The end of February saw West Jet and me off to Orlando, FL to be met by friends Sue, Ralph and June from Saint John, NB. We stayed with friends of Ralph and Sue's in Port Orange, Fl for 2 days before we journeyed to Port Canaveral to begin our Disney Cruise. The Tokar's home in Port Orange was beautiful. The community was called 'Spruce Creek Fly-In' and everyones' back yard was a hanger that housed their plane and other toys ( RV's, motorcycles and golf carts for getting around the community). Quite the place! While there we did some shopping and ate out as Floridians tend to do.
Saturday morning we headed off to Port Canaveral to board our ship. It was equipped with 3 pools, 2 movie theatres, 4 dining rooms and a fantastic spa that Sue and I took advantage of most days. Our cabin was on Deck 7 with a veranda. Great accommodations. We were at sea from Saturday afternoon until Tuesday noon when we docked in St. Maarten. We had experienced some engine problems over those last days and arrived late so our snorkeling adventure was cancelled but that made more time for shopping . Engine repaired, horns blasted to signal our departure at 7:30pm. Next stop, the island of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands in the city of Charlotte Amalie. Terry and I had been there in 1985 when we did our sailing trip with folks from Saint John. The shopping was as great as I remembered. Again horns blasted - the tune of 'When you wish upon a star' - and we were off to Castaway Cay, Disney's own island. Over the week we had experienced some very strong winds and that was no different on Friday morning as we tried to dock at Castaway Cay. The captain made 4 attempts over 4 hours to dock the ship but the winds were across the deck and we were just a great big sail to be pushed around. He made a wise decision to abort any more attempts and sailed on. The staff were excellent about rearranging programs and activities to accommodate the guests. After this disappointment, Guest Services was flooded with complaints and threats of lawsuits because we didn't dock on the island. In my eyes, they would have had reason to sue if we'd gone on the rocks and everyone had to be taken off in the tenders. Boy, some people just don't think. When we woke on Saturday morning, it was check in time with US customs on the ship and then our last breakfast. It was a great time and the food was fantastic.
After debarking, we drove back to Spruce Creek Fly-In to relax. Sunday Sue, June and I went to the huge in-door flea market in Daytona Beach. On our return, I then proceeded to finish my packing and we were off to Orlando to put me on my plane home. Scott was kind enough to meet me at midnight and bring me back to Galbraith Dr. I had a wonderful time and enjoyed all aspects of the trip but I was also glad to see home.
