Dallas, TX and Home

We awoke in Texas for the first time in our lives. Sorry folks... it was nothing special compared to the views of the last 18 days!

View from our hotel in Dallas.

We grabbed some coffee from the Starbucks downstairs as we got ready to head back to the airport. We decided to go early in an effort to get our Vancouver - Victoria boarding passes in advance as you have to physically see an AC agent here.

On the bus back to the "D" gates Kelly commented that its been 24 hours since our last search for our bags:-) We have not seen them since checking in San Juan but expect them in Victoria...  At least that is what we were told. Fingers  crossed.

At the airport in Dallas we took the sky link train from the D gates over to the E gates and the Air Canada counter. Sadly no one was there so back we went to the D gates for some breakfast. "Look an Irish Pub! Perfect! " ......Kelly reminded me that it was 9:30 a.m. :-(. I quickly converted to ship time but that was only 11:30... darn ...Ok it's a bit early so we just had breakfast.

Loaded up the plane and we were on our way just a few minutes late. Arrived in Vancouver with plenty of time to clear customs and head to my home turf, the commuter gates for our trip to Victoria.... well that was the plan. As our bags were in the system somewhere we had to have some paperwork filled out before we could leave the baggage area without our bags. This took about 20 minutes and sadly, caused us to miss our 2 o'clock flight to Victoria Arghhh Ok no big deal until we found out that the next two flights were already full ;-(

We went for a bite and a cool down beverage and then went down to the gate just in case.... low and behold we got the last two seats on the 3 o'clock flight. The familiar sight of the gulf islands was our welcome back to the place we live and enjoy life & family, although a bit cool and drizzly right now.

Once on the ground we headed to customs to get our bags.... not there.... off to Horizon... not there either... finally off to Jazz and they tracked the bags to Seattle! Whew! They will be sent up tonight and delivered to the house. I don't have to lift Kelly's bag!!

Grabbed the Mazda 3 and drove home. In the door at 4:30 only 16 hours late.  I am positive the Brits beat us home to England! As Kelly said on the first day of the blog "it's a wrap" on our 2013 Cruise. Wow!

We met so many great folks both on and off the ship and have many memories to share with friends & family back home. 

The Cruise Critic gang made us feel right at ease from the first Sky Bar social until the last one. It was certainly a benefit to  have these "friends" along for the cruise(s) and to just bump  into them from time to time. Our Dinner table crew made the trip even more enjoyable as we relived the days events every night for each other.  We just hit it off....  or it could have just been the Jim Bean? :-)  I believe we still need to finish that golf game one day! I was in the lead before the "course official" removed us... Just sayin :-)

I will be posting links to the other pictures we took as well as links to other cruisers pictures. I believe Dan said he had taken over 5000! 

South Africa is next on our travel list in August. Till next time, safe travels everyone!

Epilogue: Our bags were delivered directly to the house at 9 p.m. and all of Kelly's shopping is safe and sound! :-) I can now rest easy.... until the next trip!

Day 15 - Hurry Up and Wait, Texas style!

Up at 7:00 as we prepare for the trip home.  Kelly showered as I checked the flights and sent Kris our son, a happy birthday greeting on Facebook. Wow 27! Seems like yesterday I was holding him up for the first time.

We headed up to the windjammer and ran into our "dinner team" having breakfast. We joined them and had a good laugh about, of all things, cast iron frying pans. Seems everyone has issues with these and Andrew and Dawne were not alone. I am not going to get into the details but the care & maintenance of these was fully discussed;-) You had to be there.

We said our goodbye's and headed back to the room for final packing.  The proverbial square peg in a round hole was successfully accomplished and we headed to our meeting place for disembarkation.  At 9:40 we walked off the ship for the last time this year.

Once inside the cavernous terminal building I started looking for our bags with the #23 on them. These  bags would be conveniently grouped with all the other bags tagged and sitting under the huge #23 sign. Seemed pretty straight forward and I quickly found Kelly's bag.  Unfortunately mine was nowhere to be found. I eventually checked the lost bag section and still no bag. Kelly traded places with me and away she went on a "mission". No bag so we got the cruise line folks looking as well... No bag. Arghh  As Kelly had packed all her shopping in my bag she doubled her efforts and finally found it over in section 33. It had fallen over under the imbalance of its load... Yes the Extenders were bursting! Anyway we were happy to see it! (Kelly here, I'm just glad I'm a geo-cacher as my geo-senses were in full gear! I get an FTF for this one!)

