Monday, December 14th
I have been watching birds fishing and flying fish from our veranda. Today we will go on a tour of Oranjestad, Aruba. The tour was 3 1/2 hours on a bus. I found Oranjestad to be very dirty with lots of liter. The history of the island was very interesting. Cactus was everywhere and many houses had fences made of cactus. We visited a tiny church which was cute. The tiny lighthouse was totally covered with scaffolding.

Can you see the bird is fishing?

A natural bridge.

This natural bridge had recently fallen down.

The church was tiny.

Saturday, Decemberr 12
Today we arrive in Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, which is an island Holland America owns. It is mostly for young people: lying on the beach, and other activities. We decide not to go ashore. So far today all we have done is eat and explore the huge ship. When we are docked everything is closed. AT 3:00 we are all going to the casino and participating in a slot tournament.
Well, guess what? Shirley, Lola and Susan finished in the top 6 to qualify for the finals onn December 19th. Also, while waiting for her friends to play in the tournament Susan played a penny slot machine and won $301.00. What a shock when she cashed out. Of course she dashed over to the roulette table and immediately lost $50.00. She did buy everyone drinks before dinner tonight.

We left from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on December 11, 2015. I was unable to post to my blog aboard ship as I didn’t have a good connection and I had the wrong password. I have decided to do my blog after the fact. I hope you can enjoy it anyway. On this cruise was Lola, her daughter, Casey, Patt, Shirley and me.

Susan and I had haircuts and I had a pedicure and manicure before we left on our Carribean Cruise aboard the Holland America Line cruise ship Zuiderdam.  Our flight to Ft. Lauderdale was uneventful but we had to get up at 3:30 a.m. to be on time at the airport  Our good friend, Hank, also got up early to drive us to the airport.  Our arrival in Ft. Lauderdale was also uneventful.  Our taxi driver had no personality and we had to listen to his loud music all the way to the hotel.  We upgraded our room and had a great ocean view.  From our room we could see a draw bridge that opened up to let ships through.  That evening we gathered to have dinner together.

In the morning after breakfast we met in front of the hotel to catch a shuttle to our ship.  Just as we were getting on the shuttle Susan suddenly realized she did not have her purse.  Now, our passports and ship tickets were in her purse!  I fought a wave of hysteria as Susan rushed back to the hotel.  Lola, Casey, Patt and Shirley left on the shuttle.  I guarded our suitcases as I anxiously awaited Susan’s return.  Susan crowded in to the front of the line at the hotel desk to get a key to our room.  She walked out of the hotel a few minutes later with her purse.  Everything turned out okay and we arrived just about the same time as the first shuttle we missed.

Just as I stepped outside the hotel for a breath of fresh air, I was almost body slammed by a bunch of security guys hustling a dignitary to his waiting vehicle.  Cop cars fore and aft with security cars right behind.  A TV crew was filming the whole thing, so once again I’m going to be on Albanian news.  I asked the TV crew who it was.  They said he was a Greek government minister.  I didn’t get his title.  There must be more dignitaries still inside because the TV crew and other security guys are loitering around.  The excitement never ends.

Traveling with my Aunt and Cheryl has been a blast. Our last trip together to Croatia was full of  laughs, love and friendship… thanks ladies for making memories with me… I will never forget them!