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Magical JenK
02-29-2008, 04:39 PM
Have fun on your cruise!! Remember us in the cold!! Have a great trip! Take photos & share w/the rest of us!!

:sun: :woohoo: :naturesun:

sunshinecindy
02-29-2008, 05:23 PM
We'll be thinking about you...well, jealous of course. Have a great time and make sure to tell us all about it when you get back.

lanny76
02-29-2008, 05:34 PM
Oh man, wouldn't I love to be in your shoes! A cruise, with just me and Dh, that would be heaven on earth - or water, should say. Have a great time!!

spring
03-02-2008, 10:14 AM
Thanks, guys! I'll actually be missing logging on. I'm still in my hotel in San Juan, but I'll be leaving in about an hour for the cruise ship. You are ALL going with me! If I find any internet cafes on the islands, I'll be sure to check in.:hugs:

ligrumpygirl
03-02-2008, 10:18 AM
Soooo jealous! Have a drink of the day for me! :cooldance:

~Kathie
03-02-2008, 11:22 PM
Have a wonderful time!!!!

spring
03-05-2008, 01:23 PM
Today we are in Barbados and had a wonderful tour. About to go shopping! Dominica yesterday was just okay, St Thomas, the day before was nice. Off to Antigua tomorrow, then St Kitts and finally St Martaan. You are all here with me. I'm toasting you every night! Talk to all of you soon.:sunshine:

speechteachri
03-05-2008, 10:45 PM
Oh what I would give right now for sunshine and the warm breeze......You are so lucky!!! Hope you are enjoying every minute!!!!!!!:sunshine:

linanglab
03-06-2008, 07:15 AM
Sounds like you are having such a wonderful time! That would be such an awesome experience!!!! Enjoy EVERY second!!!!!

Magical JenK
03-06-2008, 09:58 PM
Pat-
I'm glad you're enjoying your trip & still have enough time to stop by & say hi to us!! Keep on having fun!! We'll all be here when you get back!

spring
03-07-2008, 09:25 AM
Hi, gang! Today we are beautiful St. Kitts. It's actually a first for me. It's warm, but has a lovely breeze. The houses are very colorful and I'm impressed by the cleanliness of the town. Yes, I miss logging on everyday to visit with all my SR friends. However, I'm toasting you every night. Will be back in a couple days. I guess I'll have a lot of catching up to do. Talk to all of you soon.:sunshine:

coastalgirl
03-07-2008, 09:45 AM
Pat-
That sounds just wonderful. Even here it is cold and dreary today. :( Have tons of fun!!! Can't wait to hear (read) all about your trip!!!

jl8595
03-07-2008, 03:02 PM
So how much has Nana raked in at the casino now?? :rotfl:

Your dog misses you...sometimes...well...probably not. She's too busy with the kids. Henry loves the pink octopus...it's his now. But Holly stole his stuffed polar bear in retaliation. Heading down to check on your kitties shortly. Glad you're having fun!!!

:sunshine:

spring
03-10-2008, 11:11 AM
Hey, all! I'm back! I had a great time. I'm not sure which will take longer - doing all my laundry or catching up on SR!

linanglab
03-10-2008, 11:20 AM
Welcome back!!!! Sorry your trip is over, but glad to have you back!

sunshinecindy
03-10-2008, 11:24 AM
Welcome back. I know it went a lot quicker for you then us. You missed some good contests, but we have more starting. Forget the laundry, it isn't going anywhere.

spring
03-10-2008, 11:56 AM
Welcome back. I know it went a lot quicker for you then us. You missed some good contests, but we have more starting. Forget the laundry, it isn't going anywhere.

Great advice! BTW, I LOVE your new picture!:sunshine:

askomsky
03-10-2008, 11:56 AM
Welcome back! Can't wait to hear all about it!

lanny76
03-10-2008, 03:33 PM
Welcome back! Glad you had a good time, and hope you can get all caught up soon - and we'd love to hear more, or see pics!!

spring
03-10-2008, 06:08 PM
Okay, I guess I will attempt my 1st TR. I went to so many islands, I'm going to have to do it in installments this week.

Many of you know that DH & I were to fly out of Hartford at 7:30AM Saturday, March 1st. As luck turned out, a snowstorm was forecasted to hit Friday night around 10PM until 12Noon Saturday. Predictions ranged from 4-8inches and up. Since we live nearly an hour from the airport, I booked a room at the airport Sheraton for Friday night. We arrived around 3PM to check-in. The room was VERY nice. Of course, I booked it through SR shopping. The hotel is located between, and connected to, the 2 terminals at the airport. We took a walk down to scope out the American Airlines terminal, then came back and ate dinner at the hotel's restaurant. We just had the cheeseburger platter, figuring we'd have gourmet meals on the cruise ship for the next week.

