Birthday at Sea and Ocho Rios

Tuesday morning as we were ready to head out to meet Mom and Renate for breakfast, we found this on our stateroom door:

 

It was a greeting from our cabin attendants, Yaya and Andi, and the concierges in the Neptune Lounge. A very nice start to the day. After breakfast everyone split up for a while. Monica had a spa appointment for a manicure, Larry and Renate went strolling around the Promenade Deck – they managed to finish a mile – and Mom took the opportunity to rest a bit in their stateroom as we had been doing quite a bit of walking in the last few days.

Renate, being a Four-Star Mariner, was invited to a ‘meet the Captain’ cocktail party, and took Mom along. This was just ahead of the Mariner Society lunch in the main dining room. After that, we just happened to be passing by the Culinary Arts Centre a few minutes before the cooking demonstration was to start. So we picked up the recipes – Lobster Salad and Crème Brulee – and sat down to enjoy the presentation.

Still later in the afternoon some of us went to a wine tasting run by the ship’s Cellarmaster that was not only very informative but delicious as well!

Dinner had been reserved for the Pinnacle Grill, and Monica had heard some really good things about the menu from the girl who did her manicure, so we had taken it easy, as much as we could, on the food at lunch, and NO snacking! We went down for pre-dinner cocktails at the Pinnacle Bar, conveniently  located directly across from the restaurant. The meal was every bit as great as what we had heard, and the service staff were great, too. Renate had insisted she was buying the wine for Monica’s birthday dinner. Never one to turn down such an offer, Monica carefully scrutinized the wine list, but since there was no Opus One ($750/bottle) and we didn’t recognize the fancy ($2,200/bottle) French wine, she settled on a nice Oregon Pinot Noir. Times two!! Yes, it was that kind of dinner!!! Here are some photos of the evening:

 

 

After dinner we headed for the late show,  but didn’t hang around afterward. We had an early morning in Ocho Rios and wanted to make sure we would all be up early enough for breakfast.

We had all ordered room service breakfast since we figured the Lido Buffet would be busy and it would take too long to eat in the Dining Room. It was OK, but not spectacular. A far cry from the table setting service we got on the luxury cruise lines, but it did the job and we were out on the pier to meet for our tour in plenty of time. And to show you just how early we did get up, here’s the sunrise we saw from our verandah:

 

The tour we chose visited the Coyaba Gardens, where we went for a walk around the garden and waterfall area. This was the most strenuous exercise of the day.

 

The rest of the time was spent in the bus, on a short souvenir shopping stop and a trip to a local pottery shop where we could also watch the potters make their creations.

Renate and Mom noticed that Ocho Rios had changed quite a bit since the last time they were here – not surprising since we think that might have been back in the 80’s!!. It is much more built up and the crackdown on hawkers and drug dealers seems to be working for the most part. Everything still seems to be a bit disorganized, as it always seems to be in Jamaica,  but once we got going our tour guide and driver did a great job of getting us around.

We were back at the ship before noon, and were starting to get quite hungry after our 6:30 a.m. breakfasts. We had hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch at the grill and split up, to meet on our verandah at 4:00 for the sailaway. And to put a further dent in the wine supply we “smuggled” onboard in Ft Lauderdale.

As we had no dinner reservations, we wandered down to the Dining Room about 6:00. We are on “As You Wish Dining”, which is kind of like going to The Keg, You show up and ask to be seated. But unlike The Keg, you do have the option to share a table, which the Maitre D’ asked us to do. We were shown to a table for six where another couple had just been seated. Now, there are 2100 people on this ship, so what do you figure the odds of meeting another couple from Germany might be?? This couple was from Frankfurt! Needless to say there was much animated conversation all through dinner, and since they also spoke English, Larry wasn’t totally confused!! At least not any more than he normally is!! And to put the ‘icing on the cake’ so to speak, one of the featured desserts was Rote Gruetze, one of Mom’s favourites. Not quite the way we would make it, but it got an approval from the four of us who had it.

After dinner we headed to the show, the first production show. Unlike Crystal, there are no elaborate sets, just the orchestra, the singers and four highly energetic dancers. While it was upbeat and very good, the last four very busy days started to take their toll and e called it an early night. 

On – and In – the Sea

Our 5:00 sailaway was just around sunset. Once we left the port and breakwater behind, we got a good view along the beachfront and our hotel. It’s the low one on the beach with all the trees in front:

 

In the afternoon, once we had settled in on board, we went for a stroll around to see where things are on the ship. None of us, even Renate, had been on Holland America for a few years, and had not seen this newer style of ship. We have to say we’re quite impressed. The public areas are very nicely designed and laid out; the only potential bottleneck as far as crowds go is the usual one – the buffet. We had to go through the Lido Buffet at lunchtime to get to the back deck and pool, and, of course it seemed that there were people everywhere, none of whom knew where they wanted to go…

As far as bars and lounges, there are plenty, each offering something a little different in terms of entertainment before and/or after dinner. We’ll see how many of them we can sample before the end of the week. Keep an eye on the photos!!

