Getting Ready Again!

We're getting ready for an upcoming cruise.  This time we'll be on the Crown Princess heading to the Southern and Western Caribbean.

We've been on the Crown before (2008) and sailed out of San Juan on a B2B cruise.  That was the most memorable cruise as I remembered our room steward greeted us with "welcome back to your home" when we started the second leg.  We enjoyed being on this ship and had a lovely two weeks.

We are sooooo looking forward to cruising again.  It's been a hard year for us to wait a full year for vacation.  We've been talking about what we'll do on the ship and how we are going to enjoy our time.

I can't believe I haven't started packing.  I do have my handy dandy cruise packing list that I have refined from our last cruise.  Hmmmm...every year it seems to get refined.  :D   I better get the suitcases out and get started somewhere.

Will be back with more posts and pictures...stay tuned!

A Photog Moment

I was going through the hundreds of pictures that were taken on this cruise (about 1900) and forgot about this nice surprise:



It was taken on our first @sea night (between Princess Cays and St Thomas). I had my Nikon DSLR with me, taking pictures of the ship. We stepped out on the Promenade deck-7 and saw this bright moon. Just for fun, I took a picture of it. A nice surprise.

Dealing with PCD and Back to Normalcy...Sort Of

Where do I begin? It's a Saturday, I think. When I'm in cruise mode, I forget the days of the week. It comes natural to me. All I know are port days, excursions, and when to eat. Other than that, there is no schedule. Today, I'm lost. I'm still in cruise mode, but at home and not on a ship.

It's cold outside. About 50 degrees colder than the temperature in Aruba. I can't seem to get warm. I'm bundled up and drinking lots of hot chocolate...like dark chocolate. The good stuff. Where's the hot blazing sun today?

Some of you fellow cruisers will know what I'm going through...for the next several days. PCD. Post-Cruise Depression.

My hubby told me this morning that he's going up a few decks to get some Eggs Florentine for breakfast. What? And later he tells me he's going to get warm peanut butter cookies. Geeeez! What a tease he is.

So, I have a hankering for something sweet. There's nothing sweet in our pantry. Let me clarify, there's nothing that looks like this in our kitchen:



Or even this at the International Cafe:



Hubby and I spent the last few days of our cruise getting our desserts at the International Cafe. One evening we had a dessert called a ____ Obsession. Sorry I can't remember the first word, but it was a rich dark chocolate mousse-like decadent dessert that was served in a coffee cup and it was out of this world. Did I get a picture of it? Heck no! It disappeared so fast. Another missed photo op.

So, here I am eating yogurt. Which one? Yoplait - Pina Colada. It's not the same.

Traveling Day

We got up early, like 4am early in order to get ready, check out, and meet our transfer in the hotel lobby by 4:30am.  We saw a Cabana bus (as in huge tour bus) sitting outside.  We thought there might be more folks leaving, but at 4:30am?  Not.

Our driver appeared and said he was taking us to Miami International airport.  Just us?  Yes.  Wow!  We had the whole bus to ourselves.  Princess has really taken care of us in the transfer arena…probably making up for the mistake they made two years ago.  All is forgotten. 

The bus ride took about 40 minutes and we were in the airport, checked, baggage tagged, security checked, and at the gate within 20 minutes.  Not bad.  We pass the time away with pages of Sudoku. 

Our flight took off on time and whip out my nifty netbook to catch up on my blog posts.  A passenger sitting next to me takes out his mega huge laptop and looks a bit uncomfortable.  He engages in conversation with me and starts asking about my netbook.  I graciously answer his questions and then start typing like a mad woman…I’m using my time wisely.

We arrived at our destination airport to see it snowing…again.  Apparently, we got slammed with a good storm two days ago.  We are somewhat dressed for cold weather.  Okay, no flip flops for this leg of the trip.  No winter coat, either.  It’s called wearing layers and lots of it. 

