In Search Of Tasmanian Devils

Posted on September 11, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Carnival Legend in Hobart, Tasmania

The mere mention of Tasmania conjures up images of Tasmanian Devils, the one thing most associated with that Australian island. Both my Australian daughter Sheri and I wanted to see Tasmanian Devils while in Tasmania on our cruise on the Carnival Legend. You would think that should be as easy as spotting alligators in Florida swampland, but Sheri said there aren’t that many left in the wild now. 80% of the wild Tasmanian devil population has died from an infectious cancer, putting them on the endangered species list. The way to make sure we could find some was a visit to the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary on our port stop in Hobart.

Tasmanian Devil

The Wildlife Sanctuary is far from the cruise dock and Hobart does not have the sort of public transportation found in Sydney so the best way to get there was through a shore excursion. You can book a visit to the wildlife center on the ship or through an outside source. The excursion from the ship cost significantly less then the independent one Sheri found, although that one did include the Cadbury chocolate factory where the ship’s excursion did not. While the chocolate factory would have been nice to see (especially if they had free samples) we opted to watch the budget and go with the ship’s tour.

baby wombat

The wildlife refuge is not a zoo, but rather a rescue facility for orphaned and injured animals. They started our tour with baby wombats drinking milk from bottles. Most of the wombats come as infants who safely in the protection of their mother’s pouch survived the car that killed their mother.

snarling devil

Tasmania has the highest roadkill rate of wild animals in the world. All these dead things are a feast for the Tasmanian devils, who then put themselves in danger while they stand in the road eating roadkill. Their communal eating habits also contribute to spreading the cancer. They scream loudly with the eerie screech that gave the species its name during feeding. While fights over food may not result in serious injury, any bite or scratch could transmit disease.

Tasmanian Devils may look cuddly, but would likely bite if anyone tried to cuddle them

The refuge releases most of their recovered animals into the wild, but they have a disease free population of Tasmanian devils kept for breeding to try and help the species survive as no cure has yet been found for the cancer decimating wild Tasmanian devils.

koala

The cute cuddly baby wombats are tame and sweet. Our tour guide said at about age 2 these distant cousins of the koala turn mean, making them easy to return to the wild. Wombats live on the ground and use the hard plating on their backsides to defend themselves should something try to invade their lair. The koala’s hard back plate has a v shape to help it stay in the crook of a tree where it spends up to 20 hours a day sleeping. The name koala means no drink as these slow moving animals would be in grave danger if they came down from the trees to find water. They get the moisture they need from their diet of young eucalyptus leaves.

echidna

One pen held an echidna who would never return to the wild as she lost a leg in the dog attack that landed her in the wildlife refuge.

kookaburra

Other enclosures around the wildlife sanctuary held a variety of birds and some lizards. The largest enclosure held a number of kangaroos and wallabies. Upon arrival at the park each person received a small bag of kangaroo food. Once the guide finished talking about other animals people could enter the kangaroo enclosure on their own. The big red kangaroos of the Australian outback don’t live in Tasmania, but the smaller grey kangaroos and wallabies do.

Hannah coaxing a joey to peek out of the pouch

The kangaroos knew what the little paper bags meant and a large one quickly stole the whole bag from 5-year-old Hannah, who preferred to try and feed the joeys in the pouches over trying to feed kangaroos who were bigger than her. While pictures always show a baby with just the head hanging out of the pouch, these joeys seemed to prefer sticking tails or limbs out instead, making the mother look as if she had extra limbs or a tail hanging out in odd places. Hannah had good luck coaxing the joeys’ heads out, though the mothers usually ate the food. Eventually another kangaroo came along and stole the bag of food her grandpa gave her after the big kangaroo stole her first bag.

wild goose knows where to get a free meal

getting molested by a kangaroo was NOT on my bucket list

Some pretty wild geese flew in to join the kangaroos in eating the bounty provided by a group of cruise ship passengers. Wild birds know where to find an easy meal.

While none of these kangaroos made any attempt to hurt anyone, some were definitely more aggressive than others about trying to get the food. One of the bigger ones decided to try and get my whole bag. It’s not every day you get hugged by a kangaroo. This one got up close and perhaps a bit too personal.

inside the oldest church in Tasmania

After the wildlife center our tour included a few stops at viewpoints for photo ops of the oldest catholic church in Tasmania (and I think maybe they said all of Australia), a couple bridges, and the ship.

historic bridge

On a drive through the countryside we learned that Tasmania grows most of the world’s supply of legal opium poppies, used by pharmaceutical companies to make painkillers. While the food grown in Tasmania is all genetic modification free, these are GM poppies and lethal in their natural form. Every so often someone dies after stealing some poppies from a field. Other farm products of the area include vineyards, dairy, olives, and Tasmania’s own leatherwood honey, which has a very strong honey taste appreciated by true honey aficionados. We always learn random interesting things when we take ship’s excursions.

Leatherwood Honey

We spent a bit of time in historic Richmond before returning to the ship. The small town had some tourist shops and a park near where the bus stopped. Back in Hobart we had a bit of time to wander about the docks before the all aboard time.

one more Tasmanian devil

Hopefully they find a cure for the Tasmanian devils soon.

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Posted in Australia, Carnival, Legend, Ports of Call, Shore Excursions | Tagged Australia, Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, cruise, echidna, Hobart, kangaroo, photos, shore excursion, Tasmania, Tasmanian devil, travel, wombats | 7 Comments

Seattle Tourist Attractions

Posted on September 7, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Cruise Ship leaving Seattle

Many Alaska cruises start and/or end in Seattle. Anyone who has some extra time there can find numerous things to see on or near the waterfront. Some attractions are even free, such as the Gold Rush Museum in Pioneer Square. For Alaska-bound cruisers this museum may be of special interest as it ties Seattle to the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska.

Klondike Gold Rush Museum

You can learn a lot about the hardships Klondike gold rushers faced at the museum. What the thousands of people heading to Alaska in hopes of striking it rich did not know when the steamship Portland landed in Seattle in 1897 with 68 miners and a million dollars in gold was that Alaskan locals had already staked their claims all along the gold-bearing creeks.

