Category Archives: Cruises

Alaska Earthquake and Tsunami warning

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NOAA buoy detects Tsunami

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Did you hear about the Alaska Tsunami warning?

Imagine if you had been cruising when the tsunami warning came on! I was about to tell you about cruise #3 which was to Alaska but I decided I wanted to know more about the tsunami and earthquake in the Gulf of Alaska. How do these events affect a cruise ship?

Earthquake under the Sea

Its pretty interesting. If you are on a boat and there’s an earthquake near you, you won’t even notice it. Imagine a cork in a bowl of water. Tip the bowl and the cork won’t move. Same idea but the ship is the cork and the bowl the ocean. If you are tied up in port your experience might be a little different. The dock will be affected because it’s connected to the land. Since the ship is tied to the dock tie lines may jerk and the ship may bump into the pier. All that energy is being transferred to the ship.

But What about a Tsunami?

Those are pretty big waves. It would seem that they would affect the ship. Remember the movie “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972 & 2005)? That is not what is going to happen. At least not if you are out at sea. If you are on a cruise ship in the ocean you might not even notice the Tsunami! Much like the cork above, your ship will probably just ride over it.

The Shock Wave that is a Tsunami

Tsunamis can travel at speeds of 500 mph in the open sea but it isn’t a wall of  water. It’s not until it hits shallow water in a harbor or along a coast that it is compressed into a big wave. Stay away from land and you should be good. Experts say that large cruise ships probably won’t be affected even when docked because they need at least 30 ft of water which is still considered fairly deep.

Alaska’s Alert

Although everyone was evacuated from the low lying coastal areas near Kodiak, the tsunami never materialized. By 7:30 EST the alerts and warnings along the west coast were being canceled. That’s good news for all!

 

Cruise Dos

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Poolside (c) Dusty Roads Photos

Cruise Number 2

The 2nd cruise was a few years later, 2013 to be more specific. Once again I was teamed up with my BFF. This time it was just the 2 of us. The other thing I did differently was plan the excursions in advance so that both of us were on the same page. We were doing another 4 day cruise, this time to Cozumel, Mexico.

Leaving from The Port of Miami

This cruise seemed to get off to better start. I flew down to Orlando the day before departure. We drove to Miami together to board the ship. Once on board we checked out the state rooms. This one was larger than the one I shared on the last cruise.

Sunset at the Port of Miami (c) Dusty Roads Photos

Cruise ship in Key West (c) Dusty Roads Photos

First Port of Call- Key West

Our first port of call was just down the coast in Key West. Joe had lived and worked in Key West at one time so he was very familiar with it. I’d had the opportunity to visit him so it wasn’t new to me either. We wandered around playing tourist just the same. It was a nice, relaxed day.

Beware of Thieves

I don’t remember which day it was but we decided to take our breakfast plates outside to a deck table.

Sneaky Gull- (c) Dusty Roads Photos

The morning was beautiful. The gulls seemed to know the cruise guests would be out with food and some were quite aggressive. Do not leave you plate unattended as a gull will be in that food in a heartbeat. One of the funniest moments (for me) was when a particularly determined gull decided it wanted Joe’s breakfast. Even though Joe was seated right there I watched the sneaky bird creep up the rail behind Joe. It was obvious the bird knew exactly what it was doing. Joe had no clue what was about to happen. When the bird swooped over Joe’s shoulder to raid the plate I laughed until I cried. Joe was not amused!

Tulum

Mayan Ruins, Tulem

Photo by Dusty Roads Photos

When the ship docked in Cozumel we took a shuttle to the Mexican mainland. That was one wild ride as the seas between Cozumel and the mainland are extremely rough. The crew of the shuttle were handing out seasick bags! But once on land we connected with our tour guide and got to explore the Mayan ruins of Tulum. These are both beautiful and  fascinating. Well worth the discomfort of a rough channel crossing.  I never expected to be surrounded by such history in my life.  This cruise was more to my liking!

 

Experience Rating

 

Reminiscing

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First Cruise and Reminiscing

Reminiscing, remembering, a walk down memory lane. What’s the point of making memories if we don’t pull them out and dust them off now and then? Sometimes things look different after some time has passed. For example let’s talk about cruises. If you ask me now if I like to go on cruises I’ll tell you no. It’s not my cup of tea. I’ve been on 3 cruises in my life, The  Bahamas , Cozumel and Alaska. Now I’ll share my feelings about each cruise, the good and the bad as I remember it. I wonder if I’ll still feel the same way after I’ve brushed off the memories.

The 40th Birthday Cruise

The first cruise was a “destination” cruise. My BFF was turning 40. It was a traumatic milestone for him so 3 of us got together and decided we’d take him on a cruise to the Bahamas. It was a short cruise. If I recall it was just 4 days. We spent one day on a private island. That was the best part of the trip for me. I got to spend the day snorkeling. My 3 friends hung out on the beach.

