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shuttlebuggy

By shuttlebuggy,
in Holland America Line

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shuttlebuggy

shuttlebuggy

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hi all!

 

can i tell you i am having an AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL BIRTH - A - VERSARY CRUISE!!!!!

 

the eurodam is awesome! just as you all have told us!!

 

we are steaming towards grand turk ln the most lovely of sunny Easter Sunday!

 

blair the event coordinator has been in touch and phenomenal to work with on the M&M THATS TODAY :)

 

ansari & tomi our stewards are caring and efficient in.every detail!

 

JOANIE - I HAD THE BREAD PUDDING - oooooo died amd went to heaven!

 

AND MET CC MEMBERS BOTH FROM THE ROLL CALL & LURKERS ;) who knew Mr and Mrs Shuttlebuggy NOT EVEN 5 min onboard yesterday LOLOL

 

and we decorated our door real cute - pix on return....

 

you all are here in spirit with us as your tips and caring convos here made the planning and realization of this cruise all the more special!!!! THANKS TO ALL!!!!!

 

full review on return PROMISE!!! :)

 

Mary & Cliff

l

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IRL_Joanie

IRL_Joanie

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You made me laugh out loud, almost loud enough to waken hubby from his late Easter morning slumber, but not quite;)

 

Glad to hear you are enjoying the ship and cruise!!!

 

Make sure you have more of that bread pudding and keep an eye out, or even ask one of the chefs in the Lido when they will be serving the Chocolate Bread Pudding.... NOW THAT IS TO DIE FOR!!!!

 

Joanie

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shuttlebuggy

shuttlebuggy

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Good Day to ALL! We are LIVE here on the Eurodam and let me just say that EVERYTHING is at or ABOVE expectation for this cruise!!!!;)

We had PERFECT weather in Grand Turk and our cab ride turned into an ALL DAY island tour with breaks when we wanted to tour on foot -

We had marvelous service from Cliff Wilson a 60 y/o "belonger" on G.T. who took great pride and joy in sharing his island with us, he took us all over and gave a complete history as well as his personal take on things!!!!

Yes they are still in recovery mode in many places from the hurricane and there is poverty BUT they are a good and kind people who love their island and there were folks every where doing work on buildings and stone fences by hand (things that in the States we take for granted a machine will do)

He personalized this tour and placed us in the hands of "Ivy" who runs the Osprey in Historic G.T. for some of her delicious 'triple rum punch' while we enjoyed the spectacular seawall and view from her establishment under a shaded cabana type pool deck in the center of the Osprey.

Once we headed back for ship - we made a brief detour - Cliff showed us the island prison!:confused::confused: You might think a wrong turn but HARDLY! My hubby is retired from working as both an Officer and in a Counselor position in a CT State prison - so this was of great interest for him to see!

We got a pic of the donkey that greeted us under the sign at the gate - too funny :)

The Local Village cafe and swimming near the ship were our last stop - where we enjoyed cracked conch and conch salad along with our dark Turk's Head beer.

Arthur is really sweet and gracious - he's the owner there - and this establishment is squarely in the middle of Jack's and Margaritaville and get's very little press - but is excellent local food and cheaper than the other two!

All the people on this island and in both local marketplaces were wonderfully polite, gracious and sweet - we found no one that was in our faces with trinkets. The handmade items were reasonable and we enjoyed talking with each merchant as well.

We are quickly approaching Old San Juan - Puerto Rico and will be on a Fortifications segway that we booked ourselves. The weather is again phenomenal and sunny with the occasional light passing sprinkle.

I know San Juan will be good but feel that my heart and soul is still in Grand Turk as those people with their huge hearts really won me over!

Will give an update in a couple days - take care and signing out from the Eurodam ;)

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shuttlebuggy

shuttlebuggy

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Hello to everyone - our "at sea" day on the Eurodam! In SJ Puerto Rico we arrived to rain and our segway tour was canceled - it got comical as we attempted to randomly hop a tour bus 3 times and wound up on one that was like a bad outtake from the show Jersey Shore - we had The Situation and Snooky and ALL their extended family that was "Shhhtressing" - it was too funny!!!!! I laughed about this when I went to bed that night - LOLOL!

 

The driver took us into New San Juan which did not interest us, took us to El Morro entrance walkway but only stayed a few moments in the pouring rain, but also showing us some governmental buildings & landmarks he then let us off very close to Old SJ.

 

The skies began to clear & the sun peeked thru.

We then walked into Old San Juan - and ate at a lovely restaurant of El Jibarito for skirt steak, arroz, sweet plaintains and almond flan. Toured El Morro, the castle, the sea wall where plenty of friendly geckos abounded - and then went on to the Cathedral and came upon a dignitary's or celeb wedding with tons of special forces in place. We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset near the Gate of Old San Juan and a leisurely walk back to the ship past local vendors.

