And so the journey begins…
Well, it's Wednesday,
March 11 and I am about to set off. I'm heading down to Port St. Lucie where
all spend the evening with my cousin Bill and his wife Mirka. I plan on leaving
The Villages around two so I can get there around four. I got out on time, what
about 45 minutes into the drive I realize that I did not have my Kindle. I
called Barb Warden and she went over to the house to confirm that yes it was
sitting on the chair. So I turned around and headed back home wasting another
45 minutes and hoping that this was not an indication of what the entire
vacation would be like.
I got in around 7:30 full
of apologies; we talked, drank, and when out to eat. Bill played golf in the
morning and Mirka showed me around Tradition, which is the name of their
development. A very nice place, only a couple of years old and, like The
Villages, everything is self-contained. Bill has his toy… 2004 black Corvette…
A real beauty. Since I always leave things to the last minute I had to go on
the computer and make some reservations for Italy and was having major problems
which push back my departure time. I finally left at 12:30, knowing I had an
hour and a half to get down to Fort Lauderdale. No problem I had a half hour
leeway… Sure!
As I got closer to Fort
Lauderdale I hit one traffic jam, drove a bit and hit another one, drove a bit,
tied up with an accident, another traffic jam, another accident. Is this how my
entire vacation is going to be? I hope not! Finally my GPS brought me to my
destination to return the car, but it wasn't the right destination. I ended up
at the port. Now, it's 2:30 I'm going over my allotted time with the rental car
and I'm lost. Finally found my way, dropped the car off, got the shuttle, and
then headed towards the ship.
I expected a huge crowd but I was the only one
there. I checked in, got on the ship, and thought I was on a ghost ship. I
found out later that there are only 270 people on the ship, that is until we
get to Barcelona where we’ll pick up a couple hundred more, but the ship is
still won't be full… That won't happen until Istanbul.
Went for breakfast the
first morning in the dining room and had to chuckle to myself. Now remember 270
people but the staff count is 470. So here I am sitting at the table and one
waiter brings me my juice, another waiter pours my water, another waiter gets
my tea, and a fourth waiter hands me the
menu. Talk about being spoiled! As the cruise director said ‘don't get used to
your private yacht because it's only for two weeks’.
We’re at sea for two days
heading towards St. Thomas and then we will go to St. Maarten.
SINGLES
ON BOARD
I was very surprised to
see so many singles on board. I met two ladies traveling together, one from
California, Bobbie, and the other from Washington, Pat. I met them in one of
the lounges and we were sitting there talking and a gentleman came up, John, and
of course my immediate thought was rooster in the hen house. A nice enough
fellow who knows everything about everything.
First night at dinner and
it turns out that Bobby and Pat are at my table. We have another couple Cheryl
and Bill from California and Irene and Maurice from Canada. And to fill out the
table we have Gerri, a lovely lady from Jackson, Mississippi. We found out that
Gerri loves to dance and she was hoping that they had dance hosts on board. I
didn't want to sound like a dummy but I had no idea what she was talking about.
It turns out that they bring men on board to dance with a single women! Holland
America thinks of everything. Keep the old ladies happy and will keep coming
back.
Well, it turns out that
Gerri is 92 years old! I was flabbergasted; I figured she was about 70. Come to
find out later on in the evening that she met her second husband on the same
ship as we were on, the Prinsendam.
I know it's not much, but there's not much in St. Thomas or St. Maarten. We start our crossing tonite so'll I'll be out of touch for 6 days but then the fun...and posts...begin.
See ya in the Canary Islands!
