Derek Bodner’s Blog

As I briefly mentioned in my previous post, I had a very fun vacation this winter. February 10th-18th Elyssa and I went on a cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. It’s hard to describe, so I’ll start off the post with a picture:

You can find more great pictures at:
photos.derekbodner.com

Tonight I was actually picking out the pictures I wanted to put up, and putting them up in the gallery. Very depressing looking at all those pictures. I can’t believe we’ve already been back for a week, and that it’s been 15 days since we set sail! My, how time flies. Especially when you’re on a vacation.

The ship itself was absolutely huge and very nice. It had 11 restaurants and 9 bars, and they were all (well, except one) very nice. The food was good, and being able to eat whenever you wanted, wherever you wanted, was very nice. I couldn’t have imagined assigned times and assigned seating.

A week ago today (well, I started writing this Sunday night, 2-25, and finished Monday morning, 2-26. We got back 8 am Sunday morning, 2-18) we got back into NYC to end the trip. The itinerary was like this:
Saturday, 2-10: Leave NYC (4 pm embarkation).
Sunday, 2-11: At Sea.
Monday, 2-12: At Sea.
Tuesday, 2-13: St. Thomas (11am – 1am).
Wednesday, 2-14: Tortola (7am – 5pm).
Thursday, 2-15: Samana, Dominican Republic (9am – 6 pm).
Friday, 2-16: At Sea.
Saturday, 2-17: At sea.
Sunday, 2-18: Return (8 am debarkation).

The ship can very distinctly be divided into 3 segments, the first 3 days at sea, the next 3 days on islands, and the following 3 days (only 2 nights) at sea returning. The first 3 days didn’t go by very fast, but not too slow either. In fact, it was just about right. The majority of the memories of the ship happened during that timespan. We didn’t do much on the ship during the 2nd segment, except for eat and go to shows at night (a little time in the casino), and the return home seemed very quick, and it got cold very quick as well (meaning not much up on the deck). The second segment was primarily filled with the islands, and the excursions. We continued to go to the night entertainment (both in the Galaxy of the Stars and the Stardust Theater), but actual time in the boat during the day was minimal. And the 3rd segment was like a wrapup period. The boat wasn’t quite as new as it was during the first segment, and we were both a little sick (not to the point where we couldn’t function, but to the point where it was a minor inconvenience). We bought pictures, mingled with some people we met, and checked out the stuff we hadn’t yet seen (and tried a few restaurants). But this phase of the trip you definitely got hit with “oh my god it’s almost over”. Blah.

Saturday boarding the ship was between 1pm and 4 pm. We got there about 1:15 or so, and boarding actually wasn’t that bad. We onboard probably by about 1:45. We were able to go to Deck 7 and make our excursion reservations, and get to our room by 2 PM, which was the earliest the rooms opened. We actually had to wait 10 minutes before they would let us in. We grabbed food at Blue Lagoon Cafe (the one I mentioned earlier about not being terribly excited with), then went up at 4 and took pictures of NYC as we left. Later that night we went up to Stardust Theater, and saw Bart Rocket. The intro to his show seemed very lame, but he was actually very funny. He did standup, ventriloquism, and magic. His standup was ok, but he was absolutely hilarious was a ventriloquist, and quite talented as a magician. I was quite impressed.

Sunday was a day at sea. I honestly don’t remember much about Sunday, I’ll probably update more when I look back at the itinerary. In the morning Elyssa went up to the gym (I met her there right at the end as she was finishing up). During this time I made reservations for Le Bistro for Valentines Day (and tried to make reservations for her birthday, Friday, but they said I could only make reservations for the current day and the next day, although Valentines Day was an exception to this rule). The majority of the day was spent checking out the boat, at that point the ship was all new and awe-inspiring. It wasn’t quite warm enough to go up on the deck too much. We definitely went to stardust, as we did every night on the ship. And I think tonight we went to Windows, which was one of the two main restaurants on the ship. I know one night we went to Windows, and next night to the Garden Room. I’m pretty sure that was Sunday/Monday, but it’s not impossible it was Saturday/Sunday either.

