We woke up and had a few last minute things to take care of. I needed a haircut; we had some last minute buys at the store. We went to the bank for some traveler’s checks and were surprised at how long it took to get them. I asked Wayne to drop us off at the airport and he was waiting for us when we got home from the bank
.Our flight was due to leave at 1:50 and we wanted to leave by11:30 but didn’t get out of the house until 11:45. We decided to try out the curbside check in and that worked really well. We had over an hour to wait after we went through security. We ate lunch at the Chinese kiosk and waited for our flight. Our flight was about 15 minutes late leaving but knew we had time to kill once we got into town so we weren’t concerned.
We got into Ft. Lauderdale and I sent Michelle down for the bags and I went to get the car rental. I rented a Dodge Challenger. I love the way they look but the responsiveness leaves much to be desired. I made a quick phone call to get the hotel reservation, picked Michelle up at baggage claim and bragged about how I got the hotel already. She said good job, just think if you made that arrangement sooner, then you would not have needed to stress about it last minute like you were. “Where is it?” she said. I told her it was at the Courtyard and we could punch it up on the GPS. “Which Courtyard?” She asked; there are 5 of them listed on the GPS. I wasn't too smart now. I stopped by the closest Courtyard but they didn’t have my reservation. I signed into the internet and VPN into my mail account to get the address of the hotel. We got to the hotel 7 miles away and decided to get dinner.
We stopped at a place called Flannigan’s. I had some Tilapia and Michelle had shrimp. We tried an appetizer called “Dolphin Fingers”. It was fried strips of Mahi Mahi, and wasn’t very good at all. Michelle complained and they took it off our bill. We went back to the hotel and got some rest.
We ate bananas for breakfast then went to the beach to waste some time. We stopped by and bought wine and Irish Cream then took a walk on the beach. Michelle looked like a cute school girl, so excited to be on the Ocean beach. I said “You are so cute” and she usually says “No I am not” but this time she says “I admit it, this time I am”. After some time on the beach and doing some shell collecting, we left for the airport to return the car and get picked up by the Cruise shuttle.
We got on the shuttle and there were 2 other couples that got on with us. We made another stop at a different terminal and picked up another couple. We then headed to a local hotel a picked up a family of 4 who squeezed into the back seat; they weren’t exactly tiny so it was quite a tight squeeze into the back seat. We all thought for sure this was the last stop and were surprised when we picked up the final couple at a different hotel. It was a tight ride for about 45 minutes but everyone was so excited about their cruises nobody really minded.
There were 3 cruises represented in the shuttle. Carnival’s Liberty, Norwegian’s Destiny and our Liberty of the Sea by Royal Caribbean. The Liberty of the Seas is the largest cruise ship in existence, until Royal Caribbean’s Oasis hits the waves, sometime in mid November 2009.
We checked our baggage with a porter then waited in a short line to board the ship. We got on the boat and were amazed at the size and beauty. We realized that getting here at 2PM was actually later than we could have. We thought we had to board at 2:30 then found out we could board early in the morning and plan to next trip. There were plenty of people on the boat already swimming and enjoying the whirlpools.
After walking around for a while we grabbed some lunch at the Windjammer café, one of the places on board with free food. After lunch it was time for more exploring. Soon it was time to get our safety briefing. Standing listening to basic safety rules, sweating and wishing they didn’t have to repeat everything in several languages. After the Safety briefing it was time to set sail. We grabbed a prime viewing area on the top deck and watched as we left the Port of Miami. We came back to the room to check to see if our bags were there yet. There were a few there but not all of them.
It was time for dinner so we put on some casual clothes and headed to the restaurant. We were seated at a table with 2 other couples. One of the couples were from Sweden. Eric, an Army office in the Swedish Army and his newlywed bride Maria, was studying her first year of Psychology in Sweden. We later found out that she has a Masters in Business and decided to go back to school for Psychology. Gene and Judy were from Boston. Gene was a lot like me personality wise. Judy was irritated with me almost immediately as I poked fun of their Bostonian accent. I felt bad and apologized quickly. Judy said it was a bit over the top but smiled and pretended to forgive me. Gene, a Police officer for a rural town north of Boston had a great sense of humor. Judy told me she was a trader for Stride Rite, I wasn’t sure what that was but I was hesitant to ask many questions about it for fear of her accusing me of being “over the top” again. Gene and Judy told us about their stateroom. They wanted a room that overlooked the Promenade, so they just selected something that looked good on the internet. When they arrived onboard they discovered their room was a “Ben and Jerry’s ‘Sweet’” The room is above Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Parlor and had a view of 2 cow butts out their stateroom window. They get free Ben and Jerry’s ice cream for the whole cruise as a benefit. Their room was also decked out in a cow theme. There were plays with words like “You can switch to an udder room if you want.” They showed us pictures of their room and it was really a cute idea. I could see why the cruise would want to do something with the room due to the fact the view was hindered by 2 cows above the Ben and Jerry’s parlor below. Maria left dinner early because she had a spa treatment planned with hot rocks. Eric stayed with us and finished dessert.
