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Embarkation Day on Harmony of the Seas

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 Today’s the first day of our 16-day transatlantic cruise from Galveston to Barcelona.  We managed to pack our stuff into two suitcases and two small duffels. (The striped tote held two bottles of champagne and snacks.) Half of my suitcase held clothes, and the other half was for toiletries, chargers, hats, and shoes. By mid-April, we will be heartily sick of the few outfits we brought, I’m sure! A strong cold front arrived in Houston overnight, so it was in the mid-40s, with 29 mph winds! Yesterday’s high was 84. Our favorite driver Rafee drove us to the port and dropped us off at the door, where baggage handlers took all our bags. We rode an escalator to the suites and Pinnacles check-in, which was already crowded. We’ve heard that there are a LOT of Pinnacles on this cruise. We arrived at 10:00, and got checked in quickly, but it was 11:00 before we got to board, because the staff’s tablets weren’t working for that process. After checking in at our muster station, we reacti...
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Last Day at Sea

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We enjoyed our last dinner in Chops Grille (until next month) last night, and today for lunch we had the Sake and Sushi tasting at Izumi.  It was the exact same menu as  in October , so you can check out more details on that post, if you’d like. I did take two photos, though, because the chef added some decorative touches with sauces that appealed to me. We were seated near a young couple from upstate NewYork, and the young woman was so seasick that she couldn’t eat or drink anything and finally left.  We were definitely feeling some motion on the aft top deck, and there were lots of whitecaps.  Fortunately, we weren’t affected. We are busy packing up this afternoon, so we’ll be ready to leave our two suitcases in the hall this evening. We booked the airport transfer, so we’ll leave at 8:30 on a bus and spend the next several hours at the San Juan airport. Not ideal, but there’s a major festival this weekend, so traffic will be crazy and restaurants crowded.  Ch...
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Bridgetown Barbados

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Alas, Barbados was a bust for us.  We realized this morning that we had no way to get to the meeting point for the food tour. The walk from the ship to the port market area is over a mile, and it was already 83 degrees at 9:00 a.m.  If the tour had been a RC one, they’d have provided transportation. But the RC excursion we originally booked was cancelled. Oh, well.  We weren’t too sad to have a quiet day on such a port-intensive cruise. Here are a few photos.  We finally managed to get a photo of these flamingos that hang out on Deck 13 and can only be seen from the elevators.  Also, we had the Solarium to ourselves first thing this morning, so I finally captured a pic of this guy, lazing by the pool. Charlie took the next two. The first one shows that we’re in an industrial area and that Barbados is much less hilly than the other islands we’ve visited. Cunard’s Queen Victoria is also here today That’s all I have for today!
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Roseau, Domenica

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Roseau is the capital of Dominica, another Caribbean island in an S-shaped chain that starts with Cuba.  It has French colonial architecture and a Creole heritage.  It’s known for amazing waterfalls, but we weren’t up for hiking or a three-hour bus ride. Here are views from our balcony: Charlie found an interesting, farm-to-table restaurant very close to the ship, so we walked along the pier to the market area. Lacou Melrose House is located in a former planter’s house, built in 1770, and it has withstood two centuries of hurricanes.  The interior features paintings by local artists.  I enjoyed the Lacou Cocktail while we consulted the menu. I chose the Salad Niçoise, and Charlie had the marlin schnitzel sandwich.  My salad included all the usual elements, but instead of potatoes, mashed plantain was piped onto the salad. Interesting!   We couldn’t manage dessert, alas.  Now we’re back on the ship to cool off and relax.  Tonight’s dinner is at Izu...
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St. Croix

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Today we had an earlier than usual excursion, a “Culture and Flavors of St. Croix” walking tour. We met our group at 8:30, then walked down a long pier to the starting point. Our guide, Rao, told us his family has been here for seven generations! He left for college, but returned and is the executive chef at the country club. He explained the history of the island, with ownership changing from the Spanish (after Columbus) to France and England, back to Spain, and finally to Denmark.  Denmark was the first country to discover how to make the island profitable, from sugarcane, tobacco, and indigo.  They brought slaves to work on the plantations, but years before our Civil War, the slaves rebelled under the leadership of “General” Buddhoe. They gathered in the square outside the fort, armed with their farming tools, and the Danish governor quickly decided to announce their freedom from the roof of the fort. The second photo below shows an artist’s depiction of the bloodless rebel...
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St. Maarten

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Late yesterday afternoon we attended the Top Tier event as we usually do, and before it started we enjoyed chatting with a couple from New Hampshire who will stay on this ship for seven weeks—same itinerary —to avoid winter weather back home.  The wife said they thought about spending the time in Florida, but then she’d be cooking and cleaning! We heard from the ship captain Igor and a few other staff members, and here’s the traditional tally by loyalty level: The number one cruiser has spent the equivalent of 11 years onboard! Dinner was at Izumi, which we almost couldn’t find.  It’s hidden on deck 12 at one end of the ship, but you have to go through the gym, then out onto the deck and around to find it! Better signage would help. But dinner did not disappoint.  After the miso soup (tasty but not photogenic), we both had the tempura shrimp and vegetables, and we shared some dumplings.  Then we shared our favorite champagne lobster roll, as well as the crispy shrimp...
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Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

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Last night’s dinner at Giovanni’s Table was excellent.  We had a window table and nice view, even though the ship hadn’t left San Juan yet.  Charlie enjoyed the fried calamari as an appetizer, and we both had arugula salads. I had my favorite pasta bolognese and Charlie chose the osso buco, pictured below. The polenta it’s served on is really good! When we woke up this morning, the ship was docking in St. Thomas. Our room is on the lucky side of the ship, facing the island, while the port side was dwarfed by Oasis of the Seas. Here’s the view from our balcony. We originally had brunch plans at a place across the island, but since today is Sunday, we were warned that most businesses would be closed and taxis scarce. So Charlie found a seafood place in a marina club nearby that we could easily walk to. Entering the port area Along the way, we marveled at the yachts docked there, including this one, which reminded us of Patrick when he was a toddler.  After banishment to his...
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