TR: Norwegian Pearl Pt. 4: A Coaster For All Seasons (1/3-1/4/2012)
 

Following our day at the private island, it was onto an at sea day and all
the doing of nothing that came with it. We made plans early on with our
butler to have dinner brought to the room from the steakhouse, taking care
of dinner preparations. Aside from that, we did next to nothing. Some
walking occurred. Some visits to the buffet. Lots of time spent with books
or the Kindle Fire. Not much was "done" aside from relaxation. We did take
in the production show: a Frankie Valli tribute that was competently
performed and featured some unintentional guffaws when the lead of the
ground crashed into some teenager who was headed for the door during a run
up the stairs. There was also a invitation-only free drink cruise talk for
the Latitudes members (like us) which we attended, cared little about, and
departed from, forgetting almost the entire thing.

On the sun deck, the place was packed with humanity. Chairs and people were
all over the goddamned place, it was loud, and difficult to get through. All
the more reason to head back to our private balcony. Our dinner from Cagney's
was good, but not $25/pp upcharge good. If you do order, get the fillet. I
chose the ribeye but I didn't think it was anything more impressive than
what was on the every day menu over at Indigo (one of the free restaurants
on board). The sides were very good, to their credit.

Day 4 of the cruise was spent at port - in this case, Ocho Rios. This was my
first visit to Jamaica, and an opportunity to get a coaster credit that I've
longed after for awhile via shore excursion. Not far from the port is Mystic
Mountain, a day resort sort of thing located overlooking the cruise port and
town. Available in tandem with Dunns River Falls or by itself, we chose to
skip Dunn's River on this journey in order to save it for a future Jamaica
only trip where we could enjoy it without the crowds of cruise boats. Mystic
Mountain, I'd hoped, would provide a couple hours of entertainment at least.

To journey up to Mystic Mountain, one must take a chair lift above some
jungle foilage that's really the highlight of the visit. I probably could
have gone on that a few times each way. At the top of the mountain is a
fairly small facility featuring a couple of different activities. There's
ziplining for those who pay for it, the alpine coaster (which we were there
for), a restaurant, a small "museum" featuring a couple signs about Jamaica,
a pool, and that's pretty much it. We chose to wear bathing suits in order
to use the pool, but overcast skies and temps in the low 70s largely
dissuaded us from doing such a thing. With that, much of our perceived
entertainment for the day was dashed.

The coaster was very much still there though, and I was hopeful to get
multiple rides on it. Known as the Jamaican Bobsled (A#607/M#295), its a
Weigand Alpine Coaster set in an appreciably not alpine setting. The track
length is longer than the one I went on at Jiminy Peak in Massachusetts, and
unlike the Jiminy Peak coaster, it ends with the lift rather than starts
with it.

Now, alpine coasters have come into a controversial area in the world of
amusement park fandom with many arguing that they are not, in fact,
coasters. The Jamaican Bobsled does nothing to help this argument out for
the side against their inclusion - as far as I am aware, this is the only
facility in the world that will train the cars together in sets of two and
allow for a single "driver". That means the passenger can simply sit and
enjoy the ride without doing anything. My wife and I chose this option after
being told that the ride was faster (makes sense - more weight) in this
setup.

As a coaster, its fun. There seems to be more flat, straight track than on
the version I rode in the US, but there's also some really impressive drops
on this one that I don't remember elsewhere. One particularly effective
airtime hill comes immediately after the longest drop of the coaster. With
the train concept, I also felt like when I came towards the brakes, they
were a lot less responsive. Did Wiegland actually approve this?

After the coaster, we sat in various locations, took some pictures, and
ended up heading back down the mountain where we would end up waiting half
an hour for a ride back to the boat. Scratch that. We waited half an hour
for a ride back to a strip mall near the boat so that we could be accosted
by locals wanting to sell us on their tours or on bad weed. Ocho Rios has a
bad reputation among cruisers, and it is well deserved. Its an ugly shanty
town representing all that is negative about mass tourism. Once we were back
on ship, we again discussed between ourselves just how different Rarotonga
really was.