After Dinner we walked around some more. We went to a piano bar and enjoyed some entertainment. We also went to a disco hall and had fun watching the younger crowd dance around. We went to another bar at the aft of the ship and listened to some real mellow music. We came back to our room and changed into our swim suits. We enjoyed the hot tubs and I went swimming for a little bit. It was really cool feeling the strong wind in my face with some intermittent sprinkles from the skies. After we had enough we came back to our room to retire for the night. I stayed up and watched Mall Cop as Michelle fell fast asleep.
We slept in and opted for the late breakfast. I needed coffee first and needed to go down a level to get it. After breakfast we went to the surfing mock up. I had fun boogie boarding. We left there and went to the sexiest men’s legs contest. I decided to try my luck in the competition and actually won 1 of 4 prizes. I won the best tourist legs because they were so white. Hey I’ll take it, and it was fun.
We had dinner again. Tonight was formal night. I scared away Gene and Judy so it was just Maria, Eric, Michelle and I at dinner. It was much easier to follow the conversation between the 2 couples so I was glad there was only the 4 of us. Michelle wore her hot red dress and got a bunch of compliments on it. I wore my pin stripe suit with the pink shirt. I forgot how tiny the collar was so I looked funny with the button undone. It was literally impossible for me to button it. After dinner we went and got some pictures taken, some of which ended up really nice. We stopped by several areas that were taking pictures so we could have several options when it comes time to buy them. It was time to head to the show. Mosaic was the headliner tonight. Mosaic is a cappella band that uses no instruments in their show. It was very entertaining. I kept thinking that my Mom and Dad would love them. Surprisingly Michelle really liked them. We were both tired and decided to go to bed for the night. I snuck down to the Promenade and grabbed some goodies for a bedtime snack. Chocolate Mousse and cheese cake are a great way to end a perfect evening. It seemed really windy this night. The boat rocked more than ever and we even heard the walls creaking.morning came way too soon as it always does. The phone rang at 7:35 for Michelle 8 AM appointment for her full tissue massage. I made sure she was up and awake, after she left I made sure the room was still dark and I drifted back off to sleep. I remember waking up at 9 AM thinking, this is awesome, and she isn’t even back yet. I went back to sleep and woke up at 9:30 when Michelle finally got done with her massage. We obviously had a late breakfast this morning, but we are on vacation, right? Prior to leaving for vacation we left our “Make up Room” sign outside the door, which we were asked to do twice a day. When we came back to the room after breakfast the room porter had left a dog with glasses made out of our room towels. We loved this and took plenty of pictures. We decided to go to the pool deck and walk around. Michelle later did some line dance lessons on the pool deck. After the line dancing was the belly flop contest. I was not brave enough to enter this competition. This was a very entertaining show. The cruise director was really good and the winner had to make 3 total belly flop, after the final flop-off of course. We rushed downstairs to the art auction next. Michelle and I both fell in love with the artist Peter Max. We bought some art from Kim Liv. It was a very interesting show. I got kind of depressed when one of my favorite pieces started it’s bid at $25,000. When reality set in, we left. That’s what we paid for on the Avalanche. We relaxed a bit before dinner. Michelle decided to relax on the swim deck, basking in the sun of course. I walked around taking some pictures of the ship. I wanted to play black jack but none of the tables were open. We met back in the room and got ready for a casual dinner. We had dinner with Maria and Eric again. After dinner we had some more pictures taken. We went to the show of the evening which was called “Somewhere in Time” production show, starring the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers. It was a great show with lots of hits from the 70’s and 80’s. It was not as good Mosaic but was still very entertaining. We did some shopping on board after the show, grabbed some more snacks from the Promenade and headed back for some sleep.
