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Merry Cruise-Mas and Happy New Year! Live from the Zuiderdam-- December 27th, 2013

TracieABD

By TracieABD,
in Holland America Line

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Himself

Himself

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I suppose you will not be on the boat, Father, as this is your "busy season". I will be sad to not see you aboard.

 

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. :)

 

I retired as Pastor last June. I am now a Senior Priest but as you say, this is a busy time for us. One of the priests of our Diocese is a Military Reserve Chaplain who is going active for a year in May and I might be "baby-sitting" his parish til he gets back. I would love to be Chaplain on a Christmas Cruise.

 

All the Best to you!

 

Himself

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TracieABD "Live from...." Rare

TracieABD

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December 26

We started our drive in the wee hours of the morning. We decided to take my husband's truck, as we are trying not to add a million miles to my sedan. Driving distances in his truck is not terribly comfortable, but it sure beat the $780+pp price tag of flight from Charlotte to FLL. This would be the "sucking it up" portion of our Cruise-mas Vacation. I have movies on the iPad, and a blanket, and little feet warmers. My husband is certain that if it is not below 58 degrees F, he will certainly melt. I have prepared very carefully to stay as warm as humanly possible. Once we hit Florida, I was able thaw out.

 

We stopped and stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Port St. Lucie. This is about an hour and a half from Fort Lauderdale. We used to vacation very close to here when we were in our 20's, so this is very familiar for us. It is a nice stopping place. I was able to get my nails done, and we had a nice dinner at Jack's pizza. We were in bed by 8 pm.

 

As an aside, My husband loves to geo-cache. For those of you who do not know what this is, I will explain. It is a world wide scavenger hunt. When they "opened up" the satellites in 2000 for purposes of global positioning, people began to hide little trinkets and sign-in logs, giving only the GPS coordinates and a couple of hints. Then people,using their hand held GPS's, look for the cache, sign the log, and post their experience on the internet. We have been doing this for several years. We are not collectors. We typically do not buy art or artifacts. Our souvenirs from our travels are geo-caches. When I travel without my husband, I always bring home several finds from different countries. This works great for us as we have seen place we would have never gone to and done things we wouldn't have done, all in the name of geo-caching. Also, our finds don't collect dust, always fit, and do not contribute to a weight allowance in our luggage! It works for us!

 

Tracie-Lynn

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TracieABD "Live from...." Rare

TracieABD

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Good morning, Ft. Lauderdale!

 

We did not rush to get up this morning. We had a very leisurely breakfast at the Berry Fresh Cafe in Port St. Lucie. Then we began the final driving leg of our adventure. We arrived at the Park and Go in Ft. Lauderdale at 10:55, were dropped at the port at 11:02, and were seated and waiting to board by 11:14. It looks like we may be the only ship in port, so this was the easiest check-in ever. We were assigned Group 8. Not sure if that is good or not, but I am not worried. I am really only gunning for one thing and that is a seat in the Thermal Suite.

 

From a distance, the ship is gorgeous. I am super excited to see what she looks like "in person"!

 

I hope to post a little more in a bit.

:)

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magandab

magandab

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Tracie, if you get the chance, could you email me at magandab at aol dot com?

 

I'd like to send a message to a couple of people on board, if you happen to see them.

 

Have a wonderful wonderful cruise and I am sooooo jealous and want so much to be back on board!

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TracieABD "Live from...." Rare

TracieABD

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Hi Friends-

OK. So I lied a little. I said I would be back in a bit, and I was not. Sorry about that.

 

Embarkation was a breeze. We were on the ship within 15 minutes. We dropped our carry-ons and went to the Vista for the Mariner's Luncheon. The lunch menu was a bit limited, but very, very good. We spent the balance of the afternoon exploring the ship. The decor is... well, let's just say... interesting. It is not as subdued as I have come to expect from HAL. Just thought I would mention it, for those who might need sunglasses to dull some of the colour combos.

 

Our cabin is very tiny. And a little shop-worn, especially in the bathroom. The floor needs to be replaced. There is just no fixing it. The good news is that air conditioning is COLD (so cold that I requested an extra blanket). The toilet flushes. Our cabin steward is struggling. Typically, on the first day of a cruise, I hand the steward a list of things I need. (My husband follows up with an "incentive"). So far, the steward has gotten me extra hangers. Still waiting for the extra comforter. I know that turn-around day is tough on the stewards... Overall, the staff seems pushed and overworked. (This may be a HAL Corporate issue.)

 

We had late dining. Dinner was really very good. I had the carpaccio, the goat cheese tart, and the penne. I liked everything I had. My husband had the crab and shrimp avocado "tower" (we had a good chuckle about this as is was more of a dollop than a tower), salad, and a very rare side of beef (the slice of prime rib was very generous). We had the chocolate banana tart and the banana fruit crisp. The banana fruit crisp won, hands down. It was delicious!

 

We have decided to call it an early night. I think we will walk and go to the gym tomorrow, before we go ashore to Half Moon Cay. We did not clear the wait list for the clamshell, so I am not sure how long we can be there. As I mentioned earlier, I have become extremely sun-sensitive, so I am wearing swimwear that covers the majority of my body. Even with that, I will slather on the spf 50 like it is my job. My last foray in the sun netted a major butt-chewing from my doctor. (I know, I know... why am I in the Caribbean???)

 

That is all for now... More later!

Tracie-Lynn

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TracieABD "Live from...." Rare

TracieABD

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Hi friends-

Today did not go at all as planned... It was so much better! We got up late (for us) and went for a long walk around deck many times. It added up to around 5 miles. We ate breakfast in the dining room. I had an egg white fritatta and a half grapefruit. Then we walked some more. I went to the Explorer's Cafe for fruit, and the barista informed me that was for people who were getting coffee. I explained that we had just ordered lattes, and now we would like some fruit. He obliged and forked over the fruit cup.

We intitially decided to go ashore, but there was a 45 minute wait to tender ashore to HMC, and we just decided to scrap it and stay on board. What a great decision!

We headed to the Thermal Suite and Hydro-Pool and camped out there for most of the day. It was lovely, though some guests do not get the "quiet area" signs. After we were sufficiantly "pruned", we returned to the room to rest before our dinner at the Pinnacle Grille.

 

Dinner in one word: Amazing! I have to say, my filet was one of the best steaks I have ever had (and I have had a few...). However, I do miss the table side Caesar Salad. I did have the Caesar Salad. I came to the table prepared in a parmesan bowl. That was yummy. I also had the tomato/ lemongrass soup. It was delicious, albeit a bit spicy. Luckily, I like spicy, but let this stand as a warning to those of you who like your food on the milder side. I had the creme Brûlée for dessert. I loved all three flavors. My husband had the cioppino. It seemed to have very generous portions of seafood, but not as much broth as I have seen in the past. He had the baked Alaska for dessert. He ate every bit of his dessert, something that I rarely ever see him do.

 

After all of that fun eating, we had to go to bed! There was just no way to top that meal, except to make another reservation! Currently, we are wait-listed for January 1st or 2nd. We also decided to have LeCirque for dinner on Monday night. Loving the Pinnacle Grille!

 

I met up with some friends, and missed the sail-away... I am a bad CC member!

 

Someone asked for me to email them, and I can't find the thread, my email is tracie <at> carolina.rr.com. Feel free to drop me a line. I will try to pass your message along.

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startwin

startwin

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Thanks Tracie. Interesting that you got a barista who was going to refuse you the goodies unless you bought coffee - there was a thread about that awhile ago, and it seems to depend on the server. Glad you had a great HMC day, much more relaxing than tendering back and forth.:)

Edited by startwin
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