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Formal Night

Like most cruises at that time, one night was formal night. We were cruising with the Royal Caribbean. We all got dressed to the 9’s and had our picture taken with the captain. Then we retired to one of the lounges. The entertainment was big band music. Everyone was dancing. We didn’t stay long. My 3 companions didn’t want to dance at least not ballroom dancing. Instead we went to one of the shows. I’m a team player so I went along. Most entertainment on cruise ships is top notch and these shows were no exception. It was a good 2nd choice to the dancing.

Chihuly

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Bahamas

When we arrived in the Bahamas my 3 friends wanted to go shopping. I suggested we explore the ocean activities, like swimming  with dolphins, as I was not interested in shopping. I can go shopping anytime. Once again it was 3 to 1 so we went shopping. After shopping was over we took a shuttle boat to Paradise Island to visit the famous Atlantis Resort. I saw my first Chihuly, a glass masterpiece and became an instant fan. The aquarium under the resort was very cool too. It was like walking through a submerged ancient city. 

Atlantis resort

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The Cruise Home

The last day was a sea day. We were headed home. Since I don’t gamble I avoided the casino. I wasn’t interested in the art auction either. A deck chair and Dan Brown‘s book, The Da Vinci Code were calling my name.

Experience Rating

Into The Harbor on a Wildlife Cruise

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The cruise was a “sell out”. Many of the people I spoke with had been on the cruise in previous years. They only run it one day a year and they go out rain or shine or snow.  There were National Park Rangers,  Aquarium naturalists, DCR (Department of Conservation and Recreation) employees and volunteers  to answer questions. The boat was well stocked with food and beverages in the snack bar. two decks were heated if the outdoor space got too cold. They really went all out to make  it a special day.

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At 10:35 the loading began and by 11 am we were all ready to head out to the harbor.

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Our first destination was Logan Airport. Logan Airport is home to some migratory snowy owls. Because of the damage they can do to a jet, the Audubon Society has a trap and release program. Snowys are trapped at Logan and released elsewhere, often at Duxbury beach.

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I was on the 2nd deck when the cry went up that a snowy owl had been spotted. Unfortunately it was too far away. I couldn’t see it with my 300 mm lens. A photographer standing next to me with a gigantic lens on his camera said he couldn’t see it either. It looked like a snow pile or a white plastic jug, just a spot against the dark gravel.

That pretty much set the tone for the trip. It would have been more accurate to call it a bird watching cruise. We saw lots of birds but they were mostly fast and small. I soon got tired of trying to photograph them and settled for just watching them.

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The only “wildlife” we saw were some seals hauled out on the rocks. Since it was low tide they were a good distance away from us and the sun was at the wrong angle to see much. It was more the silhouette of their “banana pose” that gave them away.

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It had warmed up a great deal and the sun going in and out behind the clouds. The harbor was amazingly calm for a winter day. We cruised past Boston Light into the outer harbor.

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One of the volunteers explained that they almost never get to go into the outer harbor in winter. It’s just too rough but we made it all the way out to Graves Light and even there the waves were only gentle, rolling swells.

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Graves was the end of the trip. We did our turn around right in front of the light house. The return trip was leisurely as we passed the various harbor Islands, Georges Island with it’s fort, Peddocks Island with it’s 4 headlands to name only 2.

Georges Island, Boston Harbor

Georges Island, Boston Harbor

Peddocks Island

Peddocks Island

 

It turned out to be a beautiful day for a boat ride. I may not have seen much Wildlife but I had fun all the same. I’ll watch for this next year. I wouldn’t mind a repeat.

Riverboat Ride on The San Antonio

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With an eye to the sky our guide made an executive decision. She swapped the Buckhorn Saloon and the Riverboat Ride. We could see the dark clouds heading our way on the horizon. Although it was still sunny and only partly cloudy  so no one complained of the change in itinerary.

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We followed our guide down the stone stairs from street level to the tropical gardens and cafes to the boat landing for the start of the Riverboat ride down the San Antonio.

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As with all such excursions our riverboat captain had an entertaining and informative banter to help us pass the time.

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Our Riverboat ride was about 35 minutes long and fully narrated. According to the guide we covered about 1.5 miles of the San Antonio River.

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Along the banks is the River Walk, a public park that is open 365 day a year. Our hotel was located right on the River walk.

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We cruised past the restaurant where we had dinner the night before.

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Adorning the Lila Cockrell Theater at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center is a stunning mosaic mural by Mexican artist Juan O’Gorman.

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Entitled “Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas”, it was created as part of the 1968 HemisFair World’s Fair. The mural is visible from the Riverwalk as well as the convention center.

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San Antonio’s version of the Space Needle is the Tower of The Americas. Topped by a fine dining restaurant and observation towers, it would be a great place to visit if the weather holds out.

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The green roofed building we spotted is the Bexar County courthouse.

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The building was designed by architect J. Riely Gordon, and borders Main Plaza, along with such other architectural landmarks as the Cathedral of San Fernando. The style is Romanesque Revival, and the main material used is red sandstone. Ground was broken for Gordon’s structure on August 4, 1891, and the cornerstone was laid December 17, 1892. After several delays, construction was fully completed in 1896. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

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Other buildings were crowned with gargoyles and many sky scrapers peered down on us as we passed in the shadows of these man made canyons.

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This riverboat ride was really enjoyable. I highly recommend it.

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