morning it seemed easier to wake up. This was the first day at port after 3 full days at sea. We were pulling into St. Maarten when we woke up. After getting some wake-up coffee, we went to breakfast. Michelle and I were going on separate excursions this day, so she was in a rush to get off the ship by 9:15 AM, where as mine deep sea fishing excursion wasn’t until 12:15, so I went back to the cabin after seeing Michelle off. Michelle’s excursion was the Tiki Hut and snorkeling experience. She came back very sun burnt and had the ultimate time sun bathing and swimming with the fish. I went on a tour of downtown before my excursion. It was interesting and I was surprised people were not very pushy. There were a lot of jewelry and clothing shops. Michelle had offers to braid her hair while she was there but thought it would be a nightmare to keep up with so opted against it. We both thought the taxi drivers seemed pushier to give us rides than a timeshare salesman. Michelle and I met back in the cabin and exchanged our experiences. I told her how the 4 hour tour I was on was boring. We caught a baby barracuda and nothing more. I fell asleep several times. 20 minutes in the chair was all we got. I spent the rest of the time either napping or trying not to get sea sick from the massive waves the small fishing vessel was taking on. Soon after I got back it was time to head to dinner. Maria and Eric shared their stories from their excursion. Dinner was very good. I tried the crab cakes, which I didn’t like and the clam chowder soup which I did like as an appetizer. For the entre I had pork tenderloin, it was kind of fatty but very delicious. The scalloped potatoes were really good. I decided not to have dessert. Michelle had the crab cake for the appetizer and Salmon for the entre. She enjoyed ****************** for dessert. After dinner we had an appointment with the art people. They tried to sell us more art and frames, we were able to resist and walk away with only the art we bought at the auction. We decided not go to the show and just walk around a bit. I played some blackjack and Michelle spent some time back in the cabin. I met her there around 10 PM. Michelle fell asleep and I watched a movie about Ernie Davis. I liked the story but didn’t like Syracuse beating the Longhorns in the National Championships in 1959.
morning it seemed easier to wake up. We arrived in the St. Thomas port about 7:45AM. We got up and were at breakfast by 8AM. Our excursion for the day was sailing and snorkeling, which wasn’t until later in the afternoon. After breakfast Michelle and I got off the ship and went downtown to go shopping. I was really sick of looking at jewelry, seemed that was all St. Thomas had. We stopped by some street vendors and bought some shirts and souvenirs. We grabbed a taxi back to the boat. We boarded the ship again and went to the buffet. After lunch we met our excursion group out on the pier. It was really hot and sticky. We kept looking for shaded areas, which were scarce. Our guide soon met us and we walked over to where the sail boat was, which seemed like a mile away. When we got to the boat slip we were told the captain would meet us there shortly. When I saw the Captain I thought, wow he can’t be older than 20. He was full of himself but seemed to know his job pretty well. It was a 45 minute sail to get to the snorkel spot. There was a shipwreck there. It was almost a artificial reef. The ship was from 1979. It was used to transfer cargo. Some of the crew decided to start transferring marijuana illegally. The FBI caught wind of the operation and set up a sting for the operations. The crew them caught wind of the FBI sting and caught fire to the ship. The coast guard decided to tug the ship to St. Thomas, about 3 kmiles, but as they were tugging it they continued to try to put the fire out. Eventually the water from the fire hoses sank the ship. Local divers had the requested the ship be used as a scuba dive adventure, so the ship was sunk about 3 miles off shore. When Hurricane Hugo hit St. Thomas the hurricane put the ship on the shoreline. Authorities put the ship back in the water where it remained until another hurricane hit and split the ship into 3 pieces. Authorities finally dropped sand bags onto the ship to keep it in place. While snorkeling, we saw a Barracuda, a puffer fish, several yellow snappers and lots of other fish. We also saw a HUGE hermit crab. We also saw baby star fish. The star fish was cool; it shed body pieces as a defense mechanism. Star fish take no more than 6 weeks to re-grow their body parts. We enjoyed snorkeling for about 2 hours then headed back to the port and onto the ship. We got on the ship and got ready for a casual dinner. Michelle had muscles and scallops for an appetizer. She liked it so much she got another order of them. I had melon prosciutto. For the main course I decided to try 2, the baked perch and top sirloin. The perch was good and a little buttery tasting. Michelle did not like the perch. The sirloin was very good. Michelle had Ravioli Mare Monte that she did not like so she ordered a seasoned herb chicken breast. For dessert, Michelle had the sugar free Chocolate Pannacutla. I had the Apple Flan with Ice Cream, this was really delicious. After dinner I played some cards and Michelle went shopping on the Promenade. I was up on the tables so I left. I met Michelle on the Promenade and we went to the show, an interactive comedy, music and visual effects show. Starring tonight was a Hispanic comedian from Ecuador South Africa. His name was Oscar Silvera and he was very funny and very entertaining. He told us a story about visiting North Carolina. He stopped and asked someone “How do you get to South Carolina?” and the man replied, “My brother normally takes me, why?” He kept us laughing and very entertained. Being exhausted, we retired to our cabin for the night.
