Scenes from our Caribbean Cruise

We are at the moment cruising from Bermuda to Madeira and not a lot is happening, we do not seem to have any excursions!!!  However I am posting a few picture of things we have either done or seen on this cruise.

The above picture was painted by Geoffrey in our art class.  We go to this every sea day and we both really love it, although I am not doing as well as Geoffrey.

A couple of pictures of me in Tenerife and Guadaloupe.

I am here in Guadaloupe admiring the home made dresses, they were really beautiful.  I would have just loved to buy one, but what would I use it for?

We are at one of the many sail away parties.  Note: with our free glass of champagne.

We are in one of our favourite ports of call, Aruba, it really is beautiful.  It is one of the places you either love it or hate it.  One of the reasons why I love it is because of the iguanas that are always there waiting for us.

In this photograph we are riding in a chair lift in Roatan from the port area to the beach.

Us dressed up for a semi formal and Casual night.

In these two photographs we are in Miami South Beach and Aruba Palm Beach , with contrasting temperatures of 11oC and 30oC

Here Geoffrey has managed to climb to the top of one of the Uxmal Mayan  ruins in Progresso.  It was so hot 31 degrees, I didn't quite make it.

This is one of the many parades we saw in New Orleans in Mardi Gras.  They were both during the day and at night for three days and nights!!!!

A lovely sunset as we were leaving New Orleans, although it was a very, very cold day - only 9 degrees.  It was quite a shock to our system after the 31 degrees we had had in Progresso.

Sorry to keep jumping around the above is a scene from South Beach in Miami.

A beautiful fountain in the absolutely gorgeous Charleston.

Bermuda

15th February 2016

After two fairly rough days we arrived in Bermuda "after crossing the Bermuda Triangle", to be greeted with sunshine and temperatures up into 15 degrees.  We had decided to do a tour of the island by a six seater taxi.  The island, which is approximately 22 miles long and only one mile wide had one road running the length of the island, which we travelled along at 35 miles an hour (the maximum speed limit for the island), with our driver Leo watching out for the landmarks and giving us the history of this British Colony.  Our first stop was the capital, Hamilton, where we had an hour to walk around the centre visiting the local Marks and Spencers and other shops, including a perfume shop selling Lili Bermuda perfume, which is not exported and only sold on the island, where we bought a small sampler of all the various fragrances.  

We then found Leo, who drove us around the very clean town full of typical colonial buildings, including City Hall and the Premiers official residence situated inside the Botanical Gardens.  En route Leo answered all our various questions regarding history, politics, schooling and crime, where he stated that crime rates go up and down year on year as when the crime rate goes up they arrest all the known criminals and put them in prison and then the crime rate goes down.  

We stopped at many viewing points around the island to see the beautiful beaches and bays situated along the south of the island, where there are numerous exotic holiday resorts, tucked away in the bays.

We stopped for ten minutes at Gibbs Hill lighthouse built in 1846 where Geoffrey rashly said he would walk up to the top, 185 steps later he arrived rather puffed at the top but the views around the island were spectacular, so it was well worth the climb.  After taking photographs Geoffrey was back in the taxi after only ten minutes (not bad for an old-en).

We continued our drive around this picturesque island back to the old Royal Naval Dockyard, where our ship was berthed.  We then walked out the old dockyard visiting shops and craft market, before returning to our ship, which was due to said at 4.00pm.  We both enjoyed Bermuda very much and would even consider returning  for a holiday one day, perhaps an alternative to Madeira!!!

Next year Bermuda is hosting the "Americas Cup" and the USA team was already based in the port and testing their new boat the Oracle.  The Japanese and New Zealand teams were also in town.

We then joined the sail away party as we set sail east across the Atlantic to our last destination, Madeira, before arriving home.

Port Canaveral and Charleston

10th February 

Port Canaveral

Today we arrived at a very cold and windy Port Canaveral, only 9 degrees centigrade and we had pre-booked a three hour boat trip on the Cocoa Beach Thousand Islands located in the lagoon estuary of the Indian and Banana Rivers.  However we gritted our teeth, put on our warmest clothes and ventured out on our open sided boat, which gave us no protection from the wind.  As promised in the catalogue we saw Ospreys, Blue Herons, Ibis, Kingfisher, Pelicans and Dolphins.  However the Manatees and Alligators were nowhere to be seen.

On route we passed many nice houses all situated on the river banks.

Even this poor heron looked cold in the biting wind and our guide made us laugh as half way round the tour she offered us iced water, iced coke, but regrettable no hot coffee!!!  Despite the weather conditions it was a pleasant enough trip, but we were glad to reach shore and return to the port, where we caught a taxi to a local shopping mall to browse the shops, including another Macys, where Doreen bought some very nice Tshirts at rock bottom sale prices.

12th February 2016

Charleston

Today we arrived at Charleston, in South Carolina, a town we had visited before and had decided to walk around town admiring the beautiful tree lined streets, antique shops and restaurants.  Again the weather was cold only 10 degrees with some rain.  We were out walking for almost 5 hours, before we reached the up-market, market area, where we saw many hand crafted jewellery, baskets, paintings and other craft items.  

In one of the shops we saw this picture of an alligator/turtle sunbathing, which made us smile.

We then returned to our ship for a nice hot cup of tea before preparing for our evening meal, which was followed by two exceptional shows, the first being songs and history of Les Miserable and the second a local Charleston group who gave us a brief history of Charleston portrayed by its music from the Civil War, slavery to modern day gospel singing.

We are now heading directly east away from the USA across the Atlantic, with a brief stop in two days time in Bermuda and a further six days to Madeira.  We are hoping that we get warmer weather as we get closer to Africa.