You are invited to read about the cruise Pauline and I took last week.

Unlike going to the home of friends, where you might be required to view a movie or look at pictures, you may, at any time, just stop reading and move on the another fine article.

No need to worry. You will not offend us. We will still be friends.

Last Saturday we returned from our weeklong cruise. It was a getaway from problems and a celebration of our 47th wedding anniversary, which was Sept. 1.

We drove from our home to Cincinnati, where we picked up our son for the trip to the Greater Cincinnati Airport, which is actually in Kentucky. This way we didn’t have to leave our car, and he would be waiting for us on our return. From Cincinnati, we flew to Fort Lauderdale, where the cruise ship was docked.

We boarded Holland America Line’s, Eurodam on Saturday afternoon for the start of our seven-day eastern Caribbean cruise. Saturday and Sunday were spent at sea, and we did what you are supposed to do on a cruise. We attended the safety drill. We ate. We ate. We ate. We spent time at the pool, and we rested

On Monday morning at 7, we arrived at our first port, Grand Turk. We had never been to this port. So we took advantage of the opportunity to explore the island. Great for water sports, but there isn’t much to see on land, and they haven’t recovered from their last hurricane.

Thankfully, a Nearby Casino

We left Grand Turk at 2, heading for Puerto Rico. We were in San Juan on a cruise we took to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, so we had an idea what to expect. We arrived at 9 on Tuesday morning. A tour of their rain forest was absolutely great.

The bus drive was a wealth of information regarding the Island and the rain forest. In the afternoon Pauline rested, while I went over to a casino, walking distance of the ship so I could get a players card for my collection.

Later, we went for a short walk so could get a picture of the ship in port. In the evening, we visted went to an exotic Puerto Rican dance show, which wasn’t very good, definitely not exotic. However, the guitar player was. At 11 p.m., the ship left San Juan for St Thomas.

Arriving at 8 the following morning, we were planning to spend the time there on Megan’s Bay Beach. This was the most memorable interlude of the cruise we took twenty-two years ago. A picture of Megan’s Bay has hung on the wall of my den ever since that trip.

However, since we’ve never been to St John’s, we took advantage of the opportunity to visit. On the island, we took a the national park tour, among the old plantation ruins and amidst beautiful white sand beaches.

But we didn’t get any beach time.

If we ever go back, it will be for beach time. At 5, it was time to sail again.

Thursday was a day at sea.

When we weren’t eating, we rested at pool side In the evening, we took in the great entertainment on board ship, as we did every night.

The End, as They Say

Friday morning at 8, we arrived at Half Moon Cay, Holland America’s private island, in the Bahamas. We spent the day doing a walking tour of the island, at the beach and taking a glass-bottom boat trip to explore the undersea coral formations and colorful fish.

At 4, we began our journey back to Ft Lauderdale

By 7 a.m., Saturday, we were back in Fort Lauderdale.

Our cruise was over.

Our son, who lives in Tampa, met us at the port and we were able to have lunch with him prior to catching our flight back to Cincinnati.

A great week, and did we tell you about the delicious food, except for scrambled eggs, and the extravagant chocolate buffet? Of course, we had a towel animal on our bed each night, and the veranda was a perfect spot to sit while at sea, or for that matter while in port.

We enjoy cruising, especially when it’s to places we haven’t been.

You only unpack once. Whether new or a revisit, we loved the tours.

Maybe next time you can join us?

Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net