Monday was the last day of the first part of the trip at sea. We got to do a little more on the deck during this day, i.e. going up on the deck for barbecue, relaxing up on the deck, playing basketball, golf, etc. We were thinking of going in the pool, but it was too windy. In fact, we never got in the pool. We were going to on the way back, but it rained the one day it was warm enough, and the last two days it was too cold.

Tuesday we landed in St. Thomas of the US Virgin Islands. We woke up early (like 7 am or so) so we could eat, and go to the hot tub before St. Thomas, which we landed at 11 am. We woke up, had breakfast, then went to the hot tub. The hot tub was nice, but it was so windy that water constantly splashed into your face. While we were up there we began to see islands. They were close enough to see, but still a little ways away. We were focusing on the right hand side of the ship for a good half hour, then we walked over to the left hand side, and they were incredibly close to us. We didn’t even notice how close we were for a good half hour

We then went back down to our cabin, and fell asleep for a little. We actually woke up just as we were pulling into St. Thomas. It was incredibly exciting. After seeing nothing but water for 3 days (and you saw NOTHING but water), it was great to be right up next to the island.

Once we docked (at Havensight dock in Charlotte Amalia), we went into town real quick and did a little shopping. The actual reason we went shopping was I was looking for a quick pair of sandals, which I couldn’t find the entire trip. That was very surprising. We did buy a couple nice nick-nack’s though, and was fun. On the cab ride back, our cab driver was actually from Philadelphia (well, he grew up in Jamaica, moved up to Philly when he was 19 or 20, stayed up there for about 15 years, then moved back down 5 years ago to St. Thomas). He had eagles gear all over his “cab” (cab’s down there are either open cab’s, or minivans). That was neat.

We then got back to the dock, and went to the boat to meet up for our first excursion, the Submarine dive. We didn’t have time to take the stuff we bought up to our room, so we took it with us. We then met Christine and Conner, and Robyn and Ray, two couples we saw a lot of on the trip. The dive was very neat, going down as low as 80 feet. Elyssa was very scared before, but when we got down there, she realized there was nothing to be scared of and was fine. The dive was completely different than anything I’ve done before, and I’m glad we did it. The sights were amazing. On the way back to the dock we learned the driver on our boat was from Philly originally (well, Norristown technically). He moved down here about 13 years ago.

Once we got back we went to the Submarine gift shop, and then went to a local bar/restaurant to get some food. The sandwich was pretty good, and the live music was nice as well. We then went back to the boat and took our stuff up to our room, to get ready for our 2nd excursion of the day (the other two days we had one excursion each day).

One thing I didn’t quite understand. The island was very much American. From the culture, to the currency, to the language. The road signs were EXACTLY the same as signs you’d see in America. However, they drove on the left hand side of the road. The steering wheels were still on the left (same as America), but they drove on the left. Very odd. The cab driver who had gone to Philly said this took quite a bit to get used to.

The 2nd excursion was a ride on a sailboat out in the ocean, then watching the sunset from there. There were quite a few couples, but it was actually very peaceful. The sunsets were amazing as well.

We got back kinda late that night, so we just went to eat at Raffles Court with Christine and Conner, and ended up going to sleep really early. You didn’t have to board the ship until like 12:30 am, but everything in St. Thomas closed between 5 pm and 7 pm. We had discussed going back out after dinner, and that was our original plan, but we were exhausted and ended up staying in.

Tuesday was Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, which was easily the best of the islands we went too. The islands (both Tortola and Virgin Gorda) were simply breathtaking. The pictures we took of these islands were nice, but don’t nearly do it justice. Far and away the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.