With The Second City being the night's entertainment, I preferred instead to
sit my ass in the cabin and go to bed very early. My wife was more than
willing to go that route.

TR: Norwegian Pearl Pt. 4: A Coaster For All Seasons (1/3-1/4/2012)
 

In message , Alan Conceicao
writes
Following our day at the private island,

Oh FFS, who gives a ****?

You're nothing but a self-publicising ****!
--
Lydia

"Lesbianism leaves a bad taste in my mouth"... Dame Edna Everage

TR: Norwegian Pearl Pt. 4: A Coaster For All Seasons (1/3-1/4/2012)
 

On Feb 13, 12:00*am, Lydia Binn wrote:
In message , Alan Conceicao
writes

Following our day at the private island,

Oh FFS, who gives a ****?

All of us who like Alan's trip reports, Trolly McTrollerson.

TR: Norwegian Pearl Pt. 4: A Coaster For All Seasons (1/3-1/4/2012)
 

"Lydia Binn" wrote in message
...
In message , Alan Conceicao
writes
Following our day at the private island,

Oh FFS, who gives a ****?

You're nothing but a self-publicising ****!

Welcome to USENET!

--
|\-/|
0 0
=(o)=
-Wolf

TR: Norwegian Pearl Pt. 4: A Coaster For All Seasons (1/3-1/4/2012)
 

"Alan Conceicao" wrote in message
...

The coaster was very much still there though, and I was hopeful to get
multiple rides on it. Known as the Jamaican Bobsled (A#607/M#295), its a
Weigand Alpine Coaster set in an appreciably not alpine setting. The track
length is longer than the one I went on at Jiminy Peak in Massachusetts,
and unlike the Jiminy Peak coaster, it ends with the lift rather than
starts with it.

Now, alpine coasters have come into a controversial area in the world of
amusement park fandom with many arguing that they are not, in fact,
coasters. The Jamaican Bobsled does nothing to help this argument out for
the side against their inclusion - as far as I am aware, this is the only
facility in the world that will train the cars together in sets of two and
allow for a single "driver". That means the passenger can simply sit and
enjoy the ride without doing anything. My wife and I chose this option
after being told that the ride was faster (makes sense - more weight) in
this setup.

The general feeling in the industry is that they aren't coasters -- and for
a good reason. Because of the absence of blocking and general controls
density, they don't pass the requirements of F2291 (which governs coasters),
but do pass F1159 (which governs bumper cars).

--
|\-/|
0 0
=(o)=
-Wolf

TR: Norwegian Pearl Pt. 4: A Coaster For All Seasons (1/3-1/4/2012)
 

On Feb 19, 11:38*am, "Wolf" wrote:
"Alan Conceicao" wrote in message

...









The coaster was very much still there though, and I was hopeful to get
multiple rides on it. Known as the Jamaican Bobsled (A#607/M#295), its a
Weigand Alpine Coaster set in an appreciably not alpine setting. The track
length is longer than the one I went on at Jiminy Peak in Massachusetts,
and unlike the Jiminy Peak coaster, it ends with the lift rather than
starts with it.

Now, alpine coasters have come into a controversial area in the world of
amusement park fandom with many arguing that they are not, in fact,
coasters. The Jamaican Bobsled does nothing to help this argument out for
the side against their inclusion - as far as I am aware, this is the only
facility in the world that will train the cars together in sets of two and
allow for a single "driver". That means the passenger can simply sit and
enjoy the ride without doing anything. My wife and I chose this option
after being told that the ride was faster (makes sense - more weight) in
this setup.

The general feeling in the industry is that they aren't coasters -- and for
a good reason. Because of the absence of blocking and general controls
density, they don't pass the requirements of F2291 (which governs coasters),
but do pass F1159 (which governs bumper cars).

--
|\-/|
0 0
=(o)=
-Wolf

As that is, didn't you once say that Scenic Railways don't meet ASTM
standards? Last I checked, no one was arguing whether or not they
"counted".