An hour and 15 minutes later, we arrive home to shovel the remaining snow left on our driveway.  What a way to work off all those desserts and cookies I ate on the cruise. 

More pictures to come!

Trying to Take Back Some of the Caribbean in My Camera

I had a slight issue with my waterproof camera. It decided to get an error message while I was snorkeling. It happened somewhere between Bonaire and Aruba. Somewhere in my haste to download the pictures of Bonaire, I must have forgotten to check the battery/media door to the camera. There was either a grain of sand that got caught in the door or the rubber gasket has worn or the door didn’t snap shut tightly. I assume the first two issues caused the problem.

I was in the water in Aruba when I got the dreaded orange error message that the battery door is not properly closed. What? I powered off and powered on the camera and it appeared to working fine. A few minutes passed and I got the same error message again. This time, my screen started to scramble like a TV. I knew then that some of the Caribbean waters got into my camera.

Now, I’ve read a lot of horror stories from other photography forums and sites about other folks getting water into their cameras. The consistent problem has been not securing the battery/media door. You’re suppose to hear a loud “click”. That’s what I hear when I close my camera’s door latch. The second consistent problem is not checking the rubber gaskets for grains of sand, hair, or dust. Since I have two underwater camera housings, I know to check for these things. The third consistent problem is not letting the camera dry thoroughly before opening the battery/media door. I always soak my cameras in fresh water to remove the salt residue and grains of sand. I then let the camera dry out away from the sunlight. Usually, it takes at least 4 hours.

I place the broken camera in my snorkel bag. There’s nothing I can do at this point, but wait until I get back to the ship to assess the damage.

After a few hours of waiting for the camera to dry, I carefully open the latch and pull out the battery and the media card. The battery has a few wet spots on the body. The media card also has some water on the metal part of the card. Not a good sign.

My only hope is to let the camera dry out for several days with the latch open.

My hubby said I was trying to take back some of the Caribbean Ocean inside the camera.

Disembarkation Day

We woke up early to find that we were sailing past the bright lights of Miami.  We approached the Port of Everglades and decided to get some breakfast.  Horizon Court was buzzing with fellow cruisers.  I’ve never seen so many people here in the morning.  We ate quickly and had to get back to our cabin to shower and pack the remaining personal items.  We left our cabin for the final time around 7:30am and proceeded to deck 7.  We decided to head to the Club Fusion where all the Platinum and Elite members were meeting.  We were scheduled to leave the ship around 10:40am. 

Different groups were being called to disembark throughout the morning.  We finally got called to disembark around 9:45am.  Yellow 7.  We headed down to deck 5 and scanned our cruise card for one last time. 

In the terminal, we were directed to the area where our luggage and many others were located.  It was easier to spot our group as we were one of the last groups to leave the ship.  I can’t imagine trying to find our luggage amongst the thousands that were there two hours ago.  We grabbed our luggage and headed through immigration and then outside to find our transfer to the Embassy Suites.  This whole process took 15 minutes. 

We spent much of the day walking around Ft Lauderdale.  We ate lunch at 15th Street Fisheries and sat close to the dock.  It was nice watching the various boats and yachts sailing by while we were dining on swordfish. 

We walked over 5 miles that day. 

Tomorrow morning, we head to Miami International Airport for our flight back home. 

@Sea–Last Cruise Day and Packing

Another down day @sea, the last day of our wonderful cruise.  We were doing the rocking and rolling last night into the early morning.  After breakfast we headed out to our balcony to enjoy the Caribbean sea and the beautiful weather we were having.  It was warm outside, but not like the welcoming heat we had experienced in the southern Caribbean (e.g. Bonaire and Aruba hot). 

Hubby went to work out.  I hung out in the cabin and burned up some Internet minutes.  I was also looking out of our balcony doors and watching and listening to our ship breaking through the Caribbean waters. 

