62 days and counting: MONTEGO BAY

I’m not going to bore you with tales of on board life. Not much happens apart from swimming, (Yes, the weather has sure warmed up now) eating, time in the spa room relaxing, eating, chatting to new found friends by the pool, eating and of course attending shows. Did I mention eating?

In addition to these activities there are short ‘Insight talks’ on various subjects. Some are more interesting than others but worthwhile anyway. There is a full library on board and various areas where classical music is played.

There is a full British style pub on board and numerous games and contests arranged for those so inclined. We just don’t seem to have time to attend many of these functions.

Its Julies birthday today and we docked at Montego Bay.

I had pre-booked (in Aus. and not via Cunard) a trip to Martha Brae River to take Julie on a bamboo raft ride. We were picked up at the port by a mini-bus and driver (Dexter, Yea, Mon!) to be taken there. Our driver was a genuinely great guy and gave us a heap of information about the area.

My understanding was that it was a two and a half hour trip; it turned out that we had the driver and bus at our disposal for the entire day until we returned to the ship for 6.00 pm. Our own personal tour guide!

So, a drive of 27 klms to Martha Brae! What an experience. We had a complimentary fruit punch drink (I had a shot of rum in mine) before meeting our raft captain for our ride down the river.

This was not a short ride either but almost 90 mins long. Jamaica is one gorgeous place – lots of tropical greenery and balmy temperatures all year round. Evidently most of the rain falls either early morning or during the night. However, they do suffer hurricanes in the season.

The river raft ride was awesome though and so relaxing.

Our next stop was for lunch in a ‘local eatery’. This was one of the best chicken dinners I’ve had in a long time.

After a drive around we went to a beach for a couple of hours for a swim in the sea.

I managed to bribe a trio of buskers to sing Happy Birthday to Julie. They in turn persuaded us to join in with the Maracas.

After our return to the ship we had some time to spare so we went to the spa for an hour before preparing for dinner.

We skipped our regular dinner in the restaurant and instead had a quiet meal in the on-board Todd English restaurant. This is an extra restaurant on board where you get a luxury meal for a small supplementary charge. Certainly it was a very reasonable charge and was well worth the extra.