First Stops & Sea Days

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Days 5-8 – Key West, Cayman Islands, 2 Sea Days



Since our last blog we have experienced tow shore stops and two sea days.



Our first stop was Key West, just a short cruise around the tip of Florida, where we spent the day in port. The ship docked right adjacent to the center of town and since we had stopped here on a previous cruise we knew our way around.



After a leisurely breakfast we went ashore to go exploring on our own having passed up purchasing any of the arranged excursions.



We had a very enjoyable time doing a self-guided tour of the Audubon House. The house built in 1830 by the Harbor Master Capt. John Geiger and was visited by John J. Audubon in 1832 when he came to Key West and painted 22 of the local birds. The house remained in the Geiger family up until the late 1950’s. The house fell into disrepair and but was restored in the early 1960’s and dedicated to honour Audubon’s visit.



We walked around to see the free exhibit at the Little White House. This was a retreat that a number of US Presidents used but most notably by Harry Truman.



After everyone was back on board we set sail, at 5:00 p.m. Saturday, for Georgetown, Cayman Islands, where we anchored at 8:00 a.m. Monday. This was our first full “at sea” day.



Sea days are where the Cruise Director and his staff shine. It is their responsibility to ensure that the passengers have a wide variety of things to do – if that is what they want. Nobody forces you to participate – it is entirely up to you. Lectures on what to expect at the next port of call, cooking demonstrations, shopping tips, sports events, etc. Something for everyone from 8:00 a.m. to midnight. Or you can just find a quiet corner and read to your heart’s content.



One of the events that we did take part in was the wine tasting. The Chief Wine Steward conducted a full hour presentation where we had the opportunity to properly examine and taste two white and two red wines.



Georgetown, Grand Cayman was our next port of call. Here Brooke and I decided to go off on two different excursions; one by land and one by sea.



Brooke learned about some of the history and flora of the island by visiting Pedro Castle and then g the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Gardens.



I on the other hand descended 104 feet into the waters around the island in a fully functional 48-passenger submarine, the Atlantis.



This was an extremely short port-of-call as we were there only 6 hours before sailing off to Aruba.



Today we are once again “at sea” sailing across the Caribbean with 44 knot winds blowing in across our port bow. It makes the sea a bit choppy but not at all unpleasant.



Again it has been a day filled with all sorts of activities and tomorrow we land at Oranjestad, Aruba for a 12 hour stay.

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Comments

[Charlotte]

Beautiful
Looks great! Not sure I could do the submarine myself :)