St. Thomas January 16, 2016

Well have you ever had one of those days when things just don’t seem to go right?  Well today was one of those days.  I try to go with the flow and embrace it.  But since I blog I felt I needed to share it as well, the good/smooth days as well as the bumpy ones.

So we meet up with friends to head ashore together to catch the ferry to Water Island.  We were there at the pier around 15 minutes early.  We were the second group to get there.  The crowd grew and by the time the ferry got there we sadly were turned away cause there were too many people already.  Even those that arrived after us got on before us.  Normally this small group would fit fine in the larger ferry but it is the small one.  Our friends, except for George and Bernie and I make it on.  The driver says that he will come back and get us right away.

It is at this time that I turn to Bernie and say “I am heading back to the ship” Bernie wanted to still go, so him and George went.  When they came back he said it was lovely.  They now have a shuttle that is free that will meet you at the pier and take you to the beach if walking is an issue. 

For me I got back on the ship and gathered my items for a few hours up on the sun deck at the Retreat Pool. 

I am surprised, well not really surprised at how many people have actually put stuff down on the chairs to reserve them with a t shirt or towel with a clip or even a book.  

Now as I sat there for three hours not a single person came to claim these items.  It saddened me to think that these people would be so selfish to take a chair and not even use it.  I do wish Princess enforced the no chair hog policy.  But again I let it go and enjoy the deck.

It is quiet and the weather is perfect.  Light breeze, a few clouds and beautiful sunshine.  For lunch I grab a chicken burger with fries.  This is the first time I have ever had a chicken burger and I have to say I really enjoyed it. 

Around 2 pm I head back to the cabin to sit out on the deck and read but the sun is just way too strong and hot here.  I retreat back inside and close the blackout drapes to try and keep the sun at bay.  Bernie walks in shortly thereafter.  He showers and he proposes a pizza from Alfredos.

I am not really hungry but I will get a salad.  So we head down to deck 6.  The place is very quiet.  We are sat at a table for two by the window.  Another table was sat just before us. 

A buffet steward is helping out the regular waiter today.  He comes over to see if we want a drink.  Yes I say I would like a litre of the white sangria and he turns to leave.  I stop him and say, also a Blue Moon Beer too for Bernie. 

He comes back and gives us the litre and the beer but no glass for the sangria.  I ask for a glass and he brings us these small glasses and I ask “oh are they no longer using the water type glasses”.  Oh no problem he says and returns with two glasses.  Bernie notices that there is lip stick remnants on his.  He asks for a new glass and the guy says oh that is normal they all have that -- I smirk as I don’t think the guy heard what we said.  He thinks we are referring to the water marks, which yes the glass is full of.  He asks Bernie if he still would like a new glass.  Yes… the second glass comes and it is good, but sure there are still tons of water marks which Bernie takes his napkin and wipes it clean. 

So we sit there enjoying our drinks.  The table that arrived just before us has ordered.  Two more tables are sat and their order is taken.  We wait and I tried to get her attention.  But she seems not well.  She served us the other day and she seemed much better.  I am sure she is not well. 

So after waiting 20 minutes we just grab our drinks and get up.  The head waiter asks us if we are okay and we said we are fine but we just can’t wait any longer. 

What a difference from the last time here.  Last time it was packed and busy but it worked.  Today it is dead quiet and many of the servers are not busy but we are forgotten.

Anyways we head to the Atrium and sit in Vines and grab some food from the International Café.  I get a pork sandwich with chicken and cashew nut salad.  It was very good.  Bernie gets a sundae and we share it. 

They are doing a Speedy Sudoku in the Wheelhouse and I am proud to say I came in first and won a clip.

Sail away is four and we ask Alice to come join us.  We enjoy a drink on the balcony for the stunning views. 

We relax in the early evening watching the movie the Interim on the tv in the cabin.  We could only watch about a half hour of it before our eyes were closing.  We napped for an hour.

Tonight is a formal night and we are not dressing up so we relax once we wake and get dressed and head to the Horizon Court around 8:30 pm.  I am impressed with the food and the service was top notch.

