WEEK 6

 

26 February 2024: NEW YORK CITY

I had a fantastic day in the Big Apple, left early and went straight to the Chelsea district to try out the local coffee shops and pop in at others just to have a look to see what they look like. Walked down 8 th avenue and could have a good look at the High Line from street level. My first stop was at the Intelligentsia Coffee shop in the High Line Hotel must say was a bit disappointed for on the photos it is decorated with all these colorful flowers and the red bus outside area was closed, so went into the hotel foyer area and there I ordered a cappuccino and an almond croissant which was good.

Just around the corner I found a church with daffodils bulbs that were peeping through the ground and on my way passed a basket with flowering daffodils which looked so bright and beautiful in the gloomy brown look around the city. This café was called LA BERGAMOTE PATISSERIE with the most delicious looking cakes and all sorts of nice things to eat. Popped in to get hubby a little something and asked if I could take a video of this very cute cafe, also had the dearest little girl sitting there in the café with her mom having something to eat, had these little pig tales in her hair standing in all directions and enjoying her food.

Next stop was CAFÉ-FLOR and my type of coffee shop with lots of plants, orchids, art and small cozy tables, will have to decide I am going to be back next week to try one of them, just toooo many! Started working my way back and popped into a local florist shop called Chelsea Florist filled with flowers and guys busy making their orders for the day, outside the shop they had buckets full of the most beautiful blossoms, quince, peach and a bright yellow blossom on beautiful long stems, would have loved to know what they were. Could be something common for found vases full of them in the coffee shop and in the foyer of a hotel. Was very tempted to buy some fresh blue berries and strawberries that a vendor was selling on the street corner, only problem would have to eat the whole lot for am not able to take fresh fruit onto the ship, so decided against it.

Also passed the Penn Station entrance to the subway with its funny looking cover or roof and a little Italy pizzeria with the biggest pizza bases I have ever seen, they are huge XXXXL!! Could feed a family for sure. By this time, I had been walking around for 3 hours so decided it was time to get back to the cruise terminal, on my phone they said was going to snow but we only had a drop of rain here and there, with no snow, was secretly hoping that could happen, but no luck.

Tried to find Magnolia Coffee shop for they have some or other popular banana pudding but did not find it, so am hoping to try again next week. We left the port later due to lots of luggage that had to be loaded so was great to leave the big apple while the sun was going down and seeing all the city lights in the distance and the lighted Verrazano Narrows Bridge that we pass under each week. Google says clearance height at high tide is 69.5 m and low tide 70.1m. Was chilly outside so I was in and out quickly to take a video.

Got some beautiful photos from deck 15 in the Garden Café when we were sailing out of New York on the Hudson River while the sun was setting and the reflections on the buildings in the Financial District. Well, what a night was waiting for us poor hubby did not even get to bed at all, he was busy all night long, just after 12 they had a Code Alpha call on the intercom system and after 30 minutes, they got the patient back and intubated only to lose her in the earlier morning hours after another cardiac arrest, that was fatal. Just so sad and upsetting here you on your way for a 10-day cruise to the Caribbean and you pass away on the first night.

 I got my things wrong and thought that we would be calling in St Thomas again only to discover no, that is done, one more cruise to the Caribbean then we are done for this contract.

28 February 2024: BERMUDA

You know it is time for home when you are in a port, and you decide to stay on the ship! We arrived in Bermuda on a beautiful day at about 9 in the morning. Yesterday was another sea day and the weather was not great, rained so there was no lying around the pool in warm sun. Most passengers spend the day indoors and discovering the ship and all it has to offer.

I went to deck 8 to watch as we left Bermuda, you could see the dangerous riffs, when we passed the tide must have been low for you could see the rocks and coral sticking out here and there. They are marked very clearly so you cannot miss them. Tomorrow we are at sea again and arrive in St Maarten on Friday morning, think I am going to walk to town just to see what it looks like and then take a swim down at the beach. Going back will be a walk or a quick ride on the water taxi for $5, so we will see what happens.

01 MARCH 2024: ST MAARTEN PHILLIPSBURG

Yesterday we were at sea and was a beautiful day, so the outside decks were packed with passengers all over the place that were enjoying the sunshine after cold New York. Arrived in St Maarten at about midday so had the afternoon to walk around and enjoy. Hubby on duty so I walked to the downtown area and was a lot quicker than I could remember.

Did another walkaround and ended up popping into a Frensh Café called LE PETIT GOURMET in Phillipsburg with delicious food to choose from, I decided to try their small apple tart with an espresso, can recommend it for sure might come back to try something else with our next visit.

Walked back slowly and straight back to the ship, by this time it was later afternoon, and the port was busy with 3 other ships docked here for the day. The new NCL ship Viva was docked next to us and looks bigger to me but not sure about that. Tomorrow hubby is off, so we are planning on going out for lunch in Tortola to that place with the best burgers I have ever had.

2 MARCH 2024: TORTOLA

Another bad night with hubby only arriving after 2.30 am in the morning so for him a very short night. We thought this cruise was going to be rustig but alles behalwe dit!! Arrived in Tortola early this morning but I spent time in the Spa had a beautiful view over the ocean, got to the garden café just when they were closing so had to be happy with a bowl of oats and cinnamon the rest removed to get things ready for lunch.

We only got off after 11 and first went for a walk just outside the port area before we ended up at  Myetts Chill Zone for our lunch. I had white wine with my juicy delicious burger, it came in a plastic cup so did not look, feel or taste right, haa haaa but paid with a headache later in the day so don’t think wine during the day works for me think must keep to beer.

