The vacation went well over all. As you may remember, Mom fell out of bed the day before we were set to sail. A thorough exam with x-rays and cats showed no major concerns. She was bumped and bruised pretty good though. We got her 3 accupunture/massage treatments onboard that made the trip tollerable for her. She didn't dance or hang around the casino much but she did make all the tours and didn't miss too many meals. On with the show ...
First stop the day after we left the Port Of Miami was Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. It's a private island that offered lots of stuff to do. Shopping, BBQ, lounges, beachfront and such. You could go horseback riding, snorkeling/diving, swimming with the rays, parasailing, fishing, glass bottom boat tours, jet skiing and all the other activities that you can do at the beach. Forgot the camera so there are no pics of this place. Here's a link to get the feel for it.

http://www.carnival.com/Port_Of_Call.aspx?portCode=HMC

The second day was a day at sea. We rambled around ship eating a great variety of foods, shopped the duty free store and spent a considerable amount of the day at the casino. The wife played cards and took a shot at craps. I took a hammering right out of the gate on the slots and Roulette. Caught the show that night and my son and mom wandered around ship listening to the various entertainers at the clubs. After the show my wife and I spent more time (you know where).

Day three brought us to St Thomas USVI. I had built up an imaginary model of St Thomas in my mind. When we actually got there I found that it did not live up to the vision I had created so I was a little let down. Not that there is anything wrong with St Thomas, I just had painted a better picture in my mind. We took a scenic bus ride around the island, spent a couple of hours at one of the world finest beaches (they say) and visted some of the local tourist traps. We learned a little about the nautical past and history of The Virgin Islands and about piracy in the Carribean.

Gorgeous! I have never been on a cruise ship and I think it would be awesome! I love the water and being around boats but I'm not sure how much of a boating feeling you get on board a ship of that size. Very cool! I'll have to do this one day!

Looks divine to me! We're gonna have to check out the Caribbean one of these years. Haven't booked anything for next spring yet, so we'll have to keep that in mind.

Me to... Someday.

I'd like to do the Alaska thing.


Thanks for the update and the pix, man! Good stuff. Real bummer about momma. Hope she has made a full recovery from the bumps and bruises.

And I hope the Mrs. is well!

We were on back to back ports mid week. I kinda liked that. We had and early rest day (Monday) and the day before we returned was another rest day (Friday).

Wednesday found us in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This was actually my favorite of the cruise. PR was actually better than I had expected. Prices were moderate and it had all the comforts a big city boy would like. Schools, hospitals, major airport. I may go back there some day for an extened stay. Maybe a week at the Marriot on the beach on the quiet side of the island. We went to El Yunkue National Park, a rainforest on the island up in the hill country. It was pretty place with scenic views. Tropical foliage abounds, it has twisty turny roads and waterfalls. Later we went to Old San Juan and saw the fortress, walked around San Juan, had a snack, and later headed back to the ship. I had a good time there.

Thursday we went to Grand Turk of the Turks and Caicos Islands. A small island with the most beautiful blue water and a great beach. We did another highlights tour with stops at the lighthouse, salt operations from the slave trading days and a museum tour that housed artifacts of the oldest shipwreck of the Discovery Period in the early 1500s. Later in the day my mother sat and danced at Margaritaville while we looked for a shell bracelet for my neice. The island doesn't have a great variety of vegatation and was still suffering from the effects of a hurricane in 2008. A nice place to visit but ......... They have a replica of John Glenns space capsule. It landed not far from the coast back in the early days of the space program. Horses, cows, donkeys and goats wander freely around the island. No lawnmowers are needed here.

And just in case you missed it in daily chat .......
You weren't there unless you have the pics to prove it.

Wow! Looks like a great trip!

I'd recognize that chin anywhere :-P

PR looks and sounds pretty freaking sweet!

cool! Looks like a nice time was had by all!

This is great, but I'm thinking "Time Travel with Tommy T" would be way cooler.

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With friends of Timothy Leary? No, Really, The time travel with Tommy T. comes with the music minutes segments.

FLASHBACK

We know you were there, Tommy, we saw your sandal and socks

How did you like the ship itself? Wife wants to go on a cruise this year maybe.

Amazing pics, btw. I don't think I'd be let down seeing any of that!

Matthew

The ship, The Liberty, is about 5 years old. Still very clean. I've also been on The Legend, The Spirit and NCL's Jade. None of them diappointed me. The Legend and Spirit were sister ships so once you know one you know the other.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Liberty

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Legend

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Spirit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Jade

If any of you guys are interested in a Carnival Cruise call my son Daryl at 1 800 764 7315 Ext 82903. He will be glad to answer any questions on sailings you might be interested on Carnival. Let him know I told you to call. He'll tell you the best deals. No obligation. He works from about 2:00 to 11:00 PM. Off Wed and Sat I believe. I'll give you a couple other vacation bookers too that I have found to be fair and reasonable also offering some blowout deals.

This ought to keep you busy.

http://www.onlinevacationcenter.com/about.cfm

http://vacationstogo.com/

http://www.dunhillvacations.com/

Carnival offers Camp Carnival for the kids. Gives mom and dad some time to play a little. You may have to wait till the little one gets a little bigger Matt.

http://www.carnival.com/CMS/Onboard_A ... eneric-Camp_Carnival.aspx

Should we call your son Daryl or your other son Daryl?

Har,har. I was just listening on the news tonight when they mentioned George Foremans' sons .... all named George Foreman. It was a lead to a story about a guy named Lonnie that named his 3 kids, Lonnie, Lonniesha and Lonnie.

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Yea, but Larry was the smart one.

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Fine by me.