Anyway, after a most scenic drive, we arrived at the Sheraton for our beach day. There was no one there to meet our bus. The poor driver was on her phone trying to speak to someone to get instructions. There we sat on the bus--getting pissy. Well, at least I was! Finally 25 minutes after we arrived, a guy boarded the bus and was trying to be all cute and funny. We were having none of it. We were like just show us to the beach pal. Finally, after listening to him drone on we followed him: Across the driveway, down a walkway next to the parking garage, through another walkway and out to an area in complete sun where Mr. Sheraton droned on and on about what we could and couldn't do. We were told we could NOT use the pool but could use the loungers by the pool. WTF?
I asked about an umbrella because the sun was intense and I am still lily white. He says they are $30 plus tax for 4 hours. But he had to go and get a pen to write down the orders. AND he only had 7 umbrellas to rent. Again, whatever, So we waited and waited IN THE SUN for about 20 minutes until he returned with a pen. (Jesus Jenny I would have given him a pen) And again, since we waited so long we were probably at the 3 hour mark for umbrella rental.
No, he cannot accept credit cards. What? My umbrella will be $31.72 or some such nonsense. I said here is $40 bucks, do you have change? Uhhhhhhh. No. How about we just charge you $30. Again, whatever,
I was anxious to get to the beach. I planned on snorkeling. The black rock to the right of the resort was supposed to have the best snorkeling!
I did see the cliff divers warming up for the evening show:
I follow one of his minions to a place in the sand well back from the water. I said, I want to be near the water. Nope, you can have your pick of one of these umbrellas set up here. OK. No where near the snorkeling area and the sand is hot as hell. Like burn the bottoms of your feet through your flip flops hell.
So, off I go down the beach to snorkel. It's too rough. There is minimal visibility and they were afraid people would be sent crashing into the rocks. EFFFFFF Back I schlep to my beach chair, sweating and thirsty. I find a place to get water and NO you cannot use your coupon for water. You need to pay $4.12. I'm about over this place.
But, I go back to the beach and think I'll just get in the ocean. It will be refreshing. OMG I have never felt such a strong undertow. I was in water about to my waist and I saw this rather large wave heading toward the beach. I was completely unable to move back--only sucked out further. And of course, the thing hit me and sent me ass over tin cups, spun me around and deposited me near the shoreline. Holy crap. Then to make matters worse, I couldn't get up and got pulled around dragging my ass through the surf. Ok. Enough fun for me.
I dried off in my beach chair under my $30 umbrella and then headed to the outdoor shower we were 'allowed' to use to rinse off. I think I could spit harder than this stream of water. So, I did the best I could and headed to the restaurant to have some lunch. I will say, the $18 hamburger I had was delicious and very large. It could have easily fed 2 people. I guzzled about 10 cups of 'free' tap water.
The restaurant overlooked the resort's lazy river. Hmmm. They just said we couldn't get in the pool. Plus I saw no one having any sort of wristbands....Hello Refreshing Water! I got into a sort of secluded part of the river and rid my bathing suit of about 10 pounds of sand. I was scrubbing my arms and legs in the water and discreetly reaching into my bathing suit to get rid of more. It was like the stuff was welded to my body. Bleck. I stayed in for a good 45 minutes and no one said a word to me.
This excursion was the worst I've been on and I do plan on putting a review on Carnival's website. Not that it matters because the ship is now heading to Australia via Tahiti and Fiji. Sigh.
Then it was time to get back on the bus for the ride back to the ship. We climbed aboard and about 1/2 way through the ride, all that water I drank caught up with me. And it was also about 59 degrees on the bus. I was miserable and of course, sitting in the very back of the bus and there were tons of elderly people in the front. I was tempted to try and get them to stay in their seats, but I waited my turn and sprinted to the bathroom. (Only after passing it and then asking I had to circle back)
Photos from the bus on the drive back:
I wish I had more time to explore other areas in Maui. The part I visited was solid resorts for miles. I don't think I would ever vacation in this area. Plus, there was a lot of construction all over the places we passed--road widening, new builds etc..Not really my cup of tea. So, I can say although Maui is gorgeous, I don't think it's the island for me.
Oh and in case you are wondering:
As soon as I got back on the ship, I headed to my room and a shower. OMG Despite having deposited 10 pounds of sand in the lazy river, I probably still had 3 pounds of the stuff in my suit and stuck to me. I had to seriously scrub to remove this crap. I think I took at least, a 30 minute shower. I washed my hair twice too. Wow.
Back on board, it was our last night and it was packing time. So, I repacked the suitcase and then joined my new friends for dinner again. Yes, I blew off my old table mates once again. We had a wonderful dinner. I had seared Mahi-Mahi. I think I had fish at least 7 times for dinner. We lingered in the dining room talking and laughing and then it was was time to say goodbye to my table mates.
Went back to my room to put my suitcase out so it would be taken off the ship for me. And that, my friends was the end of my cruise except for the overnight sail to Honolulu.
No comments:
Post a Comment