Blogs from Oceans and Seas - page 77

Geo: 21.9759, 96.0842 Today I was picked up at 4.30 am for the sunrise at U Bein Bridge in Amarapura which is the world's longest bridge made out of teak wood, built by the mayor of Amarapura from teak posts salvaged during the uprooting of the capital to Mandala . This bridge is over 200 years old and maintained by the monks, It is nearly a mile long and spans Taungthaman lake. We were very early and I could not see in the dark so we just sat near the bench for almost an hour for the sunrise. The sunrise was nice and then we headed for Pyin Oo Lwin, there was traffic on the way and I saw many pickups, packed with people on the way, we passed a street market where locals were selling ... read more

Geo: 14.03, -60.98Thursday, March 13, 2014St. LuciaJeff and I have never been to St. Lucia so we decide instead of taking an organized tour we'll strike out on our own and go snorkeling.We wend our way off the boat through the hordes hawking tours and taxis. We do stop to ask a cabbie how much the fare would be to Anse-La Raye. Our Fodors tells us that there is excellent snorkeling there. "$120. US" is his answer. When we laugh, he drops it to $100. We laugh again and tell him, "No, thanks, we'll take the bus." He says "There in no bus to Anse-La Raye." I immediately retort, "Oh, yes there is, right across from the police station!" It helps to have done your homework ahead of time...We walk to the bus stop, which is ... read more

Geo: 17.1185, -61.8462Wednesday, March 12, 2014Antigua, West IndiesOur first port day is a stop in Antigua. Antigua is the largest of the British Leeward Islands. Together with its sister island, Barbuda, they are an independent nation and are part of the British Commonwealth. Antigua was under British control from 1667 until it's independence in 1981.We have never been here before and despite the fact that Antigua advertises 365 beaches,one for every day of the year, decided that instead of snorkeling we will go to historic Nelson's Dockyard. After breakfast we went ashore and got a cab to the Dockyard.Nelson's Dockyard is the world's only Gregorian dockyard still in use. English Harbour is landlocked which was a great advantage to the British navy and they began using the area in 1704. In 1784, Horatio Nelson sailed in ... read more

Geo: 17.31, -62.73Monday, March 10thAt SeaLast night we sailed through the Straits of Florida, past Great Isaac Island into the Northwest Providence Channel and past Great Stirrup Cay (pronounced "key") in the Bahamas.Today is a day at sea and days at seas are probably our favorite part of cruising. They are sooo relaxing. The gentle ocean swells rocked us to sleep (seriously) and we didn't wake up until after 10 am. Glorious!Jeff went up to the buffet for coffee, yogurt and fruit and we had breakfast on our balcony. We are almost directly below the Bridge at the very front of the ship. Check out these huge windshield wipers!This afternoon we walked 5 miles which is 15 laps around the Promenade deck. While walking I spotted a whale off in the distance. We called to people ... read more

Saturday, March 8, 2014 This will be my last blog entry for our cruise to the South Pacific. On Sunday, we disembark and fly home to Houston. In typical fashion, I was woke up super early this morning, not to run, but to work on my blog in the Royal Promenade. There are a few other crazy people on the ship that are also up early. Cindy also was up early, however not until 6:15am. I truly enjoyed sitting in the lovely Royal Promenade in front of the Irish bar each morning, drinking a cup of coffee, and writing about how much fun we are having on our trip. We are very fortunate to be able to experience this. Cindy and I ate breakfast in the dining room this morning. The food is much ... read more