A couple of pictures....I hope

Well, most of the pictures are going to have to wait for our return, but on this cruise I was able to keep my mouth shut for a whole month (shocking!, I know!!) and keep secret from Tom that we were upgraded to a minisuite.  Tom is now lounging in the extra living space and exclaiming over a bathtub in the bathroom instead of just a shower and nearly giggling at the surprise.

Saturday

Greetings from Nassau, Bahamas

Well, actually I am posting this the following morning, on Saturday as we wait to disembark the Ruby (boo-hoo) and cross over to the Caribbean Princess (woo-hoo!)

Disembarkation is always a sad day when everyone leaves, but this trip it is much less hectic as half the passengers are staying onboard for the second week.  So not quite the mad rush for the elevators or chairs in the waiting lounges.  We have our table with our carryon luggage where we will 'get' to wait for about two hours until the last disembarkation group.  Then we will cross over to the CB where we will likely be arriving too early, and we will get to wait in chairs in the terminal for another hour or so, but we should be back onboard and settled by noonish.  

As for Nassau, we did not venture far afield on that port stop.  There have been a few robbery incidents of tourists recently, the State Dept. issued a warning to tourists, as did the ship, so we just meandered the local streets by the port, fought off the taxi drivers, checked out the straw market and came back onboard.  That's about it for this post....next report will come from the CB!

Back to Basics

Had a short but thorough post covering our Day in St. Thomas (Wednesday) all ready to go yesterday (it was a picture of the beach at Magen's Bay where we spent our day) and I figured since we had cell phone service we could at least use that to upload the blog entry.  I should have known better, too many bits and bytes of data over whatever they use for cell phones on that island.  So until we return to better service, as in maybe when we get home, pictures will have to wait or come only occasionally.

We had not been to Magen's Bay since our first cruise in 1982, so it was fun to return.  Spent the day floating on the water or relaxing on the sand.  Getting there and back involves the open air jitney taxis which hold 25 people (best to sit in the middle so you cannot see what is going to hit you coming the other way) and climbing up and over the twisty winding mountain road to get to the other side.  Free adventure all the way.

Today, Thursday, is our second sea day.  Which means we will just be relaxing on ship for the most part.  One thing we might do is play Trivia.  Cheryl is on a team that has decided to aim for second place since Every Single trivia game thus far has been won by the team formed by a woman who has been on over 100 cruises and knows the answer to practically every single trivia question.  Last night she got a perfect score.  The prizes are trivial, too; key chains, pens, deck of cards, magnets, but she has won them all.  Irvin, on our team, is thinking of tossing her overboard.  Instead we named ourselves Team Avis, our slogan is "We try Harder and Have More Fun!"

Another thing we may try is the jackpot Bingo game for $2000 this afternoon.  Having won $100 on her first game, Cheryl will only play a game after winning if it is for the Jackpot, and if it does not go in 54 numbers this morning, it has to go in however many numbers it takes in the afternoon.  That last game is usually very full of players.

Tom will check out the super $10 sale in the dining room, try a little golf chipping challenge, go to the military gathering and perhaps try his hand a martini making.  Pictures to come later.

St. Maarten

IToday's adventure involved a thing called a Scoot Coupe.  Imagine the car used on the Disneyland Autopia ride let loose on the hills and highways of a Caribbean island along with taxis, buses, tour vans and jeeps.

We had a blast even if we did scare ourselves half to death in the process. Well, Cheryl did; Tom laughed maniacally most of the way.  We ended up on the far side of the island which is French territory, fortified ourselves with a beach break and alcohol for Cheryl and zoomed back over and down the mountain to the port.

Tom figured this was a good way to keep Cheryl out of the stores and shops.

I can finally report that we connected to the wifi in the room, and on the iPads/ phones, so I might be able to send a picture or two at the end of this post.  I bet the other users either gave up or ran out of minutes...whatever they did there is now access for us.

Catching Up in the Caribbean

Oh the best laid plans!   We do have WiFi access here on the ship, but it is dreadfully slow, especially as there are so many passengers who, like us, receive a wifi credit to use onboard for being loyal Princess passengers.  Consequently, I can use the ship computers in the Internet Cafe to send and receive emails or to make a few quick Facebook posts, but to use our Blogger account I have to use our own device, the iPad.  Me and the other 1,000 people trying to do the same thing.  Or I can arise at 4:00 when there are only a handful of folks trying to access the Internet.  This would be easy if we had a wifi signal in our cabin, but we are far enough away from the routers on the public decks that we get nothing in our metal clad room.  Out on the balcony I can grab a weak signal if I hold the iPad at the correct angle.  (Such troubles I have in my life, right?). Anyway, I will be attempting to make some notes and then trying to blog everything all at once when I do get access, either early in the morning or or perhaps when we reach St. Thomas and I can switch to cell data (which is thankfully still in the US unless you use Verizon).

Today (Sunday) found us anchored off the southern tip of Eleuthera in the Bahamas.  The day started out a little cloudy with few rain showers, but it quickly cleared and the beach was a destination for many, including Tom.  Having been here last year, I opted to hang out onboard and went to Trivia, where I joined a team of folks including a couple from.....Taylor Ranch in Albuquerque.  Small world and all.

MONDAY: Today was a sea day, which meant we slept in late, and did various activities around the ship.  Came in second at trivia, but met a nice group of players. Won at Bingo!  Yes, really.  That makes three wins on four trips.  So now I don't play again until the jackpot at the end of the cruise.  

Tomorrow we visit the island of St. Maarten.  If we find real wifi I will post pictures to go with some of this.  

So beautiful

I think one of my favorite moments in cruising is still the moment when you step from the gangway onto the ship.  Of course, it helps that they have tons of staff standing ready to give you a cocktail and direct you to your room.  And the Ruby Princess is all dressed up for Christmas.  Garlands on the staircase, poinsettias and greenery decorate every nook and cranny and carols are playing over the intercom system.  The excitement is evident on the faces of everyone coming onboard. And everyone is in such a happy mood; if something goes a little awry or a line takes longer than usual, everyone just turns to their neighbor and makes a new friend.  The happiness is palpable.

I did take a few pictures so you could see:

On our way..

Just a quick note to let y'all know we are safely in Fort Lauderdale. We had non-eventful flights; both on time, easy connection.  We've had dinner across the street from the hotel and now are relaxing in our room anticipating the events of tomorrow.  I will try and post a couple of pictures from the ship before we depart.  That is, if I remember to take pictures before we depart!