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28 November
… and here we go again, a post-Thanksgiving voyage to the Windward Islands this time, in P3 Verandah Plus cabin 8802 just aft of the bridge.
We left about 1000 and drove non-stop to FLL, and checked into the Embassy Suites on SE 17th. We'll stay two nights to see D's niece Krista and Nick, store the car, and board the ship.
The cruise itself will be our eighth on Azamara after one on Journey and six on Quest. This one will be on MS Onward, a sister ship to the others. There is a fourth ship, Pursuit, in the lineup.
Continued
The hotel is nice, all suites, in the form of a square with a hollow center. The breakfast place is in the bottom of this atrium. Conference rooms and dining are off in a wing to the west and beyond them the pool. Nice place.
We hiked across 17th on Cordova to Kelly's Landing, a homey little joint we've used in the past, last with Duane & Fran. Photo at left. D had snow crab, O had meatloaf because he hadn't had it recently. Both were good. The waitress was a jolly type, so all went well. They favor a New England atmosphere; the waitress even used a pen from Cape Ann Towing up in Massachusetts..
We returned to the hotel and participated in our complementary drink at poolside. When done, we headed for the room, and relaxed with TV and books.
Had to decide between loafing with in-room coffee or getting dressed and going to breakfast. Since we'll have an early lunch shortly, we loafed. The early lunch is driven by Nick's need to be at work at 1300.
I finally got this machine talking to the world by inserting the router's IP into the DNS string so I could log into the hotel's network.
Krista called to coordinate lunch. Decided on Doc B's at NE 5th & US-1. We've been there before with them.
We met, we talked, we had candied bacon, we talked, we ordered, we talked, we ate, we talked, Nick picked up the check and we departed. So nice to see them again. Photo at right is Krista, Nick & Dolores.
Food was good, nice place, we recommend Doc B's in FLL.
We drove back to the hotel and parked. Then we did what everyone does the first day - go to the drug store and buy what you forgot. We worked that into a mile+ hike to get some exercise.
Stopped at the hotel bar for liquid then returned to our room. O went back down to get his billfold which had fallen out of his pocket. It won't do that again.
Now a bit of serious loafing before the complementary drinks session.
At an appropriate time we stirred. Down to the bar for our complementary drink. We took it outside (wind calm, 71*) and sat next to another couple. They're from Denver and doing a short Bahamas cruise starting tomorrow. They left to go to Kelly's Landing for dinner!! Seems they go there every time they're in town.
Six cruise ships will be departing here on cruises tomorrow. Azamara Onward, Disney Dream, Viking Sky, Celebrity's Equinox & Silhouette, and Ruby Princess.
Then we gave away our remaining bar tickets and walked a block to Outback where we had little steaks that were a tad peppery but good.
Back to the room where we laid out stuff for tomorrow morning and settled in for the night. G'nite, all.
Up, loafing, since there's no place to go until we go to the ship at 1400. Had coffee & banana.
At 1100 we left the room and put the luggage into the car. Then we found comfortable seats in the lobby (with hundreds of people organizing and getting into their ship shuttle. Many of the people were small and wore mouse ears.
Around 1330 we drove to Terminal 26 and left D and the luggage. O put the car into the parking lot and returned. We boarded with a minimum of fuss, much better than some previous events.
Found our cabin & unpacked the little cases. Went to Cabaret to participate in the life saving lecture.
Up to the Sunset Lounge to witness getting underway. Chatted with a German couple from near Koblenz - nothing consequential, mostly travel experiences.
Later at dinner we had a table for two between two tables for two. We talked with one table until they left, then the other. This one included a retired MD who was long on conspiracy theory, especially CDC/FDA being run by Big Pharma. D talked family with the lady.
We left to go to the introductory show in Cabaret. Cruise Director Eric de Gray looks older but can still perform. All the entertainers were introduced.
We returned to the cabin and unpacked the larger suitcases. Then off to bed, thoroughly tired.
1 December
The Captain took Onward eastward thru the New Providence channel in the Bahamas into the Atlantic. Now we're running southeast off the eastern islands of Bahama. Sea state is three. The ship pitched and rolled slightly all night, helping us sleep (as if we needed help).
We slept in but finally went to breakfast in Windows at 0900. We ate what we wanted and returned to the cabin via the pool deck, where we found very comfortable temperatures under mostly cloudy skies.
D took it easy in the cabin while O went off to a lecture on the Cuban Missile crisis of 1960 that turned out to be nothing new. O then back to the cabin to do these notes.
D''s relaxing turned into a full-bore nap. O went off to Patio for a small salad and hamburger. Patio was well populated, so we may run into competition for our favorite informal corner.
O then watched the presentation by guest lecturer on the Caribbean - its roots and so forth. This is the start of a continuing series. Interesting. She says that the word Antilles was brought from Europe where a popular novel had in it an island named Antillia. She used the slide at left to introduce us to the big picture of the area.
When it ended O found D returning from searching for him and went to cabin. D had work to do on the internet and O did more notes like this one. He also made a "Ginnan Tonic" from the bottle of Beefeater that came with the cabin. Schwepps Tonic is used here.
We went to the Living Room to play Trivia. We met fellow cruisers from a past voyage and exchanged greetings. We formed an ad hoc team that had many different backgrounds but we still didn't do all that well.
We dined after that in Patio - we each had the special Swordfish steaks & potato. Then it came time for the show - a 70's Disco extravaganza by the singers and dancers. Very energetic and their timing was very good.
CD Eric de Gray came out and introduced the Captain (Carl Smith) who told a few jokes and then introduced his staff. A toast was given by him, all applauded and then we left to go home.
We must set the clocks forward an hour tonight since we're getting farther east.
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