The Caribbean....

is beautiful.

I don't know what Connor's on about when he says a beach is a beach is a beach... honestly... where in the States, or even in Australia which has some pretty darn good beaches, would you see such jaw-dropping gorgeousness? Hmmm? And I mean jaw-dropping. When we got off the ship yesterday morning and found our way to the 7-Mile Beach, I stood still, at the edge of the sand, with my mouth hanging open in something like rapture or shock or both. Spending most of a day on that beach was so fantastic it beggars description. Suffice to say it was the best family day out we've had, probably ever.

Noel and Tali and I staged spectacular reenactments of scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean, with Bea generally cast as the dog, or a crab, or the goat... but she didn't mind. Noel's Elizabeth Swann was the highlight of the show!

Bea ran around so much all morning that in the afternoon she literally fell over on the sand and went to sleep. So Noel stayed there with her and Tali while I went rum shopping with Connor, and met us back on the ship just in time for Children's Tea.

And so, the Rum-Soaked Pirate Party...

After tea with the girls I took them up to the main suite with me to sort out our rum stores, and Tali promptly found the huge bed and fell asleep. Bea pottered around "helping" me set up the room and by the time all the others got back from dinner the suite was transformed into a Tortuga tavern, complete with me, and then Meridith too, as lusty bar wenches. (okay so we had to squint a bit and use our imaginations, but after a bit of rum it *did* look like a tavern and we *were* acting like bar wenches!)

Thankfully Bea fell asleep before long (and before I got too drunk), and I tucked her in next to Tali. Then suddenly all these other people arrived! Meridith and Amber had run into Garrett and Malcom again and invited them to join the pirating, and Noel had invited that English couple we met the other day - Susan and David (their kids were back in their stateroom with the nanny, of course!)... and there were a few other random people that I think maybe Connor or Jess had met?

So anyway there were something like 20 people there, and my goodness it was fun! Meridith and I were great bar wenches for a little while, until we forgot to keep serving the guests and kept a little too much for ourselves. Poor Susan and David were a bit disgusted, I think, with the general frivolity and carelessness so they left fairly early but everyone else stayed until goodness knows how late/early in the morning.

We drank rum, we sang pirate songs, we danced and flirted and drank more rum. We "ahoy"d and "aarrgghh"d. It was all good.


Today has just been sailing sailing sailing... everyone's been suspiciously quiet and subdued today. Tee hee. The girls and Noel are long asleep in bed and I'm having a beautiful quiet night to myself. A while ago I sat near David and Susan in the Funnel Bar, the bar on the top deck where I went to people-watch and hear the Caribbean Band, and I'm pretty sure they were pretending not to see me. Oh dear.

I better go to bed soon myself but first I shall spend half an hour out on deck with my eyes closed, breathing in the Caribbean Sea.