It is also the Captain Circle Party tonight but we are skipping it this trip.

After dinner we walk the deck for a bit.  There are two football games on the MUTS screen tonight but we are not football watchers.  We wander to the retreat pool and put our feet in the water and chat and stare up at the stars for the next hour.  We discuss our plans for tomorrow in Grand Turk and what we need to do in Fort Lauderdale on turn around day.

Back in the cabin we finish watching the movie we started earlier.  We feel rested and we are so glad we did what we did today.  Even though the plans did not pan out exactly as we had hoped it works out just the way we needed it to.

St. Thomas February 19, 2014

Our first port and we are docked at Crown Bay and it looks like it will be a lovely day.  We can see a Celebrity and a Carnival Ship docked at Havensight.  Today is a beach day and our plans are Water Island and Honeymoon Bay Beach.

Breakfast is in the dining room and we sit with our friends B/C and sadly service once again was lacking.  Food would be served but no spoon for the oatmeal, asked for two pancakes got one, he brought two more and then only after we had started eating he brought the whipped butter for the pancakes.  Coffee cards were not returned and only half way thru the meal did Craig remember and asked for them back.

View from Water Island to Crown Bay

Although we are still glad we don’t have to cook and clean so really no major complaint but I am concerned about the ship’s running of the dining room and now really see how lucky we have been on other ships.

Back to the cabin to change into bathing suits, lather on the sun screen (we are wearing 60 SPF – nothing worse than ruining a vacation with a sun burn).  The Water Taxi is at 10 and we are there just prior and looks like we are the only ones from our ship on the Taxi.  There is one couple from the Celebrity ship.  Cost is still $5 per person each way.

When we arrive at the beach we rent two chairs from Heidi ($5 each plus a $5 deposit).  I really like the availability of the chair rentals now.  The beach is changing, I can see that the bar at the far end is now owned by a new guy and they are nice lounge chairs and music/food and even shuttle service to the ferry is included in the costs for the day.  But we don’t need all that and we are happy just relaxing the day away. 

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As the day progresses we see so many tours using this beach for a drop off for a while.  In the end there was a catamaran, two pirate ships, one large catamaran and Kon Tiki party boat.  This cause the beach to swell with people and all of our sudden our tranquil beach with about 50 people tripled.  We have never seen it so busy, now I know it could be worse, it could be crazy busy like Magen’s Bay or Coki Beach but we are just not use to this.  I am not sure if this is now a normal thing for so many tours to come in here but if it is I may have to rethink visiting Water Island.  But it still was a lovely day here and just what we needed.

I should add for lunch Bernie and I shared the blackened catfish sandwich with salad.  Bernie had two beers ($4 each, and I had water $1 each) sorry can’t recall the price of the sandwich but make sure to visit Heidi’s Honeymoon Barbecue.

We caught the 2:30 ferry back and I am glad we did cause while we were on the taxi a cloud came over and the skies opened up and it poured….. ahh the Caribbean.  We waited it out a bit till it died down and then made our way back to the ship.   

St. Thomas

Since we are docking around 7 I am awaken by the thrusters but that is okay since today we need an early start as Water Island is calling and since we are leaving early today (4 pm) as we are heading to Grand Turk we need to take the early ferry at 8 am so we get a full day on the island and catch the 2:15 ferry back.

But I feel like crap!  Maybe I have a cold?  My achy voice is deep and raspy, sinuses are blocked.  Oh no!  Bernie serves me a Neo Citron (hot lemon cold drink with medicine in it) and doze and don’t feel like eating the cereal that we ordered. 

I come to terms and realize I need to rest today, Water Island will not be any fun today for me with me feeling like this.  And not fun for the others if I go.  Big key to Bernie enjoying the day today is me staying here and resting, he will have the others to go with and he will love the snorkeling so I encourage him to head out on his own.

One thing we are missing is time together so we both agree we are going to focus on having some one on one time together for the rest of the trip.  And I can’t wait!

