St Lucia - Evening (New Year's Eve)

I had to race back to the ship after using the $5 WiFi in the terminal building with 25 minutes to shower off the residual mud, get dressed, and do hair and makeup for formal night!

This is our fourth and final formal Night on our 20 day cruise. JG pointed out we could pack away our formal clothes after tonight. Oh, that makes me sad to think of the end of this wonderful vacation!

Dinner was the chef's dinner - so lots of courses ( appetizer, soup/salad, pasta, intermezzo, main entree, dessert). As I write this post six hours later I am still full. J and I both chose the lobster trio for our main course.

We all retired to our rooms early, exhausted from our fun filled day. We set our alarm to wake up at 11:30 pm to ring in the New Year in style! P wanted to see the balloon drop in the piazza and JG wanted to sleep. When I went to wake P, he said he was too tired to get out of bed so it was just J and I.

We dressed in semi-formal clothes and headed down to the piazza. As we were descending the stairs we saw people with New Year's Eve party hats and realized we had left ours in the room. With only 2 minutes in the countdown to midnight we skipped the hats and kept descending the six flights of stairs.

We jockeyed into position on the 6th floor of the piazza so we could actually see the balloons fall from the 7th floor. I have the final 15 seconds of countdown on video so I'll see if I can upload that when I get to some fast WiFi.

There was a big screen with the countdown on it and the band played Old Lang Seine (I have no idea if that is how you spell that song!). People were dressed in tuxes or dark suits and fancy dresses. We then decided to go up to deck 15 for the Ultimate Deck Party. This was the more informal party where the younger crowd was hanging out. Very windy on one side of the ship!

Pictures are posted and I need sleep!

Photo 1: Lighting outside the wishing a happy New Year with the moon in the background

Photo 2: Balloons positioned before they dropped !

Photo 3: P after the champagne laced sorbet intermezzo!

Photo 4: Ultimate deck party outside

St Lucia - Day 17

St Lucia and the two pitons were our destination today. After breakfast in the dining room we packed up for a day of private touring with Serenity tours. Let me summarize by saying what a fantastic day!

As soon as we stepped off the ship a heavy rain shower ensued. We and dozens of other passengers herded into the Point Seraphin building. In doing so we missed our guide standing outside with a sign stating Serenity Tours. The tour was a private one with a guide and driver. Our guide, Hans, eventually did find and walk us to our waiting vehicle with driver, Richard.

We stopped at two sites in town to visit- Castries Cathedral of Immaculate Conception ( a church built between 1866 - 1899) and Government House. Just after government house we stopped on the highest point in town (900 feet). We were served a snack in a dried calabath bowl (think of an oversized coconut shell) which was a fish cake dipped in banana ketchup.

We then stopped at a banana plantation and learns once again how banana grow ( we had toured a banana factory in Costa Rica). So neat to see how bananas grow on the plant and it takes only nine months to go from chopped banana shrub to ripe fruit on the tree! Of course we got to sample a sweet banana each!

We then got some fresh bread from the village of Anse La Ray. And it was fresh, like HOT out of the oven! P was in heaven!

Zip lining was our fun adventurous activity today. Just the four of us in our group with guides Jason and Emerson. Lots of fun and excitement whizzing from one platform to the other in the trees. I was afraid to take my phone because I didn't have a secure pocket for it so no Pictures to attach!

St Lucia promotes the town of Soufriere as nearest the Pitons (mountain like structures jutting straight out from the sea). They are picturesque. Near here there is a drive in volcano where you can go for a therapeutic mud bath. Let me tell you that water was hot! P couldn't get in it at all and JG needed some time to adjust. We slathered on mud, let it dry then rinsed off first in the hot mud bath water then in the ice cold shower! Let me tell you I tried to get all the mud off in the hot bath water! Our skin felt baby soft after that!

A short drive back up the hill had us at our lunch spot with a beautiful vista of the pitons! We experienced our first freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and it was amazing ! Nothing like the pink grapefruit juice you buy in Canada! Lunch was butter fish, chicken, baked beans and different salads including green bananas done up in a fancy dish. Dessert was this amazing pistachio ice cream- made locally.

Because we weren't quite full enough after lunch, we stopped at Plas Cassav where we had two kinds of hot, gluten free bread. We tried the chocolate bread and the cherry raisin bread. Both were tasty and filling.

One photo stop at Marigot Bay where parts of pirates of the Caribbean 2 was filmed and we were done for the day. I need to run back on the ship before it pulls away now!

Antigua - Day 16

Today we docked in Antigua at about 8 am. Antigua is known as the country of beaches - 365 of them to be exact- one for every day of the year!

It is Sunday, so we had decided in advance, we would go to church. We knew that St. John's Anglican was the Cathedral in town, named for the town of St John's, Antigua. Online I had discovered church was at 11 am.

As soon as we disembarked, we went to an information kiosk just off the pier and we discovered the church was under renovation. Undeterred, we said we still wanted to walk to the cathedral to take a picture and confirm there was no service happening. Many a taxi driver offered us a ride and also advised us the cathedral was being renovated. We could see the cathedral on a hill in the town so we set our sights on it and walked. We did arrive at the cathedral and discovered it looked like the renovation had been going on for some time and indeed there was no sign of life!

