I have procrastinated some in this post, because I was hoping I might find a way to get the underwater camera pictures developed soon. But if any of them turned out, I will just have to post again then. This was really one of the best days of our vacation. The Hartley Helmet Dive is amazing. If you ever get to go to Bermuda, do the Hartley Helmet Dive.
The main reason I chose this excursion is that it was the only one that provided wetsuits, and the water in Bermuda in mid-April is still rather cold.
This is the only fish you'll see in these pictures but we saw alot more than this. They come to Greg (the guy who owns and runs Hartley Helmet Dive now). He has "friended" them. That's what he says on his website. I would say he has trained them with food, but whatever you call it the result is neat.
I think this photo says it all about how cool I thought it was to hold the fish.
Actually looking at the camera in this one though, so posting it too.
The one good photo of mom where she is looking at the camera.
In all of the others, she forgets about the camera and is just looking down at the fish. But here is the best one of those with her holding the fish.
Us together with the fish.
Us holding the fish together.
I really wish at this point that I could show you some more pictures that would really express how cool this dive was. Greg has sticks with words on them to point what all the fish and coral are. And he has pieces of the coral that have broken off that you can touch. They each feel slightly different. Hopefully at least some of the photos we took with the underwater cameras will turn out and I will post them later.
The excursion went longer than it was supposed to and my mom was actually the last passenger on the boat before the boat sailed away. They actually had to hold the boat for our excursion. This was the other main reason I chose this excursion for that morning in Bermuda so that we would definitely not miss the boat.
After we had lunch, mom went to take a nap and I went up to the relaxation room in the spa (the only free part of the spa). It has a very nice view of the water. And mostly I'm posting this photo because I
A video of the view, just cause I like to watch the water, and who knows you might too. :-)
This is the Centrum, and I just think it was a cool view.
The only other towel animal we got. I think we decided it was supposed to be a rabbit maybe, but we were never really convinced on that point.
Somethings didn't go according to plan in getting on the boat, but it all worked out okay evantually. This photo here shows my favorite part of a cruise.
Notice how the where the wake from the ship hits the natural waves from the ocean, you get the water splashing up into the air. I love that. I could watch it all day. I did just sit and watch it a number of times. Other than Hartly Helment Dive which I will get to in a couple of days, just watching the water was my favorite part of the whole cruise. Prior to going on a cruise, I never understood why anyone would want to take one of those cruises that just sails out around in the water for a few days and then comes back to the same port it left from. I get it now, and would do it in a heartbeat if I could afford it and get the time off. My later posts will have more of these photos and videos, but here's just one more for now.
But I will move on for now to my other early cruise photos.
This was from the front of the ship in the Windjammer Cafe. We mostly ate in the main dining room but this is only option on the first day and some the views from there were nice.
Another view from the Windjammer while still in port.
This was taken as this little tugboat was pulling us out of port.
This is from the Viking Crown Lounge at the top of the ship. I just thought it was a fun shot.
This is from the floor of the casino. I dropped a few bucks in a couple of machines while on the boat, mostly just so I could say that I did.
It seemed like a fun shot.
Our stateroom attendant was not all that great and we only got towel animals on two of the 5 days. But this was the first one on day 2, and I thought it was fun. I think we decided it was an elephant, but that is certainly open to interpretation.
Okay, one more view of the ocean just cause I like it. The first two days were actually somewhat rough sea days. Many or maybe most people were not fond of this. I however loved it. It made the sea more fun to watch, and I liked feeling the movement of the ship.
