New Years 2020 – Day 17

Day 17 brings us to the island Curacao, which is so far south it is actually south of the northern tip of South America!

We have been here a number of times and the island is beautiful and the waterfront district of the main part of town is probably the most photographed set of building in the Caribbean.  It is a Dutch Island and has over 50 nationalities living on this small island.  They do not get hurricanes this far south so it is a popular island to visit and live.

When we first woke up, we were still sailing to Curacao and weren’t scheduled to arrive until 1:30pm so we went up to the Serenity deck to lie out in the sun which we did until Noon.

We went back to the room to change and then went to a restaurant we found yesterday.  It was a wok restaurant and they give you a menu to choose your choice of 3 kinds of noodles and all kinds of fixings and meats as well as different sauces.  Ed saw the head chef behind the counter and asked him to bring out samples of the noodles for Barb to see and try.

The chef was wonderful coming out to our table and talking about how all of the noodles are prepared and making suggestions to us.

We had a delightful meal.  The restaurant is a specialty restaurant that charges at night but for lunch the meals are free.  We will probably go back tomorrow as it is much better than the buffet.

At about 2:30pm we left the ship and took a shuttle to the heart of the area and walked around for a while and then headed back to the ship.  

We did stop at a popular local casino where they gave us each $10 free play coupons for the slot machines.  We played one machine and walked away with $35 which we took to the blackjack table and lost it!!

After getting back to the ship, we cleaned up and went to dinner which was a good dinner.  The food on Carnival is good, but not great.

After dinner we went to the show which was a Motown show put on by a performer named Marcus Anthony who was very good.

After the show we skipped the casino and went back to our room and to bed.

Tomorrow is our last island, Aruba before heading back to Miami with two days at sea.

Night

Going out for the day

The Piot Boat - the water was rough

The Chef explaining his food

Lunch

The port from the ship

Going out for the evening

Downtown Curacao

New Years 2020 – Day 16

We docked at La Romana, Dominican Republic at about 9:45am, the weather was a little cloudy but also very warm.

This area was developed in 1897 as an oil town and a few years ago Carnival Cruise developed it as a cruise port.  There is really nothing else to do at this port or close to it than to get off the ship and wander around in it’s made for cruises port.

We got up late and got off the ship and did just that – wandered around the cruise port. It also rained on us a little bit but we just went inside a store and waited 10 minutes for it to clear up.

 This cruise port shopping was a pretty good one; however, that was it so we went back onto the ship at about 11:00am.

We first went up to the Serenity Deck on top and we were in the sun for about an hour when it rained again, so we went into a hall, it cleared up and we went back to our deck chairs.  When it rained again about 1 hour later, we finally gave up and came in.

Lunch was a little late and afterwards we walked around and in the back of the ship on the 11^th floor, we found two new restaurants that we didn’t know about, one Italian and one Asian!!

By this time it was time to go back to our cabin and get ready for the evening.

We first went to the comedy club to hear a comedian who was very, very funny.

Then on to dinner where we were joined by another couple.  There are from a small town up by Green Bay Wisconsin and they missed dinner last night as they were watching the football game.

Dinner was good; however, we are spoiled by the food in Celebrity, which is much better.

Of course next was the casino where Barb lost a little but Ed won a little more so were a little ahead for the night. 

 Tomorrow we dock at Curacao at 1:30pm so good night for now.

Out for the day

At the port

Carving birds

The main pool deck

Out for the evening

New Years 2020 – Day 15

We woke up to a beautiful day of 78 degrees in Grand Turk.  Brand Turk is the capitol of the Turk & Caicos Islands.  It is a very small island, measuring only 6.07 miles by 1.6 miles at its widest part. 

We have been here before; however we docked at the main town of Cockburn Town, the capital.  Were we are docked today is a port made by Carnival Corporation for their cruise ship.  They encourage everyone to stay right in this port, except if you were taking a Carnival tou

Of course, we don’t like ships tours so we rented a golf cart to go around the island to see the sights ourselves.

We first headed north to Cockburn Town and missed the little town so after going to the end of the island, we doubled back and found the turnoff to town.  The town is only a couple of streets and it was fun driving around.  We found a very local restaurant called Barbs and stopped there for lunch of local seafood

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We also bought Kahula for Barb and from the pictures you can see how we took it on the ship – we will explain in person.

As the ship sailed at 1:30pm, we were back on ship at 12:30pm and went to our room and then to the buffet to eat.

Ed worked for a couple of hours and then we got ready for the evening.

Tonight was the first blackjack tournament and Ed didn’t qualify.

We missed the show because of the blackjack tournament.

