Friday, Day 6

Today was a much needed day at sea. We were able to sleep in a bit and then we actually made it to breakfast in the main dining room. I had been dying for a super good omlet all week (the one I had in the Lido just didn't cut it). I had a delicious denver omlet that satisfied my craving! We were seated with a couple from Minnesota and enjoyed getting to know them.

Next item on the agenda was the second Autograph session. Many of our favorite artists were at this one including Candy Dulfer, Peter White, Brian Culbertson (who we had already cornered in the coffee shop for his signature) and my favorite, Joe Sample. I got to shake Joe's hand and was simply starstruck by the event.

Off by the Lido Pool we caught the end of a pool game of volleyball refered by Dane Butcher. It was guests versus musicians! I'm not sure who won though. Then Eric Darius had a concert by the pool with a guest appearance by Brian Culbertson (and others). It was great to hear a younger smooth Jazz musician's take on the genre.

We then headed up to the Crow's next for a "History of Jazz" session with Joe Sample. It was really more like the history of Joe but that was fine with me. Unfortunately we had to leave about half way through to get ready for formal night. 

For formal night Jason sported his new suit and looked very spiffy! I worked a black beaded dress that I had bought for a formal we went to during my last semester of college. The first night we quickly learned that we are too impatient for the 2 hours it takes to eat in the main dining room. We instead made reservations for the ship's Italian Restaurant the Canaletto. Our food was delicious and we were able to eat at our own pace!

Tonight we were entertained by Rick Braun & Jonathan Butler (who are apparently neighbors!). Then we had another comedy show by Alonzo Bodden. I am impressed at his ability to think on his toes. He called on random audience members and asked a few questison and was able to start cracking jokes about them. I was glad to not be sitting any closer to the stage! I think this wrapped up our night!

Thursday, Day 5

Today our port was St. Barths. This port can only be visited by charter ships and therefore is not overly touristy. We rode the ships tender boats to the port. We went on a catamaran ride to a nearby beach. There were 13 of us from the ship and so it was a nice small group. We chatted with people on the ride. Jason and I both went snorkling again and saw some fish and lots of starfish. I enjoyed snorkling much more this time because the mouth piece was smaller and made it much easier not to swallow so much salt water!

After we got back to shore we made a quick trip back to the ship to get Jason's camera bag. Many of the shops (such as Louis Vuitton) were WAY out of our price range and were also closed for a mid-day break right around when we were walking around. We hiked up a hill and got a nice view of the city. We also found out that the city has some historic ties to Sweden (now it is the French West Indies). I had an intersting moment at the beach where I instinctivly said "Hi" to stranger who promptly replied "Bonjour!" All the prices were in Euros too! 

Back on board the ship we went to see round 2 of the talent show. There were many talented guests in the contest. It was hard to pick just one. Voting was done via a decibal meter to be fair which I found to be really clever. The winners moved on to the final round later in the week. 

The main shows were Peter White & Kirk Whalum followed by alate night show hosted by David Sanborn. It featured Joe Sample "and friends" which were most of the awesome musicians on the ship. It was an amazing show every horn player on the boat was part of this show, mind melting good time!.

Each night one can wander from concert to concert after the main shows, most running till close. We caught a bit of Rick Braun sings with Strings before calling it a nihgt.

 

Wednesday, Day 4

We woke up as we approached Saint Thomas and took many pictures off of our balcony. We ventured into Saint Thomas and did some window shopping. Then we headed to Magen’s Beach where we played a lot with our waterproof camera.

There weren’t too many people at the beach so we had a spot all to ourselves. Most of the ships left port much earlier than we did (midnight). We also headed up to Paradise Point via a sky ride instead of our original plan of renting a scooter.

 The view was gorgeous and lent itself to many photo ops of the night sky.

The concert this evening was Marcus Miller and Gerald Albright. I was amazed to learn about Marcus's many accomplishments in life and that added to the respect that I’ve gained for him so far this week.  

Tuesday, Day 3

Today was all at sea. It allowed us the opportunity to sleep in and get caught up. We ordered room service again so that we could watch the sunrise from our Verandah and then went back to bed for a few more hours.

One highlight of the day was the first of the Autograph Sessions. Jason was in awe of getting to meet so many of his favorite musicians. We both had our posters signed and we plan on framing and hanging one up back at home. Show Us Your Talent show was interesting, some of the cruisers got the chance to play with one of the house bands and play an instrument or sing. The main show headliners were Joe Sample and David Sanborn. 

Monday, Day 2

Monday brought our first port of call, Nassau Bahamas,
We had planned to participate in a snorkeling excursion. It was my first time and I was surprised that I really enjoyed it. We were able to put our new under water camera to use and saw a few neat fish. On the way back they gave us a “tour” of the harbor in which they pointed out some of the houses owned by celebrities.  We also saw (from afar) the famous Atlantis resort.

For dinner we opted to go to the ship’s Italian restaurant called the Caneletto. The restaurant is a special section of the Lido restaurant. The food was excellent and it was nice to just have a quiet dinner one-on-one.

Tom Braxton Played a smaller show in the Ocean Bar.

The main show concerts Monday evening were Candy Dulfer and Brian Culbertson. There were some major technical difficulties that started early on in Candy’s set. The stage lights when out but the sound was fine. The lights came and went but Candy continued to rock on in heals and a swaying ship!  Jokes were later made that her neon green high heals were the only thing you could see. Alonzo Bodden did a comedy Set after the concerts. It was a riot.

The evening brought the poolside pajama party. Not everyone participated but I rocked some flannel pants and a long sleeved  shirt to join in the festivities with DW3 by the Lido pool.

Sunday, Day 1

We got on board the Westerdam and were surprised to find out that our room was ready. We immediately headed to our room to check it out.  

We then gallivanted about the ship and explored. Lots to see and do. We were a bit overwhelmed by the Lido restaurant but managed to grab a great lunch. We enjoyed the sail off and of course Jason snapped some pictures. 

For our first dinner we decided to head to the main dining room. Since we were not travelling with a group we were seated at a random table with a woman from Texas. She had been on every Smooth Jazz cruise and had many tips and “tricks” to share. It was a nice opportunity for us to be able to ask some of the questions that were still lingering. The shows this evening were Boney James and Euge Groove. 

Our Journey to Florida, Day 1

Our day started out with a ride to the airport from Anikka's sister. Security was surprisingly a breeze. We then had the chance to meet up with Anikka's dad for a couple minutes. He happened to be in MSP connecting to a flight to Utah at the same time we were there. Neat coincidence. Unfortunately while we were waiting for his flight we realized our flight was delay from 11:20 to 1:30 which meant we would miss our connecting flight from Chicago to Fort Lauderdale. We rushed to our orignal gate and found out they were reassigning people to another flight that would get us there in time for our connection. Unfortunately that flight arrived with very little time for us to get from one terminal to another. We literally were running! We made it to the gate as they were doing final boarding. We lucked out on both parts and were able to sit together! A small problem arose when we got to FLL and realized that our luggage didn't take the same vacation we did. At press the luggage should be delivered shortly by the airline.

After talking to the the baggage department we took a shuttle bus to the  rental center to pick up a car. We drove off in a white Hyundai with only 500 miles on it. We arrived at our hotel and after a little relaxation and then headed to dinner. I recommended Joe's Crab Shack and Anikka agreed to give it a try. She even ordered a Surf n' Turf Burger that was topped with Shrimp. I had the blackened Tilapia and it was delicous! Afterwards we made a quick stop at Super Target before heading back to the hotel to wait for our bag. That brings us current! We're tired but ready for all the fun that the week will hold.