2.17.09, Phillipsburg, Sint. Maarten,Tuesday

2.16.09, Cayo Levantado

Fort Lauderdale, Pelican Landing

Dinner 2.14.09

2.14.09,

2.20.09, Nassau, Bahamas

Grand Buffet last night was busy and might have been more enjoyable if we weren’t already stuffed to the gills from six days of eating. We brought our plates back to our cabin and could not even finish them. We got up this morning and began the horrible task of packing after another fantastic breakfast with John and Julie from Williamsburg, and Lynn and Bob Mack from North Carolina. I don’t know how we accumulated so much in one week, other than inches around our waists, but we managed to stuff most of it back into the bags…including using the vacuum hose to suck the air out of our space saver bags. Grandpa has lost the most weight of all, but perhaps that is because he has decided to measure it in metric. After the great packing morning of ’09, as DJ put it, we were back off for more food. We finally arrived in Nassau and had to wait to disembark and were lucky we didn’t get trampled by the impatient crowd. The Nassau port is at security level one so we needed passports and picture I.D.’s. We kept Grandpa out of the sun and DJ, too. In fact, Grandpa bought a hat at the Straw Market. We missed our People to People guide but visited the Tourism Office. Then DJ, Brittany, and Peg went on a horse-drawn carriage tour of Nassau. The horse was named Bahama Mama and our driver was Freddy. He even took our picture at the end of our tour. We saw Key lime trees and avocado trees. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the ship for dinner. Tonight’s attire was informal. We had a wonderful lamb dinner, and boy did Brittany clean her plate…and started on Grandma’s…but she did ask politely. It would have been a quiet meal, except for DJ’s screaming when he got a mouthful of what he thought was innocent enough, but turned out to be a pile of wasabi for his sushi California roll. (He thought the roll was nasty, too.) You should have see his face and eyes when the wasabi hit. He made the mistake of drinking water, rather than milk. He learned something new about quenching fire in his mouth. Milk works better than water! The big surprise tonight was when the waiters sang Happy Birthday to DJ and brought out a fantastic Italian whipped cream cake to make his special day. It was a pleasant day. We followed up with the final packing and it was bags out by 930pm. We were even early! That’s all for tonight. We’ll write tomorrow from the airport and post pictures.

2.19.09 At Sea, Second Formal Night

2.19.09, At Sea
We’re a rockin’ ‘n’ a rollin’ at sea. It started last night and has calmed some but sure hasn’t cut down on our eating. We’ve seen a lot of Indians, Grandpa said. I said that I didn’t see any. He said, “Yes, A-patch-ee.” He was referring to the Dramamine patches that people were wearing behind their ears. We had no such trouble and let the sea rock us to sleep…several times today, actually. We awakened for first breakfast of coffee and rolls delivered to our cabin and proceeded to second breakfast in the dining room. DJ told us we should eat breakfast like kings, lunch like princes, and dinner like paupers. He was okay until he got to dinner. Today was a catch up on sleep day and see how sunburned DJ could get. Actually it was not planned but he did get his first sunburn on his shoulders and back of his neck. Thank God (and Colleen) for the Aloe gel. Grandpa is happy we have it too because his forehead is still fried. Grandma checked out the spa today. The hot tubs up there were not crowded, and the Turkish steam room was both beautiful and toasty. After lunch some of us napped. Britt and DJ went to the pool. We dressed for second formal night and had a formal picture taken. The men were handsome in their ties and suits, and Brittany was gorgeous in her green sundress and white shawl. Dinner was shrimp cocktail, manicotti, risotto, duck a la orange and lobster. The dinner show included Flaming Baked Alaska by our waiters. Tonight’s theater show in the Covent Garden Theater was Celtic Spirit. The dancing and music were wonderful. As we walked in, four of the entertainers followed Grandma and mimicked her. Everyone had a good laugh. As if it wasn’t bad enough with nude beaches and Chippendales, tonight they watched a pole dance. Granted it was a maypole, but DJ reminded us it was a pole dance. Britt got her Game Boy back. DJ finally got a plate of red grapes after three tries today, but Romi took good care of him at dinner. Brittany ate the broccoli, we think, because her bed is vibrating. The coffee has been excellent and the eggs Benedict have been wonderful. Brittany is fascinated with the confetti and streamers they shot into the crowd during the show tonight. As she said, it takes little to entertain her. No one was awake long enough to take pictures today LOL. Tomorrow, Nassau! Oh, my! We almost forgot about the midnight buffet. We’ll have to report on that tomorrow…if we ever get repacked.