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Friday, March 27, 2009
I'm BAACCKK!
I’m here, but not here. You all know the feeling-you come back from a vacation, get slammed before the jetlag is gone and you wish you never “disembarked”, “got off the plane” or “took the correct exit on the highway”.
First off-I highly recommend the Celebrity Solstice for anyone who wants a fun, elegant and couples orientated vacation. Steve and I went for AquaClass-couples only floor. Had a small, health orientated “home” restaurant called Blu, which pleased me (the health nut) and hubby, who doesn’t care what I eat as long as he can have “beef”.
We flew off to Ft. Lauderdale on Friday the 13th. No worries though, we landed just fine and were whisked off to our hotel without a hitch. Now the hotel….
Let’s just say that the room was just as it appeared online. The rest of the place? Oy. The reason we chose this place is because according to the website, this Roadway Inn was supposedly 2 miles from the Riverwalk, 3 miles from Sawgrass Outlet Mall and 1.5 miles from the pier. They took us to the pier, but the rest: LIARS!!!!
Discovered that Riverwalk was 12 miles (guess they forgot to add the 1 before the 2), the mall was the same amount-we wound up having an adventure and using the city bus. An hour and a half each way to the mall. Filled the day. We ate at the food court.
We didn’t realize it (hey, our kids our going to be 25 & 27, why should we remember something called Spring Break?), but the hotel had scads of families with little kids, so getting our “included hot breakfast” was such a chore that we walked to the hotel next door (and the only place around us for literally miles) to eat at their restaurant.
By Sunday, we could hardly wait to board the Solstice. What a beautiful luxury liner. We had a lot of fun in San Juan (made hubby walk about 4 miles), enjoyed our repeat trip to St. Maarten’s Orient Beach (okay, it’s a nude beach, but trust me when I say the only people who go naked, really shouldn’t-ew) and we had quite the interesting time in Tortola. Not only did we have a beautiful bus tour, we were part of a fender bender.
FYI-remember never to drive in Tortola, the roads are very narrow and steep and the customs officers speed downhill. They also will never admit that any accidents that occur are their fault. Enough said.
The private island of Labadee was nice and sunny-water was warm and clear. We enjoyed watching the “brave ones” do the advertised “world’s longest zipline that’s over water”.
Our specialty restaurants, were just that: a night of delicious Asian fusion, elegant French and great Italian/Tuscan foods. Oh-a new favorite of mine for dessert: I always had some type of sorbet, but to make it special, it was always served with a sprinkling of POP ROCKS! Ooh the neat feel of the explosions in my mouth while enjoying the frozen fruit ices!
Too quickly, Steve and I disembarked from our glorious week aboard the Solstice. We will miss Sandra and Dave who sat next to us for our dinners at Blu and at the nightly shows-they are safely back in London by now. We will miss our room steward, whose name I am still having trouble with (closest I can be is Menhanie) and of course, Armando our waiter.
Then came the trip home. Ugh-high winds in Ft. Lauderdale made the takeoff rather bouncy and the same winds followed us back to John Wayne Airport. We were in the Atlanta airport for but an hour.
We came back a bit more tan (that would be me, the original sun bum) and relaxed. Sorry to get back into our normal routines. Steve back to work, me preparing to spend most of the week with my mom who had her gall bladder out Tuesday. Wound up being a good day-our grandson Dylan decided to explore how recliners worked and found himself at the ER downstairs. Finger needed 4 stitches. Uncle Adam came to his sister Sarah’s rescue and helped with that, while I watched Aidan in the waiting room.
Gilda Radner was so right: it’s always something!
And now for my latest plugs:
Here is one weatherproofing your relationship in economically hard times:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/marriage-way-erickson-2344653-don-learn
This one is on cultivating decency in our kids:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/children-people-behavior-2339730-parents-phelps#
First off-I highly recommend the Celebrity Solstice for anyone who wants a fun, elegant and couples orientated vacation. Steve and I went for AquaClass-couples only floor. Had a small, health orientated “home” restaurant called Blu, which pleased me (the health nut) and hubby, who doesn’t care what I eat as long as he can have “beef”.
We flew off to Ft. Lauderdale on Friday the 13th. No worries though, we landed just fine and were whisked off to our hotel without a hitch. Now the hotel….
