Family Adventure on the AOS 12/2/12 with Pics!

[Debitoo]

Here's a few shots of the scenery on our way to Phillipsburg.

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[Debitoo]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]Once we arrived back in Philipsburg, we wanted to find The Belgian Chocolate Shop that was located somewhere near the port. Mailman, our wonderful driver knew exactly where it was. The only problem was there was a funeral at a local Church. Apparently, they block all the roads around the church before, during and after the funeral. We were stuck! Our driver told us that if we wanted to find it by foot, he’d find us later. Leap of faith, we all decided to jump out of the van and wander the streets looking for the Chocolate Shop. Some of us went this way and some of us went that way. The streets were crazy crowded. We were on a mission! Then, finally….some said “Look! There it is”![/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]And here it is:[/SIZE][/FONT]


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[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]Mission accomplished! The chocolates are to die for. They’re handmade right there on the premises. The best part is, whatever you buy, they will deliver it to your ship wrapped and ready for transport. No need to lug them around the port and worry about them melting. We bought quite a few boxes. I ended up giving them all away as souvenirs when I got back home. I guess I’ll have to go back and get more. :rolleyes: While we were at the shop, the “some” that had gone “that way” found the shop as well, so we were all back together.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]Now, where the heck is our driver? We decided just to start walking in the direction of the port. We crisscrossed a few streets and after we turned a corner, there he was. How did he know we would come that way?[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]We hopped into his van and took a short drive back to the port.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]Ah darn, our tour was over! :([/SIZE][/FONT]

[SIZE=3]If you are contemplating Bernard's tours, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. If you can gather a group together, make it a private tour. You call the shots as to where you go and how long you stay at each place. Our driver was knowledgeable, funny and most importantly, a great driver. I wish we had another day in St. Maarten. I'd book another tour with him and see things that we didn't have time to do. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Back at the dock we wandered around a bit and did some souvenir shopping.[/SIZE]

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One thing that seemed so weird to us was all the Christmas decorations. Yes, it was Christmas time but it sure didn't feel like it. How can it be Christmas when the weather says it's summer?

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[Debitoo]

[SIZE=3]It was all aboard time so we went back to our cabin to clean up before dinner. Dinner was very good. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures. I did order the smoked duck appetizer. Yuck, it was awful. I managed to get shots of our desserts. [/SIZE]

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[SIZE=3]The sherbet was very good. It really hit the spot.[/SIZE]

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[SIZE=3]After dinner we sent the kids back to the room to do some homework. (I know, how mean)! We went to the Promenade and took a few pictures.[/SIZE]

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[Debitoo]

More from the Promenade

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[SIZE=3]We headed back up to our cabin. We were tired! [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Here's a shot of our position from the TV. We loved being able to see where we were.[/SIZE]


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Next up: Antigua

[vermontvoyager]

[SIZE=4][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Great review Debi...it's like reliving our cruise over again, but in your eyes. ;):D
[SIZE=4]It was great to sail with you and the others we met. Hope to meet up again in the fu[SIZE=4]ture on a cruise.
[SIZE=4]Thanks again for handling the Roll Call and spending the time to do this review.:cool:
[SIZE=4]Ohh...you must have made a typo about your age. You look a lot younger than that !!!:D;)[/SIZE]
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[Debitoo]

[quote name='vermontvoyager'][SIZE=4][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Great review Debi...it's like reliving our cruise over again, but in your eyes. ;):D[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=4][FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=4]It was great to sail with you and the others we met. Hope to meet up again in the fu[SIZE=4]ture on a cruise.[/SIZE][/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=4][SIZE=4][FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=4]Thanks again for handling the Roll Call and spending the time to do this review.:cool:[/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=4][FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=4]Ohh...you must have made a typo about your age. You look a lot younger than that !!!:D;)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/quote]

Thanks Bob! It was great to meet and sail with you and Patty as well! As for the typo, :( it wasn't. By the way, we cracked open the syrup this morning and had it with our pancakes.....DELICIOUS! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

[exercisemama]

Enjoying your review Debi!!!
Had no idea you all found Mailman and got a ride back to the port!! We lost everyone after the chocolate shop! We ended up walking all the way back to the port! It was a little bit of a trek, but pretty walking around the water. Say hi to Jessica and the kids for me!

Eileen

[Debitoo]

[quote name='exercisemama']Enjoying your review Debi!!!
Had no idea you all found Mailman and got a ride back to the port!! We lost everyone after the chocolate shop! We ended up walking all the way back to the port! It was a little bit of a trek, but pretty walking around the water. Say hi to Jessica and the kids for me!

Eileen[/quote]
Hi to you too! I don't know how we found him....just luck I guess! Alexis says hi too. She's sitting here with me on my iPad.
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[exercisemama]

Hi Alexis! Still don't know a lot about my iPad!!! Can' figure out how you post your pics on CC!

[whataboutport]

[quote name='debitoo']

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Next up: A visit to the sea urchin man![/quote]
Sorry to bug you again, but what about the sea urchin man??!