Steam engine, White Pass and Yukon railway

Historic Steam Engine in Skagway

Seattle’s economy got quite a boost from many would-be miners passing through town on their way to Alaska from all over the world. They bought supplies and passage onboard ships. Once in Alaska these gold-fevered hopefuls faced difficult passage over either Chilkoot Pass from Dyea, a long-established Native American trading route at the time, or White Pass from Skagway where cruise ship passengers and other Skagway tourists can now take a ride on the train which was finished too late to help the would-be miners of the Klondike Gold Rush. Nothing remains of Dyea after many people died in an avalanche on the trail there. The trail up White Pass once had the name Dead Horse Trail because people would buy a horse to get their supplies up to the top of the pass and then sell it to the next person until eventually the poor overworked and underfed horse collapsed and died along the trail. Sadly several thousand horses died in the rush to get supplies over the pass.

gold rush museum display of the amount of goods would-be miners had to carry

The main reason people had to work so hard to cross these passes was because the Canadian Mounties would not let them into Canada without 2000 pounds of supplies per person, which obviously one person alone could not carry up the mountain in one trip. Anyone who could not afford to hire help had to make the trip repeatedly. Many did not get over the pass in time to make it to Dawson before winter made traveling impossible. They endured a very cold winter in the mountains living in tents, eating those supplies they worked so hard to get up the mountain. They spent their time building boats while they waited for the river to thaw so they could continue their journey, arriving in Dawson after the spring thaw, too late to stake a claim. Some went home and others worked for people who had claims. More people made money selling goods than mining gold. Only 300 people made a significant amount mining there. Of those only 50 stayed rich for the rest of their lives. The Gold Rush Museum in Seattle is part of the National Park Service. It has two floors of artifacts and educational displays and a movie about the gold rush.

Pioneer Square is more an area than an actual square, but this is a bit of it

It all starts with a toilet. At the beginning of the Underground Seattle tour, everyone gets the scoop on how Seattle’s toilets once flowed in both directions. Early Seattle, in the area now known as Pioneer Square, existed on tideflats and landfills. When the tides came in the water came right up the plumbing and out the toilets. Then came the great fire of 1889. With a large portion of the city burned to the ground Seattle’s early settlers didn’t give up, they started over. Retaining walls raised the streets up to what had been the second story of buildings. New unburnable buildings made of brick and rock rose faster than the streets. New sidewalks added at the raised street level and new doors put into what was once the second story of the buildings left the old sidewalks down below all but forgotten. During prohibition the aging corridors made a great hiding place for those not inclined to obey the new laws.

from above the little glass squares just look like fancy sidewalk decor

under the sidewalk skylights on the underground tour

Walking on the sidewalks above, the glass squares, some of which have now been replaced by circles, escape notice. Decorations maybe, not worth a second thought. Looking up from below, underground tour takers see windows from the sidewalks of the present to the sidewalks of the past in the form of skylights providing light to the underground.

Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market is another one of Seattle’s famous landmarks that almost didn’t happen. Developers once wanted to raze the building. Now it is an icon of Seattle, home of the famous fish-throwing fish mongers. Across the street, visit the original Starbucks.

Seattle’s original Starbucks

Pike Place Market has shops selling just about everything new, used, or good to eat. The public market section offers booths of local produce and crafts of all sorts. A stairway leads from the waterfront level across the street from the Aquarium up to Pike Place Market.

tourists flock to the gum wall

There’s a ramp off to the right nearly at the top of the stairs leading to Pike Place Market. Following that ramp leads to Post Alley on the right, where the brick wall of an old theater provides one of the grossest unofficial tourist attractions ever. Very uniquely Seattle, the famous gum wall. People flock to see or add to these walls with their bright colorful sticky disgusting coating of gum, which in some places oozes off the windowsills. Fallen gum wads sit on the ground next to the wall. Probably one of the most unsanitary tourist attractions ever.

gum oozes off the windowsill of this old theater

metal flowers

Keep on going down Post Alley and you will come to a garden of metal flowers along a wall. Follow it even farther and you end up in Pioneer Square.

fish at the Seattle Aquarium

Seattle’s waterfront has many things to see. The Seattle Aquarium highlights local sea creatures, but has many exotic species as well. You can even find Nemo there. Ye Olde Curiosity Shop has curious things indeed. Mummies and shrunken heads among them. Ferries take passengers across Puget Sound to Bremerton or Bainbridge Island.

Argosy cruises sail multiple times daily from Seattle’s waterfront piers

Small local cruise ships take people on day-trips and short harbor cruises around the sound. Large cruise ships from many major cruise lines start their voyages to Alaska from Seattle’s port. The Seattle Great Wheel dominates the waterfront view from many locations.

view of Seattle and the Space Needle seen from Seattle’s Great Wheel

Just up a hill from the waterfront lies the Seattle Center, a remnant of the 1962 world’s fair. Home of Seattle’s best known landmark, the Space Needle. Take a ride to the top and enjoy the view. If your ship is in port you may see it from there. Or enjoy a meal with a 360 degree view in the revolving restaurant. Discover the history of music, or make some of your own at the EMP (Experience Music Project.) The Seattle Center also has a great science center with lots of exhibits.

Ride the Duck in Lake Union near the Space Needle

Across the street from the Seattle Center near the space needle you can find the starting point for Seattle’s Ride the Duck – an amphibious vehicle that takes passengers on a land and sea tour. It drives down a boat launch right into Lake Union where passengers can see the houseboat from the movie Sleepless in Seattle and maybe catch a glimpse of another uniquely Seattle place, Gasworks Park. Once a gasification plant that turned coal into gas, it’s now now a 19 acre park with much of the old gasworks still standing.

fish statue at Miner’s Landing near the Great Wheel

Things mentioned here just begin to scratch the surface of the many things Seattle has for tourists to enjoy.

copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Posted in Port Cities, Washington | Tagged Gold Rush Museum, gum wall, photos, Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square, Ride the Duck, Sculpture Garden, Seattle, things to do in Seattle, tourist attractions | 11 Comments

Walking Boston’s Freedom Trail

Posted on September 4, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Walking Boston’s Freedom Trail

If you have a day to spend exploring Boston, walking the freedom trail brings you to a lot of historical sites and unless you choose to go inside any that have a fee or donation box it doesn’t cost anything. Though the trail does not have much in the way of signs, it does have a brick line in the sidewalk to lead people along the way.

lots of churches means lots of graveyards

Cemetery with Paul Revere’s Grave

Boston’s Freedom Trail runs for 2 1/2 miles from Boston Commons to the USS Constitution at the Boston Naval Yard. It’s fun to walk the trail and to look at historical places from the revolutionary war. Some sites like the cemetery with Paul Revere’s grave let people in for free. Others such as Paul Revere’s house allow tourists inside for a fee. Some of the churches just ask for a donation. Some buildings house shops and welcome anyone through the door, others you just look at from the outside.

