Merry Prinsendam and a Happy New Year

Today was our first port, Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Since this was our first visit we decided that we needed to look around a bit, and somehow, decided that it would be with an HAL tour as we had no idea whether taxi's would be either available or prudent - and, of course, we hadn't bothered to check.

As usual, the excursions always look better from home than they do in the morning when getting up and ready to go at 7 am. We are not morning folks. I ordered room service, DH visited the Lido. We actually made it to the Showroom at Sea by the obligatory 8:30 am call for our 8:45 tour. Our tour was the first one called - we were on bus #1. How did we not choose something that would leave later?

The first stop on the tour was the 4D Cinema experience of the "Battle of Santo Domingo" - hint: Sir Frances Drake wins. We were seated in a well air conditioned 16 seat cinema theatre with tall padded arm chairs and given a pair of 3D glasses to wear - the film was animated, 3D, and accompanied by special effects that included chairs that swayed and bumped with the ocean waves aboard the tall ships, wind and rain (mists) that pounded our faces, and something under the chair that swished or swatted at our legs (I neither looked not asked what that was) - and the battle was won in just about ten minutes. Warning: if you are prone to seasickness this should not be the excursion of your choice. A little Disneyland in the Dominican Republic.

After the show they passed around samples of their local drink which contains rum, honey and red wine that has been marinated with odd strips of the bark of some tree or plant.

From there we walked to the Dominican Cathedral (Santa Maria La Menor) where our guide carefully explained all that is there. It is a very nice cathedral. It has a series of catacombs (which we did not get to see) that contain the bodies of the wealthy and famous from Santo Domingo's past - including, according to our guide, the bones of Christopher Columbus. The guide mentioned that his bones were supposedly moved to Cuba and then shipped to a final resting place in Spain. Apparently all three locations claim his remains.

One member of our party was fierce in defending the knowledge that his bones were in Spain. Our guide said that they did not think that they still had Columbus' bones in Santo Domingo until recently when they were doing some excavation and discovered a box of bones along with documents that seem to support the conclusion that these were those of Columbus. And once a year they have a festival where they open the box of remains and documents for viewing.

We were in the old walled city which was built in the 16th and 17th centuries - the streets are narrow, the buildings are designed around inner courtyards and are very Spanish in design. As we walked through the city square our guide pointed out palms trees of a variety that only grow there - and a species of bird that only lives in these special palm trees. (Sounds a bit like a Dr. Suess story). Each tree was topped with a nest made of browned vegetation that had a bird sized hole in it - and a bird standing on top. We may have a picture - it was too bright to be sure that we captured the bird and, of course, I haven't checked the picture yet. There were also flocks of parakeets flying over.

Next was the shopping stop and we walked to a store that specialized in the natural stones of the Dominican Republic - lovely light blue stones and amber.

From there we visited the Las Casas Reales Museum - a museum of the history of the island - which has a very interesting collection. We were entertained.

Our last stop was at the palace of Diego Columbus (one of Christopher Columbus' sons) which was burned centuries ago and has been somewhat restored. It is currently filled with items of its original period, and mannequins demonstrating the dresses that the women of the era wore despite the Caribbean heat. It is good to be a woman of more modern times.

Our guide explained that the part of the old city that we were driven to is in a special tourist area and is heavily policed. For the most part we saw guards and police that were either not armed or armed with night sticks. However, as we drove between the old city and the port there were guards visible who carried rather large automatic weapons.

The weather today was clear, sunny and about 79 degrees with a breeze making sitting in the shade absolutely wonderful.

The Prinsendam will remain in port until 10:30 this evening - we, however, are remaining with the Prinsendam and not going out again - despite the early start time we did enjoy the tour. We had a very well spoken guide who made it interesting. Kudos to Holland America. Tomorrow's port, Isla Catalina, is not far. We will be on our own there.

Sounds like you had an excellent tour.

Glad to hear you enjoyed it.

thank you for the great detail.

Enjoyed reading your write up, thanks.

Allan

Today we were at Isla Catalina - a small island off the coast of the Dominican Republic which is another beach island. We anchored off shore, there was tender service with a short tender ride to the island, and Holland America was doing a beach barbecue from 11:30 am - 1:00 pm.