At some point in the late morning, our ship had slowed down a bit.  We were still in cruising mode, but the water around us was so calm.  Hubby and I wandered around the Promenade-deck 7 and walked forward (front).  The water was so quiet and calm.  It almost felt like we were gliding. 

I was dreading today.  I was dreading having to pack.  I delayed it as long as I could.  We even went to the Princess Theater to watch an afternoon movie.  Back in our room, we sat on our balcony.  Enjoying the quiet and each other’s company.  Finally, around 4pm I had to go and start packing.  It took me two hours to pack two large suitcases.  After a final look around, I placed our Princess tags on our suitcases and hubby placed our luggage outside in the hallway.  There were a lot of suitcases lined up ready to be picked up by the crew.

We had our last dinner at the Caribe Café and afterwards went over to MUTS to watch a movie.  The crew came around and offered us chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven.  Life is good. 

Our cabin is empty except for our backpacks and few toiletries that we need for tonight and early tomorrow morning. 

We have to be out of our cabin by 8am.  Since we are Platinum members, we get to take advantage of the hospitality lounge in Club Fusion.  Our disembarkation time is around 10:30am and we’re suppose to meet in the Crown Grill restaurant. 

We set our clocks back by an hour.  In less than four hours, we’ll be on EST time and not on Caribbean time.  Why am I so sad?

So, this will be my last Caribbean post until we get home.  I have additional topics I need to cover and many more pictures to post.  Last count was 1500 pictures were taken.  I lost count if that was before Bonaire or Aruba.  Many more were taken as well as more food pictures.  Hubby got used to my 10 second pause (so I can take a picture) before we devoured our food.  Many delicious dessert pictures are missing.  Once the dessert plate was set down in front of me, my fork hit the plate so fast…I forgot to get the Kodak moment.  Sorry.  It was that good.

I’ll be back!

@Sea–Another Down Day and a Code-Red Alert

We went to sleep early last night…like 9:30pm and didn’t wake up until around 8am.  Wow!!!!  That’s unheard of for us.  It was probably the slight rocking and rolling from the ship.  It makes one very sleepy. 

We received an announcement from the Captain.  I knew it wasn’t good news as they broadcasted right into our cabins.  Loud and clear.  Apparently, there was an increase in passengers developing the noro-virus symptoms.  Not good.  Typically, when they make an announcement like this, it’s affected at least 10% of the passengers.  So, “code-red” went into effect early this morning.  The crew was out in full force, washing and wiping down the handrails, bannisters, door handles, elevator buttons, etc.  In the Horizon Court buffet, the crew was handling the serving spoons and dishing out the food for us.  We were told “do not touch anything in the buffet line”!  Of course, a few elderly folks disobeyed and proceeded to grab the serving spoons.  Dear hubby caught an elderly lady in the act and gave her a lecture.  She walked away in a rush…guilty of course.

The buffet dining tables were bare.  No salt and pepper shakers.  No utensils, no mugs, and no glassware on the tables.  This is how the cruise line handles and controls the spread of the virus.  Salt and pepper packets were out in baskets.  When we approached the buffet food area, we were handed a plate and utensils.  At the table, the crew took our drink orders.  Once we were done eating, the crew removes everything from the table and wipes it down. 

I’m sure we’ll be in “code-red” until we get off the ship on Thursday.  I’m also sure that the crew will be doing a thorough scrub down of “everything” before the next cruisers come on board.

I really feel for the crew members when “code-red” goes into effect for them.  They are already tired and many have dual duties/tasks and now have to do extra work to scrub everything or to work extra shifts in the food areas. 

It was a sunny day and we spent some time on our balcony.  It was hot, like Caribbean hot.  We also spent time on the Promenade deck watching the waves go by. 

Tonight was formal night in the dining rooms.  There were lots of folks dressed to the nines and some dressed casually.  That would be us, casual folks.  We ate dinner in Caribe Café and then headed down to Plaza-Deck 5 to get some desserts at the International Café.  Then we headed all the way up to the Lido-Deck 15 to catch a movie at MUTS. 

