Apparently Randy really does have influence with Santa Clause because, in spite of how Shorty has behaved this past year, he got a great big fluffy squeaky toy!
It is Christmas Eve and Shorty is having second thoughts about how "good" he's really been this year. Since he know Randy has Santa Claus on speed-dial, he asked Randy to put in a good word for him.
Today we went to the ice show at the Gaylord Palms Convention Center. Since the whole thing is made of sculptured ice, the area is kept at 9 degrees. That is really cold for a couple of Floridians like us! Fortunately they not only provide parkas, they require you to wear them.
The theme this year is "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" - great!
Randy organizes our church's Block Party in one of the Fruitland Park neighborhoods. Today he fixed corndogs for lunch with hot chocolate (the kids love to fix the hot chocolate themselves). We have several tables set up with crafts and today, in honor of the holidays, there was also a cookie-decoration station.
Today we picked up the last and largest food bank donation from Beverly Shores School. It's challenging to move close to a ton of food one can at a time!
The staff at the vet's office where we board Shorty really like him. He has to be in quarantine when he's there to be sure that he doesn't catch anything from other pets. But he's a charmer so when they can, they take him up to be in the office with them. He likes that!
Today was another day at sea, which was another way of saying we were cruising straight back. One thing I remember that the water and wind combined to make it rougher sailing. Not bad, but enough that the Captain got on the intercom and made an announcement about it. Unfortunately I couldn't understand exactly what he was said because he had a strong accent and a bad intercom. It sounded like he was changing our course but there was a lot else he said that I didn't catch. I'm not a good sailer even on a calm sea so that worried me. It didn't worry anyone else, though, including the staff who, presumably, could understand him. I asked a couple of them and they hadn't even paid attention to him. Oh well.
This evening was the Parade of flags, which is always interesting. And they lit the tall, beautiful Christmas tree yesterday.
In the morning we got into port and made an easy exit. Wish we could pick up Shorty today, but we will be able to do that tomorrow morning.
Well, this is depressing - my phone is broke. That means no photos and no daily notes. I keep a blog because I find it difficult to remember details unless it's written down, and I dearly love photos, so this is a going to be a real challenge.
Today we arrived at Ocho Rios, Jamaica. The only place we were going was Dunn River Falls; the rest of Jamaica seemed to be off limit.
As we walked to get tickets we met a nice young couple who were on their honeymoon. Later as we headed down to the starting point of the falls, Randy mentioned that they had come ashore with just a few dollars; that might make it difficult for them to get a locker or drinks. So I ran back to our locker, got a bit of cash and gave it to them. I had told the rest of my group to go ahead and I would catch up. But (and I know this) I'm no good at catching up. I didn't find them at the beach or at the falls so when the honeymoon couple caught up, we three joined one of the large groups and headed up the falls together.
The falls were running pretty hard and it was difficult to navigate some areas. I'd been there before so I knew that there isn't a prize for climbing all the way up; you just do it as long as it's fun. And shortly after that it stopped being fun for me. The water was cold and fast and I decided I didn't need to climb it. So I got out and walked up the wooden sidewalk until I found a place that overlooked the falls. There I saw the rest of my group, making great headway and nearly at the top! I got back into the falls to join Randy - here it was cold, fast, and slippery! Everyone else completed the climb perfectly and had a good time doing it.
When everyone finished we headed back to the ship. Along the way I ask Glenda to take a photo of me beside this gorgeous tree, covered with vines - so amazing.
We didn't get up as early today; with a day at sea, there wasn't any rush. Outside was a beautiful rainbow, with the colors shining down from the rainbow to the ocean.
Randy and I woke up a early (little after 6 - early for me, not for him) and stood out on the balcony for a bit. It's a bit humid but it looks like a lovely day. We went out for coffee and hot tea, then added a little salmon, a little pastry, a little chocolate croissant...
Then we went down to deck 2 to pick up some towels and head out to the beach! Ahead is Coco Cay, a private island owned by Royal Caribbean.
