Christmas - 2012 - A Family Celebration

 

This is my family . . . and I am soo proud of them!!

 

 

Arriving at the Celebrity Constellation





Barb & Ed



2000 - Carnival Paradise




           Press on any picture to make it larger



Just relaxing





Arriving at Grand Cayman

2012 Celebrity Constellation




Press on any picture to make it larger


All of us on Formal Night






 



Arriving in Jamacia

 

 




Day 7, Saturday, December 29, 2012

This day came much too early and we were out of our cabin by 8:30 am and we waited in the Elite Lounge with other members.  When they released us at 9:00, we walked right off the ship, found our luggage and then had to wait in line for about ½ hour to get through customs. 

We took the Celebrity shuttle to the airport and checked in for our flight.

Then we went to a secured baggage place where we left our carry-ons for the rest of the day as our flight did not leave until 7:00 pm.

We bought Miami transportation day passes for everyone and headed via a people mover to the transportation center.  From there Jeff’s family took the train to the Art Museum and the rest of us headed to the beach.

The express bus to the beach took us about ½ hour and we made our first stop the El San Juan hotel where we had stayed in 2000.  When Ed booked the hotel in 2000, the internet was just in its infancy so the only pictures that we had to go on were of the outside.  There was also no TripAdvisior and while the location was perfect, the hotel was not.  But we made the best of it then as it was only one night and then went on a wonderful cruise as a much smaller family.

 We walked down to the ocean and Alex and Barb went into the water.  Alex to swim and Barb to just wade until a big wave hit her and she was soaked.  Cooper gave Barb his shirt to wear and fortunately, her blouse dried fairly quickly in the hot Miami sun.

We took another bus to the Bayside Market in Miami with is a huge shopping and entertainment area, bight on the bay.

 By 4:00 pm, we met everyone at the Market and took the overhead people mover to the train station, took the train to the airport, retrieved our stored bags and were boarding the plane at 7:30 pm as the plane was late getting in.

The pilot made up the time and we transferred at Charlotte to Chicago and arrived in Chicago to a cold shock at 11:30 am.  The Marriott O’Hare van picked us up and took us to the hotel where our cars were parked.  We were on the road quickly and made it to Bloomington by 2:30 am.

 What a fun day and what a wonderful Christmas we all experienced.  We are truly blessed as a family to be able to have this time together on this cruise.

This is my family . . .  and I am soo proud of them!!!

 

Arriving in Miami



The El San Juan



On the beach


Please see the next blog for our family pictures

 

Day 6, Friday, December 28, 2012

 The best way to wake up early on a sea day is to schedule an appointment which we did.  Ed had won a spa treatment and Barb went at 8am and received a back massage that she though was outstanding. 

Then it was up to the deck on 11 and into the sun for an hour and ½ before we had to change for a bridge tour.

After the bridge tour, we went back on the deck to get some sun and of course the weather was perfect, just as the cruise company advertised.

We ate a healthy lunch in the Aqua Spa which is perfect because we certainly ate ourselves silly the rest of the time!

We were starting to get too much sun so we came in and showered and went down to look at pictures.  After having some reprinted, we finally got all of the pictures picked out.

Then it was time to pack and get ready for tonight and tomorrow.

At 7:45 we went to the Café and watched the quartet perform and then it was on to the restaurant.

The “last meal” was sad as we have had so much fun.  It is also happy as we have had so much fun.  What a great time we have had in the restaurant eating together and enjoying one of the best wait staffs that we have ever had.  One of the fun things that they did was do a "special" trick for our two tables every night. 

Most of us then watched final stage production and it was fun and the rest went see a movie.

Then it was off to the casino in hopes of improving our winnings and hopefully not losing them.

What a great finish we had.  Ed had been up a little most of the evening and at about 1:15 when Jason showed up, the string began and it was one of those really, really good blackjack sessions.  So we ended up for the cruise and all headed for the cabins to get some rest before leaving in the morning.

Day 6 ended at about 2:30 am with a 7:00 am wake-up call - plenty of time to sleep!!




The main pool deck




The Quartet - Top Shelf



Barb with three entrees






Our Casion Host Slavena and Casino Manager Jason

 

 

Day 5 – Thursday, December 27, 2012

We awoke in Grand Cayman, one of the prettiest islands in the Caribbean.

