Voal Day #8

We woke up on Friday morning and we were here. It is the private island owned by NCL. After so many popular tourist destinations it is nice to have a private island to ourselves and 2,000 of our closest friends from the Pearl!We didn't tender together this morning because some of our group were going to go parasailing and needed to get to the Cay quickly. Here they are loading up on the open air tender to head on over to the island. Hey wait! From this view I can see that Brandon has a bald spot going on back there! I did not know that. I learned something new today.
We tendered a few minutes later. I like the open air tenders better.
Hey from this view Dave's hair looks grey. What?! I think it is whiter than than the guy behind us.
Oh my stars. This picture totally made me laugh because I saw Mom with her money guard necklace pack thing. Mom had learned in previous travels that she was supposed to wear her money bags under her shirts and under her arm to protect all of her important stuff. So we get to the airport to leave and security tells us to put our wallets, purses and everything on the conveyor belt. So we proceeded to die laughing as Mom basically is having to remove her arms from her sleeves and duck her head into her shirt and pull her money purse over her head while trying to hold her shirt on to stay modest. It was HILARIOUS!
So these 4 hoodlums
and these two strangers were the parasailers of the day. The weather was a bit on the overcast side but it didn't stop these brave adventurers.
So I wasn't actually on the boat so I have no idea what happened. Although I am sure none of it was very fun because, after all, I wasn't there. Duh. But, from what I can tell this is Mitch and Haley. Haley was told to flap her arms very fast to help them get going. And Mitch was told by Tricia to snap a picture of her legs before he left.
Yeah Tricia! Your legs look great from here! Although look at Haley's. They look good from here also. Mitch's are way too hairy. And his pinkie toe looks like someone cut off the top of it.
Hey Mitch, with the strap cutting into your arm you actually look like you have muscles. Haley looks happy about that also. Here goes B. Rad and Sara. At least that is Sara. I think B. Rad is still hiding from us. Again. Hey B. Rad! We can still see your bird legs!!! So, speaking as the true acrophobic that I am. That does not look fun to me.


If anyone else thinks this is crazy raise your hand!
Thanks B. Rad. See now this height I can handle. Why go up any further I ask you?
Last the best of all the gang. Tricia and Brandon have their turn. Although, once again, I was not there I have no idea who went first or last.


I don't know if they were coming back in or just heading up but I do believe Tricia was yelling something about Mitch handing her her shoes!
After the adventure they all headed back to our site on the beach and recovered. Apparently Tricia is the only one who is not feeling the need to air out her left armpit. I think they were more nervous than they let on!
Brandon bought some fish food at the little shack here on the island (conveniently charged to your room, sir!) and he and Tricia and some others went out snorkeling and took the food out for a try. I guess that the fish REALLY like this food and they will nibble off your fingers in order to get some. These fish are not small. And they are not afraid to touch you.
All of this resulted in Tricia struggling greatly to get out of the water and onto Alli's tube very quickly! There was some screaming involved also. The schedule for this day went pretty much as follows. Snorkel, rest, repeat. We followed that schedule for the rest of the afternoon. We also added a little shopping in. There were a ton of little booths where the natives (of this little private island, pop. 0) were selling authentic Bahama souvenirs. This is the snorkel portion of the day. B. Rad. Looks like an awesome free dive! Snorkel again.
Andrew this time. They make us wear these scraps of yellow fabric that somehow will save you if you start drowning. I worry about this design a bit. I guess you just have to hope that you realize you are drowning in time to have enough air to inflate this scrap. Hmm.

Rest portion of the day. Wow he is wiped out! Oh I forgot that after lunch Dave added an extra event into his day.

Have you heard of geocaching? If not. It is basically a hidden treasure game where adults hide little secret stashes or "Caches" all over the world and then they post online the GPS coordinates and other people go find the treasure. You sign a log, take a bit of the treasure and leave something for the next person. It is the fastest growing hobby in the world! And Dave does this. And I tease him about it. Teasing Dave is the 2nd fastest growing hobby in the world.

So back to the day. After lunch Dave went on a hike to find the cache located on the island. He found it and left a geocoin (a coin that you can track as it travels the globe). Then he rested.