The day started off with about an hour to kill before our excursion, so right outside of the port there was a bunch of shops. They were just tents that people sold local merchandise, crafts, shirts, etc. We bought quite a bit there as they had some nice stuff.

We then went on our Virgin Gorda excursion. This excursion I was a little on the fence with when we selected it. Tortola had the Dolphin Swim excursion, which ran the same time as the Virgin Gorda excursion. Dolphins have always been something I’ve been interested in, and ever since Keith, Dad and Jimmy swam with one at Disney the prior year, I’ve wanted to real bad. I always wanted to, in fact, as when I was younger I wanted to be a marine biologist. Choosing Virgin Gorda over it was very hard, but the description of it sounded very nice.

After all was said and done, I’m very glad we picked what we did. I’d still absolutely love the Dolphin Swim, but missing out on Virgin Gorda highlights would have been something I’d regret. The island was simply amazing, and the baths something I’ll never forget. We hiked down to the first baths, and spent probably a half hour swimming there. Got some incredible pictures, and the water was something I’ve never seen before. It was so peaceful, no waves, and you could see the bottom the entire time. You could see the fish swim past you as you stood there.

The baths were filled with huge rocks along the beach that made for a picture perfect view. After checking out the first location, we hiked through the rocks to the pirates bay (or something, I’m not completely sure of the name). The hike was actually quite challenging, but fun. The rocks were mammoth, and a site to see. And when we got there, the bay was incredible. I just wish we had more time at this excursion, as it really was incredible.

When we got back to the ship, we got a taxi and just asked for a beach. He took us to Cane Garden Bay. This was a pretty long cab ride (although not that expensive), but some of the views we had were amazing. And when we got to the beach, it was well worth it. Large beach, white sand, mountains all around, and mountainous islands in the distance. Once again, the pictures just didn’t do it justice at all. We only got about an hour here, and I do wish we had more time. I bought a snorkel, and swam around a little. We also saw some jetski’s which Elyssa actually asked me if we could rent, but we couldn’t find the guys who rented them. We also met a couple (sat next to them on the beach), who noticed the Drexel shirt I was wearing. They asked me if I went to Drexel, to which I replied that I had just graduated this past spring. The father had gone to Drexel, and they had a son who graduated around 2000 who went to Drexel. Very small world. One thing that piqued my interest was that their official currency (not just money they’d except, but official currency) was US dollars, even though it was a British territory. Apparently they had tried to print their own pounds, but in the ’70’s, due to the amount of tourism and the proximity to the US Virgin Islands, the locals preferred the US dollar. I’m still not sure if we print money for them, or if they just have a lot lying around, but I found it weird. During our cab right back, the driver (Danny) explained it to us.

We went back to the ship, and boarded the ship just as 4:30 rolled around. It was Valentine’s day that day, and we went to Le Bistro for a 5-course dinner, which was nice. It was a complete shock to her. She kept bugging me about making reservations for Valentines Day, and I played it off like I didn’t, and we went to go to Windows, and I just walked up to Le Bistro (which was on the 7th floor), and she was completely shocked. I think it was a good surprise. After dinner we went to the show, then (I believe) we stopped down at Maharini’s for the Casino. We had gone there once previously, but only played the poker machines. That night I played with Ray/Robyn and had a go at a Black Jack table. I took $40, and had the money almost doubled at one point, but then lost all of it. Overall it was fun though. Elyssa gave it a go, but she had very bad luck. I didn’t see one hand where she egregiously played it wrong, but she couldn’t win. The dealer was hot.