Bernie is gone I am relaxing in the room watching “Midnight in Paris” on the tv in the cabin and I will soon dress so Efren can clean the cabin (love not having to do housework!) and get a latte and maybe a bit of reading.

I end up throwing on my swimsuit, layering the sunscreen and head up to the Sun Deck near the Lotus Spa pool.   It is quiet on board but there a few who have decided to stay on board too.  I pull a lounge chair to the edge so I can look out at the view and get settled.  When it gets too hot I take a quick plunge in the Lotus Spa Pool.  Very refreshing, very quiet, very nice!  I spend two and a half hours up here, I read, I doze, I cool off in the pool and even though I still feel achy I do feel better.

After a quick shower I figure a nice bowl of soup and some salad should help so I head up to the Horizon Court and I am happy to see chicken soup with Matzo Ball soup on the menu, just what I need.  I grab a bowl with some salad (I love the salad bar in the HC) and head aft towards the Café Caribe seating.  I prefer to sit back here when the Café Caribe is closed as it is quieter and for the most part it is quiet until two couples arrive and sit right behind me.  I can’t help overhearing their conversation as they talk so loudly but I giggle as I hear some of the comments the man is saying to his wife “if you want food get your fat ass up and get some” all I can think, oh man you are not getting lucky tonight!

The staff are so attentive I am asked if there is anything I need, and my plate is cleared as soon as I finish… I am being spoiled.  But I am in need of my latte as I never got it this morning so I wander down to deck five to get one to go and run into Mike (he too stayed on board today) and Alice (who went to Emerald beach) I chat with them and Beethoven makes my latte and I inform him that a few people commented on my blog post with his picture, on how they know him, he is flattered and comments how the Paparazzi follow him everywhere.  He is so cute.

ferry to water island

You can see Bernie and Cathy at the back

Back in the cabin but it is just after two and I know the others will be catching the 2:15 ferry back and I thought I should head out to the Promenade Deck to get a picture of the ferry as they come in.  The ferry is very reliable and very quick, maybe 15 minutes.  I spot Bernie and Cathy at the back and take a few shots.

When Bernie comes back he fills me in on the day he had at Water Island, he tells me since they took the 8 am ferry it was very very quiet there in the beginning, he loved it!  A lot of locals came down to the beach today but he said that was nice too, they all had a laugh when a little local girl of about 2 or 3 stripped off her bathing suit and ran around the beach naked with her Mother following her trying to cover her up.  He also mentioned that they didn’t have use of the benches at the beach today either as today was “paint the benches day” where the locals got together and volunteered to paint them.  Sounds like he had a great day.

We relax in the room and plan out our evening, it is formal night and I really don’t want to dress for formal night,  this is our fourth one and I dressed up for two of them so far and I don’t really care for the meal in the dining room, plus I am still not that hungry.  So we head up to the Café Caribe tonight that is featuring a seafood buffet, not as good as they use to have but still not bad and they served shrimp, crab legs, lots of fish and beef wellington.  But for me I am happy with a bowl of tomato soup and a roll and some fruit. 

We grab a tea and head to the aft pool and take a seat and look out at the water and enjoy the quiet and the time together.  This is ideal, this is important, this is cruising. 

Tonight is also the Captain Circle Party, our invite is for 7:30 and since Johan will be there and he called to see if I was going and I said no, I felt bad and I do want to see him so we decide to dress (not really formally but still nice) and we head down to the Promenade and oh my goodness they are lined up already and it is only 7 pm.  We take a seat outside the Explorers and the lineup stretches past us all the way to end the of Explorers Lounge!  Really people why line up.  They opened the door around 7:15 and when the line ends we enter and we see Johan right away and grab a seat near him.  I comment about the lines and I am told by one of the officers that they line up very early, that they open the doors 15 min early but that it makes no sense to open it earlier as people would just line up earlier – so true I think.  I personally think if people could they would sleep overnight in the line if they could – just like lining up for the newest Ipad.    

