ADVENTURE/ABC's Aug 20-27,2016 REVIEW w/lots of photos

[inna61]

Alas, it was time to jump in! And I'm never one to be shy when told to go, so off I went and waited for our guide from the ship to collect everyone in our group. Here is the Woodwind looking back once I jumped in, and in the distance on the bottom right you can just make out the Adventure so that you can get a feel for the approximate distance from the shore and the port.

 

Your pictures are awesome! We are planning to book Woodwind on our next cruise to Bonaire. Do you remember if there is any other way to get to the water from their boat but jumping (any ladder or steps to the water)? My DH is not so good jumper...

Thank you for your great review. Very helpful!

[Hoopster95]

Your pictures are awesome! We are planning to book Woodwind on our next cruise to Bonaire. Do you remember if there is any other way to get to the water from their boat but jumping (any ladder or steps to the water)? My DH is not so good jumper...

Thank you for your great review. Very helpful!

 

Yes, it's very easy. Set of stairs at the back of the catamaran.

Also, for those not proficient at snorkeling, and even swimming for that matter, they provide noodles and flotation devices for you to snorkel with. I noticed Deidre pays close attention to those who aren't as good, and she's is super fit and strong... they tow a rope at the back of the catamaran when collecting you from the water so that everyone can single file get up onto the boat. On the final tow, I watched Deidre herself help pull in two of the "larger" snorkelers who weren't in the greatest shape all by herself. Everyone was looked after, definitely book with this company and simply send them an email explaining that you are novices needing a little extra help when needed.

[Hoopster95]

As a diver, I've been wanting to go to Bonaire for years.....

Please don't tell my DH this, :eek: but I am considering changing our upcoming Panama Canal cruise to one that goes to the ABC islands.

 

Whoa, I don't know about this :eek:

The Canal is extremely high on my bucket list and just ask those who have cruised a lot.... the Canal comes up in discussion on this topic of best cruises ever, but not ABC's.

 

I have a solution....

 

Keep your Canal cruise and book another cruise right after to the ABC's ;)

[Hoopster95]

Rincon is promoted as one of the tour stops on many excursions. During this low season and very high temperatures, this place was a ghost town almost more so than anywhere else we had been. Really, as we approached town there was nobody, nada, not cats/dogs, no birds.... just nothing.

 

 

 

I learned of Rincon as the original settlement for the natives (slaves) whom worked in the salt flats in the south. They would walk 7 hours the length of the island to go to work, sleep in the slave huts when needed, and then walk back home. There's a few other noted to Rincon you can read about, such as trying local cuisine.

http://www.rincon.nl/Rincon.nl/Bonbini.html

 

One cool thing you see in and around this community is they build fences with the live cacti... very cool. No one, or thing, is going to want to go through that!!

 

 

 

Driving through the "meat" of the town took only two minutes tops, it's very small. I didn't know if we were stopping for anything or not, when close to the edge of town we pulled into this place.

 

 

 

Here was a needed bathroom stop, purchase of drink/snack, and you can also purchase a tequila taster ($1) or a bottle ($9 - $15) of Bonaire's own spirit, a tequila made of the Cacti called "Tekibon". I hummed and hawed, but decided to not buy even a small bottle as I'm not a tequila drinker. I regret it now as it's a one-of-a-kind. I did try a taster of one of the flavored tequila's and it was very smooth. So I guess I can at least say that I actually drank cactus juice!

http://www.spiritofbonaire.com/

 

 

 

There is also a small (for fee) museum that looked unbelievably hokey that no one bothered even to ask about. I assume in busy season, with more tourists around, perhaps this area is set up with more locals and displays. We spent 15min tops here for a short rest stop and we were finished with the north side of the island.

 

Edited September 5, 2016 by Hoopster95

[Hoopster95]

It was at this point the tour guide mentioned we'd be on the main road heading back through the inside of the island, not much to see or talk about, so to have a break for 20 min with no commentary as we drove south all the back through Kralendijk, towards and immediately adjacent to the coast and the local airport (as mentioned during the Woodwind Tour) and then further south to the Salt Flats. Within minutes of passing by the airport, the land to the left of us began to change colors as the pools of "sludge" I call it are actually red (not salt white). The process is to drain sea water in the holding ponds and being the process of desalinization that way.

 

 

 

The was no ship docked at that time collecting salt unfortunately, would've been interesting to see

 

 

 

And here we were... note the height of the salt mounds in relationship to the large industrial tractor vehicle on the left.