Thursday was Samana, Dominican Republic. We had picked the excursion for Samana as the Cayo Levantado Beach escape, which was a private island, as we wanted to pick one that was slow and relaxing. It was definitely the right one to pick. The island was beautiful, the beaches were gorgeous, and we got some great pictures. Particularly of this guy who had a monkey and two parrots. Elyssa got a picture of the monkey climbing on her, and I got one of the two parrots on my shoulders. We spent a good few hours on the beach, then went back to the ship. The ship couldn’t dock in Samana, so it docked in the bay, then had boats take us to Samana. We got to mainland Samana, and had a cab rider take us to the town (which was probably only a half mile from the dock). We picked up some very nice paintings there, and that alone made me happy we went. We also got a Dominican Peso, and some coffee beans. After shopping, we went to each at a restaurant across the street. The food was incredible. The fish was very, very good. But it was quite possibly the worst service I ever had. We ordered our drinks, and Elyssa ordered a water, and I asked for a coke. I even picked up an empty bottle and pointed to it. He brought me a rum and coke, and Elyssa a club soda. We then waited, and waited, and waited. Probably about 45 minutes. He then brought out food, but made a mistake and brought us someone else’s food. We finally got our food, and Elyssa’s not even sure if she got the right food. Nevertheless, it was good.

The main problem with Samana was that it was very much a different culture. The Virgin Islands, both US and British, were very much like America. They spoke American and took American money, and the customs were very much American. St. Thomas was a little more inhabited than Tortola, but the culture was very close to the same. Samana was not. It was very much hispanic. People there spoke Spanish. A few spoke broken English, but not many. The currency was Dominican peso’s. We tried to take money out of the ATM machine, which said it dispensed in US dollars as well, but got our “souvenir peso” from that machine. Luckily, most places did take US dollars as well.

Friday was another day at sea, traveling home. I planned to do my swimming that day but it got extremely windy and rainy during periods of the afternoon. They actually closed off the pool for good Friday, and I never got to go in. Saturday was too cold, and Sunday we arrived in NY. Friday was Elyssa’s birthday, and we went to Tapenyaki for it. That restaurant was amazing, and probably my favorite restaurant on the ship, which was surprising since it was Japanese. The chicken was quite possibly the best chicken I’ve ever had, and the steak good too. I even liked the shrimp. The way the restaurant worked, there were 10 people sitting in a 3 quarters square, with the chef in the middle, and he cooked the food right there. I got a few pictures up, and it was fun to watch. We met a couple there from Manhattan, and she was 4 months pregnant, and had a good time. We had 5:30 reservations, and then ran from there to the 7:30 show in the Stardust theater. After that show (8:30), we stopped down by our room, then went back up for the 9pm show (although we were late, I believe we fell asleep). We watched this show with Robyn and Ray. After that we went back Galaxy of the stars (10:30), and then down to the Casino, where Elyssa went to “Shippenmales”. This led to our one fight on the ship, although that didn’t happen until Saturday after I saw the pictures of the event. I won’t go into detail here though* .

Saturday was a wrap-up day. We saw a couple shows, went to Windows one second time, bought a few things in the duty free store, went to the 7 pm show, met Robyn and Ray in the Stardust for the second show at 9 PM* (I believe they had two different shows on Saturday), then went back to the Casino/nightclub with Robyn/Ray. Elyssa danced for a little, but we were all kinda beat.

And Sunday…..Sunday we returned to NYC. We woke up, went to Windows for breakfast. Had a nice breakfast, finished packing, then left the ship. Disembarkation was ridiculously quick, and customs was a joke. They didn’t check any of our bags, we just gave them a card with what we told them we got on the cruise, and walked right through. Got a quick cab ride to Penn Station, then got in NJ Transit and were home. We then both went to my mom’s house to pick up Sheeba. It was actually a relief to find out Sheeba and Buttercup (one of my mom’s two cat’s) had gotten along really well. I’d actually like to get Sheeba another cat, because I think he may be lonely sometimes.

I now finish writing this on Sunday, March 4th (trickling into 2:25 am Monday, March 5th). Everything post-itinerary was done today. It’s now been two full weeks since we returned in NYC, and man……do I wish we were still there! I now just need to win the lottery so I can buy the Hans Lollik islands, a pair of US Virgin Islands off the coast of St. Thomas!

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