CRUISE (March 7th through the 15th, 2025)

 Friday March 7th, 2025

I got up early VERY EARLY and got to Betty's house a little before four a.m.  After some careful maneuvering of luggage, six of us piled into her minivan with our luggage and it was very crowded.  Got to the airport on time, checked in, and got in line to go through customs or whatever they call it.  Got to our terminal and waited about an hour until we could line up to get on the plane.  Very small plane.  Sue and I shared a three seater with a young man.  Light snacks and drinks served, short flight, got to Chicago just fine.  Long walk to our terminal.  I decided to purchase some food at a bakery across from our terminal:  a banana, piece of cheese and a cranberry/lemon scone. Sue, and two others did the same thing.  This was about a two hour wait and the terminal got very crowded.  Much larger plane, lots more people.  flight went well.  Landed in Fort Lauderdale?  shuttles got all of us to our Marriott.  After getting our rooms (we are scattered all over the place), we met up and decided to walk downtown on the recommendations of the clerk who checked us in.  Found the spot he recommended and had supper.  FIRE SOMETHING OR OTHER, walked back to hotel, stopping so Betty could take group picture.  Fort Lauderdale's downtown area is very clean and interesting with murals and fountains lots of stores and restaurants.  

Exhausted from getting up so early.  I took a shower and accessed internet.  I may have to pay eight dollars for one days use.  Pictures uploaded to flickr but not labelled or anything.  Charged my camera.  Went to bed around nine p.m.

SATURDAY the 8th:  I got lots of sleep last night even though Sue's alarm went off at six a.m.  I was already awake, so no big deal.  There was no getting back to sleep for me so I went on the internet and deleted emails, checked Facebook, read a couple of articles on the Daily Wire and basically tried to keep up with the news.  We had breakfast at the hotel in a kind of fancy restaurant (Radiant 166) right next to the registration area on the second floor.  I had the GOOD START BUFFET which was really not a buffet.  Oatmeal, cold cereal or granola with fresh berries or bananas, skim milk and choice of breakfast breads, includes juice and coffee  It was in my opinion kind of a painful experience.  Everything seemed to take forever, with certain items not being delivered until asked for, etc.  My breakfast was well over twenty dollars, including the tip.  We packed up and waited in the lobby for our shuttle that was supposed to arrive at eleven a.m. to take us to the ship.  It did not show up, and Betty was on the phone for a while and worked something out.  Our shuttle (not the original one we planned to take) arrived at 11:50 a.m. and took us to the ship. We reloaded our luggage and waited in a long line before we were able to get into our room.  We found that we did not have TWO TWIN BEDS, actually we did, but they were connected and was more like a king sized bed. Sue called our housekeeper and asked for the beds to be separated.  We explored a bit and unpacked.  We missed lunch.  We watched a safety video in our room and checked in at MUSTER (a female worker waiting in the hall near Sabatini's who checked off our names).  We watched as the ship left port.  Our group of sixteen met for supper at ECLIPSE  I had the short ribs which came with polenta which was excellent.  The manager arranged for reservations for the next six nights at SOLEIL, for our group at five p.m.  Sue and I agreed to meet up with some of the others in our group for breakfast at THE EATERY tomorrow morning.  

SUNDAY March 9th:  I showered before Sue and I went to the buffet and met up with Arlene and Carol. We found the excursion desk and confirmed our reservations for Tuesday.  I had made the reservation using my cell phone Saturday night, but I was concerned that it may not have gone through since I did not get a confirmation.   Also, I booked an excursion for our stop in Puerto Rico.  At nine a.m. Sue and I took  shuttle boat to PRINCESS CAYS (a private island owned by PRINCESS CRUISE LINES.  The water was an absolutely beautiful blue color.  When we got off of the boat, we checked out a few shops.  We met up with Betty, Carol, John and Brad and found a picnic table together.  Betty went for a swim, while Sue and I, John and Brad waded a bit.  We were served a great buffet lunch of hot dogs, burgers, bratwurst, ribs etc. as well as salads and salad items and desserts. Shortly after that, Sue and I found a restroom and headed off to the shuttle.  It was VERY hot and humid.  We looked in a couple more shops before we arrived at the shuttle station, and I had been sweating so I took a second shower after we got back to our room.  Our room attendant had not "done" our room yet.  He finally came and "changed the skirting".  Sue had asked him if we could get "top sheets" since the beds only had a bottom sheet and a big fluffy comforter.  We rested a bit and took a walk to find the theatre where we planned on going to a shower later on.  We stopped at a small place selling very expensive watches and AHMED and he gave us coupons for a free bangle bracelet that e can get tomorrow.  We ran into Arlene and her daughter, Carol, and we told them about the coupons and the bracelets.  Then we went to SOLEIL and got in line for our reserved tables.  I had the turkey dinner and two desserts (fruit plate and vegan chocolate ice cream).  Then we headed to the theatre for the play.  I think the name of the theatre is PRINCESS LIVE  The two Carols and Arlene had saved us seats and a few others joined us.  The play was great! We met up with the others outside the theatre.  They were planning on hanging out together, but we returned to our room.  We found a documentary THE SILENT TWINS, about twins who refused to speak to anyone but each other.  Sue fell asleep before it was over.  It was based on a true story.  I want to read the book mentioned at the end.  

