Antigua

The Ruby Princess arrived in St. Johns, Antigua early this morning. The sky is clear with a comfortable temperature of about 85F. At the pier to our port side is the Caribbean Princess, one of the large grand class ships that are very similar to the Ruby Princess. The small town of St. Johns is very crowded with passengers and crew from both of the visiting ships.

We went out midday to see what goodies were offered in the shops. Caught glimpse of a couple of local women balancing items on their heads. Really amazing what they can do.

We depart here this afternoon at 3:30pm en route to Bridgetown, Barbados.

St Thomas

What a great surprise last night. The Maitre d’Hotel, Jose Florencio shown in the center of this photo, presented a birthday cake to me and Fred Perry since we were both celebrating our birthdays. We have sailed with Jose many times on many different ships. The cake was great with only two candles for the two of us to blow out!

This morning we arrived in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands with a big change in temperature. It was 83 degrees F. at noon. Cindy and I walked around Havensight Mall in the port at Charlotte Amalie. You can sure tell that we have moved further south. Even though it was just 83 degrees the sun was very intense. Will have to put on plenty of sun screen as we continue south in the Caribbean.
We have run across many old friends on board the Ruby Princess. Beside the Maitre d’Hotel, we know the Cruise Director, Lisa Ball, The Master of the Ship Captain Tony Draper, the Captain Circle Hostess Crissy Reid, the Future Cruise Manager Kirk Alexander, and loads of wait staff.

Tonight at 6:00pm we weigh anchor and sail for our next stop St. Johns, Antigua. This small 108 square mile island was sighted by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas in 1493.

Sailed

Saturday afternoon about 5:00pm we sailed out of Fort Lauderdale for our Eastern Caribbean experience. The weather wasn’t the best. It was raining and had been all day long. This morning we were supposed to have dropped anchor and spent the day on Princess Cays, a private island that Princess Cruises has in the Bahamas. However the wind was strong and the waves/swells were large with overcast skies, so the Captain cancelled the call at Princess Cays. We are now en route to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. For the next 2 days we will be at sea traveling in a southeasterly heading for Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. We will arrive in St. Thomas on Tuesday, January 12th. We are currently passing Conception Island in the Bahamas.
The Ruby Princess is a very nice ship. It was launched in late 2008 and is extremely well maintained. It is 951 feet long and has 19 decks. We ar

Sunset Over Ft. Lauderdale

What a great sight as the sun slipped below the horizon tonight. This shot was taken from the balcony of our timeshare on the 7th floor of the Wyndham Palm-Aire Resort.

We went out and about today to stock up on some food and for some items we will need on board the Ruby Princess. The high temperature today was 52F and tomorrow we should hit 70. But as for Saturday, it looks now like we will be back in the 50's when the next cold front moved into Southern Florida.

Fort Lauderdale

What a day....We departed Washington Dulles this morning at 10:30am en route to Dallas. Yes, you heard me correctly. When you fly on frequent flyer points/miles you sometimes have to r0ute yourself in funny ways. After that flight we then flew from Dallas to Fort Lauderdale. Arrived here at 6:00pm and then spent the better part of an hour getting a rental car then off to the timeshare. Finally arrived at the Wyndham Palm-Aire Resort. Really a nice place in a good location. Out in the morning to my favorite place--Super Walmart.

Evening At ICE

Last night the whole gang took off for Maryland and had a chilling evening touring ICE! at Gaylord National Resort. Cold really can't descibe the feeling of 9 degrees inside the ice event. But, it is well worth the adventure. The event is held inside of a hugh tent with some of the most powerful cooling units I have ever seen. They provided the heavy blue coats to put over our own coats. (On the front row is Marisa. Back row, left to right Curt Jr., Lance, Maria, and Cindy.)

Yes, this sign is made of real ice! And how about this cool looking gang?

And Grandma really enjoyed the penguins. We had a great time and would definately do it again.

Happy New Year

Happy 2010 to everyone!  We spent the evening at Curt and Maria's--didn't venture out with freezing rain and light snow.  Also, Curt Jr. seems to have either the flu or food poisoning......not good.

We don't head south to Fort Lauderdale until January 6th.  Once we do head out we will be spending 3 days at the Wyndham Palm-Aire Resort prior to boarding the Ruby Princess on January 9th.  The Posting activity will pickup once we board the Ruby.

Hope everyone has a great year.