Monday 23 Nov 2015. The day before departure.

Welcome to my fifth blog. Probably doing this more for my own sake than for any kind interest my friends might show. It's a good way of saving my photos and memories of sunny days to read later when I'm snowed in or down with a cold.
Anyway, today the packing is mostly done and am about to checkin online.  Sandra has booked a taxi for 8.30am so I will need to be up by 6.30am as I must have a good 2 hours for last minute faffing.  Last year my water bottle leaked in my hand luggage and I spent ages drying my spare knickers out under hand dryers in the Ladies at Heathrow and the time before that the handle of my case snapped off as I was carrying it downstairs as the taxi arrived. Hoping for better luck this year.
Woohoo, excited now

Tuesday 24th Nov. Off we go.

Didn't get much sleep, going over and over in my mind what I packed etc. so at 6.15am I got up.  Plenty of time to faff before Sandra and the taxi arrived at 9 ish. In the event, they arrived at 9.50 am. The driver couldn't understand why I was annoyed.  He said he had a fare waiting at Heathrow whose flight had landed and he hadn't even set off yet!  Sandra was white with worry and I was red with excess cortisol, in spite of the fact that we had both fake tanned the night before.  Anyway we arrived in time to do a bit of shopping and that was our main concern, as neither of us had any perfume.

Easy boarding with a tray of champagne waiting at the top of the steps, though sadly only for those turning left.  Here is Sandra at take off.  " Don't talk to me" she said. So I didn't.  I just gazed mesmerised at the hairstyle of the passenger across the aisle.

The drinks trolley arrived and we did not have a pre lunch drink.  I will just repeat that, we did NOT have a pre lunch drink. However I did accept a little bottle of red wine with my lunch but it had obviously been in the fridge and so was not chambréd.  Sandra offered to sit on it for a bit and though it was kindly meant, I declined. Lots of films though nothing very up to date so I mooched down to the back of the plane where there were rows of 4 empty seats, whipped up the arms, covered myself with a blanket and went unconscious for three and a half hours. Lovely. Only a couple more hours to go and tea before that!

Well here we are at Miami airport. Lots of finger print and photo taking and three security posts to get through. Now waiting for our shuttle to the Intercontinental Hotel. It's 6.40 pm here and 23 degrees but feels hotter. Sandra found out that the woman with the multicoloured hair is on our cruise so may get a few tips on beautification. 

Checked in now.  Big room, big beds, big bathroom and ice cold air con.  At the bar now for a recommended Mexican beer which is quite dark and more like bitter.

Just asked the barman for the menu and it's like an iPad. It lights up when you open it!  I love America.

I have ordered an El Cubano and skinny fries. No idea what it is. Will let you know tomorrow. 

Wednesday 25th Nov. Ship ahoy

The El Cubano turned out to be a ham, pork and cheese baguette  😬. After a quick peep at the pool, we went to bed as by our body clock time it was nearly 3am. This morning we are having coffee round the pool while we wait for the shuttle to Fort Lauderdale to board the Island Princess.

 We need the coffee to recover from the earlier panic when Sandra could not find her passport. To say we were panicking was an understatement.  Sandra had returned to her white face status while we looked everywhere, at least three times!  Went down to reception, the bar, the pool but no luck then Sandra remembered she had heard something drop behind the sideboard thingy last night.  We squinted sideways and saw it but the sideboard wouldn't budge. So we removed the fridge from its housing and reached in through the gap at the back.  Sandra then changed her trousers and we left.

We have been told that the cost of wifi on the ship is eye watering, so I will write the blog each night but may not get round to publishing till we go ashore the next day and find a cafe etc with wifi. See you later!

Just had a little walk down to Walmart supermarket.  Here are my thoughts. No one walks. Most of the buildings were either eateries or banks  so as there was no one on the street, I went into the eateries to get directions. Had to ask several times and no one spoke English as the first language, so after a while I just asked in Spanish which was a bonus for me.  Liked this road sign though. 

