Christmas & NY Cruise

Another late blog that will be brief due to technical difficulties. This was my first time on a cruise over the festive season, and also the first where I was away from family and friends.

The only new country visited was Tobago. I won’t be rushing back. Not nearly as tourist friendly as many other Caribbean islands. I embarked upon a private tour with a driver called Brian who took me to some highlights including a waterfall, rainforest, and some other scenic overlooks.

My casino buddies were some of the best I’d cruised with including Jake and his wife Caroline from Wales, Melissa, 44 from Delray Beach, 28 year old Dylan from Idaho, 72 year old Debbie from Dallas, Stanley from New York, brothers Alan and Bruce, and many others. We often had all the decades covered at the table.

Dylan went diving with his dad on most stops and on one particular dive saw a snorkeller who died. Dylan was below him and saw his body slowly sinking. The guy was only in his 40’s and from an NCL ship. Tragic.

Christmas Day itself was rather peculiar 9 (in warm sunshine), and I ended up dining alone before hitting the casino. In the daytime I managed to get to Nevis on an excursion which wasn’t as culturally enjoyable as I would have liked. Alexander Hamilton was born on Nevis. Anyway, the beach was nice.

On Boxing Day, we stopped in St Lucia and Anne and Keith were there to pick me up and take me for a game of tennis. We ended up playing with a St Lucian Davis cup player who was probably about our age, possibly a little older. I lost. They then took me to lunch to meet their friends who run a restaurant. Nice people and I managed to meet another one of Keith’s 25 brothers. It’s always lovely to see Anne and Keith. Two of my favourites.

Whilst Christmas was a little peculiar, New Year was fabulous. Me and the blackjack players decided that we were gonna avoid the casino and go to the top deck for the party. Jake and Caroline were great value as were the rest of them. Jake is the on e with a tie around his head.

Fortunately, the day after Christmas they stopped playing the Christmas songs. They were starting to drive me mad. I would certainly do a New Year cruise again. Not sure about including Christmas too.

Others that deserve a mention were Ingrid and Eric from San Francisco, and Tammy and Fred who divorced some years ago and live on opposite coasts of Florida. They looked more in love than couples still married.