Back From The Cruise

Well, here we are, back from a 7 day cruise to St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and the Bahamas. We all had an absolutely wonderful time except for the fact that all our clothes seem to have shrunk. It could be because we ate 3 full meals every day (dessert with 2 of them) but I prefer to believe that it was the airless cabin closet that did the trick.

We took tours at each island...Bahamas was okay but not my favorite. Mary swam with the dolphins there and got herself a gorgeous picture of one kissing her. St. Thomas is a little too chaotic for my liking but we had a sweet driver (Benjie) who accomodated us by stopping at the beach and then letting us shop for 2 hours. His open air vehicle was quite rickety (with smoke coming out of the front wheel...worn out brakes????) and the mountainous roads pretty narrow, so it was a harrowing ride. The beautiful views from the mountain tops were worth the trip, though. Benjie let us off in the shopping distric for a 2 hour spree (I bought a top and pants for $20) and was right on time to pick us up and return us to the ship.

We began our day early in the morning, ate a nice breakfast either in the diningroom or at the buffet, raced off for our tours while at shore or to a sunbathing lounge while at sea. Lunch was at the buffet, either at noon or after a tour. My favorite event on the Lido deck was provided by a man we referred to as Mr. Happy. He was a free spirit who really felt the music and danced full out and all by himself...he needed no partner. He was a joy to behold and we called him Mr. Happy because it made us happy to watch him.

Before dinner we hurriedly showered, raced to dinner in the diningroom (excellent food), ambled to the dinner show, and then hit the casino until at least midnight but usually later. No wonder we're worn out!

St. Maarten was lovely, with all the gorgeous views from it's mountainous lookouts. Our driver was Frankie who was so darned sweet we fell in love with him. His vehicle was a fairly new Kia van which made me very happy. The tours are the best way of seeing new places because the driver's commentary is essential in understanding the country. Frankie also took us to a nude beach (we stayed clothed) where we took in some very interesting new sights. I'm not a worldly woman but felt a little disappointed with the very small items displayed.

While at sea, we played miniature golf on the top deck where the winds darned near blew us overboard. Faye, Mary, Sylvia, and I chummed together most of the trip so we were always in great company. It was lovely to keep bumping into people we knew from our park and we did spend some time with most of them. Sylvia's room-mates, Bonnie and Eileen, were smokers and often went off by themselves but they were a load of laughs when we were all together. Sylvia's sister, Barb and her love, Ken, tended to go off on their own, too but we always ate dinner together. We worked out our travels well and got together when we wanted. This made for a fun trip for everyone.

I lost all my gambling money but that was to be expected. What I hated most were all the smokers who mingled among us non-smokers and polluted our lungs. It's easy to leave your slot machine if it's not paying and move to another one but less easy to walk away from a good one. The last night I got stuck next to a chain smoker from hell. He went through a cigarette in 5 minutes and then immediately lit up another one. My eyes are still burning. One of these days I'm going to take a perfume bottle with me and soak myself in it and see how the bloody smokers like that!

We valiantly tried to hit the karaoke bar every night but even though there were some excellent singers, there were way too many people who should never try it in public. I honestly believe that I could have done better than some of them and I can't hold a note...but neither could they.

I loved the cruise and would recommend it to anyone, though. It's a most luxurious and mind opening experience that we were fortunate enough to have and I'd do it again but not next year...maybe a 3 day cruise the year after... possibly.

I went to bed at 9 last night and slept till after 7 this morning, showered, and raced off with Sheila for our Sunday morning breakfast. Life is back to normal.