Eat, Sleep, Work Repeat? Nah
Okay so you can take down your missing posters, tell the police to call of the search party and cancel your press conference with the news. I am back and I am apologising for being MIA for the past umpteenth weeks. I have written this blog post about fifty thousand times and whilst I would like to blame the appalling internet I cannot tell a lie. Either tiredness, work or a social life (yes that is right I am developing a social life if you can believe) so the words were left just sitting on my laptop. So instead of recapping each week from March- I think I’m going to do things slightly different…
Grand Turk
Beautiful port. I have been lucky enough to get off in Grand Turk a few times. As soon as you get off the ship you are surrounded by a beautiful sandy beach. The port is so pretty and colourful it’s almost like 5-year-old Sammie was allowed to paint the houses- they are coloured in such striking pastel colours. Since my last blog post I have been to Margaritaville twice. I ordered the lava shrimp both times (if it aint broke) and cliché, basic, extra however you want to refer to it I ordered a Margarita and I’ve got to say I wasn’t that impressed. It was meh. Personally, if you are going to call your restaurant Margaritaville I expect your margaritas to be outstanding I did get one of their signature cups though. It wasn’t badly priced, don’t get me wrong it’s not cheap but it’s not that expensive- if it was to feature in the SAVE, SPEND, SPLURGE section in Cosmo it would be under the spend column. I’ve also been to a place called Jack Shack which is further down the beach- away from the shop and this was amazing. First of all, they are famous for having dogs that play on the beach which is AWESOME, second of all the food is lovely and a good price. If I remember correctly I had the shrimp- bet you never guessed that right? And Haley had the jerk chicken which was so good! I would definitely recommend the jerk chicken 😋
San Juan
Okay so after visiting this port for the second time I really don’t understand why Anita and the rest of her crew was so against joining Bernado and going back to San Juan (I really hope you got the West Side Story reference) definitely a place I could never get sick of visiting. We went back to the Fort again (still didn’t take any photographic evidence of what port it was) Then Matt, Haley and I went to eat at an authentic Puerto Rican restaurant called Hecho En Casa (check me out acting like a proper travel blogger and remembering the name) Okay so I loved this place for two reasons. Reason number one judge me all you like but the Wi-Fi worked and it was fast. It’s alright for you lot reading this to scoff at the idea of Wi-Fi being a major pro for eating somewhere but remember I live in the middle of the ocean where I have to pay for crappy Wi-Fi. Reason number two I can still taste my meal it was amazing. You know when you can still smell that meal you had two months ago it was so nice well this was that meal. WOW. It was prawns with chilli and garlic served in the broth surrounded by a bread/potato dish. I am devastated that we won’t be going back San Juan and maybe if I do another contract I might choose a ship that goes there because it is a truly magical place.
Cozumel
I’ve been off twice in Cozumel. First time I went with my lovelies Jackie and Mariana. Jackie took us to La Choza where you can get amazing Mexican food for less than $12. However, the cherry on top of the cake is the back garden/ courtyard with one strawberry pink wall and some random hearts hanging it is every instagrammers dream for a cool, unique ootd picture. We then went to MEGA which is like a MAKRO, B&M COSTCO mix. Fabulous for toiletries etcetera and full of crew members. Mariana went to get her contacts which led to us getting lost on the way back to ship but it’s okay, because I got to go to oxo which is like 7/11 apparently, which baffled my British mind because when I hear oxo I think of stock and gravy. Second time in Cozumel me and Jackie went to Hotel B which is about 30 minutes away from the port. It is incredibly pretty. The resort costs around $20-30 dollars to get in but you get so much of that back in food and drinks. We both had half of the day off so we could drink margaritas and daiquiris. For food, I had chicken fingers and Jackie had the best guac I’ve eaten for a while. It was amazing and I was waiting for her to say she didn’t like it so I could swoop in there like an eagle but, sadly no Bueno.