After we arrived home I mocked him for doing this on a vacation but as we spoke he got online and showed me that the coin was picked up THE NEXT DAY by another geocacher! Good grief. So many people to mock.
I think Haley is talking about how nuts Dave is also. "Did you here Dave went Geocaching? What a nerd!" 2nd fastest growing hobby I tell you!
Sara and B. Rad taking a break from their busy routine. You know, snorkel, rest, snorkel , rest. It was a busy day.
I am not sure what is happening here. Alli is neither resting or snorkeling. She is however holding onto a scrap of yellow fabric. I know! She is probably running an emergency drill to see if she has enough oxygen to inflate the vest! Hey Alli! Did we mention that once you blow it up you can't deflate it? Good luck free diving in that thing! Good idea. Go with the rest option instead. But watch that you don't open your mouth much more because then you will be pulling a dead lady and you don't want that to happen! B. Rad you are looking hot! And not just because of the weather you know what I mean? Ha ha. He finally put on his little coconut bikini top. And it really doesn't look hot. It looks ridiculous which is the point.
"Hey what is everyone looking at? What is so funny?"Oh yeah. That is a sight. I really like how Dave refused to get any closer.
Creepy guy in the water! Notice how everyone pulled their children out of the area!

It just gets worse folks.
"Take your children! Shield their eyes."
As creepy as B. Rad is it is really Mitch with his midriff shirt who scared me here! What is he doing?
They must have secretly made a bet of who could be the most frightening sight in the water on this day! And trust me people. There are some Seriously Scary People on this beach!
So Dave persuaded me to go out one last time with the fish food. We went out a ways between the two reefs and Dave started spreading the fish food around and we were SWARMED. Those fish freaked me out a bit. I can see why Tricia jumped up on the raft! Lucky for me I could swim a little ways away from the feeding frenzy but Dave couldn't. The fish actually started biting his fingers and his hands. Then he did the macho, manly thing and threw the food away, screamed like a little girl and headed for the surface. I could hear the screaming through his snorkel. I laughed so hard! That is my man!
So we finally had to start heading back to the ship. Thanks for pulling your shirt down Mitch!

Look at all these cute couples! So darling, aren't they?
These two were the sweetest couple on the beach! "Jenn, would you please get over here and save me!!"
That is much better! Jenn is much cuter than that other person.
As you got back on to the tender to head back to the ship they had water spraying on the ramp to help wash off the sand from your feet. Ingenious really. Except for the people that think it is part of some lame water park! "Woo-Hoo! A water slide!"
Here is where we hung out all day! As we pulled away they were already lining the chairs up for the next crowd of cruisers.
It was a delightful day spent on the beach.
We sailed off towards home. Here it is. If you look really carefully on deck 11 you can see someone showering! I hope it isn't Sara!
We went to dinner with Mom and Alli. The rest wanted seafood but Dave hated fish even before they attacked him while snorkeling! We discovered a new restaurant that we had never tried. It was really good! How did we miss this place?
We watched our last sunset. I remember this one. I think.

It is only appropriate as we sail through the Caribbean that we run into a pirate or two. He didn't show up until the last night while we were hanging out on the deck after dinner but he was worth the wait! He looked great! I really liked the pirate coat.
He really liked the long dreadlocks! He like to flip them over his shoulder every so often. Very manly. I must say that I don't really see a resemblance between him and either of these "Pirates"!