You see interesting things that aren’t part of the tour – like this tunnel building

The brick line in the sidewalk clearly marks the trail for most of the way, though in a few spots it has become a bit worn and one place had fruit stands from some sort of farmer’s market making a small detour off the brick line necessary as it passed under a fruit stand. You do have to pay attention to the ground though as the line may suddenly veer off around a corner so anyone looking straight ahead could miss the turn and find themselves lost if they went too far before wondering where the line went.

State House across the street from Boston Common

We took the train into town, which on the previous day had mainly college kids who jumped right up to give their seats to anyone older than them. The second day the people mostly looked around 30-40 and none of them even glanced up to see who got on the train at any stop, let alone offered anyone a seat. Not that I wanted anybody’s train seat, but these people seemed so lost in their cell phones, tablets or books that they probably wouldn’t have noticed if a 95-year-old blind one-legged person on crutches got on the train.

Old City Hall – now a restaurant

We got off at the Park Street station again in the Boston Commons. We knew the trail started somewhere in the park, but found no signs and no painted stripe, which we had heard marked the trail. We did find a brick stripe leading to the state house, and knowing it was one of the destinations we followed that to see if we could find any other information there, but other than the brick trail we found only a sign about a black heritage trail. We followed the brick line again figuring it must be the marker rather than paint, which it did turn out to be. The brick line meandered through the park in more than one direction from the state house, but following it uphill on the sidewalk by the train station led to the rest of the trail.

The road by Paul Revere’s house has the original cobblestone pavement

The trail went past quite a few places of historical significance from the revolutionary war. A lot of other buildings in the area also had interesting old architecture whether or not they had any revolutionary war ties.

box pew at King’s Chapel

We went inside a couple churches, both of which had the pews in cubicles rather than the open pews modern churches have. Back in the day families had to buy a pew to attend church there. Central heating hadn’t been invented yet so the walls helped keep out drafts. People brought blankets or even the family dog to help them stay warm. Some worshipers had little coal burning heaters, which could not have been good for people’s lungs. The pews in the galleries on the second floor were available for people who could not afford the downstairs pews.

The Old North Church and a statue of Paul Revere

At the old North Church of One if by land and two if by sea fame (from Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) they said the person who hung two lanterns to warn people of an approach of the British by sea had to climb the very tall tower in total darkness. Apparently they didn’t light the lanterns before reaching the top. Neither church let anyone upstairs or into the bell tower.

Green Dragon Tavern

At lunchtime we came across a narrow cobblestone street surrounded in historical buildings, one called the Green Dragon Tavern. Revolutionaries used the tavern as a meeting place for planning their resistance to England. The British held councils there as well so when a concealed spy overheard their plans to capture Sam Adams and John Hancock it led to the plot involving Paul Revere’s ride which meant the British found the Americans armed and awake rather than sneaking into a sleepy village. When the war ended the constitution was ratified at the Green Dragon.

Green Dragon’s Lobster Roll

The tavern had a sign out front with lobster rolls as one of the lunch specials. I kept hearing how when in New England one must try a lobster roll, and I wasn’t even sure what exactly that was so I wanted to try it. It turned out to be a lobster salad type filling in a hoagie roll, but rather than the roll sliced in half like a regular sandwich, this one was sliced through the middle of the top and the filling stuffed in the crack. It tasted good, but was kind of hard to eat because the filling tended to fall out when taking a bite. Later in our trip at port stops on our cruise on the Holland America Veendam I saw lobster rolls advertised in various places, all with hot dog buns instead of the hoagie roll so perhaps that was an upscale pub version of the lobster roll.

music from old plastic buckets

The trail passed through a little square where a busker played music on overturned plastic buckets. He sounded good enough to attract a pretty big crowd. We stopped to listen awhile and gave him a tip, which led to several other people offering up tips as well.

Paul Revere’s House

Somewhere along the way we came to Paul Revere’s house. It just costs a few bucks to go inside so we took the tour. Some sort of building project took up most of the yard and the entrance through the construction fence was so easy to miss that a group of schoolkids started knocking on a door that was not the entrance. The workers tried to ignore them in hopes they would either go away or find the way in, but they didn’t stop knocking until someone finally gave up and went outside to tell them how to get in.

masts of the Constitution behind other ships

The freedom trail leads to the USS Constitution, the world’s oldest commissioned navel vessel afloat. (It was named by George Washington – it’s that old.) People normally can see the Constitution (Old Ironsides) up close and even go on board for a tour, but currently it is in drydock so it’s not actually afloat for the next few years. Not only can people not go on board, but it is behind a fence where you can’t get any good pictures. We didn’t bother crossing the bridge to walk all the way up to it since the trolley tour had stopped by there the day before so we already knew there wasn’t much to see. From across the water we just saw the masts.

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Posted in Day Trips, Holland America, Port Cities, USA, Veendam | Tagged Boston, Freedom Trail, history, lobster roll, Old North Church, Paul Revere, Paul Revere's house, photos, revolutionary war, travel | 8 Comments

Dominica Island Tour

Posted on August 31, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Carnival Splendor in Dominica

Not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispanola with Haiti, Dominica is its own island. Gaining independence from Great Britain in 1978, it remains part of the British Commonwealth. Throughout our journey from the Carnival Splendor on our port stops from St. Croix to Martinique, Grenada, and Dominica we noticed that all these volcanic Caribbean islands have one thing in common – steep terrain and narrow roads. I wouldn’t want to drive on any of them, but the drivers we’ve had on our taxi tours have all done a good job of driving in two lane traffic on a road often narrower than the average American drives for one. They politely pull over in wide spots to let traffic by whether it is going the other way or coming up behind them. I also did not see any litter by the roadsides, which sadly is a rare thing just about anywhere in the world these days.

