Caymans and the Cali

I've read that all the beauty in Grand Cayman is under the sea.  Or is that Aruba?   Sailing into the port town of Georgetown was a little like driving into a strip mall.  The main street from the port, like so many others, is lined with T-shirt and souveneir shops, dive shacks and restaurants,  but all  in an nondescript architectural style.   There were a few exceptions, like this cute place offering conch where the exterior decor matched Rich's outfit.

But we were there to snorkel.  Our tour was to go to 2 different stops.   We load the boat (slowly.....as we are among the youngest folks on board) pull away from the pier and in about 6 minutes, stop, between the Disney Fantasy and the Crown Princess.  We were hoping to get a little further around the island, maybe a view of the famed Seven Mile Beach, but no.  The snorkeling was pretty good however, we saw the usual--parrotfish, tangs, angelfish and a couple of tarpons, a shark look alike.  

A half hour later we head to the second spot, a ship wreck.   Once again, we motor for a few minutes and find ourselves within swimming distance of shore.   This is the wreck of the Cali, driven ashore in bad winds,  put aground by the Captain to save it, only to be undone by its cargo, rice.  Which reportedly expanded and blew the hull wide open.  Here's a pic I stole from  a flickr account because we don't have an underwater camera:)

Sorry we didn't get to see more of the island.  That's a downside to cruising.  It's hard to get an informed impression of a place in such a short visit.

Sea day

Probably every Sunday for the past forty odd weeks, we've spent our first waking moments together daydreaming about today, the first sea day of the cruise.  About room service.  And unstructured time.  Discovering the nooks and crannies of the ship.   And here we are, living the dream.

After breakfast al fresco, we plopped ourselves on a couple of chairs  and spent the next 3 hours reading, observing and commenting on our fellow passengers and deck activities, and making occasional forays a bit further afield.     You can find us in the shade with 50 SPF smeared on.

Next up is lunch, and one option is a fresh fish barbeque served on the pool deck.  I guess this is when I should let you know you won't find any pictures here of the delicious food we are enjoying.   Twenty odd years ago, on our first cruise, we thought it was absolutely hilarious that people would take pictures of food.   The midnight buffet was then a very popular feature, and passengers were let in at 11:30 to take photos of the food.   We agreed then that there were many more interesting things to photograph on our travels and with very few exceptions ( I couldn't resist the eponymous Casoncellis we came across in Bergamo, Italy), we've honored that agreement.

Delicious anticipation

Less than 2 weeks after returning home from our Transatlantic cruise last spring, Rich and I committed to the only known remedy for post vacation depression - we booked another trip.

This time we are cruising for 17 nights, departing from Fort Lauderdale this  Saturday, stopping in the Grand Caymans and Colombia before we transit the canal.   On the Pacific side, we will stop in Costa Rica and then 4 Mexican ports and San Diego as we cruise  our way  home to San Francisco.  We're looking forward to snorkeling, hiking, river rafting and "skywalking" on shore, and at sea,  lots of time to read, relax and  gaze at the horizon.

We're on the Regent Seven Seas Navigator, and you can see by the picture it's not your typical mega ship.  The Navigator was built to serve as a Soviet research vessel, then purchased by Regent, retrofitted completely,  and now carries a maximum of 495 passengers.