DavidClaxton.co.uk - The NEW Personal Website for David Claxton, Norwich, Norfolk, UK

Holiday 2008

For my holiday this year, I am flying to New York for a few days, then, boarding the cruise ship from New York, we head for the Caribbean islands for a week! I will keep you updated here as often as I can, so keep checking my holiday blog!

Holiday Blog:

Monday 09/06/2008 05:38 — Holiday blog added to website: I cannot tell whether it is the excitement of the holiday, or the two cups of coffee I had yesterday evening, but I've been awake all night! I came up with this idea a few days ago, and, having checked the flexibility my host has given me with FTP access accounts, I have managed to create an FTP account for a trusted friend to edit a simple text file containing this blog. My friend will hopefully keep you all updated as and when possible. I am emailing him this content as and when it happens, from my phone :-)
Monday 09/06/2008 21:54 — Too much baggage!: I just weighed my suitcase to find that it weighs almost too much! I still have more to pack yet too! To be honest, nobody seems to know for sure what the baggage allowance actually is. AirFrance have all sorts of information on their website, but nothing to say how much your case is allowed to weigh! Useless!
Wednesday 11/06/2008 22:28 — I've finally arrived!: Unlike last year, this year's journey was almost faultless. We arrived with plenty of time for breakfast and shopping before the flight.

The plane was very comfortable, with our pillows and blankets. In the headrest of the seat in front was a Linux touch-screen computer with hundreds of videos, films and music available on-demand. There were also 15 games, some of which you play against other passengers! How cool is that?!

Security was scary at JFK airport. Very tight and every member of staff had a gun strapped to them like they're just cell phones! From here, our luggage was collected for us and we were escorted to the limo, which drove us to the hotel. The hotel itself is very disappointing, but New York is a 24-hr city, so we won’t be in it much.

I'm saying bye for now. I've been awake for almost 48 hours now!
Thursday 12/06/2008 21:54 — Mind your heads!: Today has been awesome. For just $25 each, we have a ticket that allows us to hop on and off open topped tour busses for 2 days, that cover the whole of NYC. You have to literally mind your head. The trees will hit you if don't, and if you stand up, the traffic lights will take your head off.

Today we went uptown and visited Central Park, and took a boat tour around the Statue me Liberty. We also saw, from the river, the site of the twin towers. Tomorrow we will visit ground zero.

Breakfast was great. We chose a French restaurant for breakfast which was great. The only problem was, they keep topping up your coffee, so you can never really finish it! For dinner, we went Spanish at a restaurant called Sangria 64, where we had loads of Sangria! After the meal I had a Sangria 64 coffee - coffee with more spirits than coffee thu was so strong!

By this point, everybody went to bed, except Martyn (Charlotte's dad) and me went for a walk around Time Square, which is amazing at night!
Friday 13/06/2008 14:43 — Downtown: Our last day in New York, we headed downtown. We climbed the Empire State Building, and stopped for lunch at Greenwich Village. We also saw Ground Zero, the site of the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Tonight I'm keeping this short and sweet - I'm very tired!

Oh and, I got told I looked about 16 today when I ordered a cocktail! The waitress was shocked when I presented my driving licence! :-)

Tomorrow morning we board he cruise ship for the Caribbean. Hopefully, the storms forecast here won’t affect us.
Sunday 15/06/2008 08:31 — Disembarkation for the Caribbean: Yesterday, we went for breakfast at the same French restaurant. It's great because it was very close to the hotel, and served really good food and coffee.

After breakfast, we collected our stuff from the hotel, and taxied across New York City, to the cruise ship. The ship last year was truly incredible. This year, despite being an older ship, it's better than last year! As we left New York, we experienced a large lightning storm - something we all knew was coming. The weather before was incredibly humid! Lightning was flashing all around us, and one flashed and banged at exactly the same time. It was either overhead or it hit us! By this point, having only just passed the Statue of Liberty, I had already drank my first two glasses of rosé! The 3-course dinner we always have was great too! There was a (very) short queue, so a waiter brought us over a glass of Champagne while we waited.