BTW, we’ve been getting a good workout using the stairs. 

Around 10pm, we headed back to our cabin to find that our cruise card didn’t work.  The light would turn from green to red.  Déjà vu for us.  On our last cruise (2 years ago), we ran into the same problem the last night of our cruise.  The battery to the cabin lock had died.  So, I ran down to Promenade-Deck 7 to visit the Purser’s Desk and let them know of our issue. 

Instead of waiting around for the night service manager to show up and fix our door, we ran up to Lido-Deck 15 to get a slice of pizza. 

We were back in our cabin by 10:30pm. 

Aruba

We woke up around 6:30am to find ourselves docked in Oranjestad, the capital of Aruba. The forecast for today was partly cloudy and in the mid-80s. The size of this island is approximately 74 square miles with a population of 34,000 people. The language on this beautiful island is primarily Dutch though English is spoken here.

We met our excursion group in the terminal around 8:20am and waited to get our wristbands. The wristband was our “ticket” for entry into DePalm Island and includes meals, drinks, and snorkel gear. We boarded a bus and was taken to the DePalm docks about 15 minutes away. We boarded a water taxi and headed out to DePalm Island a short ride away.





Once we arrived on the small island, we were "debriefed” on the use of the facilities, what was included during our stay, and when to meet to get back. We had 3 hours of non-stop fun here.

Here is the water park:

We dropped our snorkel bags and towels on the beach chairs and went to the edge of the water to stick our big toes in the water to see how cold it was. Not too bad for Caribbean waters.

We borrowed a snorkeling vest and headed down the steps into the blue water. We saw a lot of blue parrotfish, red snapper, and angelfish. They were everywhere.

I tried to follow my hubby, but ran into a problem with my Olympus camera. I was getting error messages. Hmmmm…looks like some water got into my camera. So, I decided to get out of the water and put my camera away. I’ll deal with it later.

I decided to just swim around and look at all the beautiful fish. The water was a bit rough here and every now and then I had to “drain” my mask. No biggie. I just had to be careful not to get slammed by a large wave and run into the coral.

Darling hubby eventually gave me the Canon camera to play with, so he could swim out to edge of “don’t go beyond the buoys” and look at the large fish. This was my chance to test out the camera under water. I have to say, it did a beautiful job:

The blue parrotfish were everywhere and even can close to the surface near the stairs:

After 1-1/2 hours of snorkeling we got out of the water to dry off and wander around the tiny island.








A storm front came through and dumped a lot of rain within 10 minutes. Everything was nicely drenched:

Once the sun came back out, we headed over to the food pavilion to see what was cooking. They had set up a terrific Caribbean buffet for us: BBQ chicken, rice and peas, fried plantains, macaroni & potato salads, fruit salad, and regular salad. The food was fantastic:

After lunch, we gathered our personal belongings and headed to the dock to take the water taxi back to the main island.

Back on the ship, we quickly changed and I grabbed my Nikon camera. We headed out to downtown to do some walking and burn more calories.





These are common here:

A view of the ships in port from the Renaissance:

We are walking around the Renaissance beach property:







It's beautiful here:






We left Aruba around 5pm.



We're approaching the Renaissance beach area. Earlier, we had walked around here (pictures above):



We passed by the Aruba airport:



Here, we passed the Renaissance Island:




The Captain announced that we had to sail 1100 nautical miles to get back to Ft Lauderdale. Yes, you could feel the ship rocking and rolling a bit. Life is good!

Bonaire–Underwater 2

Here are additional pictures taken with my Olympus Stylus 790SW:

Bonaire–Underwater 1

I thought I would post some pictures of our snorkeling excursion to No Name Beach, Klein Bonaire. Here are pictures that hubby took with our Canon S90 and underwater housing (he did a wonderful job):