...photos of my latest cruise. Yes, I know. Rinse, lather, repeat. In December, I took off on Carnival out of Tampa; this time it was Holland America out of Fort Lauderdale. And you people who aren't on Facebook are CLAMORING for pix!
Leaving Fort Lauderdale...for maybe the second time since we had to GO BACK. Yes, there we were, sipping cocktails, when Jim astutely observed: "Uh, I think we're going the wrong way." Well, figuring that the Captain had directions and a map, how could this be...? Unless, of course, there was a medical emergency, which there was.
This is us, not really caring whether we had to go back or not. (Okay, to be honest, I'm not sure what day this photo is from.) L to R: Jamie, Sandi, Jim and Mike
L to R: Unknown woman, anonymous man, Jamie, Jim. Look at the polite smile plastered on Jamie's face...the sleepy-time posture of Jim. HA. We had been properly chastened for not paying strict attention to the performer at the piano bar. Our moments there were numbered.
Our ship, as seen from the shore of Half Moon Cay, a private island owned by Holland America.
As we departed Half Moon Cay...
Check out the turquoise water!
More turquoise water! As pretty as Cancun!
Kinda makes you wanna put the boat in reverse and just stay there for the rest of the week.
Geez...how many of these did I take...? (Or have I posted duplicates? Too lazy to figure it out)
I WUVS me a good sunset. Oddly, I only took pictures of this one for the whole week. Must've been on the wrong side of the ship or otherwise occupied during that time of day...?
Yeah...this must have been just moments later. Hardly a change, huh? I was waiting for the green flash.
Formal night! L to R: Mike, Jim (Oh, I didn't mentioned they're conjoined twins? Ha. Kidding)
L to R: Randy, Sandi. Yes, it was the Randy/Sandi show.
Um. More water. Guess it was arriving at Aruba...?
Yep. Aruba. This was the view from my side of the ship once we docked.
More of my view. Must be fun for the captain to navigate into this place.
Downtown near the pier. It was hot and humid that day, and I wasn't feeling too great. Missed the tour. :(
The happy couple, Mike and Sandi.
Bartender Jason. So sweet! He remembered our names and drinks immediately--the mark of a perfect Holland America employee.
Um...the other guys. I forget their names but they were equally sweet.
An uplifting moment. I think this happened because a common refrain during picture taking was "tits up"...well, I needed help in complying with the command.
The Sports Bar. We spent more time here than probably anywhere else on the ship--except for the Lido Deck Bar. (Two of three places you could, um, smoke on board.)
Mike, who I think was trying to communicate with the troll that lived at the bottom of that cylinder.
Proof that I was sometimes awake before noon. This is from when we sailed into Curacao early morning. There's a cool pontoon bridge (not pictured) that they'd opened to let us in.
A little dark, huh?
Hey, like I said...it was early morning.
As I recall, Curacao's nickname is "Little Amsterdam." It's got funny little canals and all these brightly colored buildings with interesting rooflines.
That boat probably led us in.
That was the cutest little bridge. It kinda looked like two chickens were guarding it.
Doesn't look like much, really, but I think it was said that the bridge is the tallest in the Caribbean.
Another shot of the bridge. Something about Curacao made me feel like we were closer to civilization.
This is where I sat and had a beer while the group trudged on in the never-ending shopping tour.
From my balcony.
Ditto. Ah, in the distance you can see the pontoon bridge is now closed. There's a ferry for when it's gonna be open a long time.
See? There's one of the ferries.
That long thing on the right is actually the pontoon bridge--opened to let us get back out. In the distance, that's a Celebrity ship.
Off we go...
The coast
This may actually be the coast of Venezuela...?
Um. You had to be there. We were trying to take pictures of ourselves in the mirror above the bar.
Yeah. It worked real well.
Sandi claims she's gonna make an objet d'art from this.
My boys, having fun!
Me, having fun!
So this was the aftermath from a scavenger hunt that called out for a bra...which I just happened to have on. Who knew I was so good at getting a bra off quickly? I mean, it's not like I have a lot of experience....
Okay. Enough of the bra.
I said, ENOUGH.
There's a lighthouse in this picture.
There's a freighter in this one.
The boys with their new girlfriend, Mary. They thought she was ancient--turned out she was only a couple of years older than me. (Is that a GOOD sign, or a BAD one?)
More frivolity on the Lido Deck.