We all met at 8:00 am and we had arranged though the ship to be given priority tender passes which meant that we were in the very first tender to leave the ship shortly after 8.

We were to go to our snorkeling boat at 9:15, but since we were off the ship so early, they took us right away to our chartered boat.  It was a 36’ boat and we had it all to ourselves with Captain Eric and his helper Doyle. 

After about 30 minutes on ocean we came to a sand bar called Sting Ray City.  Wow, what an experience.  I don’t have any pictures to show because we were all in the water.  It was really fun to stand in waist deep water that far from shore and have dozens of Sting Rays swim up and around you.  Some of our group were afraid at the beginning, but soon everyone was touching the stingrays and all were having a great deal of fun.  The Captain was able to stop one for us to each hold and do the traditional kiss the nose of the Sting Ray, which is supposed to bring you 7 years of good luck.

Then it was off to two separate reefs for snorkeling which was amazing at each site.  The water was so clear and he fish were plentiful.  We all had a wonderful time snorkeling the rest of the morning. 

Before we left the reef, Doyle dove down from the ship and found 7 conch shells and the Captain proceeded to pull the conch out of each shell and made a conch salad for us – what a great experience.  Talk about fresh!!  It doesn’t get any fresher than that.

We then headed back to the dock and on the way the Captain and Doyle were on the top bridge and slowed and all of a sudden Doyle dove into the water and came up with a really big star fish for all of us to see.  He kept it alive long enough for all of us to touch and hold it and then it put it back into the water and we proceeded to head for the docks.

We finished the tour and were back in the main town a little past noon.  We all split up and when our separate ways.  We bought a Christmas ornament and a magnet and then took the tender back to the ship.  We ate lunch and then laid out on the deck until 4 when it was time for the ship to pull up anchor and head for Miami.

We walked around the ship at 5 doing “stuff” and then went to the entertainment show at 7:15, which was the mind reader from Americas Got Talent, Eric Dittleman.  Ethan was brought up on to the stage to help with one of the illusions and he did very well.  Eric put on a wonderful show.

Then it was onto dinner where of course the meal was excellent.  It is fun watching the kids, and some of the adults eating and trying things they have never had.  Almost every night, Jacob has three entries!!  It is just a great experience being with family and Barb not having to cook and prepare a meal.  Our tables are two tables for 8 side by side so we have switched table mates each night.

Then it was on to the casino and Ed had his first losing evening at blackjack and we left the casino with Jason still playing.

Tomorrow is sadly the last full day of the cruise and it will be at sea, so it should be a fun day relaxing for all.

Barb wrote a personal letter to the Captain and we have arranged a bridge tour for everyone in the morning. 

Night from the Celebrity Constellation.

Our dive boat



Lunch

Diving for a Star Fish

The alive Star Fish



Our ship

Day 4 – Wednesday, December 26.

We have arrived at our first port, Falmouth, Jamaica at 9:00 am.

We have been here just last November so we knew the port and town fairly well so it was fun coming back.

We arranged for a tour to Dunn’s River Falls for all 12 of the kids and grandkids and they climbed the falls and had a blast.  The is one of the major “must do” places in all of Jamaica. 

As we have done it before, we took a bamboo raft ride down the Martha Brea River and it was a wonderful, relaxing 3 mile ride down the river, piloted by our Captain Jarrrod using only very long pole.  We found out from him that he does one three trips a week and has been doing it for 25 years.  The trip was so peaceful and gently and it was wonderful.

Then we met the kids back at the cruise dock and took them into the town of Falmouth.  I think that they had quite an experience shopping in all of the markets.

We were back on ship for our 6:00 pm sailing for Grand Cayman.

The evening meal was again wonderful and the service was great.

After dinner, Ed went to play blackjack and the rest went to a terrible show, but the night was young so they all went into the lounge to watch Ed, who did well and Jason who was winning playing poker.

It is now time to go to bed as we arrive at Grand Cayman and have to get off the ship to meet our guide at 8:00 am.

Night from the sea!!

Rafting



A gift for us

Our "Captain"

Ed's Lunch

Day 3 – Tuesday, Christmas Day – December 25

On Christmas Day we awoke to great weather and clear skies

At 11:30 am was the grand brunch and what an experience this was for the entire family – wow what a food experience they put on.

