Archive for the ‘Caribbean’ Category
Happy New Year!
Filed under: Caribbean, Grenadines, Sailing/Crusing, Windjammer |
Leave a comment I wanted to get this posted in January, and it looks like I just made it!
I can’t believe just how fast January has flown by. We spent the final days of December and the first few days of January in Mary’s happy place…the Caribbean, specifically in the Grenadines aboard our favorite ship the S/V Mandalay owned and operated by Sail Windjammer.
Mid-January Sail Windjammer shared their plans for the future of the S/V Mandalay, and sadly past 2020 those plans will not include passenger vacations.. and sadly we don’t have enough vacation days in 2020 to add another week (or two) on our favorite ship.
So, our last Windjammer photos have been uploaded into our online photo album under the 2019 folder.
Here are just a few of photos of that trip:
Ships we’ve sailed…
Filed under: Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Central America, Costa Rica, Holland American Line, Mexico, Sailing/Crusing, Travel |
Leave a comment Came across a website with cruise ship size information. I thought it would be interesting to compare the traditional cruise ships that we’ve sailed on with the size of the current largest ship, Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas. Harmony of the Seas which weighs 226,963 gross registered tons, carries 5,479 guests, and 2,100 crew members.
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Holland American Lines / Eurodam (2016):
GRT: 86,700
Length: 935 ft
Beam: 105 ft
Speed: 23 knots
Registry: Netherlands
Passengers: 2104
Crew: 929
Shipyard: Fincantieri
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Carnival / Victory (2010):
GRT: 101,509
Length: 893 ft
Beam: 116 ft
Speed: 21 knots
Registry: Panama
Passengers: 2758
Crew: 1100
Shipyard: Fincantieri
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Carnival / Legend (2009):
GRT: 88,500
Length: 963 ft
Beam: 106 ft
Speed: 22 knots
Registry: Panama
Passengers: 2124
Crew: 930
Shipyard: Aker Yards
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Celebrity / Galaxy (2007):
GRT: 77,713
Length: 866 ft
Beam: 105 ft
Speed: 21 knots
Registry: Bahamas
Passengers: 1850
Crew: 909
Shipyard: Meyer Werft
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Celebrity / Horizon (2000):
GRT: 47,427
Length: 682 ft
Beam: 95 ft
Speed: 22 knots
Registry: Bahamas
Passengers: 1875
Crew: 670
Shipyard: Meyer Werft
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Dolphin Cruise Line / Sea Breeze (1997):
GRT: 20,416
Length: 606 ft
Beam: 79 ft
Speed: 21 knots
Registry: Panama
Passengers: 840
Crew: 400
Shipyard: Ansaldo Sestri Ponente
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Premier Cruise Lines / Starship Atlantic (1993):
GRT: 35,143
Length: 672 ft
Beam: 90 ft
Speed: 19 knots
Registry: N/A
Passengers: 1062
Crew: 535
Shipyard: CNIM
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Christmas cruise on Holland American Lines Eurodam 2016
Filed under: Caribbean, Christmas, Holland American Line, Mexico, Travel, United States of America, US Virgin Islands |
Leave a comment 
Over the Christmas holiday, we spent two relaxing weeks cruising around the Caribbean on the MS Eurodam.
On board we ate some amazing food.
The staff was awesome.
Holland American Line’s private island provided a nice beach day.
On Turks and Caicos, we hung out at the Margaritaville pool.
In San Juan, we tasted the original Piña Colada at Restaurant Barrachina, walked around Old San Juan, and sampled some local chocolate at Casa Corte.
From Ft. Lauderdale, we took a tour to the Florida Everglades.
We made fishy friends in Grand Cayman.
We explored Cozumel on a rail buggy adventure tour.
We wandered around Key West…visiting Mel Fisher’s Museum, ate Maine lobster rolls at DJ’s Clam Shack (which was featured in an episode of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives), meandered through the Key West Cemetery, and did a mini pub crawled – stopping into Sloppy Joe’s and Captain Tony’s Saloon.
After the cruise we spent a few days exploring and eating our way around south Florida and the Upper Keys.
We finally made it to the Coral Castle.
