"Enough of this foolishness!" ~ Kimmy!

Holland America
This cruise was relaxing. We had a good time. The boat made 6 stops and we had 5 days at sea. Two in the beginning and two days at sea on the end of the cruise. Our travel agent told us it would be a snooze cruise and we came to the same conclusion. The average age was probably over 50 years old. The entire staff was with Filipino men or Indonesian men. The staff generally wasn’t as friendly as some of other cruises. However, there were several employees we really liked. I purchased a coke card and it was a good deal for someone who drinks as many cokes as me.

We had an inside room because we were literally the last two to make reservations for this cruise. We prefer ocean-view rooms. It was hard to tell what time it was. We also had to take the 8:30 seating for dinner which had advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was we had plenty of time to relax before dinner and ended up watching movies before dinner. The disadvantage was waiting for it and finishing up at 10 pm. So we ended up seeing the late shows and going to casino afterwards. Our room was ok in size and easy to find because it was all the way at the back at the ship. The strong points of this cruise were ease of departure(leaving straight out of Norfolk), smaller ship meant less crowded, ease of using elevators, and good food.

The less desirable aspects were that the entertainment wasn’t as good as some others we had. The entertainment was mostly production numbers, and some comedians and musicians. I enjoyed the banjo player and didn’t enjoy the comedians or the ventroloquist. The pool band was Filipino guys, which played 80’s and older songs, and I was disappointed because I like the steel drum Caribbean bands for these cruises. This was more of a no frills cruise than some other cruises we have been on.

The food was fancy but the service wasn’t as good as some of the other cruises. The food was tasty for dinner, but the Lido grill for snacks and lunch wasn’t that great. The food was always presented nicely. Overall, we weren’t as impressed with this cruise when compared to others we had been on. It was a good cruise , it just didn’t measure up as high as some of previous cruises. On a 1-10 scale, I would rate it a 6 with 10 being the highest possible score.

Bahamas
Personally my favorite stop. The water was pristine and crystal clear blue. The beach was sugary sand and soft. I saw fish in the water. It was a private island owned by Holland America. We enjoyed the horseback ride on the beach and in the water. The people were friendly and they had a beach BBQ for us.

St. Thomas
This was Mike’s favorite stop. We didn’t plan any excursions but decided to do our own thing. So we went to Cuzzin’s Restaurant and ended up meeting the owner and getting t-shirts. And of course I satisfied my plaintain craving. We then went to Morningstar beach via taxi and it was terrific. We saw iguana scurrying through the sand. And there was an abundance of them (not just one or two) The water was a little rougher here.

Our final stop was at Magen’s bay beach. It was really nice and calm. It was popular stop but you didn’t feel like you were crowded at all. They had a snacks/ food stand and bathrooms. The water was very calm and very easy to swim in.

Barbados:
We went to a monkey eco tour here and it wasn’t delivering any monkeys. We saw other animals like a giant rabbits, lizards, birds and tortoises. We were disappointed though with no monkeys sightings. We also got a taxi tour here and saw the golf course where Tiger Woods was married. The people are generally friendly and the beaches were nice and blue. This is where we found good deals on liquor.

Dominica:
This was a new stop for us. We did the whale watching excursion but didn’t see any whales. The people were poor here and asked for money. It is where Pirates of the Caribbean II will be filmed. It was okay for shopping, but we didn’t venture very far from the ship. We went to a place called Champagne where the water was warmer and had bubbles. A steady stream of bubbles came up to the surface from the ocean floor.

St. Kitts:
It was beautiful here. It reminded me of Bermuda, being very picturesque. The clouds touched the hilltops and mountains. We arrived there on a Sunday and most things were closed. We did a catamaran sail & snorkel. It was nice and hot there. It was very relaxing, Many people did a train tour which was suppose to be good too. We ate in a Chinese restaurant there. Mike bought a clock there but shopping was limited since it was Sunday. The best snorkeling was here on this cruise. The catamaran was fun and friendly. The tour guide danced with me to some reggae. Everyone was drinking and dancing on the boat on the way back. Mike spotted a green monkey in the trees from the boat.

Puerto Rico:
I’m not impressed with Puerto Rico. It seemed like a dump in the city. We passed along the coast on our way out and that was nice. The city had very narrow streets and was like a sauna. I enjoyed feeding the pigeons in a city square there. There were many shops there but we didn’t find any good deals there. We were only there from 9 am to 12:30 pm which prevented us from doing a very cool sounding excursion , bioluminescent bays. It is where the water glows blue at night due to the presence of certain organisms. This tour was only available at night where the moon wasn’t full.