Rain drops keep falling on my head...

Well, it was not all blue skies today, but that didn't deter us from making it a great one. We got off to a little more of a frantic start to our day than we had planned. After Becky fell asleep, I realized we hadn't discussed what time we were getting up, and I was unsure about how to set a wake up call. I opted to turn on my cell phone to set an alarm. What I didn't realize was that my cell phone would automatically be set to local time, not ship time (EST), so we were an hour behind schedule before we opened our eyes. Never fear, we had plenty of time to get to our excursion! The bad news is that it was raining. Of all days for it to rain, this day was probably the best because we were in our bathing suits and expecting to get wet anyway.




Our excursion today was to the Cayman Turtle Farm and Dolphin Discovery Park. We started at the Turtle Farm. They have turtles aging from just hatched all the way to 20+ years old (and 600 lbs.). We got to hold some of the littler ones. When the eggs are laid, they take them into a hatchery until the turtles are ready to go in a tank. All of the turtles stay in tanks with turtles their own age. It's the easiest way for the Turtle Farmers to keep track of their age.



Next, we crossed the street in torrential rains to the Dolphin Park . After a brief safety lesson, we were allowed to enter the pool with our dolphin, Galileo. We learned all of the hand signals so that we could properly interact. Becky commented that their skin is not at all like she would have expected. It is very soft and rubbery. The dolphin trainer told us a dolphin sheds it's skin every two hours. Can that really be right? Galileo kissed us on the cheek, then we were allowed to also kiss him. Then he danced with us. The highlight was was getting to swim out to the center of the pool where Galileo would swim up beside us and allow us to grab his pectoral fin and pull us through the water to the edge of the pool. We also had the opportunity to grab onto a boogie board, and with our knees locked and our feet flat, the dolphin would swim up behind us and push his nose against our feet, propelling us through the water. It was great fun. Of course, since we were in the water, they had "paparazzi" available to document our activities. The photos and a DVD of our group were conveniently waiting for us by the time we had dried off. Some of the pictures were pretty cute, so Becky and I split the cost of a package that also included the DVD. Once I get home, I'll try to scan a few of the photos to share.

Grand Cayman reminded me a lot of Key West and the Bahamas. There were a lot of nice, colorful commercial-type buildings, but a lot of poverty a few blocks away from the touristy shops. The town of Georgetown caters to the cruise ships. We were given lists of recommended stores. By shopping in these stores, cruise guests are given a buyer's guarantee for 30 days. Many of the merchants offer free trinkets or significant discounts just for stopping by. When you think about how much business is done at these stores every day when cruise ships dock, it's amazing there could be any poverty here. (Perhaps the business owners are greedy and don't give back to the community?)

The Legend was leaving Grand Cayman at 4pm, so we headed back to the boat around 2:30. After lunch, Becky decided to nap and I just chilled. At 5pm, I attended a Zumba class in the Fitness Center. I've been wanting to try it out for sometime. The class was really fun. The instructor was a 20-something from Greensboro, NC (one of the few crew members I've seen from the US). The Fitness Center is three floors and is located in the very front of the boat. The bottom floor has treadmills/rowing machines/elliptical machines that all face floor-to-ceiling windows so you can watch the water while you exercise. The second level has several different weight machines, the aerobics room, and the outdoor walking track. The third floor is an outdoor basketball court. My only complaint about the workout facilities is the temperature. When I'm working out, I like to be cool or at least feel air circulating. They don't offer that "amenity", so I am uncomfortably warm during my workouts. There were only 6 of us in the Zumba class, but the room felt like a sauna.

Dinner tonight was very good, as always. I had two appetizers because I couldn't decide between sushi and french onion soup (interesting combination, right?). I had salmon w/ green beans for my entree and a fig, date, and cinnamon cake for dessert. Becky had a chicken quesadilla as an appetizer, flat iron steak with a baked potato as an entree, and strawberry cheesecake for dessert. The wait staff did another show for us at dinner. I remembered to take my flip camera and recorded most of it. They all sang and (sort of) danced to the theme song from "Slumdog Millionaire." (the name of the song escapes me.) I will post the video when I get home. We decided to go to one of the goofy shows in the Follies Theater afterwards then hung around for a quick game of bingo. Becky only needed B10 to win $500, but alas, the number called was B11. Doh!

I'm not sure what tonight's towel animal would be called. A gorilla? Maybe a sloth?




Beth, thanks for all the questions. It's funny that you asked about the light switches because I was just reflecting on all of Mark's emails about Brazil. Our light switches here are pretty basic. Here is a picture of the switch for the bathroom. It tricky only because it's outside of the bathroom.




The bathroom is very small, but it's really very efficient. The shower is situated in a corner with only a raised lip as a step-over. (You can see it in the picture above.) The vanity area has shelves along the side for storing toiletries. The shelves have a small railing around them to keep everything from shifting as the boat moves. The garbage can is tucked away under the vanity. Surprisingly, the water pressure is great.




There are really only three outside decks: 3 (which is where the muster stations are located), 9 (Lido deck where pools and Unicorn Cafe are located), and 10 (a partial deck near the bridge). The inside corridors are a little narrow, but we don't have to walk terribly far to the elevators or stairs. If we're going from our room (Deck 7) to breakfast or lunch, it's just a quick two flights of stairs. If you want to see more pictures of the more "common" areas of the Legend, you can click HERE to go to the Carnival website. Yes, this ship is every bit as gaudy as these pictures look.

Most of the ocean view pictures have been taken from our balcony. It's pretty roomy, with two chairs and a table, and it's very private. If families/friends are travelling in side-by-side cabins, the divider on the balcony can be removed to make it more spacious. Here are a few photos, including one of the Disney Magic that was parked beside us in Grand Cayman today.






We're now about half way to Cozumel and should be anchored there by the time we wake up. Cozumel has an actual port so we can walk off the boat onto a pier. That will save some time tomorrow for sure. We're docked there until 7pm, so we should have plenty of time to get our shopping done. Becky is in charge of circling all of the shops we want to visit on our map. Our excursion is at 10:30 and includes a sightseeing and shopping tour. It will surely be a long day. Keep your fingers crossed that the weather cooperates. Our cruise director, John, said it's supposed to be 90 tomorrow - 45 in the morning and 45 in the afternoon. HA!