 

 

 

The tour stopped immediately in front of the main entrance to the plant. The guide spent about 2-3 minutes giving us a synopsis of the salt plant, how it works, etc. What used to be the largest employer on the island, now only employs 150 people to run the entire show!

 

 

 

The huts and "obelisks" have a story....

"These huts were constructed in 1850 during the slavery time, and served as camping facilities for slaves working in the salt ponds to collect and ship the salt, one of Bonaire's most important export product. These huts were used as sleeping quarters and place to put away personal belongings of the working team. Each Friday afternoon the slaves walked seven hours to Rincon to weekend with their families, returning each Sunday. Four Obelisks on Bonaire were used as navigational shore markers to guide ships coming in to load. The obelisks were painted red, white, blue and orange (the colours of the Dutch flag)"

 

 

Here are photos of the blue obelisk (the first one and closest to the shipping area where we had stopped in front of the entrance) and the white (the 2nd one we viewed, as we drove by). I did not see the red or orange one as the must've been further down the road.

 

 

[Hoopster95]

Very shortly after passing the white obelisk, we pulled alongside a couple of other tour vans/cars to view the "city" of slave huts still standing on the shore. Note the size (lack thereof) both in height and square footage... basically the size of large camping tents (toilets you ask? kitchens? are you kidding??). There are about 20 in this area to view.

 

 

 

 

Across the street, I had noticed a break through the hedging/brush as we drove by. As most of my fellow cruisers stayed to admire the huts, I ran across the street and through the open brush... there I viewed the salt flats from afar and the closest salt pond right at my feet. I was surprised actually... the salt itself forms a froth... like the head of a freshly poured beer. I crept up to take this close up and felt my sandals "squishing" into the earth as I stepped. This dried up salt "sludge" stuck to my sandals and was really hard to wash off... in fact had to put my sandals in a plastic bag to take home so that I can scrub them properly once I returned home.

 

 

 

After a final attempt of taking an artistic photo of the huts, we were summoned to the truck and that was it... end of the tour.... approx 2 1/2 hours. I took another couple of shots of the salt flats on the return drive by. We were on our way back to the pier area where we had started, and upon arriving dropped off to either spend the final hour walking around town or heads back onto the ship.

 

 

[Hoopster95]

So the question was to or not to stay in port for another hour? After this full day in 95 degree heat and humidity?? Easy answer... No way, we were done! So after a great day all we wanted to do is go get freshened up and then figure out the evening once we had rested up a bit. I had some "alone" time on the balcony while gf freshened up in bathroom, so I was able to snap a few photos. Gotta love that balcony!!

 

 

 

 

It was at this moment I respected this balcony, as I was fully covered and protected from the sun, able to fully enjoy the 180 degree view from side to side. And here's a great view (with the super structure "obstruction" as a reference) of the pier and Kralendijk, and of course Klein Bonaire on the left where we spent the morning snorkeling and admiring the Adventure from afar

 

 

 

 

We had grabbed a drink on the way back to our cabin (more on this once I finish Bonaire as I should have mentioned the drink card on the previous sea day), and as I was sitting there just soaking up where I was and how bloody fortunate I am to be able to do this stuff, I noticed a catamaran somewhat in the distance that looked familiar.... as it creeped closer, sure enough it was the Woodwind coming back from her afternoon snorkel trip! I hope any CC'ers following this thread who were on the afternoon sailing see these pictures.

 

 

[Hoopster95]

All aboard was 4:30pm, and if memory serves me correctly the Captain come on to say everyone was aboard and that we'd be sailing off shortly at approx 4:50pm. Within minutes of the announcement, I watched the port staff pulling the ropes and the churning of the water below by the azipods as the Adventure began pulling away.

 

It took seemingly mere seconds to pull away as the Adventure immediately takes a hard right from the pier and pulls away straight out and away from the pier.

 

 

 

 

It did not take long to move away from land at all. Less than 15 minutes and we were sailing by Klein Bonaire on the starboard side, and off to port side in the distance we were able to view the full scope of the Salt Flats... the final picture is zoomed.

 

 

 

[Hoopster95]

Pre cruise, I had thought about dinner as the last couple of MTD experiences on previous sailings could've been a nightmare. If you are a MTD diner, you just cannot afford not to prebook on-line on your cruise planner between the hours of 6-7:30, else you may be outright turned away or in a large line-up. I had prebooked all of our MTD evenings for 6:30pm except for the nights at Giovanni's, Barefoot (review of that when I get to Aruba) and this evening in Bonaire. I figured I wanted to try WJ at least once on this cruise and eat in freedom in my shorts T-shirt without the need the get ready for a certain time & place. This was the easiest night to do it (long day, not formal night, etc).... and it was a fabulous choice!!!!

