Travel With the Author on A Modern Day Walkabout!!
Off on another adventure!!
As our bus was picking us up at 8:00 AM, it was up at 6:00! Eating a small breakfast and securing our humble abode, we were out the door and on our way!
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My wife and I were escorting a small group of 26 Shriners and their wives on a week long cruise to Aruba and Curacao.
Shortly before 8 o’clock the bus rounded the corner and we began loading the luggage and ourselves for the 4 hour ride to Port Everglades.
It is a long trip and a good Shriner is always prepared for such events, as soon as everyone was settled, Bloody Mary’s and Screwdrivers were served by our resident bartender. Making a quick stop in Venice to pick up the rest of our delegation and finishing off the Bloody Mary mix, it was apparent that a good nap was now in order.
Nearing the halfway point of our journey, Naples was rapidly approaching, time for our traditional stop for breakfast at McDonald’s, an Egg McMuffin and a glass of orange juice, we wouldn’t be eating food of this caliber for a whole week!!
The next meal would be awaiting us on Holland America’s Westerdam.
The rest of the trip was quite uneventful , nothing to see out the window except alligators and sawgrass. The conversation grew quite lively, as everyone was now awake and fed, anxiously awaiting our arrival into the port.
The port was a beehive of activity, the parking lot was packed with buses and taxis, our neighbors for the week were all arriving. Check-in went rather well ,we were on the ship before 1:00, as our cabins were not ready we retired to the Lido deck for lunch .
Holland America normally are excellent hosts and this week was no exception, about 1:30 the announcement came that our cabin was ready, entering our large , spacious room with an abundance of closet space , a pleasant surprise awaited us, our luggage had already been delivered!
On one recent cruise, the closet space was so limited, we actually lived out of our suitcases for a week , not so here, we were unpacked and still had some empty drawers, WOW!
Next it was off to the spa to book our appointments for the week, gotta get that done early, before everyone gets all the good spots!
Just finishing in time for the required muster drill, life jackets were grabbed and it was down to our muster station, all the time looking like a bunch of dorks!!
They always plan this as the ship is leaving the dock, which makes it difficult to have time to take the life jacket back to the room and attend the farewell party on the Lido deck at the same time. However where there is a will, there is a way.
Our first day was rapidly ending, after a delicious dinner and fabulous show, it was off to sleepy land, as a full day awaited us on Half Moon Cay.
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