Wednesday - Charlotte Amelie, St Thomas Islands

The sun was shining as the ship docked on St Thomas in the British Virgin Islands. Immediately upon arriving the immigration people came on board and had to check the ID's of every person on board the ship. They sent the aliens one direction and the citizens a different direction - they they called each deck one at a time so we didn't have to stand in line long - when they called deck 5 we headed downstairs to the Queens lounge and there a nice lady asked to see our passports and waved us on through. We were given a green card (cardstock) saying we had been through immigration. No one was allowed off of the boat until everyone on board had been cleared. So we headed to the dining room for breakfast while waiting for the all clear signal to go ashore. Welcome to the United States!!


The main city is Charlotte Amalie named after the Danish Queen when they founded the island. There were a total of six cruise ships in port today so it made the city very very busy. The island has about 78000 people living on it and it was much more hectic than Tortola. Again, we hadn't prebooked any activities because people had told us it was easy to book something on shore and that it was alot cheaper on shore. They weren't nearly as organized at this port and it looked like we weren't going to find anything available until someone pointed out a lady with a clipboard. We went over and talked to her and got what we thought was going to be a snuba trip - and the lady was from our cruise ship so we ended up paying full price....and when we got to the cove we found out that the snuba class was already overbooked and what we ordered (and paid for) was simply a snorkeling day. It did get us to the bay, and the price included snorkel gear which we didn't need and a class in how to snorkel (which we also didn't need). The fish were pretty and although the water wasn't as clear as say, Hawaii was we enjoyed ourselves. We snorkeled and fed the fish and then found a nice spot on the beach to enjoy the sun. Ed wandered over to the 'bar' and got us some cokes and when he got back to me and the towels he was 'bawled' out by the 'waitress' - for getting our drinks ourselves.

Evidently this 'area' of the beach was her serving spot and she lost out on a couple of sales cause we had bought our own. She let us know that if we wanted anything else, to tag her and she would get it for us!!

With about 1/2 hour left before our ride took us back, we wandered over to the animal park attached to the beach. This was part of our ticket price too. The most fun about it was the iguanas. We had seen a couple of them lazing in the sun by the shark pool but when a worker pulled out the lettuce they came from all over!


We headed back to Charlotte Amelie and back to the ship for lunch and to wash the salt water off of us and then we headed back to
Charlotte Amelie. The city itself was probably four or five miles away so we caught a taxi and he was not happy with the fact that there were only the two of us. The taxis are all open air rides with roofs - and can normally hold 12 people. EVERY single time he stopped at a stop sign he would holler at the people walking down the sidewalk to see if he could pick up more passengers. We were so ticked off at his attitude we gave him our eight bucks and NO TIP! We wandered through the stores but they were looking for bigger fish to fry than us ... everything was high class high dollar ...finally we headed over to the open air market and I found the prettiest thing for Mauri for her birthday. We also found a large bag with embroidered wording that said St Thomas on it - we need it to put all the t shirts we have bought for the whole family - our luggage was already full and we bought lots more. About 4 pm we headed back to the ship, catching another taxi - on the way back I realized today was Halloween as we passed a car with a full sized skeleton sitting in the passenger seat. The driver caught my eye and grinned at my reaction and I hollered "Happy Halloween" as we went past. Amazingly enough, in a city overrun with cruise ships and people from all over the world, I heard someone call out "There's ED!" Sure enough, I looked back and there was Martina Crawford who shared an office with Ed for his first six or eight years at the corporate office. She was with her fiance and they had shipped out of Cape Canaveral on Sunday but because of Noel they changed their schedule and landed in St Thomas the same day as we did. Small world!!

The ship left harbor that evening at 6:30 while we were eating. Dinner that night was a hoot. Being Halloween they served eye of newt and batwing and all sorts of halloweeny dishes. Of course it was normal food with a fun twist on the names. I wish I could have kept the menu. They did have a costume parade and some of the costumes were amazing...the people must have packed one whole extra suitcase just to bring their costumes!

That evening was a magic show by James Cielen - a master illusionist and magician. It was fascinating - I haven't the slightest idea how he did any of his tricks - really really good. He also had a cute sense of humor and would get laughing at himself so hard he would duck his head and his shoulders would just shake with laughter. It was a top notch show.