We followed well dressed people to a nearby Salvation Army Church and asked if there was a Catholic Church in town. They gave us the best directions they could and we walked further to find a large parkade structure abandoned mid build and no church. We decided to head back to the ship and drop all thoughts of attending church and change entirely into beach clothes.

We chose George to be our taxi driver and he drove us to Valley Church Beach for $25. That must have been the church God intended us to visit today! What a beautiful beach! Azure blue water, white sand beach and a lounge chair to rent for $5! If we were starving we could have got something to drink or eat from "The Nest" a beach shack. The occasional vendor would ask us to buy a shell or jewellery but nothing too high pressure! We swam and collected shells and pieces of coral. Water was very silty so no good for snorkelling.

Caught a ride back with taxi driver Joyce and she would have done for $6 apiece ($24) but I paid her $30.

Once near the ship, the kids liked shopping at Cariloha, a store that sells products are if bamboo. Kids each bought a Tshirt and a set of super comfy sheets for their beds. I paid for half the sheets to make them a bit more affordable!

We all returned to the ship where kids stayed, then J and I turned around and went back out in search of a fruit stand selling mango. No luck but I did buy a fresh coconut to drink.

J returned to ship for third and final time while I found a bar called the Beehive I believe. For $6 I bought a very big tasty Virgin Piña Coloda and was able to post today's blog update!

Photo 1: JG & P at Bert Church Beach

Photo 2: J sitting in the water

Photo 3: P, JG and J in front of the Emerald Princess docked at St John's, Antigua

Photo 4: St. John's Anglican cathedral

Day at Sea - Day 15

Today we had breakfast in the dining room as per usual. I then went to club fusion to try line dancing again with instructor Leesha. It was easier this time because we repeated some of the songs. R and J went up to the fitness centre for a workout.

Line dancing blended in to Zumba class with Sandy instructing again. Her husband Ken was using an iPad to film some of the class. I hope she is compensated in some way like dinner at Sabatini's for taking the time to instruct at least three times when she is simply a fellow passenger on the cruise. I definitely was sweating by the end of the class! It was good fun and exercise!

The kids and J joined me at Club Fusion for morning trivia immediately following Zumba. We asked an older couple to join our trivia team. They turned out to be from Pickering Ontario and are here with 22 family members!

After lunch in the dining room, J went to play bridge and JG and I went to create a travel journal in a bit of a scrapbooking class. We intend to use some of our leftover supplies to supplement our toy boat. This is part of a contest where we have to create a seaworthy boat that must be able to hold at least 6 beer while floating in the Neptune pool in 7 days time! P is very keen to start building but we have to start acquiring castoff water bottles to be our pontoon base! Our room steward, Janice, is onside trying to help us.

We also played the usual afternoon trivia. The pool was amazingly busy today. A day at sea at the start of the cruise for most people and many are trying to catch some rays!

After a lovely dinner of filet mignon and shrimp we headed to the Princess theatre to see comedy magician, Gary Carson. Lots of laughs and some pretty good magic. He has done 60 shows a week in Vegas for a couple of years.

The kids and I went to a fill in the blank game show in the Explorer's Lounge late this evening. It was lots of laughs and just a little bit of older humour. We loved watching this little boy dance - he was about one year old. He reminded me of P when he was that age with really good rhythm, quite a little giggle and a pretty large head!

After everybody else retired to bed, I went down to the passenger services desk to try to straighten out some special orders for our room. I ordered chocolate covered strawberries to be delivered to at least one of our rooms every day we were at sea ( not in port). So far Princess hasn't got it right. We had no strawberries appear on the first day they were to arrive or on Christmas Day - then 5 plates of strawberries arrived on December 26th. Uummmm, we don't really want 40 chocolate strawberries all at once. Then we were to have strawberries delivered yesterday and today and neither of those arrived. I don't want to be seen as a complaining customer, but I paid for the strawberries months ago and they have messed up the order pretty bad. Good thing I made two copies of the custom order form Laurie sent me just a few days ago when I was trying to resolve the kids drink sticker problem!

Well it has been another lovely day at sea. Time to head to bed as we have a day in the port of Antigua tomorrow!
Photo 1: Getting ready for line dancing class!
Photo 2: The busy pool!

Day at Sea - Day 14

I went for a walk at 6:45 am on Deck 17 and found it very windy. I stopped for a bowl of strawberries on the Lido deck and found J trying to get to the front of the ship for a sunrise picture. That's when we discovered all the forward decks were closed due to the high winds.

JG, P and I went to Zumba class led by passenger, Sandy. We had met Sandy and her husband Ken while in transit yesterday. She was lots of fun and we felt it was a workout too. P begged off after about three songs as he felt the males were outnumbered about 15 to 1 in the class! Sandy was kind enough to give JG the gift they give to elite passengers of a luffa and some bath products.