After lunch, it was time to spend in the sun and it was hot.

Barb took Ethan and Molly on a backstage tour while the rest of us were up on the deck.

Ed played in the Black Jack tournament and came second by one chip!  Jason won the Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament so it was a great afternoon in the casino.

It was Formal Night so we all were down to the main foyer at 7:30 for formal pictures and what a group it is – all 14 of us dressed up and everyone looked great. 

It is a tradition at our house that Santa hides the Christmas Elf and this year he did it in the dinning room where it appeared at dinner.  Jackie, for the first time ever, found the elf!

Dinner was wonderful and then it was to the 11:00 pm show called iHollywood and it was a great production singing and dancing show.

Ed and Barb went to the Casino and everyone else browsed around the ship.

We went to bed at 2:00am – what a great Christmas. 

The Bill Stewarts



The Jason Zoggs



Barb with Jeff, Jackie and Jason

The Jeff Zoggs

Barb and Ed

Day 2 – Monday, December 24

With a 2:30 am wakeup alarm, we cleaned up and all took the shuttle at 3:30 am.

We all wore stickers that said “This is my family and I am soo proud of them”!

We were flying US Airways from O’Hare to Charlotte and then we had to switch planes and fly from Charlotte to Miami.  We arrived in Miami right on time, at about Noon.  Celebrity took us from the airport to the ship and Ed was able to arrange for everyone to skip the long lines and check in through the Elite line, probably saving at least an hour. 

Then it was on the ship to the welcome Champaign toast, to our rooms to leave our carry-ons and up on deck to eat and eat!

We took the kids on a quick tour of the ship and then at 3:45 had our lifeboat drill.  The ship left Miami for the Caribbean right about 5pm. 

The first evening we saw a good show in the showroom and then ate and ate at dinner time.  I think everyone was impressed on the quality and service in the main dining room.

Then it was onto a show in the lounge featuring a mind reader, Eric Dittleman who had been on America’s got talent.

We met our host and manager of the Casino and starting our time in the casino.

Ed played blackjack that night and started our just time.

Then it was onto bed a little past midnight – what a great way to spend Christmas Eve.



3:30 am!!

The Grand Staircase



Barb and her last course of dinner

Christmas – 2011

Day 1 – Sunday, December 23

Barb and Ed decided to give the kids a Christmas present of a cruise, so on Sunday, all 14 of us set out for Chicago on the first day, the first leg of our Christmas party in the Caribbean.

We traveled to Chicago and stayed at the Chicago O’Hare Marriott for the evening as our flight was to leave Chicago early on Monday morning.

We arrived at the Marriott at 3:00 pm and immediately checked into our 4 rooms on the Concierge floor.  We kind of took over the bar area on the first floor as our meeting and talking area.  Some went swimming and at 5:30 the Concierge room was open for snacks so we went up there to eat. 

This is our family . . and we are soo proud of them!!

Then we ordered 4 large pizzas from Giordano’s that were delivered about 7pm.  The Bar Manager wasn’t happy we were eating Pizza and drinking beer in his area so the front desk moved us to the Concierge Lounge.  Soon the Manager on Duty came up and said we couldn’t eat there either and he gave us a very private area on the third which was wonderful of him.  After a lot of Pizza and some beer, we all called it a night at about 9:00p m as we had a shuttle from the Marriott to take us to the airport at 3:30am.

At the pool

Pizza Party for dinner

Christmas 2012 On A Family Cruise

For Christmas 2012 Barb and Ed surprised the kids with a cruise for Christmas.

We will take all of the kids, their spouses and their kids for a total of 14 people on a cruise.

Our itinerary is:

Sunday – Dec 23 – Travel to Chicago

    We will leave Merna at 1pm and stay overnight at the Chicago O’Hare Marriott.

 Monday – Dec 24 – Travel to the Ship

      We will travel on US Airways from O’Hare to Charlotte, NC to Miami, FL, leaving O’Hare at 5:55am and arriving in Miami at 11:57am and then head straight to the ship – the Celebrity Constellation.

 Tuesday – Dec 25- At Sea

We will work on our sun tan which has faded.

