April 26th

We began the day by waking early to watch the ship dock. It was a beautiful sunny morning and Aruba was as beautiful as we remembered. We did not book an excursion for this port so we were not in any kind of a hurry.

We decided to have breakfast at Horizon court. I had cereal and fruit and yogurt as well as lots of coffee.

Then I proceeded to walk around and see if I could find the spots that are the answer to the “Where on the ship?” contest. I found the feature at the Lotus Pool Conservatory. Then I went to the library to put my entry in. I forgot to do it yesterday. Not that the prizes are any big deal but it is fun to enter.

After walking a little I decided to get out of the heat and return to our stateroom. The heat here is oppressive to be sure. I am certain there will be a lot of sun burned people at dinner tonight. In spite of my advice Ken went topside to lie in the sun. But to his credit he only stayed for a half hour.

Sail away was at 12:30, All aboard was scheduled for 12:00 noon.

 We watched buses returning at twelve. The temperature on our balcony was exactly 100 F. I am so glad that we decided to stay aboard today. The temperature inside our room was 75 and in comparison it almost seemed fidget

We decided to have lunch in our room. You avoid the temptations of the buffet and the dining room that way. Ken had a Caesar and I had a club sandwich with cole slaw… no French fries J

We finished our bottle of Champagne before dinner.

Everyone was at dinner and the gang reported a very good time in Aruba today.

After dinner Ken and I stopped at the Wheelhouse Bar to enjoy the music of Phoenix Rising. They have a great sound and a lot of people were dancing.

Next we went to the Princess Theatre to watch the show. Tonight it was “ Master Gauchos” The rhythm of Argentina staring Hilario and Haley. They were very entertaining. She was a contortionist and the shapes she put herself into were quite amazing.

We ended our evening with our special coffee.

Back here to order room service for breakfast because tomorrow we are in Cartagena. We have a Princess tour on a Spanish Galleon.

Aruba

Change Port Aruba - Apr 26, 2016 Cartagena, Colombia - Apr 27, 2016 Puntarenas, Costa Rica - Apr 30, 2016 San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua - May 01, 2016 Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - May 05, 2016 Los Angeles, California - May 08, 2016 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - May 11, 2016

Dutch influence still lingers on this balmy Caribbean island, part of the former Netherlands Antilles until its independence in 1986. Aruba is a contrast: the island's arid interior is dotted with cactus and windswept divi-divi trees while secluded coves and sandy beaches make up its coast. Aruba's long and colorful heritage is reflected in its dialect. Called Papiamento, it is a tongue that combines elements of Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, African and English.

Aruba Today,

We are in Aruba today.

We have been here at least six times and the stop here is only for 5 hours. It is so hot here that only a few minutes outside on the deck just finished me. Because of all of that I have not gone ashore.

We will spend the day relaxing and getting ready for tomorrow and Cartagena.

Monday, April 25

Again we slept very well. The sea was calm and we awoke to one of those pudding like smooth seas with some fog. I published the blog from yesterday and then Ken and I went to the dining room for breakfast. We were seated at a table with 3 people from Alberta, the Calgary area, and 2 people from Japan. Interestingly we saw the waiter give this couple a menu that was written in Japanese. They were very friendly people and they joined in the visiting as best they could. Her English was better than his and so she did some translating. They had been to Nova Scotia and he remembered Halifax. Apparently he was so impressed with Lunenburg when he was there that he wrote a song about it.

After breakfast Ken went to get sun and I went to the Princess Theatre for a presentation on I Pads. Even though I don’t own one I learned a lot and I can see an I Pad in my not too distant future. With one I could dictate the blog instead of 2 finger typing it.

After that lecture I checked out the ten dollar sale. I bought a sun visor. There was a wonderful red jacquard pashima there. A lady picked it up before I did and she discussed it with her friend. Well I followed her around for about fifteen minutes hoping she would put it down. She did not, I left without that red pashima.

Next event was to return to the state room to send a Happy Birthday message to Sylvia and watch a movie on the building of the Panama Canal.

There was a documentary on the stateroom television telling all about the building of the canal. We needed a refresher so we watched it again.

For lunch we went up to horizon court and I had a half sandwich and Ken had some fruit. We toured around some of the upper decks. I am impressed by the space and the small numbers of people in the public areas.

