December 22, 2025 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Mostly Sunny – 75F

December 22, 2025 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Mostly Sunny – 75F

A pleasant day in South Florida.  Our triple cruise itinerary is complete.

Serenity joined a group of seven other ships at Port Everglades today.  

We are next to Celebrity Reflection and across the water from the Liberty of the Seas.  Also here are Coral Princess, Disney Dream, Celebrity Ascent, Silver Dawn, and Radiance of the Seas. 

We are in Group Red 2 – and our meeting time is 8:30 AM in the Galaxy Lounge.  I was up early enough to grab a shower (in our wonderful shower - I think that makes at least 13 showers in 15 days during Cruise 2 and 3) and then head up to the Marketplace around 7:00 AM for breakfast.  Ellen was up and would join me up there for the first time in 25 days.  I had my usual breakfast of fried eggs and pancakes along with mini-wheats.  We threw off the waiters by being at a different table.  I did get my coffee on a regular basis and thanked the waiters for being so good with the coffee. 

At 8:15 AM, we went to the Galaxy Lounge and in about 10 minutes we were told to scan out.  That went pretty quickly and we went to the terminal to get our bags and go through Immigration.  That also moved pretty quickly because those CBP agents were there just for us.  They took our picture again and we exited looking for our bus.  We did and the driver took our bags.  The wait to depart was not too long and the ride to FLL was only about five minutes.  We were dropped off about a 100m from the United Terminal but on the arrival level.  We took the escalators up to the United Check in area – I got my bag tags from a kiosk, which printed our tags for carry on which I did not ask for.  An agent had to figure out which was which and tagged our bags.  After waiting in what we thought was a United Priority Line (actually another airline because the signage was confusing) for a while, we dropped our bags and went to the nearby TSA Precheck Line. 

FLL has some very interesting looking scanners (the front looks like a regular scanner but there is another scanner attached to it that looks like a jet engine).  There were two TSA agents working our lane (perhaps each one assigned to one of the scanners).  The line moved pretty slowly but we did make it through and retrieved our backpacks.

The United Club at FLL is at Gate C1 (next to the escalators).  We had two passes and when we checked at the desk they told us it was very crowded and they had to put out a sign that they weren’t taking day passes.  They told us they would take the sign down and then we could get in.  Whilel we were waiting, we wound up having an interesting conversation with the DJ on Serenity.  He had just finished his contract and was headed home.  He had some interesting insights into being a guest entertainer on Crystal.

Well, FLL is very crowded today and it took over 30 minutes to get in.  Once in, it was difficult to get a seat and we started off in seats near the buffet line.  Lunch today consisted of super delicious tomato bisque soup (along with sourdough French – yummy) and a salad with Ranch Dressing (also good).  I tried a bean wrap (not so good).  We got cokes and eventually we found comfy seats out in the main area.  Just waiting to board now.

UA651 is scheduled to board at 12:38 PM at Gage C1 (now that was convenient) and the plane was there.  

We are flying on an B737-9ER (to me that just means a longer walk to the washroom usually).  We are in Mileage Plus Seats 10A and 10B and there is, in fact, a window (two actually) at my seat.  There is also a washroom just before first class (just a couple of rows away).  An ideal location.  

I got my usual pictures of the wing and engine on my side.  Somebody has to confirm flaps and slats - United extends them earlier than American.  Thank you.

We pushed right on time and the pilot taxied very quickly to the active runway (maybe ground control told him to get over there so as to not lose his place in line).  We did and we were number 3 (I could see the planes ahead of us).  In no time, we were in the air – I got some great pics of Port Everglades and the ships parked there (I could see Serentiy – she was next to Celebrity Reflection).  

A little chop on the climb (lots of clouds in the area) 

and soon smooth air until we were about an hour out.  The Captain put the seat belt light on (I had just made my only bathroom visit of the flight) but there wasn’t a single bump – nothing (the intel he got from the plane ahead of us didn't pan out – wind shifts etc.).  The rest of the flight was smooth and we landed on time and taxied (quickly again) to our gate in the E concourse of Terminal 1.

We must have walked a mile to the baggage claim area from our gate – my shin splints were fierce after having been seated for hours and then hiking that long distance.  We walked to the baggage area with folks we had met on the ship. 

Our bags got there before we did and I grabbed them from the carousel.

