Carib day 9

What a beautiful morning for breakfast on the verandah! Sunny. Only a very light breeze. Warm temp. It was a great start for the day.

Today we are at the private island - meaning a pseudo-sea day for us. Jill booked herself for a facial. We played trivia - tied for 1st. I napped. Jill won $180. I read a James Patterson book. And...I napped. Tonight, we watched the movie Elizabeth. Basically...a nice slow day.

We have new tablemates for dinner - a couple from Ashville, SC. He grew up in Jacksonville, IL and she grew up in Carbondale, IL. They seem like good people and should be nice to spend dinners with them this week.

Tomorrow should be slow again. We dock at the fake Princess-built "town" on Grand Turk. We plan to stay on the ship. I am scheduled for a massage. So...another day in paradise!

End of 1st week

We docked this morning in Ft Lauderdale for the end of the first week. It was interesting to be able to ignore packing luggage and all the stuff to get ready to get off the ship. Instead, we relaxed last night and went on an Everglades excursion this AM. We rode an airboat and saw an alligator in the wild. Upon returning to the ship, lots of people going through all the initial boarding stuff.

Little else will be new today. So...I thought I would share a few tidbits from our first week Cruise Log from HAL. For those of you in the cold, our noon temps last week were all between 79 and 83. We traveled 2217 nautical miles or 2550 statute miles. Our ports were Ft Lauderdale to Grand Turk to Tortolla to St Maarten to Half Moon Cay and back to Ft Lauderdale. Our ports this week are Ft Lauderdale to Half Moon Cay to Grand Turk to Grand Cayman to Cozumel and back to Ft Lauderdale.

With a some ports repeating, we plan to get in plenty of relaxing. Won't go on the private island and don't need to go back to Grand Turk. We may even get in an extra spa day.

For now, time for a nap.

Carib day 7

Today was a day at the HAL private island - which means day at the spa for us. Great weather for breakfast on the verandah - around 80, very sunny and only light wind.

We scheduled our massages for late AM. As usual, I really enjoyed my massage and Jill says she'll get a facial next time. She doesn't seem to like massages as much as me. I've been having some stiffness in my shoulder and the massage therapist helped with that.

After our treatments, lunch and trivia - ho-hum we won again. We have won all but about two trivia contests. Don't know how we'll do next week when half our team is gone. Hopefully, we'll pick up people who know useless info.

We spent the afternoon doing absolutely nothing. Jill went to the casino and come back up about $75 or so. I napped since I don't have a book. Finished two James Patterson books from the library so far and won't check out another until tomorrow - would have to turn in the book tonight and recheck it our tomorrow - so I decided to wait.

I can't imagine if we had to get off tomorrow like about 1650 of the 2000 passengers. One week would simply be way too short. It will be odd when almost everyone is putting out their luggage and leaving while we stay on.

We will get off for a while in Ft Lauderdale for the Everglades airboat tour. We've never been able to do that tour because there weren't enough people. It was great when we heard yesterday that there are enough for the excursion this year.

So...we sure have had great weather for the first week. Only had a bit of rain for the one day while on excursion in Tortolla. A few morning breakfasts on the verandah were a bit breezy. But, otherwise, the weather couldn't have been better. Most temps in the high 70's and low 80's.

The eastern Caribbean was a good location for a warm-up cruise. We left behind cold, ice and snow. And we thawed out nicely down here. St Maarten and the butterfly farm were clearly the highlight on this half of our cruise.

Carib day 6

Well...we really are that team this week that people seem to dislike. Even though last night, we only finished second on Rat Pack music trivia with 19 out of 20, we came back this afternoon and won misc trivia. Then, we tied for first on name that tune Motown trivia. And...Jill won on the 2-penny slots today - so she is now up $500.

Relaxing day today. Day at sea. Just played games and read.

A late addition before I send, we won 50's & 60's music trivia tonight. The guy in the piano bar is very good. We have really enjoyed listening to him. Of course, most people around us are drinking as they sing along - but we can have fun without the drinking. Maybe we don't sing as well, but...

Day on the ship tomorrow since we are at the private island - which is mainly a beach day. We'll probably do something at the spa.

Carib day 5

This morning we went on an excursion in St Maarten. We learned during the bus ride that the island is only 37 sq miles - 16 are Dutch and 21 are French. We first visited a butterfly farm. It was quite interesting. We learned about the life cycle of the butterfly and saw lots of different kinds. This was one of the cooler excursions we have done. Then, we visited Marigot in the French part of the island for a little shopping opportunity. Jill got a tote bag and a summer purse. I got tired. Upon returning to the ship, we had lunch and played trivia again - we are becoming "that team" since we won again. Time for a nap.

