10/15/06

By SCIROCCO

• February 11, 2007

FRIDAY 10/13/2006

We left at 6AM Friday Morning for the Drive down to Galveston,Going through Houston was rough plus they have a lot of Construction too! The traffic going out of Galveston on Friday was Bumper to Bumper glad we wernt leaving Galveston! We arrived at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort around 4 PM and checked in! We got a room facing the Ocean with a Balcony! Real great view and real nice room and hotel,I highly recommend it! you should see their outside Bar across the street from the Ocean! This is on Seawall Blvd!

Saturday October 14th. 2006!

We got up Early because Annie was eager to get out and about The weather was very windy and warm,we went to Galveston Ilsand State Park Its West On Seawall Blvd. about 10 Miles on The Left! We walked along the Beach and just enjoyed each other walking in the waves picking up some nice Seashells! At 7 Pm we went to Landrys Seafood Restaurant and had our Seafood Platter and entrees! The Service was bad and the food wasnt as good as in previous years! The Manager came over to see how everything was and I told her we didnt get half our order no refills on drinks and I said that I didnt want the Girl to get into trouble and I was assured she wouldnt Our $80.00 Meals were Free as was our Bar Bill!But I woul Highly Recommend you go to Willie G's at Pier 21!

Sunday Oct.15th! Time to Go Cruising!

We left for the Terminal at 11:00 AM in a Yellow Taxi Cab the Hotel called, the Cab driver took us the long way around to the Terminal! I advised him of this and told his Manager about it! So dont use the Yellow Cab Service or if you do make sure you are taken the shortest route! We got our bags checked then went into the terminal to check in the whole prcess took only 1 Hour and we were onboard at 12: PM, The Cabins wont be ready until 1 PM so go get you some food at The windjammer Buffet!We got into our cabin at 1 PM unpacked some until Boat Drill Yeeessshhh! Afterwards we went to the Sailaway Party! The Food was Ok this Trip but our Waiters werent very good!We had great Table Mates, they were from Southern California must be something about them Californians huh Joey!?

MONDAY OCT.16th. 2006

We ran into some rough weather with the seas over 20 feet high and high winds from the front that was moving from the Gulf into Galveston,Annie got Queasy but I had no problems Im going for some Breakfast, Omelettes and fixings YUM!

TUESDAY OCT.17th.

Seas are Calmer since we got out of the front, I only spilled a half cup of coffeee walking back to the Cabin!Went to the Casino and played the Quarter slots and won $60.00 One of the holding tanks went out and there was no sewer service, also they had a fire in the Incinerator as well, I think its time for Dry Dock! But as far as that everything else is fine!

WEDNESDAY OCT. 18TH.

08:45 We arrived in Ocho Rios,Jamaica Alongside the Dock! The weather is extremely Humid and Hot 88 Percent Humidity! Very Beautiful Water and Iland. 10:AM: We went ashore to Iland hope I spelled Iland right but you get the message we went into "TOWN" Grin!Most of the shops had no Electricity and was dark but the Village ones had some and AC Most of the Shop Opereators werent very friendly and no Bartering period,I wasnt impressed with Margaritaville either and they wanted to charge you for the chairs for the beach even if you had a drink there!Their Liquor was about the same prices in the States! I spoke with one of the other cruisers who told me he made the mistake of walking around town and was mobbed by vendors,Taxi cab people wanting to take you places pushing their products at you and were getting belligerent! So walk around town at your own risk!Overall the Islands Beautiful but do Tours, If youve been in one shop youve been in all of them! I only stayed 45 Minutes and that was enough for me! We left at 5:30 Pm for the Caymans! Thank Goodness!

THURSDAY OCT.19TH.2006

We arrived in Grand Caymans at 07:00 Hrs! and Tendered! Very Humid and Hot but Beautiful Iland as well! Carnival Conquest was there as well!We went into town and as usual all prices were high as well! Again I suggest Tours here as well but also to look around town! Tendering went well with only two ships,it took us 20 minutes to get to the dock at the pier! We left The Caymans at 4PM for Cozumel!

FRIDAY OCT.20TH.2006

We arrived at Cozumel and Docked at 09:00 Hrs. The Piers are all still damaged bad not much work going on to repair them! Extremely Hot and Humid! Sunscreen sunscreen!We got our shopping done there and got $800.00 worth of Jewelry for $200.00!Now thats what Im talking about,and we had the ships Jeweler look at it as well and were told it was authentic and we got a good deal and we Bartered as well! UH!HUH!Suggest Tours here as well but do your Major Shopping in Cozumel you just have to look at all the right places to get a good deal!I spoke with another Passenger who said they did a tour of the Inner Iland and said all the Palm trees,houses and some buisnesses were still torn up bad from last year!Probably need to do the ruins or water sport tour!We left at 6PM For Galveston!

SATURDAY OCT 21ST.2006

Received our Invitation from the Guest Relations that our tour of the Bridge would be at 4PM! We arrived at the Pursers office and Adrian the Guest Relations MGR.Took us to the 8th. Floor we went through three Security doors to get to the Bridge better Security than Aircraft to their cockpit! The Second Officer was from Croatia and he gave us the complete rundown on all the Instruments the Radar,Navigation system,there were only 8 of us that had a invitation! One guy wanted his picture taken driven the Ship in the big Black Captains chair but it was forbidden to take any pictures of the Bridge and I understood that but we were able to take them on the wing outside the Bridge where the Capt. docks the ship!It was extremely Interesting to see how the Bridge works and all the computers and Radio Room and the Backup Systems while you are cruising they have it on Automatic Pilot with a Quartermaster upfront looking out for any Hazards! Mostly everythings Automated! The Captain came in and I was able to give hime the Police Patches that we had framed for him and heliked it very much,we were told that it was a priveldge for the Capt. to show up on these bridge tours,because he usually doesnt do it! So that made our day to talk to him more in depth than the Captains Party!

SUNDAY OCT.22ND 2006!

We arrived in Galveston around 06:00 Hrs. and it was cool,windy,and had been raing! It only took us 45 minutes to get through customs and off the ship,our passports got us through faster than people without them,get those passports they didnt even look in our carry off baggage or shoulder bags!

And I forgot to tell you that Formal nights are Mondays and Thursdays for the Western Caribbean, Caymans, Jamaica, Cozumel Sailings! It was nice! Overall Everything was Great and the food was Good, you know its not Moms Homecooking, The Service was Great overall except for our waiters! We hate to see Rhapsody leave but we were told in Two Years theres two more cruise lines coming in!Plus I beleive Laporte,Texas is building some piers as well,so we should see within the next several Years some more cruising choices,about time! This just my views others will have different ones! Thanks for reading this hope it has helped somewhat!