St Barths:
We spent several hours on this lovely 8 square miles island. Imagine living in just 8 sq. miles. It is truly like a paradise but so small. There are 14 beaches on this very hilly island. Each beach is just a lovely as the next. French is the language of choice. It is a tax-free island but making a living is very hard unless you are a native. There are 2 gas stations and lots of “smart cars”. Children must leave the island to get an education after grammar school. How hard must it be to send your 12 or 13-year-old child to another place during the school year? There is neither unemployment nor major industry of any great import. Agriculture and tourist services are the main jobs. They are 53 % men and 47% female on this island. The major religions are Catholic, Protestant, and Jehovah Witness.

This, our second, visit to this little paradise was spent just walking around and enjoying the vistas. Some folks on the ship were upset that we are only on this island for 7 hours but I think they will be satisfied when they see just how small the island is, plus being Sunday not much will be available and even if it is the prices here are for the rich and double so with the dollar versus euro exchange rate. 1 euro = 1.40 us
We started to walk to the lighthouse, but Barbara gave up about half way there and returned to Main St. Check the photos in web shots for some lovely lighthouse vistas and to see the fake cannons. Jack was the only soul strong enough to brave the hill, so he had the place to himself. He said he went to put his foot on the cannon to steady himself to take a photo and the cannon surface gave. It was made of fiberglass over wood, but sure looks real.

Back onboard after lunch we had a very nice worship service. There is a retired pastor on the ship and they gave him 10 minutes notice to make a sermon. Short and strong was the result. We are having a meeting in the next day or 2 to prepare our Christmas service. I intend to go to see if we can come up with a choir. After worship we had an Enrichment Class to prepare us for Barbados, which covered history, culture etc, but that will come to you later after we have been there, tomorrow. Let me just say that it was lead by the Consulate Representative of Barbados who is traveling with us, and a professor who has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his work in compiling “Bajan” history and promoting Barbados. It was by far the most entertaining class yet. We are under way and going to pass by Montserrat, an active volcano tonight around 7 and will have view of it from the lounge at the top of the ship. We hope to make it up there for that too but must find time to eat, very important on a cruise, and be to our next class “The Ebb and Flow of Brazil’s Business Trends at 8PM. Classes are late because of the land trips today. So you see we have full days to do or to not do many things available.

At Sea

Dec. 17th , We walked Bay Street in Nassau... hasn't changed much, still kind of dirty but trying to selling jewelry,clothes and perfumes. The straw market is really a disaster! just mostly cheap "knock-offs". It is funny to see Christmas decorations in an island environment. So far just one Nativity Scene but plenty of Santa Clause. We see a lot of Rastafarians about the streets, so I wondered about their beliefs? This is what I discovered: Rastafarians are members of a Jamaican messianic movement dating back to the 1930s; in 1974 they were estimated to number 20,000 in Jamaica. According to Rastafarian belief the only true God is the late Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie (originally known as Ras Tafari), and Ethiopia is the true Zion. Rastafarians claim that white Christian preachers and missionaries have perverted the Scriptures to conceal the fact that Adam and Jesus were black.

We have chosen to relax onboard and enjoy the sunshine and cool breeze today. Check the photos as we have been joking about the Bahamian Navy ships(2) and there is a photo of one. A fellow passenger said the navy consists of 1 man and a phone with a direct line to USA and a recorded message "HELP"!!!

Here is more information on the Semester At Sea program: The University of Virginia is the Academic Sponsor but students come from all over to spend a semester travelling the world and earning a minimum of 9 credits. Spring semester 2009 is from January 19 to May 6 and goes around the world. Bahamas, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, India, Thailand, Viet nam, China, Japan, Hawaii, Costa Rica and finally Miami. The summer semeter is from June 16 to August 22 and covers one geographical area. In 2009 it is Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Egypt, Morocco and ends in Charleston SC. For those of us who love learning there is a Lifelong Learning Program so we can study with the young people. We passengers at this time are just getting a sample of the semester

First Day at sea:The breeze has become a strong wind and the seas are very rough. We are not permitted outside on the bow because of the force of the wind. This is not very pleasant. We do remember when we passed this way, east of Cuba, on the way to the Panama Canal we also had rough seas, but not the wind. Classes today were: "Critters on Islands: Getting There is Only Half the Problem" Learning why certain creatures are on certain islands and how they adapt. "Environmental Issues of the Caribbean" The issues are almost exactly the same as our issues. "Dance of the Continents, with a Caribbean Rhumba" This one was Jack's. It was a overview of the plate tectonic theory and how it has influenced the developement of thCaribbean region. He told me from reading he was already aware of most of the facts. Silly me just went to a craft class and made a little "Bahama Mama" ornament. Critters plus the Environment were about all I could absorb this "rocky" morning. Don't get the worng idea, there are games, cards, yoga, socializing and the wellness center spa sure looks appealing for later maybe! There is plenty of exercise equiptment, which I am nonchalantly avoiding. LOL The computer center is never empty so I am glad we have our own and the free internet extends to our cabin which is where I am compiling this entry between sessions. I will finish and post it later.

