiser]

I can't believe how many loungers were empty. The only time we were in Coco Cay it was jammed with people. You couldn't move. After checking out the buffet we headed back to the ship which was so much more relaxing than Coco Cay.

[britty1]

Yes, the seagulls on coco cay are really aggressive. Last time e were there two small boys had just sat down to enjoy their hot dog. One turned his head looking I expect for his parents. As gull swooped down and took that hot dog right off his plate and flew away with it.