JG and P stayed in Club Fusion for trivia. I raced off to my cruise critic gathering at Skywalker's lounge. (J was up in the fitness centre for a workout). Not near as many in attendance as last cruise. I asked if the Ultimate ship's Tour was being offered and was told not until Noro restrictions are lifted. We couldn't see the bridge, engine room or galley with current limitations in place. That would leave the print shop to tour!

After lunch J went and played bridge - there were four tables playing. JG and P read - they both seem to want to use their new iPad as an e-reader so I guess that is a good thing it is being used. I lazed in the room and watched The Hunger Games on TV.

I did head up to the fitness centre to use the shower because they are much bigger and I wanted to shave my legs. When you bend over in our tiny shower your backside is sure to hit the wall or the shower curtain - neither of those prospects is too appealing! The showers up in the fitness centre are much bigger!

We played 4:30 trivia and had our worst score to date! But then the highest score was 14 out of 20!

We quickly dressed in formal wear for our 5:30 dinner. There were two desserts I couldn't decide between so our server, Cesar, offered to bring me a small serving of each! There was nothing small about either serving! I had a bite of the banana flambé and gave the remainder to JG, then I thoroughly enjoyed the peanut butter chocolate pie that was so smooth and delicious! J, who was missing peanut butter, particularly loved it!

After a quick change of clothes, we went up to MUTS to see The Bourne Legacy. J and P sat in the hot tub for about an hour to watch. I, on the other hand sat in a lounge chair with long sleeves and pants and two blankets over me. Still a lovely evening, just windy and cool, by Caribbean standards.

Another day at sea tomorrow! Tonight P said, "I could get used to cruising all the time, but then maybe it wouldn't be so special." I have to agree with you P!

Photo 1: P and J in the hot tub while at Movies Under The Stars

Photo 2: My chocolate peanut butter pie

Ft Lauderdale Turnaround Day

We now start the second phase of our cruise, a ten day cruise through the Eastern Caribbean.

Because of the Norovirus on board the crew were doing an extensive clean after last cruise passengers disembarked and before the next cruise passengers embarked. All passengers like us who were doing back to back cruises were classified as "in transit". These passengers were held in the Michelangelo Dining Room until we were called to disembark to get the ship down to a zero passenger count. We all had to go through immigration on Florida soil. J, JG and P were returned to the ship within half an hour where they were housed in Club Fusion where a few sandwiches and juice and coffee were offered. JG did homework , P played Nintendo DS and J read or visited with other in transit passengers.

I chose to exit the terminal to walk a kilometre or so to some nearby stores to replenish supplies - sunscreen and personal packs of hand wipes for instance! When I returned two and a half hours later I saw the lines the embarking passengers had been enduring while the clean happened. Not a great way for them to start their cruise by waiting in line an extra two hours I was able to bypass most of the lineups by showing my in transit pass.

Once back on board, all afternoon activities were delayed - like the muster lifeboat drill and the first seating of dinner which was pushed back about 15 minutes. I was hungry for the first time in 10 days because I had skipped lunch while shopping!

I was glad to have Internet service in Fort Lauderdale because I had to resolve some matters with the kids "Soda and more" stickers on their Cruise cards. The cruise card acts as your room key and charge card while on the ship. My sister gave the kids a Christmas gift that allowed the kids to order any non-alcoholic drinks they want. Princess charges for pop, milkshakes or blended drinks (in addition to alcohol), so JG & P were given a sticker on their cruise card to give them unlimited soda and more! Our second leg of the cruise required a new cruise card and that card was missing the sticker. Good thing I have such a close relationship with my travel agent (thanks Laurie!) because she emailed me the necessary documentation to straighten it all out.

A word of advice, take paper copies of everything you book and pay for in advance with Princess! My kids were happily slurping Virgin piña coloda's and strawberry daquari's at supper!

I had the mundane chore of doing laundry today. Two loads of laundry for $8 and we have a full clothes selection again!

After supper we saw the Welcome Aboard show in the Princess Theatre that included the comedian magician Gary Carson. He will do a longer show two nights from now and the kids definitely want to see him again.

At movie trivia we scored a reasonable 24 out of 36. Some keeners had a perfect score to win!

Clocks move ahead tonight so already 11:30 pm! A day at sea tomorrow!

Princess Cays Day 12

Today it felt like we were further north as were in the Bahamas at Princess Cays. Of course it was still warm enough for shorts and T-shirts, so not winter conditions by any stretch!

I discovered the walking track up on Deck 16 this morning and walked a quick mile before breakfast.

After breakfast in the dining room we packed up our bags for a day at the beach. We went to the Michelangelo Dining Room to catch a tender to the Princess Cays Island. Because the ship cannot dock at the island, we take a small lifeboat shuttle to the island. We only had to wait about 20 minutes before we caught a tender. The tender ride over to the island was 10 or 15 minutes long.

Once on the island, J decided to snorkel and kids decided to play in the sand while I found a lounge chair in some shade. No wonder i am still lily white! I chose lots of salad and chicken for lunch. P & JG chose the hotdogs that looked more like smokies.

By 1:30, we were ready to head back to the ship. We played trivia at 4:15 and had fun as always.