Roseau, Dominica buildings and ruins

Like most cruise ships that visit Dominica the Splendor docked at the cruise port in Roseau. In town near the dock pedestrians wove through traffic closer to moving cars than I would ever be comfortable. Cross traffic seemed to have no visible rules as to who went or who stopped, but if one direction had nowhere to go the other would slip between cars whether it looked like they had room or not. I asked if many people got ran over or hit by cars and our driver said no. He also said that the unemployment rate in Dominica is quite low.

Cafe in an old ruin

We took a lot of taxi tours on our Splendor trip, partly because it is an affordable way to see the islands, partly because we traveled with a group of people with ages ranging from 12 to 90 and it is something everyone can do, and partly since most of the places on this itinerary are not on the usual cruise ship rounds the choices for shore excursions from the ship are more limited. It’s nice to get to see new places and local drivers sometimes go places where tours never would. Sometimes they miss some of the area’s main attractions though, like Dominica’s boiling lake and other geothermal features like geysers and mud pots in the nearby Valley of Desolation – neither of which our guide even mentioned as existing. It’s possible they are not easily accessible by car.

old church in Roseau

Dominica did not have a lot of options of things for people to do on their own. The town of Roseau is right at the end of the dock so walking around and shopping is an easy option. Taxis could take people to a beach about 25 minutes or so away, which had a rocky shore and then a dropoff, but was OK for swimming. There was a guy walking around with a sign about taking people fishing, but he wanted a very lot of money for that. Quite a few people offered taxi tours.

steaming creek seen from a bridge

The taxi tours went through town and out into the countryside. Our tour cost $20, with an option to take a 15 minute hike and swim in a natural pool for an extra $5, which we did not do. After working his way through the pedestrian-laden traffic he drove us up into the rainforest. We saw some houses built on poles due to the steep terrain, but not as many as in Grenada. Also unlike some of the previous islands, healthcare on Dominica is not free except for senior citizens. The children attend primary school together, but boys and girls are separated in older grades. At least in the catholic schools anyway, he did say the girls were taught by nuns so I’m not sure if that separation includes public schools.

wildflower in Dominica

Our first stop brought us to a viewpoint on a hill where we could look over the city and our big ship at a tiny dock. Like anywhere where tourists may stop, this stop had a number of locals selling all manner of things in little booths.

Snake Oil for sale

Lots of different fruits and things grow on the roadsides. We saw some of the same things as on previous islands. In one place an avocado tree grew near trees with cocoa beans and breadfruit and we had not come across an avocado tree before. While the roadside stands on Grenada had mostly spices, on Dominica they sometimes had fruit and other times little trinkets mixed with a few spices. One even had some bottles labeled snake oil. Which is actually oil from a snake that they believe has medicinal uses and not a joke product.

Squatter camp in a roofless ruin

The island had some ruins from past hurricanes. Mostly abandoned roofless buildings, though walking through town after the tour we found a cafe in a ruin called the ruin cafe. It did have a roof, though it may have been a floor to an upper level in the past. There was also a squatter settlement in a roofless ruin in town across the street from 2 churches, one of which looked like a ruin and the other as if it was in current use.

Baobab tree fell on a schoolbus in a hurricane and continues to grow over it

On the tour we saw one of the most interesting hurricane remnants of all. In a botanical garden a mammoth tree had one trunk going straight up like normal trees, and another growing sideways over a mostly crushed bus that ended up there in hurricane David years ago. It’s not often that the most interesting thing in a botanical garden is an old schoolbus.

Tralfalgar Falls

One hilltop stop included a view of Trafalgar Falls from a distance. This double set of falls is one of the islands main attractions, though from our distant viewpoint we saw just one waterfall. The ship had a tour to the falls, which was marked as including a strenuous hike. At that stop some local ladies had costume jewelry and trinkets set out on tables to sell. They also had cold drinks and fresh sugarcane and coconut.

bubbling hot pool

After passing through an area with a number of signs advertising hot tubs and massage parlors we wound our way around to a sulphur hotspring where once again locals peddling their wares flanked the road, though these included mineral spring products such as handmade soap. They also had a stand selling smoothies and one for massages.

stairway to the sulphur spring

A pathway up a steep uneven staircase past a steaming creek led up to a bridge to an observation deck with a view of a steamy bubbling hot spring filling the air with a strong sulphur smell. The bubbling pool frequently made a loud gurgle followed by a large splash of water spraying upward.

wildflower in Dominica

Back in town we worked our way through the stream of cars and people in the narrow streets back to the cruise ship dock, making all the passengers glad not to be the driver.

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Map of Caribbean from World Atlas

Posted in Caribbean, Carnival, Ports of Call, Splendor | Tagged Caribbean cruise, cheap things to do in port, cruise port on your own, Dominica, island tour, photos, taxi tour, travel, tropical flowers | 14 Comments

How to Fold a Towel Octopus

Posted on August 25, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Once upon a time…OK maybe not as long ago as fairytales,

Towel Octopus

but quite some time ago my daughter challenged me to make a towel octopus. I figured out how to make towels into an octopus, but at the time I just took a photo and posted it on facebook. I had not seen one on a ship before I made them to leave in the cabin for the stewards now and then, but have seen them on ships since. I have no idea if they copied mine or figured it out on their own. I never put up the directions on the blog before though so I’ll do it now.

Supplies Needed to Make a Towel Octopus

One Beach Towel

Two Bath Towels

One Hand Towel

Eyes (googly eyes or make your own from paper or felt)

How to Fold a Towel Octopus Body

Roll bath towel to the middle from each end

The towel octopus body is made from two standard towel animal bodies put together. Start with one bath towel. Lay the bath towel out flat.

try to make the rolls as even as possible

Roll each end to the middle from the short side.

fold the towel rolled side out

Fold the rolled towel in half with the rolls to the outside. Pull the tips out of the ends of each roll.

take the tips of both ends of one roll in one hand and the other roll in the other hand

Take the tips from both ends of one roll in one hand and the tips from both ends of the other roll in the other hand.

pull both ends at once

Pull on all of them at once until the rolls stretch out into legs and the center comes together for the body. Repeat with the other bath towel.

one body rolls up and one rolls down

Place one towel animal body with the open bit where the rolls come together in the middle facing up. Take the other towel animal body and turn it so the open part where the rolls come together faces down.

the two bodies fit together in the open space between the rolls

Insert the body with the rolls facing down into the one with the rolls facing up at the middle between the rolls, perpendicular to each other so it becomes one body with eight legs.

