July 4 – 2016 – Day 4

We slept in late and Ed went to exercise while Barb got ready.

It was mostly cloudy but nice; however, we there wasn’t enough sun to sit out so we wandered around the ship looking and doing a little shopping.

We met our friends in the suite dining room for lunch at 1pm.  Barb had a Lamb Burger and Ed had grilled Tuna and both meals were excellent.

Starting at 11am until 2pm they held their $25,000 slot tournament qualifying rounds.  We were in the last round at 2pm.  The entry fee was $150; however, they had given each of us a free entry.  They will take the top eight who score the highest.  None of the six of us qualified for the final round.

Then we all played a secession of blackjack where Ed gave back what he had won last night and Barb was ahead. 

The show was a big cast production number called iHollywood and it was very good.

Dinner was again in the suite dining room with our friends and it was outstanding – great food and great service.  As this was Barbara Freeman’s birthday tomorrow, as our Barb’s request, the staff served us desert first as Barbara likes deserts – following is a picture of the desert cart and it was wonderful.

As they don’t care how much you eat most of us order multiple appetizers and pictured are the three appetizers that Ed had!!

This is probably the best dining experience and food that we have ever had on a cruise ship.  If we had to pay for it, it would have cost us approximately $2,000 additional to book a suite – thanks goodness for the casino host who arranged it for us.

Then it was on to the casino to go to work where Barb was up a little and Ed lost a little and as we left the casino at 1:00am, it is time to go to bed as we set the clocks ahead for tomorrow.

Night from somewhere in the Atlantic.

Desert Cart

Shrimp Cocktail

Lobster Salad

Beef Tartar

July 4 - 2016 - Days 1-3

July 4 – Day 1, 2 & 3

Day 1 – We left our house at 7:00am and headed for Harrisburg, PA a 13 hour trip.   Everything when well and we switched drivers every couple of hours.  When Barb was driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, all of a sudden we came to a complete stop.  We found out from the Waze app that there was a major roll-over 9 miles from us.  We waited an hour before finally moving again.  From what we read, the cars at the head of the line waited for 2 ½ hours!!

After we finally started moving, it was after 8pm so we stopped at the first tollway rest stop for a bathroom break and something to eat – big mistake on eating.  We ate at Burger King and the food was terrible – but we ate most of it.

We then got back on the turnpike and had an uneventful final part of the drive and checked into a TownPlace Suites in Harrisburg and crashed for the night.

Day 2 – It was a beautiful day when we left the motel and went to Hershey, PA to the Hershey Chocolate Company.  Barb had been there before, a long time ago, but Ed had not.  We arrived just before the main building opened and so were able to park close and get in before the crowds got there.

We started out with a free 30 minute simulated factory tour which was really very good and the best tour that we took all morning.

We also had a tasting “class” which was fun and a tour of the town of Hershey which not very good!  It was a fun ½ day and then it was time to head for New Jersey.

We arrived at our hotel in time to check-in and then we went to Liberty Park to took a boat to Ellis Island – wow – what an interesting site to see.  We only had a little time but we were glad that we went. 

Then we took the ferry back and drove to mid-town Manhattan and went to Jeff and Vera’s new apartment which was only a couple of blocks from the UN on the East River.  It was a beautiful place and they had totally gutted the apartment that they purchased and made a beautiful, very modern apartment – which they own.  Tim and Barbara from Virginia were also there as they had come in the day before and were staying at Jeff and Barb’s.

We followed them in our car to an Italian Restaurant and were joined by our friends David and Barbara, also from Long Island.  We had a very good meal and then said good night to everyone.

Day 3 – We slept in a little and took a Uber car to the port arriving at 10:30am and were in our cabin by 11:00am.  After leaving our bags on the bed as they still had some cleaning to do, we walked around a little and then met everyone for lunch on the back of the ship.  After lunch we went to our room and unpacked and then met everyone again on the top back deck to watch the ship leave the New York harbor.  Jeff and Vera were pointing out all of the sites as we left.  Then ship just cleared the bridge and then we were out into the Atlantic heading for Bermuda.

The show was a comedian who was pretty good. 

Jeff and Vera and Tim and Barbara had purchased suites and there is a special restaurant for just people who are staying in suites; however, the casino upgraded us to allow us to eat in the suite dining room so we could eat with the other two couples and the food was outstanding.