After the show we wandered around the ship until 9:30 when we headed for the lido deck where they had a chocolate extravaganza. Now gooey chocolate does not look good at that time of the night for me (since I have to check my blood level at 11:00) but they had the most fantabulous assortment of chocolate - they had chocolate sculptures and strawberries dipped in chocolate and chocolate fountains and trays and trays of the most lucious deserts - all made with chocolate. It was a feast for your eyes and I was really proud of myself that all I had was a couple of strawberries dipped in chocolate and a sugar free chocolate mousse' - that was delicious!! and when I checked my blood level I was right at 103 - exactly where I was supposed to be.

Fun day, fun things to see and experience. Wonderful memories.

Cruise - Monday and Tuesday

Today we were supposed to dock at Grand Turk Island but because of the high winds and waves they canceled that port of call. It was rainy all day and they had the doors to the outside decks closed off due to the high seas. We were walking crazy still because the ship was rolling. I am sure that the owners of the ship loves days like this because there is nothing to do but hit the shops!! The ships log which they gave us at the end of the cruise described the conditions as Strong Gales, Very High Seas, Moderate Swell and Scattered cloudy skies - I would describe the scattered cloudy skies as mainly rain!! The picture on the left shows what it looked like most of Sunday afternoon and Monday. Sunday evening they had a fantastic singing and dancing program called "Under the Boardwalk" with the Zuiderdam singers and dancers and they were so good. I told Ed we were getting old, if we could go on a cruise and they presented a whole show full of 60's songs!! Those were my teenage years!!

Like I said before though - everyone took the weather in stride and the food was still delicious. It was a lazy day and we found out afterwards that if we had wandered up to deck 9 the aft pool had a glass ceiling that closed over it - so people still swam and hot tubbed - we missed it. Monday night a couple called the amazing 88's played piano and sang and that was such a fun program. They were fantastic piano players - both of them and they sang songs that the audience got to sing and clap along with. We could have listened to them for hours. Neither Ed nor I are into bingo or karaoke and although we walked through the casino several times we didn't even drop a quarter in the slot - but we loved the food and we loved the shows.

Tuesday morning we arrived at Road Town Tortola - in the British Virgin Islands. We were supposed to get there at noon but since we sailed past Grand Turk the day before we got an extra four hours in Tortola. It is a beautiful island and was definitely the high point of our trip. It is described in the daily program as "powdery white sand beaches, lush green mountains, and a sheltered yacht filled harbor characterize the island of Tortola" and that describes it to a tee!

We got off the ship and there was a nice covered pavilion with a couple of ladies there to help us find the correct taxi for our prescheduled activities. We explained that we didn't pre book anything but we wanted a tour of the island and to go snorkeling - they were well organized and she pointed out a couple of people to talk to. We set up a boat tour for 1 pm to go snorkeling and then went over and found a taxi taking people on island tours. We had our snorkeling equipment with us and off we went with about nine other people. Tortola is a small island with about 16,000 people living on the Island. The British Virgin Islands comprise of about 26,000 people total. We left the harbor and went on a gorgeous drive up to the top of the island where the picture above was taken - at about 1700 feet above sea level. The driver gave us a lot of history of the island and answered questions as we went. He made about six 'portrait' stops and we of course took pictures at them all. Then we headed back down the other side of the island to a beautiful cove called Cane Cove. The sand was white and smooth and we headed down the beach to the area where the best snorkeling normally was - but the waters were still too churned up because of Tropical Storm Noel. So instead we just played in the water and stretched out on our towels (Note to Jamie: the ships provide them so you don't have to take up precious suitcase room for them!) and enjoyed the sunshine. We found that although the beaches were free public beaches the chairs were for rent - we cheaped out on this one cause the sand was so soft - we bought ourselves some virgin mai tai's and soaked up the sun. When it was time to meet the others to head back to port we got an extra 15 minutes of shopping in the outdoor shopping spots. Fun! I got Ed and my Dad some nice t-shirts and bought some of the tshirts for gifts for all the kids and grandkids. We had a family from Roosevelt on our ship with us that we met on the van - small world- they were excited to find someone that actually knew where Roosevelt Utah was - The ladies had bought some cute sundresses that made wonderful swim suit cover ups and wore them back to the boat. We got back to the ship - showered and changed and had lunch in the dining room and then headed back off the ship again to do some more shopping right next to the port.

