We arrived an hour ahead of schedule, 5AM local time due to a very strong tailwind on our A330-300. We didn't get our upgrade to World Business Class but the seats I had gotten for us were as good as you could get and had about 7 feet of legroom since we were next to the main cabin door. Everytime we went to the bathroom and saw the rest of the cabin, or reclined our seats, we remembered how miserable those other people had it and we thankfully did not. One thing that could be improved was the food, it was [View Full Entry]

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This one is a little late coming but thanks to Chris and Barbara for sending out the pictures, so now at least there is something to post. Since it was Jennifer's birthday and C/B live close to the airport in Hollywood. Since we are heading up to a still cold Ohio I wanted to do something on the waterfront so we, Barbara and I, ended up on Nikki Marina at the Westin Diplomat. The whole thing was a surprise for Jennifer but she kind of figured it out when Chris spilled the beans in the morning, which was expected since I [View Full Entry]

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Nassau is not like I remembered it in 1991, but then I guess that is because a lot of time has passed. Paradise Island The action is no longer in downtown Nassau that is rundown and just plain stinky, it is all in Paradise Island. Nassau is good for what the rest of the Bahamas are for when not on the beach - island culture and colonial cityscapes. On Paradise Island, you go to Atlantis . . . all $1.8 billion of it (so far). We first tried to make a day of it in downtown Nassau, but soon decided to [View Full Entry]

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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde There are two sides to the little island owned by Royal Caribbean, its original self, Little Stirrup Key; and CocoCay, the zoo put together by RCCL. Little Stirrup is a great island, CocoCay is okay and you have to take it in small doses by bringing out Little Stirrup. The photos sum it up. In short, this cruise is worth it, if anything, because of the stop to Little Stirrup Cay, you can experience a largely unspoilt environment with great opportunities to see sea life. I have no doubt that because of our willingness to go [View Full Entry]

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FLL and Port of Miami Arrival So we got on to Fort Lauderdale but still too many options abounded for Jennifer, is it a cruise, is it Miami, is it Key West? As we drop down to Fort Lauderdale Airport she sees the cruise ships and says, "wait a minute cruise ships sail out of Fort Lauderdale!" Oh no I say, we're not taking a cruise . . . out of Fort Lauderdale. She latches on my choice of words and I ignore her and start talking about something else. I get on the horn with Frank from SAS Transportation, no [View Full Entry]

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Bonkers in BNA Where we going? Shh! She doesn't fully know yet! Okay she figured it out when in the 6 gates in the area, the only one within our timeframe is a flight to Fort Lauderdale. The one to Juneau, Alaska didn't throw her off as far as a dog sledding adventure (thanks to Donna for trying though). We're on ship now . . . [View Full Entry]

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Repeat As we pulled up to the Seelbach Hilton I realized that unintentionally the last time we were here was exactly seven years ago in 2002 when we were living in Cincinnati and came down to visit the city and spend some time in Bourbon Country. It didn't feel like a long time ago but seven years is a long time and the city had changed a little from how we remembered it, but it still remains a city that seems to lag 10 years behind the rest of the Midwest . . . it's downtown is completely lifeless and the [View Full Entry]

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We're back home now. Showed up in Columbus with 24 degrees and several inches of snow on the ground wearing almost nothing. Wandering around the long term lot at Columbus Airport trying to find the car, then finding it after 5 minutes of walking around, Jennifer an icicle. The thing was covered in a 4 inch layer of snow and half inch of ice. No scraper, umbrella handle had to do. Rear wheel drive, she would not come out of the space, some chiseling with the umbrella handle got us out. Ohio is great. We get back to the house. I [View Full Entry]

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Manny! Jamaica Me Crazy So says our cab driver Duppy today as I proffer up a deluge of reasons why he cant scam me on the “negotiable” price to Reggae Beach. “It’s far, it’s in another parish!” he says; of course the parishes are not that large I respond, and we settle on 18 bucks one way which turns into 20 bucks when he doesn’t have change for the 10 minute cab ride. In actuality he said “You’re crazy, but you’re cool.” Miguel’s card (Duppy is his nickname) says he is the #1 cabbie on the island; I couldn&rsqu [View Full Entry]

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Tortuga Ho! The last two days had been rather pleasant aboard with not too much rolling of the ship and calmer seas but last night there was much more motion and as we approached the island they seemed to be firing the bow thrusters with the effect of jerking the ship around. So despite a late night we both woke up feeling a bit dehydrated around 7:45AM, much too early for a vacation. As Jennifer got ready, I saw we were approaching land so I jetted for the bow which was still as howlingly windy as it had been the night [View Full Entry]

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