MONDAY the 10th:   Sue and I had breakfast in the smaller buffet (The Americana?), and a few of the others joined us.  Then we went to get our free bracelet and we both purchased the five charms for ten dollars. The Sworzaski store was having sales and a raffle.  I was pulled in by the three for $25.00 sale and purchased a small purse, a bag, and a beach coverup.  I went to ECLIPSE for a craft class at twelve thirty, but I had the time wrong, so I returned to the room and rested until about 2:15 p.m.  Then I went to the craft class at two thirty where we made a beaded item.  I explored more and then called Betty Stover to find out if we were expected to dress up tonight for supper.  She said yes, so I dressed up (my black slacks and three quarter length sleeves pullover top and I wore the turquoise necklace that I got from Mary Anne's estate, and an imitation pearl bracelet. 

I had the duck breast and cabbage.  They offer both chocolate and vanilla VEGAN ice cream so I ordered chocolate and was given two large scoops, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  As soon as we finished supper, Nancy, Sue and Sue S headed to the theatre for the short play.  On the way we stopped at _______where there was a "meet the captain event" going on, complete with champagne.  I said no to the champagne which was being passed around.  We listened to that and then there was a wonderful performance of acrobatics, bubbles and hoops.  Nancy referred to it as "cirque something or other". Later on, I looked in THE PATTER to maybe find information about this performance,but it was not listed.  Then we went to the Princess Arena for the SOUL OF BROADWAY show with pianist Terron Brooks.  John and Brad were sitting in front of us, and John decided to climb over the back of his seat to get to our row.  Since he uses a cane or walker, this was a sight to see.  He didn't even tell Brad he was leaving.  After the show ended, Sue and I returned to our room.  We decided to order our breakfast by room service, so I filled out the form and put it on our door knob to be picked up and Sue requested a wake up call for Tuesday morning.  

TUESDAY the 11th:  Our breakfast was delivered on time.  We had both ordered breakfast sandwiches of an English muffin, egg and cheese.  My stomach was a bit "off" so I only ate my banana and one piece of the English muffin.  We noticed that a CARNIVAL CELEBRATION ship was passing us by, so we watched it for a couple of minutes.  We left the ship at seven thirty a.m. to catch a shuttle to Puerto Plata in the Dominical Republic.  Once there, we found the right line and waited with our guide Alex for everyone to arrive, then we proceeded to another line outside where we waited again for our bus to arrive.  The tour was very good, and I enjoyed it in spite of the heat and sweating.  Three times we sampled RUM.  The first sample was in a large souvenir store, and it was very good.  to be continued here

Late in our tour, Sue realized that she lost her sunglasses.  I think she probably  set them on the table during lunch in THE GARDEN.  We got back to our room about two fifteen.  I immediately showered and washed my hair.  I tried to reach out housekeeper to ask for more tissues and toilet paper, but he did not answered the phone.  Sue and I went to supper in SOULET with our group.  I had the BEEF WELLINGTON and French Onion Soup.  Both were very good.  After that, Sue and I went to The Shops to see if she could find a pair of sunglasses.  We did find some, but they were very expensive.  She decided to NOT go to see STARSTRUCK, so I went alone and enjoyed it.  On the way there, I stopped to watch a few minutes of other performances.  After that, I ran into Sue and Nancy.  Sue and I joined the ZUMBA for a few minutes.  I think Betty took this picture of me and Sue, and it is an awful pic of me, but it proves that I did participate in Zumba!

and then the three of us went and got Gelato (vanilla) which was very good.  After we parted, I had a small slice of pizza and then returned to our room.  Sue turned the TV off about nine p.m.  I ordered coffee and bananas by room service for tomorrow morning.  

