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

October 2022 – Day 7

The ship docked in Nassau, the Bahamas, around 7:00am.  As we had nothing planned except some shopping, we took our time getting up.

We finally left the ship a 9:00am and took advantage of a golf cart shuttle to go off the pier into town.

 Since we have been here several times, including a week at a Sandals Resort, so there was nothing we really wanted to except walk the main street of town shopping.

 Barb was looking for a scarf and she found two!!

 After a few hours we went back to the ship, up on the food deck and had lunch sitting on the back of the ship outside – very relaxing.

 With a combination of our cruise compliments of the casino and a new drink, wi-fi policy, we have unlimited wi-fi and a great drink package that includes all the Kahlua drinks that Barb wants, inside and out of the casino. 

 At lunch and later on the deck we utilized this new perk.  Barb likes Kahlua and cream and Ed likes Pina Colada and we both had several during the afternoon.

 The temperature was in the mid-80’s and very hot so we were only able to say outside until a littler after 3:00pm.

We had some snacks late in the afternoon and had planned to go to the casino before and after the show and dinner; however, we never left the dock in time for the casino to open.

As of now, it is midnight and the ship has not left the port.  We were told it was a medical emergency and they were waiting an air ambulance.  We were told by the Captain that we would still make it to Aruba on time – let’s hope so

The show in the theater was a production number we have seen twice and neither time did we like it.  So we went to dinner early.

 We are in a cabin class called Aqua Class which is a step right below the suites and has some nice perks.  One of them is our private dining room for this class called Blu.  It is a step above the regular dining room and only seats maybe 60 people at one time. 

 After dinner sat and relaxed hoping the casino would open and as I said it did not.

 We listened to some Latin music and their set was over we went up to the top floor where they were playing 80’s music.

 As I mentioned, we are not in our room and it is midnight and we have not left yet. 

 Let’s hope we wake up tomorrow and we are on our way. 

Night from the dock at Nassau.

ps - we left Nassau at 2:00am and the Captain said we would make Aruba on time.

                                                            Going ashore in Nassau

                                                            The welcome band

                                                            Complimentary snacks including

                                                                    eggs with cavair

                                                                   Going out for the evening

                                                        Barb's first of two entrees - Pheasant

                                                                Her second entree - lamb

October 2021 – Day 6

 Finally, it was time to get ready in the morning and board the ship.

We took the rental car back to the airport and found out that they were no longer running a shuttle bus to the pier.

So, we called an Uber and was at the ship by Noon.

The ship had given us all individual arrival times and ours was 1:00pm, so of course we arrived early.

We gave our luggage to the porters and went to the check-in area expecting to wait.  We didn’t have to wait as they had us board.

Lots of double checking as to our vaccination card and the rapid-test verification that we did yesterday.

We must have been checked 3 times for each; however, it went very, very smoothly and we were in our cabin by 12:30pm.

We unpacked, walked around the ship and at 1:30pm Barb and Tim had arrived so we spend the next couple of hours sitting in the back of the ship just talking and catching each other up-to-date.

We then went back to the cabin and our luggage had arrived, including a bottle of Kahula smuggled aboard in Rum Runners!!

We met Barb and Tim in the casino and played a session and Ed won nicely and Barb didn’t play, just watched us “work”.

Then we went to one of the specialty restaurants and had a good meal followed by the first show of the cruise.  The entertainer was a woman who gave impressions of famous singers – she was ok.

Back to the casino we went and Ed had another great win.  Altogether, he had a very, very good night.

What a fun day to the start of the cruise.  We feel very, very safe as everyone, even children had to be vaccinated plus have a rapid test within the last 48 hours.  The crew are 100% vaccinated and they are given weekly tests

The ship is sailing with 50% capacity so that makes everything nice.

It is now midnight and time to go to bed.

Tomorrow we dock at Nassau in the Bahamas and we don’t know what we will do – but it will be fun and relaxing.

Night from somewhere on the ocean – it feels really great to be back on a ship.

On the way to the ship

                                                    Old friends - Barb & Time Freeman

Barbs at lunch

                                                                        Her lunch!!

                                                            Welcome flowers from Ed

                                                      Going out for the evening

October 2021 – Day 5

 Another beautiful day with a high of 83 predicted and met with minimal clouds.

