February – 2018 – Day 11

It comes up so quickly – and here it is the last day of our cruise.

Ed was up at 7:15am to reserve our deck chairs and to his surprise, so were a lot of other people. 

 Looked like some did not realize that we set the clocks back last night!  Any, we had a perfect location to enjoy the sun for the morning.

Ed went to the gym first for his ½ hour of biking and Barb got ready and we were in the sun by 9am to enjoy the morning.

We came in at 12:30pm and had lunch then went back to the room to clean up and go to the casino.

Ed had been invited to a $500 blackjack tournament and came very, very close to winning, but came in third.

After that we went to the show, which was a group of 5 guys singing British rock and they were way too loud and we didn’t think very good

.

Then we met Brian and Sandi and went to the restaurant Murano, a specialty restaurant as guest of the casino and it was a great meal – maybe the best of the trip.

The comedian who was so good a couple of days ago was having a late-night adult show, so we went to it.  His earlier show was better but this one was still funny

Then it was time to say good bye to Brian and Sandi – they have been wonderful to travel with and we hope we can do it again.

Next was our final trip to the casino where Barb came out even and Ed had a huge win.  This is proably our best casino trip ever!!

We finally left the casino at 1:0015am and came back to the room to finish everything and get a few hours sleep.

Tomorrow we will go to the Fort Lauderdale Marriott that we stayed at a week ago and then take the 5:00pm flight to Atlanta and then the flight to Bloomington arriving about 10:10pm.

Night from the Ocean somewhere close to Fort Lauderdale and see everyone next week. 

It has been a wonderful trip.

Hugs to all

Mom and Ed

The main pool deck at Noon

Relaxing on the upper level with a snack before lunch

Ready for the evening

The Casino Staff, Stephanie, Casino Manager and Angle, Casino Host

February – 2018 – Day 10

How can this not be a wonderful cruise when you wake up whenever you want to, the weather is 78, almost no clouds, a light breeze and someone else makes you breakfast.

Then someone else comes in and cleans your room while you are out on the top deck in the sun, working on your tan.  We are truly blessed and are also blessed to have a wonderful family!!

At 12:30pm, we came in from the sun and went to the back of the ship and sat outside while eating lunch.

Then we came inside and cleaned up as we had a 2:00pm slot tournament and a 3:00pm blackjack tournament, each with a $500 prize fund for only a $20 entry fee for each person in each event.

Neither of us won the slot tournament and Barb played in her second blackjack tournament, actually her second blackjack game ever.  She ended up after two rounds leading but in the end, someone beat her out.  Ed didn’t come close!!

Then we both played a short session and neither won.

We went to the food area and brought back snacks to the room and then got ready for the evening.

Of course, next was our typical nights pattern as we went to a good show, a production number by the casts, then to dinner which was good and finally to the casino.

At the casino, Barb came out even and Ed won a little.

Tomorrow is our last day – sad but we are ready to be home.

Night for now.

Going out for the day

Ready for dinner, etc.

Brian and Sandi

The four of us

February – 2018 – Day 9

We arrived right on time on the island of Sint Maarten or Saint Martin, which is only 37 sq. miles in size and is the smallest land mass in the world to be shared by two different nations.  It is owned by both France and the Netherlands Antilles.  We have landed on the Dutch side and we take the shuttle to the French side.  Not red tape, you just drive from one side to the other.

On the Dutch side are the tourist shops and more commercial areas.  On the French side is one of our favorite beaches, Orient Beach.

It is a beautiful day, with a few clouds and 76 degrees when we arrived and 80 very quickly and a light breeze.  This is as close to perfect as you can get.

This is the first time a Celebrity ship has docked at this port since the hurricane and from the ship, everything looked pretty good; however, after we got off, we realized that a lot of the buildings at the port were totally vacant inside and being remodeled.

We were also the only cruise ship in port when there used to be always 4 ships docked every day.

