Europe 2013 - Day 1

The trip started out when Ed arrived home Sunday afternoon from Chula Vista to find Barb really, really sick.  As a matter of fact, Barb told Ed that she wasn’t sure she should or even could be going.

Barb had gone to the Doctors for the second time on Friday and he gave her new medicine and told her he thought she would be ok.  So with that in mind, Barb decided to wait and see how she felt Monday morning.

We were all packed on Monday morning and Barb felt like she was gaining so off we went to Rome.

 We flew from Bloomington to Chicago and then on to Rome.  Both of the flights went well and we landed in Rome just a little ahead of time.  It took an hour to go through Customs and get our luggage and find out driver – we were then on our way by 10:30am.

We met out driver and for the first time had no problem with fitting our luggage into the car as we were able to pack one less big suitcase – hope we didn’t forget something!

The ride in took about an hour and our room was ready at the Hotel Columbia.  This s a very nice, small clean hotel but as a typical European hotel, the rooms were small and somewhat spartan, but that’s just fine.  The hotel is close to all of the areas that we want to visit and close to the Subway/Train stations.

We ate lunch at a street shop down the street and then we were off seeing the sites that we had picked out.  The first was a big park, and then we took the subway over to the Trevi Fountain and again each of us threw in 3 coins – who knows, we just might be back.

We walked and walked seeing the sights and finally ate dinner at a sandwich shop close to the hotel.

As I am writing this, we have been up for 29 hours.  My knees are hurting but Barb is better and already asleep – s goodnight for the first day.

Hotel Columbia Lobby

Lunch

Hotel Columbia

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Trevi Fountain and yes, we both threw in 3 coins!

Spring 2013 – Day 9

Ed was up at 7:30am as we gained an hour of sleep and it was a good thing because deck chairs were going fast.

Barb came up shortly after that and it was a beautiful day at sea – calm winds and about 80 degrees.

There were a couple of empty chairs in front of us and a couple sat down and we realized that we had been in the Jacuzzi with him yesterday and they were from Boston.

To make a long story short, we were talking about what we did and Ed mentioned Bloomington Gold. They knew about the show and he said that he has always wanted a ’03 Anniversary Convertible.

After he found out that Barb had one, we spent about an hour talking Corvettes. He is planning on going to Mecum’s Houston auction so I gave him the name of the Corvette expert with the staff there. It’s a small world.

We then ate healthy at the Aqua Spa, stayed out until 2pm and came inside and packed. We packed in record time and then changed clothes and went for a walk around the ship.

The show was early and it was just fair.

As we do, we met Jeff and Vera for dinner and it is always sad saying good bye to such a great staff as we had at dinner.

We then went to the casino for the closing session of this trip, knowing that we were a little up and hoping to improve.

Barb lost at the slots, but is up a little for the trip, which is great. Ed started with a huge losing streak and changed tables. With only $200 or his original money, he quickly had a huge streak which puts us up significantly for the trip - WOW.

We are finishing packing and will be leaving the ship at about 9am. Our plans are to go check in at the airport and then take the Marriott shuttle to one of their hotels, lay out by their pool, eat lunch and then take the shuttle back to the airport for a 5pm flight which will get us home before 10pm tomorrow.

It has been a wonderful trip. We loved seeing our old friends Jeff and Vera and also friends both old and new in the casino.

It was a great trip – see everyone at home.



Going out for an afternoon walk around

Ready for dinner time

A "perch" in the reading area

In the Aqua Spa

Our dinning room staff

Spring 2013 – Day 8

A day at sea and a day of relaxation.

As usual, Ed was up early and reserved the deck chairs and ate breakfast.

Barb came up and we stayed in the sun until 12:30 and the sun was just about perfect and it was 80 degrees.

We cleaned up and when to the casino where Ed won the blackjack tournament!!

By then it was late in the afternoon so Ed took his nap and then we got ready for an early dinner.

Dinner was at the Captains Table and our host was the Hotel Director, who we had met before. There were three other couples with us and it was a fun experience. Barb had Lobster and Ed had Beef Wellington.  The Hotel Director is responsible for everything except the running of the ship and its maintance.  She and the Staff Captain are the only two people that report to the Captain of the ship so this was quite an honor to being asked to dinner with her.

After dinner, we went to the show and it was the music of Broadway and it was really good.

Then we went back down to the dinning room and sat with Jeff and Vera until they had finished their dinner and of course it was up to the casino.

Barb and Ed both lost, but we are still ahead every so slightly for the trip. Tonight Ed played blackjack for three hours which helps his ratings.

It’s 1:30 am and time for bed; however, we do set our clock back one hour tonight – that will help.

Tomorrow is our last day and we have to pack (ugh).

Night

Ed with the blackjack trophy and winnings, with the dealer and our casino host. Nicki

Barb picking out pictures



Ready for the night out



Barb's Lobster

Spring 2013 – Day 7

The island of St. Kits is a really small island, only 64 square miles and from our standpoint there is really nothing to do. We have been to all of the tourist and local interesting spots. Also, we have been to the good beaches and we felt today that the only thing that we wanted to do was to get off the ship and walk into the old town where there was really neat clothing shop selling Batik clothing.

The ship docked at 8am and we were up and out by 10am, stopping at a few tourist shops and then into town. When we got into town, we found out that the shop we always went to had closed.

So we walked back to the port and stopped at a lot of the port shops. Ed bought a short sleeved Batik shirt and that was all.

