Events

Shaw year end party

Just a few teasers, the rest will be released by Ana at some point soon.

What a great night to be a photographer. Shaw had its year end party at the new JW Marriott and they had it set up like a Las Vegas nightclub. It was a reception style with table games, insane food and bars galore.

The DJ was amazing pumping out beats that kept people on the floor.

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VP’s and Management handing out cocktails on the way in

VP’s and Management handing out cocktails on the way in

So, We decided…We were going to take our first cruise in our mid 50’s. We have always done destination travel where we either drive to or fly to a destination and rent a vehicle. Some friends of ours asked us if we would be interested and we thought what the heck, lets give it a try. We booked a week cruise on the Norwegian Encore with the destination being the Eastern Caribbean. Our stops were Dominican Republic, US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.

Our ship docked at St Thomas

We went with several other couples by extension including our travel agent and her spouse. We booked our travel plans and waited about a year and got ready as time approached. About a week and a half before the trip my wife and I both got really sick with flu and a cough. We had booked 3 days in Miami prior to departing on the cruise and almost pushed our flight up to be there just the day before. However, we did start feeling better quicker than expected and decided to just go and have fun regardless.

As a photographer, I had to make some serious adjustments to my mindset about photography and how I was going to incorporate it into this trip. I use 2 large rigs a Nikon D800 and a Nikon D3 with various large lenses. This was not going to work, So I bought my first small mirrorless Nikon crop sensor Z50ii. I had the kit lens and a 70mm prime. When I set out to do photography I usually pre-scout locations and come back a certain times of the day to shoot. When you are on a cruise this is not possible as you are on limited time at each location and the light is never ideal.

We flew into Miami and got checked into our hotel. We booked at the Courtyard by Marriot in downtown Miami (Brickell). The Hotel and staff were nice enough. The rooms are a little dated but seem well kept. The biggest issue we had with the hotel is it sits on the worst intersection in Miami. The I95 connects to this intersection and traffic is constantly backed up. The honking starts at about 7am and goes until midnight. Also everyone with a Ferrari a Porsche and Lambo let you know they are driving there and have modified exhaust systems to be even more obnoxious. This was not in the brochure.

Miami the city, or the parts of downtown we saw are just beautiful. We spent some time looking around downtown and going to the Bayside area which features your tourist trap shopping and restaurants. I was happy to spend time there to capture some of the stunning architecture in the downtown core. I really liked Miami but would stay at a different hotel next time.

The day to board the ship was upon us. We had a time of 10am-11am to be at the dock and go through the boarding process. This process was quick and efficient. Just as we went through security, I realized I left my phone on the shuttle. I was in instant panic mode. My wife called the hotel immediately and asked if they could retrieve the phone back from the driver and call us or email us to confirm it was in their possession. We then ran into our travel companions and all boarded the ship together. The people we went on the cruise with did Orlando and Disney prior to meeting us at the port of Miami.

The Hotel never did call me to tell me if they got my phone back…More on this later.

When you board the ship you do not go immediately to your room. You go for a quick orientation and then find the first bar that makes Mojitos. The rooms are ready about 3 pm and your luggage shows up sometime shortly there after. A few of us paid a little extra to join the Vibe club which is on the 19th floor of the ship and is a kids free zone. This space has a bar, cabanas lounger chairs umbrellas and hot tubs. It was one of our places to hang out in the sun.

The Norwegian Encore is simply an amazing ship. This is a luxury hotel on water. The activities and entertainment are endless. There are plenty of restaurants options free and otherwise available. The buffet was large and accessible with plenty of seating and the food quality was above average to great. The ship has about 8 or 9 restaurants/pubs in it that feature different looks and scales. We had 2 dinners booked outside the “Free” restaurants or buffet. We dined at Cagney’s steakhouse which was upscale and delicious and a group dinner at the Japanese inspired restaurant. There is a casino on board that has the best gamblers needs met with table games to slot machines. The Atrium is the heart of the ship on deck 6 they have live games shows, music entertainment, Karaoke and daily trivia. Our favorite place on the ship to just relax was the observation deck. It is furnished beautifully and is not ever over crowded. We also figured out that continental breakfast is served in there and it beats the buffet line ups and crowds. There are nightly dance parties in the evening at the pool on deck 16 and various entertainment in the clubs on the ship.

The Shows we saw in the theater were great. We saw a mentalist, a couple of comedians and a Beatles tribute act called invasion. All these entertainers were wonderful and enhanced the experience.