Right outside the port are the shuttles to all different parts of the island and we got on the one to our beach and arrived in about 15 minutes.  Along the way, it was amazing as to the number of buildings that were simply gone or virtually destroyed.

We found that the devastation from the hurricane to be total when we came to Orient Beach, one of the most famous beaches in the world.  Every building along the waterfront was destroyed and a lot of them just gone.  The regular side of the beach must have had 12 or more restaurants right on the beach and they were simply gone – nothing there but debris.   On the clothing optional side, the famous Orient Beach Motel property which used to consist of probably 40 small beachfront buildings, each containing one or two rooms, were a total loss.  They said that the storm surge was over the tops of the buildings.

We were told that it was the strongest hurricane ever to hit the island with sustained winds or over 200 miles an hour.

They had brought in new beach chairs and had made a new outdoor snack building, but that was all that was there.  We rented a couple of chairs and spent the next 4 hours on the beach along with only about 50 people compared to hundreds who used to us the beach. 

At 1:00pm the taxi driver returned to pick us up and he took us back to the Dutch side to the center of town.  We would estimate that about 1/3 of the businesses downtown were still closed.  Some looking like they might never re-open.

The people, like in San Juan were very up-beat and thankful that the tourists had started to come back and had hopes for the future.

We had missed lunch so when we arrived back at the ship, we immediately went to the food deck and had our missed lunch.

Then we cleaned up in time to walk around and go to the show.

The show tonight was a comedian named Ed Regine and he was the best comedian that we have ever seen.  A very funny routine.

After the show, we met went to dinner Brian and Sandi and of course the conversation centered on the destruction on this beautiful island.  Will the island recover – of course it will, but certainly will change a lot of lives forever.

Then we went to the casino where Ed had his first losing session and Barb lost just a little.

This was our last port and we will spend the next two days at sea as we head back to Fort Lauderdale and home on Sunday.

Night

Ready to go to the beach

Downtown

Destroyed cabins on the beach - the water was at 18' and destroyed everything

Total destruction - missing about 8 restraurants and severl other shops

Waiting out the rain!!

February 2018 – Day 8

St. Thomas – Happy Valentine’s Day!!

After Ed had breakfast, we went to Ash Wednesday service right on the ship and received our ashes on our foreheads and then it was time to go into St. Thomas.

In our opinion St Thomas is he #1 place in the Caribbean to buy jewelry!!  Thank goodness neither of us saw the need to buy anything today.  One of the reasons is that the jeweler that we trusted has retired.  We found out today that his son has opened a wholesale business and that his Mom was there.  When we got to the store, she was not there, and they didn’t know for sure when she would be back.  At least we know where they are when we travel back here someday.

We also went to see a lady named Jen.  We met Jen a lot of years ago when she had a small restaurant and we were in the food business.  She is also from Chicago.  We stopped in to see her - so that was fun.

Then we bought a bottle of Kahlua to bring it back on the ship – of course we put it in Coke bottles as you are not supposed to bring liquor on the ship and take it to your cabin.k and had lunch.  After that we spent 3 hours out in the sun – I think we are getting a tan!!  It sprinkled a couple of times, but not hard enough to move.

We watched the ship back out of its dock and turn and head out into the ocean for St. Martins, such a beautiful sight seeing an island as we sail away.

Then it was time to get dressed for the evening.

We first met Brian and Sandi in the theater for a production show by the cast that was very good.

Then we went to Blu to eat dinner and spend two hours just talking with them.  Brian and Sandi are one of the nicest couples that we have ever spent time with on a ship.  They are well travelled, our age and a lot of fun to be around and we enjoy them very much.

After dinner, it was time to go to the casino where Ed won nicely and so did Barb.  A good night in the casino.

As we sail away from St. Thomas, we are heading for out last island before turning and heading back to Ft. Lauderdale.

Night for now.

Ready to go out for the day

Switching out the Coke for Kahula 

Lunch on the back deck

Our 5:00 snack

February 2018 – Day 7

After a great day yesterday and a good nights sleep we again woke up to great sunny weather – except it was too windy to go out on the upper decks.  Also, we lost an hour as we had to set the clocks ahead 1 hour last night.

