Day 5 (St. Thomas)
Customs was quick and painless, but our party had the good fortune (and better sense) to arrive early and be among the first in line. It's a good thing we were so pro-active, too, since Customs and Border Patrol was...20...minutes...late...arrgh. In the interim, the big projection screens showed when and where people needed to be for their morning excursions, as well as breakfast locations and opening times (thank you again, Mr. Rasulo!). The FMs were good sports about waiting patiently (really, what was the alternative?), and we laughed at each others' passport photos and immigration stamps until the burly guys with badges arrived.
Back up a sec for a side note: The crew had set up tables with coffee and light pastries in the Preludes snack bar area in front of the theater, thereby avoiding what would have been a bleary-eyed mutiny, led by yours truly. It's bad enough I have to get up at the butt-crack of dawn to get a dismissive wave at my passport from a bored law enforcement officer who was 20 minutes late getting on-board, you don't want to see that situation sans-caffeine, and I think these 500 people behind me are breaking out the pitchforks and torches, soooo...yeah, good move on the part of the crew.
Anyway, we get waved through, and they stamp us with that super-spy invisible handstamp ink. You know, the kind they use at the parks, that never washes off and always shows up under a black light...the kind every guy who's ever been to Vegas secretly prays they aren't using at the club.
So we get our stamps, and head back to our rooms to pack up for the day's excusrion: Buck Island Catamaran and Snorkel Tour. Unlike the rhino riders, almost our entire party is going on this trip, so there's a bit more excitement (and a bit less concern for personal health and safety) than on the previous day.
Buck Island Catamaran (Castaway Girl)
Only $39
Giant Stride or ladder
Turtle
Stingray
Shipwreck
Kids drove the boat. “It's 5 o'clock somewhere,” Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett.
There is a place called Hell: In it, you sit on the deck of a gorgeous, amenity-filled cruise ship, with a pleasant staff, great food, and all of your loved ones in one spot. Your best gal is at your side, sunning in a two-piece, the little waiter from the Philippines has just come by with another frosty margarita, while Bob Marley's “Jammin'” plays softly over the PA system... “Hope ya like jammin' too/we jammin'....” A warm breeze starts to roll across the deck, and you begin to drift off beneath the sun, when...“Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope you're enjoying your time at St. Thomas today, because here come the sounds of the Caribbean from our very own NTWINE!” Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?
I'm rocked awake, my eardrums screaming, “Et tu, Brute? Those Offspring concerts in high school weren't enough, now you subject us to this?” Little did I realize my tolerance for music had turned into George Costanza's parents, and retired to Boca....Ronaldo! Another Rum Runner over here! And my kingdom for a set of earplugs!
For some reason people were cheering their performance. This is what kept COPS and Jerry Springer on television for so long.
Wilde and Haines – Josh from America.
“Where are you from, Josh?”
“America.” (this kid's read my playbook...)
Day 6 (At Sea 3)
Palo
Skipped Disney Dreams
Dessert Buffett!
Late night show:
If the evil that men do truly does live after them, NTWINE will be responsible for the end of civilization.
Day 7 (Castaway Cay)
Pictures with Capt. Jack Sparrow
Parasailing CANCELLED
COLD water
snorkeling out
Walk to adult beach (take shoes!)
Lunch at Cookies
Kids built a sand castle
Sand sculpture of the Magic
Can't get autographs? Just give a CM your memorabilia, they'll get it signed by whomever.
Day 8 (Disembark)
As we
“It was real, wasn't it?”
“Yeah, it was...you bet it was.”