We were at the beach again by 9am and left at 1pm with a nice tan to start our cruise.

Lunch was the Russian restaurant that we had dinner at last night and lunch was the best we have had on the beach this trip.  Lunch was Salmon on a baguette role and it was very, very good.

After lunch we took the slow way down Highway A1A 171 blocks to the south end of Miami Beach.  From there we took the causeway by the port of Miami to the Cuban section.

We had heard about a wonderful fish/Cuban restaurant called La Camaroner Seafood and Fish Joint and finally after a very scenic 1 ½ hour drive we arrived at the restaurant.  Had we not read how outstanding it was we probably would not have stopped and we were glad we did.

It has been a family-owned restaurant in the same place since 1973.  Their original business was as fishermen who came to shore to sell their fish.  In 1973 they went into the restaurant and fish market business before they finally sold their boats to concentrate on the restaurant.

We had a yellow tailed snapper that was fresh of the boat that morning and wow was it good.

We finished with a desert of Key Lime Pie.

After dinner we went downtown Miami and browsed around the Bayshore Market before  heading fot the hotel.

Going back, we took Highway 1 north for another 170 blocks before turning on the causeway to the beach and our hotel and a free drink in the lounge.  They gave us two each night – tonight it was a Mojito.

For our last day on the beach, it was a very relaxing day and evening and tomorrow we board the ship.

Night from Sunny Isle Beach – next stop the Celebrity Equinox.

                                                  On the way to the beach the last time for this trip

                                                                 Dressed for dinner

                                                                Dinner - Conch Fritters

                                                        Very freash Yellow Tailed Snapper

                                                                Key Lime Pie

                                                                    The kitchen

                                                                    AT the Bayshore Market

                                                            A full moon over Miami

October 2021 – Day 4

Day 4 of 5 days on the beach and today was once again a wonderful day, high of 83 and just a little windy.

We were down to the beach at 9am and to our surprise it was almost vacant.   By mid-morning people started to come in; however, it was never crowed like the weekend.  Usually, it does not matter what day, the beach is always busy.

We stayed on the beach for an additional hour and at 1:00pm we came in and went to lunch.

Lunch was at a place called the Carrot and we had been there before in April and it is a neat little ethic place in Sunny Isle Beach’s downtown.

We had an Ahi Tuna wrap on Pita.  It was good, but a little dry as they had taken all the fat out of it.  We did have Mango Smoothie and it was very good.

Back at the hotel we filled out a damage report for some paint scratch on the back left fender that we believe happened the first night in the parking garage.  Hopefully, they will take care of it.

We did our COVID rapid test and we are negative and good to board!!!  Yea!!  Happy dance.  We were sure we were fine, but . . .

WE ate dinner tonight at a Russian/Jewish restaurant and we probably had the best dinner and the best service for this trip.  We are planning on going back there for lunch tomorrow.

We are looking forward to tomorrow, our last full day on the beach as on Wednesday we board our ship, the Celebrity Equinox for a 9-day cruise.

Our good friends Barb & Tim Freeman from Virginia will be joining us.

Barb is a travel agent and Tim is an ex-Air Force pilot and Lt Cornel.  He currently works for a major defense contractor and heads a division in Alabama that is a sub-contractor for the SpaceX project.

While their home is in Haymart VA, Time commutes weekly to Alabama flying his own twin-engine plane.  It is always fun to get together with them and they both play blackjack also.

So, we will see them Wednesday after check-in on the back of the ship for lunch – as is our custom.

Night for now – we hope everyone feels as blessed as we do.

Going our for lunch

Lunch - tuna on a pita

A BMW Roadster parked at the hotel

                                                            Dinner - Tuna, Veggies and potato fries

                                                                    A Mango drink for dinner

                                                            Choclate Souffle for desert

                                      A write up on the Anquilla Resort across the street from us.

It is a hotel and a condinimun.  Basic hotel room rates are $1,600.00 plus taxes and fees for 1 night.

Condo apartments start at $870,000 for a 710 sq ft 1 bedroom apartment up to $4,000,000 for a 5 bedroom 4,415 sq ft apartment.  They are building a 4th building for only condos called The Estates and the prices start at 9.2 million up to 22 million!!