New Years 2020, Days 1 – 5

Day one of our trip started with a 5pm flight from Bloomington to Atlanta and then another flight to Ft. Lauderdale getting us into the airport at 11:30am.   We were able to get our rental car very quickly, an SUV, and made it to the hotel at about 1:00am. 

The hotel was in Aventura, which is between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, and it was a new AC Marriott.  This is a new brand by Marriott that is patterned after some of the European hotels.  It was very nice and clean and functional, but wasn’t to our liking, except it was $100 a night cheaper that the Marriott we usually stay at, so it was just fine.

The next morning, Barb was still not feeling well so we arranged an OSF Doctor on Call and basically used a type of Face time with a very nice Doctor you happened to be in Wisconsin.  She prescribed the medicine that Barb needed and Ed went to Walgreen and picked it up.  Barb stayed in bed the rest of the day until it was time for dinner.

Dinner was on Miami Beach at Gloria Estefan’s Restaurant.  We had eaten there a couple of years ago on a Miami Beach food tour so we thought it would be fun to go there on New Year’s eve.  The food was very good and after dinner we walked back to the car and went back to our hotel as Barb’s energy level was very low.

Day 3, New Years Day was a nice day and we went to our favorite beach, Haulover Beach in North Miami and stayed on the beach until about 3pm.  Then we drove south to Key Largo and had dinner at a local sea food restaurant before coming back to the hotel at about 11pm.

Day 4, Jan 2 was again a nice day and we also went to the beach.  When we got back to the hotel, Barb was not feeling very good and didn’t want to go out, so Ed went to a restaurant close by and brought back Lasagna, which we both enjoyed.

Day 5 – Jan 3 - Time to board the ship.  We left the hotel at about 10:30am and returned the car, took their shuttle to the ship and were eating in the restaurant by Noon.  We then sat in the sun until 2:30pm and then went to the life boat drill.  After that our luggage had arrived so we unpacked and then went to see the first show of the trip. 

The act was a quartet singing Jersey Boys hits and other songs of that time and they were very, very good.

Dinner was in the restaurant called Blu which is only available for people in the Aqua-Spa class, which we are.  It is more upscale than the main dining room and we had excellent meal and met some nice people at the table next to us.

Then of course we went to the Casino and it was amazing how many of the staff we knew, from the Manager on down so it was fun saying hi to everyone and talking about past ships.

At the end of the night, Barb was down just a little and Ed was up nicely.

Tomorrow is our first sea day so it will be very relaxing.

The pictures are rnot in the correct order, but thought you would like to see them

First night of the cruise

New Years Eve menu

Tuna in Key Largo

Key Largo Dinner - 3 kinds of fish

2019 Corvette Caravan

Videos from the 2019 Corvette Caravan

From the Bridge in Madison, WI

In Henderson, KY for lunch

Stopping at Leman's Chevy City

At Bowling Green

At the National Corvette Museum

At Henderson, KY for lunch

Drone video from Leman's Chevy City, Bloomington, IL

https://www.facebook.com/KWCAerialMapPhoto/videos/694464027683747/

https://www.facebook.com/KWCAerialMapPhoto/videos/694488744347942/

https://www.facebook.com/KWCAerialMapPhoto/videos/694310674365749/

Drone video from Mid America Motorworks, Effingham, IL

https://www.facebook.com/KWCAerialMapPhoto/videos/687284278401722/

https://www.facebook.com/KWCAerialMapPhoto/videos/685884411875042/

https://www.facebook.com/KWCAerialMapPhoto/videos/685018691961614/

To see additional videos go to:

https://northcentralcorvettecaravan.blogspot.com/

Videos from our Cruise in October 2019

Our cabin on the Freedom of the Seas - a Junior Suite

The Parade on the Promenade

The floating bridge in Curacao

Eating lunch in a small town in the mountains of Puerto Rico

Breakfast at the Marriott

A brief shower during breakfast

Lunch at a roadside stand outside San Juan

Twilight on the beach from our balcony at the Marriott

Our room at the San Juan Marriott

At the port of San Juan from our balcony

Day 13 – Monday, October 28

Sadly our last day for this trip.  Of course the weather was great.

We went down to the restaurant and sat outside for our breakfast and just relaxed and enjoyed.

As our plane was early in the afternoon, we basically did nothing at all except relax and pack for the trip home.

The trip home was uneventful and we arrived home at about 10:00pm.

Another fun cruise with friends and memories that we will always cherish.

Breakfast on the last day of the trip

Packed for the trip to the airport

Day 12 – Sunday, October 27

The ship was docked by the time we woke up and other than a brief rain shower at 8:30am, it was a perfect day.

