Hi, We got back late Saturday. Our luggage is supposed to arrive tonight. We'll believe it when we see it. There were lots of delays because of a snow storm in the NE on Friday. The airports were a nightmare.
The cruise was incredible. The best yet. Only better than the Med because we had the kids with us and weren't worried about how they were doing. We had Roberto and Gerry for servers and they were the best. Corinna in Palo was wonderful as always. We are sorry to hear that she is leaving in a few months to spend time with her husband and maybe have a child. Great for them but sorry to see her go. Also, Paul the Pubmaster is leaving the cruise industry. We really got to be friends with him on the Med cruise and picked up again on this last cruise. We will miss him.
We had side by side rooms on the 6th floor just above the "secret deck" on 7. We ordered room service and ate out there a few times it's like having a private verandah for a fraction of the price.
Daniel loved the Stack. He connected with a group of friends right away and we hardly saw him for the rest of the cruise. Lilly had a harder time. THe stack is more for the older teens 15-17 and the Oceaneer lab and club are for kids up to 12 so there really isn't much for the 13 and 14 year olds and Lilly isn't too outgoing anyway. They do have the Ocean Quest but it is only open for her age group 2- 3 hours per day. She spent a lot of time with us.
We did the Butterfly farm excursion in St. Maarten and did the skyride on our own in St. Thomas. both were excellent. When we were in St. Thomas, Lilly, who is a budding artist, started a conversation with a local artist who had a booth selling her artwork. She was great and gave Lilly a watercolor painting lesson and spent quite a bit of time with her. It made for a special memory for all of us.
Having the rooms next to each other but not connected turned out to be fine. The kids were great. All of my worrying was for nothing. As usual!
We had Brunch, Tea and dinner at Palo. And enjoyed every minute of each meal. The food and service is incredible. Ciao Romano and Corinna both were so excited to see us. It's like seeing old friends.
Harole Ann, we saw Mariano, who has been promoted to server. He's doing great. He was waiting on the tables next to ours.
The character breakfast was not as much fun as it used to be because the characters didn't come to each table. There was a family next to us who were there on a Make a Wish trip with their 4 kids. The little boy was disabled. IT was so nice to see the characters each go over to him and make a fuss also the servers and head servers were very attentive. They had a great time.
Well, that's the highlights. IT's been tough getting back to work and school. Daniel and I have been sick and as I mentioned we still don't have all of our luggage so that has been stressful. I wasn't too organized when I packed to come home so we don't know what is in which suitcase it's a surprise each time one shows up.
Well now I have to pay the bills and figure out how we can afford to go on another cruise. I'm addicted.
How exciting, keep us posted!!
