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Florida 2026, Days 09-18

Touring Florida and visiting people!

After disembarking the ship, we pick up a rental car and visit a shipmate friend from our 2 Round The World Cruises! Hey ‘E-Less Ann’!

Then it’s off towards Naples to visit Elee’s college roommate and her husband! Hey Ellen & Bob! They gave us a tour of the area!

After a couple days we head north to visit with Elee’s cousin on Anna Maria Island near Sarasota. Unfortunately, Karen was marooned up north due to the heavy snowstorms up north so John was a fantastic host who showed us around for a couple days! We also visited Brother in Law John and his partner Andrea who were both gracious enough to let us use their house! Thanks!

Then we were off to Orlando where we stayed at a Hilton (That we would never stay at again!) in the Disney World area. We did get a great deal on the room in exchange for attending a 2 hour Vacation Presentation (thinkTimeshare). Of course we were told there would be no pressure, LOL. But the presenters, sales persons, closers & check-out people were all clearly angry when we turned them down!

Our room in the hotel was next to a vertical shaft that went all the way to the very noisy Lobby where the sound carried to every room! We did have a view overlooking parts of Disney World and the Lazy River that belonged to the hotel. We did spend a couple hours prior to the presentation relaxing in the Lazy River!

Next, we were off to “The Villages” to visit another shipmate friend from our Round The World Cruises, Ron and his girlfriend Linda! It was fun catching up Guys! They took us to an outdoor Country Concert. It seems that The Villages has entertainment happening somewhere almost every night so it doesn’t matter which night you want to go out! There is always something happening!

On our way back to Orlando that evening, we even were able to pull over to watch a launch from Cape Canaveral! This was probably the most disappointing shot with the new iPhone 17 as the phone wouldn’t focus well on the rocket flames!

The next morning we check out of our hotel at 11 AM. Our flight doesn’t take off until 9 PM so we take a leisurely drive back to Fort Lauderdale. We find the Riverwalk and spend a couple hours there.

There will be an upcoming post for something we also did in Sarasota, but was a separate side trip. See you again soon!

Florida 2026, Day 08

Day 8 (6 on the ship), At Sea

We sleep in today. Breakfast consists of the “Windjammer Marketplace”, aka the buffet restaurant. One of the waiters was always dressed in some kind of ‘cow’ theme!

We hang out lazily today and listen to jazz music outside our window, coming from somewhere down in Central Park. We do find the walking track on Deck 5 that goes around the ship and I walk 5 laps, the equivalent of 3 miles! We walk around and find the “Bionic Bar” and I get a “Mother Pucker” just to watch the robots work.

We watch a few minutes of a Crew vs Passenger Volleyball game where the Crew dominates.

In the afternoon we watch a production of “Cats” in the theater. As well as it was performed, we’re glad we didn’t pay for Pantages tickets.

Then for dinner we visit Port Side BBQ and have brisket and pulled pork, smoked long and slow.

We attend a game show called “The Perfect Couple”, a hilarious adults only show. Then it’s off to bed and pack up our belongings as the Cruise ends in the morning.

Florida 2026, Day 07

Day 7, Porto Plata, Dominican Republic

At breakfast in the main restaurant this morning, we meet Amanda and Chelsea and have fun travel conversations. Amanda is a Consultant and Chelsea is an RN. Walking back to our stateroom, I come across the marker in Central Park that marks the center of the ship!

The gangplank opens at 10 AM. We get off and walk the mile of docks and shops to get into the city of Porto Plata, Dominican Republic. Walking around the city reveals interesting sights and streets. It doesn’t appear safe to wander far from the tourist attractions. We have been told the same from people who know this area.

About a mile of walking brings us to the “Umbrella Street”, with a canopy of colorful umbrellas.

Next we find the “Pink Street”, ‘Paseo de Dona Blanca’ where every wall and doorway is pink.

We walk around a large plaza, inquiring about restaurants that serve Conch, having never tried this. All kinds of tourist activities are happening. A ‘cool’ ice cream store grabs my camera’s eye! Caribbean music plays from a small band in the square.

We come across a Cathedral and my camera drags me over for a couple shots. There is no tourist fee to enter this one.

We are told of a restaurant that serves Conch. After much searching, we find it and get seated. Then we are informed that they don’t have conch today. Bummer. So we search some more to no avail.

Back to the ship it is, but not before stopping for a couple of rum drinks to cool the body and soul! A fun pair of bartenders helps keep us entertained! We even find a shuttle that takes us the last mile of docks to our ship!

Back on the ship, we don swim suits and relax in a hot tub. With muscles relaxed, I dry off and walk to the back of the ship to watch us leave port. I find some empty chairs at the back of the ship and sit back. Not knowing what time we will depart, I actually fall asleep for an hour or so. The ship horns wake me as they announce our departure. I wait for the ship to turn around but it never does. The ship is too big to turn around in the harbor! This is the first time I have witnessed a ship back all the way out the channel into the open ocean before it turns around and gets underway.

Back in our cabin, we prepare for dinner in the main dining room.