Dinner was fun in that a new couple joined the table and they both are from Poland but have been in the US for 40 years and speak very good English, with a Polish accent.  They also love to travel so it was fun taking to them.

As always, we then went to the casino where Barb didn’t play and Ed lost for the first time this trip.  Let’s hope for no more losses!!

We have set sail for Lar Romana, Dominican Republic our next port of call tomorrow.

Ready to go out 

Going to tour in our golf cart

It rained on us really hard

Neighborhood pets!

Our tour guide at the National Museum

Of course Barb has to shop

The largest church on the Island

A local street

Barb's 

The food was good

The view from the beach

Ed preparing Barb's Kaula

Going out for the evening

New Years 2020 – Day 14

We are at sea for the first sea day and there will be two more which will be the last two days of the cruise

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The tempeture was perfect; however, we are still in a very windy area.  We were fortunate that there is a protect area on the top deck in the front of the ship called the Serenity Area and it is an adults only area.  This area also has nicer lounge chairs with thick cushions.

We stayed in that area until Noon and went back to our cabin, changed clothes and went to the casino for the first of two slot tournament.  Neither of us qualified for the finals.

Then we went to lunch.  There is no question that the food on Celebrity is better; however, there are a lot of reasons that this ship may be better. 

We walked around, had a good look in the ships, bought our magnet and then went back to the cabin to get ready for the evening.

For the evening, we first went to the comedy club and the performer was very funny. 

Then we went to the production show which was supposed to be a song and dance performance by the ship’s performers; however, the wind was so strong that the rocking of the ship prevented the performers from dancing.  They did sing the entire song list and they were very good.

Of course the casino was next were Barb lost a little and Ed won.

Tomorrow we arrive at our first island, Grand Turk.

Night for now

Going out for the afternoon

Barb in the slot tournament

Going out for the evening

New Years 2020 – Days 12 – 13

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale on a very windy and cloudy day.  Still it was 75 degrees so it was fine, we just could not go to the beach.

We took the shuttle to the car rental place and then headed to our car to Sunny Isle where we have stayed at before and really enjoy the hotel and location.  We are right across from one of the newest areas on the beach where they have torn down the small hotels and built huge high rise hotels and condos.

There are a lot of little shops in the strip malls, including some neat restaurants from all over the world.

We had a special visit with friends from Ohio, Jeff and Pam Beiers who were in Key West and they stopped to have lunch with us on their way to Ft. Myers.

We than ran a few errands to pick up stuff we needed for the next cruise and went back to the hotel.

Dinner was first an appetizer of Cavachie at an Argentine restaurant and the main course at a Puerto Rico restaurant.

Then we came back to the hotel and went to bed early.

On Saturday, we awoke to fine the weather still warm, cloudy and windy.

After eating breakfast, we packed the car again and took it back to the Miami Airport and from there they took us by shuttle to the Miami Cruise Port and our ship, the Carnival Horizon.

It took us a little over 2 hours from when we left the hotel to when we arrived at the ship.  We waited at the airport for a long time for a shuttle.  But, it didn’t matter since we made it to the ship at Noon.

Check in went smoothly and we were in our cabin within 15 minutes of arriving at the dock.

We left our stuff in the cabin and went right out to eat and wow was the party every going on when we got to the pool deck which is on our deck as is the main breakfast and lunch food areas so we are really on a great deck.

After lunch walked around and looked at everything that is on the ship.  It is a beautiful ship and we are very enthused about it.

Then we went to the casino and met a supervisor and played a session where Barb lost a little and Ed broke even.

We went back to the cabin and our luggage was there so we unpacked and by then it was 5pm so we went to eat a snack.

There was a fun show before dinner and then we went to dinner and our tablemates were interesting in that they had traveled around the world as missionaries and had some interesting stories to tell.

After dinner, which was just ok, we went to the theater for the first major show of the cruse and it was very good. 

After that we went to the main foyer where a band was playing and then to the back of the ship where a Latin band was playing and the party was on in both places.

By that time, it was time to go to the comedy club to hear two comedians and neither were that funny.

Finally we made it to the casino where Barb sat and watched Ed play and playing by himself he had what we believe is the biggest session win ever!!  

It was a really great day and this ship is amazing!!

Tomorrow is our first sea day so it will be time to just relax, eat and gamble – life is good!!

Making a sandwich for our snack

    Snack time on our dec,

Going out for the first night on the Carnival Horizon

Jordan - our new puppy

\On the deck for the sail away Party from Miami

New Years 2020 – Day 11

Well when we woke up it was very cloudy and very windy so there was no deck time.

We did have an invitation to take a small group tour of the galley for the main dining room and the restaurant called Blu that we eat in every night.  So it was fun and simply amazing how they staff to prepare that much food.