J and I had a reservation at the Crown Grill the Specialty Beef restaurant on board. J didn't like that they asked for a second entree choice in case his first choice, lamb chops, did not meet his expectations. So they brought out both entrees which was simply too much food, and in J's eyes, very wasteful.

I thought it was the best dessert of the cruise so far!

It is wonderful not to pack up our suitcases while everybody else on board packs up their bags and puts them in the hall for disembarkation tomorrow. We are "in transit" passengers along with 280 others who will continue on with another 10 day cruise of the Eastern Caribbean starting tomorrow!

Christmas Dinner

So we dressed for Christmas dinner and found a long lineup for the dining room. Eventually people starting entering the by the exit doors and we found the source of the delay. One faulty hands free Purell dispenser. Nobody is to enter the dining room without first applying Purell, so an enterprising staff member took an industrial sized hand cleaner and was manually dispensing the hand cleaner to the guests. This, all the in an effort to stop germs in their tracks.

I ordered the turkey dinner with chestnut dressing and it is pictured here. J had the halibut, JG had the beef with a slice of turkey and P had the ham. All lovely dinners!

Right before we were served our entree something disturbing happened. Immediately behind me a woman collapsed to the ground; her husband tried to break her fall by grabbing the front of her shirt, but she went down with a thud flat out on her back and the husband kind of fell beside her. She laid there glassy eyed and I wondered if she had a stroke. Staff members did not come to her aid, but when a woman approached her a staff member told her to give her space. JG immediately asked to leave the table.

Eventually the woman was provided a chair to sit in and left the scene. While I was out in the hallways trying to find JG, I saw the woman walking with her husband, returning to the dining room! With all the code red and passengers quarantined to their rooms if they have been vomiting or had diahhrea I was shocked that she wasn't given any additional medical attention. She was seated at the table next to us for the remainder of dinner.

The policy onboard the ship is, if you have symptoms of Norovirus, you are to use 911 to call the ship's doctor and a doctor's visit will be arranged in your room. Once diagnosed with Noro you are to stay there until Doctor clears you. You choose meals from a bland menu, but room service requests are reported to be delayed by about an hour and a half. Dishes at not to be put in the hall when you finish eating, rather wait for staff to come in and remove. Princess staff will call your room periodically and want to speak with the patient to ensure you are in fact in the room.

The one good thing about being quarantined is if you purchased Princess insurance, the days you are quarantined will be credited towards a future cruise.

All this to say, I am surprised the woman collapsing in the dining room, didn't warrant any medical attention, despite the fact she had seen the ship's doctor in the afternoon saying she felt seasick. I do hope she is recovering okay today.

After dinner we watched another movie under the stars and it was raining so we sat under cover. They offer pizza in addition to the popcorn, cookies and milk! Like I had any space left in my stomach after Christmas dinner!

And because it was Christmas, we had to play some games! We played Qwirkle cubes, Farkle and Bananagrams on the floor of our stateroom. What a wonderful, memorable, warm Christmas!

Christmas Day 11

Well today has been a wonderfully relaxing Christmas! We awoke around 7:30 and invited the kids into our room to open stockings - most items had been purchased in Ft Lauderdale from the dollar or drug store. JG was excited to get Naruto cards! J was happy to get dark chocolate and P, for a chocolate orange, just like always!

I discovered the wonderful example of fruit carving on display in the piazza! We went to the Da Vinci dining room for Breakfast. It feels a bit weird to have all these staff running around to serve us where we hardly lift a finger. Life in the lap of luxury for sure! I do feel bad for how hard the staff has to work, especially on Christmas Day, as the ship is at a code red for norovirus alert. More about that another time.

After breakfast we went to the interdenominational church service where they served communion wafers but no wine (ship's doctor's orders). Nice to have a Christian church service on Christmas Day- I guess it depends on the ship's cruise director's wishes.

We then raced to the gingerbread decorating competition already in progress. You can see the picture for our end result. The roof took 5 mini-wheat boxes to complete! Our friends, Sandra and Kyle won third place! (I actually went and had my hair washed and blown dry by a stylist while my family created their masterpiece. The hair was not worth the price I had to pay!)

J and I headed up to Floor 15 to watch a demonstration of ice carving. Since it was 10 floors of stairs I was tempted to take the stairs when J offered, but I declined!

We then went to our rooms to open a gift we had brought for each of the kids. After lunch, we decided to have a game of charades in our stateroom. What would Christmas be without charades!

Kids wanted some down time in their room and I wanted to go up on the lido deck for fresh air, while J went for a workout (yes, on Christmas Day)!

Lots of kids crafts in the piazza now and I believe a reading by Santa himself of "'twas the Night Before Christmas" too - oops I just missed that - too much to do onboard this ship!

Merry Christmas!

Photo 1: Fruit carving on display in the piazza
Photo 2: Gingerbread house building team
Photo 3: Canadians Sandra and Kyle with their 3rd place finish house!
Photo 4: Ice carving demo on deck!

St Thomas Christmas Eve

I usually type my blog in the stateroom but tonight is Christmas Eve and I wanted to sit out in the Piazza and enjoy a pot of tea surrounded by beautiful Christmas decorations including lit Christmas trees, a gingerbread village and wonderful ambiance!