Voal Day #7

Hey, guess what. Summer is half over and I am still writing about February! Good grief. Oh well. It still makes me smile to think about these days so I guess it is all right to still be writing about them. You are not required to read these posts anymore. It is like the never ending vacation slide show. Thursday was a sea day. It means that all you see is this...and this!but here are 2 things you will not see this day! Yep. B. Rad and Sara must have fallen overboard because except for a very brief siting during shuffleboard they were feared lost at sea! So mostly you see a lot of this. Except when you go on a cruise with these yah-whos you also see a lot of this.Which reminds me a little of this. Which is a whole other story. So Mitch chose this day to soak in the sun while wearing his giant snuggie!Apparently when he first snuggied up he felt the awesome power of the force flowing through him. He does make an awesome Jedi.
After seeing this pose I think he reminded me of a monk.I had the unique chance to be his photographer as he took the snuggie on tour. I stopped taking pictures of him and just took shots of the double takers, second glancers and all out starers!Holy crap is that the dead lady alive? Nope she is way too covered. Not to mention alive!More admirers.
This was the best row. They just looked and laughed and elbowed one another.
Finally this gentleman gathered up enough courage to ask what was going on. Mitch told him he lost a bet.
This was the day to wear the crazy outfit. Although Haley's wasn't too crazy. Although as you can see Mitch was terribly disturbed by the Ute shirt!Dave and I decided to be moral support for Haley because let's face it must have been a great challenge to be out in public with such an outfit! Hey is that B. Rad and Sara? Nope false alarm.This guy is a drunk U fan that happened to be on the ship!! She walked past and he yelled "Go Utes!" I shouldn't have been so shocked at his level of intoxication because after all I did go to school there but folks it was 10 in the bloomin morning! I hope he didn't spill any on Haley!Andrew took one look at Mitch in his get up and determined that today would be a great day to wear his Edward shirt because let's face it, is anyone looking at Andrew with Snuggie Man around?
This guy here was not distracted by Jedi Blue because he sees Andrew in his slim fit shirt and apparently really likes what he was seeing! Actually Andrew did say that it was the teenage girls that kept giving his shirt second and third looks. He also said it creeped him out!Andrew wore his shirt with pride! I know you can't read it very well but on the back in flowing gold letters it reads "I honestly have no idea how to live without you"! Andrew is a passionate one folks. Don't let the curly hair and the dimples fool you!
So Andrew, Mitch, Dave and I went on a walk-a-bout and decided to play some shuffleboard.
We found a board where 2 older couples were playing. They had no idea how to play or keep score and they were obviously going to be there for way too long. So being the helpful person I am I walked over and read the rules which were POSTED RIGHT ON THE WALL. I then decided to share my new found knowledge that yes ultimately would end their game sooner. These old duffers basically told me thanks but we like our way better. They did play for about 90 minutes while we walked and talked and watched the water!Finally they got bored of the old-people-dumb-way of playing and quit so we finally got a turn. Mitch spent most of the first game complaining that from his side the puck or as we pros refer to them "rocks" would either stop short or go to far. So don't push so hard or so soft Mitch. Try "just right" . Despite his partner's whining Andrew started the first game with a strong lead.
Andrew played with a strong cold hand. I think he was inspired by the T-shirt! Strong. Cold. Get it? Ha-ha! I love teenage girl movie references. Andrew went on to win the first match for his team and then we traded sides.
Mom and Alli came by to watch and take pictures since I needed to concentrate on my game! And then... Holy crap! That is B. Rad and Sara! Hey guys! We are over here! Guys? Hey. Where did they go?
Dave and I came out strong on the second game and we were pretty much unstoppable! Mitch said that it was because of the boat rocking whenever he would take a shot. Jeepers Mitch it sure was nice of the captain to stop the boat and drop anchor when the rest of us were shooting!
Really Mitch when you see form as good as this you just need to accept that I am a better athlete and ballet dancer than you could ever be.
So after seeing Haley, Mitch and Andrew in their crazy outfits Tricia went and put her hot pants outfit on! Oh wait that isn't her outfit that is just Tricia's rock climbing/showing off the legs/laying out outfit! Here is her real silly get-up! And I have to tell you except for the balls on her head there is nothing here that Tricia wouldn't have packed for herself anyway. Now if we really wanted to frustrate Tricia we should have made her wear a long skirt and flats! Let's face it if the flip flops hadn't had a 3 inch heel she probably would have refused to embarrass herself by going out in public at her real 5'4" height! Flats! Never!So here she on the way to lunch asking me if anyone is looking at her legs! Hello! Tricia! You have balls on your head and your walking a few feet behind a big Blue Snuggie, a slim fit Edward and a girl in Ute shirt that smells of alcohol. Nobody is looking at your legs!
See? Here is Washy-Washy/Happy-Happy (I love foreign names. They are so poetic!) not looking at your legs but at the balls on your head.
Funny thing was we walked around the corner and there was a guy in a huge, colorful goofy top hat. Apparently only he and Tricia got the memo about Crazy Head Gear Day! Julie the CD (that stands for Cruise Director) should have made an announcement over the PA (that stands for Physicians Assistant) or had house keeping make hats for us all out of towels. After lunch we decided to go rock climbing again. Andrew took the time to roll up his sleeves and dive into that new novel he has been dying to read!

Andrew, with those white arms I could almost believe that you are actually Edward! Except you smile too much and I don't think you have the patience to gaze into Jenn's eyes while lying in a field for 40 minutes. Your hay fever would go crazy!
So here is my manly husband posed to conquer the wall. As soon as he removes the large wedgie that the harness has caused!
He made it to the top of the intermediate route although he didn't listen to instructions to ring the bell and then turn around for pictures. I think he just wanted to get that harness off quickly!
See this is how Hot Pants, er, I mean Tricia obeys. She rings the bell. Poses. Turns for the picture. Tells Brandon to take one. Changes her leg position. Tells Jenn to take one. Puts her sunglasses on and flips her hair. Tells me to take one. Then the belayer starts jerking on her rope to get her to come down!
Brandon then was told to climb the harder route to get a better view of her buff arms! Hey Brandon! Can you see B. Rad and Sara from up there?
So it appears that the rock climbing was a hair raising experience for Alli! We decided to calm things down and headed off to the game room.
Then we played games. Or at least most of us played games. Dave played for a little while and then went on another walkabout. Guess what! B. Rad and Sara walked by while we were playing games (the room has glass walls). We were very still and quiet because we didn't want to spook them!