I am tired of the Captain Circle Party personally, they are too crowded (even with the Golds having their own party) the drinks are so so and we never eat the appetizers.  I don’t like that they show the Royal Video, I feel like they are advertising to us and plus we have all seen this video.  I do like Captain Draper’s speech though; he is very personable and very funny.  I feel the same about Captain Perrin and Captain McBain they make it fun for us.

But when I try to think of what they could do differently for the Captain Circle Members I just don’t know what.  So I guess I will leave it up to Princess to figure out what will happen and I will just decide to attend or not attend in the future.  But my final comment is Princess has the best loyalty program afloat and it is one reason we keep sailing with them, so thanks Princess.

We are not sure what we want to do now…. And decide to head to the dining room to see our friends.  Elda is surprised to see us and we have a seat and she pours us some of our wine that we had leftover.  We catch up with our friends and we end up enjoying dessert with them.  I had the cheesecake which is always so good and Bernie had the Banana Cream Pie and he liked that too. 

Tomorrow is Grand Turk but we don’t arrive until 1 pm and it is also Super Bowl and the ship has some special events planned for it but we are not into the American Football so we will enjoy some of the other events happening around the ship.

Saturday St. Thomas

Oh no – it is only 4:15 and I am awake!  This happens usually at least once a cruise and I can’t get back to sleep so I very quietly try and get dressed and take my Kindle and head out to the International Café.  Yup I am sitting in the International Café on deck five by myself, thank God it is open and I grab my latte and chat with Ron the coffee bar attendant.  I then sit and read and read until about an hour late Richard our friend for many years joins me and we widdle away a few hours until I get Bernie his tea and head back to the cabin around 7:30.

Oh I almost forgot… since the issue of our cabin steward is ongoing I thought I should do something but wasn’t sure what or how to go about it.  I don’t really want to complain but I know that this service is not normal and I really don’t think I can handle this for the rest of the trip considering how long we are on for.  I visit the Purser’s desk and deal with Paul, who takes down my information and with the issues we are facing and says he will direct them to his immediate surpervisor.  I decided to go this way cause I believe Chris may be new in his position and may just need more training or assistance.  I am now happy to report that after coming back from a day out all the issues we had have been resolved, I will keep you informed.  Just remember that there will always be issues on every trip, some smaller than others but it is key that Princess knows about them because this gives them a chance to resolve them.  Tonight I did go back to see Paul at the Purser’s desk to thank him and to let him know things are better.

Okay back to our day, and it was a great one.  We docked early in St. Thomas just before 8 am and we are not in any real rush as we are heading to Water Island and the ferry we want isn’t until 10:30.  It is a little cloudy but this is quite normal and we hope that as the day progresses it will get hot and sunny.

We have a light breakfast in the cabin and head down to meet up with Alice and walk over to the ferry dock.  There are a few people there, including Jeannie and Greg and Anita and Richard.  After a short ferry ride we walk up the hill and down the hill and ahhh at the views from here.  Then we arrive at Honeymoon Bay.  The first thing we notice is that Heidi’s canteen is now set up at the one end of the beach instead of in the middle.  We lay out our stuff and we all head into the water.  It is still a little cloudy but when the sun breaks thru the clouds it is nice.  We all float around in the water and chat for what seems like at least an hour.  Bernie heads out to snorkel and I head out later and I am very impressed by all I see.  I was especially excited to see the flounder trying to camouflage himself with the rocks.  Wish I would have had my camera to take a shot of him, so cool. 

We do get a few sprinkles but nothing serious and since I am already in the water, no big issue.  We grab a bite to eat at Heidi’s.  She makes great burgers served with salad or beans and she even serves beer!

We catch the 3:30 ferry back and while waiting for it we all play with the rocks creating all kinds of rock formations…. Heck who needs toys!

We are back on board just before 4 and I drop our stuff off in the cabin, I rinse out our snorkel and mask and wash out our bathing suits – I will say I really miss a balcony now to dry stuff and then to watch sail away.  But instead I change, I pour a glass of wine and head out to the horizon court and get some cheese and fruit and a scone and grab a seat near the main pool (Neptune’s Reef) up on the sun deck and enjoy the music of Tyrone Babb while looking at the beautiful islands.  Bernie joins me and we watch sailaway from here, an easy alternative to the balcony.  One thing is for sure without a balcony we are out in the public areas a lot more.