We turned in around 10:30PM, shortly after the snow began to fall. At 5:30 the next morning, we awakened to the sounds of plows outside our window. We got ready and walked out to the window facing the airport and saw a few of the 6AM flights being de-iced. It looked like there was only around 4 inches of snow, so we were relieved. The runway was being plowed and everything appeared to be "business as usual." I have to mention that it takes a lot for the Hartford airport to be closed.

We ate a light breakfast, checked out of the hotel, then proceeded to the terminal hauling our luggage. The line was short and we checked in at the kiosk and surrendered our two suitcases. A quick call assured me that my 80 year old Mom (to be called NaNa) had no trouble getting to the Philadelphia airport for her 7:35AM flight. She said they only had a little rain there, but was worried about us getting out. The plan was for her to fly out and meet us in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Our flight was to get in shortly before hers, so we'd meet her on arrival.

Well, the best laid plans don't always work. :( The 6AM planes seemed to have no trouble getting out of the airport. Our plane was at the gate from the evening before, so we boarded on time. At 7:30AM, everyone was seated in the plane waiting to take off, except there was about 5 inches of snow on the wings of the aircraft, and the snow was not letting up. The pilot came on and said we just needed to be de-iced and then we would be leaving in about 20 minutes. Yeah.........well, the plane two before us got de-iced too early, and had to turn back around to be de-iced again. Guess which plane got bumped from de-icing? You guessed it. Finally, two hours later, we finally were de-iced and took off. NaNa's plane took off 1/2 hour late, but she still arrived 1 1/2 hours before we did. After an initial panic set in when she couldn't reach us by cell phone (she was borrowing a cell phone and had no idea that we couldn't get calls while in the air), she called my daughter (Lori, jl8595) who assured her that we had taken off late and to just make herself comfortable in a chair for a while.

Well, NaNa, being resourceful, found a sign pointing to the Hotel/Casino. She made her way in, picked out a slot machine, and won over $250 on a nickel machine while waiting for us to land!

We finally landed at 1PM and, while DH waited for the checked luggage, I went looking for NaNa. I finally found her 1 terminal over outside the Casino. We walked back to my terminal just as DH came out with the luggage. We hailed a taxi, then made our way to Hotel Miramar in San Juan, close to the Condado Beach area.

The Hotel had mixed reviews in Trip Advisor. Either you loved it or hated it, but the price was right. The hotel was old, but very clean. The rooms were big and included a mini fridge and microwave. A little restaurant was tucked in next to the lobby. A drug store was almost across the street and a food store called "Pueblo" was 1 block away. The Condado beach area was about 5 blocks away. After getting settled in the room, it was about 3:30PM. The small restaurant didn't open until 5:30PM and we had didn't have anything to eat in the 6 hours we were on the plane (yes, American "sells" food, but they hardly had anything on board. Everything sold out way before they got to our seats.) We ventured up the street and found a Domino's Pizza joint. Seeing no other option, we ordered a large pizza and drinks and took them back to our rooms to eat. Afterwards, we went to the Pueblo to buy two bottles of wine for the cruise. Most cruiselines will let you bring on 2 bottles of wine only as long as you consume it in your cabin. If you make the mistake of taking it to the dining room, they charge a "corkage" fee of up to $25 per bottle to allow you to drink your own wine! We also bought some bottled water to use at the hotel and take with us on the cruise.

We didn't do much the rest of the evening and turned in early, tired from our flights and the temperature change of 50 degrees in one day. The next morning, we went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast and got there soon after it opened. We were told to sit anywhere by the cook, then just sat there and sat there and sat there. I spied a coffee urn at the bar and helped myself. DH and NaNa couldn't believe I did it, but after a while, they, too, decided it was the only way they were going to get any. After 20 minutes of not seeing a soul to give us a menu or take our order, we got ahold of the fellow at the main lobby desk. He made some excuse about somebody being late. Five minutes, that same fellow came over and asked us what we wanted to eat. I asked him what they had. He was shocked we didn't even have menus! After that was all taken care of, he took our orders. Breakfast came out fast and was very good.