We canceled our 1 oclock boat tour because the snorkeling was no good - but we had lots of fun wandering through Road Town and I bought a gorgeous hibiscus flower made out of reddish coral. They told me that it was made right there in the BVI - I told Ed that if I got home and found a 'made in china' tag on it I would be very unhappy (they sold it to us boxed and sealed to protect it during travel) - but sure enough it was made in the British Virgin Islands. While we were shopping Ed found me a couple of those cute dresses - they need to have sleeves sewn in them - then I could wear them anytime and not just as a swimsuit cover up.

After we got back to the ship we crashed - it got really hot and muggy there in town in the afternoon - up on top of the island there was a wonderful breeze and it was much cooler!! We took our naps and went to dinner.

We skipped the show that night as it started at 11:30 pm - and thats too late for us old folks - especially since we were docking at St Thomas, US Virgin Islands early the next morning!!

Cruise updates

We made it back home yesterday safe and sound - and I can say we survived Hurricane Noel ! I was IM'ing my daughter in law Jamie last night about 8:45 and was about to sit down and update my blogspace when I decided I was just too tired. I told Jamie I was gonna sign off and curl up in bed with a book - I turned off my computer and went downstairs to put one last load of clothes in the wash when I turned to Ed and said - no wonder I am so tired - its not quarter to nine - its almost midnight!!!! In the last 24 hours we went from Eastern Daylight Time to Mountain Standard Time... its bedtime!!

Last week, I sat down about three days into the cruise and wrote out our experiences to that point - I will post that log now...and tomorrow or the next day I will add more about the cruise. We had a wonderful wonderful time even though the seas got really rough - neither of us suffered from sea sickness at all - we just couldn't walk straight cause the ship was moving all over the place. Everyone looked like they were on a cheap drunk! We were unable to land at two of our four ports of call because of Noel - dang!! But we had a great time anyway.

so here goes:

Saturday October 27, 2007

We flew from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale yesterday afternoon and caught a free shuttle ride from the airport to the Hampton Inn where we spent the night. It was a really nice hotel – of course not so luxurious as the Dolphin has been but the people are so friendly and they go out of there way to make our stay comfortable. We had eaten a good lunch at the airport before leaving Orlando so were not really hungry come supper time, besides which is was really raining so we just enjoyed the treats put out by the Inn – salsa end chips, cheeses and crackers and juices. Ed made arrangements for us to leave our extra suitcases at the Inn for the week we were cruising. That way we only had one large suitcase apiece plus our computer bags.

Saturday morning we had a wonderful continental breakfast of eggs and sausage, muffin, milk and melon slices at the hotel. The Shuttle picked us up at the front door and took us back to the airport where we met up with the Holland America Cruise people. They put us on a big bus and we headed to the Port. We embarked out of Port Everglades. It was fun getting to the dock and seeing all the big cruise ships at the different docks.

We were onboard before noon and we sent up to the Lido deck to have some lunch. This deck has a huge dining area that is open from about 5 am for breakfast and is open until midnight!! The ice cream bar is always open and the food has all been fantastic – They feed a lot of people!! Even though this is 'fast food' we still eat on glass plates with nice silverware and cloth napkins. We can have as much or as little as we want!! Fun!! Interestingly enough there is not an open bar for soda!! There is water, tea and lemonade – free, all you can drink but you have to request coke, diet coke or sprite from the servers. We purchased a soda card on Saturday for $25 for 20 sodas!! That makes them about 1/3 the regular price and you don't have to pay the 15% gratuity either.

The ship is sooo gorgeous!! The elevator doors are works of art. There are outside elevators too – so you can see the sea as you go up or down. My mom would have hated them - but they don't bother me and I love being able to see all around as I ride up to deck 10 or down to deck 3. Deck 1 and 2 are within the bowels of the ship .

We were able to get in our stateroom by 3 o'clock and so were able to drop off our computer bags and my purse. Our main suitcases disappeared into the bus we rode to the port and we didn't see them again until after dinner when they finally got delivered to our room. We joined a tour of the ship for first timers and it was good – it showed us how to find our way around ship – we of course had already found the Lido deck (deck 9) but we were shown the casino, the library, the atrium, the photo shop, the shopping areas, the beautiful dining rooms, the theatre and of course all of the bars. Lots and lots of bars!! We have found though that we can sit down and enjoy the live music and order a coke and relax as well as those who drink.