How to Make a Towel Octopus Head

make a towel ball, no specific way just make a ball

Wad the hand towel up in a ball. Starting with one corner of the beach towel, wrap it around the hand towel making sure to keep it round.

wrap the beach towel around the hand towel

Or just wad most of the beach towel up around the ball of hand towel and smooth about the last third of the towel around the rest of it so if forms a ball.

make adjustments as necessary while rolling to keep the round shape

Whatever works for you, just make a towel ball. If you want a smaller head leave out the hand towel and just make a ball with the beach towel.

Finishing the Towel Octopus

finished towel octopus

Set the towel ball head on top of the eight-legged body. Smooth out the lumps and adjust head to the desired shape. Decorate with eyes. Position the legs as desired.

For instructions on how to fold a variety of other towel animals please visit My Cruise Stories Towel Animal Page.

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Posted in Towel Animals | Tagged free towel animal folding instructions, octopus, photos, sea creature towels, towel animals, towel octopus | 4 Comments

Sucia Island Beach Bonfire

Posted on August 19, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

The Wilderness Adventurer is actually much larger than the sailboat, but it is also much farther away

After exploring around Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula and San Juan Islands, the Wilderness Adventurer made a final stop at the state marine park on Sucia Island. Washington has a number of marine parks throughout the San Juan Islands. Sucia Island had some mooring bouys where smaller boats tied up, but the Wildernes Adventurer anchored a bit farther out. Next to a regular cruise ship this 60-passenger expedition vessel would look tiny, but compared to ordinary boats it appears gigantic.

Landing at the beach on Sucia Island

The crew quickly launched the skiffs to take passengers to shore. Options included a bluff hike around the edges of the island, a meander through the woods, or just chilling out on the beach. We picked the meander.

wild roses

The first trail took us through wild rose bushes and up to a bluff trail view. After following along the edge of the island for a bit we took a turn into the forest. At one point the trail got a bit steep and a few people turned back, but most went on.

view from the bluff trail

We saw a lot of wildflowers along the way. Eventually the trail crossed a small bridge. Further on we came to an outhouse in the middle of the woods. Or perhaps it was a composting toilet, I’m not sure since I didn’t go inside the little building housing the rustic facility, but it was open and available and some people made use of it.

little caves in the rock wall

Not far from the toilet the trail opened out onto a deserted beach with small caves in the rock wall running from the beach up to the bluff.

Water so clear you can see the bottom of the sea from the top of the bluff.

The water surrounding the island looked calm and crystal clear. It looks inviting, but most people wouldn’t want to swim there because it is too cold.

beach on the hike

After spending some time on that beach we hiked back to the beach where the skiffs landed. While we enjoyed nature on our hike the crew had come to the beach and started a bonfire in one of the fire pits the park provides.

bonfire at the beach

On a nearby picnic table they had barbecued chicken wings and other tasty treats ready for passengers to enjoy. Since this was a beer themed cruise, our beer hosts, Kim and Kendall of Washington Beer Blog presented the beers for the day’s theme – good beers that come in cans. Cans are better for hiking because they are lighter than bottles and can be crushed to take up minimal backpack space after use.

One of the crew plays guitar while another serves beer

One of the crew pulled out a guitar and we had some time for songs and relaxing and enjoying tasty snacks on the beach with views of the forest and bay. A great way to celebrate all the fun we had on that cruise.

wildflowers on Sucia Island

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Posted in Cruise Food, Un-Cruise Adventures, Washington, Wilderness Adventurer | Tagged beach, beer, bonfire, cruise, marine state park, photos, trail, travel, Un-Cruise, wildflowers | 1 Comment

Cruise Ship Decor on Carnival Splendor

Posted on August 13, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Splendor at night

The décor on the Splendor seemed so unusual that I decided to investigate the story behind it. Its style seems somehow more out there than the other Carnival ships I’ve sailed on. Probably due to the fact that it was originally designed for Costa and the European market, though Carnival Corporation did used to use the same designer for both cruise lines. The last ship he fully designed for Carnival was the Dream, but he did have a hand in some spaces on the Magic. The newer Breeze has a quite different and more modern look with its Caribbean casual décor by Partner Design of Hamburg.

Looking down into the Splendor Atrium

Designer Joe Farcus decorated Carnival’s ships from the cruise line’s second ship the Carnivale in 1975 to 2008’s Dream. The Breeze which launched in 2012 was the first Carnival ship decorated completely by someone else since the original Carnival Cruise line ship the Mardi Gras in 1972.

the Lido restaurant area is decorated to resemble an old steamship

Splendor’s unique décor theme evident on the Lido is remembering the White Star Line.

model of the Queen Mary

The Lido is representative of the Queen Mary. It even has models of the Queen Mary and her sister ship Normandie by the stern pool.

bar by the aft pool looks like an old steamship

It has different unique themes in other public areas around the ship as well as a pearls theme running through most spaces. Each lounge has a story behind it and represents or replicates the original place that inspired the decor for that lounge. Even the coffee bar is a replica of an actual place designer Joe Farcus once visited in Columbia.

coffee bar on the Splendor

The Splendor is officially listed as Conquest class, but according to the hotel director on board it is actually in a mini-dream class of its own. It has some differences from other Conquest class ships and some features otherwise only found on Dream class ships.

Black Pearl Dining Room

The theme of pearls runs throughout the ship, but becomes most obvious in the Black and Gold Pearl dining rooms with their tubular horn-like shapes spouting pearls all around the walls. The light fixtures on the ceiling also have strings of “pearls” snaking around them.

the railings reminded me of hamburger buns

The row of round shapes that made up the stairway railings in the dining rooms reminded me more of hamburger buns than pearls.

Fried eggs or pearls on the oyster?

