Caribbean Cruising 2016

Feb. 20 to Florida We left home at 5:15am. The R and C's SIL Ross drove us. Shortly after leaving, we discovered that Joanie had left her camera on the kitchen table. Unbeknownst to her, I immediately texted Leah and asked her to give the camera to Margie. (See Feb. 28). We flew to Phoenix, where we had a four hour layover, and then on to Fort Lauderdale, arriving at 10:15pm local time. After waiting a while for the shuttle I had booked, we arrived at our hotel at about 11:15. I was very concerned about the hotel, the Universal Palms, because though it was not cheap, at $175 US per night, it was much less than most other hotels near the airport and cruise terminal. It was ok, although the mold in the corners of the bathroom walls left something to be desired. We all escaped without short term illness. Feb. 21 Cruising After a McDonalds breakfast, we tried to buy a box of wine to smuggle onto the ship. We found some, but learned that under Florida law, you can not buy alcohol before noon on Sundays. That was too late for us. We got picked up at 10:45am and were in our staterooms by 12:15. The cruise terminal was only a few kilometres from the airport, but on weekends the traffic is horrendous because 10 or more cruise ships may be in. We also learned very quickly that when you order a drink special, don't get it in the cheap, plastic "fancy" glasses which cost over $3 extra! It will be an exercise filled cruise, as our inside state room is on the first floor, breakfast and lunch and the pool are on the ninth floor and we decided to not use the elevators. For dinner R and I wore shorts but were told by other men who were turned back that you could not get in the dining room without long pants. We noticed over the week that while long pants were not permitted for men, ladies could wear just about anything, and even on formal nights, some men came in jeans and t-shirts. Perhaps it depends who you are and how much money you spend? Feb. 22 Sea Day Today we had to turn our clocks an hour ahead to be on Grand Turks time. We also had a bit of trouble getting to sleep due to time changes. The day was spent relaxing, reading, doing ten laps on the promenade deck, (3 laps are a mile), and dressing up for dinner. Tonight we discovered the piano bar and Mike McCabe. It was a great tome of singing along to old songs from the 50's, 60's and even older. It was kind of fun joining in with 70 and 80 year olds, all belting out old rock and roll and Frank Sinatra. After this, we went to the piano bar every night after the show at the theatre. Feb. 23 Grand Turk We docked at 8am and went on shore about 9am. The beautiful beach was at the end of the pier and was lined with beach chairs which were available free. That was a relief since we tried to book clam shells, a cover for shade, but they were sold out. It was a nice day and we found chairs in the shade. We did some snorkelling which was actually quite good. We also got some mango smoothies and wi fi connections before we had a brief, fine shower. I did manage to sneak in a bottle of wine. We boarded before 2:30 for our scheduled 3 o'clock sailing, but there was a long delay due to a medical emergency. A lady died of some medical complications. We saw her husband (?) go off the ship with his luggage, wait for over an hour, and then be escorted back on. Its never good though when you hear a request for the chaplain. We learned that she died and there was a delay getting clearance from the coroner and local authorities. After a 5 hour delay, we finally departed. The captain made up some of this time, but our arrival at San Juan was moved from noon until 3. The evening show was a steel drum band (quartet) from Trinidad call Island Magic. They played everything from classical to rock music and got a standing ovation. They were very humble. Their leader spoke softly, beaming after every ovation with a simple, "Thank you" that had people laughing. Feb. 24 San Juan, Peurto Rico We arrived early, at 2:30pm. We walked the streets of old town. While trying to get internet at Starbucks, I did spot some parrots and other small birds in the park. Joanie and C bought friendship beads for their pandora bracelets. R and I shared a bench once and it cost us nothing. We then went to a bar on a five storey rooftop, not using the elevator of course, and had a drink. The women had two drinks and were feeling no pain. We got back to the ship around sunset and went to a bbq on the lido deck. The evening was very fun. The show was a comedian, Kevin Jordan, an ex LA cop, who was quite funny. Then we watched the marriage game, which was like the newlywed game with three volunteer couples. We laughed a lot! One man, married 40 years, when asked what little signal his wife gives to show that she is "in the mood" said, very straight faced, "she takes the brake off of her