I had pre-arranged a taxi pickup with American Taxi and they actually texted me when we landed.  I responded and about 10 minutes later, Taxi Number 3598 (an upgraded American Blue cab – an Audi A5) pulled up.  The driver, an unpronounceable name, put our bags away and took a different route to our place (highway to Dempster – to Golf Road – to Greenwood – to Lake and home).  He was an excellent driver – watched the speed limit – used safe following distance and safe lane changes.  That earned him an extra $2 on the tip.

Chicago was cold but not bone chilling cold.  The doorman helped us with our bags and soon we were home.

Glad to be back but not glad to trade all that pampering on the ship and warm weather. 

December 21, 2025 – Freeport, Bahamas – Sunny – 79F

December 21, 2025 – Freeport, Bahamas – Sunny – 79F

It is getting cooler as we head north. 

This is our first time in Freeport.  The Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, a small cruise ship with short Caribbean itineraries, is here as well.

We both had a terrible night – I had trouble sleeping and Ellen had some other issues (or maybe I kept her up). In any event, we are both wrecks this morning.  I did manage to get a few hours of sleep and then drag myself up to the Marketplace for breakfast.  

I was able to get a nice photo of both the sunrise and the pilot boat that assisted in the docking.

The waiter, once again, set up my table for me and had coffee waiting for me when I got back with my food (back to pancakes and fried eggs).  I wound up talking a second time to a passenger (in the wheelchair) for about 30- 40 minutes in the middle of my breakfast.  While it was an interesting chat, all my food got cold including my coffee.  I got new coffee and finished my cold eggs and pancakes. All good.

Ellen is taking a nap – I don’t think we will be doing much today.  Looking around, there doesn't appear to be much near the port to visit.

Earlier, I packed all my clothes (not as expertly as Ellen but I got everything in - it helped that I packed light for these cruises).  We will finish up later and be ready to put out our bags tonight.

We had lunch from the Trident Grill – two scoops of tuna on rolls from the buffet preceded by my final serving of gazpacho.  We both went with Diet Coke today.

After lunch we discovered that there is a no smoking section on Deck 11 aft (back deck).  There was shade and quiet.  It was a little cool out there after a while so we went to the Palm Court. We didn’t stay for tea today.  I did get a mojito - extra lime and Diet Sprite - very good. 

At 5:00 PM, I went to the Hollywood Theater to hear Rick’s Final Talk on “The Countess and the Nazi”. This talk is based on his new book.  I asked Katherine if they wanted to join us for farewell dinner in the Waterside Restaurant.  We met up at 6:30 PM for dinner and I ordered the Mushroom Pasta (tomatoes and cream) from the vegan menu so I could get it meatless.  I also ordered a mini-pizza off the Kid’s Menu. The pasta was so-so and the pizza was very undercooked.  Ellen had the Dover Sole prepared as a roll up with mushroom ground up in the center (she didn’t like it – it looked undercooked).  So dinner was pleasant if you don't take the food into account.  We should have ordered special meals as a farewell feast.

We received all of our disembarkation information in plenty of time.  Sometimes, on other ships, that arrives just in time.

We went back to the room and finished packing. I tagged everything and put the bags outside at 9 PM.

Lights out at 10:15 PM.

December 20, 2025 – At Sea – Caribbean Sea – Sunny – 87F

December 20, 2025 – At Sea – Caribbean Sea – Sunny – 87F

Serenity is not along out here today. The Scarlet Lady is sailing the Atlantic as well.

When I got up to the Marketplace, my waiter told me he had gotten my table ready – there was a go cup with coffee and he turned the chair toward the wall and moved my silverware out of the way so I could put my plate down.  Now, that is SERVICE.

I changed my breakfast routine because there were biscuits on the buffet. I had my old standby, pancakes, cottage cheese, preserves, and scrambled eggs (with cheese). 

I went with Ellen to the Waterside Restaurant for her breakfast – French Toast and fried eggs. 

My last talk is today at 11:00 AM in the Galaxy Lounge.  I got ready and went to hear Anita Gonzalez talk about the Bahamas.  I did find out that Sidney Poitier and Esther Rolle came from the Islands.  Today, Anita finished very early so there was no rush to get set up (she uses her own computer which needs to be broken down).

My talk – “Open Unsolved Cases – Forensic Genetic Genealogy” drew a decent audience of maybe 40 people.  

