After our romantic walk along the beach where our every move was being watched, we decided to eat some dinner. As we walked along the street, I felt a strange sense of being home, only because it looked like a third world country like Guatemala, where I grew up. And the other thing was that I heard Spanish everywhere, from people talking, to the radio announcers of music blaring along the street.
I remembered having a delicious paella when I was in Spain, back on my “Nightmare through Europe” backpacking tour, before I was married. So when I saw a paella in one of the restaurants, my eyes lit up, and we decided to eat dinner. It was an outdoor cafe with a beautiful mural with bright colors on the walls. We sat beside a fish tank. We were served a disgusting, cold, rubbery paella that hardly had any seafood in it, completely unlike the paella in the window. I comforted my husband that false advertising was totally acceptable in third world countries, and who cares that it cost a lot of money because they were poor, and with our being ripped off, they could go and feed their families. So it was kind of like a donation of sorts. We laughed at how bad it was.
Then we went back to the hotel room and decided to go swimming. There was also a hot tub, and palm trees surrounded the pool. I felt like I was inside a movie set. It looked so perfect that it was almost surreal.
The next morning we woke up surrounded by a poofy white duvet. I had coffee out on the balcony, looking down on the exotic-looking pool, with the ocean in the distance. I felt giddy with joy.
The front bell hop told me where we could put our bags after we checked out of the hotel, because we couldn’t board the ship until 2pm. We took a walk along the beach after breakfast. The clouds became overcast, and since we didn’t have an umbrella, we quickly walked back to the hotel to get our bags and take a taxi to the ship. We were glad to arrive early because there was a long line of people.
As we boarded the ship, we were handed a paper that said we would not be leaving. A hurricane was coming directly to San Juan, and no ship in its right mind would disconnect with the dock when a hurricane was about to strike. After checking in and dropping off our bags in the room, we looked at the ocean water. The sky was an eerie green, and the water was bizarre, all choppy in different sections. I’ve never seen anything like it. My husband and I just looked at each other…
Suddenly an announcement was made that the ship would be leaving immediately, two hours before schedule. Anyone not on the ship would be flown to Barbados and meet the ship there. We pulled off from the side of the dock, and the ship moved so quickly; I was surprised that we weren’t thrown backwards.
(Stay tuned for part 6 of my Bahamas trip story, to see if we outrun the hurricane and actually have the honeymoon of our dreams despite all the odds…)
You were on the Victory. I have her booked for June,2013,just my husband and me!!!
I think I would have been scared out of my wits,knowing a hurricane was coming. I find it quite funny about the ship leaving early and flying people to catch up with the ship. That is one reason why people should cruise with a passport instead of a birth certificate.
That’s great, Tina. I hope you have a great time!
I wasn’t worried about the hurricane. I felt peace no matter what happened. I was ready to glorify God even through barfing, but I was hoping it would be nice instead.
Hi Susan! I loved reading Part 5 of your Bahamas adventure. Sorry about the paella; that sounds like it was awful. I am looking forward to going back and reading the other parts, and looking forward to what’s to come! I hope that you outran the hurricane!!
Yes, we outran the hurricane. LOL