Once outside we grabbed a cab with some folks from New Jersey. Nice folks but I'll just say the cab ride was a bit long :-)

At the airport at 10:45 in plenty of time for our 12:30 departure. The AA agent was very nice and we were given some nice roomy emergency exit seats.  Through security we decided to hit Margaritaville and have a final drink before our departure.  After a little nosh we headed to the gate to see that the flight was delayed 30 minutes. No big deal as we went searching for internet access. While checking mail, FB etc. saw the UK contingent and had a brief chat on the flights. We said our second goodbyes and headed for our gate. Low and behold our flight was now delayed until 4pm local ... arghh. Oh well at least the flight issues happened going home rather than coming to the cruise. We stood in line and eventually had our flights re-booked as we could not make our final flight from Seattle to Victoria.  We had great service from the AA agent as she gave us several alternatives. We finally settled on a layover in Dallas and then continue on to Vancouver and Victoria the next morning. This gave us a decent break in Dallas and still got us home by 2:30 Monday afternoon. Works for us :-)

We boarded the plane and then sat for almost an hour as the ramp guys got dragged off to the Chicago flight that had to return to the gate. Seen this a few times in my real job:-)

Our scheduled  12:30 departure finally got airborne at 6:00 local and we were on our way to our mini vacation in Dallas, Texas. Yee Haw!  Arrived at 9pm local and after getting our hotel voucher,  we headed to the Marriott North. Checked in and I am now blogging from the bar :-) (Kelly here. I'm into the Margarita's....again!)

Tomorrow we leave at 10:30 a.m. and should be home by 3 p.m.... subject to any further delays of course. 

Day 14 Cruisin back to San Juan

A great sleep in today! We had planned to meet our dinner gang for an 8 a.m. breakfast but that didn’t happen...... they will understand:-)

We did some planning for our departure the next morning in San Juan. We packed up 90% of our stuff, duly noting the various items that were never worn! We kept our travel & dinner clothes handy for the day and then headed to lunch with the continuos cruiser folks. It was in the dining room and we sat with a couple from Kelowna, BC and another from Cornwall, England. A very nice lunch indeed.

We were off to see the Blackjack Final in the Casino. We only watched but it was fun to see the action unfold. The 3 p.m. show was next on our lists and it was an entertaining rock and roll history lesson by the Royal Caribbean Dancers & Singers.

Our few remaining Cruise Critic folks met at the Sky Bar to hoist a couple of drinks in honor of our two weeks together. The British Invasion forces of Julie, Martin, Dan and Vicki joined Kelly and I to talk about our experiences and look forward to our next cruises.

Last critics standing :-)

 Dinner was again delicious and we enjoyed the great company. We could not have asked for better dinner partners and we all exchanged e-mails in hopes of cruising again someday. Andrew and Dawne have already booked a Panama Canal trip next in March of 2014! Not bad for a semi-retired guy:-) Someone in seat planning should get a Wow mention.

After dinner we headed to the Guest Services Center to make some arrangements for the morning and discuss some account issues. They took care of our internet refund (as  it’s free now), printed our statements for both weeks.. wahoo under budget!!! (It’s a miracle!) and arranged for an earlier departure time. They quickly did all that was asked of them and we left very happy with the service.

We met Dawne and Andrew in the Schooner Bar for 80’s Trivia Night. We did pretty good but missed a few... can’t be doing that with this sharp crowd... hey the eighty’s wasn’t that long ago for these folks!

A quick stop at the Casino and I had a great 15 minute streak with Lauren & Kris’s Birthday numbers coming up. Started with $40 and left with $360.  Kelly was happy for me... and so was I. Finally!!

Back in the room to finish packing as our bags get taken away at 11 p.m.

Off to bed as we have a sad day tomorrow....our cruise ends and we put a cork into a great 18 day trip. We celebrate Kris’s 27th birthday tomorrow as well. 

Day 13 Curacao

Out of the rack at 7 a.m. today as we have an 8:15 excursion aboard a tour bus. As we have never been to Curacao before we decided to go with a tour group in the morning and then do our own thing in the afternoon. This would give us a taste of the Island & it’s history and give us time to geocache and see the downtown core with it’s interesting waterway and public markets. First thing I noticed coming into port this morning... I have never seen so many oil tankers in my life!

View from our ship!

Our tour group met on the pier and we were quickly loaded on a small bus and on our way. Our guide pointed out the various buildings of significant interest as we travelled through the Otrobanda side (west) of Willemstad and then wound our way up to the Queen Juliana Bridge. This spans the St.Annabaai waterway that provides access to the deep sea port. We had great views of the downtown core as well as the huge refinery and port on the inland side. Once over the bridge we descended down into the Punda side (East) of Willemstad. Google it and you’ll understand:-)

Great architecture and colors!

 We then headed further east to views of the second port that ships use. They have a huge industrial operation here with a deep sea drilling platform in for service. You could also see the mining operation on the hill in behind.

