On the 4th I had scheduled snorkeling off of a boat. We left around 11 for 7 hours out on the water, 3 of which was just getting to and from the point of snorkeling. We had maybe 30 people on the boat and it was a pretty typical catamaran with a platform off of the back. They suggested wearing a snorkeling skins which I really hate, so I along with several others skipped the suits and just put on our snorkeling gear and went in the water. They were offering tours with a marine biologist and when I found the first one had no one signed up, I signed up and got a very nice tour of the reef with the biologist which was great. The visibility was not 100% clear probably because of Iris, but over all a very nice trip. Water was warm, plenty of fish, great crew and they provided a very nice hot lunch.
The down side of having to take boats to and from the shore was the time to load and unload. We got on and off pretty quickly from the catamaran and I got back just before dinner, dashed up to the room to shower and change to meet my travel mate, Suzan. I got to the coffee shop where we were to meet and when I called her found out she was still on the boat waiting their turn to unload. She spent 1.5 hours on one of the life boats (which doubled as our transport to and from the port) waiting their turn to disembark.
No shows tonight, 6:30 am departure for next snorkeling trip.
April 5th Suzan and I had scheduled a snorkeling excursion together. We left at 6:30 am and headed out to a fixed pontoon. It was a Celebrity exclusive so only passengers from our ship. Maybe 100 - 150 people, but it was a nice big pontoon and nice big area to snorkel. The water was really clear and warm and if I hadn't been concerned about the sun, I would have stayed in the water the full four hours we were there, the temperature was perfect, visibility great and not too many people for the area. The same kitchen must prepare lunch for all the excursions since it was similar to the day before: Curry with and without meat, rice, roasted chicken legs, salad greens and dressing, pasta, bread and butter, vegetables and fresh fruit. Tea was crackers and cheese.
We finished out day with dinner at Murano, another specialty restaurant. They were running a "special" - instead of $50 per person, we could eat there for $35 per person. Our table mate, Paula, a lovely lady from the Gold Coast, joined us.
Paula was a retired nurse who had lost her husband several years ago and now traveled on her own. When we first met her she didn't smile and stayed to herself. Turns out she had been ill and the trip was her time to rest. Well, Suzan and I took care of the smiles and by the end of the cruise we were thick as thieves and we even had her laughing. She and her husband lived a very interesting life and she was just plain fun to spend time with.
We went to Muranos, Suzan and Paula keen on having lobster. I didn't really care as long as it wasn't lobster and I settled on rack of lamb. The dinner was very nice, the lobster was cooked table side and we had a lot of fun with our waiter, Dargo, who really was quite the ham.
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| Scallop Wellington |
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| Lobster Bisque |
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| Lobster prepared by Dargo |
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| Rack of Lamb |
April 6 we sailed from Cairnes to Port Douglas. Suzan cancelled her snorkeling excursion and went ashore instead. In retrospect, I probably should have too. It was not a Celebrity exclusive and even though they made the experience as nice as possible, there were just too many people on the pontoon. No matter where I went, I got run into. I'd just be floating and someone with their camera chasing a fish would just run into me or over me as if I didn't exist. It was a really beautiful section of the reef, the coral was quite beautiful and lots of fish including Wally, a huge grouper (I believe). I had my picture taken with Wally, but for $110 I didn't need or want it that badly. They required us to wear skins because of the risk of stingers (jelly fish) so I finally gave up and spent time on the pontoon. They served lunch very similar to the other two days which again was very good. We got back about an hour before we sailed on.
Except for the pictures of me and a couple taken with my cell phone, the rest of the pictures below are ones I bought along with the pictures of me, but are beautiful shots from the reef.
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| Cell phone shot |
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| Cell phone shot |
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| Wally |
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