We are having a great time and are now sitting in Castries St. Lucia.

We boarded the ship on Friday in Barbados and it has been fabulous. Yesterday Diana went with me for my first saltwater dive in Grenada. Water was clear to probably 100 ft. Very beautiful and the weather was perfect. We spent the morning and the late afternoon at the pool and had a most relaxing day.

Today, I headed out with a friend and we did two dives here in St. Lucia. Weather has been rainy for most of the day, but still had two great dives. I am really loving it. I am so glad I got certified. Diana was going to go, but her leg was bothering her and so she just decided to take it easy around the ship.

The food has been absolutely fabulous. We have seen many of the same staff that were onboard last May when Diana had her little incident. Captain Tatulli is still in charge, Michael is still the CD. Ana has now been moved up from concierge to assistant cruise director, and Dr. Ramon is still onboard. Everybody was really attentive and welcomed us back onboard. This time, we said for the whole cruise! LOL

We have met some wonderful new friends and have suggested that they come over and meet all of us over at LCT.

Tomorrow we arrive in Guadaloupe. We will fill you in with more details later.

Don,

Thanks for checking in and I am glad all is well. How was the precuise hotel?

Anthony

Don & Diana

Thanks for posting the seamail. Glad you are having a good time, despite the rain. I guess when you are diving - rain doesn't matter!

Hi Don and Diana,

Glad you're having a great time.

D&D - thanks for the seamail!! The dives sounded great!

Masaki

So nice to hear from you, Don. Good to know you are both having a wonderful time!

Glad you're enjoying the diving. Isn't it great to see staff and officers that know you and vice versa? Those trips make for better cruises IMHO.

I love St. Lucia. Hope it's a great day.

Cheers, Anne

PS - Can we get a running count on the champagne inventory?

Sounds like a great trip. Keep us updated and don't forget to have fun!! LOL! :D

Thanks for posting. Lovely to hear from you. I love SEA MAIL.

Ahhhhh!!!! This is so relaxing. We actually missed getting into Guadaloupe this morning due to high winds and choppy seas. We had winds up to 40 knots this morning and could not anchor. So we are now drifing off Dominic and are protected from the wind. Weather in the low 80's and overcast. A perfect day to lay around the pool and read and just take it easy.

We absolutely loved St. Lucia and I want to go back and dive there again. My first dive was a wreck dive in about 65 feet near Anse Cochon and I did partial penetration (I guess Advanced Certification stuff) and felt like I had been doing this for years. I loved it. Stayed away from doing the contained engine room however. Visiblity ran at least 50 feet. Amazing considering that is was raining and windy. Saw eel, barracuda, and all kinds of tropical fish. Guess I better learn their names if I'm going to keep doing this. Second dive of the day was a drift dive along the reef at Anse Cochon at about 35 feet. Again, it was near perfect.

As far as the pre-cruise hotel we stayed at the South Beach Resort. It is a condo style (time share combo) hotel at Rockley Beach. It was fine for an overnight pre-cruise, but for a longer stay, we would probably have chosen Cobblers Cove, the Fairmont, the Hyatt, or The House to stay at. We probably would have also eaten at The Cliffs for dinner with our friends, though having dinner at the Waterfront Cafe at the Boatyard was quite nice. It was Dixieland Jazz night and they were great. It was funny when I turned the corner and saw the band was made up almost entirely of Brits!!!

Tonight we are having dinner with Asst CD Ana. She was so much help when Diana had her little episode in France last May and we are looking forward to it. She said she will wait to say Hi to the Dr. until the end of the cruise!!! I think she just didn't want to scare him that she was onboard again! LOL!!!

Tomorrow (fingers crossed)we will be in Antigua. We have a private driver lined up to take us around in the afternoon and I am going to look for another dive tour for in the morning, since we missed out in Guadaloupe.

Ciao for now.

Hi Don & Diana,
Glad to hear about your cruise. It sounds like you felt tropical depression #27! It looks like it is heading away from you and you are heading away from it, so hopefully you've already felt the only effect. Thanks for posting the update!
Debbie

Hi Don and Diana,

If you go to the alternative rest. (Is it called Le Champagne?) I would really appreciate your comments and if it's worth to try in a 4 days cruise or is it better if we just stay with the main one. Ditto for the other alternative rest. ( can't remember the name).

Thanks!

Yesterday we did our private tour with Lawrence of Antigua and he was great as always. Picked us up at the dock at noon and had us back at 5:00. We saw the sights of the island including Devils Bridge and then dropped us off at Long Bay for a swim and snorkel. We got caught in a torrential afternoon downpour, but it was still just very relaxing. Got back to the ship and they had cancelled the on deck BBQ due to weather, even though it did clear last night, the deck was soaked. We instead ate in the Terrace Cafe by candelight of the fixed 5 course menu. Last night was Italian cuisine, starting off with fabulous appetizers, antipastas, spaghetti with shrimp, rigatoni, then topped off with a tenderloin over polenta with zucchini, etc, and then a medley of chocolate desserts. It was great.

Today we are in St. Kitts and the weather is great. Sunny and in the mid 80's. This afternoon we are doing the catamaran and snorkel. It looks a little windy, but hope that they still go. Tonight we are #1 on the waitlist for the visiting chefs dinner. He is from Cobblers Cove in Barbados.

Ciao for now. Will post more later. Tomorrow we are in Tortola where I will be diving the RMS Rhone.

Diana says Hi!!!

Hi Don! You are bringing back some wonderful memories. We left you plenty of champagne - I know it because I saw on our last day next to the pool bar that they had yet another brand - Mumm's! Ask Rene if they still have it, and tell him and Henrique "hi" from Greg & Kristin. I couldn't pronounce Henrique's name, so I called him "Unique"!

The dives sound absolutely wonderful - I am sure you are so glad you became certified. I wish I had the guts and the commitment to do it! You are no doubt in for a real treat when you dive in Tortola. We snorkeled at Norman Island and it was THE best snorkeling we've ever done (and we've snorkled pretty much every Caribbean island).

I wondered about you guys with Gamma forming - but no worries, you are moving away from it, and it's also forecast to peter out by the end of the day tomorrow! Woo hoo!

Hope to hear from you again soon! ENJOY! :)

Don:

Your cruise sounds so idylic! What a perfect place to dive..wish I was certified.

I know there are plenty of divers looking forward to Tahiti.

Can't wait to see you and Diane in LA!

Hi Don,

Despite the downpour, sounds as if you and Diana are having a lovely time! Good, as always, to get your seamail!