We returned to the ship and went straight to bed for our siesta, omtrent lekker geslaap na gisternag se woelige nag. Tonight, we will be sailing to San Juan in Perto Rico one of my favorite places. Thinking of walking all along the sea towards the entrance of the harbor area where we sail in from the ocean, a nice walk. Checked and see we are going to be in Bermuda for 3 nights on my last 2 cruises so going to be able to try and get to the Blue Hole, Horseshoe Bay, Hamilton, St Georges and my favorite spot Tobacco Bay.

In New York I want to try and have breakfast at the smart hotel neat Central Park called the Plaza Hotel and the Restaurant is called Palm Court is near 5 th Avenue even have rooibos tea!! On the menu. The following week I want to go to the other side of the city to a place called Ariston they say the outside area is stunning when the Apple Blossom trees are in full flower so hope by middle March they are in flower. My last visit I want to walk around in Central Park and hope to see it with its spring show on the go!!! Blossoms all over.

The day I get off I am going to go on a tour that takes you to all the different important place in the city and drops you at the JFK, I only flying out at 23h00 so going to be a long day but it is home time so very excited about that.

3 MARCH 2024: SAN JUAN PUERTO RIC0

All our plans of getting up early for a walk and coffee went out the porthole when the alarm went of for another code Alpha in the early morning hours!!!  Decided to skip breakfast and off I went on my own.

I walked as planned and was a beautiful morning in San Juan, was lucky to get 2 surfers out on the water on a small board with a paddle trying to catch a wave? a hydro foil surfboard even had helmuts on!! After a few attempts wragtig got it right and I got it on video, looks so cool. Walked right around the point of the city all along the shore and ended up at the graveyard with the best views over the ocean and then up to the fort on top of the hill.

Took lots of photos so that is going to keep me busy deleting all the ones I don’t want. I did not really do anything just walked around enjoying this city but had a fantastic day. Stopped at a local ice-cream shop called LA MAMMA DEL GELATO and what a beautiful place with excellent gelato, jogurt and coffee. Ordered an espresso and some gelato which I can recommend for sure is a must stop if you ever get to come this way, is in the old town area of San Juan.

Then went back to Café Del Nino with the stunning views over the harbor area and the colorful playground for the kids. Amazing how you miss things the first-time round, today I saw these bronze shoes of kids between the ages of 6-9. These shoes are placed to simulate children playing in the park. A particular pair can be found next to a bench representing a mother of teacher who watches closely over the group of children, the playpark is next level and just so cute.

The artist is Ernesto Pujol from Cuba 2001 called Recess.

I felt like a child and could not get enough of all the beautiful things all over the place. The doves were back in the same spots with people having a fantastic time feeding them. On my way back decided to walk through the Sunday stalls that were packed out under the huge trees close to the harbor area and what a pleasant surprise was waiting for me.

The older folk of San Juan come to this area with their chairs, walkers, and they had a guy playing music with the older folk dancing but what a lovely experience, party is kranklik ,met kieries, gehoor apparate,en ek praat van oud,maar dit was nou vir my so kosbaar en special gewees. Het pragtige videos geneem om te wys. Wys jou net musiek kan oud en jonk bymekaar bring en what a fantastic way of spending your Sunday afternoon.

Even tourists that passed them joined in for a short while and some of the ladies just kept going on and on and had the time of their lives. Those positive vibes and feelings rub off on you and before you know it you are also swaying to the music and singing along, brought a smile to my face. A high light of my visits to this beautiful place.

Found a vendor selling all sorts of homemade coconut sweets like our grannys made and new hubby would love that, so got him a few different flavors. Then it was time to return to my cabin on deck 4. Had a nice day and the weather was lovely. Hubby has been busy, and the ambulance had to come to the ship 3 times, could not believe it, but it is what it is!! Tomorrow we are in Puerto Plata with one more visit to go before we are done with the Caribbean islands.

O4 MARCH 2024: @SEA

Got bad news last night when the captain informed us that due to bad weather that is approaching New York city we are going to give Puerto Plata a skip today and start heading straight back and will then be able to dock in NY before the bad weather rolls in, that could make safe docking near impossible, so instead of arriving at 7 in the morning we will be arriving at 2 in the morning and need to catch the low tide and correct current, have never even given these things a thought. The passengers will only be able to disembark after 7 when the skip has been cleared by the local authorities. Do not want to get too excited about visiting the smart hotel for breakfast, so will see when we get there.

The poor passenger that they were called out to with the code Alpha was sent to hospital and had to go straight to theater for she had a brain aneurism and sadly passed away was only 42, how sad is that. All these sad things going around sometimes feel too much. We are going to be at sea for the next 3 days so I will be visiting the gym on all 3 days, no excuses!

5 MARCH 2024: @SEA

We had a good night for a change and slept peacefully without any call outs .Hubby has been just too tired to get up early, so have not been successful with getting him up in the mornings we are hoping to that things will go back to normal with the next cruise but only time will tell, this contract has been really crazy and with one doctor less it has been very challenging for them, the staff are tired ore hang en sterte sleep.

Has been a lovely day at sea with great weather and lots of sunshine, every time I walk past the passengers on the open decks, I think of them returning home to the cold and shoveling snow when you get to your driveway!! Watched the bike spin class this morning and must say that is a real workout, the guy had them sweating and puffing in no time would love to give it a try again, but you must pay to use the bikes so gave that a skip.

To use the Spa with a day pass costs something like 80$ a day, could not believe it, obvious a package would be cheaper, so these spoils do not come cheap that is for sure. Saw the weather forecast and the cold front sweeping over the country does look scary with lots of heavy rain and snow coming our way. I will not be walking around in pouring rain so will see when we get to New York on Thursday.