Now I know with your keen powers of observation that you may have noticed that everyone seems very greasy looking. Like look at Jenn here. She also seems very relaxed. That is because she spent a bit of time ...
in here. You see this was massage day for our cruise group. Everybody had signed up to go to the South Pacific Spa for a massage. I know for certain that Tricia and Brandon had a great experience although it may have been a bit "cheeky" for my taste!
Dave and I refrained from signing up because A. We are cheap and 2. Dave hates to be touched. Except by me. Just for your information.
However Alli being the kind and generous sister that she is surprised me by paying for a solo massage without my anti-touch spouse who was perfectly happy to go on your random everyday walkabout! So I had a hot stone massage and it was heavenly. I can't believe how relaxed I felt. Alli was officially my new favorite person on the cruise!
Later we all met out on deck to watch the sunset. This is Mitch. He is having fun on his cruise. I have to tell you about a funny story that Mitch told while we were sailing the great blue sea. Mitch gets very animated when he tells stories. So he was telling us that while we were exploring the islands of the sea and sailing about the old pirate routes we were in danger of the revenge of the pirates. Then he proceeded to tell us that the undead would drag us off to... Davy Crockett's Locker.
WHAT? Yes folks who knew that the King of the Wild Frontier was actually the same person as the Captain of the Flying Dutchmen! You should hear Mitch's fantastic Western Pirate accent! I must say we laughed the entire trip about this mix-up! Watch out for the Coon Skin Hat that those darn pirates are sporting! Poor Mitch got tired of being teased and cried a bit. "Mom, the other kids are teasing me about Davy Crockett again!"
Mom: "Mitch, it was kind of a funny mistake."
We watched the sun go down and waited for our dinner reservation. Here is Tricia's silly outfit for the day. As opposed to the balls on her head and the climbing hot pants! This is freezing cold towel lady! Hey Tricia! I have this really cool idea for keeping warm. Clothes! Sheesh. Mitch and I were obviously having a stick your bottom out there for the picture. Mitch wins. The sun went down. Again. And you lucky people get to see Sunset #7!We splurged on this night and went to dinner at Benihana's. It was delicious! Here is Jenn, Edward, Haley, Davy Crockett.Dave and I. I am the one on the left. Cheeky, Tricia, Mom and my Favorite.Also at our table was this nice couple that we met! Oh my stars! Could it be? I think that is Sara catching that shrimp in her mouth.
(OK you know what really freaked me out about eating here? Can you see the people watching us through the windows? They just stood in the hallway of the ship and watched us eat. I wonder if this was the "Feeding Time with the Animals Program" that they mentioned in our daily itinerary sheet. Glad we missed that everyday. Anyways kind of creepy.)It IS B. Rad! Not many people have that big of a mouth. Great he just came back and already I am insulting him. No wonder he took a break!Sara finally broke out her styling outfit! She matched the ships decor to a tee! So we headed to the Bliss! And Sara rocked in her outfit! It was nice to see her again. We danced and danced!

But lets face it folks I am not as young as these two and I was getting really tired!
Alli is a young one also. But even she started to get very tired. Then something VERY unexpected but very fun happened. You can't quite see it here. But you can see how funny we all thought it was.

See how tired we are? Starting to sit during dance time. Unheard of! But we are also very entertained!
These 2 are also amazed and amused by what was going on the dance floor!
This is what was going on. It was Andrew. So the theme song from the cruise started playing. (Black Eyed Peas, I Gotta Feeling) and Andrew went crazy. First there was this swinging his arms in a circle above his head!
Then there was the booty shake! I think Jenn was sitting right behind him. At least I hope it was her.Here is the head to knee move. I can't believe this was my mellow brother! Hey I guess after several days on a cruise ship he finally breaks loose!
Hey Mitch now lets hook legs and dance around in a circle. Who is this person?!!?
He was still going strong when we called it a night! Here we are with our favorite DJ, Patrick. We had a blast with this guy as our DJ! If you ever happen to be in the neighborhood of the Bliss Lounge on the Pearl stop by and say howdy to Patrick. Tell him Utah says hi. I am totally sure he will remember us. Right?