Had an awesome fish sandwich at Robbie’s Marina.
We spent a few hours exploring the displays at The History of Diving Museum.
We spent a morning exploring the Fruit and Spice Park.
We had great pub grub at the M.E.A.T. Eatery and Taproom (another restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives).
We visited two wonderful breweries; Islamorada Beer Company and Florida Keys Brewing Company.
The best meal of the trip just might have been at The Fish House (another restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives).
And ended the vacation with a beautiful sunset.
Another great Sail Windjammer vacation
We just got back from a weeks sailing thru the Grenadines with the Parrish Heads in Paradise & Limin’ Place on board the S/V Mandalay. Here are just a few photos (more coming soon)…enjoy!
We made a few new friends.
A lot more friends….
Jimmy Parrish and Limin’ Place entertained us all week!
For the most part the weather was great and the scenery was beautiful.
Snorkeling did not disappoint either.
Sail Windjammer is not known for gourmet cuisine, but we didn’t exactly starve either.
One particular “snacks & swizzles” was made 10x better when some passengers bought a few local fresh fish to share!
It was a great week to be aboard the S/V Mandalay!
Shopping list…
When we get down island to Grenada and the grenadines, we have a few things that we always like to find to bring home. The first is Jack Iron rum which I previously posted about.
The second is Nut-Med. What is Nut-Med? Nut-Med is spray on comfort for aching muscles, joints and nerves. I’ve had planters fasciitis in the past and this little potion provided some much sought after relief from the pain (at least for a little while).
http://www.nut-med.com/story.htm
The third is Grenada Chocolate….and well, chocolate doesn’t really need an explanation, does it!
Mandalay meanderings….
The Sail Windjammer pamphlet that I have lists Carriacou after Grenada in the selection of Grenadine Islands that we may visit during a week sailing on the S/V Mandalay.
Each time that we have sailed the Grenadines, Carriacou is a morning stop quite close to the end of the week.
It is no coincidence that most of the 100+ establishments that serve the notorious Jack Iron rum do not even open their doors until the sun is much higher over the yardarm. This is part of the captains master plan to keep to a minimum the amount of time Jack Iron will be on the Mandalay!
Jack Iron rum is described by the ministry of rum as a light brown rum distilled from fermented molasses. Of course that description doesn’t do it justice at all. Jack Iron is legendary stuff not to be messed with or taken lightly. It is said that one can use it as engine fuel, paint stripper and, in small portions, it is the cure to what ails you…oh and the real stuff will make your lips and tongue go numb with just a sip!
The real Jack Iron Rum out of the oak barrels (stored in various containers under the local bars in Carriacou) is 99% strong; t-shirts and labels warn to keep it away from open flames. It quite literally can light up your life. And thus the captain is quite right in his efforts to keep “Jack” off his ship.
We, however, on occasion, have brought back to the states a bottle or two of the tourists version of Jack Iron. The “Tourist Version” of Jack Iron bottled by Westerhall is watered down to 140 proof to comply with airline regulations.
It is perfect for Pete’s Chocolate Rum Cake.
A tasty reminder of our island vacation.
Soon we will be at Roger’s Barefoot Beach Bar again
No shoes, no power, no roads… And somehow the perfect place to spend a Sunday afternoon!
Locals, expats, and tourists will arrive by dingy for an afternoon of limin’.
Roger will serve up various rum drinks. And dominoes will be sitting on the table waiting for players.
“Life is just a tire swing” according to lyrics of a Jimmy Buffet song.
Mary will serve up a BBQ plate that keeps people coming back another Sunday for more deliciousness (for us it has been a few years).
Stories will be shared, drinks drank, and games played…it will be another wonderful day on Hog Island, Grenada.
If you are searching for something to read…
May I suggest:
The Spice Necklace by Ann Vanderhoof
The author and her perpetually hungry husband ditched their Toronto careers to sail around the Caribbean ingesting as much of the island cultures as possible. Each chapter tells of a new adventure ashore, the cuisine discovered while visiting farms and processing sites (like the Grenadian chocolate factory), and learning to make the exotic local dishes. At the end of each chapter a local recipe is shared. 71 stories and recipes! Everything from stewed goat to callaloo.