 

Once on board we had a pool party (= more food :) on sailaway and then after our boat that is staffed by lovely and most gracious Indonesian staff - treated us to a spectacular show that they had done - which was so colorful in costume, music and song - they even had special instruments from their country. They were so proud to share all this with us and we felt so blessed by their many talents and gifts!

 

Late Tues night we got a paper under our door....Kon Tiki Boat excursion CANCELED due to engine issues! UGH!!

Excursions office closed until morning - it is an early port - advised to book another via the Kiosks on decks 1,2,3 or 9. Tried them all only one worked - SO frustrating and made a relaxing evening turn a little stressful!

With 5 boats in port we really wanted a booked excursion to keep the confusion to a minimum.

 

We sailed into St Thomas on a GORGEOUS sunny Wed Morning - it was breathtaking. On our "Ultimate Island Excursion" we were driven by islander Bum Smith over to Megan's Bay on the Atlantic side of St Thomas where we enjoyed the pelicans, baby barricudas (friendly) and many fish! (and iguanas!) The water was clear aquamarine and the temp was perfect for our swimming!

 

Bum was an expert and FUNNY dirver who took over the mountainous terrain and back to Blackbeards Castle - oooooo the RUM! We loved the smooth pineapple and banana rums there! Fortunately we were still able to do the "99 steps".

 

The castle gave us phenomenal vista views of both harbors in St Thomas. 5 cruise boats were in but there was no over crowding in town that we could sense. We walked across the local shopping area and picked up a few treasures WHILE LISTENING TO A STEEL DRUM BAND :)

 

Then we were ferried back to ship and enjoyed sailaway with our shadow ship the Solstice the only other ship in the Crowne Bay Harbor there. The Canneletto restaurant had our reservations for a late 8pm dinner and it was sooooo good! The Canneleto has ALL things Italian to offer and the food is to die for - as if the regular cruising food is not enoiugh! I had the Linguini Frutti d'Mare that was the best I've ever tasted - full of fresh seafood and garlic and linguini. The desserts we had were amazing too - a Trio of Tiramisu and a limoncello Creme parfait.

 

Afterwards we took in a Magic and Humor show and went on to end our evening at the Chocolate Extravaganza - OMG!!!!!!!! It was incredible - the staff made and created all sorts of chocolate sculptures - edible! And a huge chocolate fountain and castle! Multitudes of chocolate pastries and cakes and cookies. And unlimited chocolate covered fruites including every type of chocolate covered apple - like a candied apple!

 

We spent a lazy day at sea moving norrthward towards the Bahamas where we spent my birthday :). Let me say this has been TOO fast of a marvelous journey and adventure - we have been pampered beyond compare and it equates to no other form of vacationing or getaway we have EVER experienced - CRUISING RULES!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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shuttlebuggy

shuttlebuggy

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It was a nice time in HMC. Our weather was sunny to begin but overcast most of the day.

I was fine with this as I'm fair and did not have to reapply sunscreen.

I spent 3 continous hours in that perfect water until going to the island bbq.

 

The beef ribs and cole slaw were delicious!

Neil - our Crow s Nest bartender made my drinks on the island - extra good Rum Runners for my bday :D

All the nearby staff sang for me.

 

And speaking of that - between this and the -2 more times onboard in the MDR when we joined our dining partners table for coffee before our late Tamarind reservation AND up in the Tamarind - it sure does make a bday girl feel special to be serenaded 3 times and have 2 cakes! Whoa!!!!!:eek:o

 

Back to HMC! WE LOVED IT! Bought a couple woven items and such here.

The Bougainvillea were in bloom in stunning pinks and vibrant yellows.

A tropical bird that was fairly nondescript in markings & color serenaded us as well. It has a lovely full fantail when it lights and we'd love to know more about this bird.

 

Now once we arrived to our late dinner at the Tamarind, the seas had turned a bit rocky...

So we were a little apprehensive that our dinner up there might become difficult. But quite the contrary. We'd read the threads about the bad vibration problems that might occur there - BUT nothing out of the ordinary much to our surprise.

 

In fact I only felt the vibe once on the first day in our room for about 15 min and it was gone.

 

We are currently pre -booked on HAL for next Easter/birthday - it woll e a tough wait!!!

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foodgirl

foodgirl

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Mary just wanted to say hello and tell you how much I enjoyed chatting with you at half moon cay. Not a bad spot to hang out huh? We did have the best time for sure. I am enjoying reading about your experience on the ship. I will be writing my review soon!!! Take care

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