So, we got up late, cleaned up and went to the casino to play in a slot tournament and neither of us won.  This was a tournament where all the invited guests for the blackjack tournament could play in a 1-minute slot tournament and the winner of all, received $100.  It was free, so we played

.

After the tournament, we went to each lunch and sat in a covered outside area in the back of the ship to stay outside but out of the wind.

During the rest of the afternoon we did find a place by the pool that was out of the wind, so we stayed there from 1pm – 3pm.

We arrived at the port of San Juan at about 5:30pm which was 2 hours later than scheduled because of the high winds so not much time for doing anything as we had to be back on the ship to meet Brian and Sandi for dinner at 8pm.  But, that was ok as we had just been here last month.  We walked around for a little while and did find the perfect Christmas ornament – surprise!!

Then it was back to the ship to relax before dinner.

We met Brian and Sandi at 8:30am for dinner in Blue which as usual was a nice dinner.

After dinner, we went to the show which was a couple who sang lots of great songs.  He was formerly a rock singer and she a country singer and they did lots of songs of all types.

Then it was onto the casino as it opened at 11:15pm after we had left San Juan.

At the casino, Ed won a little and Barb ended even

.

It’s early, only 1:30am but it is time to say good night as we have just left San Juan and heading to St. Thomas for all day tomorrow.

Hugs

Going out for the day

The Celebrity Silhouette docked at San Juan

Ready for the evening

February – 2018 – Day 6

Another perfect day, 78 degrees, a few clouds and we were up late.  Ed went to exercise and when he was done, we both went up on the deck to lay out in the sun for a few hours before we went to lunch

.

After lunch, we went to the casino to play in the blackjack tournament.

Both of us play and it was the first time ever Barb has ever played blackjack and to play in a large money tournament made her very apprehensive and while she played well, she didn’t make it to the finals.

Ed did make it into the finals and they finals were schedule at 10:00pm

.

We walked around for a while and then went up to the food deck and brought some snacks back to our room and sat on the balcony relaxing before getting ready for the evening.

We met Brian and Sandi at the show which was a musical production number and while it was probably good, the sound system was up a little too much.

We had a quick dinner so that we could get to the tournament for the finals

.

The finals was a typical blackjack tournament format.  There were 7 players and we played 7 hands.  The prize money was $15,000 for 1^st, $5,000 for 2^nd, $2,500 for 3^rd, $1,500 for 4^th, $1,000 for 5^th and then 6^th and 7^th received a $100 each.

Ed was in perfect position going into the final round and he was dealt a 17.  If the dealer would have busted and if Ed would have had a 19 or 20, he would have would 2^nd place.  As it was, he won 4^th place and $1,500.  A disappointment that he wasn’t higher but thankful for $1,500, particularly since this was a free entry tournament.

 

After that excitement, we played a session and Barb lost just a little had Ed had a nice win again

Tomorrow we arrive in San Juan at 3:00pm so we will have part the day to relax on deck.

Night for now and hugs to everyone. 

Lots of snacks to choose from

 

Going out for the evening

4th place with Stephine - the Casino Manager and Angle our Casino Host

February – 2018 – Day 5

The day we start our cruise has arrived and we left the hotel at a bout 9:30am to go get gas and drive to the cruise port.

We rented from Dollar Rent A Car and they have a shuttle station right next to the cruise port.

Today, there were 5 ships in port and we thought it would take a while to get to the ship; however, that was not the case as we dropped off our car, got right on the shuttle and was to the ship and in our cabin by 11:00am.

We went to our cabin and unpacked our carry-ons and went to the food deck to have lunch.

We met our friends from London, Sandi and Brian.  They were a couple that we had met on our Dubai to Singapore cruise and ate with them most night.

We spent a couple of hours eating and catching up on the past year before going back to the cabin to finish unpacking if our luggage had arrived.  Barb’s did, so one down, one to go

.

