Barb’s Christmas Present weekend in Chicago




The view from our room

Ed had given Barb tickets to the Bulls game for Saturday night, January 22 so we made a long weekend of it.

First we met our friends Judy and Dale in Aurora for a long lunch and then headed for downtown Chicago to check into the Michigan Avenue Marriott Courtyard.


As they have in the past, they upgraded us to a corner room and it was on the top floor, floor 24. What a great view of the lake frozen over.



Lunch at Bergoffs

 First we went around the corner to the Apple store and talked to them about a question that Ed had with his new iPad. Then we walked up to Water Tower and the Hot Tix booth but didn’t see anything that we wanted to see that night, so we had a sandwich in Water Tower and headed back to the hotel for an early evening. It was much too cold to walk around Michigan Avenue as we usually do.



Saturday morning we had a 2 ½ hour tour of two city theaters, the Cadilac Palace and the Bank of America, which was the Shubert Theater. What fun it was hearing about the history of these two great theaters.


Barb ready for the Bull's game

Lunch was at the Bergoff's on Adams. This is one of the oldest restaurants in the City of Chicago and a long time favorite of both of us.

Then we took a cab to Holy Name Cathedral to see it and it is very impressive as to how they have restored it after the major fire that they had.

We spent the rest of the day looking at coats for Barb and Ed but found nothing and then it was time to go to the Bulls game.



We drove out to Billy Goat’s Tavern to have their famous Cheese Burgers before heading over to the game.


We got to the game early so it was fun watching everyone warm up. The game should have been a blow-out but Cleveland kept it close in the last quarter before the Bulls got serious and won by about 12 points.

At the game

 We awoke on Sunday morning to a beautiful cold day. But at least the sun was shining and the entire city seemed ready for the Green Bay game, it was too bad they lost.

We met our friends Mike and Sue at the Trump Towers for brunch and spent the next 3 hours eating and catching each other up on our recent cruises. They left Ft. Lauderdale on a cruise ship the same day we arrived on our trip, so it was fun just sitting and talking about things we did. We also talked about their upcoming wedding - what a special day that will be!!

We left the city at 2:30pm and drove home to watch a disappointing football game with the Bears losing to Green Bay. But all-in-all it was a fun weekend in Chicago.

Lunch at Trump Towers

Day 11

Entering port with 4 cruise ships docked ahead of us

We were on the sea when we awoke and it was not very nice but warmed up nicely by 9am.


First we went to the photo department and picked up our pictures from last night. Then it was time to lie out. The weather was wonderful and everyone was waiting for the ship to dock in Nassau, which it did at Noon. As we have been here a number of times we stayed on the ship and ate lunch on the deck.

Finally at 1:30pm we went in and changed to into town. The major thing that we wanted to do was to go to the straw market because it is huge. Of course, Barb bought a purse!!

Then it was back to the ship to pack our luggage to be picked up in the evening.

After a short nap, we went out on the Promenade deck to have our picture taken and watch people.

Dinner was very good but of course a little sad as we have made some great new friends. Hopefully we will meet up with them on a future cruise.

Barb entering the straw market

We skipped the show and went to the casino where Ed had a great run and we left the casino at midnight to get some sleep before the trip tomorrow.

What a fun trip it was and prefect timing to get away after a very busy and wonderful holiday season. We have no idea what the weather is or has been at home because we do not watch TV or read newspapers when we are away – we will find out soon enough.

And everyone who is a part of our lives back home, thanks for taking care of everything for us while we are gone – without you, we could not be gone – we are truly blessed and thankful.

Thanks for following our trip with us – it has been fun.

Barb and Ed

Our final towel figure

Day 10




Towel animals from the last 3 nights

Carnival started a complete ships tour this year at an extra cost. We had signed up for it and it was this morning. They only take 12 on each tour and only schedule it on the last sea day. The tour takes 3 ½ hours.

Just walking around

So, at 9am we were up and down to the library to meet our tour guide and the other passengers going on the tour. It was too bad that they didn’t allow any photographs. They even walked us through a metal detector to make sure we didn’t have any cameras or cell phones.
During the tour we covered the crew's quarters, there food servicearea, the lounge and other areas that are normally off-limits to a customer.  Then we went into the food service area and saw the massive storerooms and freezers.  The head storekeeper met us and took us through this area. They purchase $300,000 worth of food each and every week and it is all purchased in the US. For example, 65,000 eggs, 10,000 pounds of chicken, 3,000 pounds of shrimp and 8,850 pounds of flower, just to list some of the items they buy each week.

