1/25/2013 Bonaire Island - Guest Blog written by JT Giesbrecht

We were told that Bonaire was known for its snorkeling and diving and assured it was the calmest of the ABC islands.  And that it was. 

A crew member named, Fay, offered to let us snorkel with him in the morning since he was familiar with the reefs in the area.  We gladly accepted his offer after hearing that a female crew member was cut pretty badly during her last snorkeling excursion.  One of the highlights of our day in Bonaire was being charged 'crew pricing' for our gear and water taxi to Klein islet.  Finally, being the youngest passengers has paid off, in the tune of $7 each!

Once we arrived at the islet we were told to put our stuff on the beach and walk down until we see a break in the reef.  We tasked Fay with this important step as it all looked like one giant reef to us.  The water was a bit rough and there was a steep 50 foot drop off once we crossed to the other side of the reef.  That is when the panic set in for Chalu.  She was doggy paddling with a look of terror on her face.  Fay calmly swam towards her and escorted her back to shore, all the while I'm intermittently yelling at her, "Keep your feet up!!” to help her avoid massive coral reef injuries to her legs.  I just assumed she would meet us back on the beach but that was not the case.  Ten minutes into our snorkeling I felt a firm tug on my leg and quickly turned around to see Chalu thoroughly enjoying herself in the water.  During the excursion we saw a large eel weaving its way through the corral and were graced by the presence of thousands of fish.  All the while I couldn't shake the voice of Ellen DeGeneres as Dory each time I saw a Blue Tang swim past us.

We decided to find some free Wi-Fi on land for the remainder of our time in Bonaire.  Wi-Fi is not easy to consistently find or use but it sure beats $.49-$.75 a minute on the boat when it does work.  Once we accomplished our goal we were ready to head back to the boat. By our watch it was 4:20pm and the all aboard was posted at 4:30.

As we were entering the ramp we heard the massive horn which is really just a loud mating call for all of the passengers to get the hell on the boat.  Since we had not yet seen the crew leave a port we decided to go to deck 6 to observe the action.  Little did we know that if you are not on the boat 20 minutes prior to all aboard they start looking for you?  This includes an intercom call across the whole ship, calls to your cabin, and the dreaded acquisition of your passport in preparation to hand it off to the port authority.

 An elderly gentleman was nowhere to be found and at 4:28 they had his passport in hand and we could hear their frustration that the port authority wasn't there yet for the hand off.  By 4:32 the handoff was complete which technically means that when the left passenger tries to get back on the ship he or she will instead be handed his or her passport and told to find their own way out of the country.  Fortunately for this older gentleman, he was able to catch them at the gate at 4:34 and was escorted back to the boat.  The onlookers erupted in cheering applause, which we later learned infuriated the cruise director and captain.

In closing there were 3 life lessons during our time in Bonaire:

1.  Say what you mean and set proper expectations.  If the boat really wants you to board at 4:10 instead of 4:30 then simply tell us so and don't treat folks like criminals until they are actually late.

2.  Being able to overcome fears in order to take advantage of adventure will typically lead to a happier life.

 3.  If someone assumes you're someone you're not, quickly consider the pros and cons of taking on this identity.