We were back on the ship for lunch and then it was up to the top deck for sun.

We stayed out until almost 4pm and came in to rest until it was time to get ready for the evening.

We went out and people watched and then went to the show, which tonight was at 7:15pm. The show was a magician who was a semi-finalist in the American’s Got Talent competition and also spent 7 years at Caesars Place. He was very good.

As you can tell, we are very predictable in the evening. So, next it was dinner and then the casino. That’s our three main events for the evening – Dinner, show and gambling – life is so good!!

Ed won tonight and Barb lost, but we are ahead for the trip and that is just great.

Tomorrow is our first of two days at sea and we will, of course, be working on our tans.

Everyone stay well – night.

The Independance of the Sea docked beside us

Ready to go out with the Independance in the background

Notice the wording on the shirt!  If the shirt fits, wear it!!

Getting water from an 1867 water fountain

Spring 2013 – Day 6

St. Martins, one of our favorite islands. Not only does it have lots of shops like St. Thomas, it has one of the best beaches, Orient Beach.

We got off the ship at about 9:30am and immediately took a shuttle for Orient Beach.

We had to use a beach umbrella for Barb because she had sunburn from laying out yesterday.

We talked to a couple that we have met every year from Pontiac, IL and then unexpectedly ran into a neighbor – oh well!!

The sun was great, the food and drinks on the beach were great and we really enjoyed our time on the beach.

We sat next to a younger couple from Maine and shared some laughter about people on the beach.

After the shuttle back to town and the ship, we shopped for a little and only bought Kahula for Barb.

When we got back to the ship, we found an invitation for dinner at the Captain’s Table on Thursday at 6:00pm, which is the second formal night. The invitation came from the Hotel Director who we had met earlier in the cruise. This should be fun and interesting because it is a big deal.

Then it was back to the ship and into the Jacuzzi before getting ready for the show which was held before dinner this time. We really like that timing as we can then go to the casino right after dinner.

The show was ok and then dinner was great.

We had a great blackjack table and Ed had a huge run. Barb played slots and didn’t win anything.

Tomorrow St. Kitts.

Night from somewhere in the water!!

The view from our balcony



Ready to go



Orient Beach - sorry no pictures allowed!!

One of the shopping streets

Spring 2013 – Day 5

We had to move our clocks up one hour last night, so Ed was up on the deck at 9:30am and it was soaking wet from a rain shower that had just finished.

After breakfast it looked like it was clearing so he saved a couple of chairs and by 10:00am it was perfect – sunny and a slight breeze.

We ate a healthy lunch in the Aqua Spa and then stayed on deck until 1:30pm when we felt like we were getting too much sun. I think that we came in just in time.

The ship docked in San Juan a couple of minutes early and we were off the ship and in Old San Juan by 3:00 pm. Out plan was to head quickly to the Presidential Palace as they have an inside tour that we had never taken. When we got there we found out it was closed because there was a major power outage for all or San Juan.

So, we walked around Old San Juan for a couple of hours finding only a couple of places that were open with generators. One of them was a grocery store so we could bring back some Kahula to the ship in Coke bottles.

We felt sorry for the cruise ship passengers who had never been to San Juan as there a lot of neat local shops; however, 99% were closed as were 99% of the restaurants.

Back on the ship, Ed took a short nap and Barb walked around. Then we went back into town as we could see from our deck that the power was on.

We were going to go to a casino we had played at before; however, they couldn’t get their computer system going so we went back to the ship just as it was starting to rain lightly.

We changed for dinner and went to the main lobby to dance and people watch.

Dinner was as usual excellent and we feel that the food is some of the best we have ever had on a cruise ship. In addition, this is certainly the best ship and staff we have ever had.

We didn’t go to the show and instead, went to “work” in the casino.

Ed lost and Barb (hurray) won and offset most of Ed’s losses.

It is a little past 1:30am and time for us to go to bed.
Tomorrow is St. Martian and Orient Beach, one of our favorite beaches.

Night for now.




The fort guarding the harbor as we arrive



Ready to leave the ship



A powered snack from one of our favorite shops

The Celebrity Refelection - the biggest and newest in their fleet

Spring 2013 – Day 4

Well we woke up to cloudy skies and they stayed cloudy all day. This is the first cruise that we have ever taken where the first two days were cloudy and not sun. Coupled with the two days in Miami also being cloudy, our tans are no where to be seen!

Ed was up on the deck early and spent most of the morning reading and just relaxing while Barb stayed in bed fighting off something.

At Noon we ate and then went to the slot tournament where out of about 30 players neither of us qualified for the finals – but it is always fun.

They we watched the quartet perform and this one might be the best vocal group we have every heard on a Celebrity ship.

Ed then played some blackjack with Jeff and Vera and came out ahead so it was a good afternoon.

After a nap (nap’s are good!) we dressed for formal night and went people watching and of course had our picture taken.

Dinner was excellent and then we went to the show, the first large production show of the trip and as far as we were concerned, it was just ok.

Then it was on to the casino where Ed lost what he had won in the afternoon and Barb didn’t do well at slots.

Finally it was time to go to bed and we turn the clocks forward tonight. At least we don’t have to get up early in the morning as it is already 1:30 am, now 2:30am.

Tomorrow we have another day at sea until we arrive at San Juan at about 3:00 pm.

That’s it for tonight – oh bye the way – Barb is feeling better.

Barb's Flowers

Great Quartet

First Formal Night

A Rose, Rose Petals and two Swans when we arrived back at our cabin!!