Our table for dinner

Then we went to the showroom and the technical director talked about how the stage, lights and special effects worked. After that we went into the changing rooms and the head dancer talked about costumes and her work in the shows.

After that, we went to the engine control room and heard a discussion about the engines and all the systems by the Chief Engineer. At this time we were several floors below sea level. Some of the things we were told were they producing 528,344 gallons of water a day and burn 41,475 gallons of heavy fuel oil a day.

Finally we went up to the bridge where we met the Captain and he gave us a tour and in-depth discussion as to how the bridge works and his duties.

A great tour finished after 3 ½ hours and was really worth the time and money to see these areas that the public does not get to see.

By this time, it was time to eat lunch and we went to the main buffet. The second buffet was an entire line dedicated to chocolates so we stopped there also.

Next we went to the slot tournament where neither of us qualified, but as always we had fun.

Finally we played a session in the casino and we are now up for the entire cruise – a great feeling.

Then we went back to the room to rest before getting ready for our second formal night.

A snack

The only bad thing about the day was that the sun was beautiful and we spend the entire day inside – but that’s ok considering what we did.

We got dressed and out to the Promenade deck to have our pictures and people watch – that is always fun. We also ate at the Sushi Bar for a before dinner snack.

The dinner was wonderful and we had a really good time with our tablemates. After dinner we went to the show which was a Beetles tribute and quite good. Then it was on to the casino. Barb was down but Ed was up so the world as we know it is good. One of our table couples happened to stop by as Ed was making a good run so that was fun.

It’s 2:00am so it is time to go to bed.



Tomorrow is our last port, Nassau and we arrive at noon so Ed needs to get up at 7 to get lounge chairs that will be close to the room and in the sun.

Night for now.

















Day 9



The beach

We awoke in Tortola, part of the British Virgin Islands. What a delightful little island with a big mountain range right in the middle.

First it was off the ship at 8 and shopping in the local craft market right off the ship, right where you can’t miss it – surprise,surprise! Then we walked about 5 minutes into town for some more shopping.

By this time it was 10am and time to catch a shuttle to take us up over their mountain and to the beach on the other side with most of the tourists in town for the day.



The beach from the mountain

The ride was almost straight up and down the mountain, but after 20 minutes we made it to the beach. It was a very pretty beach, but with lots of people. We were there in time to get beach chairs right at the water line. In fact, there were waves that came up and under our chairs a lot of times, but it was fun in the sun there.

Back on the ship we had a late lunch and then sunbathed out on the deck until about 3pm when we went to our cabin to clean up and watch the ship sail.

We were out of our cabin early in the evening and watched people on the promenade deck, picked up our pictures from last night and then went to dinner.


Barb at the beach

After dinner, we skipped the lounge show so that Ed could enter the blackjack tournament. While qualifying was going on Ed played with friends who are good players and the entire table did well. Unfurl, Ed was bumped from the tournament on the last qualifying round while he was playing regular blackjack. But winnings from the table made up for not getting into the finals of the tournament.

That’s it for now – tomorrow is a day at sea and relaxation.

Our ship and a Princess ship in port



Sushi - was it good!!



Day 8



Our ship, the Freedom and the Celebrity Summitt



Day 8 brought us to the island of Antigua. We had been here once before in January of 2009 so we have seen the sights on this very tiny island. It is 64 square miles with 100,000 people and a very diverse culture.

What a surprise to wake up and look outside and see the Celebrity Summit next to us. This is the ship that we will have for our next cruise and it is bigger than we thought it would be.

We were off the ship by 8am and into the town for some shopping. They have some really nice clothing shops and Ed found some shirts in a shop that he had been to before.

Barb at Hawksbill Bay Resort and going into Eden Beach



Barb bought a purse and a few other things.

Then we took the purchases back to the ship so we wouldn’t have to carry them around. The ship is just like it is parked in the town it is so close.

Then we got a taxi to take us to Hawksbill Bay Resort and one of their beaches called Eden Beach.