After breakfast, we decided to take a walk out to the Condado beaches. It was absolutely gorgeous! We walked about 2 miles or more before coming back to the hotel. During our walk, we had our first view of our cruise ship, the Carnival Destiny. We were all impressed with her size, even from a mile away! When we got back, NaNa had to make a mad dash over to the drug store to buy some souvenirs, then we came back, repacked our luggage, and checked-out of the hotel by 10:30AM. Since it was NaNa's first visit to San Juan, I haggled with a cab driver to get a good price for a tour of Old San Juan, then drop-off at the cruise terminal, also in Old San Juan. We lucked out with our driver. He gave us an excellent tour, reciting much of the history of the area. While driving on the main shopping area, Forteleza Street, NaNa (who, for whatever reason, has vivid dreams that sometimes come true) suddenly stated she had dreamed about this street at least four times in the past. That sent chills up my spine! After the tour, the cab driver dropped us off in front of the cruise terminal. A porter immediately grabbed our luggage and we had to run after him to keep up! He deposited it on the belt taking it to the cruise ship and pointed the way for passengers to go (after a tip, of course). It was 12 Noon by now, and boarding wouldn't commence until 1PM. We had an easy check-in process, then sat down and waited for boarding. At 12:45PM, they started the boarding process. We got on almost immediately and had to drag our carry-on luggage with us to the buffet - nobody could get into their staterooms until 2:30PM. After a leisurely lunch and a look around, it was 2:30PM. DH and I had a balcony cabin and got in right away. NaNa had an oceanview cabin two floors below, looking out the front of the ship. I went with NaNa to help her into her room. Her key did not open the cabin. We went to the pursers desk, only to find a LONG line, many having the same problem. 1/2 hour later, NaNa had a new key and was able to get into her cabin to deposit her carry-on bag.

Upcoming installment: our first evening on the Carnival Destiny!

askomsky
03-10-2008, 06:30 PM
WOW!!! What a way to start off the trip!! Sounds like it was a lot of work. Can't wait to hear about the good stuff! lol

spring
03-10-2008, 07:04 PM
WOW!!! What a way to start off the trip!! Sounds like it was a lot of work. Can't wait to hear about the good stuff! lol

Yeah, but I always like to say that a bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work!

Sunday, March 2nd on the Carnival Destiny.

I have been on many cruises, but not on Carnival in around 11 or 12 years. I remember Carnival ships as being glitzy, almost gaudy. The Destiny is around 13 years old, but refurbished around a 1 year ago. I found the decor to be quite attractive, not at all gaudy. Our stateroom was larger than those of other ships we've been on, complete with a leather couch! The bed was quite comfortable, probably as comfortable as any 4 star hotel's bed. The room and the entire ship was immaculate. The balcony was small, but about the same size as any other we've had.

Walking around the ship, I was surprised that there were around 3500 guests onboard. I rarely had lines to wait in, even at the buffet. The Destiny is a bit wider than most ships, so it has more space to disperse the people to.

After unpacking all our luggage and checking out the ship, it was time for dinner. We had early seating as NaNa is used to eating early. Since this trip was all about her 80th birthday, we aimed to please!

Our waiter, Ernesto, was on his first cruise since his vacation home. He had been with Carnival Cruiseline for 14 years! I think the Destiny was all new to him, but he didn't miss a beat. He was one of the funniest waiters we've had in a long time! Our back waiter was a young lady named Herlina. As the cruise progressed, we found out she was a talented dancer.

Anyway, back at dinner, our first night's dinner was good, ending with my favorite dessert, creme brulee! It was an awesome start to what I hoped would be a great cruise. After dinner, we went to see a show in the Palladium Lounge, a very large auditorium with stadium seating in the balcony. There were only a few lousy seats to be had. Luckily, we had great ones. The first night's act was a singer who was originally in "The Platters." He put on a great show! He had us all singing with him. Shortly after the show, the ship sailed. We chose to watch San Juan glide away from our balcony, rather than join the throngs of people on the top deck. As we were standing there, I saw a shooting star. I figured it was a good omen of a great cruise to come!

Next installment: St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

ligrumpygirl
03-10-2008, 07:36 PM
OHHH The Destiny! I love that boat! I have been on it twice!

St. Thomas...my favorite island...can't wait to hear!

spring
03-10-2008, 07:51 PM
Monday, March 3rd:

We woke up to a bright, warm sunny day. We all went to the breakfast buffet, then went back to my balcony to watch our arrival into St. Thomas. Celebrity's Constellation was already in port, and Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Sea docked right after us at Havensight Terminal. Since Puerto Rico is a US territory, we didn't have the elongated US customs and clearance to go through. We got off the ship within 15 minutes of it docking and headed to the line of taxis right off the pier. I wanted NaNa to have a tour of the island. Just as we got to the taxis, it started to rain. One of the taxi drivers pointed to an open sided taxi (it can easily fit 15 people or more) to get into for the island tour. We sat there for about 1/2 hour as the driver negotiated with other people. The rain let up prior to us leaving, and it turned out to be a gorgeous day.

