Author: kaybrownsite

Up early for our last elbow to elbow buffet breakfast and then a short wait in our room until our number is called to depart the ship.

We have had a lovely time on the cruise but I do think this ship is a little too big for us, plus I now have a few months of a bad haircut.

Joined the queue to exit the ship. It appeared long but moved very quickly, they may have done this before. Easy customs check and another easy Uber collection to our hotel in Miami Beach, Ocean Beach Suites on Collins Street.

We have picked this location in Miami because today is also the day we get to catch up briefly, overnight with gorgeous Shelley and Marie. Their hotel was full but ours is just down the road.

Dropped our bags at the hotel and then off to explore Miami Beach. Pete and I were also here about 11 years ago. Not a lot had changed. Beautiful Art Deco buildings, interesting people…

Helped a fellow triathlon who had fallen hard off his bike.

Stop for lunch at Subway,  no three-course meal today and then some more exploring.

We were able to get into our room at about 1.30 and it was nice to get out of the heat and into the air conditioning.

A small rest in the room and then time to catch up with Shelley and Marie. It was lovely seeing their beautiful, familiar and smiling faces.

A quick look at the beach and some help looking for a man’s wedding ring in the sand. Our help was unsuccessful and probably only aided in its bury.

Drinks and dinner in a quiet (quieter then Miami Beach) Italian restaurant on Lincoln Road Mall. A nice walk back to our hotels and then time to say farewell to the girls until we see them again in New York. They fly to Cancun Mexico tomorrow.

Biking Miami

Wow, some fit people

Miami Beach Baby

New Watches

Time to Swim

Art Deco

Lincoln Road Mall

Beautiful Buildings

Shelley and Marie

Miami Beach Triathlon

Beach Walk

What’s going on?

So… another hairdresser disaster. What is it with me?? (not you Taylor, my lovely Geraldton hairdresser or my cousin David).

Those who know me know I love getting my hair done and I especially don’t like the greys.

I had booked the appointment on the first day and had been looking forward to it all week. Let’s just say that if there is any hair left on my head and not in the sink it will be a miracle. I know it’s first world problem but it a first world problem I am really fond of.

Back to my room and decided to vent my dissatisfaction with guest services. They then offer you a refund but that is not going to get my hair back. What’s the point, as I said before, first world problems.

Lunch at the formal dining, delicious, decided to have a glass of wine.

Back to the cabin and ready to enjoy our last live show on board, Grease the musical.

I enjoyed it, the boys (all the boys) did well to sit through it.

Time for our last dinner and farewells to our lovely Balinese waiter Made. Stopped off at the outdoor theatre and watch some of the movie Wonder.  I do love this movie, another one that makes me cry my eyes out.  Wes asked me if I cry at all movies…just the good ones.

Happy Boys…

Love the ocean

Packing

Farewell Dinner

Last dessert for a while

Make the most of it

Wes

Today is the last stop on our Caribbean Cruise before a day at sea and our return to Fort Lauderdale.

Labadee, Haiti is Royal Caribbean’s own private cove on the island of Haiti. They keep the options for tours restricted to activities in this area only.

Pete and I had been here before on our very first cruise, 11 years ago. Today it is a LOT bigger with no tenders needed to take us to the beach, it now has it’s own jetty to dock, even for this biggest of ships.

We didn’t arrive until 10 am so we spend the morning working on our next few spots to visit before we pick up the motorhome in May.

Off the ship and onto the beach we went and just as last time it was beautiful but stinking hot. Plus this extra large ship resulted in not a lot of space between tourists.

We were early enough off the boat to find a few sun chairs in the shade and then had a gorgeous dip in the crystal blue clear water.

Unless you book one of the shaded cabanas I have no idea how you could stay baking out here all day.

We have also discovered that I had packed the wrong sunscreen from home and this is why Noah has a large rash on his face. Poor little thing, Mum fail. We are trying to keep his sunscreen to a minimum before we can get some more in Miami.

Enough sun and back to the ship for lunch in the aircon and then fun on the slides, pool, and spa while the ship is crowd free.

The boys also spent a couple of hours in the kids club which gave our ear’s a little rest.

Ready for dinner in the dining room. Some 80’s music at the aqua theatre after and then back to our room.

Labadee, Haiti

Wessy and Dad

Gorgeous small cove

Reality

Let’s get baking

Beautiful Waters

If only it was all as peaceful

Labadee

Noah on the slide

Browns do Haiti

Today we dock at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Pete and I had spent a week here about 10 years ago but ended up staying in a cheesy American hotel. The experience wasn’t great. We spend one of our last days in the old town and wished we had stayed there.

Today we got up early and spent a few hours meandering around the old town before the crowds and heat kicked in. There are two cruise ships in port today which probably totals an extra 10,000 people, tourists.

As we left the ship early we did manage a little quieter time and some nice pictures. We all really enjoyed our time in the town.

Back to the ship, some lunch and a small walk for Noah and myself.

Formal night at the restaurant, Pete discovers last minute his shirt is too creased to wear. Too late to get it ironed, very convenient. We go to the buffet instead.

All of us were feeling quite tired so we decided to have an early evening in our cabin.

Beautiful colonial buildings

Cobble Stone Streets

Pictures before the crowds

Quiet coastline

Old Fort

San Juan

Noah in Puerto Rico

Walls around old San Juan

Cheers to 7UP

There she is…

More walking?

Today we reached land, the island of St Thomas.

Up early with the crowds for breakfast, a few pics from the ship and then ready for our 8.30 am meeting time to start the Panorama St. Thomas Island Tour.