On line before we left home there were no tours offered for the port of Isla Catalina. When we got on board, the EXC booklet in our cabin offered five tours from La Romana on the mainland (Dominican Republic) and two tours from Isla Catalina. The tours from La Romana were to leave at 8:15 am and promised a 45 minute tender ride from the ship to the mainland and 45 minutes again to return to the ship. Somehow, 45 minutes in a hot tender chuffing diesel fumes ... that alone was enough to discourage us from taking these tours - despite the fact that none of them really interested us.

However, in today's When and Where it stated that there were no EXC tours today. Did no one sign up for the selections offered in our ship EXC booklet or were the tours that were offered in our booklet on the ship only virtual, and not real? Who knows?

The island did look beautiful as seen from the ship ... a nice stretch of very white sand, deep blue waters, lots of tropical vegetation. Sounds great, right?

Well ... we were awakened this morning by Verity, our cruise director, announcing that tender service was not yet open but we should be aware that the use of insect repellent is strongly advised - repeating that "strongly advised" warning several times and letting us know where we could find the ship's supply of insect repellent that we could use if we did not have any of our own. Somehow, not exactly a "come and enjoy paradise" invitation.

The sky was mostly overcast, with scattered rain clouds ... and it started to rain on and off.

Well, it seems that we were being told that the island is over run with mosquitos - and we could see the rain with no real shelter on the island ... so it was a no brainer to us to stay on board.

Yet ... By mid morning Verity was on the PA again, this time essentially begging folks to come out to the island and enjoy the beach and the barbecue with no mention at all of those pesky carriers of tropical disease. Part of her sell to come out to the island is that the winds were very low on the island ... to us that only means more mosquitos.

A couple hours later I heard someone say (and I admit I cannot remember if it was crew or passenger) that they were trying to figure out how to get everyone back from the island because of the rain and lack of shelter.

At about 12:30 pm Verity announced that at 1 pm they were going to show the 2017 Planet of the Apes movie as a special event not listed in our daily programs.

DH and I took a sea day.

Apparently only about 180 folks took advantage of Isla Catalina even though unlike Half Moon Cay which we shared with the Konigsdam we were here alone today. According to our wine stewardess she and several other crew members were enjoying the beach, sand, and lunch and were called back to work the lido as they had not left enough crew behind. They said that the island was very beautiful and they really liked the extremely white powder sand.

Ship things that I have not mentioned so far:

Piano bar, in the Crow's Nest - Jeremy on the piano

Ocean Quartet in the Ocean Bar - 4 sets a night - first one at 7 pm, last one at 10:45 pm

Adagio in the explorer's lounge (violin and piano) - 4 sets a night - first set at 5 pm, last set at 9pm

Tomorrow we will be in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

A very Happy Prinsendam to all!

Ponce, Puerto Rico

Yesterday we were in Ponce, Puerto Rico. We had some hesitation about this port due to the recent hurricanes - what condition would it be in? How would our presence be received? What, if anything, could we do to help? Holland America offers donation cards that you can fill out at the front desk to add to Carnival Corporation's hurricane relief fund for victims in the Caribbean and Florida.

The port was very sunny and warm. There were dancers in local costumes and music on the pier to greet us. From the ship it was hard to see any ill effects of the hurricane except for one yacht that was grounded on a road next to a collapsed metal structure (bridge?) visible from the port side.

It was Christmas Eve, and a Sunday - so we knew that what we would see would be affected by the weekend and the holiday.

We decided to hire a taxi to drive us around for a while with the hope that we could get a conversation going with the driver to find out how things were in the local area. We were quickly able to get a taxi with a lovely woman driver, but we struck out on the conversation aspect - she spoke no English at all. Our price was negotiated between her and the "taxi starter" person on the pier - and as we started our trip it was clear that since we (I am ashamed to say) speak no Spanish and she spoke no English - well there was no chance for conversation.

The first place she drove us was over to the big mall (Macy's, Sears, etc.) and we quickly let her know that we did not wish to go there. Clearly the mall (with no windows) had power and the parking lot was packed with the cars of folks who were last minute Christmas shopping.

As we drove around the roads were clear, though it was evident that the trees in the area did suffer from the storm - lots of broken limbs with the occasional tree completely uprooted.

In the downtown area there were some businesses with boarded up windows and others doing business as usual - Burger King and other restaurants and shops were up and running - and with power.

