Samana, Dominican Republic I awoke to a cloudy sky. By 10 am the when the tour started it was pouring. The rain stopped as we boarded the tender. At the pier our group boarded the catamaran and Wellington, our guide promised sunshine in a half hour. Evidently he has a long line to the weather god as the sun came our and we had a beautiful day. We sailed along the coast and Wellington pointed out the various resorts and small villages that line the coast. Fishing and farming along with tourism are the main economic activities. DR also fosters and trains promising young baseball talents and the major leagues have profited. We sailed/motored to a small offshore island. I was second into the warm water and headed to the rocky shore. The bottom was mostly ... read more

Half Moon Cay Enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in the Dining Room and headed for the Cay. It was another beautiful day, hardly a cloud in the sky, and the water surrounding the Cay was clear. I rented a float, found a lounge in the shade and headed into the sea. It was refreshing but I soon acclimated and floated in the gentle sea. It was so peaceful that I almost fell asleep. After about forty-five minutes I decided to get out of the sun and read a bit. Oh no, forgot the Kindle so I sat and people watched. After a bit I headed to the rocky edge of the beach and enjoyed my first snorkel of the trip. Since the bottom is primarily sand and very shallow there were few fish to be seen. At ... read more

Into the warm --- Random thoughts on get away day. Traffic at 8:45 on Rt 95 was sparse, more like a Saturday than a Wednesday. That can be attributed to the President’s Day vacation period in part but it really felt spooky to pass my Stamford exit at 55 mph or more. For some unknown and silly reason Delta has renamed the area in the concourse where the gates are located as the “Gatehouse”. “ If Ms Smith is in the gatehouse, please go to the podium at gate 7” The flight attendants were not happy campers. The plane was small, an MD88, with limited overhead space and it was a full flight. It’s fun to watch folks cram their coats in the overhead just after the flight attendants asked them to wait until the luggage ... read more

Into the warm --- Random thoughts on get away day. Traffic at 8:45 on Rt 95 was sparse, more like a Saturday than a Wednesday. That can be attributed to the President’s Day vacation period in part but it really felt spooky to pass my Stamford exit at 55 mph or more. For some unknown and silly reason Delta has renamed the area in the concourse where the gates are located as the “Gatehouse”. “ If Ms Smith is in the gatehouse, please go to the podium at gate 7” The flight attendants were not happy campers. The plane was small, an MD88, with limited overhead space and it was a full flight. It’s fun to watch folks cram their coats in the overhead just after the flight attendants asked them to wait until the luggage ... read more

October 30, 31 - Boo The seas are calmer today and the wind has died down. The Captain is ducking storms and doing a great job. Today is the CruiseCritic Cabin Crawl but first there is the lecture on the founding of the EU to attend and lunch and reading and a little sun. The group meets at the Pinnacle Bar. We are 45 strong and some are wearing Halloween masks. The purpose of the crawl is two fold. One we all get to see the various cabins and second we get to party hardy. My cabin is on the list and it is the least impressive of the lot but there are bats hanging from the ceiling and the lights are out and eerie sounds are echoing down the hallway. We visit superior verandahs, deluxe ... read more