       Wednesday – Dec 26– Falmouth, Jamaica– 9am – 6pm

      The kids will be picked up at the port and taken to Dunn’s River Falls for a climb to the top of the falls.  Ed and Barb are going rafting on the Martha Brae as they have climbed the falls before.

Thursday – Dec 27 – George Town, Grand Cayman – 8am – 4pm

      We have hired a private boat to take us all snorkeling and to swim with the Stingrays – it should be great fun.

Friday – Dec 28– At Sea

Saturday – Dec 29– Arrive at Miami

      We will spend the entire day on Miami Beach and at Bayfront Market.  We then leave sunny Florida for home on US Airways at 7:05pm arriving in Chicago at 11:24pm.  We will take the shuttle to the Marriott, pick up our cars and head for home.

This is our family and we are so proud of them!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to one and all!!

Day 6 - From San Francisco

Typical Trolley

Our last full day as we travel home tomorrow.

We have a shuttle booked at 11:00am to take us to the airport.  Our plane is scheduled to leave for Dallas at 1:20pm, arrive at 6:50pm and take off for Peoria at 8:15pm arriving at 10:15pm so we should be home by 11:30pm.  Then it is off to baseball games for the weekend.

The first tour today started at the 

main and original ferry building so we took a trolley at 8:30am and had a sweet roll at the food court in the ferry building before joining our tour group.  The tour was a 2 ½ our tour of Market Street, which is called the street of gold because it was the main path of gold during the goal rush era.  It is also the equivalent of 5^th Avenue in New York, Michigan Ave in Chicago and other great streets in major cities.  It starts were all of the railroads where originally headquartered and includes were all of the major newspapers started.

Lunch

The tour was a narrative of all of the major buildings and how the owners contributed to the greatness of the town.

Then we had lunch at a downtown Boudin Market and had a couple of great sandwiches with soup to warm up us.

After lunch, we hustled over to our 1:00pm tour of North Beach, which is the Italian community.  This was a great tour as there were only 4 of us on the tour and the guide was very knowledgeable.

Owned by Francis Ford Coppola

One of the pictures is of the building  housing Café Zoetrope which is owned by Francis Ford Coppola and the top two floors are his work area.  He wrote the Godfather at a coffee shop right around the corner from this building.

Then we walked around for a little while and ended up at the Palace Hotel.  The Palace Hotel was and still is one of the greatest hotels in San Francisco.   See its web site at www.sfpalace.com to get an idea of how beautiful this hotel is.  It was first built in 1875, partially destroyed in the 1090 earthquake and totally restore in 1991 after the 1989 earthquake.  The Garden Court (see the picture) has 63,000 pieces of Iridescent Glass in its ceiling which is 12,000 square feet, one of the largest expanses of Stained Glass in the world.

The Garden Court of the Palace Hotel

We ate our best meal of the trip in their Pied Piper Bar & Grill, which also opened in 1875.  It is also totally restored and features very dark wood and a very old world charm.  When the waiter was taking our picture, we told him it was our anniversary and the chef made us a wonderful dessert, on the house.  It was a wonderful dining experience – a bit of a splurge, but it is our anniversary.

About San Francisco –

The real estate market is booming here and some think that there could be another dot com bubble being created.  The prices for the houses within the city are incredible for what you get – three stories straight up on a 20’ wide lot and a one car garage.  No street parking and no yard all for 1 million and up!!

The Pied Piper Dining Room

What also is amazing is that even at rush hour, there is very little traffic on the streets.  The public transpiration system is really exceptional.  They are also utilizing trolleys that have been retired from service from cities from all over the world.  Most of the trolleys and busses are also electric which is good because regular gas is $4.49 a gallon!!  All of the public transportation units are clean and run well – so their system works.  There are also very few taxis on the street, which is amazing for a major city of 800,000.

After the earthquake of 1989, they even tore down some freeways to create more open space.

Dessert

The people are very friendly, especially the drivers of the busses, trolleys, street cars and cable cars as we rode them all – what a great public transportation system – the best we have seen.

It is a wonderful city – would we like to live here – yes, but not without a summer which they do not have, so it just a fun city to visit.

Thanks for reading about our trip – see you at home or somewhere down the road.