While getting ready for dinner I notice I got a fair bit of sun today, even with layering 30 SPF on twice I guess all that laying around in that float and even with the cloud cover it really can burn.  Thankfully I am not burned badly and it doesn’t hurt but I do put a layer of aloe after sun on it (bought it in Aruba last year).

Dinner tonight is back in Michalangelo Dining room, but tonight Al Katz is joining us along with Richard and Anita.  Rui takes care of us by setting up a larger table for us.  I am excited that the deep fried sushi appetizer is on the menu, I loved this last fall when I had it and my meal decision is made.  I start with the garlic cream soup, a Caesar Salad, then a double serving of the sushi  appetizer.  I then finish my meal with a cheese plate with some dried fruit.

When we all walk out of the dining room Richard decides to head up to MUTS as it is showing the movie Dark Knight Rises, so Anita stays with us and we do some dancing in the Atrium as the band Accent is playing.    Now they really get people up and moving!  Definitely like them.

But we promised Joey Van, the Vocal Impressionist we met the first day and a friend of Al’s that we would see his show.  We sit close up so he knows we are there to encourage him and we really enjoy his show.  He is very funny and quite good as a singer and impressionist.  Even though we have seen his show not that long ago we laugh our heads off throughout it.

We are tired now, it is just after 11 when we make it back to the cabin and we crawl into bed and Bernie is already snoring while I type this.  A full day at the beach will do that to a person.

A few comments from today:

-          Really getting to know many of the crew throughout the ship.  As we walk past we get big waves and “how was your day” and I already know we will be making lasting friendships this voyage
-          Liked that the Patter on the back page shows the dining options, but one thing they have added that they never did before, but we often commented they should do, is they now add what the Horizon court or Café Caribe dinner theme is, tonight it is Indian – if we wouldn’t of already made plans with Al for dinner I would of insisted we got there, but we can go another time, we can’t always see Al.
-          Definitely wear sun screen!  There are a lot of red lobsters walking around the ship.
-          Between 4 and 7 am there are a lot of behind the scenes cleaning that gets done and boy do they clean, they seem to get into every nook and cranny – very impressed
-          The wake show is on every night starting at 10:30 onwards until the next morning.  A little odd as it is the wake show so not sure why they show it that evening prior, plus I miss the movies that are usually shown in the cabin in the evenings.

Events happening around the ship today and evening:  Movie People Like Us; Casablanca; Back To The Future, The Dark Knight Rises. Win, Loose or Draw; Sudoku (still no prizes); Taboo game play; Dr. Bob and Bill W Meeting; Trivia; Karaoke; Vocal Impressionist Joey Van; All About History Trivia; Blackjack Tournament; 50s and 60s Speed Trivia; Rock and Roll night.

They held a Chef’s Table event tonight, looked lovely.  Drink of the day is a Raspberry Fizz.

Night everyone

Dec. 15, 2011 - St. Thomas

We are back in St. Thomas, we are a little late docking but really who counts 10 minutes as late but I am surprised because it seems that every port we have docked early, but today we are a little later than normal.  Bernie heads off to get the latte (my last punch on my coffee card) and his tea.  We are not in any rush as the water taxi doesn’t leave until 10:30. 

Honeymoon Bay as we pass it first thing in the morning while we head toward Crown Bay

We get off around 9:40 and walk towards the marina and take a seat at the outdoor restaurant where we enjoy a mango smoothie.  The restaurant is right at Crown Bay Marina right where you catch the water taxi - note there is also a small grocery store where you can pick up soda or beer for your trip over.  Oh my goodness we are the only people (other than the post delivery person) on the water taxi.  That is a first!  We buy return tickets ($10 each - $5 each for one way) and when we get to Honeymoon bay there are less than six people there. 

ship decorated at the marina for Christmas

the water taxi schedule

such yummy mango smoothies

We are in heaven!  I float while Bernie swims, we tan, we walk, we enjoy a beverage and we are so happy. 

