I loved Key West. Granted, we didn't get to see much, but it was a very relaxing day. We got off the boat in the morning after going through customs. Actually, I think we got in the wrong line, but it meant we got to disembark earlier. (We weren't complaining.)
Look at the view of the boat. Pretty awesome.
Tyler made us shirts for the trip. We all picked up a nickname before the trip and Tyler was kind enough to put them on display for the world to see. Thursday was wear-your-shirt day.
We first stopped in to see if our snorkeling excursion was still a green light. If weather got bad, they would refund money. In the meantime, we went shopping.There were plenty of fun things to see.
We split up since Tyler was looking for a hot sauce store and Beth and I were looking for milder gifts. We had a great time shopping around and finding things for the kids. (Although it was the best part to turn off the mom side of my brain, the kids are still the first people I want to buy gifts for.)
The boys found plenty of hot sauce, and then they found something else...
When we all met up, Jonny told me that Tyler had gotten something for me. Hmm? Okay. I didn't think too much of it. The guys were acting a little strange, but that is not uncommon with these two. We asked the guys to put something back on the ship for us, and suddenly when they both turned around, it all made sense.
Guess they were busy when we were elsewhere. Don't worry, it's just Henna. It wears off within a week or so.
It sure made me laugh. A lot.
Then it was time for our snorkeling trip. When we signed up in advance, I somehow was thinking a small catamaran and maybe 10 people. Nope, these guys have things down to a science. There was probably over 100 people split between two boats. The weather was good enough that we could go out, but it was much too windy to visit the reef they usually make excursions to. They used location B, and told everyone in advance in case anyone wanted a refund. At least they were very honest about it.
They have a system. Get on, pick up snorkel, vest, fins. Find a seat. Listen to all the rules and then you are off and sailing. It is about a 45 minute trip out to the site. We were all ready to go.
When we arrived, everyone had about an hour to scout around. There seemed to be a huge line of people waiting to get off the boat, but no one was going. So I stepped up and jumped off. Tyler was right behind me with the vidi.
I would not say it was not an ideal snorkeling experience.
On the good side:
*I have not been snorkeling much and I thought that I didn't like it. This trip reminded me that it is very fun, and I like it very much.
*There were a few fish. It was fun to find them and swim around with them. Check out these friends.
*It was very fun to be there with Tyler.
On the less good side:
*We never saw Beth and Jonny since we separated at the beginning.
*Tyler did not have contacts. He basically wandered around in a blur and videoed a lot of rocks. Luckily, he could see me pointing at actual fish sometimes.
*The weather was ridiculous! It was so windy, we were sloshed around constantly. By the time we were done, I was nice and seasick.
I believe Tyler and I were the last ones back to the boat. We all survived. Here are some pictures from a video Beth took right after.
The tour was advertised as an afternoon of snorkeling and margaritas. We obviously planned to skip the alcohol, but by that point, I didn't want to drink anything. Beth slid a pill over to me and I took it and huddled down keeping a wet towel over my mouth and nose. The cigarette smoke on board was threatening to push me over the edge. Phew, that was the only uncomfortable part of the trip.
The guys entertained themselves on deck. We got a picture of our cruise buddies. We met Nancy and Tim and their two boys, Timmy and Nick, on day 2 on the bus to Aquaventure. They had a very similar itinerary so we ran into them many times. Since we were on the catamaran together, we added them to our video. They were a very nice family.
Beth's pill did wonders and by the time we got back to port, I was starting to feel like myself. Thank goodness. So we went and got some ice cream and treats. Yum!
Our last evening on board was pretty chill. We walked from one end of the ship to the other to see how long it would take. Any guesses? Those hallways were really long.
It took 3 minutes and 19 seconds. Longer than I expected for sure.
Then we packed and played some games in the evening. Most evenings, we went to the Solarium, but that evening we just hung out in our cabins.
It was another busy, excellent day. Tomorrow...back to life, back to reality.
I don't think snorkeling is an activity that I would enjoy. I'll just look at pictures and watch documentaries instead. I get seasick even easier than you do! It sounds like you had a good time, but it seems like it was a pretty short trip.
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