We wound around various parts of the Island and then returned to the ship. Very educational for us. We grabbed some lunch and had a short rest before heading back into town. We explored various shops and managed to grab a couple caches along the way. Our most exciting moment came when we started to cross the Queen Emma pontoon bridge. There are three ways to cross over to Punda from the Otrobanda side, the foot bridge, small ferries and the large bridge. It is all run very efficiently and when the swing pontoon bridge is opened for marine traffic, the ferries kick in to provide easy crossing.

We just stepped on the bridge when the bell rang signaling that it is about to open! We noticed the locals running so away we went. We just made it and had a good laugh. We wandered the streets and checked out the floating market with it’s various fruits and vegetables from Venezuala. We then settled on a canal side restaurant to watch the ships come & go. It was amazing as huge container ships passed right by our table.

Ship action in Curacao.

Back aboard ship we prepped for dinner and joined our new found friends in the Strauss dining room. We arranged to meet and go to the main show together. The show featured a group of 4 singers called the “The Unexpected Boys” that sort of emulated “The Jersey Boys” with songs of that era. It was excellent.

We took in the 50‘s & 60‘s show but for some reason we decided to try some mini golf :-) This did not work out as we were shut down by the staff due to the smoke blowing in the area. It was very windy and probably not the best idea in the first place. We did have some great laughs though.

We got notice of a huge storm effecting flights on the east coast so the cruise line is opening up free telephone and internet for guests to check flights etc... ours look ok though... not sure if that’s good or bad ;-)  Off to bed as we have a cruise day tomorrow and a noon lunch with the Continuous Cruiser group.

Day 12 Aruba

Another leisurely sleep in today as we are in port for 14 hours! Plenty of time to do a lot of things! Quick breakfast as per normal... now my normal breakfast has been very health... just ask Kelly. I have bran flakes with fresh banana or mellon, 1 % milk and a glass of fresh orange juice. My biggest downfall is the 6 or 7 lbs of smoked salmon (loks) that they have at the buffet. It is incredible and for me it’s the best add on for my plate and I look forward to it every morning:-) Absolutely delicious!

I sent a birthday greeting e-mail to my Dad as he turns 77 today! Happy Birthday old man... Without question the best dad anyone could ask for!

We headed down to our excursion today as we will see the island of Aruba from the comfort of our Kukoo Kunuku Tour bus. Our driver "Smooth" had us rocking to numerous songs as we toured the city. Everyone had maracas shaking to the beat.

Our Ride!

He took us up to the water tank (aka one of the high points) for a panoramic view of the island and it’s various hotels, airport etc.  Next stop was the local Catholic Chapel that the locals all traveled to on Good Friday. It was very nice.

 Off we went with the music blasting and down to the California Lighthouse which was named after the ship “California” that sank just off the coast years ago. Kelly managed to get a fresh coconut smoothie that was to die for. I did mange a taste after much begging:-) Would have been better with rum though!

We loaded up the bus, cranked the tunes and rocked our way to Palm Beach were we had chairs set up on the beach for our use. Grabbed a couple rum punches and enjoyed the afternoon. Had a bite of lunch and then headed back to the ship.

We quickly cleaned up and returned to the shopping district and the local front street area. Lots going on with the Holland America’s Zuiderdam also in town. We managed to grab a cache that ironically was placed to attract overnighting airline crews. How convenient! If you a cacher it’s GC3YYJB and it was a quick easy find for us.

We stopped for a refreshments (code for Rum Punch and Beer) and then made our way back to the ship. Enjoyed a nice glass of wine on our balcony before going to dinner. It was Rack Of Lamb night and the waiter brought me a special plate with a double order!!  She gets my vote for employee of the month!

We did a little gambling in the casino and made back a little from the cruise line :-) then took in the Love and Marriage Game Show. It was very similar to last weeks show but still hilarious comedy. 

Off to bed as we prep for our next stop Willemstad, Curacao on Friday.

Day 11 - Cruising

Another leisurely sleep in today as we plan our shipboard activities.  Coffee & croissants from Room Service was ordered and delivered to the door! Nice start I say!

Kelly was off to the shopping show at the Lyric Theater. This is were the ladies plot out their purchasing plans in Aruba.... the men? Well they all meet at the Sky Bar and discuss credit card limits:-)

We have another meet & greet today with our second week Cruise Critic folks. Andrew and Dawne, our dinner partners this week, were there so we sat with them for the meeting then stayed after and talking about their work and kids. Next on our agenda was the belly flop contest... we grabbed the perfect vantage point and enjoyed the hilarity of it all... there are some big people on this ship!