 

One of the tours from the ship arrives around noon.  The tour from the ship is the Catamaran tour and they spend about 1.5 hours at honeymoon bay beach for swimming and lunch and they paid $119 each!  I think we will stick with our $10 each trip.  After the group leaves we get something to eat from Heidi’s barbecue.  I have a drink and hotdog and Bernie has a soda and chicken Caesar wrap, both were so yummy.  We catch the 3:30 ferry back and head back on board. 

the ship's tour coming in

waiting for the ferry

waiting for the ferry

I am now enjoying a drink on the balcony as we sail away from St. Thomas.  Tonight is the Chef’s Dinner theme menu, we are planning on heading to the dining room for dinner.  Tonight’s entertainment is hypnotist Fernandes, who we have seen numerous times, comedy with Jay Moore and later tonight is the London Pub Night with the Cruise staff with the infamous “If I Was Not Upon the Sea”.  Also the Liar’s club is going on too.  Not sure what we will attend as of yet.

 

First stop is Vines, I have a white wine fight and Bernie enjoys a glass of wine and we get some sushi.  A few people we know are there and we chat and catch up before heading to the dining room for around 7:45.  

Joyce, Bernie and I

Like I had mentioned tonight is the Chef’s Dinner I start the meal with the goat cheese soufflé, then the French Onion Soup, then I chose the fried chicken off the regular menu tonight, which I have to say was just okay, I have had it much better.  You could tell the meal had been sitting and the chicken was not crispy.  For dessert I opted for the cheese with a cup of mint tea.

We get out of dinner too late to catch the Liar’s club so we wander a bit and chat with passengers and crew and head to Explorer’s Lounge to catch Jay Moore the comedian.  I am sure we have seen him before but he does have some new jokes and he is funny but for us I would rate him so so and wouldn’t probably see his show again. 

 

It is just after 11 and with no nap for me I am beat! 

St. Thomas, January 20

St. Thomas

Water Island is always amazing. We caught the 10:30 ferry and there was quite a few of us, in fact they had to send the ferry back to catch the few that didn’t make it.

Christine enjoying wine on the beach

The hill up and then back down to Honeymoon Beach is a little bit of a trek but if you are use to walking then it won’t be a problem. Many of the locals will offer a ride with their golf cart if you ask nicely.

The beach was quiet – for about an hour – then a large catamaran arrive, a Princess excursion with about 60 people on it and they got off to enjoy the beach. Note when we got back on board we checked out the excursion and found out it was a $110 cost per person, they did stop at a snorkel spot and it did provide free beverages and lunch, but we opted to go there on our own, which cost $10 per person return for the water taxi, and we purchased our own beer at the corner store (brought a small cooler full of ice).

We all headed up for sailaway from the beautiful island of St. Thomas, Peter the Captain Circle Host came with us and it was nice to catch up with him. This is his second contract as a Circle Host, he came from the stores prior and he is doing a great job as a Circle Host, he met many of the Cruise Critic gang and well he is very happy that there is botex on board! Really is that a hint Peter! He certainly doesn’t need it!

Bernie, Peter and myself enjoying our mojitos

Bernie, me, Yvonne, and Christine

Bernie didn’t make it to the afternoon trivia as we were at the sailaway, but Anita went and her team came in second, but was saddened to report that there was no prizes handed out! Nope, the host said no prizes on times that we are in port. A little sad I feel, they could of handed out the Princess shopping bags at least.

Dinner in the Dinning Room was Princess Dinner theme. Francesco our matre d made us a special treat, we opted out of the appetizers and salad as he gave us wonderful bruchetta, escargot and then a lovely tomato and mozzarella salad. For the entre I had the beef strogonaoff, with sherbet for dessert, Bernie had the coffee crème brule.

After dinner we went to chat with our favorite Purser Kikki from Vancouver and got to know Robson who is from Brazil and we caught up with him and picked his brain about going to there next year. We then went to the 10:30 show that was a comedian – Rollin’ Jay Moore – who we have not seen before but after a half hour we left, he was not really our type of comedian and he kept referencing U.S. things that we had no idea what he was talking about.