Let’s just say that the room was just as it appeared online. The rest of the place? Oy. The reason we chose this place is because according to the website, this Roadway Inn was supposedly 2 miles from the Riverwalk, 3 miles from Sawgrass Outlet Mall and 1.5 miles from the pier. They took us to the pier, but the rest: LIARS!!!!
Discovered that Riverwalk was 12 miles (guess they forgot to add the 1 before the 2), the mall was the same amount-we wound up having an adventure and using the city bus. An hour and a half each way to the mall. Filled the day. We ate at the food court.
We didn’t realize it (hey, our kids our going to be 25 & 27, why should we remember something called Spring Break?), but the hotel had scads of families with little kids, so getting our “included hot breakfast” was such a chore that we walked to the hotel next door (and the only place around us for literally miles) to eat at their restaurant.
By Sunday, we could hardly wait to board the Solstice. What a beautiful luxury liner. We had a lot of fun in San Juan (made hubby walk about 4 miles), enjoyed our repeat trip to St. Maarten’s Orient Beach (okay, it’s a nude beach, but trust me when I say the only people who go naked, really shouldn’t-ew) and we had quite the interesting time in Tortola. Not only did we have a beautiful bus tour, we were part of a fender bender.
FYI-remember never to drive in Tortola, the roads are very narrow and steep and the customs officers speed downhill. They also will never admit that any accidents that occur are their fault. Enough said.
The private island of Labadee was nice and sunny-water was warm and clear. We enjoyed watching the “brave ones” do the advertised “world’s longest zipline that’s over water”.
Our specialty restaurants, were just that: a night of delicious Asian fusion, elegant French and great Italian/Tuscan foods. Oh-a new favorite of mine for dessert: I always had some type of sorbet, but to make it special, it was always served with a sprinkling of POP ROCKS! Ooh the neat feel of the explosions in my mouth while enjoying the frozen fruit ices!
Too quickly, Steve and I disembarked from our glorious week aboard the Solstice. We will miss Sandra and Dave who sat next to us for our dinners at Blu and at the nightly shows-they are safely back in London by now. We will miss our room steward, whose name I am still having trouble with (closest I can be is Menhanie) and of course, Armando our waiter.
Then came the trip home. Ugh-high winds in Ft. Lauderdale made the takeoff rather bouncy and the same winds followed us back to John Wayne Airport. We were in the Atlanta airport for but an hour.
We came back a bit more tan (that would be me, the original sun bum) and relaxed. Sorry to get back into our normal routines. Steve back to work, me preparing to spend most of the week with my mom who had her gall bladder out Tuesday. Wound up being a good day-our grandson Dylan decided to explore how recliners worked and found himself at the ER downstairs. Finger needed 4 stitches. Uncle Adam came to his sister Sarah’s rescue and helped with that, while I watched Aidan in the waiting room.
Gilda Radner was so right: it’s always something!
And now for my latest plugs:
Here is one weatherproofing your relationship in economically hard times:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/marriage-way-erickson-2344653-don-learn
This one is on cultivating decency in our kids:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/children-people-behavior-2339730-parents-phelps#
Comments:
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Nice cruise. Gotta get out on the water. At least I got to read about your trip. :)
# posted by 
: 10:17 AM
: 10:17 AM 
Wecome back - Lots of ups and downs there, Carine !
Like life, some good, some bad and you keep going :)
Glad you enjoyed the Solstice, even if Ft. Lauderdale was a bust !
Like life, some good, some bad and you keep going :)
Glad you enjoyed the Solstice, even if Ft. Lauderdale was a bust !
We did enjoy Lauderdale a lot more last year-did the Riverwalk and downtown area and had fun. This wouldn't have been so bad Annie, except that 3 hours on a city bus for people who never ride one is rather tiring.
Glad to see you made it back safe and sound, and that the trip made it all worthwhile.
Curious, what kind of shows do they have on cruise ships. I've never been on one. Comedy, theatre, jazz band, dance band, variety, talent . . .?
Curious, what kind of shows do they have on cruise ships. I've never been on one. Comedy, theatre, jazz band, dance band, variety, talent . . .?
Dave, they have all that and more, depending on the cruise line! We had a comedian, broadway revue, a vegas type show, juggling/magician, and even an aerialist (a la cirque d'soleil) show.
Try it sometime-lots of different ports and activities, many different cultures and the cuisines, only have to unpack and pack once and you can veg out or be constantly busy!
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Try it sometime-lots of different ports and activities, many different cultures and the cuisines, only have to unpack and pack once and you can veg out or be constantly busy!
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