Then it was on to the casino where we found out that we knew a number of the staff so it was fun talking to all of them again.

We had a great night in the casino and both Barb and Ed won.

Tomorrow is the first of two sea days before we get to Bermuda so it will be fun and relaxing.

Night – sweet dreams!!

Outside the main entrance to Hershey World

On the top deck leaving New York

A beautiful lady!!

Leaving New York behind us

Very close going under the bridge

Videos from the Spring 2016 Cruise

These are videos that were taken on the Spring 2016 Cruise

Celebrity Dancers and Singers

At a church on Grand Cayman

At a fish market on Grand Cayman

At a Mass in Cartagena

Church restoration in Cartagena

A major square in Cartegana

From the tower overlooking the Panama Canal

In the rain forest in Panama

On a jungle boat ride in Costa Rica

At the banana plantation

More bananas

More bananas

Jane Curry on the ship

Leanardo the piano player

Celebrity singers and dancers

Spring 2016 – Day 13

Our last day and the weather was partly cloudy when we woke up.

Ed had his breakfast and exercised and when he came back to the cabin not only was Barb up, she had almost everything packed because the sun was not out so it was a great idea to pack early!

The weather had turned a little for the better and so we up to the deck to get some sun.  By 12:30pm we were all hungry so we went to the back of the ship to eat our last lunch on this cruise together.

We had Salmon and also Tuna and they were very good with grilled vegetables.

Then we sat again in the sun and it was hot but hazy so it was good.  At 2:00pm, we came in and went to a show in the theater that was made up of people from the crew and it was very, very good.

Two of the female singers received standing ovations.

Then Barb and Tim joined us in the casino and Ed’s session was short when he lost and stopped early to protect the winnings that we had accumulated to date.  Barb did not play this afternoon.

We headed up to the Ocenview Café as we have almost every afternoon to get some snacks and then came back to the cabin.

We had signed up for the luggage valet program and all of our tags were ready so we finished packing and put 4 pieces of luggage outside.  The valet program cost a total of $40 for the two of us and they pick up our luggage from the hall and the next time we see it is at the airport in Bloomington.  So it saves having to find your luggage and taking it through customs, get it on a cab and then through check-in at the airport.  That’s a great deal for $40. 

The only thing we will have is Ed’s carry-on with our souvenirs and his briefcase.

The 7:00pm show was a production featuring the Equinox orchestra and the pianist and singer that we had seen before as well as the cast of the production shows.  It was a great final show.

Dinner was the same as usual – good but not great, but as good as you will find on a cruise ship.

It is interesting in that 3 nights ago our main waiter was not there as he was sick.  Then Barbara Freeman was sick and yesterday Vera was sick.  Our Barb also did not feel good, but was never sick.  It looks like everyone is feeling better today.

Then we went to the casino where Barb won and Ed also won – we had a hugely successful run at the casino over the past 11 nights and we are happy.  This was probably the largest number of daily wins that Barb has ever had on the slots and between the two of us we both won about the same amount and as it turned out, this was the largest combined total win at a casino that we had ever had!!

We have some fun videos that we will post on Sunday or Monday so we hope you enjoy them as well as you have enjoyed the blog. 

All in all this was a fun cruise with our old friends, some new destinations and we made some new friends but we are also ready to come home and see everyone. 

Night for tonight and see you all soon.

Going out for the afternoon

Our 4:00pm snack on our balcony

Time to go out for the last  evening

Now that's a tan!!

Our Casino Host - Andrew

Barb & Rudy - our favorite dealer

Spring 2016 – Day 12

Here we are at our last port, Georgetown, Grand Cayman before heading for home.  They have no docking facilities here so we had to tender in.   The good news is that we did not use the ships lifeboats but tenders from Grand Cayman which held 250 people in each boat.  They started boarding at 7:30am and we left the ship at 9:30am. 

As we have been here a lot, including with the kids a couple of years ago, we simply wanted to get off the ship and walk around town and buy a magnet and a Christmas ornament, which we did and of course a couple of other items. 

We went into a local church where there was a lady playing the piano and sat and listened to her for awhile- it was beautiful music. 

Then we stopped at a local food stand during a brief rain and split a conch salad cooked with lime juice.  It was a little spicy but good.  They did not have Coke, so Barb didn’t order anything to drink.  A little later, the owner comes back to the stand and he had when out and purchased Coke at the local market – wasn’t that special and he even went there in the rain, just for Barb.