As we got started, we soon found out that fellow passengers in the taxi wanted to just go into town or the beach. The taxi driver let off 4 people in Charlotte Amalie, then headed out to Magen's Bay beach to let off 2 others. At this point, just NaNa and I were left in the taxi. The driver came around and said it wouldn't be fair to take us on a tour in "this weather" (now beautiful!), so he'd drop us back off at the ship. We both knew he didn't have enough passengers to do the tour, but my Mom did get to see quite a big of the island just dropping people off. NaNa insisted on giving him a tip, but luckily, the driver didn't ask for payment, nor did I offer.

We then shopped around Havensight pier prior to catching another taxi into town. Charlotte Amalie was quite crowded with so many cruise ships in. After walking around for a while, we found a post office to mail off a couple of postcards. NaNa then proceeded to hit every tacky souvenir shop in town! Whenever I travel with her, she can never pass by a souvenir shop. (On one trip with her in Amsterdam, we were walking to a museum across town. Unbeknowst to her, our route took us right through the redlight district. It was 10:30 in the morning, so it was safe at that time. As we were walking, she spotted a "souvenir" shop and badgered me to go in it. I could clearly see that it was a head shop, but couldn't tell her or she'd be upset with being in the redlight district. It took a lot of convincing to bypass that shop. Only after we came home, and after she was bragging to my siblings that we never went near the redlight district, did I tell her. She was horrified!)

Anyway, after NaNa hit practically every souvenir shop in town and I ran into Del Sol to get some color-changing products for my granddaughters, we caught another taxi back to the pier. We went back to the ship for a quick lunch, then headed back out to the shops at the pier. NaNa wanted a thin gold chain to wear. We went to several stores. Each time they gave her a price, she started to pull out her money. I pulled her out of the stores and explained that you had to haggle the prices. Then I found a store I knew the reputation of, which also happened to be not crowded, and negotiated for a gold chain she fell in love with. NaNa was quite pleased with her purchase, but still had some more souvenir stores she had missed. Her list of people she needed to buy for kept growing as she found more souvenir stores.:rotfl:

We went back to the ship and decided to take a nap before getting cleaned up for dinner. It's amazing how the heat will sap the energy out of you when you're not used to it!

Dinner was again fun with Ernesto and Herlina. I am not what you would call a gourmand, but I was not impressed with the food on the ship at all. It was probably the biggest drawback I saw. I was so unimpressed with the food that I actually lost a pound on this cruise! That's a first for me. I usually gain about 3 pounds each cruise, and have never lost weight before. Other than walking around a lot, I didn't exercise, either. However, dinner was fun anyway, ending with a big Conga Line around the dining room, including 80 year old NaNa!

After dinner we hit the casino. Of course NaNa won a little (she is soooooo lucky), and I lost the little I put in the slot machines. Then it was off to the show.....a comedian, who was an absolute riot! My sides ached from laughing so hard! After the show, we were off again, checking out the different things going on simultaneously. I'll say one thing for Carnival....they have almost non-stop entertainment. You can do as much or as little as you want.

Next Installment: Dominica

missymouse
03-10-2008, 10:30 PM
Hi, gang! Today we are beautiful St. Kitts. It's actually a first for me. It's warm, but has a lovely breeze. The houses are very colorful and I'm impressed by the cleanliness of the town. Yes, I miss logging on everyday to visit with all my SR friends. However, I'm toasting you every night. Will be back in a couple days. I guess I'll have a lot of catching up to do. Talk to all of you soon.:sunshine:

We went to St. Kitts for our honeymoon. Did you see the sleeping policemen when you were there? Can't wait to hear more of your impressions of the island and what you may have seen.

spring
03-11-2008, 05:46 AM
We went to St. Kitts for our honeymoon. Did you see the sleeping policemen when you were there? Can't wait to hear more of your impressions of the island and what you may have seen.

No, we didn't see any sleeping policemen.......but what a beautiful place!

missymouse
03-11-2008, 07:41 AM
When we were there we kept seeing road signs that said "Sleeping Policeman ahead". We couldn't figure it out. Finally we took a tour of the island and our guide informed us that a "sleeping policeman" was what they call speed bumps here in the U.S. Somewhere I have a picture of the sign.

spring
03-11-2008, 12:28 PM
Tuesday, March 4th: Dominica

We sailed all night from St. Thomas and pulled into Dominica around 10AM. Dominica is very mountainous, from volcanoes, I think, and boasts 365 rivers. The last time we were in Dominica, we went river tubing and had an awesome time. This time, with NaNa in tow, we thought we'd get a limited taxi tour. She's not interested in rainforests, and that's where the main attractions are: Trafalgar Falls and the Emerald Pool. We moseyed into the small town full of street vendors and taxi drivers holding island maps. No matter which taxi driver we talked to, we couldn't get anything except their "stock" tour without paying exorbitant prices. We all just decided to walk around and poke our noses into the vendor's carts. This all lasted around an hour as their were two more cruise ships in and the area was small. I hate crowds. We did manage to purchase a couple of postcards and found a Post Office to mail them. NaNa wasn't too impressed with the town, so we got back on the ship, had lunch, checked out some programs on the ship, then took a quick nap. After dinner, we went to the show to see the Carnival Destiny's singers and dancers. They were great! We poked around in the casino and on deck for a while after, then turned in early for our big day in our next port.