Today, I was up against Bridge so that would partially account for the low count.  People will see it later on TV (that's where the picture above came from).  I also lost my mic – it simply fell off during the talk and hit the ground.  The AV tech, who stays all the way through the talks hustled down with a handheld mic, which I used successfully to finish my talk.  Today, was the first time since the first cruise, that I felt I connected with the audience.  The highlight of the talk was a request by a passenger to sign a book on CRISPR - “Code Breaker” (Nobel Winner Jennifer Doudna's story) by Walter Isaacson.  That was a first for me – we had trouble finding a pen but the stage manager did find one and I did sign it and the passenger was thrilled.

Ellen and I had lunch in the Waterside Restaurant because the menu contained Fettuccine Alfredo and Halibut.  The Alfredo was so-so and the halibut could have been seared a bit more.  The lunch was quiet which is nice.

We spent the afternoon on the pool deck just outside of the Trident Grill area.  It was cooler today with a slight breeze so it was comfortable.  We listed to the Flair Duo and the DJ.  It was relaxing.

We had arranged to meet the Huttos for dinner at the Beefbar at 7 PM – this would mean we would have to finish pretty quickly to make the 8:30 PM show with comedian, Darrel Joyce.

We got a nice table for four from Barbara and she took this picture.

The place was relatively empty so we could actually hear each other.  Tonight, for the first time, the discussions got quite political as the dinner went on (I don't remember how we veered onto that topic) – we are aligned politically so it was all about agreeing and commiserating. The Huttos had some kind of meat dish and Ellen and I had the Robato (Salmon) prepared well done – it was a lot better this way than as sushi.  We had mashed potatoes with that (I had the classic version).  We shared the avocado hummus dip and some fries.  Everyone had the Gelato Mantecato (I asked for extra chocolate syrup).  There were no blueberries or raspberries in the fruit cup which had strawberries instead. Interestingly, the strawberries are no longer available on the breakfast buffet.

The conversation was lively and dinner lasted almost until 9 PM so we missed the comedy show.  We also passed on “Club Lights” – we didn’t see this show in any of the three cruises.

We said our goodbyes and headed for the stateroom.

December 19, 2025 – Grand Turk Island, Turks and Caicos – Mostly Sunny – 82F

December 19, 2025 – Grand Turk Island, Turks and Caicos – Mostly Sunny – 82F

Another picture perfect day.  A little cooler today as we head north.

I thought it was just going to be us here today but the huge Enchanted Princess (3800 passengers or so) pulled in.  

There was no mention in Reflections about chairs being available for passengers so we stayed on board. 

After another great breakfast, we spent most of the day in Palm Court – we stayed for Afternoon Tea (Ellen for the cookies and me for the scones).  The venue is perfect for picture taking.

We went to the 6th Chanukah Candle Lighting in the Hollywood Theater because the program said that Dan Davies would be the guest star.

Dan sang a song before the service started - it was a nice song but I did not know what it was and Dan didn't say anything about it.  The candles were already lit when we got there so there really wasn't the typical candlelighting ceremony.  Kind of disappointing based on our past experience on Crystal.  There was still a good turnout but we didn't stay.

We ran into the Huttos as we were waiting to be seated in the Waterside Restaurant and wound us having dinner with them at a table for four.  Ellen’s steak was a little over but my spaghetti marinara was the best I have ever had on a cruise ship (I shared that with Leo, the Maitre D’).  The sauce was perfect with chunks of tomato and the noodles were perfectly cooked.  The tomato soup was also perfect.  Who knew.

The dinner with Rick and Katherine was very nice as usual.  We made plans to have dinner tomorrow at the Beefbar.

We passed on both the shows tonight – the White Party 

was just too late.

December 18, 2025 – Samana, Dominican Republic – Mostly Sunny – 87F

December 18, 2025 – Samana, Dominican Republic – Mostly Sunny – 87F

A beautiful day in Samana.  I could have sworn we have been here before but I could not find any mention of it in my cruise logs.  I even remember visiting a port called Semana Bay and going on an excursion there.  Twilight Zone.

Still on my breakfast streak of pancakes and fried eggs (chocolate syrup and walnuts).  Really good.  Today, I was able to capture a sunrise over the Caribbean.

Samana is a tender port and it looks like a bit of a ride to shore.

I looked into Samana and found out that the only thing near the tender port was a fancy hotel; we decided to stay on board. That meant a nice lunch in Trident Grill (not very crowded - I checked the back deck and got a nice picture of Ellen)

and relaxing afternoon tea in Palm Court (with delicious scones).  There was some tropical rain in the afternoon.