[toto6]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=blue]Bernards was a great tour. We enjoyed Maho the best. Orient had ALOT of seaweed the day we went, just the way it was that day. Our driver Sexy took us to a nice shop after Maho that was very inexpensive. We saw items that were being sold on the beach in Orient for much less. But, did not feel too bad, help the locals out. [/COLOR][/FONT]

[Debitoo]

[quote name='whataboutport']Sorry to bug you again, but what about the sea urchin man??![/quote]
Starts on post 114. :)

[whataboutport]

[quote name='debitoo']Starts on post 114. :)[/quote]
Oh thanks for pointing that out. I don't know why my computer skipped a bunch of posts!:confused: Are those black ones really poisonous? Those are the ones we eat here from Catalina. I was hoping the sea urchin man would crack some open to eat! :)

[Debitoo]

[FONT=Calibri][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]Day 4 found us in Antigua. We had decided ahead of time to either find a beach or stay in port this day. There were 2 other ships in port and we didn’t want to chance not making it back on time for all aboard. I had been here 25 years before and remember it as a quaint little port. Things had changed… a lot.[/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT]


[FONT=Calibri][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]These pictures were taken from the WJ while we ate our late breakfast. We slept in today.[/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT]


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[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]After breakfast, we went back up to our cabin. It was decided that we would just stay in port. [/SIZE][/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]Our next door neighbors.[/SIZE][/FONT]


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[Debitoo]

[SIZE=3]We headed out of the ship and down this dock.[/SIZE]

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[SIZE=3]This place was going to be packed![/SIZE]

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[Debitoo]

[FONT=Calibri][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]The area immediately off the dock was clean and well kept. [/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT]

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[FONT=Calibri][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]We walked several blocks away from the port area. It started getting a little seedy. This was a mistake. Pretty soon we realized that we were the only tourists in the area. We quickly turned around and went back to the port area. We picked up a few souvenirs. Cameron really wanted a small steel drum from a street vendor. It actually sounded pretty good. We tried to haggle with the vendor and he would have no part of it. He became aggressive and was offended that we asked. We decided to go even closer to the port.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]I wanted to find somewhere with free WiFi. I had an address from someone here on CC that we tried to find. The problem was that most of the buildings were in such disrepair that they didn’t have address numbers on them. We went up and down the street looking for it. We gave up.[/SIZE][/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]We did find an Australian ice-cream shop. We had to try it! It was good! [/SIZE][/FONT]

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[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]As we walked away, we saw a sign “Free WiFi”. It was the exact address that I was looking for! Plus it is the same building I took a picture of as we were leaving the ship! The place was the Harborview Café. It was right on the water. The cafe is upstairs and is not accessible for those with mobility issues. We got great seats overlooking the pier. We ordered nachos and sodas and enjoyed the WiFi. The place was busy but not over crowded.[/SIZE][/FONT]

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[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]I took these pictures from the café[/SIZE][/FONT]

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[Debitoo]

[SIZE=3]After we finished checking emails, we walked around the immediate port area.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]This woman was balancing pineapples on her head and dancing for tips.[/SIZE]

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[SIZE=3]We walked along the water and saw some great boats that were moored. I found the older ones fascinating![/SIZE]

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[Debitoo]

[SIZE=3]More boats![/SIZE]

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[SIZE=3]We decided it was time to head back to the ship. [FONT=Calibri][FONT=Verdana]Our CC Roll Call M&M was right after all aboard.[/FONT][/FONT][/SIZE]

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[SIZE=3]This band was playing as we returned to the ship.[/SIZE]

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[Debitoo]

[quote name='whataboutport']Oh thanks for pointing that out. I don't know why my computer skipped a bunch of posts!:confused: Are those black ones really poisonous? Those are the ones we eat here from Catalina. I was hoping the sea urchin man would crack some open to eat! :)[/quote]

Apparently, the black spine things are poisonous if you step on them, (at least that's what he said). I think he was really just trying to sell us the dead ones, including the conch shells that he had displayed on one of the rocks.

[gambee]

Thank you so much so sharing your pictures with us, having fun following along your adventure.

Thanks for entertaining me on this lazy sunday :D

[Debitoo]

[SIZE=3]Our CC Roll Call M&M was right after all aboard in the Blue Moon lounge. It was fairly well attended. RCI had welcome gifts for each attendee plus nice appetizers and non-alcoholic drinks. They had a raffle for us with bottles of wine & champagne, t-shirts, lanyards, key chains and a few others. It was nice to put faces to screen names.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Sorry, photo quality is not so good.[/SIZE]

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[Debitoo]

[SIZE=3]After the M&M we went back up to the cabin for what has become our favorite part of the day….Sail away & SUNSET![/SIZE]

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[Debitoo]

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[FONT=Calibri][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]We went to dinner at our usual time 7:00. We weren't disappointed. [/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT]

[SIZE=3]Cameron had the Chicken Cordon Bleu.[/SIZE]


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[FONT=Calibri][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]Jessica had fish. It was very good! [/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT]

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[Debitoo]

[quote name='gambee']Thank you so much so sharing your pictures with us, having fun following along your adventure.

Thanks for entertaining me on this lazy sunday :D[/quote]
Thanks gambee! And THANK YOU too for your wonderful Allure review. It was spectacular!:)

[seashinesunshine]

[quote name='whataboutport']Oh thanks for pointing that out. I don't know why my computer skipped a bunch of posts!:confused: Are those black ones really poisonous? Those are the ones we eat here from Catalina. I was hoping the sea urchin man would crack some open to eat! :)[/quote]

Just jumpng in here, the black ones are not poisonous as in to eat, (at least I don't think so) but thier Spikes do have venom. I have read that some people don't think they have venom, but I am pretty sure those people haven't stepped on one. :D I have I know they have venom. I am pretty sure all of them have venom in thier spikes, not just the black ones.