25th Anniversary Cruise!

For seven wonderful days in July, Jo and I went on a cruise to celebrate our 25th anniversary. Along with us were two other couples who were also celebrating their silver anniversaries: Garry & Llona Weiss and Randy & Pam Bryson. We sailed on Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas, traveling from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to St. Marten's, St. Thomas and Nassau, Bahamas before returning to the US.

Needless to say, we had a wonderful time. We would highly recommend Royal Caribbean line, as they do a fantastic job of practically everything. Their entertainment is exceptional. Although I don't have any pictures of it here, they had a huge theater on board and did Vegas-quality entertainment each and every night of the cruise.

Perspective shot of ship The Enchantment of the Seas was a gigantic boat, sailing with over 2400 passengers and 800 crew members. This picture gives you some sense of dimension. I am actually standing at the end of our hallway corridor, with Jo taking the picture at the other. I'm so far away that the flash is insufficient for the camera to pick me up.

After a few days at sea, our first stop on was the island of St. Marten. The history of the island was interesting, as half was goverened by the French, the other half by the Dutch. Beyond the history, there wasn't much more of interest about St. Marten. Evidently they were hit hard by a hurricane back in the mid-90's and haven't ever recovered from its effects. Beyond that, it really was a poorly kept place, animals running loose everywhere, lots of garbage on the ground. This picture illustrates my point Ancient tree on St. Martens as it is a tree which is over 100 years old and is showcased as a major island attraction, yet it was surrounded by junk.


Here are a number of other photos from St. Marten. Rest your cursor over each one for a short narrative description.

While on a bus tour of the island, we got this shot of some of the houses on the island of St. Marten Still on the bus tour. Got a shot of Joann with the Gulf in the background. At the end of the bus tour, we wound up in a market area. You can tell how excited I am about this photo opportunity. Like the hat? This picture was taken after spending part of the afternoon snorkeling. Jo did a great job, as this was her first time snorkeling. Unfortunately, there was very little to see in the area where we were swimming.

Taken from the ship at St. ThomasSt. Martin's Church on St. ThomasNext stop was St. Thomas, part of the US Virgin Islands. St. Thomas was everything that St. Marten's wasn't. It was green and lush, very well kept. For whatever reason, we have only a couple of pictures from this island stop. Jo found some really great shopping bargains there, picking up a number of handmade tablecloths that were exquisitely done. Here is a picture of an old church on the island.

At some point in every cruise, you get the obligatory sunset pictures. We had some beauties this trip. Here are some of them:

Which looks better: the sunset or Joann? If you look carefully near the center of this photo, you will see a rainbow which appeared shortly after a rain. Pam and Jo provide some welcome foreground to this picture.

The remaining photos were taken on board the ship.

Each couple was recognized with a cake and small celebration at an evening dinner at some point on the cruise. Here are Garry and Llona hamming it up for the camera. More of the same. Pam and Randy were in this shot, but obviously something got Pam tickled. I believe she was snorting at the time this was taken. Our turn in the limelight. What, me worry? The waiters were providing some kind of congo-line entertainment following dinner one evening. The fellow at left was our bus boy, with our waiter just to his left. The chefs had an elegant layout at one of the midnight buffets. The fruit carvings were amazing. Note the detail on the horse's head carved out of a watermelon. More fruit carvings. On board, they had this beautiful stained glass at one of the stairwells. We persuaded another guest to snap this shot of us. Here you see the six of us all dressed up for dinner on our final night on-board. Unfortunately the flash wasn't strong enough to get a really good shot of everyone. (l-to-r)Randy, Pam, Garry, Llona, Joann, Tim This picture of the lower level of the dining room didn't turn out too well, unfortunately. One final picture as we were leaving ship in Ft. Lauderdale. None of us were very happy to see the week come to an end.

We couldn't have asked for better company on this trip. The Weiss' and Bryson's were wonderful sailing companions. We enjoyed each other's company, yet still had plenty of time for participation in separate activities. We look forward to next year, as we will be cruising once more, this time with the kids as Biz will be graduating from high school. We'll do a better job of picture taking on that trip!



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