The next few hours were spent winding around the island in our open-air bus including the mandatory souvenir stop and tourist picture stops, one with a donkey.

We managed to avoid most of the wet weather with just a slight scream from us girls when a frog jumped out from the rain blind.

Back to the ship and a lovely relaxing afternoon.

Ready for dinner, delicious again. After dinner, Wes and Pete went to watch another ice skating show while Noah and myself watched a little TV in the cabin.

St Thomas

Harmony of the Seas

Terry Tourists

Watch out! Pirate!

Beautiful scenery

Picture with a donkey?

Caribbean Tunes

St Thomas smash repairs

Our Ship

Boys

Relaxing

Another easy day at sea.

Breakfast at the buffet and then a swim in the pool and a play in the splash pool for Wes.

A little bit of people watching before lunch. There are all types on a ship, it scares me to think where we fit in.

Lunch at the main restaurant, delicious!

In the afternoon the boys went to the kids club, Pete finished his book and I went to the gym.

All fresh and ready for dinner in the main dining room, another tasty meal.

While enjoying dinner they made an announcement that out aqua evening show had been changed to day 6 due to technical issues.

No problem, they showed The Greatest Showman movie instead. Sat and watched it in the outside aqua cinema. A brilliant movie and balled my eyes out.

Lunch with a view

Cruising, Relaxing…

Lots of activities

Relaxing

Now, lets find the gym

Cabin Towel People

Great intentions of getting up early for a run but sleep won.

Around the corner on our deck to the main dining room for breakfast. Another delicious meal.

Off to the kids club for Noah & Wes, they need kid interaction.

This has given Pete and I some time together, nice.  We walked around the ship, took lots of pics and then…

Time for lunch.

A small run for the boys on the ship running track and then up to the kids club again for them.

Pete and I finished our exercise around the track. Not a bad view to run with.

Time to pick up the boys and a freshen up for dinner at the buffet. It was a formal night in the dining room and Pete decided he didn’t have any shoes to wear.

After dinner, we had reservations for one of the ice-skating shows. It was very enjoyable.

Time to retire, refresh and ready for tomorrow.

Things to do onboard

Out to Sea

Ship’s running track

Sailing Sunsets

Today is the day we board our Caribbean Cruise, Harmony of the Seas.

We spend the morning doing one more quick load of washing (laundry on the ship is super expensive, more money for drinks :-)), packing up our things and then an Uber to the cruise terminal.

Have I mentioned how much I love Uber…??

Easy boarding process and then onto the ship to start exploring. First stop, of course, lunch.

Lunch on boarding day is always a combination of excited people and those who think the food might run out on day one. Eventually, we got a table, and a plate of food.

A quick stop at the kids club to register the boys and then time to collect our room keys. The boys loved looking out of the port window.

Settle in, mandatory emergency drill, more exploring, shore excursion booked and entertainment reservations completed.

Now time for dinner. A delicious meal and our waiter was from Bali, we almost felt at home.

More exploring after dinner and then time to retire for the evening.

Welcome Aboard

Smile, Family Photo

Robot bartender, do we still tip?

Loving the porthole

Wes on the dry slide

Another lovely walk/run for Noah and myself this morning.  This time we ran across the first drawbridge and then along Las Olas Street.  Wes’ legs were sore from his huge effort yesterday, he decided to stay at home.

Washing completed, school work, computer catch up…

And then a slight problem.  As Pete put it, “We have an embarrassing problem”. The labels Pete had spent all yesterday organising and applying had just fallen off.  Now, I am not normally one to say I told you so but just for the record, I did have a different solution to the label application but it was not used.

Luckily our Neighbour had some cable ties and a hot gun and the courier labels were once again affixed.  It this bag ever makes it back to Geraldton it will be a miracle.

Courier arrived about 12 pm to collect.  The bag got taken away but could possibly be sent back if the sender did not itemise the bag correctly.  Did you do this Peter? Mmmmm.

In the afternoon Pete and Wes went for a walk down Las Olas Street to the beach and Noah and I stayed at the apartment.

Back down Las Olas for dinner (Greek Restaurant) and then a goodbye to our favourite holiday dog Lucy.

Apartment packing ready to embark on our Caribbean Cruise tomorrow.

More morning runs

School Work?

One of many beaches

Waiting to cross the river

Greek Restaurant

Who are these kids?

Beach Walks

The boys and I started our morning with a lovely run along the River Walk with three stops at the outdoor exercise equipment.

I was amazed at how far they could run, particularly Wesley.  He has a lovely running style and looked very comfortable throughout the whole run.

It felt really great to be doing some exercise.

Back to the apartment for breakfast, a second breakfast for the boys.

School work, computer catch up and for Peter, a few hour spent trying to send a suitcase of our winter clothes back to Geraldton. In fact, he spent the whole day trying to organise this.

Lunch in the apartment and then time to go off in search of a printer to print the courier luggage labels.

Nice walk through the leafy Fort Lauderdale suburbs to Office Depot to print our labels.  All done, let’s just hope we have done it correctly for them to pick up tomorrow.  We also need to be home all day tomorrow as they cannot confirm a pickup time.  Looks like lots of school work to be done, won’t mention this to the boys just yet.

Back to the apartment, label the case and a little relax before dinner.

Lovely Japanese restaurant for dinner.

After we arrived back at the apartment we decided to watch the sunset from the river’s edge, it was a beautiful evening and we also got to meet some of our neighbours.

View along our walk to Office Depot

Relaxing on the river

Beautiful Morning Run

Canal Houses

Japanese Dinner

Morning Exercise Equipment

Meeting the Neighbours

Petes’ Day