We realize that Ponce is on the south side of the island and it is a port city of significant size so that like San Juan, help had easy access - and this side of the island did not take as direct a hit as the other side. Many traffic lights were out, hanging disconnected from the power lines - other lights at critical intersections were connected and functioning.

As we drove around the neighborhoods (and it should be kept in mind these were the neighborhoods that our driver chose to show us on her own) the majority of homes appeared to be mostly in tact. When we got up in the hills and looked down you could clearly see tarped roofs peppered in between those that survived the storm.

We, therefore, could not get a clear picture of the situation here - and certainly could not get a picture of what is happening in towns that do not benefit from a sea port and roads and bridges that survived the storms.

We did, however, have a nice day in town thanks to our lovely driver.

Christmas on Board

There are decorations everywhere. There is a tree on every level of the atrium and in every lounge along with gingerbread houses and other festive attributes. Lots of evergreens dressed in colorful ornaments around the ship, hanging from railings. The dining room lobby has its own tree, gingerbread homes and colorful drapes hanging about.

At last night's dinner the yum yum man was dressed in uniform as a tin soldier greeted us as we entered the dining room.

HAL had a spectacular Christmas menu offering with many courses and many classic holiday favorites offered such as Christmas Goose, Prime Rib with Yorkshire pudding -- and Noel logs and plum pudding were among the many dessert choices.

The evening shows were scheduled at 7 and 9 pm to create a slot for the Christmas Choir presentation at 11 pm. We did not attend this event but the passengers we have spoken to who did said it was incredible. The entertainers sang, the Captain sang, cruise director Verity sang and there was the international crew choir who also sang - many Christmas favorite and classics. The presentation, apparently brought tears to many eyes.

Just around 10 am this morning the Captain announced the appearance of a UFO coming in from the North - and about 10:20 Santa arrived by tender to the ship and then to the Showroom at Sea.

Today was sunny and 79 - there were significant head winds so that the net wind effect was somewhere just south of forty knots which created an interesting challenge when walking around the bow on the promenade. The seas were a deep turquoise blue with toothy swells, white caps and small rainbows in the sea spray. What a day to sit on the promenade deck - hypnotic.

A wonderful day at sea.

Barbados

The Prinsendam arrived in Barbados along with the Silver Seas Line's Silver Muse and the Costa Magica. At the pier the Prinsendam and the Silver Muse were docked at an angle to each other, forming a sort of intimate "V" - their bow nosing into our stern (kind of like cats say hello to each other). The Costa Magica was across the way.

The day was relatively nice with a little drizzle ... and we hired a taxi to take us around. We have been to this island at least a few times, but this trip we saw different things than we had in the past. It was Boxing Day today so many things were closed.

Our driver took us into a gated community and we drove by Mick Jagger's home, the field where Tiger Woods got married several years ago and around the grounds of palatial homes of the rich and famous that were surrounded by mahogany trees and open on the other side to the beach and the ocean.

We stopped for a few moments under the trees where there were several of the indigenous Green Monkeys who approached our car in hopes of acquiring bananas which we did not have, but we did have a fantastic photo op.

He then drove us inland through many communities where the local folks live. Compared to Puerto Rico these folks live well. Our driver told us that the island is doing very well with lots of incoming tourist dollars and thriving industries of sugar, molasses and rum. Though they raise cows and sheep their diet consists mostly of fish and chicken.

A nice tour.

Back to the ship we browsed the mall shops at the port. DH picked up more golf socks (he did not bring enough) and I bought some hair clips that seemed rather expensive for what they are but they had the function I was looking for. Only after the purchase did I realize that I had been shopping at a Del Sol store where everything that you buy changes color in the sun. So ... when I got back to the ship I brought the silver butterfly clips up to the promenade where they dutifully turned pink, green and blue respectively.

We are now sailing towards Scarborough, Tobago for our visit tomorrow.

Wonderful reports.

The decorations on board sound magical!

And the celebrations on board sound magnificent.

It sounds like you had a lovely and very Merry Christmas on the Prinsendam.

Tobago and Bequia

OK, I have to admit it, when I started to type just now I had a moment when I wasn't sure what port we visited yesterday. This cruise just flows ... each day or so a new port and in between the Prinsendam which, as always, is delightful.

