March 24, 2008

Monday evening~~~We chose to have the late dinner on the cruise so when we are in port, we won't have to hurry back for dinner. When it was time for us to get ready for our first evening's dinner, we found that most of our luggage was missing. The kids had most of theirs but the rest was missing. They called and told us to check on the 4th deck and if it wasn't there check the second deck. We found all the bags on the 4th deck except one of Sharon's. We went down to the second deck and found the remaining bag, the ship had opened it because of liquid in it. (a can of hair spray) The reason they weren't delivered to our suite was because the name tags were tore off and they didn't know who the bags belonged to. There was a lot of other peoples bags with missing labels along side of ours. The Long Shoreman got revenge on a lot of people who didn't tip what they wanted. We filed a complaint against them and the ship gave us a bottle of wine for the tags they tore off the luggage. Our suite is very nice, (pictures) with a small patio which is adjacent to Cindy and Erik and next to them is Tony and Dee Dee. We can all stand on our balcony and see the others and talk back and forth to each other. The travel agency sent a nice bottle of wine to each of our rooms, so now the girls have 5 bottles to drink at dinner or before. Dinner in the dining room was nice, we toured the ship before calling it a day.

Cruise DayMarch 24, 2008

Monday 24~~~Today is Cruise day and we are all excited to get on the ship. We ordered the largest van we could get to take all of us to the airport. Can you try to imagine how many suitcases we had for 11 of us???? I will tell you, it was a lot and they weren't small either!!! We loaded all the big ones and then each kid had to hold their soft luggage on their laps on the way to the ship. (picture) The shuttle man did all the unloading with the help of our 3 guys. The Long Shore man loaded the luggage on their big cats to go to the ship. There were two of them to do it and when they received their tip, they tossed it back at us. The sign said "tipping optional" and we thought they were very rude to throw $1o back at us, so we just went on our way to board the ship. The lines were long, but soon we were aboard the ship where they took a picture of all of us together. We immediately went to the buffet and ate the first of many good meals or snacks aboard the ship. The girls got the kids all settled with their drink & game cards and the card to their room. We went to the top deck and watched the ship leave the port.Next we did the life jacket and life boat drills (pictures). That was quite a long ordeal with probably 3500 people all heading to the same place and lining up. Of course no one complained as we all remember what happened to the Titanic. Ha The kids then headed for the pool and to explore the ship and the adults went to the refreshment bar. (Pictures) It was so nice on deck and so spaci0us, it was a very relaxing moment to know we were all there with no commitments or work to do for 11 days. Just eat, sleep, sunbathe and shop.

March 23, 2008

Sunday 23~~~ Today is Easter Sunday, it is the first time Sharon has not had a big Easter dinner or went to Mass. It seemed like just another day of the week. Dee Dee and Tony & kids arrived, they were short some luggage which they never did find one bag. The bag that was missing was the cosmetic bag and hair tools and products, all the things us girls can't live without. Kent and Tony took Dee Dee to South Beach to shop for what they needed in case the bag never showed up. We spent another day around the pool and the kids played a lot in the ocean. The hotel sent a large shuttle to take all 11 of us shopping and seeing the town. No one wanted to go out for dinner, so Kent and Tony went on a bus and picked up a pizza and brought it back to us. We ate our pizza by the pool. Tomorrow is Cruise day, and the Golden's were on the red eye last night flying here, so they were tired and we all went to bed at a decent hour.

March 21 2008 Miami Florida

Friday 21~~~Cindy, Erik and the boys arrived this morning, Kent and I were just finishing up breakfast at the motel when the shuttle pulled up with the Schaffer's on it. They looked so tired, so they ate a quick breakfast and the boys went to our room with Sharon to rest and watch TV while Kent, Cindy and Erik took half the luggage and got us checked in at the Miami Beach Resort where we will stay until we leave on our cruise. The boys were so tired they fell asleep almost immediately while Sharon read her book. Kent came back and picked us up and the rest of the luggage and we headed over to join Cindy and Erik. Dee Dee and Tony aren't here yet, so Cindy kept sending her pictures of the ocean and pool teasing her to hurry and get here. (pictures) We went down to the beach and got in the water, but it was pretty rough and deep compared to our beach back home. (picture) We sat in our lounges and watched the boys play in the water.After a fun day in the sun, we walked to a restaurant for dinner and on our way back to our motel, we had fun cracking open one of the many coconuts we found laying on the ground. (picture)We didn't know that they have two hard shells to get through, you break through the first shell and then there is another one with the milk and the meat. Sharon was the only one who would eat any of the coconut, it was delicious. We went to bed early, as the kids were pretty tired from flying the red eye last night. The next day we took the shuttle to South Beach (picture) to sight see and have lunch. Brandon was hoping to see some pretty South Beach girls, so we walked all over and didn't find any. LOL

March 18th through 20th, 2008

Tuesday 18~~~We drove to Portland today and we spent the night at the Raddison Inn, near the airport. We stayed up late and morning came too early for Sharon, we almost missed our shuttle. The flight went well and soon we arrived at Miami, Florida. We rented a car and off to Key West we went. Sharon had never seen the Florida Keys before and it was quite interesting, very boring if you live there and have to drive that long stretch of road to Miami very often. Key West is a very delightful fun place, We drove all over and saw so many things. We went to the "Everglades National Park this afternoon and we saw a lot of crocodiles. (picture) We are now at the furthermost South East point of the United States. (picture) We have now been to three of the four points. We will see the last one when we do our trip to Maine.That evening we went to "Jimmy Buffet's bar of course and as we walked in the door, a man just fell off of his bar stool. They told us to come on over and sit down if we weren't afraid of the stool throwing us off. LOL (Picture) Sharon liked the large screen showing old shows of Jimmy performing and singing. It took a lot of looking to find the studio where he records his music in Key West, it is an old ice house down on the wharf. From there we went out for a wonderful meal at an American style fish house. All of the buildings are open in front to the street, kind of like New Orleans. We took the tour of Ernest Hemingway's house (pictures) and learned his life story, he was a most unusual man with his many wives and strange ways but his home was neat. We have never read any of his books, but after the tour, Sharon wants to read "As the Bell Tolls". One of the pictures is his study and the other picture is a picture of Hemingway at various ages.

March, 2008

The first two weeks of this month have been so busy since we got home, trying to visit everyone and get ready for the cruise to the Panama Canal. On Saturday the 8th we went to the dinner auction at Sharon's grandson Ray's school. It is an annual thing we do every year and it was a lot bidding on everything. Kent was a little nervous with Sharon bidding on so many things over and over, but someone always out bids you and you are lucky to get a couple of things you started bidding on. Thursday the 13th~~ Sharon had snorkeling lessons tonight. They had her wear a wet suit to help keep her warm, she had her own instructor who was very good with her. Kent loves to snorkel and wants Sharon to do it with him on the cruise. She did real good but doing in in a pool and then in the ocean will be a whole different story. We will be leaving on the 18th for Florida. We are going a few days early so we can travel down to Key West and Kent can show Sharon things he has seen before. He also has some friends there that we want to see.