vacation time

[bubba]

Getting ready to disappear for a few days.... Saturday morning early we are getting leaving for a cruise in the Caribbean.. Stopping at Jamaica and Grand Cayman... I'm already in vacation mode...

[Jim]

Enjoy your trip ! ! !

[mznb1u]

Did that trip a few years back for my wife's birthday.  Hope you have smooth sailing.  If you are not swimming with the sting rays at Cayman, I suggest the bicycle tour of the island.  You will get to see parts of the island away from the built up shopping area and you will still be back in town with enough time to shop and grab a bite to eat before the ship heads out!

The walking trip from Ocho Rios to Dunn's River Falls is a nice excursion in Jamaica!

Have fun!

  Tim

[collecture]

...I suggest the bicycle tour of the island.  You will get to see parts of the island away from the built up shopping area and you will still be back in town with enough time to shop and grab a bite to eat before the ship heads out!

Unless the bike gets a flat!! 
Have a great vacation! Hope the weather holds up for you!

[bubba]

Thanks guys... Tim.. you walked to the falls on Ocho? We booked an excursion to the falls and some snorkeling thing.. After I made my family walk to the reversing falls in Canada, I don't think they would have listened to me when I said it was just a short walk..  In Cayman, we are booked for the beach.. Otherwise, I'll be keeping the Johnny Walker company in business while on the ship!.. In my mind I'm already sitting at the airport waiting for the plane.. I'm on cruise control already...
As for weather, it looks like we may get wet leaving Miami, but other than that the forecast looks pretty good for us the rest of the trip-- slight chance of rain in Jamaica..

[Pat Pixley]

Hey Ken what cruise line ??  swimming with the dolphins then a trip on a bus to Dunn River falls, both were cool
 And Ken If you could  (big Favor) need a shot glass from Cayman  what ever you think is cool (only if you want)

 ANd one more thing Have a Great time . .

[rayg]

Ken,  Have a great time , I'm thinking about taking a similar cruise next your for our 25 anniversary. I also would like to know what cruise line you go on and let us know how it goes when you get back !!

[halehouse]

Whew! We tried to climb up Dunn River Falls in Jamaica with my son and it was tough! Mainly because of his age. He was about 5. We didn't the whole thing. There was a point to stop part way up.

[mznb1u]

We did our cruise on Royal Carribean and I would highly recommend that line!

And Bubba, the walk from the dock to the falls was not that bad.  We stopped at the place that Pat mentioned where you can swim with the dolphins (we did not do that however).  They have something of a tropical zoo there.  It was a nice excursion and now that I think about it, they picked us by boat from the Falls and took us back to the cruise ship dock.  Nice strong rum punch on the boat!

  Tim

[bubba]

We are doing Carnival.. its a good line for the kids..My kids are 12 and 11 and there is a lot to keep them occupied.. I think we are getting a bus or something to the falls.. then we go to Dophin cove and go snorkeling.. Pat.. I'll see what I can do for you.. I usually look for shot glasses.. I stopped collecting unless I see something really cool..

This is our 3rd trip on Carnival, 2nd with the kids.. Last year we did NY-Canada.. great trip.. Carnival isn't a fancy ship.. Its great if you want to party or have kids..

[Pat Pixley]

Thanks Ken if you can that would be great and I will reimburse for the cost of shot glass and shipping .
 I just need to hit that 1000 mark (close to 900)  and all different.

[Cokemachinesandmore]

I wish i was going on vacation, I spent 10 days in vegas and it was all a blur!

[BrianB]

I know why it was such a blur, you were busy helping Rick film his pilot for his new show!

[bubba]

I know why it was such a blur, you were busy helping Rick film his pilot for his new show!

ROFLMAO...

We made it back, in between the storms... Got some stories when I get settled back in.. Nothing soda related really..

Pat.. pm me your address..

[collecture]

Glad you made it home safely!
Was thinking about you with the hurricane over there.

[bubba]

Well, this trip was definitely an adventure.. It started off when we got to the airport and my wife asked where the camera was.... that kinda set the tone for the rest of the trip.. doesn't matter that she put the battery in and put it back in the closet, not with the rest of the luggage   .. we are always laughing at people using their cell phones for pictures... luckily mine had a decent camera and a big memory card. We also picked up a disposable or 2. It is hard to use a film camera when you are so used to just snapping pictures and deleting the not so good ones.. These pictures should be interesting when we get them developed.

It was very apparent that Continental and United are merging and the flight attendants aren't happy about it.. Most miserable crew I've dealt with both directions on this trip.. Looks like the last good airline is going downhill.