The lifeboat drill was at 3:15pm and they check to make sure everyone is there whether on not you have been on a cruise or not so of course we went.

After the boat drill we went to the casino to meet our Host, Angle and the Manager, Stephanie to hear about the black jack tournament.  We have cruised with them before and they are very nice.

The casino this trip put us in a regular cabin and it was very nice.  The problem was that Brian and Sandi had purchased an Aqua cabin which is a higher level and cost a lot more.  They will not let anyone eat in the Aqua dining room unless they are in Aqua class, so we talked to the Casino Manager and she talked to the Guest Services Manger and they moved us to an Aqua class room.  Lots of extra goodies with this cabin and of course we get to eat in the private dining room for this class with Brian and Sandi.

We met Brian and Sandi at the 7:00pm show and it was a show by the comedian, Michael Paul who was very funny for most of the time – but not all the time.  Still it was a fine show.

Then it was time for dinner and we really enjoyed the restaurant Blu and of course having dinner with Brian and Sandi.  They are well travelled and the same age as we are and are fun to be with.

After dinner we went to the casino and watched a round in the blackjack tournament.  It is being played as they do all their tournament.  You get chips and they deal 7 rounds.  They then take the high 7 players from all the rounds who will play off for the prize money.  The money will range from $15,000 for first place to $1,000 for 7^th .

  

We will play in tournament tomorrow at 2:00pm and if we are lucky enough, the finals are tomorrow night.  I said we because we found out that Barb was also on the list of people eligible to play in the tournament.  So, there will be 98 people total playing.

After that Barb played slots and lost just a little and Ed played blackjack and won 13 hands in a row, right from the first hand, then lost 2 hands and got up for them table with a very nice win for 20 minutes of play!!

That’s all for tonight - it was a great start.

Ready to go out for the evening

The beach at Fort Lauderdale

Barb with her flowers from Ed

February – 2018 – Day 4

We woke up late, but all we had to do today was go to the beach!!

We made it there by 11:30am and for the first day, it was full of people, all enjoying an 80-degree day, and a few clouds.

We stayed on the beach until 3:00pm and drove the 45 minutes back to the hotel.  We couldn’t take pictures on the beach but did take one interesting pictures that we have included below.

Along the way back, we stopped at a grocery market and drug store to get some items to take on the ship. Then it was shower time and we went out for dinner

The town and the beach front in Fort Lauderdale is really crowed as there are 5 cruise ships in port today and probably another 5 ships tomorrow.  That’s about 13 – 15 thousand people extra in town!

Barb wanted an authentic Cuban sandwich, so we drove about 15 minutes to a very local place called Nuevo’s Cubano’s and ate outside as there was no seating inside.  This restaurant has been owned by the same family who started it 238 years ago.  The sandwich we had was very, very good.

After that we drove back to the hotel and then walked along the main road in front of the hotel that runs along the beach with the beach on one side of the road and lots of shops on the other side. 

The area was crowded – perfect weather for a great weekend.

Then it was back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep before we board the ship tomorrow.

All-in-all, we have had fun at the beach, done a little sightseeing and ate at some really good restaurants with local food.  If the weather is this good during the cruise, we will be very happy!

Night from our last night in Fort Lauderdale.

Fun on the beach

Ordering the Cuban sandwich

Outside the restaurant

February – 2018 – Day 3

It was another beautiful day in Fort Lauderdale, projected to be 78 degrees by 11am and it was.

We started off the morning with an 8:30am sales presentation by the Marriott Vacation planners about the advantage of spending a lot of money in their time share type of program.  The first hour was kind of fun listening to all the options and then the real fun began when they first told us that the $50,000 package was perfect for us, then the $24,000 package was the way to go, and so on for about ½ an hour.  At the end when they realized we were not going to buy anything, they offered us 5 nights at a resort for $999 with a $300 gift card given back to us.  We still said no and left with a promised $50 gift card for our 2 hours of work!!

