Granddaughter Alicia turned 20 today. Wow, time does go fast.
Day 62 of 67. Five more sleeps.
Barbados
Our plan was to go to the beach for the day so we four had our suits on at breakfast and were disappointed to see the clouds and rain worsen as we had our breakfast. We decided to put off the beach run until 10.00 and see how the weather was then.
Jim had a thought that we could spend a bit of the morning visiting the newest ship in the fleet for HAL, the Koningsdam . Nine months old, a crew of 1200 and 2600 passengers on 7 to 10 days cruises in the Caribbean. There was a chance for us to visit this mammoth ship so Jim and I went. It accounts for over 25% of HAL's profit
Big ship for sure. Our ship has about 550 passengers now and a crew of about the same, so the big ship's crew is more than all the souls on the Prinsendam.
I thought that the ship was very nicely done and everything was made to move people around quickly and effortlessly. The cabins are reputed to be small and there is ample opportunity to spend money but the age of the average passenger would be far less than this Floating Rest-Home. Anyhow, it was an interesting 1 1/2 hour except that Gail and Fellette did not expect us to be away for so long.
When we returned we took off immediately to a nearby beach that was about a mile long and was basically vacant. We got set up near a quirky place called Rascals with beach chairs and umbrellas and a rum punch.
We had a dip and settled in. It was cloudy but somehow the burn could be felt through the cloud. Gail went for a very long walk, so long that we thought that she was kidnapped. Of course she came back and joined us in the water that was so warm it never really cooled you off.
There may have been another rum punch or two, and a swim before we soon found ourselves back in our very cool stateroom, got cleaned up and our guest Mary arrived and we had a good chat and then the ship sailed.
We went on the balcony and witnessed a very emotional and spectacular sail away as we pulled out first and engaged in a wonderful Ship's Horn Honking Serenade as the smallest and the biggest ships in the fleet of 14 said goodbye and God's Speed. The crews of the two ships have close friends on board both. Great feeling up there.
We went to the dining room with Mary and had a great dinner and conversation.
It was a great day with an iffy beginning.
The view from or balcony as we docked early this morning.
The dining room on the new ship.
All set up and hunkering under the umbrella from the sun. The Cutler's have been served and we await ours. Flying Fish Sandwich was the choice of most.
Three slightly sunburned, or toasted happy folks ready for a cool shower!
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