USA + Cruise (Caribbean). Part 2
By 12:00 we were in the port of Miami. A line of huge ocean liners lined up along the shore. In the port, each cruise company has its own terminal with "teleboards". The taxi stopped near the CARNIVAL terminal. Before us appeared the 11-storey giant "CARNIVAL TRIUMPH". Check-in and boarding took about 40 minutes. On board the ship, all expenses are recorded on the cabin account using special plastic cards, which are both a credit card and a cabin key. By 13:00 we were already in our cabin with a balcony on the seventh floor. Many Americans handed over their luggage at check-in at the terminal, so that later it was delivered to the cabin. But my advice is, it’s better not to do this, firstly, your suitcases will be delivered only in the late afternoon and you won’t be able to use your things during the day. Secondly, the cruise company is not responsible for the work of port loaders and there are times when the suitcases were forgotten on the shore. We took our suitcases with us, unpacked things and changed clothes, we went to inspect the ship. The CARNIVAL cruise company adheres to the concept of "Fun Ship" (fun ships), so everything on board the ship is focused on carefree fun. A huge number of restaurants and bars, a karaoke room, a sushi bar, a disco, a casino, a library, shops, an art gallery, swimming pools, a water park, a theater, an open-air cinema, a gym, a spa-salon and all this on one ship. Throughout the day, musical groups perform, all kinds of competitions are held. And in the evening, all guests will enjoy a musical show in the style of Las Vegas. It is worth paying attention to dinners organized by the captain, where a strict dress code is announced. All guests are welcomed by the captain, and lobster and other delicacies are served for dinner. The cruise lasted a week, two full days of which were on the high seas. During these days, when the ship was at sea all day, we spent time on deck chairs, swam in the pool, and rode down the water slide. During this crisis we visited Mexico, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica.
The first stop was on the island of Cozumel (Mexico). Back in Moscow, we booked a jeep safari tour with a visit to an underwater cave and a beach near Cancun. We transferred to a sea ferry, which took us to the mainland in half an hour. Our group consisted of about 40 people. Since sightseers should be driving a jeep, before landing we were instructed on the rules of conduct on Mexican roads. The road ran past some unremarkable poor villages. I remember only the scorching sun and dust. Half an hour later we arrived at the place. We were given construction helmets and life jackets. Having put all this on ourselves, we began the descent into the cave. The vaults of the cave sometimes sank so low that we had to almost squat our way deeper. But it was worth it, a very beautiful grotto with stalactites and stalagmites, which were artificially illuminated, opened before us. In the middle of this grotto, an underground river flowed, into which we jumped after our local guide. The water was surprisingly warm. In a friendly chain, we swam into the depths of the cave and back. Having seen enough of the underground beauties, we got back into the jeeps and drove to the beach. The beach was on a ranch near Cancun. We were fed lunch, after which we went to swim in the ocean. This concludes our seven-hour tour. Having bought souvenirs, we returned back to the ship.
Caymans. We bought the tour using the TV in our cabin, through the internal booking system. With the help of TV PU, we chose an excursion - "snorkeling on the beach with lunch. " The cost of the excursions was deducted from our account. Tickets for the tour were delivered to our cabin. In the Caymans, the liner stopped at sea, so we got to the shore with the help of small boats. On the shore, we found out that our excursion would not take place and we were offered to choose another one. We chose "turtle farm snorkeling". I didn’t think that Grand Cayman was so big, there was a “British heritage” all around - left-hand traffic, clean streets, excellent English from the local population and high prices. We drove to this farm for almost an hour. The local guide gave us a tour of the farm, showing and telling about the life of all kinds of turtles. Paradox. He talked at length about how the people of the Cayman Islands fought to protect the turtles, but in the restaurant of this very turtle farm, turtle soup was in great demand. After that, we were handed out masks, snorkels and life jackets and were taken to the beach of an artificial reservoir, in which there were a huge number of tropical fish and turtles, and sharks swam behind the glass from us. After, again souvenir shops and loading onto the ship.
Jamaica greeted us with overcast skies. We went to the pier, where the sightseeing buses were already waiting for us. Back in Moscow, we booked an excursion to the jungle, to the local amusement and recreation park. At the entrance, a pretty girl told us about the park and the rules of behavior in it. We sat on the lift, which began to lift us up the mountain. Below us stretched the jungle, a view of the bay and the town of Ocho Rios. At the top of the mountain, we sat on carts that looked like bobsleds. We were explained the control mechanism and "it started". The cart raced along the rails from this mountain at great speed, the only thought was that no one would think of stopping in front of you, otherwise it would be very, very painful. After a quick descent, the carts slowly crawled back up the mountain with us. Then we had to descend from the mountain along a cable stretched between the trees. We were given equipment, had a short briefing and were led to the first tree. At a great distance from each other, platforms are made on tall trees, a cable is stretched between them, with the help of a special fastening a person is fastened to the cable and he moves down at high speed from one tree to another. A storm of emotions was caused by a sharp vertical descent from one platform to another on the same tree. In general, I liked the tour very much. We still had free time and we decided to walk around Ocho Rios. Almost everyone we met tried to "suck" us everything, from covers to phones and ending with drugs. "Rousseau tourist image morale". Having bought souvenirs and rum, we went to the ship. This was our last stop. Another day on the high seas lies ahead, and the port of Miami appears on the horizon. We have returned.
To be continued….