We went up to the room quickly and changed clothes and headed for the beach at 11:00am but first we stopped at the really great New York Deli and had what Barb said was one of the best deli sandwiches ever – and it wasn’t costly

.

Then we continued to Haulover Beach and spent the rest of the day there, leaving at about 4:30pm.

We drove down thru the main street in Miami Beach and first stopped at the gated island where Cher has her $24 million-dollar home.  The island had a gate and a gate keeper; however, as it was really a “public” street, after seeing our identification and record it, they let us in.  We could only see the top floors of her house, but it was impressive what we could see, as were the rest of the houses on this small island. 

Then we took the causeway to Miami and west to Little Havana, the heart of the Cuban population in Miami.

We had a great dinner consisting of a Cuban chicken stir fry dish, plantains and rice & beans.  We were stuffed when we finished, and the meal was only $13.00 total.  I am not sure anyone in the restaurant on staff spoke any real English – but they knew how to cook their local food.

The main street of Little Havana is about 5 blocks long, so we walked both sides of the streets and stopped at a famous local ice cream shop where we bought a Mango cone and was it ever good.

We also bought some cigars made by Cubans  in a very interesting store and a very interesting owner.

Then we took the 45-minute drive on the expressway back to the hotel and it is now time to say goodnight.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Hugs from Fort Lauderdale

Lunch

A Bar in Little Havana

Buying cigars from our new friend!!

The Mango was great

February 2018 – Day 1 & 2

What a first day we had.   We were to leave Bloomington for Fort Lauderdale via Atlanta and be on the beach by 1pm.  Well that great plan didn’t work out because after we left Bloomington a huge storm hit Atlanta, and everything came to a stop there and we proceeded to circle north of Atlanta out of the storms way.  That lasted for about a ½ hour when Delta made the decision that the storm wasn’t going to stop anytime soon so our plane was diverted to Chattanooga, TN!!

When we landed in Chattanooga, the first gate agent we saw when we came off the plane said she had no idea what was going on and didn’t know the plans.  Then after about ½ hour the crew left as they had been up for their maximum flight time.  Finally, after about an hour we found out that the plane that we were on would leave for Atlanta at 9:00pm which would put us in Atlanta to late to get the last plane to Fort Lauderdale.

To make very long story short, after being booked on 4 flights that were all cancelled, we finally made it out of Chattanooga at 6:00pm.  Then we had to wait for the first available flight to Fort Lauderdale which was at 11:00pm.  That flight was delayed as the crew was late getting in from another city. 

We finally make it to Fort Lauderdale at 1:00am, retrieved our bags and went to the rental car company.

There we found out that they had run out of cars and the only cars that were left were all mini-vans and we could have our pick of any of them.

We picked out a brand new (2,000 miles) Chrysler, complete with nav, a back-up camera, leather and all of the goodies and made it to the hotel quickly, as it is only 15 minutes from the airport.

We checked in, went up to our room - it was a very nice 1-bedroom room, complete with a kitchen and we were in bed by 3:00am and asleep by 3:05am!!!

Our room at the Marriott Beach Place - Fort Lauderdale

Ed was up first and went out in the immediate area and bought Cheerios and milk as this is a vacation resort Marriott and does not have a restaurant.  We finally left the room close to noon and headed for Haulover Beach, our favorite beach in the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area.

It was with great sadness that we learned this morning that Father Greg lost his battle with cancer and died at 2:35am today.  So sad and he fought an long battle with brain cancer, and we will very much miss him.

We first stpped at one of the top Deli’s in the area and had a great Pastrami sandwich.  Then it was off to the beach for a couple of hours of sun.  78 degrees and hardly a cloud in the sky – a perfect first day in the sun!!

Lunch

We drove back to the hotel, cleaned up and went north 6 miles to a wonderful restaurant where we shared a salmon dinner that was very, very good.

Back to the hotel and we are ready for bed.

Tomorrow will be about the same, just a different couple of restaurants.

Night from Fort Lauderdale!!