What looked like fried eggs all over the ceiling was probably supposed to be pearls in the oyster.

circles everywhere

Round pearl-like shapes are found in unlikely places all about the ship. Tables in some public areas have pink zebra-striped rings referred to as pink donuts by ship’s staff, and pink zebra-striped dots or rings cover many walls, particularly stairways and the halls in public areas.

stairway railings, ceiling lights, and pink dots

Even the stairway railings have round shapes, as do the ceilings and light fixtures near the stairs and elevators and other places around the ship. Besides the circular pearl shape the light fixtures also carry the old steamship theme in their looks-old-and-worn coloring.

Are the nipples really necessary in this hallway painting?

Returning to the White Star Line theme, paintings of people from an earlier era line the walls in hallways to guest rooms. Many of the women are in bathing suits in styles from early last century, some with too much showing even though it is covered. Some of the men are pictured smoking, which would have been far more acceptable in the era the pictures represent than it is now.

ugly statues at the spa

I’m not sure what it is with cruise ships and weird statues, but no matter who the ship belongs to a lot of them seem to have either really ugly or really odd statues. Then again odd and ugly statues are pretty common on dry land as well. Actually strange things are pretty common in all types of art and some people must like them or nobody would buy them.

stairway art

Each Carnival ship has unique décor and artwork. While a lot of the paintings hanging around the ship belong to the art auction, some are permanent. A considerable amount of the artwork throughout the Splendor contains nudity. As a Costa ship it would have sailed in the European market where nudes are more commonplace. People there are accustomed to the old Greek and Roman naked statues.

inappropriate yet entertaining elevator art

Americans are not so comfortable with nudity and on some ships Carnival has removed nude décor. The strangest piece of artwork among all the odd things that we found on the Splendor was a painting in an elevator which we dubbed “Naked Toilet Man.” It’s painted in mosaic style and many people in the elevator don’t notice what it actually is, but if you stand outside the elevator and look in it becomes much more obvious. It would be a shame if they removed it though because it was a good source of amusement – for us anyway. (We’re easily amused.)

Lido pool with dome closed

We were told future plans to update the ship did not include the decor. Odd though it is, it does provide a contribution to the personality and history of the ship. With a name like Splendor perhaps people expect the over the top decor. Plain and simple just wouldn’t feel splendid.

The El Morocco Lounge has a Sahara Desert look

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Posted in Carnival, Splendor | Tagged cruise ship decor, elevator art, interior design on a cruise ship, naked paintings, naked statues, photos, Splendor, strange art | 10 Comments

Seuss at Sea

Posted on August 7, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Hannah helps Sam-I-Am hold up a plate of green eggs and ham

Would you eat them in a box? Would you eat them with a fox? Would you eat them here or there? Would you eat them anywhere?

Would you could you on a boat? On a boat, that’s it! The perfect place to eat green eggs and ham if I do say so Sam-I-Am!

Carnival Legend where you too could eat green eggs and ham

Yes you too could eat green eggs and ham on a boat thanks to Carnival Cruise Line’s Seuss at Sea. Most everyone grew up reading Dr. Seuss books so the stories and characters are familiar to all ages. The Cat in the Hat even has his own cartoon series now (something I learned from my Australian grandkids) so he’s a star among the preschool set.

Dr. Seuss breakfast decorations include a ice sculpture of the cat – this one is on the Splendor

Carnival’s Seuss at Sea program is fun for kids of all ages. It has 3 parts, a Dr. Seuss parade, Dr. Suess storytime, and a green eggs and ham breakfast. The festivities start with a parade for the kids, immediately followed by story time. The breakfast takes place on the last sea day of the cruise and is the only part of the Dr. Seuss program that costs extra to attend.

Hannah with Cat-In-The-Hat face paint

On parade day on the Legend some of the kids at Camp Carnival including my granddaughter Hannah had their faces painted to look like the cat in the hat. People gathered in the designated area to get ready for the parade. Crew members handed out pom-poms and Dr. Seuss character cut-outs on sticks to the waiting children. While the smallest kids could easily carry and wave the small lightweight pom-poms, the bigger ones had fun holding the characters.

Kids gathering for the Seuss-a-palooza parade

While waiting for the Dr. Seuss characters to arrive and start the parade, the crew taught the kids to chant “Dr. Seuss is on the loose.” Some were also given bells when the pop-poms and character cut-outs ran out.

Sheri, Hannah, and Daniel pose with the Cat in the Hat at the breakfast

When life-sized characters (in the form of costumed crew people) showed up the parade started. A crowd of kids and parents noisily followed the characters from the lounge at the back where they had gathered up all the way through the ship on a deck of public areas full of people to the far end and into theater at the front. People couldn’t help but turn away from whatever they were doing and look as the long line of bell-ringing people chanting “Dr. Seuss is on the loose” passed by waving pop-poms and flaunting cartoon characters on a stick.

The Dr. Suess characters on stage at the end of the parade

Upon arrival at the main theater we saw the stage all set up for Dr. Seuss storytime. While most of the adults found a place to sit out in the theater, the crew invited the kids to sit on the stage – with parents for the littlest ones.

the story involved a dad posing as the cat, a mom to hold props, and a couple little things, um er I mean kids

The entertainment crew picked a couple kids and a couple parents to participate in the story. They had all sorts of props and as a crew member read The Cat in the Hat more and more props came out with the story.

Suddenly the story got interrupted by the captain making a long stream of announcements on an overhead speaker. The kids who had sat so well when enraptured in the story got restless and started moving about the stage. Finally the announcements ended.

Rather than getting straight back into the story with a restless audience, the story reader said “Knock knock.”

Everyone’s familiar with knock knock jokes so it didn’t take long to get “Who’s there?” in reply.

“Dishes,” he said.

“Dishes who?”

“Dishes the captain speaking.”

Everyone laughed because that was almost exactly how the Italian captain actually sounded.

