Good & Bad

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“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Our best and only plan was to provide you with a blog on a wonderful cruise that took you, along with us, on the high seas. That will still happen BUT first, we must fill you in on what took us AWRY.

After returning home from this marvelous cruise, Cory was stricken with Covid. I followed suit soon after…..are we surprised?? One of our fellow cruisers became congested during the last couple of days of the cruise. It didn't take long for the majority of us to all become congested once home…..and sick with COVID-19. I was the last one to be defiled…..now the final one to recover. I'm still confined to the inside of our RV while our friends are gradually returning to our Coffee Café. As they sip their morning coffee in the tent, I am inside coughing up my lungs from their pleural cavity. My cough sounds like a resounding echo through a dark, deep well. Hopefully, my day of recovery will come soon…..in the meantime, I'm hoping you are feeling very sorry for me……I need and want lots of sympathy. Even Lulu has thrown up her hands (if she had some). Both she and Cory have tried their best to take care of me through this debilitating period, but I am the first to admit that I make a very poor patient. I keep moaning “What were all those shots for!?!” Why???!!!

Let's move away from this traumatic situation and onto the GOOD portion of this blog. Remember, in the last blog, we gave you an early notification of an exciting adventure that we would all be taking on January 21st.

That exciting adventure was a 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas. We sailed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, Philipsburg, St.Maarten, and CoCoCay, Bahamas.

Our sailing crew consisted of Joe, Bonnie, Jim, Mary Jane, Sandy, Cory, me…..and Lulu. Yes, Lulu! She was encouraged to join us by Sandy. We are so glad that worked out. She didn't join us in her usual “Big Head” form. Rather, she went in the same fashion as Flat Stanley. Flat or Fat, she was thrilled to be with us and made the most of every part of this exciting adventure. She thanks Sandy for ensuring she joined all of us.

Right from the start, our adventure began first class. Joe volunteered to drive us all together to Port Canaveral in his elegant RV. We all excitedly boarded his motor home in the morning of January 21st. Joe maneuvered his RV from Tropical Palms, through the congestion of the Port, to its parking spot with the agility of an experienced and talented bus driver. It was smooth sailing before actually sailing. Bravo, Joe! Thank you!

Our embarkation was flawless. It was chilly waiting for Joe and Cory to return to our group after parking the RV in the back forty. We made it together inside the loading area and before we knew it, we were on board and eating at the sumptuous buffet. As soon as you entered this magnificent ship, you knew it was going to be a glorious time. The Wonder of the Seas was the biggest cruise ship until just recently when the Icon of the Seas was launched. Everything with this ship is top-notch and BIG!

We were able to check into our rooms after eating. Usually, we opt for an ocean-side balcony room. This time, we selected a balcony room overlooking The Boardwalk on this gigantic ship. It was a festive view….we could look down on the Merry-Go-Round, Jimmy Rocket’s eatery, the Free Hot Dog/Sausage stand, The Playmaker’s Bar/Grill, the huge Candy Store and more. The open sky was the ceiling! Woweeee!

Other interior balcony rooms offered were overlooking “Central Park”. Here, you had an awesome view of an enormous botanical garden lush with beautiful greenery reaching to its ceiling: the sky! Scattered throughout this array of growing and well-manicured plants were exquisite restaurants. You have to see this to believe it all.

Cory, Sandy and Jim started each day with an early coffee in the Windjammer (buffet). Joe would usually follow and I would join them. Mary Jane was last to join us for breakfast as Bonnie preferred to sleep in. Depending on the events offered, we would decide our next move. Lunch was either in the main Dining Room, the Windjammer or one of the free restaurants. Because the ship was so huge, roaming it took much of our time. Most every evening, after dining together in the Main Dining Room, there was always a magnificent show to attend. With our reservations, we were always assured a seat. We watched an elaborate ice show, musical shows, highly technological shows, comedy shows and a limited water show. The waves had become so high that the outdoor pools for the aqua show were not safe for all their skillful maneuvers. What they delivered was still excellent. Every seat we had was perfect and comfortable. Because the ship was so big, the rough seas outside barely broke against it's hull.

We lost count of the bars/lounges that were available. Because Sandy has cruised with Royal Caribbean so much, she is given the Diamond status. This entitles her to many perks that the rest of us peons don't get. One perk she got was four FREE drinks daily. They could be anything from water to hard liquor. Being as gracious and generous as she is, Cory enjoyed her gift of hard liquor drinks. She and I enjoyed the following: Kiss on the Lips, Sex on the Beach, and a yummy Mudslide. Thank you so much, Sandy. We (Sandy & me) don't ever drink nowadays but this was a special occasion. I think the ship was rocking…..

We had three ports where we got off our city-size ship. First was Philipsburg, St.Maarten. From the pier, we made our way to a Water Taxi that took us to the center of the town. From here, we hiked the uneven sidewalks in their shopping district. Seen one, you have seen them all. And jewelry shops….must have been two thousand of them. We had visited St.Maarten before. There were a few vague memories but not many.

We took a small tour bus at our next port, San Juan, Puerto Rico. There were only 8 of us on the bus….plus Lulu. Our driver was excellent. He took us to different locations where we could get out and walk around. We went to their Capitol Building….first on the outside, then on the inside. We went to a lovely beach and then to a Fort and its Cemetery. We ended up in the shopping district where we ran into Bonnie and Joe. Cory and I had never been here before. We were happy to visit it. Our dear friend, Melba, is from Puerto Rico so we are anxious to share our memories with her.

The last port was to CoCoCay which is the private island in the Bahamas for Royal Caribbean cruise ships. We were happily surprised with this sizeable island. Of course the many beaches and water park are the main attractions. We, however, found our enjoyment by taking their open-air Tram throughout the island…..twice! We jumped off in order to partake in the bountiful buffet provided on the island to everyone. Delicious!! Cory went back twice for the ice cream cone. It was a fun day.

As much as we would want to describe every moment we spent living the high life on the high seas with you, it's just not reasonable, possible or desirable (by you but that's ok). Our many photos can do the talking for us. We hope you enjoy them all as much as we did. A couple highlights to mention though. Our bed was soooooo comfortable! I didn't need to request a topper. It measured up in comfort to the one we love, the Princess Cruise mattress (that we own). We ate way too much. Besides the delicious meals in the dining room, we found the selection at the buffet superb. We ate at one of the free restaurants but we were most happy gorging ourselves at the buffet. On top of that were the free delicious Santoro’s pizza and cookies! They started out with Chocolate Chip cookies (and others) but ended up with only Lemon Cookies and Oatmeal Cookies.…..anytime and as many as you wanted. I became hooked on the lemon ones. The Cookie Lady and I became fast friends. She liked that I called her The Cookie Lady. I think she secretly called me The Cookie Monster. We watched the Game Shows, honored the military (with thousands of free cupcakes), played trivia and did all the cruise stuff there is to do. Obviously, the time sailed by and before we knew it, we were back on land in the USA.

Joe and Cory retrieved the Rossi RV, pulling expertly in alongside the rest of the tour buses. We hopped aboard his RV and Joe took us all home, safe and sound. Little did we know that would include SICK in a couple of days. We all had a terrific time and can't wait until NEXT TIME! And hopefully, with a healthier ending….. what were all those shots are for??!! Please look at the 46 photos to enjoy this cruise…. you will have to go on separate pages.

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Comments

[John P Peterson]

LULO
Thank you for the update!

[Melba]

Love it
I always enjoy your post. Amazing.