We then walked back to the pier and took the boat back to the ship, just in time to meet everyone for lunch.  As Ed had already had a healthy lunch, he went to the grill on the pool deck and got one of their delicious hamburgers!!  We all sat on the back of the ship outside eating and just talking.  After we left last night, everyone won a little so last night was a good night at the blackjack tables and we had fun talking about it.

Since it was only 2:00pm when we finished eating we then went up on the sun deck and sat for a couple of hours before coming in – wow was it hot.

The entertainment tonight was a fantasy show by the production cast of the Equinox and it was pretty good.

Dinner of course was good and then we went to the casino where Barb only lost a little and Ed won a little – so it was a good night.

Tomorrow is our last day and we will be at sea, heading north towards colder weather and home.

We miss everyone and we will be home Friday at approximately 5:00pm.

Night for now.

Fresh fish for sale

In the old church

Lunch in town

The Carnival Paradise - the ship we took the kids on 17 years ago

The view from our balcony with 4 other ships in port

Spring 2016 – Day 11

This is our second from last sea day and we would normally sleep later than when we are in a port; however, that didn’t happen and we both woke up early.  Ed ate breakfast while Barb got ready and we were both on the deck in wonderful sun by 8:30am.

By 11:00am Barb realized that maybe we were close to burning and so we went in, cleaned up and walked around until it was time to meet everyone in the AquaSpa for lunch at 12:30pm.

After lunch, while Ed was talking to the future cruise sales office about a cruise/tour that included Africa, Barb hit a nice jackpot in the Casino!!

At 2:00pm we went to see a singer/comedian who had preformed earlier in the cruise and she was fantastic.

Then we all went to the casino as they were holding a drawing at 3:00pm for cash prizes.  We didn’t win any of the prizes; however, we all had a huge run at the blackjack table and after 1 hour all of us got up from the table together with nice winnings.  That is the first time we think that has ever happened to all of us.

The 7:00 pm show was a show called “Reckless in Vegas” and it was a terrible show featuring songs of the 1960’s by a trio of performers and they attempted to sing the songs as if they were rock songs.  They were very bad. Jeff said they were talented but there was no excuse for poor taste!!

As usual, we went to dinner and then to the casino.  Dinner tonight was excellent and in the casino, Barb broke even and Ed had a great run.

Tomorrow we arrive at Georgetown on the island of Grand Cayman – our last stop and second to last day of the cruise.

Night for now.

Going out for the afternoon

Time to go to the Casino

Going out for the evening

Spring 2016 – Day 10

For the second day in a row we woke up in the port of Cartagena, Colombia as we had stayed overnight in the port.

We left the ship at 9:00am by ourselves and took a taxi into the Old City, were we proceeded to see the sights that we had missed yesterday.  We particularly wanted to visit the churches of the city and there were three very old Catholic churches that we visited. 

One of the churches was built in the 17^th century and they all were in amazingly good shape.  We happened to walk into one of them as they were having mass and saying the Lord’s Prayer to a packed church – what an experience.

In another church we followed a stairway up to the third floor and came upon the organ which again was from the 17^th century.  In several rooms behind the organ were the restoration rooms where they were working on restoring a number of items from the church.  They let us walk through and it was amazing to see what they were doing.

We finally made our way to the opposite end of the city where we met Jeff, Vera, Tim and Barbara for lunch.  We ate at the place we were going to go to yesterday but it was closed on Sunday.  We all agreed that the food was very good, but probably in 3^rd place of the three restaurants we ate at in town,  but still very good.

Following lunch, we took a cab back to the ship at 3:00pm as the ship was leaving at 4:30pm.  We then had the chance to go to the helicopter pad on the front of the ship, as Jeff and Vera had an invitation and asked us to join them.  We had a chance to see the ship leaving port from the very front of the ship which was interesting.

The show tonight was a piano player who was very good, playing like Jerry Lee Lewis, Victor Borge and Liberace.

We ate at 8:00pm tonight so that the ladies could get to the casino as there was purse give-a-way and none of them won.  As a matter of fact both of us lost tonight in the casino.  The good news is that we are still ahead for the trip.

Tomorrow is a sea day and a great chance to just relax and we heading north for the first time.

Night

At the entrance to the old city

17th century organ

Another great shop!!

Right in the walkway from the port