At one o’clock we went to deck 6 to play a game of Elevator roulette. It was fun. I won the first round and I now have another Princess Magnet clip.

We came back to the room and Ken stayed in the room and I decided to go to the Gems of the world lecture. I saw the most beautiful pendant of water colored sapphires and diamonds. I could not believe how beautiful was.

Dinner was the usual good time. We laughed and visited as usual. When dinner was over we all went together to Explorers Lounge and we played a game of Trivia. We won but we didn’t realize that we could only have 6 on the team and we actually had eight. It was decided that it would be overlooked this one time. The prizes were lanyards and clips. Ken and I have plenty of both so we didn’t take a prize.

Then we went upstairs, changed into our swim suits and went to the hot tub at the Lotus Pool. We practically had the place to ourselves. It was great.

We ended the evening back in the stateroom watching Hockey and Blogging.

Tomorrow it is Aruba!!

Sunday and a sea day

First Sea Day

We were tired and we decided to call it a night early.

There was just a gentle motion of the ship and we slept very very well.

We decided to have breakfast in the dining room. The table we were given included three other couples, all of whom were from BC. Two couples were from Coquitlim and one was from Kamloops. They tell us that more than 50% of the ship is from Canada. I believe most are from the Fraser Valley .

After breakfast we came back to our room to collect our name tags and head for the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet.

 It was very well attended and the people sitting next to us were from Penticton. Several officers including the captain attended which was very nice.

Then we walked a little of the ship and went to the Photography department to make our poster for our trip through the canal. They have an event where people make signs to hang on their balconies when the ship is passing through the canal. We made ours but we wish we had brought our own art supplies. These left a great deal to be desired. But it is made and we will add our Canadian flag and our Canadian Flag wind sock so it will be fine.

Next I blogged and Ken sat in the sun. We ordered room service for lunch. A Caesar salad with chicken strips for Ken and a chef’s salad for me and one piece of chocolate cake for us to share. We drank the beverages in our room.

Tonight is formal night so it was necessary to iron a little and fuss a little.

We had some champagne with our canapés. We still have some champagne left to enjoy another night even though I had 2 glasses tonight.

Dinner was great as usual. Everyone at the table had Shrimp Danielle except Howard. And everyone except Fred had the Norman Love chocolate Journey. YUM!!

Tonight was the Champagne waterfall and after a lot of searching I found a glass for each of us. We were late getting there because we were among the last out of the dining room. We just have so much fun laughing and visiting.

We took in the Princess show in the theatre , it was Piano Man. It features the music of Billy Joel and Elton John among others. It was a very good show. The Princess Theatre here is deeply slanted so there is no problem for me to see over the heads of others. There are only 2 aisles and there are no exits at the bottom. That means it takes a lot longer for the theatre to empty causing a safety concern in the event of trouble.

The performers did not seem as strong as the cast on the Regal but the sound was adjusted much better. It was not too loud for a change. FINALLY!!

After the show we headed for the Piazza for our special coffee. This ship does not have an international Café which means this area is smaller and it is not a busy center of activity as it would be. It was actually quite quiet and it took us 10 minutes to get service.

After coffee we returned to our room. Tonight there is a full moon and it is so very bright on the open sea. It is warm and clear, perfect for enjoying a few minutes on the balcony before calling it a full day and a wonderful night.

Tomorrow is another sea day .

Next Cruise begins differently!

This is turning out to be an unusual evening.

We were steaming toward Aruba when we suddenly changed directions. The ship turned around and headed back toward Fort Lauderdale. After a few confusing minutes we got a ship wide message saying that the reason for turning around was the sighting of a capsized vessel. The Island Princess in cooperation with the US Coast Guard has begun to check out the situation. So we are waiting for more news.

In the meantime, a report on today:;

We got up at 5:30 and managed to be all packed and on our way by 7. After a few course adjustment we made our way to the turnpike and away we went. The trip was uneventful.

We arrived at the Budget place with 15 minutes to spare. Then we loaded up our luggage and headed for the airport and a taxi. Soon we were in line waiting to Board the Island Princess. It went very smoothly and in about 15 minutes we were on board.