WEDNESDAY the 12th:

THURSDAY the 13th:   at sea day

FRIDAY the 14th:   at sea day on the way to Port Everglades/Fort Lauderdale.  

We had a second DRESS UP NIGHT.  I had the lamb, but it tasted like beef and was very small.  I requested a baked potato and they brought it to me.  Also, I was given a specially made dairy free, lactose free desert, something red with a white cream on top, and it was good.  I had already ordered my BAKED ALASKA, so I only ate a little bit of that.  Before leaving the SOLEIL, we had a group picture taken.  

SATURDAY the 15th:   We had set Sue's alarm clock for six a.m. and also had a wake up telephone call for that time.  We got up and got dressed and went to THE EATERY for breakfast.  I had oatmeal and found a banana to take back to our room.  I say "found' because they have not always been visible and/or available.  We went back to our room and finished packing and waited for our call to go down to the fourth level to disembark.  I had to leave the door to our room open so we could hear it.  Our number (silver 26 was announced so we got our stuff and headed to the elevator.  We had to wait a while because EVERYONE was also waiting for an elevator.  We got off and showed our medallions and ended up in a huge area with various sections marked with colors and numbers.  We quickly found our suitcases (the ones we planned to check at the airport).    Sue paid a guy to put our luggage on a cart and he accompanied us to find our group, which was not easy since we had no idea where to go.  We found our group and waited with them for a bit.  I sat with Arlene for a little while, in order to give her daughter a break from Arlene's incessant talking.  We found out that we were in the wrong spot and had to walk around a corner to get to a bus which took us to the airport.  Our driver was  jolly  black man who joked around a lot, and he even joked about RACE, which I found refreshing.  We got to the airport around nine or nine thirty and were told that it was too early to check our luggage, and were directed to a spot downstairs from check in where we could sit and wait, but the benches were made of stone.  I fired up my chromebook and got out my pink notebook where I kept a record of what I did for the last several days and worked on this blog, and I also uploaded some pictures onto my chrome book and put them into my flickr account.  Some of our group walked down to STARBUCKS and purchased items, but I didn't.  Nancy gave me some cheese crackers and some trail mix.  I think it was about three p.m. when we went upstairs and checked in and checked our suitcases, and headed to our terminal.  When we got there, it was very crowded.  After we found our seats, I went and purchased a TWELVE DOLLAR ham and cheese sandwich from something like a convenience store.  Across from that store, there was as place selling burgers and I noticed that they offered MR PIBB (which is a lot like Dr. Pepper) but they were all out of it and I had to settle for Sprite, which ai really do not like all that much.  The sandwich was pretty good and Nancy bought some Pringles which she shared.  I read my book for a while and then decided to look for a candy bar.  I went back to the convenience store and purchased a double MOUNDS bar for five dollars. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed for about an hour, maybe more. So, we were concerned about the possibility of missing our connecting flight in Newark, New Jersey TO Buffalo.  We had close to an hour from the time the plane landed BUT it took a while to get off, and then we headed to our terminal. We had only walked a short distance when I noticed that Barb was struggling and I asked her if she was OK.  She said "I don't know if I can do this".  She and I were stopped and I was wondering what to do when a man approached us, I think he was just another passenger heading to a terminal.  He asked if we needed help and I said "we need a wheelchair" and he left immediately.  I did not know if he was going after a wheelchair or what.  Nancy stopped and was talking to Barb, when I noticed a woman pushing an empty wheelchair and looking around.  I approached her and pointed to Barb and asked for her help.  Barb was immediately put into the wheelchair and Nancy took her carry on bag.  The lady pushing said she could take her to the shuttle but no further.  That seemed to be enough, and after getting off the shuttle, Barb walked the rest of the way, and it was NOT a short distance.  When we finally got to our terminal, some of our group was already there at a shop next to the terminal.  There was a line of people moving out of the terminal to the plane, so we got into the line and got onto the plane.  Sue and I kind of reunited at this time.  Apparently, she had been behind Barb, Nancy, the other Sue and I and when Barb had her incident, I kind of forgot about Sue S.  We had seats together way in the back ofhe plane.  It was an uneventful flight between Newark and Buffalo.  We all got our luggage and caught our shuttle back to Bettys car and it was a bit of a struggle to fit all of us and all of our luggage back into her car.  We parted ways at Betty's house on Ernest Road.  I got home a few minutes befor one a.m. Sunday.