For all the bars and availability of liquor I haven't seen any drunkenness – other than the stumbling gait of EVERYONE because of the movement of the ship. None of us have our sea legs yet! The seas got rough Sunday night and all day monday and we were all staggering around. (By the time ran into rough water again on Thursday and Friday we didn't stagger as much even though the seas were rougher and the tropical depression had turned into a hurricane - we still walked like a bunch of drunks but we seemed to have better control.)

We joined everyone on deck at 5 pm for the going away party. We all received a souvenir glass – everyone else had mai tai's or rum punch in theirs – we got ours with coke and diet coke instead!!

We got to watch four cruise ships leave Port Everglades ahead of us. I don't know how they decide who goes when but we got to follow them all out into the ocean. We had to leave the party up on deck 9 and 10 early – even before we sailed because we have the early dinning schedule – 5:45 PM ...I chose that one so that I could enjoy their fabulous meals and still have my blood sugars at a good level by the time I went to bed at night, when I get to poke my finger and check my sugar level.

The meal was fantastic. It is a beautiful dining room and each place setting had two or three knives and forks and spoons, plus a whole array of silverware at the top of the dishes too – they are your desert utensils! The servers unfolded our linen napkins and placed them on our laps! Then they handed us a menu with about eight choices of appetizers (including soups, salads, and regular appetizers and another eight choices of entrees. Ed and I both chose the “tower of ...(can't remember now what it was called!) it was crabmeat and avocados and it was good.. A little too fishy for me but I still enjoyed it. The main entree was prime rib and it was sooo good. Ed had pork chops and he enjoyed that too. Then they came around with the dessert menu!! Everything was soo delicious! The only downside was our table. There were places for eight and there were only six of us. The other four people at our table was a group of ladies -either sisters or good friends – but they spoke mainly in Spanish. Three of the four had flown in from Mexico City for the cruise where they met up with the one lady from Ft Lauderdale. So they chatted back and forth in Spanish and left us out of most of their conversation.

Saturday night they had a LATE show in the theatre – it was the welcome show and they only put it on once so we had to stay up late for that one... it started at 10:30 pm, but it was worth the wait.

Sunday morning we slept in till about 9:15 and then got up and got ready and went to breakfast. This meal was at the Lido deck again – we had fresh omelette's made to order with fresh fruit and milk to drink. We met a fun couple from Arkansas and shared our breakfast table with them. (We ran into them at lunch time again so continued our conversations.) Then we went back to our stateroom and changed into our swim suits and headed up to the Lido deck - it was packed so we went on up to the 10^th level deck and found some chaise lounges and enjoyed the sun and the sea. We read and talked u

ntil all of a sudden a squall went past and sent everyone scurrying inside to get out of the rain. By the time we had gathered up our towels and books and gotten down the steps to the Lido deck the squall had passed and the decks were clear so we got our choice of some nice seating around the pool and hot tubs. It was a day AT SEA. So we just relaxed an enjoyed.. At one point they came on the intercom and were telling us where we were (latitude and longitude- lots of help there !! HAH! ) and how fast we were traveling. They also said that there was a tropical depression forming but they were hoping that it wouldn't come our direction.

All afternoon the sea got rougher and rougher. The boat movement became much more pronounced. As we came out of our cabin dressed and ready for our first formal dinner and couldn't even walk straight. Here we are all gussied up looking like a couple of cheap drunks. However, everyone else was walking the same way. This ship isn't as large (width wise especially) as the Royal Caribbean that we sailed on before so even though the captain is employing the stabilizers we can definitely feel it. As the server from the bar came to our table to take the drink orders one of the ladies said she didn't dare drink anything stronger than water and the server said the joke at the bar was that when the seas were rough, the more you drank the less wobbly you walked – We did

n't test that theory out. I wore the gorgeous red dress from Kecia's wedding – it still fits me better than it did for her wedding!!

As we were getting dressed for dinner I heard Ed groan – what is wrong I asked...he didn't say a word, so I asked again --- he said my black shoes... Did you forget them I asked – no and he held two totally different black shoes out for me to see – two left feet!! So he ended up wearing his suit with sandals and black socks. Its not a style you want to copy!!