The author combines two wonderful things: tourism and tasty food!
Available on Amazon – click here.
Sail Windjammer – S/V Mandalay photos
Filed under: Caribbean, Grenadines, Sailing/Crusing, Travel | Tags: Travel
Comments (1) Still working on the full online album, but here are some of my favorites so far.
Happily Every After (Every Now and Then)
To quote a Jimmy Buffett song “Some never find it, Some only pretend… I just want to live happily every after every now and then”. The moment I stepped foot onto Windjammer Sailing Advertures’ S/V Mandalay’s deck I had that “happily ever after” feeling!
The crew has a contagious smile. They are truly having the time of their lives welcoming long time Jammers home and showing those new to Windjammer what the Caribbean really should be. In the 2-weeks I spent on board, Captain Sly and the crew did their best to ensure that each passenger had the best vacation ever.
Old Windjammer traditions of captains story time, dancing on the decks to island music, crab races, sea hunt and raising of the sails to Amazing Grace were honored. We rode in the widows net (in a safety harness) while under sail back to Grenada. Sly held several star gazing classes. I finally saw the Southern Cross and now can easily identify it (Thank you Sly). A very special Mandalay pirate flag was raised, and we even fired the canon on the Diamant. We visited Bequia, Tobago Cays, Carriacou, Chatham Bay & Clifton on Union Island, Palm Island, Happy Island, Sandy Island and Mayreau. Sea life was abundant. The turtles did not disappoint, as we visited them on Bequia at the sanctuary, swam with them in the Tobabo Cays, and also, the purser, Ciara arranged a special tour for us to see Leatherbacks nesting & hatching on Grenada (very awesome)! We saw lots of stingrays and even had a special appearance by a large eagle ray while swimming with the turtles at Tobago Cays. There were lots of tangs, parrot fish, trumpet fish, puffers, squid, a few eels and even a juvenile shark was sighted. The Grenadines gave us perfect robins egg blue sky and calm seas both weeks.
I don’t remember seeing the Mandalay in better condition. We had the King cabin with its huge bed and a shower sized for a normal home. Every cabin that we took a peek at, looked to be very comfortable. Every morning Captain Sly asked if there were any problems with the cabins; any issues raised were addressed and corrected… duct tape is no longer needed to adjust the temperature in your room like in the old days!
Philbert and Ren did their best to see that we all gained weight during our vacations. I can’t think of one meal that I did not thoroughly enjoy. I even threatened that if I win the lottery I’m coming after those two for my personal chefs! One passenger had a wish to assist in the galley and it was granted. His comments were “it is clean back there” and about what an amazing job they do difficult conditions… the ship was under sail and while he was sliding all around as he worked, Philbert and Ren were steady and a rock.
I can’t tell you enough how much the crew makes the trip. I’m not sure that I can name all 20 of the crew… I know I will miss someone and everyone of them worked so hard to make our trip, but here it goes. Captain Sly doing his job (which is to look good, just ask him). Blaze making sure that Sly didn’t get us lost. Ciara organizing all the paperwork and great tours. Grandpa (Marlon) and Rocky serving our meals and making towel animals for our cabins. Rocky had a birthday that we all celebrated, too. Mashup and Conrad served up creative drinks and potent rum swizzles. Philbert and Ren making such awesome food. Quinty and Spice kept us safe as they shuttled us to and from shore in the launch. The deck hands and engineers that we didn‘t see as much but appreciate all their hard work keeping the Mandalay in such fine shape: Brian, Squall, Yellow, Chippy, Blair, Lennox, Browne, and Joseph. Joseph, also, had a birthday that we all celebrated. Squall made a new rope anklet for me. Thanks everyone for the best 2-weeks!
For those reading this; two things…
1) We took many photos and will post as soon as we can.
2) I would like to echo Jimmy Buffett’s advice:
“Take it from me ‘cuz I’ve found , If you leave it then somebody else is bound, To find that treasure, that moment of pleasure, When yours, it could have been“.
Go find the Mandalay and “that moment of pleasure”. Don’t let it become a “could have been”.
Clukey's Blog 