THANKSGIVING EVE AND DAY AT SEA AND DISEMBARKATION—Wednesday-Friday, November 27-29, 2013 The first two days were days were at sea as we headed back to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The first sea day, all four of us relaxed around the ship. Read, swam, worked on finishing blog narrative, went to the movies, had tea in the dining room at 3:00, attended some classes, etc. Valerie and I woke up on Thanksgiving morning with the waves really rocking and rolling the ship caused by the wind blowing at 55 mph. We both went up on the 9th deck and had breakfast and then we separated. Valerie was going to read on the 10th floor observation deck so that she could finish and return the book she was reading. I headed to our cabin as I wanted to finish ... read more

PANAMA CANAL AND COLON, PANAMA--Monday, November 25, 2013 Overcast and nice and cool. We were up early to watch the ship go through the first lock (Gatun) and then sail into and anchor in Gatun Lake. The four of us gathered after breakfast in the lounge until our tour was called, as we had to tender to the pier. The tender craft were lifeboats that held up to 120 or so people. We then got on our small 20 passenger bus and rode by the construction of the new canal just as it opened up and started pouring rain. We were able to see some, but the rain made it difficult to see clearly. By the time we got to the lock itself the rain had cleared and we could watch a freighter go through the ... read more

AT SEA ON THE ZUIDERDAM BETWEEN CURACAO AND CARTEGNA, COLUMBIA--Saturday, November 23, 2013 Happy Birthday Alex! We spent the day at sea heading northwest toward Cartagena, Columbia. We did what we usually do when we don’t leave the ship. We read, slept, worked on the blog, and read and slept some more. And oh, we eat too much. I thought I would use this day’s space to talk about this ship, The Holland American Lines’ Zuiderdam, and to do some comparison with the Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas. This was the ship we took on our last cruise from Singapore to Rome. The general ambiance of this ship is classier with a somehow more posh feel. I don’t think I can tell you what makes it that way, as both ships ... read more

Oranjestad, (Orange city from the House of Orange the ruling family in the Netherlands), Aruba We had breakfast with Paul and Christina and then watched masked boobies dive and go after the flying fish that were escaping the ship cutting through their territory. The four of us got on different buses after lunch to take two different tours. Paul and Christina to snorkel and Valerie and I to tour by “semi-submarine” the same scuttled wreck of the 440 foot freighter, the Antilla and to tour other parts of the island. The Antilla was a German merchant marine ship that the Captain sank on purpose because he didn’t want to return to Germany and get involved in World War II. The wreckage is down just 50 feet underwater and ... read more

Clarkston, GA--Friday, November 15th. Our starting mileage is 39,893 with the temperature at a cool 46 degrees at 12:36 and drizzling. Instead of flying south, we opted to take off in Rosie II and drive to catch the cruise ship in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We started by driving I-285 south to the I-675 cut off and then hit I-75 around Stockbridge. At that intersection we found the Golden Corral for a lunch stop. As we exited the off ramp there was a small sign that caught my eye. It read, “On-line Heating and Air Conditioning” and gave a URL address to contact. Valerie and I had a lively discussion as to how you might deliver that service “on-line.” Freon top-off through the either??? New compressor delivered by aliens?? What??? At the Golden Corral we bought enough ... read more