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Thursday 29 August 2013

2013 Girls' Weekend - Part III

The next morning, we slept in a bit, and awoke with Coco Cay off the starboard bow. When we were ready, we headed off on the tender. After carefully selecting our home-base on the snorkel beach, we did our various equipment rentals, and headed into the water. There were a lot of fish.





My goggles kept fogging up, so I decided to take a break at this point.  I divested myself of my gear, and decided to go back in since the water temperature wasn't terrible. The only problem with the snorkel beach is that it is very weedy- so I was in for no more than 5 minutes when I was stung by a sea louse. I can take a hint. The first aid hut has a spray bottle of vinegar for these little mishaps, so you can just grab it and self serve. They also have seasick pills, ibuprofen, acetaminophen and antacids, that you can help yourself too.

After this, I decided on a nice read, so I rented an umbrella for our encampment. A lovely young gentleman put it up for us, which was good since we were almost decapitating people with the thing.



We headed back in good time, and got cleaned up. Dinner was good as always, and the late night comedy show was entertaining. We got our suitcases sorted, and sent them out in the hall after being notified that our debarkation tour had been cancelled. Pro-tip: the notification that you have voicemail on this ship sounds like someone is dialling your room and quickly hanging up.

We did not have to get up that early in the morning, since we had the second-last luggage tag number. It was still before 9:00am that we were off the ship though.  I'll spare you the details of the transportation comedy. We still managed to get to the airport in plenty of time to get checked in and have a leisurely lunch at On the Border. Dos Equis Amber on draft -- yum!

And back to Canada. Thanks for reading, here are a few bonus pictures:




2013 Girls' Weekend - Part II

Day 2's port of call was Nassau, but we didn't get there until noon, so the morning seemed to call for a leisurely breakfast, and visit to the Solarium. We did find the Wind Jammer was hideously crowded, in spite of the on-deck barbecue (huge lines). I mentioned later to our head waiter that a sit-down option would be nice. He said there would be one the next day (we were on Coco Cay then).

Nassau is not my favourite port of call, and I didn't really care if we got off the ship or not, but the others were game, and it never hurts to get the value for those port fees. We did stumble into the really loud section, though. There was some sort of parade going on for the candidates for Miss Nassau, and they seemed to feel victory would go to the loudest. But, just up the street from Senor Frog's, we found a lovely little bar that I would recommend to anyone. They even had free wifi.



I had underpacked, and Amary was looking for souvenirs for the grandkids, so we went into a few stores, but it wasn't long before we were back to the ship.


We had a bit of a rest, and then began to get ready for formal night. Disclaimer: I love formal night, I even bought a new gown recently for this and my upcoming cruise on the Freedom of the Seas.




After the Captain's reception, we went to the Schooner Bar again for the piano player, and had a hoot. Then off to the room, a little earlier for me, and a change into something less... elegant.


2013 - Girls' Weekend on the Enchantment of the Seas - Part I

This year, the cast of characters was me, my friend Jane, and my sister-in-law Amary. The plan: fly to Orlando on the 22nd, check in to the Radisson, enjoy a day at their facilities, then embark on the Enchantment of the Seas for a 3 day cruise to the Bahamas, the following day.

The start was simple enough; Amary and I met Jane at the airport, and flew down to Orlando. The flight was WestJet, and they kept apologizing that the TV's hadn't been installed on the plane, yet. We didn't care, and the flight was fine, although, I think you get a little more room on Air Canada. The flight was a little late taking off ("paper work"). We were met at the airport by our driver, and driven to the Radisson. The ride was fine, and the check-in was a breeze. The pool renovations had already started, so parts were a bit more unsightly than we were accustomed to, and the waterfall was turned off. Aside from that, it was fine.



We had dinner at Thai Thai across the street: they have amazing things like crispy duck and lobster pad thai. They also have really good sushi.

We enjoyed a leisurely evening by the pool, capped off with perfect Irish coffees in the lobby and went to bed.

We spent the morning by the pool after a buffet breakfast, and then headed over to the pier around 11. I really love Royal Caribbean. Breeze through security, practically sprint through check in, and then straight on to the ship, before 11:30.




The Enchantment is a beautiful ship, with many attractive features, and fine entertainment options.  We had a quick look around, and then headed up to the Windjammer for the main lunch option (you could also get roast beef sandwiches in the Solarium, and snacks at the coffee shop), but mostly it was the Wind Jammer. We did find it over-crowded, and would like to suggest over-flow feeding in the main dining room.

Soon after lunch, we could go to our room. We then headed to the Solarium for a nice soak. The pool was a little cold, but it was nice and deep and fairly uncrowded. We had a wonderful woman with a good teacher voice sternly ordering children away. We thanked her. The thing I found amazing was that there were no parents visible for these youngsters.

