Rotan

As we were preparing to meet the group for breakfast this morning, Denise and I heard drums outside of our window. The local people had come out to greet us with drums and dancers. I think there may have even been a conch shell blowing. This was the island I was most excited to see and even from afar the land was beautiful.



Once our tenderboat hit the dock, we were greeted with a flurry of activity. Some of the people on our ship had the opportunity to dance with the locals. I think they enjoyed it. hehe

The guy in the conga line was out on the dance floor every night. Ironically, the women he traveled with didn't seem to like to dance.

In the second picture you will see Julie and her mom. Julie is a full time care giver and this was the first trip out of England for the both of them. They came early and went to Disney Land. I met them on the bus ride out to the boat in Miami.

As we left the dock, there were people everywhere. Adults trying to see us tours of the island and children trying to sell us jewelry. You had to fight your way through to the shops.

Star and her sister, Elda, met us at the first shop and asked if they could walk with us. They were very helpful and it was fun to get to know a little about their family and the local culture. They were out of schoolf or "holiday" until February. Probably so the kids can work the tourist season. Even when school is in session, they only attend in the morning.

Erik (I really don't know who he was) made friends with Rick and convinced us to take a tour of the island. Elda went as our guide and probably would have done quite well if she had not gotten car sick. Oops! It was a beautiful trip. I bought a small purse type thing to put my key card in since none of my clothes seemed to have pockets and Aunt Phyllis bought 2 bottles of Vanilla. Guess who we be baking when she returns home??



The show tonight was Circ Pan. Peter Pan looked mighty nice!! The performance was excellent. I can not imagine the strength it must take to do some of the things they were doing on that stage! I gave them a standing ovation, but was one of only 3. Oh, well.

After the show, we went to the Staff Follies. Rick was pulled up into one of the games and had to stuff a woman's oversized jumpsuit full of balloons. I wish I had pictures of this one!! I still giggle when I picture the balloons popping out of her bum. hehe Eagle also got to participate in the games. He got to try and pull a spoon tied to a string through his clothes. His team lost, but Eagle played very well. Too well, in fact. I think he has done this before!

The Carribean Deck Party started shortly after the Follies, but was rained out before it got going too strong. The rain only lasted about 10 minutes and the wind was blowing hard enough to dry you out in another 10. After that the night was rather uneventful - although I did meet with Pam and Eagle to talk over another midnight snack. It has been great getting to know them! Bedtime tonight was a bit earlier as I found my room around 2:30am.

Another beautiful sunset.

Grand Cayman

Land Ahoy! I woke up this morning and found land ourside our lanai. We had reached Grand Cayman island.

After finding breakfast on our own, my family group (Mom, Denise, Donna, Rick, Phyllis, Wendell and myself) met on the ramp to board the tender boat. I am not sure what I expected, but these little boats were fun! Here we are . . .

Our Cruise Director, Colin, had warned us the night before that the island looked a bit different than last year because of the hurricane this Fall. As he put it, it appeared that the island had gotten a major haircut - a buzz, if you will. The area we drove through showed obvious signs of wind damage, and our bus driver informed us that this was minor compared to the Windward side of the island.


The 7 Mile Beach seemed to be the destination of choice and it was there that we met up with Landa, Matt, Missy, Nick and Jared. I had a great time playing in the water (but I still say I have better beaches at home - hehe) and I think almost everyone at least got their feet wet. Even Aunt Phyllis rolled up her long pants and let the water ease over her toes for a few minutes. My mom got in part way, but was afraid she would not be able to get out - a self fulfilling prophecy, as it turned out. Wendell swam for a few minutes. Missy warily joined Denise, Rick and I for a while. We saw a fish shortly after we entered the water and she was constantly on the look out for more. We laughed a lot as we tried to distinguish small fish from long strips of coral. All in all, it was a great day at the beach.



Aunt Elenor was sick most of the day. We think it may have been food poisoning, but the ship doctor would only confirm that she did not have a fever and her blood pressure was normal. She probably could have told him all of that. He put her in quarenteen until tomorrow night, but I doubt she will stay still for that long.

The show tonight was Encore, Mr. Producer. It had short scenes from My Fair Lady, Oliver, Witches of Eastwick and Les Meserables. I had the song, "On My Own" in my head all night long. After hanging out in Dazzles for awhile, I headed up to the roof for my quite time. And guess who I ran into? Yep, Jared and Nick. Guess I am not the only one in the family who enjoys being away from the crowd.

Once again, I enjoyed my time alone on the roof, singing my heart out over the ocean. As I began to leave, I met Danielle. Now there was an interesting addition to my trip! She had just come off an 18 month mission and tried her best to convert my to Mormanism. She had no idea what she was in for! After over an hour of friendly debate, she decided it was time for bed and left - rather frustrated. It was well after 3am when I started toward my room, quite content.

On the Open Seas

Much that happened during this trip could have provided fodder for a creative comedian. This day began my comedy of errors. It started off well. Breakfast with the fam and wandering around the ship. I spent a bit of time listening to Rae Rae talk about the shore excursions and all was well.

At noon, the dance lessons began. The first class was entitled, "Carribbean Line Dance." It lasted for all of 15 minutes. Luckily we had Pam and Eagle around to teach us a few dances of our own. One lady walked in and started learning with us. We didn't think anything about it until she asked Pam if the class was over. She had come late for the scheduled class and ended up in our private session. Pam laughed and explained what had happened.