Next Installment: Barbados and the singing taxi driver

lanny76
03-11-2008, 04:22 PM
Thanks for this installment about your trip - it was interesting. Too bad the tours were so pricey. Can't wait to see the next installment!

spring
03-11-2008, 05:19 PM
Wednesday, March 5th - Barbados at last!

I have to start this by saying that Barbados is one of my favorite caribbean islands. This was my 3rd visit, so I was knew the "ropes" so to speak.

I knew that we'd have to take a tour because Barbados is so beautiful. I was last there in November and we had a horrible tour with a horrible taxi driver. I was determined not to let that happen again.

Our ship docked early in the morning. Some off-brand cruise ship was already there, but we got the "choice" dock with the shortest walk to the terminal. Within a couple of hours, three more cruise ships joined us in port, including the Queen Mary 2.

We took off for the taxi area and the first one we came upon literally badgered me. I was disgusted and decided to move as far away from him as possible. Way near the end of taxis we were greeted by a soft driver who was in awe that we brought NaNa with us to the island. He offered us the same deal as the other driver, but he was well spoken and not at all intimidating. We got into his small minivan and drove away. First we were taken along the West Coast of Barbados, the Caribbean side. He pointed out different hotels and beaches, including one area where you could actually swim side by side with sea turtles in the wild. As we drove we learned a lot about the taxi driver. Apparently, he lives 6 months a year on the island taking care of his mother, then the other 6 months in Tennessee with his wife (a nurse). When in Tennessee, he is a drummer in a band. He proceeded to serenade us periodically throughout the drive. Then he headed inland to the top of a mountain with a view of the coast - gorgeous! NaNa was impressed there was a gift shop there, so you know where she went! Behind the gift shop were a pair of green monkeys entertaining a small crowd.
They were a lot of fun to watch. We then piled into the van and drove to the East Coast (the Atlantic Ocean side) to view incredible beaches. There were signs posted in many places about no swimming due to bad riptides. You could see the power in the surf! There were also many beautiful parks where the locals take a picnic lunch. As we were driving by one of these parks, a green monkey ran right across the road about 15 feet in front of the van. The driver told us you really have to watch out for the monkeys when you eat outdoors because they will steal your food.

Our tour ended after 2 1/2 hours, probably the ideal amount of time to sightsee for all of us. Anything longer than that, we start to get antsy.

After the tour, we went into the terminal building where there are stores and many vendor stalls. I picked up two more postcards and mailed them right there at the postoffice. Very convenient! With all the ships in port, the terminal building was crowded. We couldn't walk any faster than all the people in front of us. All of a sudden, NaNa got banged from behind by an aggressive man pushing a lady in a wheelchair. She was hit hard enough in the heels to get a bruise later on. Instead of an apology, the lady in the wheelchair said, "You just keep getting in our way." Oh by the way, they were on the Queen Mary 2 (big money). I told both of them they were rude and headed NaNa well away from them on the other side of a stall. A couple of minutes later, along comes this rude couple again and I swear they were heading right for NaNa. I stopped and said, "Don't even try it again." I could be brave because DH was a few feet behind them and closely watching what they were doing. I got a scowl, but they veered off on another course and left us alone.

We got back on the ship for lunch (can't miss a meal!) then headed back out to the terminal to shop for some souvenirs. The ship pulled out of port at around 5PM, so we waved bye bye to Barbados and the wonderful day spent there.

There was a dance by the table stewards at dinner, and my DH joined them in the dance. NaNa couldn't stop laughing, nor could anyone else at the surrounding tables.

We decided to get a portrait done of NaNa, so we set out looking for just the right photographer. NaNa hates to have her picture taking. If they take it from a distance, her legs are too fat. If it's taken close-up, her wrinkles show. SHEEEESH! Needless to say, she refused to buy any of her pictures, nor were we allowed to purchase any of her.

Then it was back to the casino. NaNa was feeling lucky again and had a couple of her favorite machines to try. I lost my $20 once again, and even NaNa had no luck. The show was a juggler, and we decided to skip it and check out the action in other parts of the ship. It was the end of a good day!

