February 14, 2016: Valentine's Day Weekend

Stayed over at Josh and Olivia's apartment last night along with their friends, Chance and his girlfriend, Bree.    I met them about a month ago.  They are so cute together.     Josh, Chance, Bree, and I went for breakfast at a restaurant in Montague.  Then, we went to Muskegon to Barnes & Noble and hung out there.      Olivia got out of work and came to Barnes and we all went to G&L Chili Dogs on Sternberg Rd for dinner and then they gave me a ride to the Cinema Carousel.  They were going to see the movie "Deadpool" and I was going to a movie with my mom called "Revenant" which was so boring.      A few weeks later, I went with Josh to see "Deadpool" which was fun to see.  Josh said he didn't want me spending another Valentine's Day alone.

February 6, 2016: Miami City Tour

We decided to take the Miami City Tour.  We went to Miami Beach and saw where Versace had breakfast and where he was murdered.   Stopped at the Miami City Hall and drove around Coconut Grove.    Heading to Coral Gables which is where Aunt Pauline Kimball used to live.  Median price of homes in Coral Gables is $3 million.  

The average commute time in Miami is 1 hour 40 minutes.  I think my 15 minute commute is much nicer.   

Had about a 5 hour wait at the Miami airport for our flight to Chicago.    We should be back in Grand Rapids by 11:45 p.m.

February 4, 2016: Day at Sea

Mom and I had breakfast with Marianne and Joy up in the Garden Cafe.   We got our preliminary bill for the cruise which was $988 total which was more than the cruise cost us.   I didn't go crazy with shopping or drinks as I got what drinks I could for free off my relatives beverage package.    I only actually purchased 3 drinks myself.   Each drink was between $10-$15 each.

I did buy a $115 Fossil watch and a bobble head that is supposed to be an image of myself.  Sure, the bobble head wasn't a need but something I have seen in the past that I would like.   I bought some t-shirts.    Other than that, the rest of the bill was our tours, some internet usage and $13.50 a day for tips.

There are quite a few ala carte charges on this Norwegian cruise line.   The food was better on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and Princess cruise lines.   I did like the technology on Norwegian.  You could order your shore excursions off your TV and the state rooms were wired with the ability to show if you were home, do not disturb or to clean your room.  

Went to a cupcake decorating demonstration.  On one of the Royal Caribbean cruises,  I got to take a class on how to decorate the dog.  I was hoping they had the same on this ship, but they didn't. 

Watched the movie "Inside Out" up at the atrium.  It was a cute movie.    Had some drinks with Kim, Wendy, Todd and Owen and got a little tipsy.    Going to a comedy  club tonight.   

February 5, 2016: Nassau, Bahamas

Nassau, Bahamas is about 150 miles from Palm Beach, Florida.     The population is 139, 500.  It's official language is English.  

We had breakfast and Owen joined us.   It was nice chatting with him.  His favorite   trips are on his Harley Davidson motorcycle.  He goes with a group of bikers on different trips.  

Marianne, Joy, my Mom, and I are going on the tour, Discover Atlantis.   

There were a lot more tourists visiting the hotel today than the last time I came here.  I didn't remember the $1 million dollar sculptures in the casino.   The Michael Jackson suite here is $25,000 night.   The guide said some of the rooms at the Atlantis are $1600 night.   We went through the aquarium and walked around the entire grounds.  Saw the aquaventure park.  The big slide was closed due to the windy conditions.

Todd, Marianne, Paul, Margaret, Nathan, Rayna, Rylee, Wendy, Joy, and I all had dinner tonight at the Taste dining room.  Kim and Owen had date night and Alex said he couldn't find us so ate up in the cafe on the 16th floor.  Mom went to the cafe, too.    I wish she would dine with the group but she wouldn't.  

February 3, 2016: Tortola

We took the tour, Best of Tortola by Land and Sea.    There are 24, 000 inhabitants on the island.  Christopher Columbus found this island in 1493 and found turtle doves, hence it was named Tortola.  Virgin Gorda is one of the sister islands.  Richard Branson who owns Virgin Records and Virgin Airlines owns one of the Virgin Islands. He has a resort on the island that you can rent for $75,000 a night.

Dead Man's Bay is on the grounds of a resort owned by Amway.  We saw Treasure's Island which only has 1 restaurant on the entire island.  

Stopped at Pusser's Landing and checked out the shops and then got on safari buses for a ride around the island.  It looked like a poor island but it was very mountainous with gorgeous views of neighboring islands.   The people here only pay 1 1/2 percent tax on the the assessed value of their homes.    

We did a little shopping in town but it wasn't as easy to find them as it was in St. Thomas.  Luckily, I was able to find stamps for postcards I sent to my friends, Josh and Olivia.   I hope they get the postcards.  It will be interesting to see how long it takes to get the post cards delivered to them.

There is a shopping area at the port that they are still working on, but it won't be opened until February 16.    