Grand Cayman
What a beautiful island it is so pretty. Jackie took me to a supermarket… Don’t stop reading this wasn’t any other supermarket this supermarket was packed with British food. Which is brilliant! Honestly, brilliant if I am ever home sick I know that I can go in there and buy some Tesco cream crackers- nope not a euphemism or an over exaggeration you can legit buy Tesco products in this supermarket which in my opinion is brilliant. We then went to a restaurant on the port- just passed Dairy Queen (side note I do promise to start looking at restaurants so that I can recommend or tell you to avoid places) I had the shrimp tacos- probably wouldn’t get them again however, the margarita that they made me was amazing. Second time we had a little camp excursion to Smiths Cove- to the right of the island. Quite pretty but surrounded by chickens weird as f**k and we walked back I found the prettiest house ever it’s like Barbie’s dream house. Third time I went to Seven Mile beach and had a lovely smoothie from Royal Palms beach which was incredible. I’m just sad that I didn’t utilise the swim up pool bar.
Curacao
Okay my second favourite port. This reminds me of the T.V show Balamory, you know the children’s T.V show with the different coloured houses and the annoying theme song. Well the Curacao I’ve seen is just like that (without the annoying theme songs) so when you get out of the port you can cross a bridge to go shopping etcetera. Literally when you step on the bridge and see the houses it is breath taking-like I stopped talking for a few minutes that is how lovely it is. It also has a lock of love heart as well which in my opinion sums Curacao up- a lot (lock) of love. First time I got off Mariana and I explored the streets had a full-on photo shoot in some of the alleys- Curacao has amazing street art/ side walk art honestly, the side walk we saw looked like something from a gallery. After that photo shoot we went to the Renaissance resort which was amazing. It was $30- which you got back off your food, infinity pool, amazing views and of course good Wi-Fi (would I ever recommend anywhere without good Wi-Fi?!) it was truly beautiful and the food and drinks we nice as well BONUS!
The second time Haley, Kes, Matt and I just went explored Curacao, we went shopping (well Kes and I did) we went to Subway- because we are so cultured and we got ice cream (don’t know the name but once you go over the bridge and keep walking straight to the Curacao sign it is there next to a restaurant) the ice cream was amazing though I got Raspberry, white chocolate and truffle ice cream which is my favourite (they used to do it in Thorntons but stopped for some unbeknownst reason)
Aruba
I never thought I would say this but if you dock in Aruba it is definitely the place to go shopping. When you get off the port it has the most amazing shopping ‘mall’ and just outside of it they have a Zara which is fabulous. Only problem is it could become very dangerous for my bank account. Okay so I’ve properly been Aruba once, Jackie took me to the crepe place she told me about where they serve crepes bigger than my head (and I’ve got a huge head) I had the banana and walnut crepe which was gorgeous but oh my lord was there too much. I felt guilty for leaving so much but, wow if you were to ever go I would highly recommend sharing one because if you can eat a full crepe you deserve a medal in my opinion. After the crepe place, she took me to my happy place- shopping. We went to Zara wow, that Zara was phenomenal it was huge, airy and tidy (yes that is right a Zara can be tidy) I treated myself to 2 new dresses for the white party (a girl needs option) and a pair shoes. The mall also has a Gucci, a Louis Vuitton and a D&G which in my opinion is the only thing that I need in my life (not that I can afford a single thing in there but doesn’t stop me from getting drool on the window displays)
Crew Life
Okay crew life is crazy. It’s like being back at Edgehill you kinda feel like you know everyone. However, the hardest thing about crew life is that you can’t get attached to people… unless you sign on and off together! Here’s looking at you Jack-o-leena and Marinara. We’ve had several crew parties. I’ve been to the crew bar a few too many nights- Jake knows my order by know and I think I’m doing well at my actual job I was offered to stay in one of the guests houses if I’m ever in Barbados (you know if you’re ever in the neighbourhood) and they gave me a $50 tip which all in all is not bad.
Any way I’ve bored you enough! I’m going to love you and leave you!
xoxo