Spring 2015 - Day 3

We got up late (9:00am) as we had no plans except to get up, go out on the beach, eat lunch, relax and eat again.

How is that for elaborate plans!! 

This is a wonderful day as we actually had no plans to do or go anywhere – so it is a day for relaxing.

We finally left the room for the beach at 10:00am.  This beach is really beautiful and the staff is great about bringing lounging chairs and a table to wherever you want them to be.  The hotel tower is 21 stories tall so if you want to stay on the beach for the entire day, you have to move once to not be in the shadow of the hotel as the sun move.

We stayed on the beach until 12:30pm and then ate lunch on the outdoor patio of a small hotel next to ours –good food and not very expensive.  We wanted to stay longer but the sun was just too hot and we could feel we were starting to burn.

 
Tonight we ate at another restaurant Jeff and Vera have picked out, and it is called “Zest” and it is the Water Beach Club Hotel, another hotel located by where they are all staying.  So, we took a cab there arriving at 8:30pm for dinner.  The write-up for the restaurant said that it is “a modern-latino cuisine menu featuring sustainability-sourced ingredients.”
 

It had been voted the #1 restaurant on in that part of San Juan – and it was an outstanding.  All of the portions were small but very, very good and very unusual.  For soup we had popcorn soup!  Barb will have to describe it in person to you all later.

  After dinner, we went up to their roof top deck – two stories at the top of the hotel all in white, including a pool – it was the “in” place to be but we didn’t stay!!

We all went our separate ways and we came back to our hotel and gambled a little and had some free drinks.  The good news is that off the 4 gambling sessions today and yesterday, we were totally up –one of the best stays at this hotel.  So, a great start for tomorrow.

 Then it was time to go to sleep as tomorrow we board the cruise ship – The Celebrity Summit.

Going out to lunch



Time for dinner



Appetizers - from the bottom - Lamb Ossobucco Empanadas, Middle - Popcorn Soup (Kettle Corn, Truffle butter, chives - served hot over the popcorn), Ycua - Ricotta Gnocchi (Calabaza cream sauce, parmesan crisp) 

On the rooftop of the restaurant

 

 

Spring – 2015 – Day 2

After Ed had breakfast, we went out to the beach and stayed in wonderful, hot sun until11:00am when we came in, showered and changed for lunch.

When we first came to this Marriott a number of years ago, we had a host every time by the name of Jose Soto.   Last September, in a casino downsizing, Jose lost his job; however, he and his wife Irene wanted to meet us for lunch. 

They picked us up at Noon and we went off to the mountains where they stopped at a roadside stand where we had lunch.  The food was roasted pig on a spit, Plantains (a type of bananas) and meat wrapped in some kind of plant while it was steamed.  We also had a type of sweet potato, rice and beans and blood sausage.  Ed really liked the food, Barb not so much.

After a ½ hour back to Old San Juan, they dropped us off at the Governor’s House – the home of the leader of San Juan for a tour.  We didn’t get to go inside because of renovations; but, we did tour the grounds.

Then we walked down the main Old San Juan shopping street until we came to the end of the street and then we took a taxi back to the hotel.

We rested a bit before going back out and taking a taxi to meet our friends, Jeff and Vera and Barb and David and a new couple Harvey and Monica all from New York who we have cruised and gambled with several times.  We will also eat with them the rest of the cruise as they are also going on this cruise.

Dinner at La Piccola Fontana was exactly the opposite of lunch.   A country local meal versus a city “hotsy-totsy” meal and they were both great.  Dinner was an Italian meal in a luxurious environment and is a leader on the island in Italian dining. 
 

Jeff and Vera found it a number of years ago.

We had a table for 8 in the main room and the noise level was so loud that the waiter could not hear our order so they moved us to a table in another room where the noise level was lower.

 After dinner, we watched the band and dancing for a little bit and then we took a cab back to our hotel and they walked to theirs.  What fun it was to see old friends and now make new ones - it should be a great cruise!!

We have nothing planned for tomorrow except relaxing in the sun, eating and then going to eat with our friends tomorrow night – should be a fun day.

 

Night from San Juan

  


Serving our lunch!!