With the audience’s attention regained the story went on. It was very cute and far more entertaining than we thought it would be, having gone to it only because of cruising with 3 and 5 year old grandchildren. Another great reason for cruising with kids – all the fun things you’d otherwise miss out on because you’d never think of going to them without the kids.

cereal crusted french toast

The highlight of the Seuss at Sea festivities is the Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast on the last sea day of the voyage. The nominal charge for the breakfast means it won’t get overcrowded because they stop selling tickets if it gets full and since they are sold in advance the crew knows exactly how many people to expect. Quite a few adults do attend the breakfast on their own without any children to escort them there.

table all decorated for the Dr. Seuss Breakfast

On the Splendor where things are in American dollars it cost $5 per person, but on the Legend out of Australia it cost $10 each. While we only did the parade and storytime on the Legend with the young grandkids, we went to the breakfast on both ships. On the Splendor our group ranged in age from 12 to 90, but it’s fun to have strange things to eat sometimes no matter how old you are.

A couple things – Justin and Tina on the Splendor

On Dr. Seuss breakfast morning kids of any age can pose outside the dining room with cutouts of Thing 1 and Thing 2. The décor is all Seuss, with an ice sculpture cat in the hat, red and white striped hat centerpieces at every table, and Seuss characters and decorations all around the area.

Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast Menu from the Legend

All the waiters, waitress and other crew at the breakfast had bright red t-shirts. While thing 1 and thing 2 were the most popular things for the shirts to say, some people had other numbers ranging from thing 0 to thing 99.

The whimsical menu includes many other things besides green eggs and ham. It has brightly colored waffles, cereal encrusted French toast and other interesting choices. Those with no imagination can order ordinary food. In typical cruise ship fashion the portions are way too big for kids, and pretty big for a lot of adults as well.

Green Eggs and Ham

The green eggs and ham resemble eggs benedict, but without the hollandaise sauce and the eggs are whipped as well as dyed green. The French toast with either cocoa pebbles or cocoa krispies (I’m not sure which) tasted a lot better than it sounds. It seems strange, but was actually quite good.

Daniel and Hannah with Thing 1 and Thing 2

The young grandkids enjoyed posing with the characters, which was well organized on the Legend. They brought people up table by table and everyone got a turn. On the Splendor the character showed up and people scrambled into a line which got cut off at some point so in addition to spending a lot of time standing in line, not everyone got a photo who wanted one. All the ships should take a lesson from the Legend where everyone got a turn to pose with each character without spending their breakfast time standing in line.

even the waffles are brightly colored

Overall the Seuss at Sea program is a lot of fun and a great addition to Carnival’s family friendly entertainment.

this breakfast even comes with dessert

Posted in Carnival, Cruise Food, Legend, Shipboard Life, Splendor | Tagged books, Carnival Cruise, cruise food, Dr Seuss breakfast, Dr. Seuss, food, fun, kids, photos, Seuss at Sea, story, strange food, travel | 8 Comments

Boston Trolley Tour and River Cruise

Posted on August 2, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Riverboat named Henry Longfellow

Boston, the largest city in New England and one of the oldest in the USA, was founded by Puritan settlers from England. The city had a key role in the American Revolution, which of course means it now has historical revolutionary tourist attractions. The area of Boston called Back Bay is built on landfill in former tidal flats.

Boston has a lot of old buildings

In spite of its expensive hotel rates about 12 million tourists visit Boston each year. They come to view historic places and to walk Boston’s Freedom Trail. Sports fans come to see Fenway Park, the oldest baseball stadium still in use. Other visitors enjoy museums, concerts, shopping, parks, and other amenities. Some also come to board or disembark a cruise ship.

Not everything in Boston is old

I came to Boston with two aunts, an uncle, and a couple days to see the town before boarding Holland America‘s Veendam for a Boston to Quebec cruise, my first visit to eastern Canada and the northeast corner of the USA.

Old historic school house

Because hotels in downtown Boston or near the waterfront are so expensive we stayed at a Ramada just outside the downtown area. The hotel had a free shuttle to the airport, cruise dock, and a train station where we could catch the subway into town. The hotel building was a bit on the older side, but the price was good for the area and the staff was nice. The free breakfast included several hot selections beyond toast. They had scrambled eggs, oatmeal, and make-your-own waffles.

Boston Public Garden

We took an overnight flight into Boston. As soon as our tickets popped out of the e-ticket kiosk I noticed two things. First they all said TSA pre-check. Mine and both my aunts. Often when traveling with my husband he gets the pre-check and goes through the quick line while I join the que where you have to wait in a long line to take off your shoes and coat, take your computer out of the bag, and walk through the scanner. As we got into the short pre-check line an airport worker looked our way suspiciously and said to the line in general while pointing toward the long general boarding line, “Make sure your tickets say pre-check on them or you will have to go over to the other line.” Ours did indeed say pre-check so we didn’t move. Neither did anyone else.

Boston Clock Tower

A lot of people in the pre-check line looked like first-timers, unnecessarily unloading their packs and removing their coats in spite of that line’s lack of bins to put them in. I told the guy ahead of me to set his stuff on the conveyer and go through. He looked skeptical, but did it and at the end said thanks.

amphibious duck boat rides are a popular tourist attraction

The other shocker on my ticket came in the form of a MR.. Yup that’s what it said. After my name MR.. with two periods. It initially had MR as the default choice when I bought the ticket, but I changed it to MRS and now here I was at the airport with a ticket that said MR.. Since there was nothing I could do about it I figured don’t say anything and hope they don’t notice. Nobody said a word about it so either they didn’t notice or (as I pointed out to my aunts) in today’s politically correct world they may not be allowed to say anything because for all they know I could be transgender. Either way I got through security and on the plane so I was happy.

trolley

Our plane landed long before check-in time at our hotel. We met up with my uncle at the Boston airport. His California flight arrived about an hour before ours from Seattle. He called the hotel for the shuttle, which far exceeded the time estimate they had given us for it to get there. I started out thinking to give the driver a low tip for his lateness, but on the way to the hotel we saw the slow traffic and he gave us a nice tour of the area. He even took a detour past the cruise ship dock so we’d know where it was. By the time we got to the hotel the amount I decided to give him had more than doubled.