Carnival Destiny was the ship... its an older ship that has been updated. The air conditioning in the dining rooms wasn't working well.. not so good in the middle of the Caribbean in August! The food wasn't very good either. The wait staff was slow and inattentive. It must have been a new crew as the attention to details wasn't very good. Our last cruise on Carnival, the wait staff learned our names, what we liked, and payed a lot more attention to details.. The shower backed up into the bathroom floor 2x. Luckily it was just soapy water, but still pretty nasty. The main lights in our room intermittently worked for the first 2 days.

Jamaica - I'll never step foot on that island again.. We were bombarded/harassed the moment we got off the tour bus by people selling stuff.. We did the snorkeling trip at Dolphin cove which was pretty nice, then to the Dunns River Falls. The falls was neat, but very hard to enjoy when you are always trying to watch your back from someone trying to harass you. Then trying to leave that place was another trip in itself. It took a while to discover the magic words.. " I don't have any more money". If I knew how important that phrase was in the beginning, it may have been a bit better. There was an old soda shop in the park I wanted to stop at, but by the time we passed it I didn't want to look at anything but the boat back to the ship. I also think that the falls are man made. The river may have been there, but those rocks and all are man made. I haven't seen too many rocks with trees and burlap bags growing out of them.

Grand Cayman- Very nice.. I would definitely go back there for a vacation. The people were friendly, it was clean and the water was beautiful. So was the rest of the scenery at the beach... too bad we only had a short time on the island.

 Water was a bit rough wed night-- guess the after effects of Earl. We docked back in Miami on Thurs early am. Our flight home wasn't until 4:30, so we did a trip to the Miami Aquarium-- sad to say, but probably the highlight of the trip. Its a very small aquarium, but we got to see Flipper the dolphin and the big Killer wale... There was some good shows, was saw in the few hours we were there.

The flight home was uneventful, except for the miserable flight crew. Garbage all over the floor of the plane, etc.. Felt good to be back in my own bed. Then we see on the news about the excitement we missed at Miami airport last night. I am soo glad we got out before that happened.

[collecture]

Jamaica - I'll never step foot on that island again.. We were bombarded/harassed the moment we got off the tour bus by people selling stuff.

I HATE that! My wife and I went to Puerto Vallarta for our honeymoon 20 years ago and we couldn't go anywhere without somebody trying to sell us some piece of S*%t - even on the beach somebody would come up to us every 10 minutes or so. We haven't been back since and have no plans to either!

Some trips are like that Ken and it is a bummer when they are - you work and save and get excited and then nothing goes as planned.
I remember once a long time ago, my wife and I were going to Universal Studios in CA. She let her drivers license lapse and thought she was going to have to take the test again, so she procrastinated. I was bugging her to just do it before the trip and she didn't. On the plane we were talking and decided we would go for a convertible or something fun for in the sun. Well - we got to the auto rental place and low and behold, my DL was expired too. We could not rent a car - at least from that place, but the guy at the counter said I know someone that can help you. We rented a Chevy Lumina from this place and there were bullet holes in the doors, the car stunk and it would only go 55 downhill with the wind behind us! We laugh about it now!

[Kilroy]

wow, i think next year you out to vacation at the Chicago coin show.

[Pat Pixley]

sorry about the Jamaica thing,  our wait staff told us to not to take cash  and when you showed them a empty wallet or money clip they left you alone.  let me ask you did you think Jamaica felt dirty or looked dirty it just felt scummy to o me.

 And thanks again  sent you a pm dont forget  picture we like pictures  .

[SIGNGUY]

Too bad to hear about the trip..I love to vacation in Mexico and have several times in different locations.. the best way to deal with the peddlers is just ignore them , don't make eye contact.. at least it use to work.. now over the last few years we have only been going to all inclusive resorts with private beachs that don't have the locals hanging out...
Good to hear you made it back safe..

[bubba]

sorry about the Jamaica thing,  our wait staff told us to not to take cash  and when you showed them a empty wallet or money clip they left you alone.  let me ask you did you think Jamaica felt dirty or looked dirty it just felt scummy to o me.

 And thanks again  sent you a pm dont forget  picture we like pictures  .

I think the area we went to in Jamaica could have been a nice area, but I got turned off soo quickly I didn't get a chance to really enjoy it. The locals now hit you before you even get a chance to know whats going on.. I don't even think I had both feet on the ground getting off the bus and they were on top of me.. I must have had sucker on my forehead or something.. I guess they are pros at their jobs... I thought it was part of the tour at first they hit so hard..

[Creighton]

Always a problem anywhere. Had a good laugh in Singapore. It was raining and had an umbrella but they were still trying to sell me one. The pick pockets are at work while you are distracted by the jabbering of the street vendors. A don't f*ck with me stare and learning the local words for F*ck off help.

We also tired of the BS and went the all inclusive route. Got bored with those quick. Now spending our vacation money/time in the good ole USA where it is needed.

Creighton