We sailed all through Sunday. On board we enjoyed the trivia games, the pool, and the food. This funny bat was waiting one evening when we returned to the room after dinner.

We left it there the rest of the voyage.

One night our waiters joined together and sang to us.

We explored the ship and found a sports center where the youth were enjoying themselves playing table tennis, basketball, mini golf and this rock climbinb wall.

Monday afternoon we arrived in St. Maarten. This is the port.

This was where we signed up for our only excursion which was a bus ride over to the French side of the island. Our tour guide was an islander called Danny and he was very funny. On the way we saw three very large Iguana. This is a view back to our ship from the bus.

From this lookout point one can see Dutch, French and British Islands. It was a really hot day so we were glad to be on an airconditioned bus.

A nice timeshare complex on the Dutch side.

My travaling companion.

This is the border crossing between the Dutch and French sides.

The markets on the French side are very colorful.

This little one was tired.

A church on the French side.

According to Danny, “This is the worlds smallest international bridge.”

A very old house.

Back on the Dutch side, Phillipsburg Front Street.

The Court House.

We enjoyed these beautiful bright red poincianna trees.

Along the beach where we waded in the water a collected some shells before catching the water taxi back to the ship.

Lovely day …. next stop San Juan, Porto Rico

 

 

 

 

There is plenty to do on a ship as big as The Explorer. Shows, ice skating, rock climbiing, trivia games, casino, music of all kinds, dancing lessons and art exhibits. There are two pools and six hot tubs, a fitness center and a spa. Room service is 24 hours and free. Every night we had a sit down dinner with a varied and creative menu that changed every night. There are all sorts of excursions at each port. In Bermuda we decided to explore on our own. We had been there 25 years ago and we were anxious to visit again.

 

It was a bit rainy in the morning but it cleared off and we had a nice day walking around Hamilton. Bermuda is like Britain with palm trees.

 

Hamilton high street

It so happened they were having a parade to honor the Queen’s Jubilee

Roundabouts

Boats

This is Waterville, the oldest house in Bermuda which is now home to Bermuda National Trust

Interesting flora

Watch out for that first step!

Goverment building

On top of the spire is a copy of the Sea Venture which is the first ship to wreck on Bermuda. There were many after due to the reefs around the island.

The church

Lovely colours in the buildings

Liked this sculpture

Pretty big beach chair

Had to include at least one door

Oh, the color of this water!

We were fascinated to watch the harbour pilot being picked up while we were moving. He jumped out onto this little boat and waved!

The end of a very beautiful day.

Next up … St. Maarten

 

 

 

 

 

 

It surprised me to see that I have been away from xanga for just over a year! I decided to come back because some things are only fit for a blog. We recently celebrated out 35th wedding anniversary. Every five years we have tried to do something extra special. We spent the whole year trying to decide what to do for this anniversary and finally agreed on a cruise. This was no small decision since I had to first overcome a great fear of oceans and boats but it was an economical way to do something novel for us and to add four islands to our collection. As it turned out, this was the right decision because it was as near to perfect as a cruise can be and like a second honeymoon for us. We know we were blessed because the week before, we were told, it rained the entire cruise. Let me introduce you to our ship, Explorer of the Seas. She is like a floating resort hotel. There were over 3000 passengers on this trip along with over 1000 crew members! One of the things we enjoyed about the cruise was the diversity of ethnicity onboard both in passengers and crew.

We departed from Bayonne, NJ where we had a spectacular view of NYC. The Statue of Liberty is in the middle and the tall tower with the black top is the new Liberty Tower on the site of the former World Trade Center.

With advice from experienced cruisers, we booked a middle of the ship stateroom with a window onto the grand promenade. It was so nice and comfortable.

 I ordered some special treatment as a surprise for Greg which included champaigne and cupcakes on arrival, special canapes and desserts on the first formal night and a framed portrait.

On the way out of the harbour we had a close call with the Verazano Bridge. In the 1960′s when this bridge was built, it was the longest and highest suspension bridge in the USA. Everyone was out on deck and applauded when we made it under the bridge.

We experienced beautiful weather nearly the entire cruise.

 Our stateroom attendant, Kassandra, gave us excellent service and delighted us with her folded towells.

 We cruised Thursday and Friday arriving at our first port of call Saturday morning.

Next blog … Bermuda.