Lucie's 60th Birthday

Finally an update as we are over 1/3 through the cruise!  The days fly by as we sail, tour the ports, and enjoy all the activities on board. 

Climbing for Panaromic views

We arrived easily at the ship, thanks to Jill driving us down from St. Petersburg.  Not many people boarded today so it went smoothly and quickly.  The sailaway party was nice but rather uneventful as the big party was in NYC when all three of the Queen ships left the harbor together.  But , John and I were very excited about joining the World Cruise group. There are about 400 people who are going the whole way.  Our dinner mates, Jeff and Monica, are two Brits who winter in Naples and are lots of fun.  Monica's sister, Margaret will join them in Los Angeles so they will move to another table, but we will still see them often.  The couple at the table next to us are also from the UK and very delightful conversationalists. 

Volcanic shorelline

Our friend, Libby Bourlon, had given us the names of her clients Margie and Bill Spahr who live in Homosassa and are on the World Cruise with us.  Bill called our stateroom and we met for a drink one of the first days onboard.  They are great fun and we have had many pleasant dinners and evenings in their company.  They got on in NYC and are going the whole way to Southampton also.  They will be moving to our dinner table along with another couple from their present table, Norma and Norman from Rhode Island, after our present tablemates disembark in Sydney.  More on that later.

After cruising the Straits of Florida and the Caribbean Sea, our first stop today was in Aruba - one of the ABC islands off the ocast of Venezuela. What a wonderful way to spend my 60th Birthday! We had a wonderful day touring this beautiful island together.  It is very different than we imagined - sunny and warm winds with desert like vegetation instead of tropical.We will continue to cross the Caribbean Sea tomorrow on our way to transit the Panama Canal.

Happy Birthday Honey!

The Queeen seen from the hill

Sunset over Aruba from the QV