There were two Norwegian cruise ships at port and you could see the difference in the size of them when they were side by side.    The Norwegian Escape was by  far the longest and tallest of the two ships.   There are 18 floors on the Escape.

Had dinner tonight at O'Sheehan's Restaurant with Marianne, Joy, Margaret and Paul.  Kim and Wendy's fang all went snorkeling today in Tortola.  Marianne and Joy took a cab ride around the island.  Paul and Margaret went on a tour called Paradise Views which they enjoyed.

Went dancing and ran into my cousin Wendy, Todd and Owen.   Got a drink and had fun dancing to 80s music.  

  

February 2, 2016: St. Thomas

Our first port is St. Thomas.  The capital of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Charlotte Amalie, is also the largest historical town in the United States.   We are taking the tour that goes to Magen's Bay which is supposed to be one of the top 10 beaches in the world.  We did some shopping but most of the shops were jewelry stores and the usual souvenir shops.  Talked to my friend Josh on the phone for 10 minutes as I could get service there because it's part of the U.S.  

Sent some texts to some friends, too.   Found out 2 employees were fired from the county of which one is a friend of mine.   I was quite surprised at the story.  

 

Had dinner with Joy and Marianne and then went to the theater production, Million Dollar Quartet.  We had to make reservations for it even though it was free.    On other cruises, we went to the theater every night after dinner for a show,  but they don't offer it on this cruise.    

I was disappointed with the bakery on this ship.   It was supposed to be a Carlos Bakery but found out Norwegian lost the contract for it so renamed it the Bake Shop and had very limited items for sale.

February 1, 2016: Day at Sea

Woke up this morning around 9:30 which was nice.   We had a leisurely breakfast and then wandered around the ship with Todd and Wendy.  I had two alcoholic drinks by 11:30 a.m.    The bartender wouldn't let Wendy buy two drinks on her card so we used Joy's name for my drink.     Stopped and saw Kim's room.   She got a larger room because she helped plan this trip.  They didn't have a deck but had a larger bedroom and sectioned off area for Alex and Nathan to sleep.    

Owen was going to get his hair cut in the afternoon and lay out by the pool.   

We ran into Wendy and Todd again.  He told us all about his scoliosis and the stroke he had last June.   He's told us the story several times on the trip.   He's quite funny.    He said he had about 20 drinks the first night and got cut off.   He doesn't usually drink during the week but only when he goes to the cottage.  

We saw Kim and Owen in the H2O room.   That's where I hung out yesterday.   All 14 of us had dinner together tonight but at 2 tables.  

January 31, 2016: Day at Sea

Today was a day at sea which are usually not my favorite.  I prefer to be sightseeing  on land but this cruise has 3 days at sea.   We had breakfast with Margaret and Paul Creger. Margaret said to go to Magen's Bay in St. Thomas as it's gorgeous.  It's one of the 10 best beaches in the world.

I like how the carpet in the hallways where the staterooms are has fishes in the pattern.  The fins on the fish point toward the aft of the ship so you always know which direction you are walking.  What a clever idea! 

I have noticed that there are a lot of activities on the ship that are additional charges.   We have been on 13 cruises and many of the shows were free; whereas, now they charge.

Watched the Sexy Legs contest which was pretty funny.  A guy in a wheelchair  won the contest.     

Found a lawn chair and listened to some music.  It was a cloudy, cooler day so didn't want to go in the pool.  I did some more wandering around the ship and found the over 21 yr area which had hot tubs.  I saw Kim and Owen there so climbed in the hot tub.  Met some nice people from Tampa, Colorado, and Canada in the hot tub.

January 30, 2016: Norwegian Escape

Today, the 14 of us boarded the new Norwegian Escape cruise ship for a 7 day adventure to Bahamas, St. Thomas & Tortola.    I plan to de-plug from my cell phone once the ship leaves at 4 pm.   

I believe this is my 13th cruise and this clearly is the largest ship of all of them.   There are close to 4300 passengers on this cruise.   I already lost my mom at lunch as it was so busy in the Garden Buffet.    

We started to explore the ship and found the fitness room, salon, Carlos Bake Shop, bars, shops, etc.  There are 28 restaurants on this ship.   There is supposed to be a snow room on the ship.  I'm not sure why I would want that as I am trying to escape it.  There are many slides in the pool area which is where I'm sure all the kids will be hanging out.    

Had dinner with Todd, Wendy, Rayna, Rylee, Marianne, Mom and Joy.  

Marianne fell going into the bathroom and hurt her right foot.   She didn't eat much for dinner as her foot hurt so much.   She went to the doctor to have it checked out.  Todd was enjoying his first cruise with many drinks.  I don't think Mom is used to how he social drinks.   He really is quite funny.    Wendy, Todd and I went out for a few drinks.  Wendy and I went wondering around the ship.  I had about 4 drinks.