Monthly Archives: July 2019

Vacation 2019: Day 5 Amber Cove

Wednesday morning we arrived at Amber Cove just outside Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. We opted for an excursion run by a third party instead of of the cruise line. Our tour “Eat Drink and Be Merry” was hosted by Iguana Momma and our tour guides were Alexander and Freddie.

Our first stop was a tram ride to the top of Mount Isabel, 2555 feet above sea level. This is the only tram in the Caribbean and is actually a fairly short ride to the top. They have dual trams that hold up to 20 people. At the top is a smaller replica of the Christ the Redeemer statue that is in Brazil. The peak is home to a variety of lush tropical plants and a spectacular view of the city and the Atlantic Ocean.

After a quick descent from Mount Isabel, we toured the Ron Macorix House of Rum. Rum is a product made from sugar cane which was brought to the island by Columbus on his second voyage in 1494. Their rum is aged in wooden bourbon barrels. As part of the tour, they had on display some of the old equipment used in the process.

We sampled eight (8) of their rum products, including a dark rum aged 8 years, a rum aged 4 years, their spiced rum named Rebel, their blanco rum, and four of their flavored rums – pineapple, apple, coconut, and a mixture with coconut water. We came home with the 4 year old rum, a bottle of Rebel and the coconut rum.

Outside, I kicked back in the oversized lounge chairs (think Lily Tomlin’s Edith Ann) and conned the boy into a picture on Columbus’s ship.

We made a quick stop at the San Felipe Fort which was a stronghold for former dictators as they defended against rebellions from the north.

Lunch was an authentic meal of Dominican Fried Chicken (DFC!), rice and beans at a local caffe. The restaurant was actually an old house that had been converted to a restaurant. The food, especially the rice and beans, was awesome!

Just a block or two away from the caffe, we walked to Independence Park where they celebrate their country’s independence from various factions. Just off the square is the San Felipe Cathedral, a Roman Catholic Church.

Our final stop in the city, and Phil’s focus of the excursion, was the cigar factory. We learned how cigars are rolled, which includes a step where they are pressed for several hours. We each also had an opportunity to roll the wrapper on a cigar which we got to bring back with us. Apparently we are all naturals at wrapping cigars!

The kids worn out, we came back to the pier, got our passports stamped (can’t have empty passports!), and boarded the ship with a couple hours to spare. Our towel animal was waiting for us–I think he’s a dog today.

The others fell asleep while I showered and found a spot on the pool’s mezzanine to blog and drink. Phil and I had dinner at our assigned time in the Northern Lights Restaurant while the kids went elsewhere.

Today’s drinks included a Tequila Sunrise, a way too sweet Berry Blast, a margarita (not pictured) and an Island Martini.

Vacation 2019: Day 4 Day at Sea

Tuesday found us at sea for the day. The weather has been partly cloudy and we even had a few sprinkles around mid-morning. We started the day with the buffet breakfast and spent the day just hanging out. I spent the morning reading near the pool, before my sea-sickness unfortunately started kicking in. Even wearing two patches didn’t seem to quell the queasiness.

We returned at midday to find our 2nd towel animal! We spent the afternoon chilling in the room before getting ready for our dinner to celebrate our anniversary this past Saturday.

The four of us had dinner at the Prime Steakhouse to celebrate our anniversary which fell on Saturday. Think better than say Flemings or even Ruth’s Chris Steakhouses. For our starters, the kids had a shrimp risotto, I had the stuffed mushrooms, and Phil had the steak tartare and bone marrow. For dinner, Genny and I both had the surf and turf (Filet Mignon and lobster tail), Philip opted for the roasted chicken and Phil the Foodie ordered the wagyu beef. I tried his steak and personally preferred my filet to his. For dessert, we all opted for the chocolate sphere which imploded once a warm sauce was poured over it.

Afterwards, Phil and I took in the 88 Keys Show. It’s a medley of rock songs with piano at the heart of them. The show starts out with Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” and includes a variety of songs from Elton John, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Styx, among others. Of course, there are scantily clad dancers, multiple piano props and moving stage parts. It was a nice hour of entertainment, but not exactly what I was expecting.