We were asleep by 11:30 getting ready for Dominica. We are currently pulling into the pier for a 9:00 am departure, we have a group tour planned with Antours for River Tubing again, can’t wait it is so much fun. Oh and we are dock at the pier that is about a mile away from the town as there is another ship in port.



Water Island, here is a link on how to get here http://www.vinow.com/waterisland/gettingthere_wi/

Jan 22 - St. Thomas

A Day at Sea and a Day in St. Thomas

ahhhhh a sea day, I ventured to the Sanctuary for the day and Bernie went and watched Star Trek movie and relaxation was in order. Tonight is a formal night, but we didn't bring formal wear so we are going to do dinner in the Horizon Court.

Movies Under the Stars

Tonight when we come back to our cabin there are some lovely chocolate covered strawberries and canapes from the Passenger Service Director of the Crown Claudio, ah how sweet. We munch down the canapes but decide to call up Bill and Cathy and see if they are interested in some strawberries and champagne.

Now this is what cruising is all about

St. Thomas today, and we wake up and we are pulling into Crown Bay which we are happy about as we want to head over to Water Island and the ferry is right at Crown Bay. Here is a shot of Crown Bay from our balcony. Many of the stores you find in town are also found at Crown Bay so there is no need to head into busy Charlotte Amalie. A.H. Rise has great price on booze, just a hint.

We head down to the Piazza and have some coffee and pastries, love that the International Cafe now has a egg mcmuffin type of sandwich as well as fruit and yogurt as well as Muslix, great for a quick bite to eat in the morning. Oh I should also mention the gelato which is available on the Ruby.

We decide to catch the 10:30 am ferry, price is $5 each person each way. Ferries run throughout the day and are about a 10 minute crossing. But with good friends it goes by really fast.

Jerry and Rose on the Ferry

Vickie & Bernie on the ferry

Bill and Cathy on the ferry, see Bill is all ready trying out the local beer.

Once you dock head up the hill and then turn right and head down the hill to Honeymoon Bay beach. In total there were maybe 5o people here, very quite.

we went to the store prior to getting on the ferry and bought some beer to drink on the beach.

See how quiet it was!

Heidi's Honeymoon Cantina sets up for a bite to eat. I certainly can recommend the food.

Rose gets fresh again.

Here we are really working hard. I purchased some air mattresses at Wallgreens prior to getting on the ship for $5 and was able to relax and enjoy the beach even more. But be careful the sun is very very strong.

We decided to head back to the ship by catching the 3 pm ferry. We all head up the hill and down the other side to wait for the ferry, what a view from the pier. You can see how close we are to the ship.

While waiting for the ferry, notice all the books, this is the island's free library, cool!

We head back onto the ship and shower and relax. We are heading back up to Skywalkers for cocktails and finger foods.

here is a sample of some of the appetizers that they give in the Platinum/Elite lounge

We are eating in the dining room tonight with friends, Jerry has arranged for escargot to be served and yum yum yum. Had a great meal of fish on risotto and the company was even better.

Escargot all eaten up!

After dinner we decide to head to Explorer's lounge with Jerry and Rose. Tonight there are two events there, Majority Rules and Peer Factor, we decided to stay for both and have lots of laughs as we form a team in Majority Rules with Jerry being our runner and the answers we gave were well all I can say is interesting and were quite funny.

Just a little Margarita

Rose gives up and sings!

Next up is Peer Factor, similar to Fear Factor but they have audience members perform certain tasks. I talk Jerry into going up with me. I was lucky I had to be a blackjack dealer and shuffle and deal out the cards and collect chips. Jerry's activity was a little funnier. He had to put on boxing gloves and then quickly try and put on pairs of underwear from a clothing line. Here the staff help him out.

The finale was the Princess Dancers came out and we were shown a few steps and then told we had to perform with them. Here I am in the River Dance performance, not very easy but lots of fun. We were given a t-shirt that said Peer Factor.