morning we woke up very tired. We both slept lightly thinking we would sleep too long and miss our excursion, the Canopy experience. We grabbed some breakfast and rushed down to disembark the ship. We waited at the pier for our guide to pick us up. We were ushered to a small bus along with 16 other people. The bus ride was about 30 minutes through the very scenic Puerto Rico. The driver’s mike want working very well so we only heard about every 5th broken English word he said. When we got to the destination, we wondered why we stopped below a very steep road. We later discovered that the bus would over heat going up the hill. We were so excited to climb this road on our own. We assumed the needed 45 degree angle and started the hike ¼ mile up the hill. We stopped 3 times to get a breath of air. Reaching the top we saw the outfit area, where they later put harnesses and helmets on us. The new canopy guide said “Follow me” and up another steep trek we went. I was ready for a nap before the adventure even began. We got our safety briefing and got ready for the first stretch of cables. It was a cable and pulley system that went from tree top to tree top, gradually bringing you down the hill side. It was a lot of fun and Michelle really seemed to enjoy herself. When the adventure was done, one of the Canopy crew workers asked if I had fun. He asked if I had ever done anything like that before and if I had ever been to Puerto Rico before. I told him I had done this before while I was in the Army and I had been to Puerto Rico while in the Army but that was back in 1987. His eyes opened wider than a one eyed alien and said in a deep Puerto Rican / Spanish accent “I wasn’t even born at that time”. Wow, I thought, I am old. After the Canopy tour we did some shopping around town. I tried to talk a street vendor down on a price and Michelle said, no babe, I think that is a great price. This was a wonderful thing to say, right in front of the vendor. We bought way too many souvenirs but had a lot of fun walking around. We had an early port call because it was a long trip to Laberdee Haiti, so we didn’t get as much time as we wanted in the streets of San Juan. We got back on the ship and grabbed a late lunch. After lunch we napped for an hour or so. After the nap we went to another art exhibit. Soon it was time for dinner. We got all dressed up for the 2nd and final formal night of the cruise. Michelle looked stunning. We had some pictures taken then enjoyed dinner with Eric and Maria. We exchanged our stories from the day’s adventures. We laughed as we normally did at dinner. After dinner we saw another show. It was the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers again. This show had high flying acrobatics and plenty of singing and dancing. We walked around the pool deck after the show then headed back to the cabin to get some rest for the next day.
was the day we were to arrive in Haiti. We arranged to meet Eric and Maria in the Michelangelo Dining facility. We thought we would try ordering breakfast from a menu rather than getting it buffet style like we had been doing. Eric, Maria and Michelle ended up going to the buffet they had at the Michelangelo. I ordered the special, which were poached eggs on a French bun. We decided to spend the day together at the beach. Michelle and I changed our time to ride the jet skis so the 4 of us could enjoy it together. I wandered off and left the other 3 in the sun. I met some locals hiding behind a fence. Haiti is a very poor country and it was interesting to see how they separated the locals from the cruise vacationers. I met a local who called himself Henry. He told me he taught himself how to speak English. He said he was jobless and explained how poor his country was. He asked me to help him. I gave him a dollar and he was less than impressed. I passed out 4 of the 5 - $1 bills I had in my pocket then walked away. I think Henry called me a cheap American; I couldn’t understand his language but felt his sentiments. I returned to where the gang was and asked Eric if he wanted to walk around and check out the local shops the Haitians had set up near the beach. All vendors were cleared by the Haitian government and had numbered badges on. They were very high pressure sails people. I actually haggled one man down from $30 on a mask all the way down to $7, even after explaining I had no cash on me. After seeing 4 of the 200 vendor shops, I saw nothing new. There were plenty of wood carvings and paintings to choose from. The vendors were ridiculously pushy. After saying no to many of the vendors they would speak in their native tongues, surely cussing out the cheap Americans. Eric and I returned to the girls in time for a quick lunch on the beach before our ride on the jet skis. After lunch it was off to the safety briefing then onto the jet skis for some fun. We rode for about an hour. There were 4 stops, helping to rest our hands. One