 

We sat on our balcony a while longer not caring at all when we got up to prepare for dinner. But we were getting really hungry, so we got ready and headed up to the WJ. I had forgotten that WJ opens at 6:30pm (not 6) so as we arrived at about 6:25pm we were surprised at about 30-40 people waiting for the doors to open... then I remembered the 6:30 opening time. They opened a couple of minutes early and in we went.

 

One of my funnest memories of this cruise is as we walked in Pharrell's "Happy" was playing and the entry to the WJ was lined on both sides by the WJ staff dancing and clapping along! Of course everyone walked in with smiles and few high-fived staff, we walked in and starting dancing as we walked, sure enough a couple of the staff cut-in and began dancing with us, hilarious! What a great way to greet everyone and bring everyone's spirits up! I was not prepared with my camera for this but wish I was.

 

As we walked through the front area of the buffet, the standard offerings were there (meat & potatoes, veggies, a few different dishes, etc). As we got to the back and turned the corner we viewed the Mongolian Grill and then more smiles were brought to our faces....

 

It was Indian Theme night!!! There are many Indian chefs/cooks on the RCL staff, and one of my favorite memories on Indy was being given a surprise Indian feast at MDR when the menu changes happened about 4 yrs ago (when they removed the Indian vegetarian nightly dish from the menu). Anyways, I was hoping this Indian feast would be authentic and fantastic as I had experienced a few years back... yes it sure was!

 

 

 

 

 

Absolutely wonderful! So as we sat with a glass of wine at the rear of the ship looking at aft at Bonaire in the distance as we sailed, we totally enjoyed this meal. But of course, after promising not to have seconds this entire trip, this was the only night I just had to go get more. So so good!!

 

 

 

 

Note that I asked our waiter about the theme nights and what was next. While he couldn't remember the previous couple of nights, tomorrow wold be Caribbean (but we're booked for Barefoot Beach) and the night after at formal it's British night (bangers & mash vs. Lobster or prime rib?? Uh.... no). So perhaps this would be our only adventure up to the WJ. I think the next time I will try to inform myself of the various themes on any specific night and plan accordingly on the next cruises I'm on. For me, Indian night may perhaps from now on be as much of a "must-do" as Lobster night on 2nd formal.

Edited September 6, 2016 by Hoopster95

[Hoopster95]

Totally satisfied with dinner, we were ready for another great evening aboard the Adventure. We roamed the ship a bit as we were out of the WJ in less than 45 minutes, grabbed another drink, and I took a few more photos. But before leaving our cabin for the night, we left Kennebeth another pose from our infamous little guy she had made us the night before

 

 

 

From our floor deck 10, looking down the centrum area and the elevator lobby

 

 

 

 

Towards the front of the ship on deck 4 adjacent to Schooner Bar looking up, and then down at the entrance to the Lyric Theatre

 

 

 

 

Tonight's music trivia was 80's songs... and it was hilarious with standing room only. There were a couple of surprise songs we got ("Cars" by Gary Neumann and "Whip It" by Devo)... of course Felix only played a very short snippet, but when doing the answers and marking our papers, he played almost full length with the Schooner Bar singing away and mimicking the videos/original artists voices. lol! Good times.

 

The Production Show was "Don't Stop the Rock". Like Invitation to Dance a couple of nights ago, I've seen this show a few times on other ships and this one was good, but not great. Nonetheless, I always admire the arts and I'm grateful to have great shows put together for us on an nightly basis.

 

 

 

For those of you who have never heard of it.... the image above is "The Quest" in Studio B. It's an adult scavenger hunt. You play in teams... you can make a fool of yourself and get involved, or sit back in dismay and watch what your fellow cruisers actually are willing to do for a keychain prize! Lol!!!

 

And I am pleased to say that CD Dan Dan ran the first true "adult" Quest that I have been a part of in 3 years, with a couple of full on very risque quests, and they also included the "replay" camera which I haven;t seen for a long time as well. What a superb Quest, best in a long time.... and yes, I played and I'm sure all my fellow cruisers who purchased the "Cruise in Review" CD will be able to watch me in my Quest glory for years to come bwahahaha!!

