Day 507 - At Sea

Today was another sea day. It was also a formal night. I went up for a bit of tanning - only one hour. I rotate every 15 minutes. I'm not a sun worshipper, but getting a tan is becoming a challenge and I'm up for it! Bring on the vitamin D! 

I cleaned up the cabin, made some almond milk to take my protein shakes with and went up to see Larisa while she was shooting. I visited with her a little about diving, travel & her upcoming holidays. I chatted to her colleague Craig, about lenses, as I was thinking of getting a new lens in St. Maarten. I'm pretty bad at decision making these days, so I wanted some input. 

Of course, my day isn't complete unless I visit Jaco at work in the afternoon. And then I leave & wait until he is finished for the night. We then chill out in the cabin & watch a little TV & visit about the day's events. 

Tomorrow is another dive - a wreck dive! Stay tuned!

xxxxMaria

 land ahoy!

Hard at work!

Day 498 - St. Kitts

Today we went to several tourist places. Larisa, Angela, M&D2 & I found a cab driver - Vincent Joseph - and he took us in his van to the Fortress. It is supposedly one of the best views in all the Caribbean! I must say, it didn't really disappoint!

We drove quite a distance to the Fortress & walked around for about 45 minutes. We took photos (of course) of the views & the Fortress. There was a group of about 30+ bikers on Harleys visiting the Fortress at the same time as we were. It was quiet until they started up their bikes. Yikes. What a racket. Apparently they were on the Royal Caribbean ship we were docked next to. I couldn't believe they would allow all those bikes on the ship!

When we were taking photos at the top, some rasta man came up to Angela, Larisa & myself & commented on the three of us. He said something about family - I was the Mom, Larisa was my daughter & ... that was as far as he got! We burst out laughing! Larisa is 3 years younger than myself! Did I really look that old? The more questions I asked & he answered, the deeper he dug himself! It was funny, but my ego was greatly bruised!

From the Fortress we drove to Tower Hill & hopped out for a few photos. We could see the Atlantic ocean on one side & the Caribbean Sea on the other side. It was beautiful! The water looked very inviting.

We drove down to Friar's Beach from there & stayed for some lunch & a swim. Angela & Larisa left for the ship a little sooner than M&D2 & myself. We stayed & enjoyed the water a little longer. There were so many dogs on the beach, I couldn't figure it out. The owners looked American & I was really confused. Were there that many service dogs? Did that many people take their dogs on holidays? Is St. Kitts really that popular with young Americans? Yes. There is a Veterinary School on the island & the dogs belonged to students from the school. Ah ha! No wiener dogs, though.

The water was cool, clear & refreshing. I went in for a little snorkel - beautiful as usual! I collected a little bit of sand & then it was time to go. We headed to the van & Vincent drove us back to the terminal.

This evening was the last & final formal night. I had made arrangements for an anniversary cake for M&D2 to be delivered to the table after dinner. I hadn't told them what I was up to & they were very surprised & very pleased. (Their anniversary was the 3rd, but I wanted to save the cake for a Formal Night) Jaco was able to join us, although we waited quite a while for him! I was happy he was finally able to make it. It was a great evening.

I can't believe tomorrow is the end of the cruise. It has flown past so quickly! It will be strange not to have them onboard next week. Tomorrow is Dominica & it will prove to be an adventure - no doubt!

xxxxMaria

M&D2 & Vincent - Our Driver 

 I've never seen my name tattoo'd on someone's body before

Great Dane! 

Harley on a ship! 

Harley on a ship? 

At the Fortress 

Harley's 

Really bad judge of age. (I'm hoping!) 

Atlantic & Caribbean 

The girls & their twin cameras 

Too cute! 

Friar's Bay 

 3rd Formal

 Happy Anniversary!

 Marzipan cake!

Day 489 - At Sea

M&D2 are still recuperating from jetlag, so they enjoyed a nice lie in. I left them alone for the day & when I found them later on in the day, they had been outside for a while & started to find their way around. Dad2 went for a smoke & I showed Mom2 around the ship. She didn’t realize there was so much on the ship! They hadn’t explored too much! She was going to show Dad2 later on.

Our dinner reservation was for 1830. Jaco was later than I was, so we had a late start to our dinner. Jaco also had to do the wave tonight at the Captain’s Welcome Aboard party, so we left half-way through our dinner to watch Jaco be introduced by Captain Stenzil & take a photo of him on stage. We then returned to our table to have dessert. I think we may have had the longest dinner on record!

After our dinner, we went out into the atrium & had some portraits taken by Craig on the stairs & then by Larisa on the white background. M&D2 were so cute, as they started to take their own photo on the backdrop after the Photographer had finished. I gently shuffled them away & told them that is a big no-no in Photog territory!

I wore the Jennifer wig this evening & confused a few people along the way. Oh what fun! I’ve also lost a little more weight, as my pants were a lot looser than they were a week ago! Yay! Probably due to the fact that I haven’t been eating much, as I don’t have a blender! Jaco thought I could use one on board, but when I arrived, we discovered the extras are all in need of repair. Looks like I’m blender-less until Aruba.

Mom2 looked absolutely stunning in her navy velvet gown & of course, Dad2 looked handsome as ever in his Italian silk suit. And naturally, Jaco looked like a million bucks. I’m so lucky!

xxxxMaria

Jaco during the Captain's Welcome Speech

Trying to look smart in Mom2's new specs

Jaco looking smart in de specs

Awh! What a lovely couple!

Larisa taking some stunning portraits