Our stateroom is one of the larger suites with a full couch and two chairs in the sitting area, and a very nice verandah  (no, not as big as the one on Allure). Mom and Renate have a room a little smaller, but still a good size; their verandah also has enough room for a table and chairs and a couple of lounge-style wicker chairs.

The sitting area

 

The other view (bathroom is off to the right). The verandah stretches
all the way across the door and the window.

Monday morning we arrived at Half-Moon Cay, Holland America’s private beach area on Little San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. We had decided that we were going to the beach and that Monica and Renate would do a bit of snorkeling, so to make sure we didn’t all burn, we booked a couple of clamshell shades for our lounge chairs. And it was a good thing, too. It was a very warm, sunny day – easy to get a sunburn if you didn’t have sunscreen or other protection. Here are a  few shots from the morning:

The ship from our tender boat

Some of the fish we saw as we snorkeled

 

 

We returned to the ship around 2:00 to laze around for a couple of hours before dinner, and watched the island disappear as we headed off toward Ocho Rios. Pre-dinner cocktails at the Explorer’s Lounge, then dinner and the featured show in the main show lounge, and we were all ready to pack it in for the night. The two ladies seem to be doing this quite a bit:

 

More tomorrow!

Relaxing in Ft. Lauderdale

Once we got ourselves together, we went for breakfast at our favourite spot in this area, the Harbour Café. We should have called ahead for a reservation! Boy, was it busy, and the food was just as good as before. Once we were finished we decided that we needed to work some of those calories off, and headed to the Galleria Mall to wander around a little. The Black Friday crowds had thinned out considerably so it was an easy walk around, but we discovered that the one or two things we wanted to price were actually cheaper at home!

We headed back to the hotel to relax at the pool and on the terrace for the afternoon, and watch the cruise ships go out before meeting Susan and Byron for dinner.

 

 

A couple of hours at the pool, with a cool drink in between, and a quick dip in the ocean and it was time to get ready for dinner. We had skipped lunch in preparation for dinner, and finished the rest of our cheese and crackers on the terrace.

Oasis of the Seas on her way out

The Eurodam, sister ship to the one we will be
sailing on

We had a wonderful dinner with Susan and Byron, and managed to surprise him with a bag full of Tim-Tams that we brought along from home

.All in all, it was a lovely day and put us all in the mood for cruising!  This afternoon we’ll be on board. More to update later!

Out to Sea again

Hi, everybody!

Well, we managed to get the four of us down here without any delays or issues. In fact, everything went so smoothly that we got to the hotel about an hour before we had expected we would!  We are staying at the Lago Mar, right on the beach and just a little way up from the cruise port. Last time we were here we had a pool view room (check out the blog from February 2012) but couldn't see the cruise ships, so we asked for beach view rooms this time. And this is our view:

Vision of the Seas leaving port - but we're getting a little ahead of ourselves

One of our rooms was ready so we settled in there and went to the hotel restaurant for lunch. The service staff was just as friendly as we remembered and the food just as good!

Mom's chicken wings

Renate with her lobster and crab cakes

The rest of the afternoon was relaxed, getting Mom and Renate settled into their room and then sitting on our terrace with a drink. After Vision of the Seas went out, Renate and Monica went for a short stroll along the beach - at least it was supposed to be short. They ended up going all the way to the channel entrance for the port and back.

Mom and Renate's room from the beach. Ours is below and to the left

Our living room. There's a separate bedroom, ensuite and main baths,
and a kitchenette.

A couple of beach chairs down by the surf

The view from the terrace

Tonight we're having dinner at the hotel restaurant, Acquario, with Susan and Byron, so we have to keep an eye on the size of breakfast and dinner. More updates later!

Out of the Cold...

Hi, Everybody!

Sorry to have left you all hanging after Reykjavik, but there really wasn't much to see after that point...In fact, it was nothing more than dark, cloudy skies and rough, grey, windy, wavy seas for SEVEN whole days! After finally leaving Reykjavik after that beautiful sunset - the high winds kept us on the pier for an extra 5 hours - we ran smack into the remnants of Hurricane Lesley and spent the next 5 days literally bobbing around in the North Atlantic. We got a bit of a break when we reached Newfoundland, but by then we were so far behind schedule that our port stop in Halifax had already been cancelled. Too bad - the nicest day we had on the second half of the trip was the one we should have spent there. As we sailed by the Halifax area at 5:00 p.m., there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was a gorgeous 20 degrees C!  Ah, well, the cruise staff and guest lecturers managed to put together enough presentations that our day programs were full and interesting.

So much for the last cruise - now we're setting up for the next one again. This time we're travelling into the western Caribbean on Holland America's Niew Amsterdam along with Mom and her friend Renate. It should be a great time - everyone's been looking forward to it since the summer.

Of course, we can't go on vacation without the required 'cat shot'. At least this time Franklin is starting to co-operate...

 

 

...even though he doesn't look overly pleased.

 

 

We will be spending a couple of days in Ft. Lauderdale before boarding the ship. The cruise is for 1 week and will take us to the Bahamas, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Honduras. Shore excursions have already been booked, and we're sure everybody's packed and ready, so, here we go!!