Couldn't squeeze a comment in between these last two pictures. Anyway, this was our last evening...we had a little party to celebrate on my balcony.
Good times!!!!
Leaving Fort Lauderdale...for maybe the second time since we had to GO BACK. Yes, there we were, sipping cocktails, when Jim astutely observed: "Uh, I think we're going the wrong way." Well, figuring that the Captain had directions and a map, how could this be...? Unless, of course, there was a medical emergency, which there was.
This is us, not really caring whether we had to go back or not. (Okay, to be honest, I'm not sure what day this photo is from.) L to R: Jamie, Sandi, Jim and Mike
L to R: Unknown woman, anonymous man, Jamie, Jim. Look at the polite smile plastered on Jamie's face...the sleepy-time posture of Jim. HA. We had been properly chastened for not paying strict attention to the performer at the piano bar. Our moments there were numbered.
Our ship, as seen from the shore of Half Moon Cay, a private island owned by Holland America.
As we departed Half Moon Cay...
Check out the turquoise water!
More turquoise water! As pretty as Cancun!
Kinda makes you wanna put the boat in reverse and just stay there for the rest of the week.
Geez...how many of these did I take...? (Or have I posted duplicates? Too lazy to figure it out)
I WUVS me a good sunset. Oddly, I only took pictures of this one for the whole week. Must've been on the wrong side of the ship or otherwise occupied during that time of day...?
Yeah...this must have been just moments later. Hardly a change, huh? I was waiting for the green flash.
Formal night! L to R: Mike, Jim (Oh, I didn't mentioned they're conjoined twins? Ha. Kidding)
L to R: Randy, Sandi. Yes, it was the Randy/Sandi show.
Um. More water. Guess it was arriving at Aruba...?
Yep. Aruba. This was the view from my side of the ship once we docked.
More of my view. Must be fun for the captain to navigate into this place.
Downtown near the pier. It was hot and humid that day, and I wasn't feeling too great. Missed the tour. :(
The happy couple, Mike and Sandi.
Bartender Jason. So sweet! He remembered our names and drinks immediately--the mark of a perfect Holland America employee.
Um...the other guys. I forget their names but they were equally sweet.
An uplifting moment. I think this happened because a common refrain during picture taking was "tits up"...well, I needed help in complying with the command.
The Sports Bar. We spent more time here than probably anywhere else on the ship--except for the Lido Deck Bar. (Two of three places you could, um, smoke on board.)
Mike, who I think was trying to communicate with the troll that lived at the bottom of that cylinder.
Proof that I was sometimes awake before noon. This is from when we sailed into Curacao early morning. There's a cool pontoon bridge (not pictured) that they'd opened to let us in.
A little dark, huh?
Hey, like I said...it was early morning.
As I recall, Curacao's nickname is "Little Amsterdam." It's got funny little canals and all these brightly colored buildings with interesting rooflines.
That boat probably led us in.
That was the cutest little bridge. It kinda looked like two chickens were guarding it.
Doesn't look like much, really, but I think it was said that the bridge is the tallest in the Caribbean.
Another shot of the bridge. Something about Curacao made me feel like we were closer to civilization.
This is where I sat and had a beer while the group trudged on in the never-ending shopping tour.
From my balcony.
Ditto. Ah, in the distance you can see the pontoon bridge is now closed. There's a ferry for when it's gonna be open a long time.
See? There's one of the ferries.
That long thing on the right is actually the pontoon bridge--opened to let us get back out. In the distance, that's a Celebrity ship.
Off we go...
The coast
This may actually be the coast of Venezuela...?
Um. You had to be there. We were trying to take pictures of ourselves in the mirror above the bar.
Yeah. It worked real well.
Sandi claims she's gonna make an objet d'art from this.
My boys, having fun!
Me, having fun!
So this was the aftermath from a scavenger hunt that called out for a bra...which I just happened to have on. Who knew I was so good at getting a bra off quickly? I mean, it's not like I have a lot of experience....
Okay. Enough of the bra.
I said, ENOUGH.
There's a lighthouse in this picture.
There's a freighter in this one.
The boys with their new girlfriend, Mary. They thought she was ancient--turned out she was only a couple of years older than me. (Is that a GOOD sign, or a BAD one?)
More frivolity on the Lido Deck.
Couldn't squeeze a comment in between these last two pictures. Anyway, this was our last evening...we had a little party to celebrate on my balcony.
