Having a day at sea will give us a chance to catch up on recent news. Originally, we were to have four ports to visit, namely Half Moon Cay, Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, Mexico. Before we left home, Cozumel had been dropped, followed by Grand Cayman, which was a disappointment, since our ship was to be the first one to visit for a very long time since the start of the pandemic. The Cayman authorities (under British rule) was going to make HAL test everyone on this ship, or we would not be allowed entrance. The Captain declined, so the port was dropped. To replace Cozumel, another stop at Grand Turk was substituted, but that was also cancelled. Are you confused yet??? We sure are.....
It is what it is, and we have to go with the flow. Of course, all of the ship's tours would be automatically refunded, and new excursions would be added for Cozumel. This evening we received the When & Where newsletter with a statement regarding going ashore in Ocho Rios. With the exception of the immediate port shopping area, people would need to use a government approved taxi bringing people to the pre approved areas. In other words, no independent touring on your own. Recalling our first visit here many years ago, we remembered that the hassle factor was huge. One very aggressiveb hair stylist chased us down the road to convince me to have my hair braided for free, just to entice others to have theirs done. No thanks, was not in her vocabulary. Funny now, but not at the time.
The first thing we noticed was that the boobys were back, following the ship. Obviously, they were searching for their favorite food, the flying fish. Some of these curious birds flew up to our veranda, as if they expected food to be tossed to them. Yes, we have seen folks doing that with seagulls while docked, something frowned upon by most captains.
After breakfast, we wandered through the Shops, looking for their HAL logo items. Oddly enough, they seem to be few and far between. Specifically, we were looking for a suitable reusable water bottle, one that is not plastic, which is not allowed on the ship anymore. We did not find anything like that in any of their stores. What we did find was name brand clothing such as Chico's, Nautica, and even Tommy Bahama items. The women's section was full of lightweight tops from l India, and they were reasonably priced. In this same shop, we saw Tagua nut jewelry, which is very interesting since it comes mainly from Ecuador and is considered "green". It is made from hard nuts, and commonly used to make buttons. The biggest selection has to be handbags and purses. On the higher end is the Mary Frances line, which one of us has already begun a collection.
As far as jewelry goes, Effy now has a large presence on the ship. Their choices are on the more expensive end, about as much as Merabella. The watch display and the duty-free booze corner are still here. Cosmetics occupies their own shop too.
On the way out to the promenade deck, we passed through the photo shop, where we did spot a water bottle in their cabinet. We inquired about purchasing one, and they showed us how to have it customized. The price is the same with or without the designs or photos. This was all done on a wall screen by scanning our cruise card, then entering what you wished to buy. We could choose from many designs, as well as have our personal photo on the bottle. Since we have not posed for any photos, they had none on file. So we picked the designs and will pick up the bottle tomorrow evening. This photo shop has the now-gone Amsterdam beat as far as convenience and searching for your photos among hundreds of them. The kiosks do the work for you. The first time we saw this slick and easy way to buy photos was on a Disney cruise, so it just took HAL a bit longer to go modern.
It was time to get some fresh air, so we went outside for a walk. That's when we spotted a crew member riding a little floor scrubber, much like a street cleaner, only smaller. Maybe that eliminates the need to hose down the decks every evening, leaving it very slippery. After doing a few laps around the promenade deck, we went back to our room to do some computer work, like answer emails and figure out why some of the photos were not attaching to the reports. With the help of our eldest son, we believe this glitch has been fixed.
Once again, we were invited to a wine tasting, but did not attend. If you were not part of the higher Mariner Society members, this tasting would cost $25 per person. On past cruises, we have attended these tastings, only to learn more about the process of growing the grapes and the bottling techniques. Then, we would donate our red wines to guests seated around us No one ever turned the offer down.
We are still waiting for the shipboard credit to be posted from our travel agency. Something went wrong, and HAL had no knowledge that it existed. With the help of our travel agent, we shall see if this can be retrieved. More glitches in the system, but it was a good thing we brought the invoice with us so help them track it down. Dealing directly with the Guest Relations Manager has been unsuccessful, as we do not know where to find her. On the Amsterdam, Christel had an office where we could go directly to see her. On this ship, you cannot find anyone's office. You need to make an appointment, which we will be glad to do to get this resolved.
What we did receive was another HAL tote bag, and more Diet Cokes for our President's Club perk for this 7 day cruise. What we missed was the invitation to the 4 & 5 star and President's Club members welcome onboard party, which occurred on Sunday. We needed to remind them not to drop us off of the list as we like to attend these parties. And that was one reason we booked the back-to-back cruises like we did.
Dinner was in the Pinnacle Grill this evening, a gala night. Most everyone in there was dressed in their finery, which is nice to see for a change. It has really surprised us to spot some younger guests coming into the Lido during lunchtime with only their swimsuits on. No shoes either. We are certain there is a dress code, but not so sure it is being enforced. Anyway, we started with wedge salads, noticeably smaller than on our last cruise. This is fine, because we had trouble finishing them. We added the delicious clothes line bacon, then followed up with the 7 ounce filet mignon, cooked perfectly. Sharing sides of mushrooms and a fully-loaded baked potato, we saved a bit of room for desserts of key lime pie and an almost baked Alaska. Our waiter, Raj, from India was delightful, as was the attention from the entire staff. Yes, we will be back for sure.
Tomorrow we will be in Jamaica, a port we have not been to in ages.
Bill & Mary Ann