The "Cha-Cha-Cha Class" was quite different. Very professional. Our onboard championship ballroom dancers were the instructors and they were good. Olga was her name. I wish I could remember his. Part way through our class, however, the ocean got a bit more active and we the ship began to dip from one side to the other. This did not bother our professional instructors. The rest of us, however, had a very difficult time staying on our feet. We were supposed to be counting, 1, 2, 3 and 4, but it sounded more like, 1, 2, 3 and WHOA!

As wonderful as those classes were, I left the room seasick and missed most of the rest of the afternoon activities. Someone else will have to fill in the blanks. I slept.

That night was our formal dinner. We had to dress up in formal wear and go to the dining room, where we joined Don and Marlene in celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and Joe and Marie in celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. I think we were supposed to be celebrating Nick's 22 B-Day as well, but I don't remember doing that. Sorry Nick!

Richard and Jared missed the dinner, preferring instead to dine without a tie. Smart boys. Somehow Rick was able to sneak in without them telling him to go put a tie on. Wonder what his secret was??

Rick and Marilyn got me in trouble that night. They ate up all their butter and wanted more. I told them that I couldn't throw, but they wanted me to toss them a pad anyway. I tried to remember everything I learned in softball last year and released high so I wouldn't slam the butter into the table. I guess I over compensated because the butter flew up and over Marilyn's outstretched hand and hit a nicely dressed woman at the table behind her on the back of the head with a thud. I tried to look nonchalant, but I couldn't stop laughing! Other than that, the dinner was nice, and I did dine with the rest of the group, but I must have dashed out early because they took pictures without me. Sob, sob.

Chances are, I had already left so I could see the 9:30pm show. It was Danny somebody from Las Vegas. He was quite good, actually, and who could complain about how he filled out that white shirt. Yikes!

When the show was over, I joined Pam and Eagle in Dazzles, which was quickly becoming my 2nd home on the ship, and danced with the band. Inevitable, the professional dancers moved beyond my ability and I sat down to watch. One of our friendly Cruise Director's Staff also found the moves too difficult and asked me to dance, "the normal way." hehe We danced for a couple of songs. I had no idea what I was doing and was so nervous I sweat buckets! My family enjoyed watching, however, and I did not live it down for the rest of the week.

I met a few new people on the dance floor as the night went on; a woman from the Bahamas and another from Florida, but eventually decided I needed to "air out" on the roof. On the way up, I saw some guy sitting by himself near the pool. Feeling friendly and outgoing, I stopped to talk. We chatted for a while about various things before I asked him if he was here with a large group or just a few friends. Realization dawned as he said he was here with the other side of his aunt's family. I felt rather foolish as I exclaimed, "Oh, are you with MY group!" Yep, it was Jared. Guess I must not have paid very close attention when we were introduced the night before. Oh, well.

I really enjoyed my time on the roof. It was quite windy, but there was no one around so I could sing and pray out loud. It was a great place to spend my quiet time. It was as if the rest of the world was asleep. My evenings began to get longer. It was 2am before I found my room that night.

Go!

A new year has begun and we are getting ready to board a ship and sail to worlds unseen. Okay, unseen by me. At the Miami airport we managed to meet up with Joe and Marie Diez, Aunt Phyllis and Wendell, Denise, Donna and Rick, Sue, Jill, Rod and Amy. We would meet up with Judy, Marilynn, Mindy and Patty onboard. Our team of 28 was almost complete.

Boarding the ship was quick and easy - as long as you had a picture ID. Excitement built as we received our daily itinerary and prepared to say, "Goodbye," to Miami.

Don't let these calm waters fool you . . .

You might notice that it was a bit windy the day we took off.

Our first night out, we met Colin, our Scottish Cruise Director. Most all of us loved him, except for my Aunt Elenor who called him a flaming flamingo. We also had a preview of our entertainers for the week. Once the introductory show was over, I got to watch Pam and Eagle dance. They even taught me a thing or two! We danced unil close to midnight, then hit the buffet for a snack. It was fun to return to my room and find a mint on my pillow and the schedule for the following day. I plan to make the most of everything!

Check our our sunset!

Ready, Set . . .

For many of us, our adventure began near the Miami Airport on New Year's Eve. (I must say that I was not impressed with that airport.) Mom and I got to wait 2 hours for a van to our hotel. We considered walking. After the 15-20 minute drive, we were quite glad we decided to wait. hehe.

Little did we know that our adventure was just beginning. All went well until we opened the door to our hotel room. It took less than 5 minutes for me to begin weezing. This was not a room we could stay in. My ever resourceful mother kidnapped a few people from accross the hall and demanded that they smell our room. After hearing them affirm that the room did, indeed has an odd, urine-like odor, and learning that someone had already requested to be moved from that room, we piled up all our luggage and made our way back to the front desk.

A new room was secured and, after losing my temper with the luggage cart, we were finally planted in our home for the night. During this process we ran into Matt and Nick. Sweaty, weezing and frustrated was a great way to meet new family members! :-)

It wasn't long before we met up with Don, Marlene, Elenor, Londa, Matt, Nick, Missy, Pam and Eagle. Since most of the restaraunts around us were closing early for New Year's Eve, we each found food on our own and met in the lobby for Taco Bell, coffee and Boston Market leftovers. We talked for a while (Uncle Don is a kick!) and eventually Richard and Jared arrived.

We partied late into the night - definately past 8:30pm and prepared for our much anticipated trip.