November 30 - Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

Donna's gnome provided me an object to divert attention from the fact I was actually photographing the pretty girls on the beach.

Cheryl and Donna were not tricked by my ploy.

I don't think anyone could tire of visiting this beautiful little piece of paradise.

Half Moon Cay didn’t seem the same without Holly and Barry there. This beautiful company- owned private island was always their favorite stop. The weather was hotter than when we were here on Saturday and the Westerdam’s sister ship, the Noordam was also anchored here so the PAX loading doubled.

We found 10 beach chairs at our favorite spot on the beach. Even Helen and Ann went in the ocean and we all baked well done. The BBQ lunch on the island wasn’t particularily busy an I faced no line up in spite of the large numbers on the beach itself. It was so hot that John, Pete, Helen and Ann, and Chris and Deb and I headed back to the ship earlier – around 2 pm. We left Wendy, Donna and Cheryl there on the beach. Later, Wendy said some people approached them and asked them “to keep it down a bit” since they were trying to produce a travelogue elsewhere on the island and their voices were loud enough to interfere with the movie production. Were our ladies that rowdy?

Tonight we have moved to a brand new ‘table for ten’ upstairs in the Vista Dining Room on deck 3. For the past week we had all been placed down in the dining room on level 2. I think it was a “work around” because they didn’t have a table for ten left upstairs. but the lower level was really the “as you wish” dining area and some of us felt our service was suffering because our waiters were being interrupted, causing us to miss the beginning of the shows which followed dinner at 10 pm. We all prefer the late (8:30 pm) seating because we hate to rush to get ready for dinner when we return to the ship in the afternoon. Late seating gives us time to relax before dinner.

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November 29 - Fort Lauderdale

Since this cruise is really two 7 day cruises back-to-back, we are here in Fort Lauderdale for the second time. Unfortunately, we have to say goodbye to Holly and Barry since they got on a week before the rest of us. They have to get back to Canada for the family Christmas celebration next Saturday.

I thought a ride on the Jungle Queen would be fun. This is a $17ea. deal. Wendy and I were on the Jungle Queen a few years ago. It's a good way to see the lavish homes and sights of Fort Lauderdale. At the midpoint of the 3 hour tour, everyone gets off to see the alligator wrestling. (which I could miss) Since our ship gets in at 7am, we should have no trouble getting to the tour by 8:30 or 9 am to catch the 9:30 departure. That way, we are finished at noon with time to wander the beach and walk down to "the action" at Las Olas and 1A1 and still allow plenty of time to get back to the ship by4 or so. Click here to view the Jungle Queen.

 
The Jungle Queen We found a van and driver (Cecil from Jamaica) and all ten of us (Wendy and I, Pete and Donna, John and Cheryl, Chris and Deb, and Helen and Ann) headed over to the fishing dock next to the Bahia Mar Hotel to board the Jungle Queen as I had pre-arranged. There was obviously no need for reservations though, as there were lots of empty seats. Wendy and I did this cruise with Wendy’s brother Brad some 12 years ago when he had his sailing yacht the Corazon moored here at the Bahia Mar marina.

First house in Fort Lauderdale

Merv Griffin's boat "Griff"

I forgot how much fun it was to glide past the 100 million dollar yachts and mansions, owned by such celebrities past and present such as Lee Majors, Sonny and Cher, Merv Griffin and on and on. At the half-way point we disembarked for a visit to the Jungle Queen’s own island where we saw caged birds, monkeys and alligators. (somewhat gross, but they seemed clean and well cared for) A young Seminole native and naturalist volunteer explained the “art” of alligator wrestling and showed us some amazing and daring handling techniques not to be tried at home!

Alligator wrestler at the mid-point of the tour. Actually very interesting.

The wrestler took this picture for me. I'm not stupid!

Sheriff's "No Tresspassing" signs on reposessed yachts. Lots of them!

Need a big yacht at a reposessed price? They are lined up to sell.

Not all are for sale. Some people are still rich. See the helicopter?

Since the Queen got us back at 12:30 pm we had time to walk over to Las Olas and the Quarterdeck Restaurant for lunch and drinks. The chicken wings were noteworthy and Wendy and I shred two platters. I brought my tablet computer so we all used the free wireless internet to Skype home and check email.

We went to the Quarter Deck on Las Olas for lunch. Donna Skypes home.

