Tuesday 29 May 2007 - George Town, Grand Cayman.

Grand Cayman

Woken at 6am with breakfast being delivered and watched our arrival at Cayman. Very flat, not a hill in sight. Another Carnival cruise ship was in port and another cruise ship arrived just after us. Cruise ships anchor off and tenders run back and forth all day. The water is crystal clear. We went ashore to explore. The town is all about tourism and there are lots of jewellery shops, bars, duty free shops and souvenir shops. They drive on the left and have both left and right hand drive cars. Chickens rule the streets and drivers have to give way to them. We decided against a trip to Seven Mile Beach and didn't want to do any snorkelling, so just walked around town and bought a couple of souvenirs and a bottle of duty free Mount Gay Rum. There was an informative square with the history of the islands. We also saw caged iguanas and macaws - poor things.

We had had enough by about 1pm and the last tender was at 3pm, so we came back to the ship. Vegged out for the afternoon. Tonight we are going to a show.

Monday 28 May 2007 - At Sea

A knock on the door at 7am woke us and breakfast was delivered. At 9.30 Heather attended a talk on shopping in the various ports of call. Part of the talk promoted various stores and there were various give-aways. A very nice pearl necklace was scored! Pretty good free sample, eh?

Lunch followed and then a visit to the casino. An afternoon snooze before getting dressed for the Captain's cocktail party and dinner of lobster for Ian and duck for Heather. We then visited Sachmo's Bar and had a dance - I know, I know!

We finally staggered up to Deck 9 for coffees before coming back to our cabin to find that Carmelo had excelled himself. Not only was the bed turned down and the chocolates left, but he had folded a towel into an animal, a pig I think, and placed Ian's sunglasses on it!

Sunday 27 May 2007 - New Port Richey to Tampa

We were introduced to John and Anna's neighbours, Karen and Nigel over morning coffee before we said our goodbyes and drove to Tampa to join our cruise ship, Carnival Legend. Huge excitement! After checking in and going through the security requirements we boarded, found our cabin and met Carmelo, our steward. The cabin is fabulous - see photos.

13Legend27

We have our own private balcony. The ship is fitted out magnificently, has about 17 different restaurants and an equal number of bars, several swimming pools, a waterslide, gymnasium, library, casino, etc, etc...a bit different from cruising on Scorpio!

We sailed from Tampa at 4pm and at 6pm passed under the Skyway Bridge, the largest bridge in Florida.

This ship is a floating city and it took us the rest of the evening to explore it.

Carmelo had turned down our bed and left chocolates!

Saturday 26 May 2007 - New Port Richey

Heather went for a walk, then breakfast before Anna took us shopping. This event took the rest of the day! Back at the house Anna cooked us a delicious schnitzel dinner.

Friday 25 May 2007 - Orlando to New Port Richey

Programmed Tom to take us to John and Anna's house in New Port Richey. Great welcome! Went out to The German Restaurant where we had an authentic German dinner. Back to the house for coffees and more talk before bed.

Photos to come when we get back off the cruise. The ship's internet access does not allow me to upload!!

Thursday 24 May 2007 - Titusville FL to Orlando FL

A leisurely start to the day with breakfast at an IHOP Restaurant. The healthy start suggestion featured filled french toast topped with strawberries and whipped cream! Good grief!! If I lived here I would be the size of a barn!!!

Drove to Orlando, about 50 miles, via a toll road...three stops with $1.25, .75c and .75c payable. Found Universal Studios and spent the rest of the day checking out the "City Walk". Within the complex are two theme parks which we didn't get around to. It is huge. Had Margaritas at the Volcano Bar and listened to some great Jimmy Buffet music.

Click on the image below to see todays photos.

Orlando FL - Universal Studios

Wednesday 23 May 2007 - Hardeeville SC to Titusville, Florida

We had a late start out of Hardeeville, due to me having to complete the Computer Club's month end duties. Nothing much of note in Hardeeville. We decided to travel through Georgia on I95 with only a couple of stops at visitors centres as I95 only crosses about 100 miles of Georgia's coastal region which is low lying swampy land. Brunswick looked quite a large industrial city as we passed it.

Crossed the border into Florida and were amazed at the sudden change at Jacksonville. The traffic was suddenly very heavy, with lots of huge semi-trailers on a spaghetti road system which included overpasses, underpasses and bridge - a real concrete jungle!

We arrived at the Kennedy Space Centre and spent the rest of the day there checking out the excellent Astronauts Hall of Fame museum and surrounding areas. Click on the image below for a slide show.

Hardeeville SC to Titusville FL

Finally found a motel for the night at about 8pm. Big day!