After that, it was time to get dressed for muster drill. It is incredible to me how people can think it's okay to disobey maritime law, and inconvenience everyone else by forcing them to wait for the "no-shows". There were also a couple of eye-rolling moments where people were at the wrong station for most of the drill, only realizing when it was almost over and we had repeated our muster station number many times, that they were in the wrong place.



We went back to our balcony room for Sail-Away, leaving only briefly for another round, since room service said they would take an improbable amount of time to deliver 3 drinks. I gather the Enchantment's room service department is understaffed, because we tried to order one more time at 11:30 pm, and were informed that, not only would it take an hour, but they would charge us the late night fee because they could not deliver before midnight. We never did get room service. I am thinking this may not be practical on a 3 day cruise.

Dinner was good, and the service was attentive. And after dinner we went to the Welcome Aboard show (entertaining), and the Schooner Bar, for the sing-along piano (so fun).



Wednesday 7 August 2013

Kenya Day 9 Part III and Day 10 - The Voyage Home

It was with much sadness and traffic congestion that we entered Nairobi. We were going home, and we were going to miss the beauty of Kenya, and the fantastic coffee. But first, we were scheduled to have dinner at a restaurant specialising in Kenyan cuisine - Amaica.

Us with our guide extraordinaire John

Our happy band of intrepid explorers


Dinner was very good

We can't seem to go anywhere without getting a food boob

Would recommend

After we finished dinner, we headed to the airport. Interesting system they have: you go through security with your luggage, and then check in for your flight. Then you do another security (liquids ban) before going into the lounge to wait for your flight. There are no liquids over 3 ounces allowed in this area, so it is a bit thirsty. Pro-tip: they will announce boarding when they actually mean access to this lounge. Don't hurry. Wait until the boarding time on your ticket. Have a Tusker. Have two. Mmmmm.... Tusker.

Our flight was delayed for three hours, so we really got a good look at this lounge. It was overcrowded, and very noisy since a lot of people did not seem to feel constrained to use their indoor voices. It was often very hard to hear announcements regarding our flight status.

We mostly slept on the flight, and arrived in Charles Degaulle with 5 hours to kill. Part of this was spent going through security (!? - we had just gotten off a plane), where we saw them confiscate people's water bottles and duty free. We then had to find out where are flight home was, and take a shuttle to the correct terminal (at no time leaving the secure area). We were then funnelled through a Duty Free shop (hmmmmm), before arriving in the gate area.

We still had several hours to kill, and I wanted to try the caviar restaurant in the terminal. My mom had kindly given me some Euros to this end. We found the prices inflated and the service appalling, although the caviar and smoked salmon were nice. Andrew's continental breakfast was absurdly expensive and the server threw (literally) his croissant onto his plate as an afterthought.

This is what 39 Euros buys you

13 Euros
We went to a little bar after this to get drinks. Again, the service was off. I do apologize if I got a word wrong, but at least I was trying to speak the language, and it was still comprehensible. But the server was very rude and a simple rum and juice was 15 Euros.

There was, however, one bright spot. The little bakery with the counter service. The drinks were reasonably priced, and the service was friendly. And she didn't make fun of my Canadian high school French.


It was a relief to get on the Air France flight back to Toronto. The service there was friendly and impeccable, and the food was excellent. Did I mention the bread?

Tuesday 6 August 2013

Kenya Day 9 Part II - The Maasai Village and the Great Rift Valley

We had the usual stop at the Reserve gate, where insistent vendors tried to get us to open the windows of the truck so they could give us the hard sell. We are sympathetic, but it makes me very uncomfortable, and I knew we were on our way to the village where we would be spending the last of our schillings anyway.

The village was a little different than the Samburu one, with the houses a little more luxurious, and the warriors a little more colourful. After the greeting dances, we were given the tour, shown the fire making demonstration, and introduced to the chief, who was 97 years old.

After this, the women sang for us and we were escorted through the market. I would like to say that the way they handle their "selling to North Americans" is very well done. I never felt pressured, and so was at ease to spend as much as I wanted.








We said our good-byes and headed back on to the road. Lunch this time would be a picnic provided by the hotel. We stopped at a very nice gift shop with a dining area and friendly dogs. The souvenirs in this place made me want to come back as a billionaire. I could have beautifully decorated a very large mansion in that place.




They also had the toilets we are used to, but I thought this was an interesting glimpse into why the guide insisted we couldn't just stop anywhere.

After as much of the lunch as we and the dogs could manage, we were out on the open road again. The scenery was, as always, breathtaking, and some of the views as we passed the Great Rift Valley were staggering. We even stopped at a lookout point for a rest and picture break.




 
This little fellow is a hyrax
 


And we were on our way again, heading towards Nairobi, Paris, and, eventually, home.