 The pictures show Eden Beach from the gate and it was beautiful. It is about a ½ mile beach and we just about had it all to ourselves. When we walked down the beach, there were only about 12 people on the entire beach. What an idyllic place to be.

Eden Beach



We had asked the taxi driver to come back at 2, so we had almost 4 hours on the beach. There were a lot of clouds, so we got some good sun, but not too much.

We were picked up a 2 and taken back to the port where we walked around some more and then back to the ship to have a snack and relax. What a fun day.

 The show tonight was before dinner at 7pm and it was called Jump, Jive & Wail – a really fast-paced show with lots of singing and dancing by the cast. What an amazing job they do putting on a show every night.

Ed found some shirts that he really needed!



Then it was on to dinner with our regular tablemates. One of them Bob, took a plane to Montserrat because that was one of the island in the song Key Largo and he is trying to visit all of the places mentioned in the song.

After dinner, we went to the casino and Ed had a great table and did well. The table broke up so we stopped playing and went to bed.

 Tomorrow is our last major island, Tortola and we will be going to the beach and hopefully snorkeling.

Night

Day 7

Barb shopping for a purse


 What fun we had today – of course when you have one of the greatest shopping ports in the world to stop at, what would you expect!

We were off the ship, on the shuttle and into town by 8 in the morning and first stopped at the flea market area to do some purse shopping. And would you believe it, Barb found a purse.

 Then it was down the street into town to visit all the old familiar shops. At about 10 we went to Jen’s Island Café and Deli to say hi. We met Jen about 13 years ago when she had a small place. She was from Chicago and of course we were in the food business so we had fun talking at that time. She now has a large restaurant and appears to be doing quite well. Jen took time to talk with us and catch us on old. Jen is also going to be in Chicago this summer and will be there for a wedding at the same time Bloomington Gold is going on so we might get to see her again this summer.  Jen's Deli is located on the corner of the Grand Hotel, at the very end of the main shopping street in St. Thomas and it is a wonderful place to eat.

Jen inside her Cafe

Then it was off to our favorite jewelry store, Chalet D’Or Jewelers. Ed first bought a ring from them in 1983 and most of Barb’s good jewelry has come from their store. They are a lovely family and established their business in 1968. Of course they found something for Barb and now she has a new diamond, ruby and sapphire ring.

We then went back to Jen’s for lunch and Jen sat with us while we ate and talked. After lunch we hopped a shuttle to take us to Magen’s Bay Beach, supposedly one of the best beaches in the world. It was very pretty, great sand and set in a cove on the north side of the island.

We left early because the sun wasn’t that great and went back to the jewelers to pick up Barb’s new ring. The owner then took us in his own car back to the ship. There are shops in front of the ship on the dock so of course we shopped there but didn’t find anything.

The evening dinner was a special one. Once on each cruise, 12 people can make reservations for the Chef’s Table dining experience. This is a new program they have just started at Carnival and it was the best dining experience we have had ever, anywhere!!

Barb's new ring on the left

It also included a visit to the kitchen while they were serving the dinner for the ship - wow was that place busy. Then they served us an assortment of canapés in the kitchen before we headed to the private dining room for the 12 of us and 6 – 8 chefs who prepared our meal.

We had 7 courses and they were:
Norwegian salmon tartar

Fire roasted tomato and poblano chili bisque soup

Rock shrimps and apple beignets
Chopped Mediterranean salad
Fillet of Chilean sea bass
Aged filet mignon

The harbor as we left

And then a special desert, including chocolate melting cake.

We decided not to play in the casino so we went to the r-rated comedy show, watched some salsa dancing, picked up some of our pictures that were ready and then went up to our room for an early night.

Tomorrow is Antigua – shopping and the beach







The chefs preparing our dinner

Day 6

A typical day at sea.

Barb in the elevator

Ed was up early to reserve lounges on the deck, went for breakfast and then Barb joined him for a few hours of sun. It was really windy and we had a lot of salt water spray up on us and we were 10 stories up from the water.

Then it was time for the first round of the blackjack tournament and Ed qualified at that point and we went to lunch. Coming back from lunch, Ed had been eliminated so he played again in a qualifying round and this time made it to the final round.

The tournament ended with Ed coming in second – and there is no money for second.


