At Sea and Ocho Rios

11/08/2010

Sunday morning I had a meeting from 9am to 11:30am and the rest of the day was free. It was formal night and everyone looked very sharp at dinner. The lobster and prime rib was outstanding. The first musical production show was tonight and it was on of the best I have seen on Carnival ships.
Today was our first port, Ocho Rios, Jamaica. I have ported in Montego Bay many times but this was the first time in Ocho Rios. We took the Enchanted Garden and Dunn’s River Falls excursion. The Gardens were very nice with some pretty flora and awesome waterfalls. There was an aviary that we went in and they gave us birdseed and the birds were eating out of our hands! Literally. It was so cool. One guy in our group had one sit on his shoulder and pooped on him! We told him that was good luck! We then went to Dunn’s River Falls. It is nothing like when I was there in 1986. It is so commercialized now that I didn’t even recognize the place. I didn’t climb the falls but some people on our bus did and had a great time. It is a very nice place to see. We stopped at the Taj Mahal Shopping Center for a quick shopping break. Had to get some Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee and a tshirt from the Hard Rock Ocho Rios!
Tonight for dinner we did the Chef’s Table. This is limited to 12 people and only happens once on a 5 night sailing. I really don’t know how to describe this experience but to say it was OUTSTANDING! We met the Executive Chef Porvin Gama at 6:30pm and were taken to the galley where we were given 4 appetizers and a glass of champagne. Then we walked through the galley and saw them preparing the dinners. He took us to the pastry area where a lady in our group got to make a Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. We were then taken to the Library where they had our dinner set up. They took the group’s picture with the Chef when we arrived in the Library and then gave us all a copy when we were finished. They had a personalized copy of the menu rolled up for us and name tags made out. The dinner was 7 courses and included wine. The meals were so elegantly prepared that you didn’t want to eat them and mess it up. After the 3 hours of food, the chef gave us a autographed copy of the Carnival Creations cookbook. There is a charge of $75 per person for this but all in our group were very happy with our evening and thought it was well worth the price. It was an experience we all will never forget.
Grand Cayman is tomorrow and we don’t have a shore excursion planned. We are sleeping in, maybe take the tender to town and do a little shopping then back to the ship to lay around by the pool. Will post a rap up and more pictures when I get back.
Sunday's animal.