Florida 2026, Day 06

San Juan, Puerto Rico (Day 4 on the ship)

We get up and actually have a leisurely breakfast in the buffet (the main restaurant was packed). The gangplank opens a few minutes before 10 AM. We manage to make it off the ship around 10:15.

It’s already quite warm but not unbearable. We’re in the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico. We head through the streets of Old Town and work our way up the hill to the Old Fort. The buildings are colorful as we walk. The Fort as we approach, reminds us of the Old Fort in Cartagena, Columbia. Stone and mortar with similar design elements. We even poke our heads into a church on the way up!

Great views from the top of San Juan. The Fort is similar to many South American Forts. Stone, brick and mortar.

We continue through the quaint streets and come across a couple churches which even the local police don’t know the names of! We look inside but don’t opt to actually go in and pay the tithe.

We bump into Austin and Olivia from our ship (lovers in the Pub!) at Las Palomas Park (Pigeon Park) where a pigeon lands on my shoulder and it takes quite a bit of shaking to convince it to fly away!

It is very warm today so, on the way back to the ship, we stop at a local restaurant and imbibe in a cold margarita. Back on the ship, we change and head for a cool water pool. The ships horn informs us that we are departing and I grab my cell phone (the only camera I am traveling with) and get some shots of San Juan as we depart. Back to our cabin to relax before dinner. A new folded towel animal greets us!

Dinner in the main restaurant tonight is very good. After dinner we go to a “Name that Lyric” game show, lots of laughs. Then to an Elton John tribute. We watch the “Rising Tide Bar descend and later rise.

Heading back to our cabin, I take a stroll through Central Park. I come across the Rising Tide Bar ready to descend and I ride it down.

Goodnight All! See you tomorrow!

Florida 2026, Day 05

At Sea

Day 5 (day 3 on ship) Today we have breakfast in the Buffet where I promptly find the Omelette Bar! Here, you don’t wait at the bar, but I am given a restaurant ‘beeper’ that sounds a signal when your omelette is ready. Tummy satiated, it’s off to explore this humongous ship.

What do you do when you come across a Merry-Go-Round on a cruise ship? Well, you ride on it, of course! Then a kid on a Zip Line flies overhead! We find the Aqua Theater in the back of the ship that we will attend later tonight. And a display showing how a Hobby Horse is made!

We find the “Ultimate Abyss” slide on the 16th floor near the back of the ship. It is a 10 story dry slide that drops you to the 6th floor in 30 seconds. So of course we have to ride it! It is a double slide so Elee and I race to the bottom. I barely eek out the win amid complaints that, “Mine wouldn’t start”, and “I got stuck at the beginning”, yadda, yadda, yadda, LOL. But it was nothing less than thrilling!

We find our way to the “Royal Promenade”, a shopping and entertainment ‘street’ that runs most of the length of the ship on Deck 5. It is impossible to even tell you are on a ship! We find a bar on Deck 6 that overlooks the Promenade and order a couple of drinks while we sit and people watch. Before we know it, a Pirate Show begins among the people milling about and approximately 30-40 entertainment crew put on a show that takes up 100 yards of the Promenade, full with pirate ship props and shark fins floating along the floor. Costumed swashbucklers of all kinds perform to the crowds delight and it seems that by random luck, we have positioned ourselves perfectly to observe the festivities!

We are overlooking a set of fountains that sprays water through colored lights while the pirate show takes place all around it. Elee steps away for a few minutes to use the facilities and when she returns, she exclaims, “When did the Fountain turn into a Bar?” I had been so busy focusing on the show that I never noticed a full on bar, the “Rising Tide Bar”, had dropped down upon the fountain from Deck 8! It turns out that it drops and rises several times per day and you can go in the bar while it is in motion!

The show concludes and a couple arrives with a travel version of the game, “Rummy Cub”. They invite us to join them and we play a round of the game. Our latest new friends, Donna and Randy, from Fort Lauderdale and Philadelphia and quite congenial and friendly.

We wander around more of the ship, even the elevator wells are something to look at! We end up in our cabin where we don our swim gear and kick back in a hot tub on Deck 15. After which we find a bar in the Promenade hosting a Travel Trivia game. We join in the game and don’t do as well as we thought we would but it is fun anyway. The bar is offering Happy Hour Margaritas and we imbibe some more!

We have already made dinner reservations in the Solarium Bistro where, true to their word, Maitre de Salem and Chef Alicia make and serve us complimentary Filet Mignon. Waiter Adhi from Bali takes great care of us and the meal is fabulous! Tonight, Elee joins me and we go back to the Globe & Atlas to listen to the guitar player, Ana. We take up residence at a table for 4 and before long, a brother and sister, Chris and Angie from Minnesota join us and we have another fun evening making more new friends!

At 10:30 PM, we attend the “Aqua 80” show in the water theater at the back of the ship. We made reservations for this show at home before we even left. This show is comprised of high flying aerial acrobatics and high diving from 6 stories up, all while the ship is in motion! Spectacular athletes perform all kinds of aquatic stunts and a few of them even fly over and behind the audience on aerial trapezes!