Saturday, December 9, 2017 – Ocho Rios, Jamaica – Mostly Sunny – 87F

It’s a beautiful – if not warm – day in Jamaica.  This is another port we visited not too long ago so our plan today is to take a more extensive walk through the town.

Ocho Rios from the Ship

After another wonderful breakfast, we set out on the long, but nice pier toward the city. 

Looking Down the Pier

This gave us some great shots of the ship docked.

Crystal Serenity

We went an alternate route bypassing the small complex of strip malls right near the exit from the pier.  Instead, we walked along the condos and eventually found a street that took us to the main part of Ocho Rios. 

You can tell when you’re there by the presence of all of the familiar stores and fast food places.  The place was teeming with cars; you had to be careful on the sidewalks because they are in desperate need of repair – there are gaping holes in the pavement.

We passed a nice park on the main street – “Turtle River Park”

Turtle River Park

We didn’t stay long at the park as it was starting to get pretty warm.

We also walked through an interesting shopping center.

At this point, the temperature was creeping into the high 80s so we headed back to the ship – this time, we did walk through the strip mall.  The same stores were still there.

Back on the ship for a cold beer and lunch.  Lunch in the Lido Café was once again terrific.

Spent the afternoon on the balcony – still slowly making progress on “Silent Corner” by Dean Koontz.

We are continuing to get a table for two thanks to our wonderful Maître D – Mr. Gallo.  He realizes at this point that this will be what we are going to do for the rest of the voyage so he anticipates and gets us a table when we walk up.  Some of the tables are wonderful, away from the hustle and bustle of the dining room – our waiter is from South Africa and he is excellent.

The sail away was scenic and we captured the sunset (almost identical to our previous sail away from Ocho Rios).

Showtime tonight was International Piano Virtuoso Tian Jiang. We stayed for a few minutes then went up to the Palm Court to listen to music and watch the gents dance.