We headed to the dining room right away in the hopes of meeting our friends there. It was already oer o’clock so we figured they were probably gone already. So when we arrived at the dining room we told the greeter that we wanted a table for sharing. We were lead to a large table for ten and much to our surprise and delight it was the table where our friends were seated. We had a grand lunch and a wonderful visit with friends. They are Howard and Janeen , Fred and Mary and Nancy and Pam. Nancy and Pam are Howard’s sisters. We have sailed with Howard and Janeen and Fred and Mary before.

After a great lunch we returned to our room to unpack. Our luggage had arrived. We met our steward “Randell” He is a sweetie.

 He gave me a big hug and declared that I would be his substitute Mom. I don’t know how pleased I am about that . He could have said that I was his substitute grandmother, so I guess it could be worse. Because we are in a mini suite we get champagne for sail away. Randy left us an entire bottle. I am going to enjoy that.

 He also brought me a perfect sized vase for my flowers.

I also decorated our door.

Next we went to Muster drill. We were on deck 6 so we took the stairs.

They just announced that the overturned vessel has been taken care of by the coast guard and that we are free to continue to make our way to Aruba. We saw nothing. It is now dark so we have no idea what was seen or not seen.

It is also 8:30 which is the time for the second show so I guess we will not be going to the theatre to see the second show.

Our dinner time is 5:15 so we will be going to the second show. Dinner was great, We have wonderful waiters .  Caesar is our head waiter and Bryan is our assistant waiter. The food was very good and we did a lot of laughing and visiting. This is going to be a fun cruise.

We really like our accommodations. The suite is as big as the one on the Regal, but the Regal had large screen televisions and this one had much smaller ones. This balcony is about twice the size but the balconies on deck nine are completely open. That means that people can look down on you so they are not as private.

We have received a wonderful gift of a Champagne Breakfast from Kim, our travel agent. She is an amazing agent to have. She certainly lets you know that she appreciates your business.

Basically we have found our way to the dining room and back and we have not explored much of the ship. We have another 17 days to do that.

Stay tuned!

18 Days to Home

Day & Date	Destination	Duration
Sat, 04/23/16	.
Sat, 04/23/16	Ft. Lauderdale,                                                                                                                                                              Check In 12:30pm-3:00pm	– 4:00pm
Sun, 04/24/16	At Sea
Mon, 04/25/16	At Sea
Tue, 04/26/16	Aruba	7:00am – 12:30pm
Wed, 04/27/16	Cartagena, Colombia	9:00am – 3:00pm
Thu, 04/28/16	Panama Canal (scenic Cruising) Panama Scenic Cruising	6:00am – 4:30pm
Fri, 04/29/16	At Sea
Sat, 04/30/16	Puntarenas, Costa Rica	7:00am – 7:00pm
Sun, 05/01/16	San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua Tender Required wheelchair Access Limited	7:00am – 6:00pm
Mon, 05/02/16	At Sea
Tue, 05/03/16	At Sea
Wed, 05/04/16	At Sea
Thu, 05/05/16	Cabo San Lucas, Mexico Tender Required wheelchair Access Limited	9:00am – 6:00pm
Fri, 05/06/16	At Sea
Sat, 05/07/16	At Sea
Sun, 05/08/16	Los Angeles, California San Pedro Pier 93 Ship @ Port Of San Pedro check In 12:30pm-3:00pm	7:00am – 4:00pm
Mon, 05/09/16	At Sea
Tue, 05/10/16	At Sea
Wed, 05/11/16	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada View general port information Canada Place 999 Canada Place Vancouver, Bc V6c 3c1

Fort Lauderdale

According to the popular 1960 beach movie, Fort Lauderdale is "where the boys are." The city's reputation as America's Spring Break capital, however, has been replaced with the more favorable image of a prime family tourist destination, attracting more than 10 million visitors annually. The most popular beach resort in Florida is even more rightly famed as the "Yachting Capital of the World," with more than 40,000 registered crafts calling its waters home. The city also prides itself on being the "Venice of America" with more than 300 miles of navigable waterways. Fort Lauderdale boasts world-class theaters, museums, sightseeing, and shopping.

The city sits 24 miles north of Miami and is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale, who was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort. Look hard and you might find remnants of three of them today.

  

Tourism is Greater Fort Lauderdale’s second largest industry, accounting for more than 114,000 jobs. In 2013, more than 13 million visitors selected Greater Fort Lauderdale as their destination of choice and spent in excess of $10.6 billion. For every 85 visitors to Broward County, it is estimated that one job is created.