I will start by saying I selected very wisely. It appears Empress of the Seas will be heading to the Bahamas for the 9/9 sailing, which was my alternative selection. Instead we sailed, as planned, to Bermuda on the 9/2 Empress sailing.

Friday 9/1
Gee, why was Judy so psycho that day and running about with the Durango? Well it was to get my fuzzy one off to "camp" so I could head out in the afternoon for Philadelphia. Beff and I loaded up and headed East to Harrisburg to pick up Eric and continue on our way. A quick hotel check in and we then caught up with Bill who came into Philly just to hang for an evening.

With Ernesto heading through the area travel was rainy the whole way, but it was not as bad as it could have been. We headed out for dinner in the rain to Chickie's and Pete's. Cheap, but rather unappealing. From there through the wet streets of Philly for some rather interesting shopping, *wink*, a quick stop to dry off at the Mako and back out to the rain.

The hotel was suitable. I think we got a good deal through the CruisePhilly setup, but I didn't get a good night's sleep as I laid there listening to Ernesto whipping things about with most certain doom that Empress wouldn't be able to dock in the morning much less leave with us onboard.

I will note here that on this fine evening I was confused for Slippy by someone who traditionally would recognize his "itch oss'" voice.

Saturday 9/2
Up early, winds continued gusting, but we haul off to the port where we easily caught up with the rest of our boys (M, "Dad", B, and J) - oh, and we discovered one stow-a-way mooonkey. Tsk tsk.

While we didn't get out on time, we did leave. I missed hearing the horn however, which I can't fathom how that happened. The wind and rain persisted and I was really starting to think we were going to have a gloomy seven nights. Most of the ship was rather ill. I was a-okay, much to the surprise of many who looked on in shock asking "you didn't take anything!?"

We got our butts whooped at name that tune, grubbed, hit the show, and unpacked into our tiny room. When they say the Empress is a bit smaller than most, they are not kidding folks. But the three of us fit.

Sunday 9/3 - at Sea
We slept a little too late to catch breakfast, so Eric and I headed to the cooking demonstration where we then ate black forest cake for breakfast. We also then took the silver in the doubles ping pong tourny, fear us. At lunch we sat with people from Jerome. Yes, again, the small world cruise ship syndrome. In the afternoon, the swing dance lessons were fun, even if I am completely uncoordinated and Beth just refuses to lead.

This evening was my favorite show, Los Pampas Gauchos, the flourescents were bitchin and the drum lines were groovy. We also hit the majority rules game show and went dancing in the Viking crown. Tired. Sleep!

Monday 9/4 - St. George
As we entered the area we squeezed through a rather narrow channel and pulled up to the town crier announcing our arrival. We came into St. George on a holiday so, many stores were closed, but the area is still nice to see. I still managed to find a store where I could stock up on souvenirs in the form of Bermudan rum cakes.

We wandered about and ended up seeing St. Peter's, the unfinished church, and Tobacco Bay. Quite lovely for the first beach we got to check out. The rock formations around Bermuda add such a lovely contrast to the blue skies and multi-tonal waters.

We headed off on a candlelight walk which disappointed a bit as it was not what we expected and ran longer than expected. From there, back to the ship where our little crew entered the Quest and came out in first place *whooo* I nearly lost my favorite bra to a tragic quest incident, but came out only having my tube of bitchin Mary Kay lipstick smashed to smithereens. *hiss* At least we won.

Tuesday 9/5 - Hamilton
Beth is not much of a morning person, so Eric and I headed off of the ship for some quick shopping. The big plans of the day were snorkeling which included Eric, Beth, "Dad", M, and I. We went out on the Jesse James snorkel trip which included three stops, and was worth every penny and all the pain.

The first stop, a beach stop, to get the noobs familiar with the equipment but there was still plenty of fish to see. There was one fish on the poster hanging on the boat called the "Slippery Dick". Needless to say this made me laugh, but I had no clue I was going to see one, traumatically enough. (Gentlemen, please wear lined bathing suits.) The second stop took us over a few ship wrecks (including the Vixen *smile*), also quite cool, and minus the horrifying sights.