More day 4

Well...besides winning misc trivia this morning, we also won movie & show music trivia tonight. Perfect score tonight.

This afternoon, we took a tour of Tortolla by open-air bus. Rained a little - I got a bit wet - but we managed OK. Stopped a couple times to shop - nothing much.

We were pretty tired and both took naps after dinner - before trivia and the comedian show. Nothing particularly interesting otherwise. We are enjoying doing nothing as much as we can.

Carib day 3

Tuesday was a day at Grand Turk. It was a little unusual because it seems that this area was built by Carnival specifically for its various cruise ships.

We docked, walked along a long pier and the beach and shopping were right there. I don't think that non-cruise visitors can get to this area of the island. There was transport to other areas - but we just did the port.

Typical Carib island shopping with the normal stores you see on most islands plus what appeared to be a little local retail flavor. There was a Margaritaville - with all the Jimmy Buffet music and souvenirs. Was about 45 minutes worth of walking around shops and we returned to the ship.

Full afternoon of trivia - so-so on TV theme song trivia, tied for first on one normal trivia and won one trivia. So...not a bad afternoon for us.

There are lots of passengers who are not frequent cruisers. About 300 of the 2000 passengers are doing the two weeks - basically, the frequent cruisers. It is funny to hear the newbies talking about the rocking of the boat - it is actually quite calm compared to what we have experienced in the past.

We just got back this morning from trivia - we won again. We have a pretty good team now.

We anchor soon in Tortolla and have a short afternoon excursion. More later...

Carib day 2

It sure is nice to just relax. Today was a day at sea. We are on our way to Grand Turk. Breakfast on the verandah, reading in the Neptune Lounge, trivia - second place, nap while Jill went to the casino - broke even from yesterday... Basically, a non-stress day. We port in Grand Turk tomorrow but we don't have an excursion. We'll just see what happens and what we feel like. For now, Jill is in bed already - she didn't get a nap - and I'll probably just watch a movie or read.

Caribbean

We made it to the Westerdam today. Boarded about 12:30. Was only about 15 minutes before a lido cafe worker recognized and came up to welcome is back. We saw our dining room waiter from Oct later in the day.

Our cabin is quite nice. Slightly smaller than our suites the past few cruises - but, we have a huge verandah. I would guess the verandah might be twice as big as we have ever had. I expect that we will enjoy using the verandah for breakfast and a lot of just lounging around.

Didn't get to see much of the Super Bowl - but what a great end. We are very happy for Eli and the Giants.

So...nothing very unusual today. But, with luck and good weather, should be a great trip.

Caribbean

Well...today we began our "warm up" vacation. This morning we flew on AirTran for the first time. I don't know much about them other than they offered the best deal for a non-stop 1st class flight to Ft Lauderdale. They were very punctual - we left the gate about 10 minutes early. The flight was good - I assume since I slept most of it. And, we landed about 15 minutes early. We checked into the Renaissance Hotel in Plantation, FL. It is a Marriott chain and is about 15 minutes from where we will board the HAL Westerdam tomorrow. We did pretty much nothing once we got here - feeling lazy. So...that's it we are on our way. And...we have warmed up already!

snow today, Caribbean tomorrow

We got snow today - making our trip to Floriday tommorow and the Caribbean Sunday very good timing. We are returning to the HAL Westerdam for two weeks - one week in the Eastern Carib and one week in the Western Carib. This is the same ship we took for the Rome to Ft Lauderdale crossing back in October.



I rec'd an Avastin infusion on Wednesday of this week. Everything remains pretty stable. When I get back from the trip, I will get an X-ray and bloodwork. So...we'll see what Dr Einhorn says. I feel pretty good...so, I expect that he will be happy.



I continue to have a small irritating issue with headaches - just in the AM and Advil handles it pretty quickly. Don't know for sure what is causing them; but, Dr Einhorn is monitoring and isn't concerned at this time. The peripheral neuropathy in my feet is not totally gone; but, is considerably less that during the last few months. I don't even notice it much of the day - only when I think about it and realize that it is still there.



