9 April 2007

Ahoy Landlubbers! Okay, okay, it's been a week since we returned from our cruise, but our vacation was SO good that it's so hard still to let it go!

Some pics are here. If you want to see more, just shoot me an email.

It was our very first cruise--and we will DEFINITELY be doing it again. My favorite memories, in no particular order:

* Walking the gangplank onto that magnificent ship. I'd seen cruise ships from a distance before, but I really didn't appreciate just how big one is until I was right next to it. Let me tell you, these things are mammoth. 12 stories high, about 3 football fields long. It is quite breath-taking.

The Westerdam.



* Laying on our bed in our stateroom, feeling the gentle rocking of the waves lulling us to sleep.

* Whipping the curtains open on our verandah to see the wide open sea or some beautiful port of call. (Particularly the morning we arrived in St. Thomas.)

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. The view from our verandah.


* Lazy days at sea, laying in a beach chair on the top deck, breathing in the clean sea air.

* Being in Key West again. Cuban coffee at my favorite deli. A visit to the Hemingway House. Window shopping along Duval Street and sipping spicy Bloody Mary's at La Ti Da.

* Our tour guide Manny who drove us around downtown San Juan, Puerto Rico and to the Barcardi factory--he even got us into the capitol building for a quick tour.

* Evening strolls hand-in-hand with the girl on the Promenade Deck and looking out at the ocean.

* Meeting new friends. Especially the crew from Canada. I know we'll be seeing them again on future vacations or here in DC.

* Jet skiing in a secluded lagoon on Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas.

* Walking on the beach with the girl in Magen's Bay in St. Thomas. One of the top 10 beaches in the entire world.

Magen's Bay.


* Swimming in the clearest, bluest water I'd ever seen in both St. Thomas and the Bahamas.

* Amazing concerts by Melissa Etheridge and Suede.

* Elegant 4-course dinners with friends or alone with my sweetheart (who would always sweet talk one of the attendants to give her MORE dinner mints.)

* The fun towel animals made by our steward and the chocolates on our bed each night with a note saying "The Captain and crew wish you a restful night sleep as we look forward to new horizons."