Bit of a wait to board the ship as there was a US customs inspection in progress but once the queue started moving the embarkation was pretty quick. Jerry, the embarkation clerk, wished us Happy Thanksgiving (tomorrow) and Happy Holidays ( 25th December) 😁 Our cabin is very comfortable and the balcony is great for sitting and watching the sea go by.  Got to say it was a bit blowy and therefore choppy but still warm. After a buffet lunch, we explored and tried to locate the areas of interest to us Ie the pools, spa, gym, theatre, outdoor cinema, our allotted restaurant and shops.  Sorted, unless we get our fore/aft, starboard/ port, odd number side/even number side mixed up which is highly likely on a ship of this size. Our cabin is aft, starboard, odd number on Aloha deck. There was a Life Boat Drill shortly afterwards so we mustered on deck 7 at the Bayou Cafe, carrying our life jackets.  We were shown very clearly how to put them on so I have no idea how I managed to put mine on back to front. Sandra insisted on recreating my moment of shame in the cabin afterwards and photographing it

After unpacking we went for a preprandial cocktail, which was so nice we had another followed by a glass of wine with our dinner. We bumped into Alan, travelling on his own, who had collared us at the hotel in Miami. Do you know what?  Alan knows everything about everything, cruising and otherwise so we were pleased to see him again😬. Apparently he suggested that we make up a quiz team and I agreed though I have no recollection of that, so we are now dodging him.  Finding our way back to the cabin was a bit of a struggle but we did find it eventually and collapsed into bed.

Thursday 26th Nov. All at sea

We have 2 days at sea now as we sail through the Atlantic and into the Caribbean Sea passing first by Cuba. It's still very blowy on deck with sunshine and clouds but warm. We had breakfast from the buffet so we could have it outdoors on deck. So much choice but we are determined not to overdo it just because it's there.  Can't say the same for a lot of the other passengers, most of whom are American.  There really are an awful lot of very big people on board and I am concerned that if they all sit on the same side of the ship, it wil tip over.  You can eat literally non stop and we were amazed to see people queuing up for the restaurant to open to get their dinner at 5pm, after breakfast, lunch, tea and snacks.

There was a presentation in the theatre about our first two stops, the island of Aruba and Cartagena on the coast of Columbia. More about them when we have visited them. Am just loafing round the pool now but think I may move on as American football has just come on the big screen over the pool and as in UK, men are jumping up from their sun beds to whoop and cheer. It's on the Fox channel and you get 10 minutes of the game followed by 5 minutes of adverts. 

Sandra has gone to a ladies' pampering session in the beauty salon. When she gets back, she says that it was not so much pampering as trying to sell her expensive cosmetics which she resisted.  Resistance was continued at lunch but we gave in later on to tea and a scone on the balcony of our cabin.

 I had intended to go to the gym in the afternoon but had a sleep instead.  Well I didn't want to overdo the exercise either and we must have walked miles on this ship so far.

Posh frocks for dinner in the Bordeaux restaurant after the compulsory cocktail in Calypso Cove.

The head waiter led us to our table and we think he was either on speed or a complete nutter. He almost danced to the table singing, "Dressed to impress". In view of the fact it was Thanksgiving Day we had expected something special and although the menu was lovely, the restaurant just had a garland at the entrance.  Think we were expecting a marching band with cheerleaders.

Off to the theatre to see a vocal impressionist. I won't bore you with the details but he looked like a cross between Liberace and David Brent. Sandra declared him to be gruesome. But we were trapped so had to sit it out, cringeing. That said, the ladies behind us loved him, "Yeah, right on, come on baby." Should have a Specsavers on board.

Went on to the Explorers Bar and had a great dance to a band. There were some fantastic Afro American couples dancing. And so to bed with a nice cup of tea, resisting the cakes, sandwiches, cookies etc on offer.

Friday 27th Nov. Land Ahoy

We had thought we would do the Zumba class on deck this morning but failed to get out of bed in time.  We did make it to the theatre to see a presentation on The Panama Canal which was interesting but also very funny as the presenter a professional travel writer. Just a few facts I remember. It was planned and started by De Lesseps who also built the Suez Canal. The dirt removed would go 4 times round the Earth but there again the number of Big Macs sold would go round 6 times. There are locks at the Caribbean side and more on the Pacific side of the isthmus. There are 3 chambers which raise or lower the ships. With extra big ships there is sometimes only 12 inches on either side. The ships are held in place by machines called mules. After the Lock there is a lake called Gatun. The ships go round the lake which is good to know as we thought the ship might have to reverse back out as we are not going through to the other side.  And finally, it is costing this ship 240000 dollars to pass through!  The presenter told us about the top ten questions he has been asked about the Canal.  How high will the ship be out of the water when we are in the locks?  The answer was - the ship will not leave the water at any time of the transit. Will I see monkeys in trees from my cabin?  Answer - not unless you have transferred to another cruise through the jungle. Question -if I catch a fish in the Canal will be it fresh water or salt water?  Answer - does it matter, it will be a dead fish.

