Cruise to Bermuda: 9/15 - 9/22

What a great time we had on the cruise. I don't think Constantin and I had any idea what a great vacation a cruise can be. However, I think one of the reasons it was so special is that we were with our family. Uncle Lou turned 75 in September, and as a surprise birthday present, Aunt Dale took us all on this cruise with them. Mom, Bob & Sue, John & Sue and us. Lou and Dale are avid cruisers (85 cruises to date) and do everything top shelf. We all had lovely staterooms with balconies. Aunt Dale took care of all the dinner arrangements as it was open seating and there were two specialty restaurants. We had fabulous weather, fabulous food, fabulous fun and fabulous time together. Our stateroom connected to Mom's, and every morning Katerina would slide off the bed, open the connecting door and look for Grandma. They would sit together and have some fruit and muffins while Constantin and I got ready so that we could all go and pig out at the breakfast buffet. And pig out we did. Breakfast was always my biggest meal and I actually didn't eat much, if at all at dinner.

Katerina was the belle of the ship. This ship, Azamara Journey (part of Celebrity) is a small (690 passengers) adult-oriented ship and we only saw 3 other children on the cruise. There were no programs for kids but that didn't stop Katerina from having a wonderful time. In addition to having the Florida crew: Grandma, Uncle John and Aunt Sue there, all of the ship's crew was infatuated with her. I have so many pictures of the captain and the hotel director holding Katerina. And after she sang B-I-N-G-O into the microphone during a bingo game, the entire ship fell in love with her and would ask her to sing when they saw her. She also danced the twist one evening during a twist contest. I'm afraid I've turned into one of those mothers who think everything their little one does is just adorable and everyone around them feels the same way. But in this case, it's true!!!

I was seasick the first night and stayed in bed. I hadn't taken anything to prevent it and after unpacking just had to lay my head down. It got very rough that night because there was a storm and we had 6 to 9-foot swells. It continued for most of the next day as we were cruising, but since I had taken something the night before, when I woke up I felt ok. That day at sea, we hit the casinos.

(More to come.....)