Princess Regal Cruise - January 31 - February 7, 2016

January 31, 2016 - For our 30th cruise, we booked a cruise on the Princess Regal sailing from Fort Lauderdale! Daniel took us to the airport on a sunny, but chilly morning.  Our Delta flight was smooth and uneventful. While standing in line to board the ship, a gentleman tried to buy Rob's t-shirt off his back - SERIOUSLY.  Finally, I suggested that he check the Internet!  Once on board, we met up with Teri and Alan Stewart for lunch.  After unpacking, Rob decided to take a nap, so I worked out at the gym.  Next, we had our mandatory lifeboat drill, and then returned to our room to freshen up for dinner.  We met the Stewarts at the Wheelhouse Bar, which turned out to be our standard Happy Hour bar for the remainder of the cruise.

February 1, 2016 - We arrived at Princess Cay, the private island of Princess Cruise Lines.  Teri and Rob decided to stay on the ship.  Alan decided to take a swim on the island, and I decided to walk on the beach, but neither of us knew that the other had left the ship.

After my walk, I relaxed in a lounger reading my book, people watching, and enjoying the white sand and gorgeous Caribbean water.

February 2, 2016 - Day at sea.  My favorite!  Rob and I enjoyed breakfast on our balcony, then headed out to enjoy our day.  Rob's favorite spot is the Coffee Bar and mine is poolside reading a book. It was a gorgeous glorious day.

February 3, 2016 - St. Thomas.  Of course, Teri, Rob and Alan always have to tease me about my favorite comment in the Caribbean - "Look at the color of that water!"  I do love that water!  So, off we go downtown shopping on St. Thomas.  We went to our favorite jewelers, Alpha, and naturally, Rob spoiled me by purchasing a lovely sapphire bracelet to match the pendant and earrings Tritt gave me as a retirement gift. We strolled around town getting souvenirs for our family before returning to the ship. Back on board, we relaxed, enjoyed a delicious dinner at The Grille, thanks to Teri and Alan.  We celebrated my birthday in style!

February 4, 2016 - St. Maarten - I knew it was going to be a great day when traveling on the water taxi, we heard "Uptown Funk" - thought of David, since that's his favorite song, and smiled. We needed to buy one more family gift for Meme, when we turned the corner and there was a Catholic gift store.

After our purchase, we did a bit more shopping, got caught in a little rain, but eventually we caught a taxi to go to an airport bar that Alan had heard about. The taxi ride there was worth checking out the bar.  Once there, the sight was incredible. The beach was PACKED with folks waiting for the planes to take off or land at the end of the runway. We all enjoyed a drink at the Sunset Beach Bar and Grill.

It was actually really, really cool to watch the planes land and take off creating mini tsumanis on the beach!

February 5, 2016 - Another sunny day in the Caribbean.  I participated in a Breast Cancer Research walk with a delightful group of breast cancer survivors.  The 5K race began on the walking deck and about mid-way through I noticed none of the other gals were walking, but I knew that they hadn't passed me, so I was a bit perplexed.  I finished my laps and walked back down to where we registered for the race.  There sat all the gals, so I asked what was going on.  They informed me that they only walk a mile or so, and since I was the only one who had completed the race, I placed first, second and third!

February 6, 2016 - Our last day at sea,  I was enjoying my book when the Captain announced that we had a sick passenger on board that needed to be taken to Grand Turk for a medivac flight to Miami.  This would require a bit of detour, but would not impact our arrival back in Florida. This  announcement brought back the horrible memory of when my Dad was also taken off our cruise in Alaska.  Shortly after the announcement, I noticed a beautiful rainbow.

We enjoyed another delicious pizza instead of dining in the main dining room.

February 7, 2016 - And another lovely cruise comes to an end.