[Hoopster95]

As a side note to the compasses... note the top of page 2 promotes a 10 drink punch card. For $85 (which incl. gratuities) you can get 10 drinks worth up to $12 on any drink menu. I have read about these in the past year here on CC but have not yet had the opportunity to give it a try... we bought two and they worked fabulously.

 

Note the cards were first offered on day 3 (sea day) and we purchased one that very morning to begin our sea day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If I've missed anything, got something wrong, or simply you have a question about Bonaire or the ship, please let me know and I'll do my best to answer.

Coming up next ~~~ my favorite... Aruba!!

[readytolose]

Thank you for your great review and pictures. We have over a year to go before our adventure cruise but I'm taking notes and planning out our port days.

 

I really loved your video of your cabin. We have 1394 right next door which I'm assuming will be identical to yours. It looks like a great room!

 

Can't wait for more!

[Hoopster95]

Thank you for your great review and pictures. We have over a year to go before our adventure cruise but I'm taking notes and planning out our port days.

 

I really loved your video of your cabin. We have 1394 right next door which I'm assuming will be identical to yours. It looks like a great room!

 

Can't wait for more!

 

Yep... I quickly looked into that cabin while being cleaned, seemed totally the same inch for inch, just a mirror image. You'll love it! Have a great cruise :D

[Hoopster95]

I forgot to share with you these maps of Bonaire I pulled off of the web.

http://www.mappery.com/map-of/Bonaire-Tourist-Map-2

 

I printed these out on full legal 11x17 paper and they were great!

I didn't need these Bonaire maps as I took that Voyager tour as posted above, but the Aruba and Curacao maps I'll post sure came in handy. Perhaps those of you renting a golf cart or car in Bonaire can get use of these.

 

You can see on the first mpa the top end of Bonaire where Gotomeer Lake and Rincon are, as well as the bottom where "Solar Salt Works" is located in relationship to the capital Kralendijk and Klein Bonaire in the center

 

 

[Hoopster95]

The best map I found on line is this

 

 

 

It shows most all of the main tourist sites, and the map was very accurate. You may want to follow along where am I on any given post by taking a quick look at this map. Below I've zoomed in on the south/east side of the island which clearly show the location of where I first start my site seeing at Lourdes Grotto (just above the town of San Nicholas), Quadirikiri and Fontein Caves, Boca Prins, up Mt. Arikok inland and then back down to the Natural Pool at the highest/north part of the map.

 

 

 

Here's the other half of north/west Aruba zoomed in, where you can follow my posts from the farthest right Natural Bridge all along the north coast from right to left to the farthest west point at the California Lighthouse.

 

 

 

I'll be starting (and hopefully finishing) the Aruba review later this evening

[meadowlander]

 

 

 

The gentleman kindly tells you to walk all the way through the resort on the walkway (do not deviate) where you will find the Woodwind office. The resort is beautiful as well as you walk through

 

 

 

The gentleman in the photo, at the gate, is Ulf.

[Hoopster95]

The gentleman in the photo, at the gate, is Ulf.

 

Holy cow!!!... no way?! :confused:

Wow, I just looked up my old photos from 2013 and some on line... he looks so much older now, I didn't even recognize him! I hope he's not sick :(

[Hoopster95]

A couple of things about Aruba I wish to mention here before I start the picture review:

 

(1) I already mentioned much earlier in the review that Aruba is not a port of call that you can stay close to the pier and truly enjoy, or get anything out of the island. Look at yourself in the mirror... do you cruise to stay on the ship, stay close to the pier, do a little walking/shopping around the port... most importantly are you timid? You don't like "do-it-yourself" type of days, you're perhaps scared of being in a foreign country?.... The descirption above is what many do for Nassau and Falmouth for example. But hate to say it but if you replied yes to any of the above do not bother visiting Aruba (or the ABC's for that matter). You truly need to put some effort into the day and get out there.... an excursion, take taxi to beach at bare minimum, etc. The most beautiful and exquisite sites are nowhere close to the port.

 

(2) You cannot do the entire island in 1 day. In 2013 I started on the west side up through Palm and Eagle beaches, visiting the California Lighthouse then working my way east. By early afternoon I had reached the entrance to Arikok and made the call right there we had no time to do the park and make all-aboard, so we made our way down for 2 hours at baby beach before heading back. This time around, I made the plan to begin at Arikok... zero time for beach this time around, you just can't do it all.