Ed & Barb

Day 5

Lombrd Street

We took our first true cable car ride today, right from the bottom of the hill at the waterfront.  It goes up an incredible grade and part of the way up we got off at Lombard Street, which is supposed to be the crookest street in the world.  There were no seats so right from the start we were one of those that you see hanging on to the side of the cable car!

We walked ½ ways down the sidewalk next to the street and then back up to catch the next cable car.  We rode it to Union Square, had a snack and met out tour guide. 


This tour took us by bus first and then by foot for the next 2 1/2 hours viewing Victorian houses and then walking around the Pacific Heights neighborhood overlooking San Francisco Bay.  This is where the truly rich and famous live and it was fun walking tour.  We then took a cab to the Stanford Court Hotel, one of the oldest in San Francisco.  There we grabbed a sandwich from a corner stand and met out next guide.

This tour started at 2:00pm and went for 2 hours and was a tour of Nob Hill.  The top of the hill, where we spent most of our time is the location of some of the most famous hotels in the world, The Fairmont, The Mark Hopkins and the Huntington Hotel.  It is also home for Grace Cathedral, the third largest Episcopalian church in the United States.

The view from the side

After touring Nob Hill, hearing about its history and going in the hotels and church, the tour was over.  We then took a bus to an Italian Restaurant we had heard of called Tony’s in the Italian section called North Beach.  At Tony’s we had a slice of Pizza and a Calzone.

Then we headed back to the hotel to change for the fireworks.  We dressed very warmly and thank goodness because it was cold on the ship where we had seats.  The ship was a former WWII Liberty ship and gave us a great view of the bay and the fireworks.  Ed even bought a stocking cap and Barb had five layers of clothing on.

It is amazing when we looked at the forecast before we left Illinois; the weather was predicted to be in the low 70’s during the day.  The problem is that nobody told us about the wind off the bay and how cold it would be!!  Ed brought 1 pair of blue jeans and 4 pairs of shorts.  He has not worn the shorts yet.  Barb bought warm clothes for the evening and has ended up wearing them during the day and night!  But, it has to be better than 100 degree tempetures back home.

$3 - 5 million each

The fireworks were fun and we were very fortunate that we were only a few blocks from our hotel because the street was packed on the way out after the fireworks were completed.

We arrived back at the Marriott by 10:30pm and were we cold – but it was a fun evening.  The fireworks were just ok and there is no question that the fireworks in Boston were the best ever last year.

We finished the evening watching the Boston Pops and the fireworks in Boston on the television in the room.

But – we have made new memories here in San Francisco, frozen as they may be.

Mary Martin and then her son, Larry Hagman

Of course it's cold!!

Tomorrow is our anniversary – Happy Anniversary Barb!!

Day 4

Breakfast

Our day started with t a trip to the Boudin Bakery and we had a breakfast of a warm cinnamon breakfast roll for each of us – disgusting but good!!

They we took the trolley down to the main ferry building which has been totally restored and was having a market outside.  The building was beautiful and held a huge number of food stands all selling food grown naturally.  They had a great farmers market outside.

The trolly

From there we took the trolley across town for a 2 hour tour of the Castro region of San Francisco.  This is the home to the gay and lesbian community and we had an outstanding tour.  We learned about the history of the gay and lesbians in San Francisco and how they came to live in this area.  The pictures of homes on this page are from that tour.  A lot of the homes are in the million dollar plus range. 

Then we went to the top of Telegraph Hill, which is the highest point in the city.   At the top is Coit Tower, which was built in 1933 and the top is 210 feet above ground and has fabulous views.

A mulit-million dollar house

After that, we went back to the waterfront to see the historic vessels of the Hyde Street Pier where the National Park Service has five vessels that you can tour.  We really enjoyed touring a three-masted schooner of 185 feet and had sailed until the early 1900’s.  One of the neat boats was a 100 foot long steam-powered tug boat that is still in working condition.  The conditions that the sailors lived in were unbelievable.

Next was dinner at a very good Italian Restaurant on the waft were we finally sat down and rested from the day.

We then went back to the Boudin Bakery and took a tour of their museum and bakery, which stays in operation until 10:00pm – seven days a week.

he view from the Coit Tower

Just a couple of million dollar houses

Then it was time to get back to the hotel to plan our day for tomorrow.  Only two full days left and tomorrow is July 4^th – it should be fun.

The steam powered tug boat