wheelchair." Everyone roared. They did not get the answer right. Feb. 25 Sint Maarten It was a hot, sunny day. We had booked an island tour. This took us through Philipsburg, the capital of the Dutch country within the Dutch kingdom, and to Marigot, the capital on the French colony of Saint Martin. We saw Majo Beach, by Queen Juliana airport on the Dutch side where jet liners come in so close to the beach that you could be pushed by the force and your belongings could be blown away. We spent time in Marigot getting French pastry and a cold drink and looking at the rows of souvenir booths that lined the street. We also drove near the famous French beach known for its nudity, but not near enough to see people. Perhaps not a bad thing. We got dropped off in Philipsburg and walked the cement boardwalk along the beautiful beach, being harassed every few feet by people trying to rent us beach chairs, some including four to six beer. They were very aggressive. We finally found a French Canadian bar that sold bitterballen. We enjoyed these with carib beer and accessing wi fi. We decided not to rent a beach chair but just sit by the side of the water. Again, the colour of the water was stunning. After a nice dip in the warm water, we walked the mile back to the ship, stopping to buy a bottle of wine, and photograph a gorgeous, orange-headed parrot and hummingbird we saw on the way. The wine was detected and confiscated, although small souvenir bottles of rum were not. We had a juggler for our entertainment and of course Mike at the piano bar. Feb. 26 at sea Today was a sleep in day. It was still taking a long time to get to sleep, but every day it was getting better. We attended a fancy lunch held for repeat customers of Holland America. We all received a tile souvenir. We spent the day hiking around the promenade deck, reading and relaxing. I saw many flying fish and a whale that came right along side the snip, just below the surface. It was not there long enough to get a picture. Sea days are also formal night, although a white tux jacket and old baggy jeans seem to qualify. It was also surf and turf night, steak and lobster. Though I am not a lobster fan, I did order it. R triple dog dared me to order a salmon tartar and also for it to be cooked. I had no choice. I did tell our waiter, Alberto, that I wanted salmon tartar but I wanted it well done. We laughed and then I said, seriously I want another appetizer. When the first appetizers came, there was my tartar. (Not cooked of course.). I did eat it and it was small and ok. I guess Alberto didn't get the joke. Feb. 27 Half Moon Cay, Bahamas Half Moon Cay, HAL's private island had a beautiful beach. The water was clear but a little cooler than Grand Turk. It was also a little cooler weather. There were free beach chairs. We did some snorkelling, and saw a turtle, many little reef fish along the edge of the bay, and several barracudas. They had a bbq at lunch and I had a good hamburger. We walked around, saw a fenced off area where you could feed sting rays, very lame, and Joanie had a drink at a beach bar. At night we went to the concert by Island Magic as well as the piano bar, although Mike fooled around more with the songs and we just weren't into it as much, so the four of us had a drink in our room. We talked to the front desk about whether we were on a 14 day cruise or two 7 day cruises since our dinner table reservation was only good for the first week and we could not get the photo gallery to hold our photos to the end of the second week so we could choose because they would not mix the two cruises. If the second week was a new cruise, we should be allowed to bring on a bottle of wine each like other passengers, but they insisted we were not eligible for that. Feb. 28 Fort Lauderdale We were off the ship by 8am for our everglades airboat excursion. The bus drove us 30 minutes or so to the start of the everglades. Here we boarded airboats that held about 20 people and we scooted around the everglades over the sawtooth grasses. We did find one alligator. The everglades are the only place where gators and crocodiles coexist. After the 30 minute ride, we explored a wildlife rescue centre that had many gators, caiman, Florida cats and other animals. I also saw a good variety of wild birds, including a number of parrots. We returned to the ship just in time for lunch. A few weeks earlier, R and I were told that Luke and Margie had booked to join us for the second week of our cruise and today they were coming aboard. We kept this a secret from the women, making it awkward sometimes when they talked of making plans for this week, and we were evasive . We decided to have lunch on the lido deck, figuring this would be a likely meeting spot. While everyone sat outside, I went inside to get some nachos, scouting at the same time. I turned a corner at the same