The final stop was over a lovely reef with a ton of life, if you could hold still and silent long enough for them to come out in abundance. People, if you're going to snorkel - learn how to kick with out flailing. All you do is scare away the fish. Further, don't kick me, or push off of me unless you want me to drown your ass. I did take with me an aquapac which allowed me to take my digital camera underwater. I was nervous, but it worked out pretty well, minus the issue of actually seeing through the snorkel and through the view finder. As bright as it was the view panel on the back was a wash, so we'll have to see how good my aim, and photos, turn out in a day or so (so much to do right now).

As to the evening's show the highlight was "Dad" hitting the stage. Super-star!

Wednesday 9/6 - Hamilton
Beff and I snagged a ferry and bus pass while some of the boys headed off to kayak and we hauled off to the Crystal and Fantasy caves, which were nice, but a bit of a let down. If it had been closer on our other desired path and we had gotten to see more beaches I would have been happier.

From there we hauled on the Ferry from Hamilton to King's Wharf where we peeked at the Glass works and hopped a bus to hit a few beaches before we had to be back to the ship. First stop Church Bay - wow. Second stop the ever popular Horseshoe bay for a glimpse at some of the pink sand. We didn't get a lot of time at either beach, but I sure couldn't slide into a suit with my already glowing red back anyhow. So we just took some photos and froliced our feet about in the surf.

While harbor nights went on we headed off for a nightlife cruise. The water was too murky to see anything through the glass bottom boat, I don't care how many lights you have. At least I got to try a Rum Swizzle and a Dark and Stormy while onboard.

Thursday/Friday 9/7-8 - at Sea
Everything was catching up to me, so I did some sleeping on this fine day. I finally tried to take my butt up the rock wall and I even played a little shuffleboard. Man, those old ppl are in shape. I think I threw out an ass muscle. Amusingly I am a bit gimpy today. There was more booze etc, but it was a nice way to wind down after running around like mad all week.

Saturday 9/9
Off the ship and driving back to good old Jtown. We snagged up the wee one and she's been too tired to eat her dinner or to snarf her pigs ear! I think she had a good time at camp while I was away.

Overall impressions of Empress
Small but lovely. It was nice to not have as far of a walk to every little thing. She did have a bit of a water issue however. In many areas huge air dryers were running to try and de-sog the carpet in main areas. Mayhaps people who weren't feeling well created a mess early in the week? I'm uncertain, but it was a bit less than pleasant to smell mildew in some of the halls and to go sliding when I stepped from the carpet onto some of the tiled areas.

I was also disappointed that we were told/encouraged to attend dinner in shorts etc. The whole point of the formal dinning room is that it is nice, so I was a bit bummed at this encouragement, even if it did allow some of our less prepared travelers to attend more meals.

Overall impressions of Bermuda
Absolutely beautiful! Incredibly expensive. Best way to see it is definitely on a ship where you can haul back on board to eat and to bed down for the night. Bus and ferry passes definitely the way to get around on this small island. We easily saw a good bit in our time there, and we only picked up a one-day pass.

Bermuda most definitely does have the island feel with all of the brightly colored houses littering the gentle hillside.

Continuing themes of the trip
Sunburn. Snorkeling was not friendly to me. I can show you my front - nice and pasty white, and I can show you my back - and you'll sing rock lobster. I've been in pain since, but it's my own fault. I was really surprised how lit up I got.

One thing I dislike is someone who gathers information on people and then spreads it to others. If we wanted our feelings shared, we would do it ourselves - thanks. The other thing I really dislike are liars and people who will hit on every single female onboard telling them things they think will woo them. I'm insulted to think anyone would believe me to be stupid enough to buy their farse as such, and moreso when someone moves on from my friend to me or vice versa.