It was formal night tonight so everywhere you turn one can see ladies in long dresses and men in tuxedos! I myself am wearing a burgundy satin blouse and long black skirt.

One of the most festive parts of the day was when many gathered in the ship's piazza for Christmas carols just before our dinner. It was led by the Emerald Princess singers who really know how to sing and a grand piano. Wonderful!

Dinner was lobster and giant shrimp. It was a wonderful substitute for our traditional Ukranian Christmas Eve meal of perogies and cabbage rolls (and I didn't have to cook and clean up! Though J does help!). I did forget to mention I had the best soup of the cruise yesterday - a blackberry merlot cream chilled soup. Think of raspberry ice cream melted and you get the rich, tasty idea!

After supper and before my pot of tea I hauled my family out of their beds ( it was only 8 pm after all) to play a game of Christmas trivia. And with a score of 17 out of 20 we won! Hooray! JG was a lock for naming the titles of all the Christmas carol lyrics! My greatest contribution was naming the saint of the day currently known as Boxing Day - Rev. Brian Pearson you will be pleased to know I listened to your sermons and knew the answer was St. Stephen!

Before all these Christmas festivities began, we spent a day in port at St. Thomas. We joined Canadian cruise critic friends Sandra and son Kyle.

We were held up probably 25 minutes disembarking (they never tell you why!). Our taxi driver was waiting for us as promised to drive us to the other side of the island. We boarded a sailboat called Morningstar with Captain Dave and First Mate Josh. Both were excellent guides. JG had the thrill of steering the boat AND coming about. That was a bit scary for me but he was very capable. P tried steering to a lesser degree just so he could say he captained the boat !

We went across to Caneel Bay, once owned by Rockerfeller. We snorkelled at Honeymoon beach. JG got some great close up photos of a turtle. Saw parrot fish and sargeant majors too. Generally it was colder here than in Bonaire ( Josh said he would describe he winds as nearly robust today) and the water not as clear. We then boarded the sailboat for a lunch of Portabella mushrooms, grilled veggies and corn on the cob. Usually they do a second snorkel stop but the "Christmas winds" were too strong to allow for favourable snorkelling. So we had a leisurely sail back across the bay. The picture attached here is the view of a few of the other six ships in port as we were making our way back to Crown Bay, where the Emerald was docked.

Well I want to attend the Christmas Show in the Princess Theatre at 10:30 pm so I need to sign off. Hope everyone is enjoying Christmas - we are happy to enjoy 29 C offered in St Thomas today! Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread Village

Some of the pastry chefs efforts on display in the piazza !

Dominica Day 9

Dominica highlands are a rainforest so we could have had rain today; instead we had nothing but beautiful weather +29 C and a few clouds in the afternoon. JG and J enjoyed a private excursion H.O.T. Pepper tours. They met up with Pepper by 7:15 am to be the first visitors at the Emerald Pool. They were able to spot a land crab before a few vans if German tourists arrived.

After that they went to Mr. Nice Fruit stand. They truly enjoyed
Bananas, coconut, grapefruit, pineapples and Mr. Nice! It was an entertaining, enjoyable and tasty stop.

They went to a black volcanic beach after which they came back to the town of Rouseau before visiting Trafalgar Falls. They finished up with snorkelling at Champagne Reef. Officially they were discouraged from entering the water because conditions were too rough. J assured them they would go and assess the water before making a decision to enter. There were two local guides who knew the terrain and helped gauge the water for entry. J had greater expectations for more bubbles in the water but it was still an interesting occurrence to observe (the champagne bubbles in the water ). Of the ports we have visited so far in the Caribbean, Dominica is the one J most wants to visit again.

Since I didn't get to go on the tour, I am inclined to return too! When we were about to depart the ship and P said he didn't feel well, I opted out of the excursion to stay on the ship with P to keep an eye on him. So far today he has just not felt well today- not that he is feverish or vomiting - which are signs of norovirus, he just feels tired. He did join us for an Italian dinner in the dining room and perked up a bit. At 8:41, he and JG are tucked in bed ready to go to sleep.

I did get off the ship to say I set foot on Dominica land. I shopped at some of the vendors and bought a few items made here in Dominica. Also went to the second floor of the Fort Young hotel to enjoy a cold drink and some free WiFi. I was able to download the lost Bonaire and Grenada posts!

I also used the self service laundry on our deck on the ship to wash a load of coloured clothes. Two dollars each for a load - wash or dry. That 's a much better price than sending it off to the ship's laundry service! I had to do the final drying in our room - but that is why I brought my handy little travel clothesline that has Velcro straps on the end!

Tonight as we entered the Princess theatre at the front of the ship, it is apparent there are larger swells in the ocean. I am sure glad my travel agent sister booked our rooms in the middle of the ship where it feels like there is less movement! Tonight's show was he Princess singers and dancers who performed "Boogie Shoes". Lots of flashy costumes and talented dancing. A couple from North Battleford overheard us talking in the dining room and knew were Canadian so they introduced themselves. Small world as they knew some of the Harland's from Fort Pitt - don't ask me to remember their names though! This is their first Christmas away from family - I told them to enjoy the indulgence of the cruise!