Next Installment: Antigua

spring
03-11-2008, 07:52 PM
Thursday, March 6th: Antigua

We pulled into port on a bright sunny morning right next to a Celebrity ship. At the end of the dock are brightly colored stores. It looks very appealing. As soon as the ship cleared, we got off the ship and went right into the town. After looking around a bit, we decided to take a taxi tour again. The first driver we came upon gave us a reasonable price, brought us over to the side while he tried to talk others into joining us in the van. However, these people he was talking to decided they wanted a taxi to the beach. Remembering our experience in St. Thomas, we bailed out. We eventually found another taxi driver further in town. He had 3 Canadian couples and wanted the 3 of us to join them - same tour, same price. They seemed like really nice people, so we jumped into the van. He actually took us on a really nice tour of the island, stopping in a place called Nelson's Dockyard. The British Army had a long history in this area on the Southern Coast of Antigua. It had lots of old buildings and..........gift shops! NaNa was delighted. We had a short guided tour, then were on our own for 1/2 hour. When our time was about up, we went out into the parking lot looking for our van. Honestly, there must have been 20 or more of them parked there and they all looked alike! As we were poking through the parking lot, a lady in a jeep suddenly shot by us. "Bloody Tourists," she screamed. We yelled back our thanks before realizing she was not yelling at us, but was frustrated with the vans taking up all the parking spots. We got a good laugh out of our ruffled British "friend." We finally found the van and the rest of our party, then it was off for more sightseeing. Antigua is also beautiful, but my heart still belongs to Barbados. 3 1/2 hours later, we finally rolled back into town. We got a great tour, but it was much longer than anyone of us had patience for. We climbed back onboard the ship and (again) had lunch. After lunch, NaNa wanted to go back in town to try her hand in a casino she saw close to the dock. DH decided to stay behind and take a nap. The casino was very dingy and had older models of slot machines. NaNa had a little bit of luck while I just donated to the cause, like usual. NaNa was excited because it was the first time she ever played in a casino on foreign soil.

After our casino adventure, we stopped at every souvenir shop, courtesy of NaNa. Amazingly, she didn't buy anything here! Eventually, hot and tired, she decided it was time to get back on the ship and have an ice cream cone.
I abstained because dinner was just in two hours.

We went through our usual routine of getting showered and dressed for dinner. It was one more night that I didn't like my dinner and disliked dessert. I spent more time picking at my food the whole cruise, and I am not at all like that. I eat quite a variety of foods, but I just didn't like meat that was hard to chew, cakes that were dry, and cheesecake that didn't taste like cheesecake at all. Picky, picky, I guess. At least I didn't gain any weight during the cruise - that's good!

There was another singer and dancer show on this night which we were looking forward to seeing. This was our 2nd big production show we'd gone to. Just as it started, they had to stop the show due to technical difficulties. I forgot to mention that this same thing happened during the 1st big show. Hmmmmmmmmm....... However, once the show started it was wonderful!

NaNa decided that she was boycotting the casino on the ship since she wasn't winning, so we did other things after the show.

Next installment: St. Kitts - a piece of paradise!

spring
03-12-2008, 07:39 PM
We went to St. Kitts for our honeymoon. Did you see the sleeping policemen when you were there? Can't wait to hear more of your impressions of the island and what you may have seen.

Missymouse, this one's for you!

Friday, March 7th: St Kitts

I was particularly excited about going to St Kitts as it is the only port on our itinerary that I never have been to. I wasn't disappointed! The distance from Antigua to St Kitts is not far, so it seemed like our ship was at a crawl all night. We arrived early in the morning and were lucky to be the only ship in port. We actually booked a panoramic tour through the cruiseline and were looking forward to it. Our tour started at 10:30AM, but by 8:30AM, we were off the ship and wandering around. Nothing much was open at this time except for one souvenir shop (yep, NaNa raced in!) As we walked through the first block of town, we found a series of vendor stalls tucked in the back. This is where we ended up doing much of our shopping. The vendors were just setting up when we arrived and were eager for our business. I saw a necklace that I liked made from volcanic beads and cats-eye that I liked. However, I wanted it with white stones instead of the blue that were in it. Before I knew it, the young girl strung a necklace to please my preferences. It was really cheap, too. I saw a couple of sundresses for my granddaughters and grabbed them, too. She gave me a "bulk" discount. Since NaNa was celebrating her 80th birthday, she ended up with two necklaces for the price of one, plus a kiss on the cheek from another vendor. She was quite pleased with her bargain. As we headed back to the ship to deposit our treasures, we passed another vendor with a small monkey and a baby monkey clinging to it's mother. He tried to thrust them in my arms so he could get money for a picture. I had no idea whether the monkeys ever had shots, so I refused to go near them. However, they were so darn cute! He even had the baby in a mini diaper. After a quick trip onto the ship, we headed out to the meeting place for the tour. We were put in a van with 5 other people and set out for a scenic tour. We explored both the caribbean side, went to a botanical garden/old sugar mill, then went to the Atlantic side of the Island. Again, I LOVED the Atlantic Ocean side of the island. At one high vantage point, we looked over a beautiful beach with condos going up in the hillside. What I wouldn't have done to own a piece of this beautiful island! Right in the middle of this beautiful area was a Marriott. I know what hotel I'd like to stay at if I ever came for a week!