Our first stop on the cruise was to the Dominican Republic. We had a beach excursion booked there and had to leave the ship at 7:45 to meet our tour guides. When you leave dock and go into Puerto Plata you go through the beautiful cruise ship setup shopping area it has really nice amenities, shops and activities to do if you do not feel like going into the township. Once you leave that area, reality sets in very quickly. As we were being shuttled to the resort beach, we drove through the city. It is obviously a very poor nation with many buildings and streets decimated and in decay from lack of repair over the years, you see many military style police and lots of motorcycle traffic. Our guides were fantastic and full of information about their country and the pride they have in being Dominican. The people of the Dominican we encountered were really nice and easy to deal with.

Early morning Puerto Plata dock

When we arrived at the beach, I would say it was just okay. The cabanas looked really filthy and the lounge chairs and umbrellas needed some replacement or repair. We only got hassled by 2 vendors with “Free Gifts” with the hopes of selling us more. The sand had a little garbage and cigarette buts around it but all in all it was okay. After a quick dip in the ocean, Me and my wife decided to grab lunch there at Jacks Grill before heading back to the ship. She had chicken fingers and I had a burger. The burger was great but the fries and chicken fingers tasted like old fryer oil maybe a little rancid.

Dominican resort beach

We were back to the ship by about 1 pm and set out to sea shortly after getting back.

We dined in the Manhattan room that evening and enjoyed a really good meal. It is located at the front of the ship and we had a great view of the sunset and spoke with a really nice couple from San Diego at the table next to us.

Our next stop was St Thomas USVI. This was a very beautiful place with beautiful homes, Yachts and shops sprinkled across the landscape. We did an excursion tour here. The driver Dennis was amazing. We loaded up in a safari type bus with open sides and 5 to a seat. He took us through the city area and up and down the mountain sides while explaining the history of St Thomas and the US Navy impact on the community. The roads here are scary narrow and you drive on the opposite side. He took us to one of the highest observation peaks with a great look upon Megan’s Bay. He stopped at a couple of photo op locations and then drove us back to the dock area. It was a worthwhile excursion and gave me the best 2 shots of the trip.

Megan’s Bay USVI

Once we got back to the ship it wasn’t long before we departed to Tortola of the British Virgin Islands. We spent a little time in the township looking at the shops and it too is a beautiful place, but really just a smaller version of St Thomas.

Tortola BVI

Back on the ship we enjoyed hanging out with our people, playing dice games, having cocktails and relaxing the best we could. So as you can probably guess if you are a photographer and want to do a vacation, a cruise might not be the holiday for you if you want the perfect pictures. If you want a vacation built around activities and relaxation in a luxurious environments it is definitely a great vacation. I really had to let go of my usual self on vacation and just understand that this was about being with my wife, some friends, relaxing and enjoying the moment and having fun in a different kind of way.

Our People. I am the old guy in front with the beard.

After a couple of days, I really did not miss my phone. It was a blessing in disguise. I was not able to troll work stuff or YouTube or google at a whim. I did miss it for one thing and one thing only, the quick snaps and selfies of me and my wife. I am sure I would have had all kinds of ship photos and photos from the shows. I do not and I am okay with that because I got to really unplug and be with my wife.

The next stop was a private island in the Bahamas owned by the cruise line. My wife and I decided not to check it out and just spend some quiet time together in the Vibe area. We could see the island from the Vibe and it was a very hot day out. Our friends came back in the evening and said we didn’t miss much as two cruise ships were docked and it was busy, which was a small relief.

St Thomas

After 7 days we docked back to Miami. Our flight back home was leaving the next day so we had one more night booked at the Marriot. When we got our luggage and said our goodbyes to our shipmates we jumped into a cab to go to the hotel. Our driver apparently made an illegal lane change exiting the port. He was pulled over by the Miami Dade Police department. He did not speak to much English and it was apparent when the police told him to remain in the vehicle and he did not. After multiple warnings the partner cop spoke in Spanish and told him to get back into the cab the officers lectured him on how his behavior could of resulted in a less than great experience for us. The police in Miami obviously do not mess around. After getting his ticket we were back on the road to the hotel.

We arrived back to our hotel ( they had my phone…whew ) got to our room and found we were right next to the loudest people on the planet. So add that with the traffic and we had a real bad night. Our flight was for 6am and needed to be to the airport 2 hours before. We checked in to our flights that evening, however when we woke up at 3 and got ready to jump in the car service, I noticed it now said our flight was canceled. Our driver offered to take us to a few hotels around the airport to make it better for us to deal with the next day. His name is Janko and he was AMAZING. Although all the hotels were booked around the airport due to spring break, he brought us back to the Marriot downtown…One more night yeash We got our new flights and made it home the next day!!

The trip was absolutely fantastic and few hiccups and a flu prior did not stand in the way of having a really great vacation. We were constantly surrounded by great people and that made for the best time. Thanks to you all!!