Jose, Irene and Barb at lunch

Entrance to the Governor's House

Spring – 2015 - Day 1

We took off from Bloomington right on time and had wonderful flights to San Juan, Puerto Rico.  It took only one hour from the time we walked off the plan until we were in the Marriott.  This is the Marriott San Juan Resort and Stellaris Casino, a property that we have stayed at many times.  It is right on the beach and in the heart of the nightlife and restaurants.

Our room is on the 17^th floor looking out at the ocean.  This is the first time that we have not  been give a corner room; however, the hotel is full and the rates have gone up a $1,000 for the three-day weekend, more than double what we are paying!  We made the reservations some months ago on a one day Marriott seniors special.

After checking in, we walked around and found a new CVS Pharmacy a block away, across from the Walgreens where we always shop.  Kahula was $3 a bottle cheaper at CVS so we bought a couple of bottles and some Pepsi to take on the ship after we ate dinner.

We had asked the desk where there was a close local restaurant and they recommend this place.  It was called Orozcos and we ate some good food for dinner.  It was based upon pork and a lot off side dishes.

We got back to the room at 8 and crashed.  Tomorrow is supposed to be 84 and we are looking forward to the heat and sitting on the beach.


From our deck

 

We are glad to be here but we also already miss everyone, including our new puppy, Pippen!

Dinner

I left a camera cord at home so I will add more pictures tomorrow.

Night from San Juan

 

 

Day 9, Friday, January 16

Our last stop before going home tomorrow is St.Thomas – the jewelry capital of the world.  St. Thomas and its capital city, Charlotte Amalie has unbelievable duty-free shopping and this is what sets St. Thomas apart from all of the other islands.  Also, numerous shops line the small alleys between the two main streets and it is just fun to be there.

In the past, we have visited almost every jewelry store looking for something specific.  We even developed a relationship with a wonderful couple who owed a jewelry store – Ed even bought a ring there in 1983!  They have recently retired so St. Thomas isn’t the same there anymore, which probably saves us a lot of money.

A number of years ago they also built a shopping plaza just as you get off the ship which has many of the major stores that are downtown and lots of little stores.

When we left the ship, we first sopped in the stores at the port.

Then we took a shuttle to downtown where the real shopping action is.  There were only 2 cruise ships in town today so that is about 6,000 people but that is small compared to the number that we have seen before so downtown was rather quiet!

Believe it or not, all we could find to purchase was a magnet and a Christmas ornament!!

We then took what Ed thought was the shuttle back to the ship but it actually was going out in the countryside.  When we realized it we got off and took another shuttle back to the ship and walked around the shops at the port that we did not visit before going back to the ship.

On the ship we went to lunch and then up on the deck to get some sun.  The sun was really hot this week at it is the first time that we were not using oil on the last couple of days; but, we did get a good tan.

Then it was time to go back to the room for a nap.

After the nap, we did the dreaded packing to go home as the luggage had to be outside the door for tonight.  In addition, we have to have clothes for tomorrow and also for a daytime stay at the Marriott as our plane does not leave until 3:30pm.  If all goes as planned, we will be home on time at 9:13pm and be able to pick up Pippen, our new puppy at Jason’s.

We packed fairly quickly and then went to pick up the photos that we had taken and then to the show.

The show was a musical variety show and the cast was very good.

Dinner on the last night is always a little sad.  We made some new friends but we will probably never see them again.

Then it was to the casino where both of us lost!!  With the lost tonight, we ended up just a little in the red.  This is then only the third losing gambling trip out of 42.  We played the games correctly, just did not have enough playing time due to a lack of players to handle the negative swing.  But, like the Cubs, there is always the next time and this time it will start February 28.

This is the last entry into the blog as tomorrow we go to the Marriott from the ship and will stay until just after lunch when we will take a cab to the airport and on home.  We always look forward to a cruise and we always look forward to coming home.  

Night from the sea and we will be home tomorrow.

The view of the harbor from our balcony

Our ship on the right from the town

 

A shopping alley in St. Thomas



 

 

January 2015 – Day 8, Thursday, January 15

The weather was perfect when we woke up in Philipsburg, St. Maarten.  We are on the Dutch side of the island so the first thing that we did was get a shuttle to the French side of the island and one of our favorite beaches, Orient Beach.

This beach is really great in that we stay on the beach where the Orient Beach Resort is located and they have lounge chairs to rent, we know where the bathrooms are and they have a wonderful beachfront bar/grill.   Sorry, no pictures as cameras are not allowed on the beach.  In fact we saw security take a camera from a couple and inspect it to make sure that they had not taken pictures on the beach!!

