The first port stop on our cruise!
This was actually Disney's first time to stop in Jamaica, so it was a huge deal. The mayor of Galveston had some sort of ceremony in Galveston before we left and gave the captain of the Wonder some gifts to offer the mayor of Falmouth upon our arrival (our waiter at Palo gave us the lowdown). Jamaica's mayor in turn would have gifts for our captain and mayor of Galveston. There was much hullabaloo on the pier as we docked with many people in uniform to greet the boat.
I of course saw all this because we were up at the crack of dawn. 5:23am to be exact. I was still sleeping fitfully, but I was always temperature comfortable. However, I got really warm all of a sudden. It took me about 5 minutes to realize that Tate had peed. All. Over. Me. Sigh. I was not happy and didn't take this well at all. I shoved the covers as far over to the other side as I could and put Tate back in his little sofa bed with strict, infuriated instructions for him to go back to sleep. (I think he had joined me around 3am). Around 6:30am I let him go ahead and get up and have some of his beloved Cheerios/yogurt/applesauce breakfast.
But here's what was outside my veranda when the sun came up.
I made my way to shower and got us dressed. We went down for my breakfast which included pancakes for Tate which he nibbled on along with his requisite hot cocoa. We then disembarked for our foray into Jamaica! I had signed us up for a horse and buggy ride through historic Falmouth. We walked about a half mile with our small group (there were about 14 of us). Our driver was a gentleman named Alondo and our guide was a sweet young woman whose name I sadly don't remember. We had a running commentary on the history of Falmouth. Falmouth was once the hub of the sugar production of Jamaica. Columbus landed there in 1495 (this could not have been a good thing with all we know about Christopher Columbus). Jamaica started governing themselves in 1962 having been under British control up to that point. 95% (maybe 98%?) of the population is of African descent. They are a mostly Christian parish, with 2 Jewish families remaining. Jamaica is about 140 miles long and about 50 miles wide with a population of 2.8 million!
We did have one little stop on our tour...at St. Peter's Anglican Church where there are lovely mahogany pews and such. Of course there were little markets set out about the church, and I got Tate a little recorder :) It was a sweet little ride and I was struck with the beauty of all the people on the streets waving and smiling. Their beautiful dark skin, their smiles and seemingly easy going manner are still in my mind. But mostly I was struck by the poverty or probably what I consider poverty. The ramshackle homes and buildings, the hospital with no a/c obviously with people lined up outside for a doctor appointment, but which they are quite proud of. I just sit back and think at times like these "There but for the grace of God go I..." Had my ancestors not been brought to the United States I could have been there, for these people are most assuredly descendants of African slaves brought here all those years ago.
Tate and I sat right up front behind Alondo and the two horses, Willie and Waylan. Tate was enthralled with the horses, but refused to pet them even after watching me do so. Alondo and I talked during the tour as I was quite a distance from the guide giving the commentary. He's married with an 11 year old daughter and 15 year old son. He was so very proud of his kids. His son wants to be a professional soccer player and participates in what we would consider 'club' soccer as well as his school soccer. His daughter wants to be a veterinarian. We discussed what that would entail and it includes her having to move away to attend vet school, but he is working really hard to be able to afford to send her and though it will be hard to have her leave the country I truly believe he'll be able to send her!
I probably overtipped both of them by giving them both $20, and I truly hope I didn't offend them by being 'that' American. I truly enjoyed our little tour and I know they aren't getting paid nearly enough. This is just my way of paying it forward.
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| Happily ensconced on the buggy! |
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| St. Peter's Anglican Church |
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| Making music! |
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| There's our ship! |
We hopped off the buggy and made our way back to the boat and had some lunch. When we got to Triton's we noticed the host was wearing a lanyard with trading pins! I rummaged through my bag and found Tate's and he was able to make his first trade!
We went back to our room to hang out while Tate played with his trains. The rest of our group went off to Jamaica after lunchtime, but Tate didn't want to go back, so we hung out in our room happily. We decided to head off to the pool with a brief stop to meet Goofy and Pluto midship. On the way we ran into Donald Duck just out roaming the halls of the ship!
We got in line to meet up with Goofy and Pluto!
So. Much. Fun.
We finally headed off to catch the elevator to go up to the pool and who did we happen to see....
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| MICKEY MOUSE!!!!! |
I think this meeting with Mickey was the absolute best! He was on his way to a meet and greet and his little cruise staff member was trying to hurry him along. But Mickey stopped to take the time to hug my Tate and make his day. I was most impressed this entire cruise with how each of the characters really took time to engage with the children and be present in the kids' moments. Just precious!
Dinner was Pirate Night! I didn't have pirate costumes for us, but had ordered us some cute shirts. We had alot of fun and Tate really seemed to enjoy himself and his dinner as well!
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| Tate and Duran, our server |
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| Our version of ARRGGGH |
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| Mickey Pasta! |
Duran came through again and though the latecomers were not as late as usual they were still late, but I got my dinner and dessert and had Tate back to the room in record time! :)
Sam didn't disappoint, and our towel character tonight was one of our faves!
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