time L and M passed by. I quietly walked beside L and put my arm on his shoulder, surprising him. They then followed me to our table, where C looked up and then did a double take. Joanie did the same. We had celebratory chi chis. Unfortunately, L lost his cell phone, so a frantic search began. After no success, and racking up heft long distance snd roaming charges on M's phone, I asked if he retrieved his phone after the security scan while boarding. A light went on. Just as he was explaining his dilemma to the service desk, someone was bringing in a tray f items from the scan area, including his phone! For dinner, we had invitations to the Tamarind Asian restaurant, a higher end restaurant that normally costs $20 per person extra. The difference was apparent from the free dining room. The quality of the food, the presentation, and the service, including helping choose off the menu, was so good. We thoroughly enjoyed it. The servers were all attractive women, unlike the dining room, which was staffed by men only. What was strange was seeing a couple dressed as absolute slobs in such a fancy place, and that was ok because the man's pants went to his ankles. Afterwards we met up with L and M and went to a BB King review. Not my favourite style of music but the band was excellent. We finished by closing down the piano bar. Feb. 29 Nassau, The Bahamas After a sleep in and leisurely breakfast, we walked into Nassau. The main activity here was shopping, so we walked the streets, did some shopping, had a local beer and chips at Fat Tuesday bar because it had wi fi and we could finally reconnect with home, and dipped our feet in the ocean. We also walked to a rum factory where L took a rum tasting. We were back at the ship by 3 o'clock. 4o'clock was now officially the daily meeting time in the Ocean bar (since mid last week) for happy hour. The drink of the day was usually about $6.50 with a second identical drink being $1.00. We would also get two free appie trays, containing about 4 different appies. R had been dealing with the maitre 'd for the past few days to secure a table reservation for the week. We got the table we had for our special lunch last week, by the window, in the middle of the back wall of the ship. It had a great view! After dinner we took in a comedy show and dropped in on the piano bar. It seemed like Mike was on drugs or something. He never finished one song properly, interjecting crude words or lame jokes and making errors. He was off, and it did not take long for people to start leaving. We too left early. Mar. 1 at sea Our clocks again moved ahead an hour to match Turks time, but we were able to sleep in. It was taking a while, but still less time to get to sleep. We had breakfast with L and M. Joanie then sun bathed by the pool and I did laps on the promenade deck, walking three miles. I joined the others by the pool and we then had lunch together. I had nasi goreng. Joanie went wth the other women to an art auction and I sat in the shade reading the newspaper, doing the crossword and reading my book. It was formal night again and afterwards we went to the crow's nest, a bar and library on the 11th deck. All but R took the elevator up. We went to the BB King show after that and then to the piano bar. Tonight Mike was back to normal, singing lots of great tines, properly. We left at 11 because some were very tired from doing nothing all day. 😄. I finished recreating this blog that I accidentally wiped out a few days ago. Mar. 2 Grand Turk It was a beautiful, sunny dat, the first in four days here. We had to be on the dock at 8:15am for our catamaran snorkel cruise. I had chosen another excursion that included swimming with sting rays and cost $30 less per person, but I was out voted. We did not get underway until about 8:45 due to mechanical problems. We sailed perhaps half a mile down the beach and anchored a few hundred yards from shore. We had a small area to snorkel in so things were a little crowded. There were lots of fish, but that was mainly due to the crew feeding them. R, who is somewhat afraid of snorkelling because of a bad experience, liked this because he could not get prescription goggles and the fish were close up. After about twenty minutes of snorkelling, we went a short distance back towards our ship, and landed at a quiet part of the beach. We were given rum punch, which made most people's mood good, and went ashore. We were not allowed to do any more snorkelling here though. Then we returned. The whole trip took just over three hours, but we were always within walking distance from the ship. At this point we split up. Joanie and I returned to the ship for lunch. Joanie had a hot dog and fries while I had nachos with all the fixings, and taco shells with pulled pork and beef. After lunch we returned to shore to find wi fi and do some more snorkelling by the beach