November 2014

Of course I don't have anything witty to say this month either...

I can, however, copy a bunch of information from the cruise log (stardate...)

We traveled from Port Everglades to Grand Cayman to Roatan to Cozumel to Princess Cays to Port Everglades - a total of 2424 nautical miles (2789 "regular" miles (or 4489 km for the rest of the world)) at an average speed of 20.6 knots.

Saturday 22nd November 2014 The mooring lines were let go at 16:32, and with the help of our thrusters, propulsion and steering (not to mention our impulse engines and warp drive), started with a sharp turn to port inside the exit channel. Once clear the last pair of buoys, we disembarked the local pilot by 17:03 (don't let the door hit you on the way out) and began our voyage towards George Town in Grand Cayman.

Sunday 23rd November 2014 Crossing the Tropic of Cancer in the early morning, we were sailing around the western cape of Cuba. Once the Seal Team departed the ship (was that supposed to be a secret?) we left Cuba behind and continued crossing the Caribbean Sea following a South Easterly course.

Monday 24th November 2014 We let go the starboard anchor at 06:22 and after the captain got through yelling at us we lowered the chain too and then had to dive down and re-attach the sucker. Then we let everyone off to party. Once we got everyone we could find back on board later in the day, we commenced to heaving up the anchor at 15:56 (thank goodness it worked so the captain didn't have to yell at us again) and set a South Westerly course towards Roatan, Honduras.

Tuesday 25th November 2014 After passage inside the narrow channel of the Dixon Cove Bay, we commenced our mooring operation by 09:44. Again, we let everyone off to party and we understand that that Lucie kid spent a lot of time playing with the monkeys but we couldn't let her bring one back on the ship. We also had to kick it into high gear to get out of port and on our way once we dragged everyone off the beach.

Wednesday 26th November 2014 We embarked the local pilot at 06:10, and when he finished puking his guts up, we began making multiple attempts to put into dock. Though we were ready to give up and sail on, the pilot begged us to make one last attempt so he wouldn't have to ride back in that dinky little boat and we managed to get the Ruby Princess alongside at Punta Langosta at 07:55. We then informed all the passengers that though we did get in to dock, pretty much all the excursions were canceled due to the rough waters. Everyone promptly went ashore and got drunk at the first bar they could find. By 16:48 everyone staggered back aboard and we pushed off at 17:18.

Thursday 27th November 2014 We crossed the Tropic of Cancer in the morning again and sailed along the north coast of Cuba so that we could recover the Seal Team and then entered inside the Florida Strait. Oh yeah - and it was Turkey Day so most of the passengers enjoyed Lobster for dinner.

Friday 28th November 2014 After sunrise the Ruby Princess rounded the South Eastern corner of Eleuthera Island and at 08:21 the port anchor was let go. You would of thought we would have learned our lesson at Grand Cayman! We finally started getting people off the ship at 09:09 and everyone who hadn't roasted themselves yet headed out for their last chance to burn themselves up before getting back on board by 16:06 for the last night at sea.

Saturday 29th November 2014 At approximately 06:21 we cranked up the side thrusters and woke everyone up early so that we could have all lines fast and the gangways rigged and ready by 07:00 so that we could make everyone wait in a long line at customs! Ha ha - what a great way to end everyone's vacations!

Of course, I left out all the fun of flying a red eye from Portland to Fort Lauderdale on Spirit Airlines (I don't recommend Spirit or red eyes) and the fun of hanging out in Fort Lauderdale for an extra day because there is no good way to fly back that leaves late enough to get off the cruise ship. And I didn't talk about the shows on the ship or the art auction or the karaoke contest or the marriage game show or the freezing pool or the food or... Let's just say that while I don't recommend the flights, I do recommend Thanksgiving cruises...