05 See, Sea Rider. Saturday Nov. 15

The view is similar out of every window on the ship!

 Our second day at sea and we're getting used to this lazy lifestyle.

.
.
.

04 What Did We See? We Saw The Sea.

I always enjoy our sea days. Click to enlarge.

I always enjoy our sea days, especially at the start of the cruise. It gives everybody a chance to unwind, get a tiny bit of sun on our white skin and explore around the ship. We were on this ship before, back in April 2010 and you can see the blog entries for that cruise if you go to the "Time Machine" down the right hand side of the page and look for April 2010.

We have also cruised twice on Princess and once on Norwegian but below are the cruises we've taken on Holland America over the last ten years:

Dec 06, 2013 ms Maasdam Southern Caribbean 14 Mar 23, 2012 ms Maasdam Southern Caribbean 14 Apr 04, 2010 ms Noordam Southern Caribbean 10 Nov 22, 2009 ms Westerdam Collector Caribbean 14 Jun 12, 2009 ms Ryndam Alaska Southbound Gulf 7 Jun 05, 2009 ms Ryndam Alaska Northbound Gulf 7 Nov 07, 2008 ms Maasdam Southern Caribbean 14 Oct 30, 2007 ms Maasdam Southern Caribbean 10 Mar 13, 2006 ms Volendam Southern Caribbean 10 Mar 19, 2005 ms Oosterdam Mexican Riviera 7 Mar 16, 2005 ms Ryndam Mexico Sea Of Cortez 10 May 07, 2004 ms Westerdam Greece/Turkey 12

In all our years of cruising We have never seen such calm seas.  Even some of the crew members were remarking how smooth it was. 

The sun setting through these few scattered clouds made for a beautiful sunset on the glass, calm water.

Sticking with tradition of cruises gone by we usually  have a "happy hour" starting around four or five on the promenade deck after some of us finish our health walks around the deck. Not me .

It's a great time to get together and share our experiences from the past day. 

Formal night and all of us look very formal.

A good shot of Greg above and his pretty wife Sharon below.

.
.
.

03 All Aboard For Paradise.

Ships in this port: Liberty Of The Seas, Noordam (Total 6293 passengers)

Our cabin assignment didn't look too good. Having paid extra for an outside cabin (category HH fully obstructed, guaranteed or better) we were a little disappointed. We have usually, in the past, taken this gamble and been bumped up to a better cabin. Upon viewing the floorplans of the ship, the reason is clear... There are no other outside cabins above this deck... all verandas. Therefore the only next step is a fully unobstructed down 3 floors to the "Main Deck".


I didn't tell Wendy because I wanted to surprise her, but a few days ago I contacted Holland America and managed to get our cabin changed to a full view, unobstructed. I'll call it my Birthday surprise (since she will celebrate her birthday on the last night of this cruise, November 23rd).  Happy birthday Wendy!

Wendy and I enjoy a "sail away" drink by the pool at the stern of 9 Lido Deck.

Cliff from Cape Cod poses for a picture. He doesn't like his picture taken so I don't have many.

 We all agreed to meet every day in the late afternoon for "Happy Hour" on the Promenade deck, port side.

A celebration of Mark's and Louise's anniversary .  The waiters circle the table singing their traditional celebratory song as the lovebirds steal a kiss. 

Wendy always said the first formal night they serve the best food .  Well we'll see but I think it's going to be hard to beat this delectable prime rib.


Mark holds Darren for a photo.

Mascott "Darren Anderton" has travelled the globe as you can see by the inscriptions on his bottom.

.
.
.

02 Hollywood Awaits...

 This is the first time we've stayed at the Quality Inn and Suites on Stirling Rd near the airport. We have all day to shop for "last minute items" and relax before we board the ship tomorrow. In the past we have often flew down the day of the cruise and gone directly to the ship. This time though we figured we should play it safe and allow an extra day. It's nice to get the traveling all over in one day but I just know some day something will go wrong and "we'll miss the boat", literally. Better safe than sorry and it gives us a chance to meet up with the others before we board.

John's cousin Mark and Louise surprised everyone by flying all the way from Africa. That brings our gang total to 15. We ought to have some bargaining power with that number.

Most of our cruising friends came down to Florida several days ahead of time to get a jump on their tans..
.
.
.

01 Shuffle Off To Buffalo.

 

Click postcard to enlarge.

 We are off to the Millennium Hotel at the Sheridan Mall in Cheektowaga (Buffalo) having some wings and beer tonight before our early morning departure for Florida on Wednesday. We will stay in Hollywood, Florida, Quality Inn, Stirling Rd. tomorrow and board the Noordam on Thursday for our 11 day Caribbean adventure.

 Loaded and off to BUF.

Chicken wings in the town where Buffalo wings were invented. The bar in the Millennium hotel is awesome and what luck...  Polish beer on sale at 3 for $5. Perfect!

You can read about the creation of chicken wings CLICK HERE.
.
.
.

Finishing Packing.

Nearly ready to go. We drive to Buffalo tomorrow...

See you there!
.
.
.

A Week Until We Sail.

.
.
.

Working Through My To Do LIst

People who get tattoos ought to think about my useful To Do list Tattoo Idea. A Sharpie Pen and there you have it. Never lose your list again!

Well, I don't have any tattoos but I do have a big To Do list. Thankfully it's getting smaller day by day. Less than a week until we shuffle off to Buffalo to catch our plane,and there are only a few more Fall jobs I must complete. It will be nearly December when we get back.
.
.
.

Don't Forget...

When you put the clock back, don't forget to change the clock in your camera.
.
.
.