January 22, 2020 - After breakfast and a late check out, we headed over to Port Everglades. Without any hassles, we checked in, located our home for the next 12 days, Stateroom 6057, and met up with the Stewarts for lunch. We unpacked and settled in before meeting up for Happy Hour at the Ocean Bar before dinner. We LOVE our new dining room wait staff, Djoko, Ferries, and Ronaldo, the Wine Steward. Afterwards, we went to the Rolling Stone lounge to listen to the Rock -n- Roll Band for a while.
January 23, 2020 - After breakfast in the Lido, Teri, Alan, and I went to hear the Future Cruise presentation. We gathered the literature, and then went back to the Stewarts' balcony to discuss future cruises.
In no time, we identified two cruises, one back to the Caribbean next January and another one back to Canada, Greenland, etc. Sooooo, after lunch, we went back down to the Future Cruise desks to book our cruises with Natalia! Sooooooooooooo excited!
January 24, 2020 - Another fabulous sea day! Today, Rob read and I worked out at the gym. I have to try to minimize the damage from the delicious food. We also spent some time on our gorgeous balcony reading and relaxing. After dinner we attended the incredible performance of the six HAL very talented dancers.
January 25, 2020 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROBIN!!!! Today, we spend the day at St. Maarten. Sadly, there is still LOTS of damage from the hurricane two years ago.
I only made one small purchase, lipstick, and we were returning to the ship. We did stop by an Internet Café to call Robin and Ari/Mom.
January 26, 2020 - Today, we visited Port-de-France, Martinque, Lesser Antilles, the furthest west island of the Caribbean.
It was Sunday, so most shops were closed. We did visit the Bibliotech Schoelcher, originally built in Paris, but they disassembled and shipped to Martinque, then reassembled.
We also saw the statue of Josephine, Napoleon's wife, who was born and raised on the island. Her family was heavily involved in slave trading, so she wasn't very respected. When her head fell (or most likely, knocked off) during riots in 1991, the government did not bother, not has yet, to put her head back on.
Her great, great, great grandfather brought coffee to the island in 1726 which eventually caused coffee to flourish in the Caribbean.
January 27, 2020 - Bridgetown, Barbados. Today, we had a Viator/Trip Advisor tour booked with a private driver/car. Our first destination was the Harrison Cave.
This was a unique cave tour in that we rode on a tram instead of walking! Along the way, the driver stopped and we were able to get out for pictures. Great tour! We then rode up to Highland Point for a fabulous view of the ocean. We traveled to Bathseba Rocks but didn't actually get to visit them. Not sure was happened, perhaps miscommunication, and traveled on to the Mount Gay Rum Distillery Visitor's Center where Teri and Alan made a few purchases. Alan and Teri treated us to a fabulous dinner at the Pinnacle Grill. The food was absolutely amazing! Thanks, Teri and Alan!
January 28, 2020 - St. Lucia - a great place to spend my 66th birthday - sunny and GREEN! Best of all, our tour guide, Neil, through Viator/Trip Advisor was the VERY BEST tour guide I've ever experienced. He listened carefully to all our requests, and made sure that we got to see everyting on our list. We drove to Soultries and Ceneries, lovely seafood/beach destinations.
Along the way, we stopped at a roadside stand to learn about the Calabash gourd used by the islanders. We also tasted cassava bread, made from a plant, and absolutely delicious. We visited the Botanical Gardens to see the Diamond Falls. We stopped for a photo op of the beautiful Pitons!
Best of all, was our roadside stop for a rum/sauce/jam tasting. The owner was extremely entertaining and we purchased rum, banana ketchup and creole sauce! Finally, on our way back to the ship we drove thru the University, which were previously French and British historical buildings. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED our day in St. Lucia!!!!!!
January 29, 2020 - St Kitts and another Viator/Trip Advisor tour. We drove around the entire island, stopping at the Batik factory, views of the gorgeous beaches, the Brimstone Fortress, lava rocks from the volcano and an amazing view of the point where the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean comes together.
January 30, 2020 - And of course, my favorite port of all, St. Thomas! We headed straight to my favorite jewelry store - Alpha's! AND, in his usual fashion, Rob spent WAY TOO MUCH money on several pieces of jewelry for me. While we were waiting for my jewelry to be cleaned, etc. and Teri's jewelry to be completed, the owner, Sonny, sent us to lunch at Gladys! This is a "can't not" type of place that should never be missed while visiting St Thomas. They have the world's best ginger beer! The fish sandwiches are large enough to share. So after a fabulous lunch, we strolled around until the beautiful new jewelry was finished.
February 1, 2020 - HAL's private island, Half Moon Cay. My traveling partners didn't want to visit the island, so I ventured off by myself. It was a gloriously sunny day, so I walked the entire length of the island and back for over 90 minutes. Along the way, I took the time to write:
Yes, grateful for so much - travel, beautiful destinations, cruises, friends, family, retirement, good health, and a life full of blessings.
February 2, 2020 - Time to return to our home, sweet home. While it is wonderful to travel, it is always awesome to come back home, rested and relaxed!
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