So...tonight we pack. Tomorrow we fly to Ft Lauderdale. Sunday we board the Westerdam and sail for two weeks. Maybe the snow will be gone by the time we get back!!

backtracking a little

Just went back and saw that I didn't blog since before Xmas. We had a very nice visit with the kids. Brett & Arielle stayed for about 2 weeks. Julie was here for a few weeks - minus a few days that she went back to St Louis for New Years. We did our normal tapas-style Xmas Eve. It was fun with Arielle here since this was her first Xmas. Everyone had a great time opening presents. For Xmas day, we prepared a turkey dinner - much of it from a pre-packaged dinner from The Fresh Market. Turkey, dressing, cranberry salad, rolls, corn souffle, Jill's double-baked potatoes. Great meal.

We had our New Year's Eve soup party. We had four other couples - meaning we had five kinds of soup. Great night for me! After soup and lots of conversation, we played Balderdash. It was a fun game and turned out that we had just about the right number of players to work well.

Brett & Arielle went back to Philly after New Years and Julie came back for another week or so. Finally, by mid-January, we had the house back. It is certainly very nice to have the kids visit - but, it is also nice to have the house to ourselves again. We have certainly become accustomed to being empty-nesters.

Brett is now done with school. He finished strong on Dean's List the last two semesters. Now...I am not sure what he will end up doing. Obviously, I would hope that he will have luck finding some kind of job that he likes. Julie is next - she finishes in May.

nothing new

Well...it seems that I am currently in that stage that just requires "wait & see". There is currently nothing new re: my status or treatment. My last x-ray was Jan 2 and Dr Einhorn indicated that the x-ray indicates that I am continuing to do well. I will continue to get the Avastin infusion every 3 weeks. But...Dr Einhorn thinks that every 6 weeks is now enough for the x-rays and blood tests. I am not experiencing many side-effects from the Avastin. Bleeding can be an issue and the thin tissue inside my nose if pretty much never fully healed - nose-bleeding is a standard thing for me right now. Blood pressure is running pretty normal.

I will continue on this track until around late April or early May. Apparently, I can only get the Avastin for one year. After one year, my status will be evaluated and Dr Einhorn will decide where to go from there. If I am still in remission, it is likely that he will move to one of the other options similar to Avastin to control things. At a point when it appears that the cancer could be becoming active again, he currently thinks that we might actually be able to reconsider further rounds of chemo. This is not done in many cases; but, he feels that my body seemed to react well and it might be worth another try.

I still have some of the peripheral neuropathy (dullness/pain) in my feet - but, it is much less that a few months ago. Most of the time my feet just feel like they are asleep. It is a bit funky walking sometimes - but, is mostly not too much problem. Occasionally, I get a bit of pain in my feet. When that happens, I need to just stay off my feet and sit until it subsides.

We continue to travel - we leave for two weeks in the Caribbean on Feb 2. Jill's docs seem to think it is OK for her to continue planning cruises - so, we are planning something for the Spring. Looking at several options right now - Baltic capitals, Alaska, Scotland/Ireland, Italy. I guess we will need to decide pretty soon so we can get it booked and move on with the other plans.

Xmas is almost here

Well...Xmas is almost here. Brett and Julie are both home. And, Brett brought his girlfriend, Arielle, with him. The bird Xmas tree is finished and lit up in the family room. The big tree in the living room is started but not quite finished. Brett and Arielle have done most of that tree so far. Jill and I will finish it today.

We have been eating out most meals since we got back from Galapagos. But...today, we are cooking tacos. As always, the simmering meat is creating a nice odor in the house. Nothing quite like the smell of garlic and spices in the air. We have Xmas music playing. The snow has mostly melted; but, that's OK by me.

Tomorrow, we will shop for groceries for Xmas eve. As always, we are doing lots of bite-sized stuff. Cucumber sandwiches, small wieners in sauce, crab salad, etc. Over the years, that has become our Xmas eve tradition. We will exchange gifts on Xmas eve since nobody really wants to get up early on Xmas day anymore.

It has really been rather hectic since before Thanksgiving. With travel for the holidays, entertaining for cards, travel to Galapagos, dealing with Xmas decorating and everything else, it seems that a little downtime will be nice. I have a 4-day weekend and hope to do as little as possible.

Medically, my feet are finally starting to feel a little better. They still feel like they are asleep. But, much of the pain is subsiding. It has been a bit difficult - especially with the walking in the Galapagos. Hopefully, I have weathered that storm and my feet will be better for a while.

I saw Dr Forkin this week. She is still not happy with my cholesterol level - thought it is only slightly high. She has changed my med and we'll see how that does. Other than that, I am in a holding pattern. I see Dr Einhorn after the New Year.