January 31, 2014

It was a quiet day on board. We browsed art after breakfast, then played Bingo before lunch. This ship uses electronic bingo cards. You can either buy 6 cards for $32 or get the device with 30 cards on it plus a bonus 3-card paper set for $55. Most people see the device is the better deal.  It receives a signal from the main board and marks your numbers on every card automatically, while you keep busy punching and folding the numbers on only 3 cards.  While the game is going it shows the best cards, tells you how many cards are closest to winning, and how many numbers you need to win.  If you are 1 number away from Bingo, the device gives an audible signal and if one of your electronic cards wins it flashes WINNER.  It's the lazy person's Bingo, and still fun.  I was 1 number away twice, but didn't win.

After pizza for lunch we went to the afternoon art auction. Again, this was fun and informative. We always learn something at these auctions.

Tonight was the 2nd formal night. We relaxed on our balcony after the auction, then got into our formal attire for dinner.  I was surprised that our dinner companions did not dress up, since they sounded like they were looking forward to formal night when we talked to them yesterday.  I was also surprised at how few men wore a tux. Ray always does and I always bring a formal dress. On other cruises at least a quarter of the men wore tuxedos, but they were few and far between on this cruise.

January 30, 2014

On our 5th day we docked at Philipsburg, St Maarten.  Ray and I have been here several times, taken the tours before, and explored the shopping, so this was another easy day.  We took our time and went to the restaurant for breakfast after most people had already left the ship.

After breakfast, we went out to browse the shops near the pier.  We remember the first time we visited this port many years ago, all the stores we in town a mile or 2 away and the area around the dock was mostly cargo. Over the years they have cleared the area around the pier, built additional piers to accommodate more ships, and built shops a short walk off the piers.  Most of the main shops that you can find in town now have smaller shops here as well.  There is also a water taxi now that will take you from the pier to the smaller docks in town if you want to do serious shopping.  Today there were 6 cruise ships in port - 2 Holland America, the Celebrity Summit, the Royal Princess, an MSC ship, and us (Freedom of the Seas), plus a Windjammer.

We really aren't into shopping much this trip.  I browsed the jewelry stores, but nothing excited me.  I did find a nice tablecloth at the Mr. Tablecloth store.  This has been one of my favorites over the years.  I'm not sure what the material is, but stains wash out of their material very easily and they have a beautiful selection in all sizes.

We came back on board for lunch and spent a quiet afternoon. After dinner we actually made it to a show! The Aussie Boys performed tonight. They weren't bad.  They reminded me of a 50's trio with 21st century dance moves.  Ray, whose ears are much more attuned than mine says their harmony was lacking - 2 of the guys singing the same notes. The house backup band was pretty good and larger than we've seen on cruise ships lately - a whole 7 instruments.

We will be at sea the next 2 days as we head for home, so it should be a couple of relaxing days.

January 29, 2014

Today we docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico about 10am.  Earlier the ship was rocking a bit so we decided to go to the restaurant for breakfast instead of the buffet.  I think we might stick to that from now on. The breakfast was better, the service was fast, and we got to sit at a table with some other people to talk to.

We have been doing without internet access so far this week, but since Puerto Rico is a U.S. Territory, we we're able to connect phones and iPads via Verizon & AT&T. That let us get a little caught up with email.

We have been to San Juan several times, so we've already done most of the tours. The only one worth doing again is the Bacardi tour, so that's what we did. The bus driver gave us a nice running commentary on the way there and back, sprinkling in a little history and a little humor.  Once there we received tickets for 2 drinks each and a tour of the museum. They have redone it since we were here last, adding a short movie about the history and several interactive kiosks. Of course, the tour ended at the gift shop where we got to see all the new flavors and specialty rums.

Tonight we finally went to dinner in the main restaurant. There was a little confusion in the beginning because we had a reservation but we're not assigned to a table.  I think that's because we didn't eat there the first 3 nights.  They finally got it sorted out and sat us at a table for 2 between 2 other tables, close enough so we could have a conversation with either side.  It was nice and the food was good, but no one ever asked us if we wanted something to drink with dinner.  It seems in order to get anything besides water they expect you to have purchased a drink package, either wine or soda.  I just like 1 glass of wine with dinner and Ray usually wants an ice tea or a coke, so a package isn't worth it for us.  I don't care for their system on this.

January 28, 2014

Our 3rd day on board was a day at sea.  We had breakfast at the buffet and spent most of the day reading or, in my case, doing needlework. We did go to the art auction, without buying anything I might add.  Ray wanted to go to the Johnny Rockets on the upper deck for dinner, so we had burgers and shakes for dinner. All in all a very relaxing day.

January 27, 2014

This morning we are anchored off Coco Cay, Bahamas, along with an NCL ship.  We  waited until almost 11am before boarding the tender to go ashore.  These are not the usual life boats repurposed as tenders, but are much larger, 2 decker boats that are based at Coco Cay for the sole purpose of transporting guests from the ships that arrive here daily.   We were not sure what to expect other than beach here since this is an island owned by the cruise companies.  As it turned out, the only things besides beach and water activities are a series of temporary structures where venders sell mostly clothing.   We didn't stay long since we are not really beach people.

Today is our anniversary and tonight was also formal night. We had a reservation at the specialty restaurant Chops and enjoyed an excellent dinner there. Ray had filet mignon again, but I opted for fish since we had filet last night.  I don't eat beef often anymore.  At the end of the meal the waitress brought us a little cheesecake with a candle and, with another waiter, sang happy anniversary to us.  We were so surprised by this, we forgot to take a picture of the cake before we dived our forks in.

After dinner we stopped at one of the photo stations to have our picture taken in our formal attire. Having shared a celebratory bottle of Rose' with dinner and enjoyed specialty coffees for dessert, we decided to skip the show and call it a night after that.

January 26, 2014

We are off on a relaxing Caribbean cruise, to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary.   Since we have decided to forgo Internet access this week, I plan to post each of these blog entries once we get home.

Pina Coladas to start the week off right

Yesterday we drove from our house to Cape Canaveral, left our car in the garage at the port, and boarded the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas.  The boarding process was very easy, but it took awhile to find our room. This ship is very large and has 3 hallways in the back section of the ship instead of the usual 2.  The room numbers wrap around instead of being odd on one side and even on the other like most ships.  Our room is at the very back, looking out over the stern and is very nice. I had forgotten that we upgraded for this 1 week cruise.

During lunch we found out about a Mystery Dinner theater being held that night and Ray reserved the last 2 seats for us.  It was a murder mystery set at a high school reunion and lots of fun.  We sat at a table with 4 other couples and enjoyed their company as well. Plus the food was very good - antipasto, soup or salad, Filet Mignon, and tiramisu in a chocolate cup for dessert.

Casual Travels

OK, I know I said I wouldn't update this blog, but I reserve the right to change my mind.  We often do short trips that don't have enough things going on to warrant a separate blog, but I still want to record my thoughts on these trips.  I've decided to use this blog for those smaller trips.   One other caveat I must set down is that these types of posts may not be timely.  For example, I did not bring a computer on the cruise we just finished and did not sign up for internet access during the trip.  Instead, I recorded my thought on my iPad, to be transferred to this blog at a later date.  For these posts, I will note the actual date I wrote the notes within the post to counter the fact that the date posted will be off.  So with that said, look for my thoughts on our 35th Anniversary cruise to follow.