in front of the ship. Happy hour was moved to 4:30 today. At dinner M knocked over her full wine glass, sending white wine across the table and over my shirt and arm. She got a free wine replacement but I promised to remind her of this regularly, perhaps on line. We went to a Beatles tribute and then the piano bar. R & C baled on us at 10 already but we persevered until after 11 and then had a drink in our room. Mar. 3 Amber Cove, Dominican Republic We all had low expectations of Amber Cove as it was a new stop for cruise ships, open only six months and only the second visit for Holland America. We heard there was no beach and only a cement pool. That part was true, but Dominican Republic was a beautiful island with lush green forests of palms and rain forest trees, and significant mountains. We were the only ship in port. The water around the ship was a murky green. However, there were a good selection of shops at the end of the pier, a bus depot if you want to travel around and a luxury resort type complex with a winding pool, swim up bar, water slides, children's play area, grossly underused by our ships very senior passengers, a zip line, and small cabanas over the water that were available for $200 for the day. The pool, slides, and deck chairs were available for free. After some shopping and trying to connect through wi fi, I had over 30 emails all deleted because they were ads, we returned to the ship for lunch. Then we went to use the pool and water sides. It was a very good time. Joanie bought a large bottle of flavoured rum that I did not know about. After my bag passed through the scanner, I heard something about a bottle and a motion towards the table for turning in alcohol. I ignored it and walked by. No one stopped me. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. As we sailed away at 5 o'clock, I noticed that as we passed the end of the cove, you could see a long beautiful beach around the corner, one featured on past cards of Punto Plaza. We could have walked there or taken a very short ride to it. Next time. Tonight we saw an illusionist act and took in western night at the piano bar. We packed it in at 11 o'clock because... I am still having difficulty getting to sleep. Mar. 4 at sea Today was a relax day. It was very warm and muggy. We did our own thing, sleeping in and having breakfast at 9:45am. Then we walked two miles and before you knew it it was time to get dressed for the special lunch. After that it was get changed again and find a peaceful, shady place to sit and read for a few hours. Then it was time to get changed again for formal night and steak and lobster dinner. We skipped the ship's song and dance show but helped close down the piano bar, which featured 50's sock hop songs. Fotunately, we turn our clocks back an hour tonight. Mar. 5 Half Moon Cay Forecasted thundershowers did not materialize today. It was cloudy and downright hot whenever the full sun broke through. The water seemed slightly cooler than last week. Snorkelling was not very good. However, we enjoyed the beach and the bbq for lunch, and some of us enjoyed a drink and final dip in the ocean. We were back on board by 2pm and spent a few hours reading and relaxing. At dinner time I spotted several whales out the back window. Unfortunately, they were too far away for a picture. After dinner we skipped the variety show to pack. Then it was off to the piano bar. We got our confiscated bottle of wine so we did not go dryly. For the third time, Jo was assigned to lead the bar in the actions for The Unicorn song. We stayed until just after midnight and had a blast for our final piano bar song-a-long. Mar. 6 Going home? The worst day of any vacation is going home. Today was no exception. I was awake at 6:30am already. We met with the others for a last breakfast and then went through the debarkment process which went quite smoothly. Even getting a taxi went well. We got to the airport over three hours early. It was an extremely busy and old airport. The cost of food was outrageous as everything seems to be in Fort Lauderdale. We boarded the plane at 1:30 and then were delayed at the gate for almost an hour due to a fuel issue. Apparently, there was a lot of paperwork to do. Then we were warned that if we were not airborn within 20 minutes or so, the pilot and copilot would not be legal and we would have to return to the terminal. Fortunately, we got up, but I think it was really close. Though we arrived a little late in Dallas, our connecting flight was the same plane, so we had to get off and then reboard. We had another long delay, again because of an issue regarding the amount of fuel vs number of passengers. However the arrival in Vancouver was not too late. It felt very cold though! Sad to see an end to the trip, but I keep reminding myself that we will be on board again soon, in the Mediterranean.