Tomorrow it is hard to believe it is Christmas Eve! We are going on a private excursion with the Canadian Mom & son, Sandra and Kyle. The six of us have booked a full day snorkelling catamaran excursion with Morningstar in St. Thomas. It will be good to avoid the crowds of last minute shoppers from six different cruise ships!

Photo 1: The Emerald Princess with Dominica in the background.

Photo 2: P, JG and J by a Christmas tree in the Piazza!

Grenada

So my post from yesterday in Bonaire seems to have been lost in cyberspace. The summary is we had a great morning snorkelling with Woodwind Tours in Bonaire. Dee and Isobel were first rate, knowledgeable guides. Beautiful day that you dream of in the Carribean.

Today we docked in Grenada at noon. It is known as the Isle of Spice. P chose this tour and was excited to tour a spice farm and nutmeg processing plant. We learned all about how nutmeg and mace grow in the same plant. Bertrand, our guide, showed us allspice, cocoa beans, cinnamon bark and cloves. All interesting to learn about but with the price of hilly roads with lots of twists and turns and resulting in one motion sick boy. Too bad because he just wanted the tour to end; instead the tour was 5 hours instead of 3.

Sadly the Captain ( or his designate) announced it looks like there is norovirus on this ship so we need to be extra vigilant about washing our hands. It is certainly more work for cabin stewards and cleaning crew. We have Clorox wipes at the ready and wash our hands every time we return to our cabin. We are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping to stay healthy.

We have an early start tomorrow - 7 am - for Dominica!

Photo 1: JG atop Fort George overlooking town in Grenada
Photo 2: P at nutmeg processing station

Bonaire Day 7

We started out our day with breakfast delivered to our room at 6:30. Exactly what we wanted, convenient and lovely to enjoy on our balcony as we had just docked in Bonaire.

Thanks to fellow cruise critic friends, we found Woodwind Tours a short walk away from the cruise dock. The day was warm and calm. Owner Dee briefed us as we boarded the catamaran and prepared for our snorkel excursion.

We were grouped with two Canadians - A Mom and 11 year old son from Ottawa and two others with biochemist guide Isabel. We first did a drift snorkel where we floated along with the wind and current while the boat followed us and picked us up after an hour or so. JG and P are both very comfortable snorkelling in the water because of previous vacations and summers at the cottage in Ontario. Isabel would free dive down deep to point out something of interest - sponges, sea cucumbers, parrot fish, blue tangs - then surface and explain what it was to us. We were encouraged to snorkel on the surface, but JG couldn't resist free diving about 20 feet on our second snorkel, to get a better view of a Hawksbill Turtle. Excellent guides and very knowledgeable about Klein Bonaire ( an island where there is no development and never will be, with ecologically protected areas for marine life). I would strongly recommend Woodwind tours in Bonaire!

We returned to the ship for lunch. J and the kids had a mini Olympics of croquet, bocce ball and mini - putt. J burned the top of his head and the top of his ears after 40 minutes in the sun without protection !

I ran into two Cruise Critic friends and visited, then went to watch Mamma Mia on the big screen over the pool.

After supper we had to race to the Princess Theatre to see "The Beatle Maniacs" perform - a Beatles tribute band. What a fun show - we were clapping, singing and dancing along - even 12 year old P! After the main show we raced over to the Explorer's Lounge to see the comedian, Sarge, who we had seen twice before. Funny, clean comedian! He appealed to everybody in our family.

Now back in our rooms tucked in for the night and thanking our lucky stars we are enjoying this Caribbean Cruise! Tomorrow we visit Grenada.

Photo 1: The bow of the Emerald Princess
Photo 2: Beatle Maniacs perform.
Photo 3: P on the Woodwind catamaran

Bonaire & Grenada

You are getting the Reader's Digest version of these two ports because I created lengthy summaries that have gone astray with the blogger app. If I could cut and paste the previous entries I would!

Bonaire is known as a scuba diver's paradise. We snorkelled with Woodwind Tours on a catamaran to Klein Bonaire. Guides Dee and Isobel were first rate and knowledgeable. Snorkelling was second only to Lady Elliott Island in Australia. Guides were great at identifying fish and coral for us.

In Grenada we toured a spice farm and nutmeg plantation. P was very excited about this tour. Actual touring time was fascinating to see. The downside of the tour was roads that twisted and turned and produced one motion sick 12 year old boy! Three hour tour became 5 hours due to the volume of visitors and traffic. P just wanted to get back to the ship to lie down.

I am hoping my blogger app starts working again so I can send pictures. Bad news is we have norovirus on the ship. We are vigilant about washing hands because we don't want to get quarantined to our rooms !

Aruba Evening

J & P enjoyed snorkelling best in their excursion today. P thought they had seen enough countryside after about 5 minutes of 4 wheel driving !

I enjoyed the Emerald Princess singers and dancers perform "I got the music". While their I ran into two experienced cruisers who I met through the online community of Cruise Critic. They showed me how to arrange my phone settings t make sure I use the ship's WiFi and not get charged hundreds of dollars for roaming ship rates.

