Around the World in 365 Days: Island of St. Maarten to Daytona Beach, FL

Day 68, Dec. 24^th: Merry Christmas! – Almost there! The morning and early afternoon we were docked in St. Maarten in Philipsburg. The port area was flat and had wide, with easy sidewalks, but Mom did not want to go up and down that ramp. I did some stocking stuffer shopping for her at the nearby shops, then Kathleen and the sibs went on their tours.

John loves scuba diving, so he spent the entire time in Port on a dive. Mom and I continued to represent the Eaton family at Christmas Trivia – and won. Anyone who knows me would not be surprised. For future reference – St. Nicholas was from Turkey. Then up to deck 14 to enjoy some fresh air and sunshine.

John made it back on board with about 30 minutes to spare. He said his scuba trip was “interesting” – one of his scuba companions lost her weight belt after hitting the water, so they all had to wait until the dive master retrieved it. They bobbed in 6-8 foot swells before diving. He saw a “twenty pound” lobster and a four foot long sting ray, along with many beautiful fish. He saw where the SNUBA people did their walk along the bottom, which is what Sean and Pat did at some point in the day.

The entertainment that night was a “tribute to Queen” – there were some non-Queen songs, and the accent of some of the singers made the songs sound a little different, but it was better than the Mask show earlier in the week. The evening also included a caroling party – so we sang, and then continued singing after the official caroling event was over.

Pat and Kathleen had found a really good guitar player (Russ) that performed at the adults only bar at the back of the boat in the Garden Bar, so we managed to get there in time to hear 3 songs before he went on break.

Day 69, Dec. 25^th: We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas… We did breakfast in the dining room, and filled each other’s bags/ stockings after placing our orders. The completeness/ accuracy of the orders was hit and miss – Sean did get his “express breakfast with extra bacon” – with an amazing mound of extra bacon.

We annoyed the other tables playing a Christmas song “game” – we just read the cards and sang. We hung out throughout the day, playing trivia, singing (I got an extra point for my team by going up to sing “Let it Snow”). It was formal night, and this time Mom and the brothers joined us, Jonathan in a festive Christmas Hawaiian shirt. They served prime rib for the meat eaters, but no lobster. Disappointing since every Caribbean cruise I have done prior to this, for one of the formal nights they had lobster tails (including four-day cruises out of Galveston). The other issue I had at dinner was the champagne I pre-ordered (and paid for) several days earlier. On the receipt it clearly spelled out that it was for dinner on Christmas day, table number, 1^st seating. We get to the table, no champagne, I ask about it – no “record of the order” so I left the table, power walked back to my cabin (which is up four flights and on the opposite end of the ship) wearing a dress and dressy sandals. I should have predicted, since thus far on the MSC Divina, organization and planning had not been this company’s forte. The rest of the night went fine. Everyone enjoyed the Moet Chandon – Mary (my sister) even knew a song that included the name in the lyrics – Killer Queen. The silk chocolate cheesecake was a thumbs up. After dinner we enjoyed listening to Russ the guitar singer for 1 ½ songs before his break, but he promised Mom she could pick out some songs for the next night. We went to the Christmas show, which started with two carols and then the “traditional Christmas tango” followed by a lot of non-holiday themed songs and acts, then finished with a couple more carols. So, it was their normal night 6 show with carols added before and after. We caught a few more of Russ’s songs before his next break, then John and I went to the casino. We both had some luck, so I was $20 ahead for the day.

Day 70, Dec. 26^th: I woke up and did a thirty-minute blink. I woke up, decided I would get up, got up, went to the bathroom, and John asked the time – which was thirty minutes later than the time I had checked before getting out of bed. Since I did not spend more than a few minutes in the bathroom, I had nodded back off without realizing it then got up. In the gym I got lucky and found an open treadmill, but had to hold onto the safety bar due to the pitching a rolling. The weather was clearing up, but there were 8-10 foot waves as the boat headed to Nassau, Bahamas. I pulled out my guitar after my workout and switched back from Christmas songs to regular music, going through several of my favorite Jimmy Buffet and Zac Brown band tunes. I joined Mom and family for trivia, then up to 14 to spend some time hanging out on deck. We arrived in Nassau about 45 minutes late, but this time they did push back sail time by 30 minutes. Jonathan, Kathleen and her family were doing a glass bottom boat tour, while Suz went in search of “The Queen’s steps”. When England outlawed slavery in 1833, the now former slaves built a set of steps in her honor, and the steps still exist. Nassau does not do the return to the ship well – there was a 45-minute wait at the island side of security for Suz to get back to the boat to hang out with Mom so I could go into town. I did not find the Queen’s steps – but did see the after effect of the Boxing Day parades with lots of floats left on the side of the road –

many still beautiful. We found a nice pub called the Exelon not far from the port with the typical beer for internet special (3 beers, 2 shots and internet for $10 + tax and tip). At dinner my family arranged for cake and champagne for my Birthday– so a really nice evening. We listened to part of Russ’s set after dinner, then to the casino – John did really well, me not so much.

Day 71, Dec. 27^th: We grabbed breakfast before finishing packing, then met Kathleen and her family up on 14 while waiting to disembark, while Mom and the brothers waited with the other wheelchair assist on the 6^th floor. I pulled out the guitar and Pat played for awhile to bide the time.

When we went downstairs Mom, Jonathan and Phil were still there. It was 9:35 and they said – oh – lime 4, we’ll have someone to push you soon, finally at 9:50, after getting more insistent we got an attendant to help Mom and I escorted Mom, my brothers (who rarely travel) through the exit, got a porter, then helped them through customs and to a cab. I waited for John to get through customs as well – they scrutinized him a lot more without me. We were able to get back to the car and on the road to Daytona Beach a little after 11, driving through several heavy rain showers. We met Uncle Gene and Aunt Cathy a little after 4 at one of their favorite restaurants – Lulu’s on A1A. The Ahi poke bowl was really good. We spent the evening relating the trails and tribulations of the cruise and doing laundry.