October 2022 – Day 14

 Our last sea day and the cruise will be over.

Of course, the first thing we did was go up to be on the sun deck and it was hot. 

We did our usual and stayed out until Noon when we met Barb & Tim on the back of the ship for lunch.

Lunch was a huge deal today in that they had gone overboard in their selection of food and presentation.

I have a couple of videos that I will post as soon as I have an internet fast enough to do so.  It will probably Monday as Sunday we are going to church and unpacking and not doing much of anything!!

After dinner Barb Freeman & Ed went to the future cruise department and booked our New Year’s 2022 cruise which will leave from Florida on December 30; therefore, we will be able to have Christmas on Christmas in 2021.

Ed and Tim played in the blackjack tournament where Ed qualified for the finals.  Long story short, with the dealer showing an Ace on the last hade, Ed would have won the $500 if the dealer would have won. The dealer had about a 62% chance of drawing a wining had.  Guess what, the dealer drew one of the 38% of the other cards and busted and Ed lost.  Life goes on.

Then we played a session where Barb didn’t play and Ed lost a little.

After that we went back to the cabin and packed and then got ready for music, dancing and the show.

The show was a wonderful singing, dancing production and quite good.  We had seen it on our last cruise but it was fun seeing it again.

Then we ate dinner in Blu and each of us had a wonderful Tuna dinner.

Then back to the casino where Barb had a big win and Ed did also – it was nice going out on a high note and on a positive financial gain.

We finished packing and went to bed at about 1:00am.

Tomorrow we are up at 7:00am, out of the cabin at 8:00am and we meet Barb and Tim to disembark, pick up our luggage and take an Uber to the airport.

We leave Ft Lauderdale at 3:25pm so we will sit in the Delta Sky Lounge and take advantage of their free food and drinks until it is time to board our plane.

We arrive in Bloomington at 9:47pm.

Watch the blog on Monday for the final entry, pictures and videos.

It was a wonderful trip and we are both ready to be home and with our family.

Thanks for reading –

Hugs Barb and Ed

                                                        Part of the lunch buffett

                                                                        More lunch buffett

                                                                    Ed's deserts

                                                                Going out for he last evening

                                                                   Barb and Eds Tuna Dinner

                                                Our casino host Daniella and Manager Santiago

October 2012 – Day 13

 We are at sea for our last two days of the cruise.

The sun was beautiful and we stayed out from 9:00am until 11:30am when it was time to meet Barb and Tim for lunch.  For the first day at sea there was no wind – which made it great.

After lunch we went to the casino for the slot tournament where Tim qualified for the 10 person finals and came in 10^th!!  The 2 Barbs and Ed didn’t make it to the finals.

Then we played a session in the casino where Barb didn’t play and Ed won a little

Our routine is pretty much the same each day as next we got ready for the evening and went down to the Grand Foyer of listening and dancing to the live music.

At 6:00pm they stop playing and we met Barb & Tim in the casino for a session. 

We then went to the 7:00pm show where the entertainer was a classical pianist and she was quite goo.

After the show we went to Blu for dinner and had a wonderful meal

Then it was back to the casino for our last session of the evening where Barb lost a little and Ed won.

Tomorrow is our last day before we dock in Ft Lauderdale.

Night

                                                       Time to go up to the pool deck for sun

                                                        The main pool deck

                                                            Ed's deserts for lunch

                                                        Going out for the afternoon

                                                                    Canapes in the afternoon

                                                                   including salmon with cavair

                                                                Going out for the evening

                                                    Our host in the Blu Restaurant

October 2021 – Day 12

We awoke to the island of Bonaire, the last port we will visit on this trip.

Bonaire is primarily a dive island as the snorkeling and scuba opportunities are some of the bests in the Caribbean.

We have been here a couple of times, and taken all the tours.   We also rented ATV’s when Tim and Barb the last time we were here.

Our main purpose on the island this time was to have lunch with Dr. Schwengle who was the initial doctor on Barb’s case.  He prescribed the original recovery plan.

The Doctor has oved from Aruba to Bonaire because of a move up in responsibilities.

We first got off the ship and wandered around the port until it was time to go see the Doctor.

The hospital was a short distance away and we walked there to meet him at 12:30pm.  When we arrived, it took the hospital awhile to find him and his secretary said that he was in a meeting.  She gave us his cell phone and told us to call him back in an hour.

So, we went a block away and had lunch at a Peruvian Restaurant and the meal was wonderful – ceviche and it probably was the best we have had on this trip.

