Sunday 31 October 2010

days 4, 5 & 6

We got back onto the ship and they promptly scanned our bags for contraband, they must have decided that our bags full of candy were acceptable ;o).

When were were due to leave port I stood on our balcony poised with camera in hand hoping to catch on video motion picture our departure, alas we left port slower than an old lady in a post office queue armed with photos of her grandchildren and a full thermos!

That evening at dinner we chose our starters and main courses, and when they bought them up they had an extra starter which they asked James if he would like - James being some one who was eating his pre-dinner, dinner then post dinner (if time permitted) wasnt likely to refuse more food.

The next day we went to Bar Harbor in Maine, we had to catch the tender boat to the mainland, the boats they used were ones used for Whale watching trips, so it was a lot more comfortable than I was expecting. One of the things that they said (that I thought was unfair to the oldies - yes I do have a heart sometimes ;o)) was that if you had a mobility cart then you couldnt use the tender boat! You will be pleased to know that the lady with her oxygen tank made it onto the tender boat - I would have hated for her to miss out on a technicality - provided she didnt get in my way of course ;o).

We made it on shore (after waiting for the boat to fill up), we fought our way through all of the old people up the hill to where the shops were, and believe it or not we found a place selling lobster ice-cream! We had to of course try it. While it was still frozen it didnt taste fishy at all - once it had started defrosting you could definitely get the fishy taste! Im super glad that we tried it but dont think that I would buy it on a regular basis.

We didnt have anything booked for this day and the trolley tour (we would have done this had there been any availability left) was sold out!

We did amble up and down Main Street which was interesting ;o) We had lunch at Rupununi, James got to try a Maine lobster roll. We both also tried a blueberry wheat beer.

Following the extra starter that James got the previous night our waiter actually asked him if he would like to try the other (recommended) starter (LOL it must have been his half starved look ;o)).

The next day saw us go to Saint John New Brunswick, again we didnt have anything booked for here, and made our way to the shopping malls (these were linked by covered walkways) wowzers it must get cold there in Winter for them to have those!

We decided to do a bus tour and one of the stops off of it was at the reversing falls, blimey the water certainly moved quickly!

The driver even told us about two Saint John specialities...

...the butter tart and dulse, LOL I had the butter tart and I allowed James to have the dulse (I definitely got the better deal ;o)).

The next day was our final Canadian stop Halifax Nova Scotia, we went to the immigration museum we didnt even realise that it was the Ellis Island of Canada!

After finishing the immigration museum tour we just had time for a quick lunch (we bought a salad each from a supermarket) before our tour on the Titanic the continuing mystique (well something like that anyway).

We went to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic to see their Titanic exhibit, we even got to see a replica deck chair ;o).

We got taken to the grave yard where the Titanic bodies (for some reason I always want to say survivors but they didnt survive!) were buried. There was another tour group from our ship there too as I recognised some of the people.

The traffic was really bad that day and all the way back to the ship our tour guide kept on telling us that we would get back to the ship on time...

...I wasnt too worried as this was an excursion set up by Royal Caribbean itself then they would (hopefully) either wait for us or the tour company would have had to cover any costs at getting us back to the ship (ooohhh Im so heartless ;o))

Luckily we made it back by the skin of our teeth...

...I dont recall seeing the people from the other group after (only kidding) ;o)

to be continued...

4 comments:

Al said...

So you can't have alcohol? Is that because they sell their own on board at a huge mark-up and they don't want you getting hold of cheaper stuff?

I suppose the restrictions on the tender boats are safety related but it does seem a bit mean to not allow them off the ship at all when tender boats are needed.

It would have been interesting if the ship had left without you. Makes me wonder how they would have got you back on board!

Kelly said...

I have had, on a few occasions, lobster ravioli and it wasn't fishy but sweet. A weird sweetness, a good sweetness ;) I can only imagine the richness of that ice cream you tried!

Glad you were clean and not carrying ;)

Eileen H said...

Some interesting foods there, not sure I would have liked lobster ice cream but would have had to try it:)
I like strawberry beer, I think it's called Fruli, so would have loved that blueberry wheat beer.
Very kind of you to allow James to have the dulse lol. It reminds me of when I went to Iceland, I thought I would try shark meat but when it came to it I ordered lamb:)

chocolat lover said...

Al - its so you drink their alcohol on board - they wont even let you have (til the last day) any duty free that you bought on board!

One of my colleagues uncles did a cruise and he saw his cruise ship leave without him - he saw the coast guard and asked what he would have to do and was told he would have to make his way to the next port!

LOL if I was in a mobility scooter I would have staged a go slow(er) in protest ;o)

Kelly - once you tasted the lobster in it it was weird!

Eileen - I think that I would have gone for the lamb too ;o) James says that apparently shark tastes like ammonia!