We stayed on the beach until 1:30pm and then we walked up the beach to the area where there are shops and looked around for a little bit, but bought nothing.  Five hours in the sun was probably about ½ hour too much, but we enjoyed it.

Then we took the shuttle back to the port where we spent time shopping at the shops at the port and then boarded the ship.

After sitting on the deck for a little bit, we decided that we had time to go back off the ship, take a cab to the main city and again shop for a little – which we did.

We then came back to the ship, took a nap and watched the ship leave the port at 6:00pm.

Tonight was formal night so we rested for the evening and went down to deck 4 to people watch and have our picture taken and then we went to the show.  Tonight the show was a vocalist who was quite good.

After the show we sat in the lounge and listened to music before going to dinner.

As this was formal night, dinner was great.  Barb had lobster tail and Ed had Beef Wellington.

After dinner we went to the casino where Barb lost just a little and Ed had one of his best nights ever!!

Tomorrow is our last island, St. Thomas and also our last day of the cruise but we will be back on this ship February 28 with our friends from New York and will visit a new set of islands

Night

 

Santa Claus welcomes us at the entrance to the island!!

Formal Night

 

 

 

January 2015 – Day 7, Wednesday, January 14

St. John’s is the capital of Antigua and it is a city of only 31,000 and it was beautiful when we arrived in port with a Costa Cruise Line ship already docked.

Soon after we docked, the Carnival Freedom arrived in port and docked right across from us.  It was amazing to watch another big ship guide ever so slowly into port only feet away from us.

We took our time leaving the ship and after getting off we hired a taxi to take us to Hawksbill Resort an all-inclusive resort north of town with a tremendous beach about 1 mile down the coast from the resorts entrance.

It took us about ½ hour to reach the entrance to the beach and looking down the beach there were only about 4 other couples on the entire beach!!  As photos are not allowed on the beach, the only picture we have is one from the cliff at the entrance.

We stayed on the beach for 2 ½ hours and then walked back to the entrance of the resort where our taxi arrived shortly afterwards to pick us up.

It was about a 1/2ride back to town where the taxi driver let us out right in front of the main port shopping area – what surprise!!

After shopping and buying things that we really, really needed, we walked back to the ship, dropped our “stuff” off at the room and went up to the food deck and had a late lunch.

Then it was back to the room to shower and take a nap.

We woke up to the sound of the ships horn indicating that we were about to leave and so we sat out on the deck and watched us sail away from Antigua – it was a great day.

We dressed and went to several areas to listen to music and played a quick session of blackjack and came away even.

The show tonight was a magician who was probably the best magician we have ever seen on a cruise ship – he was amazing.

Then it was dinner time and once again the food was great.

The casino however was another story and both of us lost –but the good news is that we were able to get to bed before midnight for the first time

Tomorrow St. Martins and one of our favorite beaches – Orient Beach.

The Carnival Freedom arriving


 

Ready for the beach

 



The beach at Hawksbill Resort

 

Great home made ice cream

January 2015 – Day 6, Tuesday, January 13

St. Lucia is an island that we have not so great memories of a New Years Eve week at one of the Sandles Resorts and Barb had awful sunburn.  But, it is a beautiful island with lots of rocky mountains and wonderful people.

After getting up and having breakfast, we left the ship and took a taxi from the port into town.  It was only a 30 minute walk, but why walk as it was very hot and very humid.

There were two major sections that we visited - the craft market and the food market and they are both huge.

For an early lunch we ate at one of the many local stands inside the market and had a really good meal with Lamb, some type of noodles, with veggies and a salad.

After doing more shopping, we took a water taxi back to the ship and changed clothes and went up onto the deck to get some sun.  Two hours was enough so then it was back to the cabin for a nap.

After our nap, we went to the casino and there were no blackjack players so we went to the lounge and listened to the band and when the band finished we went upstairs to listen to a piano player/singer.

Then it was time for dinner and we had fun with our new tablemates.

Tonight at the casino Barb lost a little and Ed had his first losing night – let’s hope it is the only one; however, we are still ahead for the cruise.

Tomorrow we arrive at the town of St. John’s, Antigua

Bought some neat stuff from this lady, including earrings

Lots of vendors

The Market

Our Ship

Lunch at this little shop

 



Ready for the evening