Cool dude gives the hi sign.

Back to the ship we embark on the second of our two week back-to-back beach cruise aboard the beautiful Westerdam.

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November 28 - Half Moon Cay, Bahamas uncharacteristic cool temperatures

Pete spots a ray in the clear water right near shore.

Dancers from the ship pose for a picture.

A north wind brought cool, mid seventies temperatures to southern Bahamas island of Little San Salvador (aka Half Moon Cay) The temperate climate actually made sitting on the beach more enjoyable to me than the usual eighty plus temperatures we were getting used to. Tomorrow the forecast for Miami is a more normal 81 F.

This stop never ceases to amaze me. The clear, turquoise water and the sugar white sand has to be the most unique of all the places I have ever been. This was the last spot that we will spend with Holly and Barry since they depart in Fort Lauderdale tomorrow.

Dinner was elaborate with the wait staff presenting the Parade of the Baked Alaska. Afterwards, the show was very good, with a review of the week’s performers. We met a couple (Peggy and her husband from Sarnia) sitting next to us at the show that Holly and Barry had met during their trip. The really weird co-incidence is that Peggy is the cousin of our condo neighbours and good friends, Barb and Jim that live a few doors down from us in Point Edward. Small world! I emailed a picture to Barb and Jim.

November 27 - At Sea

The wine steward, Willie.

A day at sea is always a good time to rest and recharge your batteries but I think I over-charged. Wendy was mobile around 7 am, so we decided to wander up to the Lido for a light breakfast. She was to meet Holly at 11:30 am to substitute for Barry and attend a brunch where she receives her Mariner’s Club reward. I have never bothered attending these in the past either. I wandered the ship, snacking periodically as there was little else to do. Ending up in a deck chair on the Observation Deck 10, I decided to get some sun with the others in our group. By around 2 pm, I was feeling over-heated and retired to my AC cabin for a snooze. A sugar withdrawal reaction must have knocked me out. At 7 pm I awoke in time for a feature dinner at 8, a formal night, with lobster and fillet (surf and turf). After dinner we enjoyed a show with the ship’s dancers and after changing our clocks back to 10 pm, we retired to bed. I think I still must be suffering from some kind of sugar over-load that caused my great sleepiness.

November 26 - St. Maarten

Look how close the planes come to the people on the beach! Click on the pic to enlarge.

Warning signs graphically show the problem one could encounter.


Watch my movie.

A plane schedule is shown on the surf board and a speaker plays the control tower.

Pete explains things to the other tourists.

We could still see the planes from Mullet Bay Beach.

This girl really seemed to enjoy Pete's stories. "Oh, hi Wendy".



When a plane takes off, it's a real blast!





We arrived in St Maarten at around 8 am and since we don’t sail until 5 pm, we had breakfast in the dining room. We met two Italian couples from Calgary and had a nice visit and a leisurely meal before meeting Pete and Donna on the dock at ten o’clock. We found a rental agency at the cruise complex amongst the brand names and decided to see how much we could dicker down to. Best I could do was $35 plus taxes = $50. Split between the 4 of us that’s only $12.50 ea and no tip required.

We basically knew that we were going to the beach and because we were here last year for the Snorkel Chartered Rum Punch Cruise, we knew we wanted to return to Mullet Bay via the airport so we could stop at Maho Bay and the Sunset Bar and watch a few aircraft scream over. Pete really likes that kind of stuff and since we saw one plane come in last year from the charter boat, he vowed to see it from the beach next time.

After a rum stop, I chauffeured a well used Nissan mini van to Maho Bay. Pete forgot his driver’s license, so I was the DD today. The next stop was Mullet Bay. Last year the bay was full of jelly fish and Deb even got stung while swimming back from shore. This year there were no jellyfish but the ocean was stirred up with a fresh breeze. We had a good swim and enjoyed viewing one rather attractive young lady swimming topless. (unfortunately topless is not the main feature of Mullet Bay Beach) Visibility in the water was bad and we could see no real sea life, so we went back to Mayo Bay to watch another plane before returning the car and re-boarding the ship. Great day in the sun!


You can see we all got some sun today.

Tonight was Chocolate Extravaganza. Remind me not to do that again! When you get to my age without eating a lot of sugar, a binge of high-test treats can cause unagreeable results, especially when consumed at 11 o’clock at night, with no chance of working it off.