Vacation...finally!

So, I am finally getting around to posting about our most wonderful vacation that we (Josh and I) took a few weeks ago to the Eastern Caribbean.

We left mid-morning on November 11, 2011 and flew from Albany to Ft.Lauderdale. A direct flight! It was wonderful as I haven't had one of those in years and years! We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale where a van picked us up to take us to the hotel. We got lunch and rested a while. That evening we went to a delicious wood-fired pizza place for dinner with my cousin Jamie and his wife Justine, who are in FLL while Jamie is in PA school there. They picked us up from the hotel and took us back after dinner. It was so nice to get to spend some time with them and getting to know Justine better.

The next day, Saturday, we got up and had breakfast. Around 11 a shuttle took us to the cruise port, where we boarded our Holland America ship, the Eurodam.

Can you see me waving from our balcony? :) We were actually near the back of the ship, but we did have a balcony, which was very nice. It actually only took us about 30 minutes to go through check in and get on our ship, which was very nice because in the past it has taken a few hours at times. We were able to put some of our things in our room immediately, and then scope out the lunch buffet! Every day on the lido buffet for lunch they had a salad bar, sandwich station, and different cuisine (e.g. mexican, italian, chinese, american, etc) at different stations, and then of course a huge desert station with lots of mini desserts to choose from and ice cream.

After we ate we spend some time walking around the ship learning the layout and walking the outside decks prior to setting sail.

We were able to relax in the room for a while and then we had dinner at 8pm. We met our table mates, Jen and Kevin, who were also a young couple, from Ohio. Our table was right by the window at the back of the ship in the dining room, so we were able to watch the waves while we dined.

After that we relaxed as we began our journey! Great start to vacation!

Will post more on Day 1 at sea and ports of call soon!