I then joined the kids and J for "The Dark Knight Rises" on the Movies Under The Stars Big screen.

While reading the Princess Patter About ship onboard events for tomorrow, I saw that Beatles Mania - a Beatles tribute band - will perform in the Princess Theatre. J said he and P followed the band onto he ship when they boarded today. The band flew in to Aruba today and will be a hot ticket on the ship because many people rave about them!

We have ordered room service breakfast for tomorrow because we need to be off the ship for 7:30 am to meet up with our snorkel tour in Bonaire!

Photo 1: Christmas tree outside the dining room.

Photo 2: "I got the music" performers from my front row seat!

Aruba Day 6

JG and I found a cafe in Aruba with free WiFi where we are currently enjoying a gelato, air conditioning and free Internet.

Today we are 12 degrees north of the equator and it is about 85F. R and I enjoyed a two hour horseback ride with La Ponderosa ranch. JG was thrilled they let us cantor! Lots of cacti, lizards and even a mini owl spotted. We crossed the island by horse and went to the far side where we crossed paths with J and P who were on a 4 wheel drive tour excursion.

We returned to the ship for lunch and a shower. We disembarked again to find this free Internet but will return to he ship shortly to find J & P.

Photo 1: JG with ocean in background
Photo 2: Cacti seen from on horseback

Second Day at Sea Day 5

It is getting a little easier to wake up in the morning . This time we were all up at 7:30 am and eating breakfast in the Da Vinci Dining Room by 8:20. This morning we spent some time enjoying the sun on deck.

JG and I learned 3, maybe 4 line dances at line dancing class. We then stayed on for trivial pursuit. We teamed up with a father daughter from Seattle to answer 13 of 20 questions correctly. Winning team had 18 correct so we have room for improvement.

J played bridge for the second day in a row with the same partner. He seems to enjoy it! The kids and I went poolside for a swim in the afternoon . We then participated in a scavenger hunt where the first thing we had to do was get from deck 7 to deck 17. As it is my personal motto to only use the stairs unless schlepping luggage on this cruise, I sprinted for the stairs with P flashing past me. JG bemoaned ten flights of stairs and took the elevator! We only had 15 minutes to complete the challenge and we did the best we could - not enough to win though! But I did feel like 15 minutes of racing certainly counted as aerobic exercise today.

J and P spotted flying fish in front of the boat this afternoon so that was exciting! J was also thrilled to discover channel 39 that tells us where in the world we are, temperature , and waves expected. Today we started at 27 C.

We dressed in our finest to go out for dinner on our first formal evening. After dinner P and I went to listen to the comedian, and it turns out, talented musician, in the Princess Theatre. JG and J went to see Snow White and the Huntsman on the big screen under the stars.

Now packed and organized for our first port in Aruba tomorrow. I put ear drops in P's ear, and while his hearing isn't very good, he doesn't seem to have pain.

Photo 1: The Captain's champagne fountain that didn't tip over while filling it. P and I caught the tail end of the event!

Full Day at Sea Day 4

Well today started much earlier than I bargained for! At 5 am I heard our stateroom door open and close; I thought to myself, there is a good reason to use the deadbolt! In the pitch black of the room I heard P say, "Mom, I'm not feeling very good." I yelped a little squeal of surprise that somebody besides J or I was actually in the room!

P had an earache. As I had done my research to pack for the trip I had Polysporin ear drops and was able to give him a dose in the dark (well with the use of J's flashlight). After an hour or so the pain had lessened enough to return to his own bed to try to sleep. I promptly fell back asleep (and J didn't really ever awake for the nursing consult - much like when the children were small!)

When J and I did awake for breakfast around 8 am he couldn't rouse either child awake (despite unlocking their door and turning on their lights), so we went for breakfast alone. We sat with couples from Ontario and North Carolina. Lovely to meet them all!

Upon returning to the room the kids were awake and ready to eat so J took them to the buffet for breakfast. I wanted to go on a ship's tour of the public spaces. While on the tour we visited the Skywalker's Lounge on Deck 18. It was then I realized I had my times wrong and our entire family was to be there for a Cruise Critic private meet and greet! I tracked down JG by phoning the kids' room and left a message for J and P to join us.

Some of the ship' s officers were in attendance answering questions. We were with a well travelled group - I believe the most well travelled couple had been on 46 cruises! We all came together as we researched our cruises online and shared questions and answers within Cruise Critic, knowing this group of people would be travelling on the Emerald Princess this week!

One thrill was to meet Pescado Amarillo who writes a blog called Yellow Fish cruises - she has shared so many tips that have been really helpful - like how to write a blog while on a cruise!

After lunch in the dining room I watched a movie I the Princess theatre, joined my kids for high tea in the dining room and then watched "Flamenco Express" - dancers perform in the Piazza!

I tried my first attempt at logging on to the Wifi program on the ship and successfully sent some texts and a email. The only downside was I don't think I was using the ship's wifi I was using a merchant marine navigation system . I won't know just how costly that 11 minute mistake was till I see my cell phone bill hen I return home!