I have pictures of most of the islands I've reviewed. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to load them from photobucket yet. Perhaps my daughter can help me in a week or two.

After our splendid tour, we ate lunch on the ship (big surprise) then went out into town again (now that the stores were open). We grabbed some more souvenirs and went back to see the monkeys from a distance. We also found an internet cafe at 10 cents a minute. This was great as the ship charges 75 cents a minute. It was back to the ship after that, with our usual dinner and show routine later on.

Last installment: St. Maarten

sunshinecindy
03-12-2008, 08:22 PM
Oh, I so want to go to St Kitts. We have friends there and they keep asking us to go back with them. Said we can even stay at their relatives house. Went to anguilla with one of them a couple years ago and its so cool to go with a local. Everyone knew everyone there...except us, we sort of stood out.

spring
03-13-2008, 06:01 AM
Oh, I so want to go to St Kitts. We have friends there and they keep asking us to go back with them. Said we can even stay at their relatives house. Went to anguilla with one of them a couple years ago and its so cool to go with a local. Everyone knew everyone there...except us, we sort of stood out.

St Kitts is so gorgeous, I'd definitely go if I were you! The temp was around 82 degrees, but there was a moderate warm breeze blowing. The locals said the wind is normal for Feb and March. They did mention it gets very HOT starting in April or May and there is no wind then at all. I'd pick your times carefully, but since you are already used to the heat, perhaps it's not that important.

spring
03-13-2008, 07:53 PM
Okay, here's our last port of call, St Maarten, Saturday, March 8th:

Today we pulled into this jewel of the caribbean and found ourselves to be the only ship in port. Whooohooo! However, this was a new change to the itinerary for our ship. Being a Saturday, I guess there is not always a cruise ship in port, so some of the shops and vendors were shut. I noticed within an hour that there was a scramble to open the shops. Chaching!

We got off the boat early, then walked up the pier to catch a water taxi into town. It's $4 one way, or you can buy a $6 unlimited r/t bracelet at this location only. After standing in a line of about 10 people for 15 minutes, we found out that there had been a party amongst some of the water taxi people the night before. Although the ticket/wristband sellers were there, the person responsible for opening up the office was not. Therefore, we couldn't get wristbands. The water taxi was waiting and waiting with no passengers. Finally, the wristband sellers told us to get on the boat as we would get a free ride over due to their boss not showing up. We climbed on board, but then one of the guys on the ship was insisting we pay $4 for the trip, then $4 for the trip back. He didn't sell wristbands and they could only be purchased in that location. He told us when we got back, we could purchase our wristbands for the unlimited rides for $6. Okay, so $4 + $4 + $6 did't make sense to any of us. We tried explaining it to him and agreed to pay $6 on our way back, but he was not listening. Finally we just flat out told him we were not paying until on our way back. As we got off the boat, he told us all not to bother coming back on the water taxi. We would have to take a van to get back to the boat ($3 each way). We told him fine and trotted off.

The town was pretty much still closed up, so NaNa wanted to try her luck in a casino. The first one I took her to was dingy and had really old slot machines. We didn't stay long. We walked down the street and found a much nicer, clean casino. I just watched as I was tired of donating money. NaNa broke about even. By the time she was done, all the stores were opening, so we again hit every tacky souvenir shop in town. I bypassed all the jewelry shops as I didn't want any more jewelry. Just as an aside, everyone talks up St. Thomas as a great place to buy jewelry. I personally think the deals are MUCH better in St Maarten.

After buying tacky souvenirs, hot sauce and tapestry table runners made in Belgium for our two grown DD's, we negotiated for a taxi back to the pier. Of course we had to go onto the ship for lunch. Couldn't spoil THAT pattern. After lunch, we got off the ship and shopped in the stalls right at the end of the pier. I'm not sure we bought anything there, but it was fun looking.

We stayed on the Dutch side of St Maarten/St Martin the whole time. I've been to the French side. There's a lot of high price stores there and it's pretty, but I prefer the charm of the Dutch side.