Less than ten minutes, we were seated. Two norm glasses of wine later, we'd finished. The food onboard is amazingly good! Firstly, the waiter will take your napkin and place it on your lap and present you with your menu! It took me a few days last year to get used to this without giggling!

We then went to one me the ship's largest bars/nightclubs, to watch the Americans sing karaoke. Two Blue Hawaii cocktails before bed :-). By this time, pretty drunk! :-)

Total drinks: Two glasses of rosé, a glass of champagne, two glasses of red, two Blue Hawaii cocktails! Ooops!
Monday 16/06/2008 02:32 — Day at Sea: It's very windy out here in the Atlantic, and it's making the ship rock! Hehe You can still walk about no problem, it’s just last year you could hardly feel a thing.

We saw a show yesterday. It was kinda boring and predictable.

We're now off on deck to sunbathe :-) Oh by the way, the times are probably looking strange but then remember we're 5 hours behind!
Monday 16/06/2008 15:37 — JD and Ginger, no Ice: Well that's what I just ordered :-) Tonight's show was awesome. It was a comedy improv show. There was an incredibly funny msn sketch (with genuine sound effects!) where it turned out that they were all pretending to be their son or daughter :-)

Other than that, I've done incredibly little! Just Sunbathing on deck and sleeping :-)

Tomorrow evening we hit solid land for the first time since Saturday! And the sea is making the ship really rock tonight :-) it's kinda fun!

Mmmm this drink is good :-D Night peeps x
Tuesday 17/06/2008 22:47 — San Juan, Puerto Rico: Yesterday was awesome! We took a small boat out to sea to watch the sun set :-) It was an amazing experience, but we hot soaked in a storm!

I don't have much time, so I have to go. British Virgin Islands today :-)
Wednesday 18/06/2008 11:03 — British Virgin Islands: Today we visited the British Virgin Islands. Our excursion took us all around the small island. The best thing is, we own it! They drive on the left and spell colour with a u :-D

Tomorrow is the day when we hit the rainforest! I'm excited but it's another early start, and, well insects, snakes etc... Scary!
Thursday 19/06/2008 15:18 — Rainforest and Speed Boat!: Today we visited Semaná. We tendered directly onto the speed boat. This time we were asked to wear life jackets! The speed boat was pretty smooth considering the speed we were travelling at, across the Caribbean Sea.

We saw several small islands as we cruised the sea. One tiny island, Bird Island was full of birds! It was an amazing site.

We then moored by the side of the rainforest, and were warned to be very careful where we tread, looking out for snakes and the deadly Black Widow spider! I have to admit I was very uncomfortable!

We were led inside a cave, and shown some cave paintings, thought to be 2000 years old. There were bats flying about our heads too, but I'm not scared of bats - we have loads where I live in the country.

We then walked back to the speed boat, and went to another part of the island and to another cave.

After this, we were taken to the beach of the island of Semaná. Semaná has two beaches, one private and one public.

I got soaked on the speed boat back to the ship! So, when we got back, we showered and got some lunch.

Nothing much else to say. The same as every day, we had Champagne and cards before dinner, and now we're at a rock concert. I'm back to drinking my favourite... Blue Hawaii :-)
Friday 20/06/2008 09:02 — Storm!: It's our first full day at sea for our return to New Work, and we've just entered a storm! It's got dark and rainy. I was told that we're just into the hurricane season, and next week is the very last cruise to the Caribbean because from now on it just gets too dangerous!

We'll be off for another bottle of Champagne soon before dinner, then I think we're going to see a couple of shows :-)

I think I just saw lightning! Uh ohh!
Tuesday 17/06/2008 22:47 — San Juan, Puerto Rico: Yesterday was awesome! We took a small boat out to sea to watch the sun set :-) It was an amazing experience, but we hot soaked in a storm!

I don't have much time, so I have to go. British Virgin Islands today :-)
Sunday 22/06/2008 09:24 — Flight delayed: My flight's been delayed, so far by an hour and a half but who knows?!

I suspect it may be due to storms south of us in California.