After that we walked around and visited the shops to see if there was anything that we just had to buy – and there wasn’t.

Then we went to the dining room for lunch and today it was a called the Lunch Extravaganza and they did an amazing job of preparing the food for this lunch.

We kind of overdid lunch but the food looked and tasted very good.

After that we went to the casino where Barb talked to some of the staff while Ed played and he won.

The next thing we had to do was to pack for departure tomorrow.  It is different packing in that we are simply going to the Marriott for overnight and then get on the next ship.

We packed, showered and dressed for our last evening on the ship.

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As is our custom, we went down to the main lobby and listened to the house band, then up to the Sky Lounge for drinks with new friends and then to the show in the theater.

Going out for the afternoon

Salads for lunch

Lots of cakes

The chef with Barb

Just fun with cocunuts

What shall I eat??

Bruce our Casino Host

Ready to get off the ship

New Years 2020 – Day 10

We are on our way back to the United States with the first of two sea day.

We also set the clocks back last night so we gained an hour of sleep.

The weather and the sea could not have been anymore perfect as we went up on the deck for our morning sun with what seemed like everyone else on the ship.  We had a great corner, just outside our elevator and away from all the noise at the pool.

A little bit after 12 we came in and cleaned up and went to the buffet for lunch.  We all the selections of food, or course we ate and ate some more.

Then it was time for slot tournament and we both entered and Barb qualified for the finals but came in 4^th and that paid no money.

After that we played a session in the casino as is our custom and Barb lost a little and Ed had his biggest win!!

Next up was getting ready for the evening and the first thing that we did was go down to the entertainment area and listen to and dance to some fun music by the house band.

As is our normal activity, we then went up to the Sky Lounge for free drinks and snacks and set with a new couple who were from Philadelphia. 

The show tonight was a program called Euphoria which was a good performance of acrobatics and specialty acts by the Celebrity singers and dancers. 

Then finally we went to the casino where Barb lost a little and Ed had a nice win.  Then they had given away tickets for a drawing.  Everything you had a blackjack where the cards were of the same suit, you received an entry form.  Other games had their own standards.  They drew for prizes of $100. $200 and finally $300.   They drew Ed’s name for the $300!! 

So, all-in-all it was a very good day and the best news is that Barb finally feels almost back to normal, whatever that is!  We were both very worried, but she is just fine.

Tomorrow is a sea day and out last day on this cruise.

  

Night from the Celebrity Reflection.

So many great cakes

Out for the afternoon

Barb at the slot tournament

Just snacks they sent to our room

Going out for the evening

Real money

New Years 2020 – Day 9

St. Martins – the only island in the world with two countries, the Netherlands and France.  It is only 37 square miles.  Two separate currencies and actually two different languages among the natives.  Because of the huge tourist industry, they do speak English and take American dollars.

The ship docked on the Dutch side of the island where all the shops are and to us, the only thing to do here is to get a cab and go to the French side of the island and Orient Beach.

Orient Beach is slowly coming back from the hurricane of a couple of years ago, but there is still a lot that has not been rebuilt on the French side of the island.  It seems the Dutch support their side of the island a lot better than France does theirs.

Notwithstanding all of that, Orient Beach is still a great place to go and at least they have beach chairs to rent, a bar with food and restrooms.

This time, rather than pay the high prices for food on the beach, we built our own sandwiches from the ship and took them with us in a small cooler along with bottles of water.

The weather was slight overcast when we arrived but it turned out to be a wonderful day except for a brief rain shower and we simply stood under an umbrella with a guy from the Netherlands for about 5 minutes and then the sun came out again.  The great sun lasted until it was just before we wanted to leave and then the wind came up, the clouds came again and we decided to leave to miss the new rain.

A quick trip back to the ship and up to get a snack and we were back in our cabin getting ready for the evening.

After the day at the beach, we came back to our cabin and cleaned up and went to the lobby for music and dancing.

After the music stopped we went up to the Sky Lounge on the top deck as they had free drinks and pre dinner snacks for past guests who had sailed a lot with Celebrity.

Then it was time for the show and it was just ok.  It was a Motown type show featuring NBC’s America’s Got Talent semi-finalist, Marcus Terell.

Then we went to dinner and had a good meal and again sat with a new couple and enjoyed their company.

Of course the next stop was the casino where Barb lost just a little and Ed won nicely and for the first time ever played alone at his usual table as there were no players to join him.  Scary but successful.

Today was our last stop and for the next two days we will be at sea before arriving in Ft. Lauderdale.

Night

Going out the night before

A Carnival ship docked next to us

Storm clouds at Orient Beach before the rain

Going out tonight

Just a selfe for fun