 

(3) Thinking it was low season, no one around, 1 ship in port... I would have an easy time renting a car for a discounted price by one of the many desperate vendors at port. Not the case at all as all the booths right at the pier were vacant... there was one guy renting cars at the back lot where normally you see a full pakrting lot full (about 50 cars). There were 5 vehicles. $175 for the day was the price tag for a jeep... soft top $200, 4 door $225. I told him he was crazy. He honestly said he would have them rented within a half hour if I didn't take one, and if I pre-booked on-line it would've been $135 (all-in). Sure enough when we returned to port none of the vehicles were there (we were the first to return and the lot was vacant), and he said all 5 jeeps were rented at full price including the $225 4 door. Lesson learned... he was the only game in town and he knew it. Pre-book your rental jeep in the ABC's

 

Now on to the pictures :D....

 

Today we're in Aruba from 8am - 11pm... fantastic port time. However, we needed to bring the jeep back (as explained above) by about 4:30pm at the latest as we had pre-booked dinner on the beach at "Barefoot" at 6pm (more on this later). So with the alarm ringing at 6:30am and the intention to get off the ship immediately at 8am, we went to breakfast early.

 

This first image is just to note that the Adventure is not perfect (I'm not trying to paint a 100% image during my ship tour a few pages back), and does have a few areas in need of attention during the upcoming drydock. Here at the back of WJ there are at least 4 panes of glass in desperate need of replacement as the seals have failed. I'm sure these, as well as other things, will be shiny new and ready to go when drydock is completed.

 

 

 

Facing aft in our cabin, and in WJ, we didn't see much of sail-in until we were actually about to dock. Finishing breakfast and noticing our close proximity to land, we went up to deck 12 to walk around a bit before heading to our cabin as I wanted to view our approach

 

 

 

Now here's couple of interesting shots... the first from deck 12 where I just took the last image I posted... and where even cruisers in the least expensive cabins on deck 2 can also stand and take the same image. The second, about 2 min later, is from my aft balcony with the super structure in view. Which view is better?

 

 

[Hoopster95]

Leaving the rental parking lot was super easy... go out to the main road, turn right, and follow the highway all the way east until you start seeing signage... or the last city before the ocean San Nicholas. In fact, there weren't many signs along the main highway whatsoever which had us 2nd guessing, plus there were several areas of construction (delays, slow traffic) that appeared to be the widening of the roadway to 2 lanes each way. We stopped for gas for the day ($25) and asked the gas attendant (they are all full serve, and they do not speak English very well in the suburbs!!) for directions. What he gave us isn;t where we ended up, but we did finally find our way with a highway sign pointing out "Arikok National Park", so we finally turned off.

 

On the zoomed map above, we turned just before St Nicholas and ended up first at Lourdes Grotto, a nice little prayer/spiritual site.

 

 

 

 

In all actuality, I did not know what to expect here when reviewing my route and seeing this on the map, but it was an simple 5 min cute stop. Very easy to drive right on through and not stop at this area.

 

 

 

Reviewing the map, I thought we were close to Arikok when leaving Lourdes Grotto. Sure enough within minutes I passed the racetrack sign (also on the map) and were set for the start of and awesome day :)

 

[Hoopster95]

At the east entrance of Arikok National Park, you get a great up close and personal view of Aruba's Wind Farm (9 wind turbines). "Aruba’s now almost five-year-old wind farm accounts for as much as 20 percent of the island’s energy. Aruba is planning to reach 100 percent renewable energy by 2020."

 

 

 

 

See any other cars or people? Nope! I think we were the first vehicle in at that entrance that morning as they had a big tractor grading/flattening the dirt on the road at that time and there were no other tire tracks yet (other than the tractor). A ranger meets you at the entrance where you pay ($11 I believe) and he went through a full explanation of what to expect, the sites to see, approx distance/time to get there, a small pamphlet map, etc

 

 

 

The wind tunnels themselves are stunning! Take a look at the picture below to get a true idea of the size of these things... note the "little" full size jeep on the left at the bottom. I'm standing on the stairs waving!

 

 

[Hoopster95]

I definitely wanted to check out the caves, and the ranger had mentioned the first one, while not patrolled by a ranger (so be careful), was the most beautiful. It was Quadirikiri Cave, and about only 5 min from the Ranger station entrance, we approached a turn off for the Cave to the left.

 

 

 

Looking back to the Wind turbines and the approximate distance from where we started from.

 

 

 

There's a very large parking lot there... we had the choice of any spot we wanted lol! We were there on our own. The caves are within the huge landscape of the limestone built from the land.