Then it was back to the ship and GoodBye St Maarten and goodbye to our last port of the cruise. Our ship sailed while we were at the "Last Supper."
This night we attempted to view our photos taken by the ship's photographers during the week of the cruise. The ship was spacious, but for some reason, the areas where the photos were exhibited were much too narrow. When you have a passenger list of 3500 people trying to view photos in such a small area - well, you get the idea. We didn't have too much luck at finding things and finally gave up. We decided to go to the show - an Illusionist, plus the ship's singers and dancers. The band started playing and the curtain went up and then.........for the 3rd time in a week they had technical difficulties and had to delay the start of the show. We waited about 15 minutes and the issues were still not resolved. We finally got up and left. NaNa wasn't too thrilled with the idea of an Illusionist anyway, so why spend our last night there? We did go to a towel folding class and I learned how to make an elephant out of a bath towel and hand towel. It was really cute, but I'm not sure I remember how to do it. We then went back to the cabins to finish packing and putting our suitcases out in the hall for disembarkation.

Then it was back to wandering around the ship from one activity to another before we finally went to bed.

Disembarkation, March 9th::cry:

The ship arrived in San Juan by 6AM. I was awakened by the vibration of the motors as we pulled into dock. We went out on our patio to watch (I'm sure the Captain REALLY needed our help), then got dressed and went topside for coffee. Eventually we had both eyes open, collected NaNa and went to breakfast - wouldn't want to skip a meal, after all!!! We all retired to my cabin after breakfast and watched satellite TV, made phone calls (free with my cell phone from San Juan), and watched the goings-on from the balcony. At 9AM, we left the cabin to go to a lounge to await disembarkation. We had number 8 our of 32. Even so, we didn't get called until 10:15AM, then were put in the Theater. They had funny clips running in there, a lot like America's Funniest Home Videos, so the time went by quickly. We finally got off at 11AM. NaNa's flight was at 4:30PM and ours was 6:15PM, so we weren't in any hurry. We got down to customs and were in line for around 20 more minutes, then were ushered into a large hall where all the non-carryon luggage was arranged by numbers. We quickly found #8, a porter grabbed our luggage, and we followed him to yet another customs agent. She gave a perfunctory nod and we were on our way. The porter had 3 bags, and when we gave him what we though was a generous $8, he informed us that he charged $10 per family. We were too stunned to argue at that point. Anyway, he DID find us a taxi right away, and off to the airport we went. NaNa was flying USAir and were flying American, so we had the driver drop us off at the USAir terminal. NaNa got in a huge line that wrapped around the terminal. They had the kiosk check-ins positioned so that you had to stand in this huge line whether or not you were using the kiosk. After 45 minutes in line, and with another 1/2 hour to go, a USAir agent came around (not for the first time), relooked at NaNa's ticket, and told her to get out of the line. He didn't want her to check in yet as her flight left in 4 hours. She tried to reason with him, but he was obnoxious. We got out of line, went to the American terminal, used the kiosk to check in and check two bags, and we were done! The funny thing was, our flight wasn't leaving for 5 3/4 hours!

NaNa was very upset by now, so we took her to lunch, then to another tacky souvenir shop to get snacks for the plane. It still was too early to go back to check her in, so I took her back to the casino. In a short time, she had won over $50. She was no longer upset! We then took her back to a much shorter line and I checked her in via the kiosk. Then we nosed around until it was time for our planes. We watched NaNa off through security and, wouldn't you know, her carryon bag of tacky souvenirs got searched! For whatever reason, she ALWAYS gets searched at airports. There must be something fishy about white haired 80 year old ladies that I don't know! She found her gate without problems and called me to let me know she'd be boarding soon.

We went to the American Airlines terminal and went through security. I had forgotten I had put hot sauce in my carry on, and yes, it was more than 3 ounces. Luckily, the TSA agent didn't like hot sauce and was insistent on me checking the carry on and even personally showed me the way to go back to do it. What a nice man!

Finally, we got to our gate and boarded ontime. While I was getting onboard, my DD called me to let me know that NaNa's plane was boarded, but delayed. NaNa then called me and said a gauge was broken on the plane and they had to wait for a replacement to come. To make a long story short, she got off the ground 2 hours late. We actually landed before her.
NaNa got off the plane at Philly, took a wrong turn, tried to go back, but the security guard wouldn't let her. She was upset and called me (like I could do anything about it in Hartford). Just then my brother found her, so alls well that ends well!

Hope I didn't bore all of you. I'll try to get pictures downloaded eventually, but I'm going to need DD's help for that. We're all kind of booked up this weekend for my oldest Granddaughter's birthday bash. Happy 8th birthday, Madeline. She was actually born today, March 13th, 2000.