Back at the hospital in an hour, we called the Doctor and he said “I am running to meet you” and pretty soon he showed up.  It was so great meeting him and again very emotional.  He is now a department head and also their leading pulmonologist and he apologized to being so busy.  After about 15 minutes he need to go.  Before he did, he said that he expected to have a beer with us when we see him in January with the kids!!!

By the time we were back on ship, we didn’t have time to be in the sun so we relaxed and then got ready for the evening.

First,  we went to the Grand Lobby and listened and danced to the music as has been our custom.

After the music ended at 6:00pm we went to the casino where Barb lost a little and Ed won a little

Then it was on to the show which tonight was a production number from the singers and dancers of the Equinox.  It was a pretty good show.

Next, we went to Blu, the restaurant for dinner, which of course was very good.

We went back to the casino for a late-night session where Barb didn’t play and Ed lost.

There was a late-night comedy show and it was adults only and the comedian was very, very funny.

Tomorrow is our first of 2 sea days before we land in Ft. Lauderdale and come home.

Night for now.

                                                                Going out to meet Dr Schwagle

                                        Downtown - Bonaire only has a populaation of 22,000

                                                Our favorite Ice Cream shop on the island

                                                                Lunch

                                                                Ceviche for lunch

                                                                        Dr Schwengle

                                                         The Celbrity Equinox

                                                    Going to dinner - isn't she stunning!!!

October 2022 – Day 11

Today it is Curacao and another of the ABC islands.

Of course, the weather is outstanding.  This area is very dry so we have been blessed with great weather.

We were invited by the Hotel Manager to watch the arrival from the Helipad at 8:00am.  That was fun as we watched the ship maneuver from that vantage point.

Then we went to the restaurant and had breakfast before leaving the day.

We walked into town crossing over to the main part of town on the famous floating bridge.  It is an amazing structure that pivots when boat traffic wants to come into the port in town.

We walked around for a couple of hours and then went to eat at a local restaurant.   At the end they gave us a sample of a Ginger Shot – not to our taste!!

Then we went to this huge market and found a couple of items that Barb really wanted.  For our next trip, this is where we are going to eat lunch after we find someone to tell us what we will be eating.

On the way back to the ship we stopped in a local hotel and played a little.  We each were given a free $5.00 slot coupon.  Ed lost his $5 and Barb turned hers into $12.64!!  Ed then played a small amount of blackjack and lost.

Next, we walked back to the ship and we had 11,854 steps!!

We went up on the deck for an hour’s sun and then came back into our cabin to get ready for the evening.

First dancing to some really good music, then a show and then dinner. 

The show was 3 guys singing the works of Michael Bublé ok and little too loud.

Dinner was in one the specialty restaurants as guests of the casino.  The restaurant was La Petit Chef and it was an amazing experience and the best meal we have had on the ship!!  It is impossible for me to describe the restaurant experiences and I will post videos of our dinner as the last post for this cruise later.

The casino was not good to Ed who had a losing session and Barb broke even.

Tomorrow is our last island – Bonaire.

We plan to have lunch with the Doctor who started Barb’s treatment and is not at a hospital in Bonaire.

Night - night

                                                             Windy on the Helipad

                                                         Entering the port

                                                                     Breakfast

                                                            Leaving for the day

                                                                Just fun

                                                                        Lunch

                                                                        New rings

                                                                Out for the evening

October 2022 – Day 10

We woke up to the island we have been waiting for Aruba.

This is the wonderful island that treated Barb when she was sick.

We were so excited to go to lunch with Dr. Becker who was one of 2 Pulmonologists who saved Barb’s life!!

First, we went off the ship to the Catholic Cathedral on Aruba which was a short cab ride away.

Our cab driver was Beverly and she has lived on Aruba all her life.  She was delightful.  She took us to the church and dropped us off. 

On the internet the service was to start at 10:00am; however, it was wrong and they started at 9:00am

We walked in a just after the homily and was able to partake in communion so that was good. 

When we got out, it was going to be an hour before Beverly came to pick us up.  A wonderful person had heard that we told Beverly to come back at 11:15am and said she would call her to pick us up early, which she did.

 We dropped Barb & Tim off in the center of the cruise port and Beverly took us to a store to buy a couple of items we needed.  Then she took us back to town, dropped us off and came back to take us to lunch.

Lunch was at a local restaurant called the Red Fish Inn Jason, Jeff and Ed had eaten there before.

It was a teary greeting when Dr. Becker arrived and we had a delightful couple of hours to eat, thank her and just enjoy her company.

We would out that the other Doctor had taken a position at the hospital on the island of Bonaire.    Dr Becker had his new email so that we could see if he could join us for lunch in a couple of days when we arrive in Bonaire.

