February count down

Today is February 20th.  We have made final payments on all but one of our cruises.  The QM2 final is due on Friday.  We have received our documents for the Regent cruise.  They came in a very nice iPad binder.  Plus two American Express Cards worth $200.00 each.  Wow.  We are hopeful that the documents for the river cruises come before we have to leave.  WE have all our hotels lined up plus our train tickets to Brussels.  Still too early for the train from Munich to Hamburg.  And we still need to arrange for a rental car to drive home in June.  But mostly, we are ready.  Just need to pack.  We are going to pack a little differently this time as we are doing so much traveling once we get to Spain.  We both need to be able to handle all the luggage by ourselves.  So just one large suitcase and one small case or back pack.  We are less than one month to go.  Getting excited.

Getting Ready

Today is January 9th and we are starting to get ready for our next adventure.  We are sailing to Europe and then we will take three different river cruises.  And we will sail back to the United States.  All this to avoid the hassle of air travel.  There is a lot to do.  We must arrange for hotels in Spain, Holland, France, etc. and train travel to the different cities.  It should be fun but making sure we arrive at the correct time is tricky.  Vantage, the river cruise line we have the first leg on, changed the dates of the cruise and this messed us up but good.  We lost over 150,000 points as we had two different hotels scheduled for that time frame.  Now we have about 5 days we need to decide where we want to spend them.  Paris is our first choice as it is easy to travel from Amsterdam to Paris and then back to Amsterdam.  We still have time to figure all that out. 

I seem to have forgotten how to post on this site, so it is a good thing that I am home and can practice.  Most of the time we are away we will have free internet so that I can keep up.  The times we are in the cities, I will have to find a Starbuck's or the like.  That is always a little challenging.  But I hope those of you who follow this blog will enjoy reading about our travels.  It is fun to share with those of you at home. 

Home

Today we flew from Ft. Lauderdale to Jacksonville on Southwest.  Flight is a short one of about one hour and 15 minutes.  We used luggage free so we had no checked luggage.  When the ship arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, there were six other ships in port.  So since we so small, we only had one customs agent working.  To say it was backed up is an understatement.  We finally got through the line and headed to the sedan to take us to the airport.

Flight up was uneventful.  The limo was waiting for us and we got home to a wonderful greeting by Aiden, Gretchen, Katie and David.  The kids had made a wonderful sign that was over the front door.  It was great to see everyone.

The only down side is that I am sick.  I did not feel well most of yesterday so I stayed in the cabin most of the day.  And now today I have a fever.  Not sure what is going on but at least I am home and in my own bed.

Katie and her family are taking Bob out to dinner.  I am staying home and watching NCAA basketball.

This was a great cruise.  We were not sure how we would feel sailing for 72 days, but both of us feel we could have stayed on longer.  Now thinking about a world cruise.  Maybe in 2014.  Next year is going to be river cruise in Europe.  Till then.

Gustavia, St. Barts

Thursday March 15, 2012.  We are at anchor here in St. Barts.  We arrived here at about 8am.  Early this morning, we heard the call for stretcher to deck 7.  So when we arrived at St. Barts, the first tender was used to off load the lady who had fallen and broken her hip.  We swam for one hour and then a light breakfast on the aft deck. 

We dressed for our tour which was "Sailing the Leeward Coast."  We took the tender into the town and boarded our catamaran which only had one Captain.  The young man was the only crew person on board which was a first for us.  Keeps his costs down at any rate.

Our ride around the island

1st Mate but my Captain

The trip was around the island which is very pretty.  The swells of the ocean are pretty strong so there was some movement of the ship and it kind of made me sick.  I did not get sick but I felt sick.  We stopped for a snorkel dip and only four of us got in the water.  The water was clear but no fish.  At least, I did not see any fish.  But it was a refreshing swim which I enjoyed as did Bob.

Our ship from afar

Then we returned to the dock and reboarded our tender for the ride back to the ship.  They take it slow so as to keep the tender from rocking too much.

Back on board, we headed up for lunch.  I still was not feeling great, so I had some flat bread and cheese plus a ginger ale.  Back to the cabin for knitting and then up to needlepoint, tea and trivia.  We lost again but our friends next to our group won so we were happy.

Dressed for dinner in Compass Rose.  Had our cocktails in the Mariner Lounge and we visited by David and Bonnie as they waited for Carol and Phil to join them.  We had a nice dinner at a table by the window. I had the lamb chops and enjoyed it.

Back to the cabin to watch some of the basketball and then lights out.  Good day considering that I did not feel well during the day.  I recovered well.

We now have two sea days before we get to Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday.  Not sure if I will post any more so I hope you all have enjoyed our trip.  We have had a wonderful time and was are sorry to see it end.  But it will be wonderful to see the family when we get home.  We have missed them and it will be great to see them on Sunday, at least we hope they will make time for us.

Next trip will probably be in 2013.  Till then, stay safe and keep on traveling.

Castries, St. Lucia

Wednesday March 14, 2012.  Docked in Castries, St. Lucia.  Morning started the same as always with one hour of water exercises.  Then breakfast on the aft deck of La Veranda.  It was windy and half of our paper blew away before we could catch it.  It may be on someone's balcony.  Not sure where it landed.

There is one other ship here today.  It is a P&O called Azura.  It is a fairly large ship but new.  Hit the water for the first time in 2010.

