b9hum

Today we go home! Di is up early and gets packed. Her plan is to have one last day of sunbathing before we head off to the airport. But she is thwarted by the weather as the thunderstorms have replaced the sunshine. We spend the morning getting packed up and Facetiming. At 12:30 we check out of the hotel and get a taxi to the airport. We have to hang around at the airport for about an hour before we are allowed to check -in.We have a drink at the bar as we wait, eventually we are allowed to check-in. We go through to the security check, where we get held up for what must be 45 mins. There was something amiss with a family's luggage, but none of the security staff seemed capable of making ... read more

Not much to report for today we are basically taking it easy by the pool. We skip breakfast as we still dont feel hungry. We are down at the pool for about 09:00 and spend the morning sunbathing and swimmimng. At lunch we eat at the Nautilus Cafe beside the pool. We decide to share a Chicken Sandwich, when it comes we think that they have made a mistake as we both have a massive sandwich, but we are assured that it is a half portion!! We also get a bucket of beers and sit and cool down for a while. The afternoon is again spent by the pool.It is really warm!! In the evening we go for a walk along the top end of Ocean Boulevard. Neither of us feels particularly hungry so we go ... read more

This is the last day of the cruise, tomorrow we leave the ship at Ft Lauderdale, and we will head to Miami to spend a few days there. We have breakfast at the Solarium yet again. One thing that I have noticed about our American cousins is that they find it difficult to walk anywhere without grasping some form of drink- it’s almost like some form of “comfort blanket”. In the morning a cup of coffee seems to permanently stuck in their hands, this changes to beer or soda in the afternoons. I also notice that after breakfast they leave not only with the mandatory cup of coffee, but also with a bowl of food in addition to their breakfast. I assume that this is to ward off any chance of starvation in the 100 yards ... read more

We ate breakfast at the Solarium and then went ashore. Once we had passed through the terminal, we headed for the water taxis. It is just $6 for a full day pass. We get the water taxi to the beach, which is just 10 minutes across the bay. We are at the beach early; it is just 08:30 when we arrive there. We have a wander around the beachfront, it is a nice wee place and the people are very friendly. St Maarten is an island that is half governed by the French and half governed by the Dutch. Sounds like a recipe for disaster! We are in the Dutch half of the island, which is really cheap. Yet again there are rows upon rows of jewellery shops. A lot of passengers from the ship spend ... read more

We are in the Bermuda Triangle so I hope that we do not just disappear. Today we will spend all day sailing to reach St Thomas on Wednesday. We are down for breakfast at around 09:00, but have cut down of the food intake so we just have fruit and fruit juice – the 3 meals a day are beginning to take their toll not only on the waistline, but by feeling permanently bloated! We also start to realize that we have a number of options for breakfast as regards restaurants. We have been going to the restaurant on the 15th floor, we now realize that there is a restaurant in Central Park on the 8th floor where our cabin is, so decide to go there tomorrow. Di has been unable to find any magazines to ... read more