Dr Becker dropped us off at the cruise ship and we walked around the cruise port for a little bit before getting back on the ship and going outside for about an hour of sun. 

We are actually south of the north tip of South America for the next three days so the sun is almost directly overhead and it is intense. 

We then cleaned up and met Barb & Tim and then had Beverly again take us to a restaurant on the beach called Passions on the Beach.  We had been there several times before including once with Barb and Tim and they asked to go back which were happy to do.

Dinner was wonderful.  We started at 6:00pm and soon there was a nice sunset and we had a great dinner – probably the best so far.

After dinner we came back to the ship and went to the pool deck for a sail away party that was really fun.  Lots of music – lots of dancing.

The ship does not sail for Curacao until midnight so the casino is not open.

That’s it for this day’s blog -

                                                    Going out to church and lunch

                                                             Inside the church

                                                                  The Church

                                                                Dr Becker arriving for lunch

                                                                Dr Becker and Barb

                                                              Downtown Aruba from the ship

                                                                    Going out for dinner

                                                Dinner on the beach at Passions On The Beach

                                                                    Barb & Tim

October 2012 – Day 9

 For our second sea day, we woke up to beautiful skies with a slight wind. 

We stayed on the sun deck until Noon when we went into lunch with Tim & Barb.  They wanted to go to the main dinning room so we went with them.   It was a fine meal; however, for lunch we really like to be outside eating from the very elaborate buffet that they have.

After lunch we went to the casino to play in the blackjack tournament.  A $500 1^st prize for a $25 entry fee.

There were seven spots in the final table.  Tim had one of them and Ed and Barb Freeman tied so there was a 5-hand playoff and Barb won.  In the final, neither Barb or Time won; however, Barb just barely lost on the last hand.

We then went to our table and played a session of blackjack where Ed had win.  Barb was winless on the slot machine.

We did not go to the show as it was a repeat of a show we had seen 3 times before.

Dinner is Blue as a typical good meal with outstanding service.  There are probably never more that 25 people in the restaurant at a time with at least that many staff.

Then it was on to the casino where Barb didn’t play and Ed had a huge win – the biggest of the cruise so far.

Before sleeping we organized for our day on Aruba – our fist time back since Barb was sick and we are really, really looking forward to taking Dr. Becker to lunch.

Night for now – on our way to Aruba.

                                                                   The main pool deck

                                                      Lunch -  Ceviche in a cocunut shell

                                          Mango cake, pinapple unside down cake and Ceviche

                                                         Going out for the afternoon

                                      Snack time delivered to our cabin - salmon and other tastes

                                                               Going out for the evening

                                                         Tuna for the appatizer

                                                           Buy in was $1,000 - great results!!

October 2021 - Day 8

Our first full day at sea and we woke up to cloudy skies.

The Captain announced once again that we will make up the time we lost last nigh disembarking a guest because of COVID and arrive in Aruba on time.

We slept in and finally were on deck a little after 9:00am.  While it was cloudy, we did get some sun until about 11:0030 when it turned very, very dark and we went inside to our room just as a heavy rain hit.

We cleaned up and met Tim & Barb on the back deck, outside but under the overhang.

We took our camara to show you what a typical lunch for us looks like.

We went to the casino where Ed lost a little and Barb did not play.

Then we all entered the$500 slot tournament and Tim and Ed qualified to be one of the 10 finalists; however, neither of us won.

We went back to the blackjack table where Ed won and Barb did not play.

We relaxed for a while, went back to the room, changed and went people watching before meeting Barb & Tim for the show in the theater.

The show was a couple – he played multiple instruments and she was a singer and wow, were they good.

After the show we went to Blu to eat, had a good meal and went to the casino.

We weren’t doing that well so we went to the 10:00 comedian’s show and he was very funny.  It was his G-rated show and on a future night he is going to do his adult show – should be fun.

At the casino Ed won (Jason – $100 bet - split 9’s 4 times against a 9 and won all 4 hands!!  Barb played here second session at the slots and didn’t win.

We went to bed at midnight and tomorrow we will have our second day at sea.

We decided to show you a typical lunch – don’t laugh!!

Night – night

                                                    Going out in the sun - but it turned to rain

Poolside with a Kahula

                                                                      Ed's   Lunch

                                                                    Barb's lunch

                                                                          Desert

                                                Warning up her slot machine for the tournament

                                                                        It didn't work!!

                                                                      Tea and snacks

                                         Delivered to the room - tuna, shrimp, cheese and a jello

                                                                Going out for dinner