Barb and Tim had what is called a Grand Suite and with that came the privilege of being escorted off the ship in a private group.  The person reasonable for that level of cabin also thought we were in one as it was his lounge that we had drinks and snacks in each night, walking in with Tim and Barb.

Our small group of people left at 8:30am and there was a fast lane for us to depart the ship, get our bags and get through security and customs.  We were probably 15 minutes from leaving the ship to our in a cab to the Marriott.   The regular lines were probably taking an hour to get out.

We had asked our contact at the Marriott to allow us to check in at 9:30am and our room was ready when we arrived.  Barb and Tim put their bags in our room and we took a Uber to Old San Juan so that Barb and Tim could have the famous Mallorca sandwich.  

After that early lunch we walked to the San Juan Cathedral for Sunday service.  It was in Spanish but we enjoyed it.  The church is the second oldest church in the Americas and it was in amazing condition.

After church, Barb and Tim went back to the hotel and we went to the gift shop for the church.  There we met a man who was working on the restoration of the church and he gave us a tour of the parts of the church that the public doesn’t get to see – it was wonderful.

Then we shopped for a bit before taking a Uber back to the hotel where we changed into swimming suits and went down to the big pool.

Barb and Tim left about 3:30pm for their flight back to DC and we later changed and went to dinner.

Dinner was a wonderful Puerto Rican meal. 

Then we played a session in the casino and Ed lost and Barb broke even. 

That’s all for our gambling on trip and while we didn’t win much, we did come out ahead.

We did get some bad news this afternoon,  a your friend, Mike Moss who we knew from our days at the Covered Bridge Festival lost his battle for life and passed away on Saturday – so sad to lose someone who was so young.  Our prayers go out to his wife and two children.

This will be our last blog before we get home; however, I will add videos later in the week.

About to leave the ship

Lunch of Mallorca sandwich

Getting ready to go into church

The door to the orginal part of the church

The view from our room and the Marriott

Dinner - Fish on top and pork on the bottom

Day 11 – Saturday, October 26

We arrived early in the morning at St. Martin, one of our favorite islands.  Normally there are a huge number of cruise ships docked here, at least 4. 

Today, when we docked, we were the only ship here!

We got off at about 9am and shopped around the pier shops for a little bit and then took a cab to Orient Beach, one of our favorite beaches.

We had been here before just after the last hurricane and then a year ago.  The beach is slowly rebuilding but a lot of the businesses are just not here at all. 

Anyway, we had fun on the beach and ate at our beach chairs with take-out from one of the only restaurants that has re-built.

Then we took a cab back to the ship and packed for getting off the ship tomorrow.

We met Barb and Tim at 6pm in the casino before dinner and Ed lost a little and Barb didn’t play.

Dinner tonight was at one of the specialty restaurants, an Italian restaurant and the food was very good.

Then we went to the show and was just a fun fairy tale production number.

Finally we went to the casino for the last night and Ed won nicely and Barb broke even.

The comedian that we saw last night was having a late night adult comedy hour so we went to see him and he again was really, really funny.

Finally after midnight we went back to the cabin to finish packing for departure tomorrow and head back to the Marriott in San Juan.

Heading for home in one more day!!

Miss everyone.

Tea in the morning on our deck!!

Welcome to St.Martins

Our final night out on the ship

Day 10 – Friday, October 25

Our second to last day on the ship and it is a day at sea which is great because after 3 islands in 3 days, we need some time to just relax.

We stayed up on deck until 11:15am and then came in and got ready for lunch with Tim and Barbara at the buffet.

At 1pm was a blackjack tournament and Ed tied for the 7^th spot and in a playoff, didn’t make it.

Then at 2pm we all played in a slot tournament and again, none of us won.

After that we played a session in the casino and Ed had his biggest win and Barb didn’t play.

At 4pm we went to see the ice show and it was a good show on a very small ring.  Apparently the only ice rink on a cruise ship.  It is also open for public skating but we have not been interested.  Why go to the Caribbean to be cold!!

We left the cabin at 6:45pm and met Barbara and Tim for drinks in the lounge before going to dinner.

Dinner tonight was back in the main dining room because it was formal night and the cruise ships always put out a great menu on this night, the last formal night of the cruise.

The show tonight was another comedian who was very, very good and will have a late night show on Friday, should be great

After that we went to the casino where Ed had a huge run includng 4 blackjacks on $100 bets!  AS best we can remember it was a run of 11 or 12 hands in a row.  As the run happened in the first couple of hands in the first shoe, Barb get to play.

After gambling we went up to the entertainment area where they were having a 70's party and people watched.

Time for bed as tomorrow we go to St. Martins and one of our favorite beaches, Orent Beach.

Night

The ice show

Going out for the evening

We have a wonderful cabin attendent!!