stop I was scolded for making too many sharp turns. The instructor said it was evident I could handle it but the people behind me were having issues following in my wake. Michelle was behind me and said she had to slow down to follow the white wake in the water. One of the stops there were locals in kayaks with goods from their village. I told one guy no and he said he saw I had a dollar in my pocket. I said yea, just $1. I told him I would buy a mask from him and nothing else. He said no way and tried to sell me a shell instead. I was scared the shell would break in the small Jet Ski compartment so I said no and that I was interested in nothing. We rested for 5 or so minutes then got ready to head off and have some more fun. I started the machine and the local approached me with a mask and said “Ok here, you take mask … $1.” I gave him the dollar and put the mask in the Jet Ski. Later a man from our party told me that one of the locals was very rude and told him he was worthless. It was a strange culture where the people felt as if we owed them something. I felt fortunate to be born in a different place to a different family, how sad it would be to be destined with a life of poverty. After returning to the beach, Eric and Maria ventured back to the ship, while Michelle and I went shopping. I had a lot of fun haggling and bringing the price down. Michelle would whisper softly to me what she liked and I would bring the prices from $50 and $60 down to $5 and 2 for $9. I bought a walking stick for $10 and we got a serving tray for $20. I tried to talk him from $70 down to $10 but after walking away and not getting pursued; I went back and offered him $20 for it, which he eventually took. We continued shopping for more souvenirs until it was finally time to return to the ship. We got onboard, showered and got ready for dinner. We met Eric and Maria for dinner and had ******. After dinner the 4 of us went back to our cabin poured some wine for the boys and Irish cream for the girls then headed to the pool deck to smoke some Cuban cigars. There was a parade of young trick or treaters first the 7-10 yr olds then 11-13 and finally the 14 and older. They were all dressed in Halloween costumes and were being lead by cruise activity monitors. We regretted not bring candy and costumes but enjoyed watching others. One of the cruise monitors gave us each a tootsie pop, which we later gave back to the kids who followed. Michelle was reluctant to give hers up, it was red, her favorite flavor. We decided to go and watch the parade of people dressed in costumes on the Promenade. We had nice view 2 floors up and were able to snap some good photos of the wild crowd. The Cruise line decided it would be better to hold the party Halloween eve because Halloween fell on the last night of the cruise. There was a much larger crowd than there would have been on Halloween, partying on the last night before the cruise makes for a rough day to depart. We left the party crowd and went to Johnny Rockets for a shake. Eric and Maria had hamburger and fries and Michelle and I had fries and onion rings and vanilla shakes. We talked some more and then decided to retire for the night. It took me about 30 seconds to fall asleep. A day of fun in the sun, haggling with vendors then fun with friends proved to be quite tiring.
It took 8 days for me to figure out that the Day of the week was displayed on the floor of each elevator. We all chuckled when I mentioned how I just figured that out. Michelle and I slept in until almost 10AM. We went for a late breakfast, buffet style. After breakfast we returned to the cabin and started packing. I watched some football on TV and we pushed and shoved as many clothes, shoes and souvenirs as we could into our suitcases. We went to the final art auction after packing. We bet on a Peter Max painting and ended up winning the bid. It was a lot of fun. It was soon dinner time and we met Eric and Maria for our final dinner setting. WE had to say goodbye to Marliza our head waitress, Michelle our main waitress and Ainslie our assistant waiter. Marliza was from South Africa. She had 2 more weeks out on the ship then 6 weeks off at home with her husband and 3 kids. Michelle was from Jamaica and works with her husband Keith who was also a waiter. We never met Keith, the liked the arrangement of working on the same cruise ship together. Ainslie was single and had a few more weeks before he went home to Jamaica. The service was great and everyone had a great sense of humor. After dinner we had an appointment at the art gallery. We soon bought some pictures that were taken of us during the cruise and trued up our final bill. I played and lost at Black Jack. We got some ice for Michelle’s swollen knee and went to our cabin. It was almost 12 AM by now and we needed to get some sleep before our 5:30AM wake-up call. We set our watches back one hour for day light savings time and fell fast asleep.