Oh well, there will be more tournament. We both played in the casino until they closed it for the port.

El Moro Fort guarding the harbor

Then we went and got a couple of slices of Pizza while we waited for the ship to arrive in San Juan.

The ship arrived a little early and so we were off the ship by 5 and into Old San Juan, the main part of town right next to the cruise ship docks.

We wandered the town and then ate at a local restaurant. The appetizer of plantains was good but the main meal was terrible, plus the service was really slow. But, we had a table outside so we watched the people while we waited.

We ended walking 5.24 miles by the time we were back in our cabin at 10:30! Barb had bought a pedometer for Ed and this was the first trip since losing the last one that we have used it.

Tomorrow we dock at 7am at St. Thomas – the shopping paradise.



The front of our ship

Night for now.

Day 5

Sunday - 

A light lunch

Today was our first sea day and a perfect day for relaxation. The tempteture was in the mid 70’s with a moderate breeze.

Ed was up at 8 and went out and reserved deck chairs and ate breakfast. Barb got up at 9 and both of us sat in the sun until 11:30am.

Then we went inside, changed and went for a great lunch buffet. After lunch we went to the casino and entered the slot tournament. Barb came really close but did not qualify for the finals.

After that we played in the casino, had fun but didn’t come out ahead.

 A short nap rounded out the afternoon and then we went downstairs and watched the first sitting for dinner as they walked down the Promenade deck heading towards the dining room. It is just fun talking about all the people and their style, or lack thereof, of dress.



Barb in the slot tournament



We were back to the room by 7 to change for dinner and tonight is the first formal night.





Dinner was lobster, prime rib and all the special choices that you would want at a formal dinner.

After dinner, we went to the big production show in the show lounge. It was good and featured the music and dance of New Orleans.

Then it was onto the casino and played until very late. A fun day for our first full day on the ship.

First formal night

Tomorrow is another sea day and we arrive at San Juan, Puerto Rico at 5 for the evening.

The show

Day 4 - The first day of the cruise

Loaded and ready to go to the ship

One again we slept late on this first day of this new year. We were packed and checked out of the hotel at 10:00am and on our way to the ship. We drove the car to the ship and dropped off the luggage. Barb stayed with our carry on luggage and Ed took the car to the rental car check-in.

The lines at the regular check-in were huge this early, but thanks to our Carnival Platinum card, we were able to check in fairly fast.

We were in our cabin by noon and then it was off to explore the ship. We were on this ship in its inaugural cruise in the Balkans several years ago, so the ship was familiar but there were a few changes that we noticed.

Our room

We ate lunch and then sat out in the sun and then our luggage had arrived so we unpacked everything. Then we watched the ship sail out of Port Lauderdale and it was off to the jacuzzi.

After the jacuzzi, we walked around the ship until time to change for dinner.

Before dinner, we went to the casino, introduced ourselves to the manager and our casino host and also set up our line of credit.

Then it was off to dinner.

Our table mates were a surprise – it is amazing how wrong you can sometimes be with a first impression. We had a fun time at dinner and will enjoy our new friends very much.

After dinner we went to the main show, then to the R-rated comedy midnight show.

Ft. Lauderdale Beach

That was enough fun for one day so we went back to the room to bed. It is amazing how tired you can get relaxing!! It has been a great start to our trip.

Tomorrow we are at sea so it will be a very relaxing day.

Day 3

Houses in Ft. Lauderdale

Well we woke up late to a beautiful Florida sky.


After driving around a little looking at huge mansions on the way to Miami Beach, we stopped at Haulover Beach for the afternoon. What a wonderful beach at the north end of Miami Beach. Sorry, we don’t have any pictures as you are not allowed to take pictures for obvious reasons.

A drink before dinner on South Beach 

You will have to Google it to see the beach. The sun was hot and it was a great beach.

Then it was on to South Beach where we got lucky and found a parking spot on the street. We walked the closed off street until we found a restaurant that looked good. We were able to get a table right on the edge so we could watch the people and it was great people-watching time.

After drinks and dinner we walked the rest of the South Beach area and when we were tired we went back to the car for the hour drive back to Ft. Lauderdale.

We had a fun day and evening.

Tomorrow the boat.

For some reasons the pictures will not load so I will try later.