At tonights dinner we started off with shrimp cocktails...the shrimp were so big and so juicy. Then I had crab legs and Ed had a new york steak. The crab legs had been cut in half length wise!! So I didn't have to dig for the meat!! WOW! Then for desert I had an ice cream sundae and Ed had the pineapple flambe'. What makes these meals really nice (besides the service, the dining room, the music and candlelight, etc) is that they aren't huge servings. You aren't stuffed as you walk away. You can fool yourself into thinking that you didn't have too many calories since you are stuffed to the gills.

There were a lot fewer guests in the dining room last night and I think it is because of the rough seas. Thank heavens Ed and I have been able to handle all of it with out any problems at all. I thought I might have to head down to the infirmary to get some Dramamine (which they hand out for free) but I've been fine.

They put on a fantastic show in the theatre and even though the boat was rocking in the 8-10 foot swells, those dancers didn't miss a beat!! AMAZING. It was 60's music and we loved it. We are going to have to break down and admit we are getting old when we go on a cruise and they play OUR music - for a whole show! There aren't many children on this cruise – certainly not like there was on the Royal Caribbean. I would say 90% of the cruisers are age 40 and above. Yes Jamie – that would make you a kid again !!

We are enjoying the balcony in our room – even though we are getting the tail winds from a hurricane now, it is still warm!!! I think they said 77 degrees!! Its warmer outside than in!! They over do the air conditioning in some of the areas – most of it is comfortable but I did buy a zip up sweatshirt on board today and it feels so nice. So Kelly and Jamie – pack a sweater. (I found out later that they turned the air conditioners on high to help those who were suffering from motion sickness!! )

I did have problems getting to sleep with the waves – Ed had opened the cupboard door that has the little refrigerator in it because he says it gets so hot in there – anyway, the door opened and closed and opened and closed and opened and closed with the movement of the ship. I just keep telling myself that we are making memories!! We have had the lifeboat drill and they tell us they will stay afloat even if they are overloaded and even if they fill up with water. I know how to put on my life jacket and I know which life boat we have been assigned to! I am set!!

This morning (Monday ) we arrived at 7 am at Grand Turk Island – but because of the winds and waves our captain chose not to dock.- He said that he was informed that the water and beach excursions had been canceled due to inclement weather. There are only 8 days a year that Grand Turk does not enjoy sunshine – this is one of them. instead this is another day at sea and we are heading straight to Tortola. All those people who had prebooked excursions will be credited that amount back to their accounts. I didn't feel too badly as I just rolled over and went back to sleep!! 7am EDT is tooo early for anything!!

We headed up to the Lido deck for breakfast and I had a waffle smothered in berries and whipped cream and a bowl of fresh melon and pineapple. Also – fresh squeezed orange juice!!
I didn't think anyone made their own orange juice anymore!

There are a lot of different activities on board – even closing off the outside decks because they are too slippery from the rain – but we aren't bingo players and we aren't into art auctions and the movies they've shown so far haven't caught our eye. We have wandered and talked to people and read our books and just relaxed. We did buy the embarkation picture they took of us and I had Ed get the cute scrapbooks that were on cle

arance sale for just $6 so I will have fun scrapbooking my vacation when I get home. Then we wandered over to the shops....I got my jacket and we got a cute silver bell that has Zuiderdamm - then Ed drug me over to the jewelry store (I mean I fought him every step of the way ;-) and bought me a lovely emerald necklace – we looked at matching earrings too but they were just way tooo expensive.

Then we headed back to the dining room (the fancy one) for lunch – they serve all three meals there every day – I had raspberry soup – YUMMMMY. It is a cold soup and it is probably made up of blended raspbe

rries and cream. Ed had a black bean soup. Then we both had deep fried fish and chips. It was good. We sat at a table with four other people and had a fun visit with them.

This afternoon we have taken naps and read and I've been typing. I have to say I love being so thoroughly spoiled by our cabin steward. Din comes in at least twice a day to tidy up the room,

bring fresh ice , turn down the sheets at night for us and leave their famous towel art- - This is a cute crab – last night they came to our room with a complimentary fruit bowl – bananas and oranges – YUM. There are two white cotton terry robes for our use onboard. Everyday there are printed activities with highlights about the next port so we will lknow where we are going and when.

All in all, in spite of the weather it's been great!