..
FORT LAUDERDALE AND AT SEA ..... You might wonder, what is there to write about six days at sea? Wherever you look, there is water as far as the eye can see. Yes, that is so true. However, the ship's crew is busy keeping us entertained with all kinds of activities. There is never a dull moment. It starts at 7am. You can keep going and burn the midnight oil in one of the many bars. You can listen to music and dance if you still can stay upright on your legs. During the day there are lectures, movies, games, etc. Even a quintet from the New York Lincoln Center plays 3 times a day and high tea is served also on a daily basis. The pools are also very popular. The casino is open 24/7 and so is the possibility of eating something. The food has been excellent. The first night on the ship, we thought that we set anker in the middle of the night. It turned out we were right. Someone on the ship got really sick, heart problems. Therefore, the ship made a detour and stopped in Nassau, the Bahamas, in order for the person to be hospitalized. But we still made it in a timely manner to our first scheduled stop.

Jim likes all the computer lessons on window 10… two times a day . I am more of a trivia person and joined a fun group of 5 ladies. Also, I brought my needlepoint with me and there are books available to read. I even beat Jim at Dominos. Of course, in between all those activities we make sure that we get some exercise in the form of walking like many others do. We look like a bunch of gerbils running in a wheel, but instead we walk the circumference of the ship. Three rounds is a mile. Also, climbing the stairs from the 2nd. floor to our room on the eleventh floor eliminates some of the calories. After that we need a well-deserved nap.

Our ship is the Koningsdam by Holland America. It is only one year old. She is a beauty and very tastefully done, simple, but elegant. No more glitter and heavy duty velvet like in the old days, but a lot of art. You can see that from the pictures Jim and I took.

Also, the passengers are of a different age group then on the Bahama Cruise. In the Bahamas, it was wild and woolly bare chests, cheeks and boobs all over the place, because of College Spring-break . The common theme in these places was "let’s party,"! Now it is more of a cover as much of the body as possible, because of the more mature bodies. As you know most of us at our age, the body parts are going south and sideways.

We had 5 out of six days with beautiful sunshine and calm waters. In other words, it was a pleasant crossing of the pond. Also every night we had to set our watches an hour forward, which put us into the right time zone as we got to Portugal. It’s so much easier on your body this way, no jet leg. As we neared the Azores Portuguese Islands on the 6th day, I had to resort to jeans and a long sleeve sweater. Jim was busy layering with a bunch of clothes. Also, it was cloudy and a few sprinkles of rain kept us indoors. We didn’t mind, because we knew that land was near the next day and we get to set foot on solid ground. Next on our agenda is Ponta Delgada (Thin Point). And no, I did not misspell it! That is Portuguese for you! Your welcome!

Ponta Delgada (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpõtɐ ˌðɛɫˈɣaðɐ]) is the largest municipality and administrative capital of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Portugal. It is located on São Miguel Island, the largest and most populous in the archipelago. The population in 2011 was 68,809, in an area of 232.99 square kilometres (89.96 square miles). There are 17,629 residents in the three central civil parishes that comprise the historical city: São Pedro, São Sebastião, and São José.

Official name: Concelho de Ponta Delgada

Name origin: Portuguese for thin point

Country    Portugal

Autonomous Region                  Azores