The Westin Hotel-Fort Lauderdale was a wonderful hotel. Super friendly, helpful staff and a super comfy bed. As advertised, it really was like sleeping on a cloud. Now that I am “flying solo” , being king size was a bit like overkill, but after traveling for about 18 hours, it was nice to be able to spread my wings!
About noon all of us in the hotel that were Holland/American bound were herded onto busses and transported to the Nieuw Amsterdam, that will be home for the next 15 days.
It’s a beautiful new ship doing her inauguration cruise across the Atlantic to Barcelona, Spain. My oceanview stateroom is more than adequate, with double glass doors to the outside instead of a small window. The doors don’t open and there is no balcony, but having a wall of glass gives a feeling of far more space than there actually is. For one person it is luxury. I’ve decided to rejoice in a few things that are not possible when traveling with someone else…I get both closets to myself!! And all of the space in the bathroom and cupboards is MINE!! I really would prefer to have Tony with me…but I’m determined to enjoy the little pleasures of aloneness to compensate for his absence.
I requested the 8 PM seating for dinner (no kids) and asked to be included in a table for eight. What an interesting group…all traveling solo. 5 females, 3 men. 2 Canadians, 1 Spanish and 5 Americans. All well travelled, which made for an interesting “let’s get aquainted” first dinner together.
Today I opted to sleep in and had a late breakfast. Here’s a hint for solo travelers…if you are eating at a buffet…which on a cruise is breakfast and lunch and any other time of the day that strikes you, remember to take a sweater or something along to leave on your chair so that when you get up to get something else, it is obvious that you are coming back! Otherwise you may just find your table cleared off and occupied by someone else. Following breakfast I spent a few hours reading in the sun by the pool. And then, more luxury. A fabulous facial that made me look and feel many years younger! And of course, I just had to purchase a few products to keep up the look! The spa on this ship is absolutely first class….I’m quite sure I will spend more time there.
The internet connection is very slow, and very expensive. But I have bought enough minutes to last throughout the 15 days if I am frugal. , No Bejeweled Blitz or Lexulous for a while! I am prewriting this in Word and will then connect, cut and paste onto the blog,, download a few photos from my flashdrive, then check email and Facebook to find out what all y’all are up to and disconnect…all in about 15 minutes per day, I hope!
Night time…Monday April 4th
OMG…the first of 4 formal nights on board! Where do all these lovely men wearing tuxedo’s come from…and just where did they learn to dance like that? A lovely evening full of beautiful people. A meal of lobster and filet done to perfection. An extrodinary wine and fabulous company. I could get used to this!
Hasta luego, adios mis amigos.
Wish I could come spaing with you every day.. Alas, I will have to do it alone here :) Miss you mommy.
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