Drinks for the day included a Caribbean Passion, 555 Sidecar, and champagne with dinner (pictures not shown) and Red’s Remedy which is made with rum, coconut rum and a mixture of fruit juices.

Red’s Remedy

Vacation 2019: Day 3 Half Moon Cay

On Monday, we arrived at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. This location belongs to the cruise lines so there is no option for third party excursions. After our average continental breakfast on the ship, we disembarked on the first shuttle boat to the island to claim our cabana. By renting the cabana, we had a specific place to hang out on the beach, nicer lounge chairs, some float rafts and snacks. The water was warm, clear and the waves were light. We hung out on the beach until it was time for the stingray experience on the other side of the island.

The stingray area is a safe area for the stingrays that live there. Many are rescues, having been injured by other creatures and nursed back to health. The first part of the experience included some snorkeling where we could see the stingrays and some of the live coral living in the enclosure. The second part allowed us to pet the stingrays and feed them. Feeding them was a rather cool experience — it felt a bit like putting your hand over the end of a vacuum cleaner as they sucked the piece of fish or squid from your hand!

We finished the afternoon at the cabana before returning to the ship for our 4:00 pm departure. Upon our return to our room, we found our first towel animal! We showered off the salt and sand, and most of us took a nap. We opted for pizza for dinner then Phil and I watched the sun set from the back deck of the ship. We ended the evening with Ronnie Ballard’s PG comedy show.

Today’s drinks included a margarita, a Bahama Mama, and a Screw LooZe.

Vacation 2019: Day 2 Leaving Port

On Sunday, we started our cruise. We arrived at Port Everglades at midday and quickly made our way through the boarding process. We spent the afternoon getting our internet and onboard messaging set up. Phil and I did a little exploring and checked out the Red Frog Pub before we set sail at 4:00 PM. We hung out on the balcony as we left port with a US Coast Guard escort.

After watching land fade off into the horizon from our balcony, we ate at the buffet on the Lido Deck. We all agreed the sweet and sour shrimp and the salad bar stood out for this evening’s meal. Afterward, we took in The Upside on the poolside movie screen, which finished off the evening.

Drinks for the day included:

Jamaican Sunrise

Rum and Ginger Beer

Red’s Rum Treasure

Beachcomber

The Rum and Ginger Beer is just that—Rum and Ginger Beer with a bit of lime juice.

The Jamaican Sunrise consists of vodka, peach schnapps, red passion fruit juice, orange juice and cranberry juice. This was probably my favorite drink of the day.

The Red’s Rum Treasure contained guava juice, pineapple juice, sprite and two types of rum.

Finally, the Beachcomber was a blend of spiced rum, mango rum, Midori, citrus and pineapple juices.

Vacation 2019: Day 1

This year’s vacation I think will be blog worthy. It might be the last one all four of us take together since the kids are basically all grown up. Of course, if Mom and Dad foots the bill, who knows?

This year’s trip is taking us to the eastern Caribbean. We are leaving from Fort Lauderdale on the Carnival Magic and will be gone for six days. We will stop in Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, in Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic, and on Grand Turk in Turks and Caicos before heading back to the States.

We started our journey on our 23rd wedding anniversary, Saturday July 13th. We arrived at the airport early and ate at the Barrio Cafe. We are big fans of the original restaurant on 16th Street in Phoenix and the food was just as good. After our satisfying “linner” which included churros and ice cream for dessert, we caught a direct flight from Phoenix to Ft Lauderdale. Phil was hoping we’d fly into Tropical Storm Barry which was pummeling NOLA, but our pilot was a bit smarter than that and we diverted it to the north. We arrived in Ft Lauderdale at 11:30 PM local time. Baggage claim took nearly forever and we finally made it to the hotel just before 1:00 AM. Unfortunately, the room we were issued was trashed and we eventually were given a new room. Everyone finally settled down around 2:00 AM and we got a few hours sleep.

Not the best start to our trip, but it definitely could be worse. At least we don’t have to worry about our four-legged babies, Bandit and Shadow. While we were flying east, my sister Jane and her husband Chris were flying west to spend the week house and dog sitting. I want to apologize to them in advance for the extremely hot conditions forecasted for the week. Of course, she does have full use of the swimming pool so it is not all bad.