Cruising to Jamaica

My latest cruise was to the islands of Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Grand Stirrup Cay and Cozumel.

We were so excited to finally escape the cooler climates of Missouri and head east to Florida.

Our first stop was the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, FL. My friend Sam met us at the airport and was our driver to Miami.

On Sunday we boarded the new Norwegian ship, The Getaway, and headed to Grand Stirrup Cay - a private island in the Bahamas owned by the cruise line. There wasn't much to do on the island. There were a few locals who put up tents and my goal was to buy a t-shirt in every port. The ship also had a huge shelter house where they fed us a barbecue lunch.

Some of the islands don't have piers so "tenders" are used to transport guests from the ship to port. It isn't my preferred method of transportation. You have to wait for the tender to fill up before they'll take you back to the ship. I hate to wait.

Part of our cruise included a dinner package where we could go to specialty restaurants 4 nights of our cruise. My favorite was Teppanyaki. This is a Japanese steakhouse where they cook the meal on a hot grill right at your table. Our waiter was superb. The dinner lasted an hour and a half but was so delicious it was worth the wait. I had fried rice with scallops and shrimp. Part of the entertainment was the chef flipping fried eggs into our mouths. I thought he had forgotten about me but he didn't. I was sure I would look the fool trying to catch flying egg into my mouth. But on the second try, the egg went right in. Everyone, including the chef, raised their hands in the air and shouted "nothing but net". I didn't know whether to be proud or embarrassed.

Ocho Rios, Jamaica, was our next stop. Most of the excursions offered by the ship involve scuba diving, snorkeling and lying on the beach. Not some of my favorite things to do. So I enjoy investigating the shopping port. 

Watching the people is another fun thing to do so we took a break at Margaritaville.

Grand Cayman was my favorite. I actually believe I could live in Grand Cayman. The shopping is fabulous. This picture can't be far from the truth. I can truly see myself shopping all day long.

I bought a morganite necklace to go with the ring I bought on my last cruise. There are so many things to see and do. But our trip was cut short due to an unexpected storm coming in. So we had to leave early even though there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Our last stop was Cozumel. It's funny how commercialized most of these ports are. I couldn't help myself from getting a hamburger from Hooters. The local cuisine just didn't appeal to me. But the trio sitting next to us had name badges from the ship and they were from the United States. Very rare for a cruise ship. They were actually on the other ship in port and part of the entertainment. One of the gentlemen was more my age and the stories he was telling us of past musical groups was very exciting. 

All too soon the cruise was over and time to head back to reality. But not before spending a couple more nights at the Hard Rock. I did accomplish my goal and got a t-shirt from every port. I kind of cheated and bought 2 from Cozumel.