earendel was a mariner - day 2
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 12:59 pm
Evidently each of the cruise lines maintains its own "private island" in the Bahamas (we went to the one run by Holland-America on our transatlantic cruise) because our destination after we left Miami was Royal Caribbean's island, known as Coconut Cay (which is pronounced either "key" or "kay" depending upon whom one asks). The ship arrived on Saturday morning for a day of fun in the sun. There was supposed to be a barbecue lunch along with lots of little theme bars, and opportunities for all sorts of excursions such as parasailing and snorkeling. My darling elwing, ever the frugal sort as well as being a trip planner par excellence had figured out that we could buy our own snorkeling equipment for less than we could rent it from the cruise line, so she did so. After breakfast, then, we put on our swimsuits and coverups, grabbed our snorkels and swimfins and headed off to the island. Because it's so small there's no dock, so we had to be "tendered" to the island - meaning that we got onto a small boat and were ferried to shore.
In the words of the America song, "The heat was hot and the ground was dry but the air was full of sound. We had to pass through a row of souvenir shops and (yes, more) theme bars before getting to the beach itself. I must say that it was a very nice beach, with lots of white sand and clear blue water. I found a deck chair that was in the shade while elwing went walking around. After about an hour it was time to snorkel, so we went to the "snorkel shack" to sign a waiver and get a "snorkel vest" that kept the wearer from going too far underwater. The lagoon had lots of things to see including a "plane wreck" (a deliberately sunken aircraft hull serving as an artificial reef). The fish were numerous and very colorful, but the most striking thing that we was was an "ecosystem in a nutshell" so to speak - a large boulder onto which coral polyps had started depositing their skeletons, and fish darting in and around, as well as anemones and other sea life.
Then it was time for lunch. Now I must tell you that although aboard ship in the dining room the food is first-rate, there are some areas where the chefs simply fall down, probably because of their unfamiliarity with basic American cuisine. The barbecue was one of these occasions - the food was grilled and slathered with something that can only be generously called barbecue sauce because it was brown. The offerings included chicken and ribs, both of which were completely forgettable; elwing and I decided that we'd rather partake of the shipboard fare. So after showering to get the sand and salt off we headed back to the ship.
For "lupper" (the afternoon analogue to "brunch") we decided to try one of the onboard specialty cafes, one called "Johnny Rocketts" (which is evidently a chain of restaurants). The gimmick is that the decor is like a '50s diner complete with those little jukeboxes on the tables. Not only that but every 10 minutes the wait staff comes out and dances to 'a 50s or '60s song (such as "The Twist"). We were offered free onion rings and french fries while we decided on our order. The cost was extra, but since elwing's boss had not only paid for the cruise but also given us some "expense money" we had no qualms about the cost. The food was good.
Saturday evening was "formal dining", although the dress code didn't seem to be strictly enforced. After dinner there was the second "company meeting", at which four people were recognized for significant achievement in the past year, one of whom was elwing. Seems that she had "gone the second mile" and made a customer happy, a customer who was considering taking his million-dollar account elsewhere. The customer had sent an effusive e-mail to the company CEO lauding elwing's efforts. After that it was time for pictures, then off to the evening show. The show was a comedian whose name I can't recall but whose claim to fame was that he had opened for Jerry Seinfeld some time in the past. His schtick was a cross between Jay Leno and Don Rickles. I didn't get any particular yuks but no groans, either.
Since neither elwing nor I dance or gamble, there wasn't much to do after the show, so it was back to the room. elwing said that the daily calendar had mentioned the movie "Enchanted" would be shown on the TV, so we decided to watch. Unfortunately we couldn't find it in English - they had Portugese, Italian, German and one or two other language versions. It turns out that the English version had been shown earlier in the evening.
And with that, I draw a curtain over the remainder of the evening, noting only the full moon, once again, shining over the ocean.
In the words of the America song, "The heat was hot and the ground was dry but the air was full of sound. We had to pass through a row of souvenir shops and (yes, more) theme bars before getting to the beach itself. I must say that it was a very nice beach, with lots of white sand and clear blue water. I found a deck chair that was in the shade while elwing went walking around. After about an hour it was time to snorkel, so we went to the "snorkel shack" to sign a waiver and get a "snorkel vest" that kept the wearer from going too far underwater. The lagoon had lots of things to see including a "plane wreck" (a deliberately sunken aircraft hull serving as an artificial reef). The fish were numerous and very colorful, but the most striking thing that we was was an "ecosystem in a nutshell" so to speak - a large boulder onto which coral polyps had started depositing their skeletons, and fish darting in and around, as well as anemones and other sea life.
Then it was time for lunch. Now I must tell you that although aboard ship in the dining room the food is first-rate, there are some areas where the chefs simply fall down, probably because of their unfamiliarity with basic American cuisine. The barbecue was one of these occasions - the food was grilled and slathered with something that can only be generously called barbecue sauce because it was brown. The offerings included chicken and ribs, both of which were completely forgettable; elwing and I decided that we'd rather partake of the shipboard fare. So after showering to get the sand and salt off we headed back to the ship.
For "lupper" (the afternoon analogue to "brunch") we decided to try one of the onboard specialty cafes, one called "Johnny Rocketts" (which is evidently a chain of restaurants). The gimmick is that the decor is like a '50s diner complete with those little jukeboxes on the tables. Not only that but every 10 minutes the wait staff comes out and dances to 'a 50s or '60s song (such as "The Twist"). We were offered free onion rings and french fries while we decided on our order. The cost was extra, but since elwing's boss had not only paid for the cruise but also given us some "expense money" we had no qualms about the cost. The food was good.
Saturday evening was "formal dining", although the dress code didn't seem to be strictly enforced. After dinner there was the second "company meeting", at which four people were recognized for significant achievement in the past year, one of whom was elwing. Seems that she had "gone the second mile" and made a customer happy, a customer who was considering taking his million-dollar account elsewhere. The customer had sent an effusive e-mail to the company CEO lauding elwing's efforts. After that it was time for pictures, then off to the evening show. The show was a comedian whose name I can't recall but whose claim to fame was that he had opened for Jerry Seinfeld some time in the past. His schtick was a cross between Jay Leno and Don Rickles. I didn't get any particular yuks but no groans, either.
Since neither elwing nor I dance or gamble, there wasn't much to do after the show, so it was back to the room. elwing said that the daily calendar had mentioned the movie "Enchanted" would be shown on the TV, so we decided to watch. Unfortunately we couldn't find it in English - they had Portugese, Italian, German and one or two other language versions. It turns out that the English version had been shown earlier in the evening.
And with that, I draw a curtain over the remainder of the evening, noting only the full moon, once again, shining over the ocean.