Yesterday we were in Tobago, an island first for us - so we scheduled a shore excursion (the second of three that we booked for this cruise). We were transported in small buses (about 15 passengers per bus) and drove around the island making many stops, each for exactly 15 minutes, most with an incredible view of the ocean, harbors, island and a line of cannons facing the sea, and each 15 minute stop had bathrooms. We also stopped at the "mysterious tombstone" where the inscription said the deceased was a mother and wife without knowing it ... no more to say about that.

The island is very pretty and is full of various types of public housing - townhouses and single family homes - where folks are allowed to borrow in order to build or buy - and as such it appears that most folks have nice places to live.

Our last stop was at a community center where we were offered the complimentary rum punch that most of these tours seem obligated to produce. What followed was a local folkloric show that was absolutely spectacular. There were dancers who performed three different dances with different origins - there was much local color in the costumes - and they were accompanied by a small band that consisted of four bongo drums, a steel drum and a few maracas.

The last dance was similar to the dance we see in the HAL crew shows with banging bamboo sticks and dancers with feet so swift that that they successfully jump between the rapidly pounding sticks without once breaking an ankle. By the end of the number they were flying through four pounding sticks set over each other at angles. For me it brought up visions of the scene in movie "Galaxy Quest" when Sigorney Weaver must pass through the "chompers".

After the last dance one of the bongo players came forward and did a solo ... his hands moved so fast on that drum you couldn't see them.

Later, back on board, we enjoyed the comforts of the Prinsendam. During our Lido lunch we were sitting in the Canaletto and watched a couple of fellows from one of the sailing boats in the harbor swim nude. They kept jumping into the water, climbing out, and repeating ... it was quite the lunch time entertainment and to be truthful here - it was not we that noticed it - it was the bar waitress who was staring out, gasped and announced the condition of the swimmers.

At dinner we celebrated the birthday of one of our table mates. A good time was had by all.

This morning we anchored just off Port Elizabeth, Bequia which is in the Grenadines. We were at this port once almost thirty years ago and the port area hasn't changed much. The large natural harbor was full of expensive yachts and sailing craft. It has a bunch of small shops aimed at the boats that come in to provision and enjoy the island. As always, we find the Grenadines unusually beautiful.

This was our last island tour. For this tour we were loaded on to local "taxis" ... covered pick up trucks with padded benches for 8. The cover kept the sun out and we were driven around the island on narrow concrete roads that made steep climbs up the hills around very tight hairpin turns. For me, it was best not to look too carefully out the sides as the roads were very narrow with steep drops on one side - and it was not uncommon to meet oncoming traffic in the narrowest and harrowingest bits such as when half way around a tight hairpin turn.

Today's stops were mostly about the views of the harbor full of small boats and yachts, the ocean, the Prinsendam, and the fields sprinkled with local goats and sheep munching on the local grasses. The breezes made our trip very comfortable and got cooler the higher we went. I was never hot.

Or last real stop before the rum punch/batik shop stop was at a turtle farm where a local gentleman has been laboring for many years raising endangered hawksbill turtles and returning them to the sea. And, as if it was scheduled that way, we no sooner stepped under the cover of the turtle farm (which is located right on the beach) when the sky opened up and dumped a Caribbean Squall.

Turns out, our taxis have shades that roll down to protect the sitting area from getting wet so that when the rain stopped and we returned to our transport our seats were mostly dry.

In his announcements before we left the harbor, the Captain spoke about how high the winds are as they whip through Bequia's natural harbor and how "interesting" it made his day as the ship required both a port and starboard side anchor as well as occasionally using the engines as the squalls blew through to keep the ship at its anchorage.

This island is one that I would return to - sleepy and small (seven square miles in area) and not full of shops like Diamonds International.

Martinique, Guadeloupe and St. Thomas

We just left St. Thomas, the last of our 6 port day marathon. We are now on our way back to Fort Lauderdale by the "longer" but more sheltered route which, according to our Captain will give us a more comfortable ride.

We have over 1000 miles to cover to reach Fort Lauderdale - and we are definitely steaming toward that end - according to the navigational channel we are cruising at 19.6 knots with apparent winds of 31 knots. The cabin bathroom and cabin window are definitely at different elevations at present but our ride is smooth.

DH and I have been to Martinique several times - we have snorkeled there, beached there, toured there. It, for some reason, is not our favorite island so all we planned to do in Martinique was go out to the straw market at the pier and shop. In the past we have found craft items there that were unusual and unique. Martinique did not disappoint and we quickly picked up a few gifts for the folks back home. The rest of our day was a sea day.

