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Cruise, Day 3...
Dec. 6th, 2006 06:22 pmAfter two "fun-filled days at sea," the Conquest docked in Montego Bay, Jamaica this morning. Lacking both an alarm clock and any opening in our cabin to the outside world, Galina and I awoke on our own at around 8:30 am, and were finally impelled to get out of bed by the gentle knocking of our steward, who was checking to see if our cabin could be made up.
My first glimpse of Jamaica jived pretty well with what Google Earth had indicated, though how our vessel had come to dock the way it had seemed something of a mystery, until you realize that most modern cruise ships are equipped with side thrusters in addition to the usual set of forward-driving screws.
We went ashore at around 9:30 am. There were no customs formalities, and we soon found ourselves in a bus that was prepared to take us to the Carnival-approved shopping area (for $8 per person, round trip), or to take us around for a bit and to stop along the way at a place called Margaritaville, which turns out to be one of a limited chain of bar/restaurants operated with a strong marketing link to Jimmy Buffett's name. (I assume he owns them all.)
Jamaica struck me as a nice enough place, but poor. Many of the views out of our bus's window reminded me of similar sights I've seen in Russia and Kazakhstan. There's a lot of construction going on, sort of, as a number of the reinforced concrete structures are shells that don't appear to have been worked on for quite a while.
The business of the place, at least the part of the island we were visiting, was tourism, with all of the concomitant "features." Rubber flip-flops that might run you $5.00 at home were being sold for $20.00 (though I am sure there was room to haggle). A quasi-aloha shirt advertising Margaritaville was on sale at the Buffett restaurant gift shop for a mere $60.00 or so. Everyone was willing to give you a really great "deal," but Galina and I were just looking.
We got back to the ship around 3 pm, had a quick lunch, and then napped. Galina watched one of the three films that are broadcast on the ship's cable system, something with Danny DeVito, which came through here and there as I napped and almost gave me nightmares.
At around 5:30 pm, the Conquest thrust away from the dock, rotated about its vertical axis, and warped out to sea. Our next stop is Grand Cayman Island, where we'll drop anchor offshore sometime early tomorrow morning.
Last night, as Galina nodded off to sleep, I went to check email to make sure a price I quoted to a client hadn't caused heartburn. On the way back, I got drawn into the hold-em game in the casino, which was being played with $5/$10 limit. My fortunes went up and down, but I finally ended the evening about $9 ahead, a sum that was less than what I'd make if I had been flipping burgers for the equivalent time. Still, it was interesting.
I've been reasonably good about staying away from computers so far this trip, though I have gotten some work that I'm trying to put off until I get back (hmmm, I've never done that before!). After posting this, I have to download a new assignment and come up with an assessment of what it will take to get it done.
Cheers...
My first glimpse of Jamaica jived pretty well with what Google Earth had indicated, though how our vessel had come to dock the way it had seemed something of a mystery, until you realize that most modern cruise ships are equipped with side thrusters in addition to the usual set of forward-driving screws.
We went ashore at around 9:30 am. There were no customs formalities, and we soon found ourselves in a bus that was prepared to take us to the Carnival-approved shopping area (for $8 per person, round trip), or to take us around for a bit and to stop along the way at a place called Margaritaville, which turns out to be one of a limited chain of bar/restaurants operated with a strong marketing link to Jimmy Buffett's name. (I assume he owns them all.)
Jamaica struck me as a nice enough place, but poor. Many of the views out of our bus's window reminded me of similar sights I've seen in Russia and Kazakhstan. There's a lot of construction going on, sort of, as a number of the reinforced concrete structures are shells that don't appear to have been worked on for quite a while.
The business of the place, at least the part of the island we were visiting, was tourism, with all of the concomitant "features." Rubber flip-flops that might run you $5.00 at home were being sold for $20.00 (though I am sure there was room to haggle). A quasi-aloha shirt advertising Margaritaville was on sale at the Buffett restaurant gift shop for a mere $60.00 or so. Everyone was willing to give you a really great "deal," but Galina and I were just looking.
We got back to the ship around 3 pm, had a quick lunch, and then napped. Galina watched one of the three films that are broadcast on the ship's cable system, something with Danny DeVito, which came through here and there as I napped and almost gave me nightmares.
At around 5:30 pm, the Conquest thrust away from the dock, rotated about its vertical axis, and warped out to sea. Our next stop is Grand Cayman Island, where we'll drop anchor offshore sometime early tomorrow morning.
Last night, as Galina nodded off to sleep, I went to check email to make sure a price I quoted to a client hadn't caused heartburn. On the way back, I got drawn into the hold-em game in the casino, which was being played with $5/$10 limit. My fortunes went up and down, but I finally ended the evening about $9 ahead, a sum that was less than what I'd make if I had been flipping burgers for the equivalent time. Still, it was interesting.
I've been reasonably good about staying away from computers so far this trip, though I have gotten some work that I'm trying to put off until I get back (hmmm, I've never done that before!). After posting this, I have to download a new assignment and come up with an assessment of what it will take to get it done.
Cheers...
