Spring 2015 - Day 7

It is the island of Dominica today.  Dominica is a very little island and when we were here before, carnival was going on.  Today it is just a little peaceful island with just our cruise ship in port.

After the very long night last night, we woke up and left the ship at 10:00am.

The town is a nice little town and it had a lot of tent type souvenir stands.  This is one of the few ports where there was not a made for the tourists buildings right at the end of the dock so it was fun going into town.

For lunch we found a local restaurant and had their stew, consisting of pork, rice and beans, plantains, breadfruit and coleslaw and it was very good.

As we were heading back to the ship around noon it started to rain so we sat inside a shop for 10 minutes while it cleared up. 

Then we went back to the ship and sat inside with our friends for about an hour before it cleared up and of course we then went to the pool deck to sit in the sun.

We all talked about what cruise we would take next March for our “Blackjack Reunion” cruise and we settled on an 11 night cruise starting February 22 from Ft. Lauderdale that goes all the way to Columbia, South America – so we booked it.

After our nap, we got ready for the evening and went to the show in the theater that we had seen last cruise.  It was one of the best magicians that we had ever seen.

Dinner in the main dining room was with everyone and it was a typical dinner but tonight they had corrected the service problem that we had experience two nights ago.

Then it was to the casino where Barb lost a little and Ed had a great run and we left the casino at 1:00am after playing two hours.

Tomorrow is Grenada so night from the ocean.



Night

The town from our ship

 

Downtown

 

Yes - this is a local real bar!!

 

Lunch at Pearl's

 

 

Spring – 2015 – Day 6

 

After a very late night, we woke up at 8:00am when the Captain made the announcement that the ship was ready to disembark guests at St. Kitts – we went back to sleep.

St. Kitts is a very small island with lots of dormant volcanoes, pink beaches and gorgeous green hills.  As we have been here a number of times, there was nothing that we wanted to see and instead of going to a beach, we decided to just sit in the sun on the ship.

We finally made if off the ship at 10:00am and walked into town, stopping at tourists shops along the way.   We found nothing that we wanted to see so we came back from town and did a little shopping in the stands leading to the ship.

Barb bought some earrings and Ed a shirt and we were back on board at Noon.

We ate lunch with our black jack group outside on the back of the ship and sat around and talked for a couple of hours.

Then it was back to the cabin to change to sit out on the deck and work on our tans.

Ed came back to the cabin early to work on a web site he needed to finish and then went down to the future cruise sailing desk to see what was going to be new in 2016 and 2017.  So far we have a South American cruise booked for January of 2016.  We are looking to find a cruise for all of our black jack friends to take a year from now.

Nap time was next.

After our naps, we went to the theater to see a trio singing Motown songs and they were very good.

The Casino Manager and our Host had invited us all to dinner in the specialty restaurant so we met them at 8:30pm for a delightful evening meal.

Then it was to the casino where we both did very and finished the evening at 2:00am!!

Tomorrow we arrive at the island of Dominica and we have no plans but to sleep late and simply walk around in the port.

Night for now


Two ships at the dock

 

The clock in the center of town

 

Barb buying earrings

 

Spring – 2015 – Day 5

We slept until 7:30am and when we awoke we were in St. Croix, part of the US Virgin Islands.  It is a very small island, measuring about 84 square miles.  The deep water port is on the west side where the land is very picturesque and green.  Then in the center is the mountains and the rain forest and on the east side it is very dry and sandy.

We walked off the ship at 8:15am as we had a walking tour of the town of Frederiksted that started at 8:40am.  We booked the tour on our own and paid $20 each for the tour and were joined by some people who booked through the ship and paid $50 each!!  The tour lasted until12:30pm and while it was a lot of walking, we did have fun and learned a lot about the island, particularly about the home remedies that they have from the trees, fruits and vegetables. 

Our tour guide told us about a local restaurant that was run by the mother and her two sons.  We went there and had conch fritters and than a meal of conch in lots of a butter sauce, fried plantains, spicy rice and beans and sweet potato salad with grapes.  Yes, we BOTH  ate it all it is was wonderful.

We shopped for a while and then came back to the ship to be in the sun.  We stayed out for 1 ½ hours and then had to come in as the sun is very hot.  Ed showered and worked on a web site for one of the fall shows that needed to be finished and Barb walked around for a little bit.

Then it was time for a nap.

After our nap, we got ready for the evening and it was the first of two formal nights and went downstairs to people watch and have our formal pictures taken.  We met up with Tim and Barb and sat and talked with them until it was time for dinner.

Dinner was long as our wait staff tonight was not very good but we were finally in the casino at 11:00am.   We should have stayed out as we both, and our entire group, lost tonight – but tomorrow we will try again.  At least we are still up.

Tomorrow is St. Kitts and we do not have anything planned so we will wake up late and go into town to enjoy the island.

 

Night

Furniture from 1830

 

Lunch



The owner



Our ship from the port

 



First formal night

Spring – 2015 – Day 4

Sale away day from San Juan. 

It has been a fun few days but now it was time to board the Celebrity Summit.   This is the ship that we were on in January and it should be a fun trip.

As everyone wanted to board early, we left the Marriott at 10:30am and arrived at the dock at the same time as the rest of the group.  Checking in was a breeze and we dropped off our carry-on luggage in our room and were on the deck outside eating by 11:30am.

We relaxed for a while with everyone and then went back to the room to unpack our carry-on's and then up to the deck to be in the sun.  Bottom line – the sun was very hot!!

We stayed out for about 1 ½ hours and then took a jacuzzi.

When we got back to the room our luggage was at our door so we unpacked and then took a nap.

Before the boat drill we all went to Jeff and Vera’s room for drinks and some snacks.  Then it was to the boat drill and dinner.

At dinner, Barb and Tim from Washington D.C. joined us so we had 10 for dinner – a nice group.

Then it was off to the casino where it was like an homecoming as we knew so many of the staff, including the Manager and all of his key people.  We also met the new Host, David who was not on the ship before.  David as it turned out had been a host on another ship we were on a couple of years ago.

Our evening at the casino was very successful for Ed and Barb lost just a little on the slots – so it was a very good night.

Tomorrow is our first island – St. Croix.

Night from the sea – somewhere east of Pureto Rico

 

Leaving for the ship

 

Our Cabin

 

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