Azura

Today we took a tour  called "Snorkel at Marine Park".  We gathered in the theater at 9:30 for our tour.  We took a boat to the Marine Park.  It was about a 45 minute ride which was quite pleasant.  Then we were in the water for about one hour.  There was not as much fish life here as we had expected.  The coral reefs are some what dead.  They are trying to come back but it takes a long time.  We did see lots of small fish but nothing with the South Pacific.  But it was fun and good exercise.

Bob on deck

Eileen staying out of the sun

Snorkeling

St. Lucia 

This is a very pretty island.  Of course, all of our views were from the sea.  We only walked on the dock so do not remember what the town looks like.

Selling at sea

After we finished snorkeling, these locals brought their canoes right up to our boat to try and sell us shells, bracelets, etc.  Some of the people bought items but I did not.

We returned to the ship for lunch.  Just had a salad today.  Need to make sure I am not a two ton tessie when I get home.  This good living is terrific but one must be careful.

Now time for some reading and then off to needlepoint.  We are having dinner tonight  with Mickey and Richard.  Trivia was okay but we did not do so well.  Dressed for dinner and met Mickey and Richard in the Mariners Lounge.  I had the filet and it was good.  Back to the cabin and bed.

Bridgetown, Barbados

Tuesday March 13, 2012.  We docked here in Bridgetown at 9am.  By that time we had already swam, had breakfast, and readied ourselves to get off the ship.  We are taking a tour titled "Barbados Photo Adventure".

We were all on one small bus.  This was a very limited tour.  Leading Barbadain Peoducer/Director, Ronnie Carrington, led the tour that showcased some of Barbados' most picturesque locations.  It was probably the best tour we have had on this cruise.  It was wonderful.

We left the pier and drove across Barbados toward the Scotland District.  You pass sugar cane plantations, quaint rural villages with their churches right next to the Rum shop, and the chattel houses.

Entrance to Sugar Cane Plantation

Chattel House

Mommy Sheep and her kids

Vista of Barbados

The Plantation owners would allow the workers to live on the Plantation in these Chattel Homes.  When they finished with the plantation, they would take the home apart and move to another site.  The government finally allowed the chattel owners to buy the small land and stay here forever.  When the family expanded, they would build on the back of the house.

The difference between sheep and goats is that the tail of the sheep goes down and the tail of the goat goes up.  These were the strangest looking sheep we had seen.


We continued on to enjoy the sights of Bathsheba, the most photographed area on the island.  This is where a world wide surfing competition is held.  Then we went to the Atlantis Hotel for a wonderful rum punch.  Then back to the pier.

Atlantic Shore

The shops at the pier were mostly closed.  This is the first time we have been to Bridgetown where we were the only ship docked.  Usually there are five or six large ships in port.  Because of the fact that we were the only one here, many shops did not bother to open.  I was able to buy a new watch band at Diamonds International.

Back on the ship, lunch on the aft deck of La Veranda.  Then time for a nap and catch up on blog.  I hope everyone is enjoying this.  It does take some time to up load the pictures so I do that at 5 in the morning.  Not many people using their computers at that time.  Then the process is pretty quick.  If I did it in the afternoon, it would take over 10 minutes for just one picture.

Needlepoint, tea and trivia this afternoon.  At trivia it was only Linda and myself.  Too say we did pretty good for just two of us, but we did not win.  Lost by one answer.

At sail away, the gold, platinum, and titanium members of the Seven Seas Society will gather on deck 7 forward for another sail away party.  This time we are taking our camera.  This is a wonderful way to see the port of Barbados.

Dinner in Compass Rose.  As we enter the Mariner Lounge, they already are making our martinis.  Boy are we creatures of habit.  Dinner was good.  Then back to the cabin to read and then lights out.

I will post the pictures from the party later as we have not downloaded them yet.  So check back later.

Sea Day

Monday March 12, 2012.  We are having another sea day.   The day started like all our others by swimming for one hour in the pool.  A very good workout.  Lots of wave action.  Then we clean up for breakfast in La Veranda.  

Needlepoint up in Observation Lounge.  Our group is getting bigger.  Then I went to Terry's lecture on "Sky Watchers" and then about the Maya calendar and its ending this year.  At the end, Terry said she would write our names in Maya script for those who attended the lecture.

Lunch was with the needlepoint group in Compass Rose.  There were 15 of us that attended.  It was great to get to know the other ladies.  Elda sat with us and Nicola sat with the other table.  Elda is Assistant Cruise Director and Nicola is Social Hostess.

Back to the cabin to read and knit.  Bob is up in the hot tub.  This afternoon they are setting up for the Country Fair.  This is where they have booths with fun games and you play for tickets and the winner is drawn and wins a nice prize.  The booths are manned by crew.

Ray the Emcee

Ronalyn our Cabin Stewardess

Cabin gals under water ballon sign

Waiters with their ballon game

Passengers at the Fair

American Football Cheerleaders!

It was a fun time.  I only tried to hit the sign over the girls and missed.  Oh well.

We dressed for dinner and went to the pre dinner show.  It was Pianist Liana Forest.  She is excellent.  We really enjoyed her.  We bought her CD.  Dinner in Compass Rose and then up to check if they were filling the pool as they had emptied it for the Fair.  They were so we returned to the cabin and I started watching "Jack and Jill".  Dumb movie.  Lights out.