We were told that the ship population ages from 2 years old to 94 years young. The 2 year old is one a family of 3 children but the parents brought the Nanny too so we hardly know they are about and the program includes activities for children.

The rocking has settled down this evening as we prepare for the Welcome Aboard party. We just remarked how nice it is to not have a photographer dogging our steps like on the "luxury cruises".

Long entry today but learning a lot.

Photos at http://community.webshots.com/user/pins4

MV Explorer

We have arrived on our new home for the next 3 weeks. The trip down was relatively smooth, just a glitch in Ft Lauderdale… our last leg of the flights was delayed 2 hours so we arrived later in Nassau and had to deal with a lot more people checking in, so that was long and slow. Finally lunch at 2:00 but it was worth waiting for, Yum!

Jack has made the rounds of the ship and already taken many photos. We have 3 of the hotel, LaQuinta, that we used in Atlanta. You can see photos, so far, on the website http://community.webshots.com/user/pins4

The ship is so much more than we expected. We were told not to expect a luxury ship but it sure is close to what we would call luxury. You will see in the photos. I'll keep adding photos to the webshots page as I get a chance. It is so nice sitting in the Faculty lounge with the large windows and working on the laptop. We also have free wireless internet from the desk in our room. Oh, our fellow senior citizen passengers are in the majority but we appear to be among the younger ones. What a nice feeling to be one of the kids!

D Day

Today is D-day, that’s departure day. We leave the house at 9:45 when Karen and Kelly take us to the “great” Myrtle Beach Airport so we can fly to Atlanta for overnight and catch our flight at 7:10 am Wednesday 12/17 to meet the ship in Nassau.

I have been asked about 3 times; “How many suitcases do you need for 3 weeks?” These folks do not know Jack the packing-king. We have 2 suitcases to check through and the computer case to carry on. Well, I also have a small tote for our travel documents and to stash my purse. Remember it is very warm at the Equator so we do not need bulky clothes; lots of shorts, light shirts and bathing suits with a few dress-up items.

We are spending the night on board the ship the 17th, as our hotel, so we have no stress trying to get to the ship before it sails. This will give us almost 2 full days in Nassau. Not really all that great as we have been there before and were not too thrilled with it. Perhaps time has made it nicer. We hope to spend the day just relaxing and learning the ship. Probably next time I log on we will be under way. The itinerary calls for Enrichment at Sea on 19th & 20th then next stop is St Barts on the 21st.

7 More Days

I sort of warned you in the beginning that I was new to this blogging idea, but I just tried to place a map of our journey on the blog page. You can find it at the bottom of the journal entries. I could not figure out how to get it by the side! You can click and drag in the map to follow our journey if you want to. I could not figure out how to draw curved lines so my ship sails in straight lines and makes 45 degree turns or crosses land masses...LOL. So with a week to go I spent the afternoon figuring out how to do this instead of doing more important things like laundry or cleaning. Enjoy!

10 Days and Counting

Whoa!!! Did you feel the strong wind today? Well, it was just me breathing a sign of relief. Our passports came back home.

Remember I told you back in October we had to send our original passports to the visa/passport service in Florida? They in turn take the passports and all the documentation up to Atlanta to the Brazilian Consulate and get us visas so we can enter Brazil. I was beginning to worry because they were not back yet but they came today. All documentation is in place now and we can even go to Brazil anytime we want for the next 5 years…. Yeah that’s gonna happen!!!! Although it does sound intriguing…hmmm… I’ve heard Rio is interesting.

We are getting things settled here at home. Jack has 2 vats of wine “perking”, believe it or not, they are set in the bathtub of the guest bath because it has gotten so cold here for this time of year. They will be done and set into the “aging containers” before we leave. He has just a few of his handyman clients to get jobs done so he is on schedule.

I have gotten my beginner quilters either completely finished or far enough along that they can help each other to finish. All I need is 2 more days at work. The web business will be a challenge to get it up to par so it can be left alone except for some basic maintenance, which Geri will handle along with all the other things she has to do. So work is almost on schedule.

Thanks for "listening"

13 Days and Counting

I printed out our Travel Checklist today. Do you use one too? You know, water plants, turn off water, stop the mail etc. So I have added to the pre-packing items. It looks like it did when we travelled with the kids; bandaids, Tylenol, contact capsules, Barbara's "tens unit", and bug spray.

Since we are not travelling on a luxury cruise ship this time, but actually College at Sea, just as your kids are when they go off to college, we are responsible for personal care items like shampoo and bath soap so they have been added to the stack. Oceania Cruise Lines has really spoiled us in the past. Thank goodness for hotel soaps and shampoos so we can discard the little bottles as we use them up. Ahem, makes room for purchases LOL.

I made an appointment to have my nails done the day before we leave...very important.... and even though we are away the bills must be paid so arrangements are made for them too. I know we have free wireless Internet but I hate logging on to banking on wireless, I'm just a bit paranoid like that. Under 2 weeks, so the excitement is starting to build and I may not get back to you until we are on our way. See you later!