 

 

 

 

Here's a shot with the gf sitting in the stone, to give you an idea of scale of how high and large the cliffs and stones are here

 

 

 

Are you scared of bats? There are plenty in here! And when we walk in as the only humans (and first of the day), I'd hate to guess how many there were that fluttered about and squeaked here & there as we made our way into the passages... I'm guessing a good 100 at least at first as most flew off and disappeared who knows where (deeper into the caves are my guess)

 

[Hoopster95]

This place is very dark at the entrance when you first enter (don't let the first photo fool you - open aperture to allow maximum light in and thus photo is brighter than real life), but totally beautiful

 

 

 

Carefully walking through the very uneven floor, and seemingly walking in and around a flurry of squeaks and fluttering wings (bats!!!!), it's very apparent that we are in for a real treat when we approach the light of the opening... just wow!

 

 

 

 

This place is outrageously gorgeous... these photos are garbage in comparison to being there. That light shining down with all the colours was just beautiful. I would love to see some professional photos done here by some of our fellow awesome CC'ers cruise reviewers who do this trip in the future.

 

Bats? Here's a close up of a couple that 'hung around' {pun intended -- roll eyes!}

 

 

 

And looking back or our return treck through the darkness to the far away light of the entrance.

 

 

 

But not before hanging out here a few more minutes and soaking it all in.

 

[Hoopster95]

The rugged North shore of Aruba is lined with cliffs, crashing waves, beaches and boca's ("mouths"). Here we come across the first of many large 'bocas' lining the coastline, called Boca Prins with a great looking beach.

http://www.aruba.com/things-to-do/boca-prins

 

 

 

 

A gorgeous beach and would've been beautiful to hang out for a while, but swimming is not allowed here due to the strong undertow, so not a great place to plan for a refreshing swim/water break.

 

 

 

Here we had a choice to drive forward a little bit to visit Dos Playa, another beach site with bocas, and although a surfing area for experienced beach goers again not recommended for swimming.

http://www.aruba.com/things-to-do/dos-playa

We instead made a turn for Fontein cave in order to continue with our tour of the park.

 

[Hoopster95]

Almost immediately across from Boca Prins, is the side road up to Fontein Cave, where at the empty parking lot, we were met by rangers manning the site. One of them introduced himself and walked us in for a quick private tour. This cave is obviously gated and secure at night so that no one can get lost in here or do something stupid in the darkness of the night after hours

 

 

 

This cave has no colour, unlike Quadirikiri, and requires a flashlight... likely another great reason to have a guide with a flashlight in hand! This cave is gorgeous in it's own right, and obviously set up for larger tours with a marked pathway inside the cave

 

 

 

There are a ton of Indian paintings everywhere, and the guide is very specific not to let you too close or to put your hands anywhere close to them.

 

 

 

 

These caves are ten of thousands of years old... how were they formed? By an incredibly slow process of dripping water (with minerals in the droplets) that build so excruciatingly slowly as they drip down onto floor. Note the size of this one droplet we found just waiting to build enough strength and weight to fall, in comparison to the size my finger

 

 

 

The guide points out plenty of cool rock formations in shapes of various animals and things, same very large and some very small. Here's one at the end of the cave tour of a face/skull.

 

 

 

The tour by this ranger was max 15 minutes, and he also offered to take several photos of us with our cameras at various areas of the cave. Truth be told, I could tell within a few seconds of entering the cave that this guy was working for a tip from the get go... and that's totally great! he did an excellent job, and yes I did tip him. But not before he led us to another area outside past the parking lot.....

[Hoopster95]

A short walk down a walk way at the side of the parking lot brings you to a small pond and little foot bridge. I wasn't sure what he was showing us or why... until he asked us to join him at water's edge

 

 

 

Some of you may have heard of, or seen, or perhaps even paid a good chunk of money to experience... what I'm about to show you. I've see a $80 per person charge for this in Greece a few years ago in an upscale spa. I've also seen this in Mexico for a decent upcharge...

 

Foot exfoliation!!!!!!

 

 

 

How cool!!! Sitting down at water's egde, there seems to be only a few fish hanging around...

stick your feet in and all of a sudden you have a hundred all slithering in and around your toes, taking nibbles off of your feet!

 

 

 

Does it tickle you ask??? Lol!

 

 

 

Seriously, after a minute of getting used to it, it's simply heaven! We could've spent an hour just sitting there refreshing our feet, having fish eat at them. Lol. But as much fun as we were having, it was time to move on and get going. It's funny how little things make great memories of a trip... this was one of them and we talked about this little 15 minute "foot feast" a few times during cruise and also after once we got home. Fun stuff!