On the the Atrium to watch a Martini making class. Actually it was like a show. 3 bar stewards gave demonstrations of flairing ( juggling bottles, cocktail shakers and glasses ) -brilliant. One steward looked amazingly like a dark coloured Brad Pitt.  Another steward prepared and poured out 10 cocktails simultaneously. 

Me being silly, but not had a cocktail, at this point

The Steward doing it properly

Sunny and hot today so we found a quiet spot at the pointed end of the ship with padded sun beds.  Sandra and I like to re enact famous films or songs so I posed for "Walk like an Egyptian". Actually I wanted to portray Titanic, but the Captain came out and told me to get off the railings.  Memo to self - should have gone to Zumba this morning.

We have just watched a Mr Sexy Legs competition round the pool, ( Didn't it used to be Knobbly Knees?). 6 men volunteered and they all had names like Chuck, Woody and ..... Bronco.  No lie.

Panicked when these two women sat down together on the edge of the pool.

Back to the cabin for relaxation and an early shower etc. Tonight it is the Captain's champagne reception and best frocks must be worn. 

Well here we are, having a cocktail before the champagne, well we are on our holidays. 

The reception was just a case of the Captain introducing the senior members of the crew, so who was steering the ship then?  In the restaurant, we met a really nice couple who were from Durham, moved to Yeovil but currently living in Trinidad as he was a search and rescue helicopter pilot.  We also had blueberry mojito ice as a palate cleanser between courses.  Oooh get us!  The show was better than last night, singing and dancing.  Early night as we arrive in Aruba at 7am but sail again at 12noon so only time for a short shore visit but will be glad to be on dry land for a bit.

Saturday 28th Nov. Aruba

Aruba is a small island with not much on it except a lighthouse, a natural rock bridge, an ostrich farm and lots and lots of jewellery stores, diamonds, emeralds seem to be the main choice.  As we were not in the market for these we decided on a walk through the town. I was getting fed up of Sandra looking me up and down and saying Avast behind.  It's a very pretty little harbour and our ship dwarfs it.

There is a little market and one shopping street and not much else. The architecture harks back to Dutch Colonial times with palm trees of course and it is extremely HOT.

Saw this pelican chilling on the dock

Off now to try to find  a cafe with wifi.

Bags and hats bought,Facebook checked, blog posted and beer drunk. Now back on board now and the Captain has made his lunchtime broadcast.  By the way, the Captain and most of the officers are English which I find odd on an American cruise liner but quite reassuring, playing fields of Eton, stiff upper lip, cucumber sandwiches and all that.  The trade winds are blowing at 30 knots. But this is normal for Aruba, resulting in most of the palm trees being bent. So the Island Princess will need all three engines to sail out. It's 360 miles to our next port of call, Cartagena in Colombia and we will be sailing by the coast of Venezuela this evening and arriving at 9am tomorrow. It will be 27 degrees tomorrow.  And the wind has dropped completely now we are out at sea and it must be that temperature here too.

Information talk on Costa Rica, lunch and a well deserved rest in the sun. The Sound of Music was playing at the open air cinema and we sang along with all the tunes. I then felt moved to do a re enactment of the title song. I think you can see a resemblance to Julie Andrews on top of the hill

In the evening to show was a ventriloquist with a Jamaican doll. He was actually quite funny but not PC at all, wouldn't have got away with some of the things he said about Jamaica in UK but no one seemed to take offence. Oh no, more cocktails

 After dinner we stationed ourselves on the Lido deck for the Love Boat Party which didn't happen due to an earlier shower. We didn't even know it had been raining so we're a tad disappointed. So this was an ideal opportunity to crack open the gin Sandra had smuggled aboard in. Listerine bottle. We have been cruising before.