A quick bite to eat and we were off to Studio B for the Ice Show. We got there a bit late and all the best seats were taken of course. Low and behold Dan found us and said that he has saved two seats at the front for us! Martin, July, Vicki and Dan and us all front row center! As Dan would say “Brilliant”! I have got to admit it was amazing to be in this environment and see ice dancers! The show was well done and judging by the crowd response, a big hit. Most all the male dancers were from Canada :-) Probably former hockey players.

We went through the Casino and watched the Black Jack and Poker tournaments that are daily events leading up to the grande finale on Saturday. It was a lot of fun but I am out of my league here :-)

Kelly went off to her massage and I went back to the room to prep for dinner... the day is flying by! Off to the dinning room for another great dinner. We can’t say enough of the quality of the food and service on board. Next we headed to the Casino to watch our dinner friends Michael and Katherine do their slot pull... they lost just like us :-)

We cruised through the Casino and then the Promenade and finally got to see the Quest show. Perfectly normal adults turned into crazy people. It was a study in humanity :-)

No pictures today as we didn’t take any interesting ones...well one of me at the pub with a Guinness but there are hundreds of those floating around the internet already.

Tomorrow is Aruba! It is also the longest day... from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. in port!  We are planning a island tour in the a.m. and swimming at a beach for the rest of the day. It is also my dad’s birthday!

Day 10 St. Kitts

A leisurely sleep in today as we are doing our own thing. After breakfast we loaded the beach bag up and headed ashore to get our car rental. $50 for the car and $25 for the drivers license:-( ...plus the usual tack on fees.. facilities charge, usage fee, liability insurance etc.

We found our Thrifty’s rental desk inside a local store and after calling and waiting a quick 10 minutes (screaming internet so we got our mail and updated FB) we were scooped up and transported to the rental office. Our representative Keith took good care of us and even upgraded the vehicle because the one we had reserved was... well he didn’t know were it was as the guy did not return it. He said that happens from time to time. Hey we win so it didn’t matter to us! We were given a Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV and after getting the paper work done and the car videoed by my I-Phone, we were on our way. St Kitts is not a big island and we soon found ourselves heading towards the north west end. Kelly wanted to stop at Romney Manor and Caribelle Batik again and we soon found ourselves in the parking lot of this beautiful establishment. Gorgeous grounds and the batik making made it a must stop on the island tours. We picked out some pieces and after some photos we headed to our next stop up the road.

Batik

 The Brimstone Hill Fortress is one spot we missed the last time here so it was a must see this time around. The views were spectacular and the history of the fort and it’s armament well documented. We had access to the various powder rooms and the living quarters. The design is interesting in that if an enemy did get over the wall he was a sitting duck as the next level was flat for 20-30 feet and offered no protection whatsoever. In fact the next fortification allowed for a clear shot at anyone that managed to get that far.

 We continued our journey around the northern end of St. Kitts and around the back side until we found Ottley’s Plantation Inn. This was the most gorgeous piece of property we had seen in our Caribbean travels.  Beautiful grounds with a restaurant overlooking the Atlantic ocean. The views from our table were incredible. We had a great lunch and although it was a bit expensive it was well worth it and we would recommend it as a must do on this island.

Ottley's Plantation view! Some D.A. parked a rental in the middle :-)

After our lunch we headed back towards town. We passed the airport and topped up our rental with gas. A quick painless drop off and we were driven back to the shops in front of the pier. Guinness time I decreed and I sat at the center bar as Kelly checked out the many shops. I told here to take her time as I had some Eastern Caribbean money to get rid of :-)
Back onboard the ship we went up to the bow and enjoyed our sail away out of Basseterre.

Next up was dinner in the Strauss Dinning Room. This is the middle deck and one lower than our last weeks dinning location. We are at table with two other very nice couples and we had a great dinner with them this evening. We all conversed about our activities of the day.

Off to the Crown & Anchor Society meet and greet with the captain. Hey free drinks make it well worth the short walk from dinner :-) They are building two new ships that will be ready in 2014 and 2015. The Quantum Of The Seas and the Anthem Of The Seas will be taking bookings soon... not sure of the itineraries yet. Kelly says she would be willing to try either one as she is not “fussy” :-) After the update we quickly moved to the front of the ship to the Lyric Theater for tonights main show. Great music and entertainment from a fellow named Tony Tillman. We had front row seats and really liked the energy this guy put out.

Off to the promenade for the 70’s show and it was a huge hit with everyone. The place was packed and everyone boogied the night away. Another great day for us.

As the accountant in our family I have invented a simple way to keep track of expenditures on the ship. One thing we all hate is that big bill at the end of the voyage so you need a system that helps avoid this. Below is my system.

1) Place receipt in keepsake drinking glass  2) Forgetaboutit

Seems to be working so far! Tomorrow is a sea day as we make our way to Aruba!