I had looked forward to our call in Guadeloupe as I have never really seen this island and this trip we came armed with Euros and the intent to hire a cab for a tour. Not all things, however, work out as planned. I have come down with an upper respiratory thing and was not feeling like doing anything at all both yesterday and today. So Guadeloupe once again slipped through our sights, unseen. Of interest to note, the ship provided no literature at all on this island - not even a page with the port agent on it.

Today was St. Thomas, and hope sprung eternal that once again our cell phones would wake up here, as they have done in the past, so that we could catch up on our email and all things internet. Again, not all things work out as planned ... our phones did not have enough service to be useful. DH walked into town from the dock at Havensight and bought a beer to use the free wifi. I figure it was about the same net price as we would have paid for wifi on the ship, but he came back happy.

Due to traffic heading into St. Thomas our pilot boat this morning was scheduled an hour later than anticipated so the Captain extended our stay here by an hour.

Tonight is New Year's Eve. The "When and Where" calls the dress code this evening "festive" - we assume it mean formal or gala. The evening show (a comedian) is at 7 and 9 so that by 11 pm the party can begin. Free bubbly will start to flow at 11:45.

Now a few moments for a rant ... the wifi on board has never been worse. It seems that in two to three minutes I can upload a report on cruise critic, but if I try to download my email it usually takes at least ten minutes, often 15, and that time produces a list of emails - many without content downloaded. Good Lord ... there has got to be a better way! Rant over.

Sorry to hear that you weren't well and that the island slipped through your fingers. Hope you are feeling better and wishing you a very healthy and Happy New Year.

New Year's happened. The parties, I understand, were festive but unfortunately I slept through it all due to my upper respiratory infection and out of an abundance of caution for others - I stayed in my cabin.

DH returned from dinner with a shiny blue and silver cardboard top hat and feathered silvery tiara sporting a large white feather. Both said "Happy New Year" and Holland America on them. It was a festive meal.

I enjoyed my meal in the cabin. I preorder my dinners (lactose free) and each night I stayed in my home at sea - the dining room delivered my pre-ordered meal directly to me. Well done!

We didn't even hear the parties from our cabin so 2018 came in softly for us.

There were two mariner's luncheons this trip. One on Monday and one on Tuesday. Before Monday's meal our Captain held a mariner's reception in the Showroom at Sea complete with cocktails and the good cocktail munchies. Since I was to receive a medallion today (I got my gold - :) ) I had to enter the showroom on the starboard side, DH who will receive his gold next cruise had to enter on the port side. Yes, I did cruise a couple of times without DH - I told him that I cruised with my girl friends and he never questioned it and that is all I am going to say on that subject.

Thirty two copper medallions were awarded, something like seven silver medallions and three gold medallions were distributed. Pictures with the Captain were taken and later delivered to staterooms. Platinum cruisers were recognized and photographed also. No mention of the President's Club this voyage - however, the Captain admitted that there were a whole eleven folks on board who were not mariners. One wonders if they felt at all left out at lunch time?

The seas were sunny and wonderful on our last two days at sea until the last few hours Tuesday night/Monday morning when we ran into some weather in the Florida Straits. As a result we were a little late docking in Fort Lauderdale and the officials were a little tardy clearing the ship but once begun disembarkation chugged along at a rapid pace.

Of interest to me was that we were not given the normal customs and immigration forms, nor was there the now familiar computer kiosks for immigration that we increasingly see at the international airports. We waited in a long, but fairly rapidly moving line (all things considered) where there were two immigration agents working who scanned our passports and gave us our leave. No questions at all about how much we spent or what we bought - we were done.

We had no difficulty getting a taxi to the airport. It was the airport that was difficult. Lesson learned: next time unless we have a reasonable connection we will book our return through Miami. You think we are nuts? Well, maybe we are. Let me explain.

When I booked our original flights there was a significant cost savings (the holidays, after all) to wait until afternoon to travel and book a connecting flight rather than a non-stop home. What I did not remember is that in Fort Lauderdale you cannot go through security (and on to the promised land where there are airport services and restaurants) until four hours before flight time. I had already accepted the fact that FLL does not have an Admiral's Club. What was somehow new to me this trip was that we could not even check our bags until four hours before flight time.