After supper J, JG and P went to watch "Bourne Legacy" at MUTS (movies under the stars). I went and sat in the front row to watch the production show called "What a swell party". I then joined my family for a cookie and milk and a bag of popcorn out on deck for the movie! Quite thrilling to watch a big screen movie outside in the dark of night with a padded lounge chair in the warm tropical air!

I am enjoying the sound of the water as I type this note on our balcony!

Photo 1: Flamenco Express dancers in the piazza

Photo 2 & 3: Chocolate mousse and cheesecake dessert

Photo 4: Movies Under The Stars screen

Day 3 Embarkation

Well we boarded our ship without incident! The Emerald Princess is our home for 20 days now! We enjoyed a sit down lunch in the Da Vinci dining room as soon as we boarded. I had salmon, P & J had beef tenderloin and JG had chicken cacciatore. Our bags arrived to our rooms while we were out. Unpacking took about and hour finding a home for everything.

Muster drill was fine and we are now at the sail away party on the lido deck!

Photo 1: Flowers awaiting our arrival courtesy of J and P!
Photo 2: J and my room

Fort Lauderdale Day 2

We woke up at 8:20 this morning sleeping in quite late as our bodies were still on MST. We enjoyed a breakfast buffet in the hotel. Our waitress told us we could take a bus to go shop at The Galleria or we could walk over the 17th Street bridge to get to a less elaborate shopping area.


We all voted to walk and see the sights as we headed out to buy some stocking stuffers. We found a Dollar Giant that pleased JG and P and a Walgreen's that suited J and I. On the way we experienced the thrill of standing on the bridge as it drew up to let a sailboat pass.

We ran into fellow Cruise Critic friends at the hotel. We had communicated online and by email but this was our first opportunity to meet in person! Their family of four will be boarding the Emerald Princess as well tomorrow.

My sister sent the kids the tiniest little Christmas tree that is live with lights on it to carry on board the ship! It is adorable!

After lunch by the pool we all went for a swim and tried to take a few pictures with our new underwater camera (my Christmas gift). I was anxious to see the sights of Fort Lauderdale by water taxi and couldn't persuade anybody else to pull themselves away from the pool.

I was able to see some phenomenal yachts and properties from the water, including yachts owned by Steven Spielberg and Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt! The Captain joked the Pitt/Jolie yacht was called Plan B. Plan A must have been owned by Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston!

When I returned to the hotel we decided to walk over the long drawbridge again to eat supper. We found a tasty Italian restaurant , Carrera's, that all enjoyed.

As tonight is the finale to Survivor, we are settled in our rooms ready to watch and see who wins the million dollars!

Photo 1: JG, P and J in drawbridge
Photo 2: Steven Spielberg's yacht "Seven Seas"

Fort Lauderdale Arrival

So we caught our flight to Houston without any issue. A two hour layover was the perfect amount of time to spend in the Houston airport. We arrived in terminal C and took a sky train to move to Terminal E. We found a Wendy's - our family favourite in the world of fast food. Then made our way over to the gate to catch our Ft Lauderdale flight. P even found a charging station to power up his Nintendo DS - his handheld gaming system.

P had a headache on the second flight. I think the sprite threw his sugar out of wack because we don't usually drink pop in our house. He felt better after snacking on a few almonds, drinking some water and putting his hood over his eyes in the dark cabin.

We arrived at the FLL airport about 11:15 pm. By the time we walked to the luggage carousel we found our four checked bags immediately ! No waiting at all! We then caught a cab to our hotel - the Hyatt Pier 66. JG was thrilled to drive in the car with the windows down in December! Temperature was about 76 Fahrenheit.

We are in the old section of the hotel (as I suspected we would be because I bought the rooms on Priceline.) Great price for what I think is a good location in the beach area. Downside is the rooms are not connecting and not feather free as requested for J.

What is exciting is the location on the water ! I hope the photo shows somebody's private yacht outside our balcony patio of the room! The hotel is situated on water canal that is serviced by water taxis!

Must get to sleep and adjust to the two hour time change!

Flight Day 1

It should stand to reason since we fly out at 1 pm today that I should wake up at 4 am! As always, last minute details were running through my head-never mind my extensive planning lists!

Said farewell to family by phone and neighbours in person prior to our cab arriving at the house. My house is never as clean as I want it when I walk out the door!

We are about to board to our first flight to Houston so we'll check in later !

Packing in Earnest!

Today's family activity on the advent calendar reads "Pack for the cruise!" Usually the advent calendar suggests an activity something like "bake Christmas cookies" or "play a family board game.". JG & P were excited to to read the calendar this morning. Just two more days and we fly!

The critical step for me before we pack is to have every stitch of laundry done in the house so we have full choices available to us! I think J, JG and I have the casual clothes for excursions and the formal wear covered for the ship. P borrowed a suit jacket from a friend so he would have it to wear on formal nights. He was excited to wear it to JG's band concert the night before last! That is pretty good for a 12 year old boy!

We each have one big piece of luggage and a carry on bag. Hope it all fits!

Pictured is page two of our three page packing list!