Cheers Bar from inside the trolley

When we got to the hotel we dropped off our bags, which they locked away securely and then kindly said the breakfast room was open and we could eat even though we had not officially checked in. They were booked full the previous night and had no rooms open so we couldn’t check in then. After filling our bellies we caught the shuttle to the train station and went into town, getting off at Park Street station by the Boston Commons. We found a hop-op hop-off trolley tour, and though we only hopped off where they had a river cruise included with the fare we still got the driving tour through town with constant commentary from the driver about the things we saw along the way.

inside the river boat

After disembarking the trolley at the boat ride stop, a walk through a mall brought us to the river. The trains we rode into town reminded me of Sydney, Australia and the mall even more so as it was on multiple levels. While malls where I live sprawl out over a large area at ground level except a few of the larger stores that have two stories, apparently malls built in more crowded places extended upward and downward with escalators in the middle of the aisles and many different stores on each level.

Boston Science Museum

After about a half hour wait for the boat to come in from its previous tour we boarded. The stern looked like the best spot as it had windows all the way around so everyone could sit by one, while the middle had rows of chairs where only the end person got a window. Since we got there first we got in line first and got the back, though we didn’t take all of it so a couple other people sat there too.

fancy multimillion dollar boat shed from a university

The tour guide on the boat talked about the things we passed through most of the trip, and said that people could walk about and take photos. (It was less than half full so we had lots of room to move about.) Some people went to the open bow on the front.

very basic boat shed at a school across the water

The river ran between Boston and Cambridge. Both sides had universities. In one place on one side of the river the university there had a multi-million dollar boat club for their rowing and sailing programs where the copper roof alone cost several million dollars and the school on the other side had a shack and a honeybucket. Perhaps one of those schools might just be a bit more affordable than the other.

graffiti artists are everywhere

We passed under a number of bridges, each with their own story. Much of the riversides had older buildings with the fancy architecture not found in modern skyscrapers, though some of those sat near the river as well. The river cruise concluded at about hotel check-in time and was just 3 trolley stops from where we got on so it didn’t take long to get back to the train station, which is accessed by a stairway or elevator as it runs underground through town.

the river boat was long and narrow

The Boston area has a lot of colleges so about a third of the population is under 30. We were impressed with how nice and friendly random people were. When we bought our trolley tickets the sign had a lower price for seniors. It did not give an age so when I asked how old you had to be to get the senior price he gave it to all of us without asking any of our ages even though I didn’t really qualify. (My husband laughed at that because I got a senior discount before him and he’s older.)

When we got on the train to go into town immediately several college-age kids jumped up from their seats to make room for us to sit down and more of them did so at any stop where people older than themselves got on the train.

We had walked up the stairs when we got off the train and when we went to find where to board after our tour we found an elevator marked only for the green line train and we needed red. It said all trains at the top, but only had a button for green line as a level to pick. As soon as one of us mentioned that a nearby vendor said just go to the greenline level on the elevator and we could take stairs to the redline from there.

Park Street train station under Boston Commons

At most stops you could see the name of the station painted on the wall. Then we got to one dark stop where couldn’t see the station’s name. I mentioned that our station would be the 5th stop if it stopped at all the stations on the way and didn’t bypass any like the Sydney trains often do. A young girl sitting next to me asked what station we needed, and when I said JFK she said “That’s the first one after the train leaves the tunnel.” So while it was indeed the 5th stop since the train stopped at all the stations, knowing that it was the first daylight stop made it very easy to know when to get off the train.

While it’s been years since I paid attention to what’s in style, wouldn’t know fashion if it bit me, and am usually totally unobservant of what people wear, I couldn’t help but notice a large number of people dressed in the leggings and skinny jeans once fashionable in the 1980’s that I haven’t seen since. Apparently these things made a comeback. I haven’t seen anyone dressed that way where I live, but then again if there weren’t a lot of them I wouldn’t notice. A lot of the college crowd also wore sweatpants. Whether that is in fashion now too or they just want to dress comfortably I couldn’t say. The people all seemed quite pleasant and helpful, which is definitely more important than what they wear.

Posted in Day Trips, Holland America, Port Cities, USA, Veendam | Tagged Boston, historic buildings, history, people, photos, river cruise, subway, travel, Trolley Tour | 9 Comments

Food on the Wilderness Adventurer

Posted on July 28, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Wilderness Adventurer in Port Townsend

People look forward to the food on cruise ships. While Wilderness Adventurer is an expedition vessel designed for active adventures in remote places, a satisfying meal still plays a part in the enjoyment of the cruise. Or un-cruise since this is after all Un-Cruise Adventures, so named because the experience aboard these small ship adventure vessels is vastly different than that found on the large cruise ships.

lunch buffet on Chinese food day

On our cruise on the Wilderness Adventurer they served breakfast and lunch buffet style and dinner in sit down and order fashion. Each meal brings about several choices, with the day’s menu shown on one channel of the stateroom TV.

chow mien and salad for lunch

Early breakfasters can choose from continental breakfast selections of cold cereal, fruit, a variety of breads, and yogurt. Later hot food selections are added, which vary daily with things like pancakes or frittatas, potatoes, eggs and bacon or sausage, and oatmeal. People work up an appetite on daily adventures like hiking or kayaking.

every day the menu changed

On our cruise they put a list of the dinner main dish choices out at the bar so people could pre-select, which would help them greatly in knowing how much of each thing to cook.

the chef liked to plate things in a pile

If people didn’t choose ahead of time they could still order what they wanted. They normally offered a meat choice, a seafood choice, and a vegetarian option. The favorite among a number of passengers often was half & half. With most people that meant half meat, half seafood, but vegetarian worked as one of the halves too if that was what someone thought sounded good.

each night had a fish option

meat option was always a choice

The menu at each meal changed every day and the pastry chef added delightful breads and desserts.

dessert – the best part

this chocolate cake was delicious

carrot cake

bar on the Wilderness Adventurer

Posted in Cruise Food, Un-Cruise Adventures, Wilderness Adventurer | Tagged cruise food, food, photos, travel, Un-Cruise | 8 Comments

Cruise Stories

In Search Of Tasmanian Devils

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Seattle Tourist Attractions

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Walking Boston’s Freedom Trail

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Dominica Island Tour

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How to Fold a Towel Octopus

Supplies Needed to Make a Towel Octopus

How to Fold a Towel Octopus Body

How to Make a Towel Octopus Head

Finishing the Towel Octopus

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Sucia Island Beach Bonfire

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Cruise Ship Decor on Carnival Splendor

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Seuss at Sea

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Boston Trolley Tour and River Cruise

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Food on the Wilderness Adventurer

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

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