We were sent to "purgatory" in the baggage claim area. There were not too uncomfortable seats there, a soft drink machine and rest rooms around the corner. We were joined by fellow refugees from Silver Sea and Princess. Some of these folks discovered a potato chip snack machine on the other end of baggage claim.

The "nor'easter" was beginning to move up the east coast and Fort Lauderdale's temperature was in the low to mid fifties. The constantly opening doors to the terminal kept the temperature where we were sitting breezy and at least that cold. We were there for over three hours. When we arrived back at the check in counter with our bags, our bags would not immediately check in as we were officially still 60 seconds early!

No question, it will be Miami next trip - Admiral's Club, multiple restaurants - or we will buy a day room at a hotel. Lesson learned.

Cruise Wrap Up

I cannot fault the Prinsendam. They put on one heck of a cruise. From the comfort of the cabins, to the endless friendliness of the HAL crew, despite getting sick (I blame it on our wonderful taxi driver in Barbados) we did have a wonderful, restful, warm cruise. I easily give this voyage five stars.

Our cabin service this trip was flawless and our cabin attendants must have had some sort of radar as they always knew when to clean our cabin. Our dining room stewards also provided superb service and made sure each evening that I had plenty to eat that was "lactose free". Both jobs were very well done. Our wine stewardess was attentive and also provided flawless service.

Lido service was also excellent. Each table came with a label as to who our table attendant was. We never had to get our own beverages or ask to have our plates cleared. We had breakfast in the lido a couple of time and lunch there daily. There was a sandwich maker on duty and I could always enjoy my simple tuna salad sandwich and chips. DH either went to the Dive-in for his food or enjoyed the sushi. The pizza and taco bar selections also looked tasty but too full of cheese for me.

The Prinsendam's condition is actually excellent considering her age. Though the teak on her decks continues to get thinner and is a bit warped in spots - she is clean and tidy, she still has a wonderful promenade deck full of comfy deck chairs with thick pads, and everything still works.

The temperature in our cabin this trip was perfect and the bathroom was in great shape. Everything worked exactly as it should. No problems at all. Those who read my blogs might recall that last May I was often splashed by an over achieving spigot on the sink - this trip I am aware that the spigot in May was probably missing a water diffuser ... no trouble this time.

Also, the light bulbs in our cabin were brighter and different this trip than last. Gone were the anemic, pinkish CFL bulbs, especially over the cabin mirror ... replaced with bright and energy efficient LCD bulbs.

My only criticism relates to HAL's choice of affiliation with America's Test Kitchen. Possibly I should consider a dedicated thread on this subject unless it has already happened. I must research this. Here goes:

I think America's Test Kitchen is simple minded and speaks down to us all. It operates under the incredible assumption that everything they prepare and recommend is the "world's best." How can that be true for what is probably the most subjective venue on this planet: Food!

Their presentation to the 5 star mariner group was half "canned" (on tape) and equally simple. The presentations shared on the cabin TV's - the same -- with the addition of choosing the "world's best products" according to their taste testers - where the best product had it name and label shown repeatedly. Do these companies pay to have their products displayed and touted?

What is probably the most offensive about America's Test Kitchen to me is that my email address has been sold to them by HAL, and I now not only receive junk email from ATK, but also from two additional gourmet food sites (Zwilling J.A. Henckels, and D'artagnon). This is not behavior that I would expect from the premium cruise line that I always assumed HAL to be.

What ever happened to those wonderful guest chefs - their sophisticated demonstrations and cooking classes that made HAL's on board offerings unique? I used to watch those on our cabin TV and learn. That was fun. America's Test Kitchen is insulting.

Thank you to anyone who actually reads my blogs and follows along. Right now our next booked trip is to Antarctica in 2019. But who knows? We could find ourselves on board again sooner than that as I still have a future cruise credit.

Feel free to ask questions. Now that I am home, the internet is free. :)

Merry Prinsendam and a Happy New Year to all!

Thank you. I enjoyed your reporting.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Excellent reports. Glad to hear your rating on Prinsendam.

I, too got caught in FLL airport's rule about bags and security once. A lesson I will not forget :(

Sorry to hear about the ATK. Doesn't sound appealing at all :(

Enjoyed all your posts and following along. Thanks so much for letting us cruise with you and, welcome home :)

Thank you for taking us along!