We had our special meals in the Waterside Restaurant.  Big disappointment – the ship is out of the big Polish Sausages and the hot dogs are now small and very red and not too tasty.  The lambchops looked good.  I guess, I ate all of the dogs during this cruise.

We ordered special meals for tomorrow – Ellen requested a ribeye steak and I put in an order of spaghetti marinara. 

After dinner we spent some time in Crystal Cove, where I finally got a shot of the sculpture adorning the venue.  The theme on Serenity is music.

We have missed her other appearances but tonight we went to the Stardust Lounge to take in Karin Kovacova Unplugged at 8:30 PM.  

It was a really good show.  Highlights incuded Sarah McLachhlin's “In the Arms of the Angels” and Adele's “Someone Like You”.  We didn’t stay for Daniel Allain's late show - too late.

Clocks move backward tonight to put us on Eastern Standard Time.

December 17, 2025 – Santo Domingo, DR – Mostly Cloudy – 85F

December 17, 2025 – Santo Domingo, DR – Mostly Cloudy – 85F

We are back in Santo Domingo, the only port we are visiting twice in this triple segment cruise.  Last time we were here, we took the port shuttle and checked out the shops in the Colonial Zone – Ellen bought some stuff and we sweated our way back.

I watched the approach and docking in Santo Domingo during breakfast up in the Marketplace. 

Today, we are planning to see more of the city and perhaps find a spa offering inexpensive massages. To avoid wandering around and finding nothing, we checked with Thomas, the Chief Concierge on where we should walk and how we could find an inexpensive spa.  He looked things us in Google and came up with a spa in what he said was a good area (good meaning safe, I hope).  He came up with Solencia Spa (I had also found this spa on Google but there was no information on line about the location and the prices). This spa was only about a 15 minute walk.

Thomas did the direct thing – he called the spa.  He doesn’t look like it (tall and very Canadian or US looking) but he speaks perfect non-accent Spanish.  He got hold of the spa and found out that there were openings around 11:30 AM. He found out that the one hour masaje relajantes (relaxation massage) at Solencia Spa was $25 per person.  He printed out a route to the spa (maybe a little over a mile).  I checked out the route and put together a more direct route (with helpful landmarks).  

We were off.

We took the port shuttle to the Atarazana Gate (about a 10 minute ride).  Along the way, we noticed a very obvious police presence (cars, officers).  Near the gate, there were several police cars and personnel.  The last visit – a couple of weeks ago – there was no police activity.  We hiked up the hill to the Plaza Espana – all decked out for the holidays.  

A block up from the street bordering the plaza (where the restaurants were) we found La Calle Isabel la Catolica. There was shade and Ellen was taking full advantage.

I picked that street because it was a shopping street (had good sidewalks and some interesting plants and trees like these ferns) 

and ended at a landmark that we could recognize – Plaza Colon.  It was maybe four or five blocks to the Plaza. There were lots of locals on the street which did have a lot of shops.  

The Plaza Colon was a pretty impressive site.  Bordering the plaza on the North were restaurants with Al Fresco dining (and they were full).  

The plaza itself is home to a statue of Cristobal Colon (outstretched arm pointing North) 

which is very similar to the statue in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Behind Chris is the famous Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor, 

which is the first cathedral in the New World (built in 1504 and finished in 1550).  Chris’s remains were buried there (his request) but moved during the annexation of Hispanola by the French – today, the bones are split between the Faro Colon in the Dominican Republic and the Cathedral of Seville, Spain.

Earlier in the walk, we had some across a bust of Bartolomeo Colon, who founded Santo Domingo as the first permanent settlement in the New World in 1496.

At the Plaza Colon we turned right (West if you use Columbus as a guide) onto La Calle El Conde, a pedestrian walkway and one of the main shopping areas of Santo Domingo. There were police on the intersections.  We found fast food 

and nice restaurants on this street as well as artists trying to sell their works.  The street we were looking for Calle Sanchez was about four or five blocks up the walkway.  The streets weren’t all marked but one of the cops told us where it was.  We turned right again looking for the spa.

The street was rustic with few shops open.  We turned into a mall on the right side of the street.  There were some shops open – I asked someone and was told that the spa was on the second floor.  Up the stairs and we found it among closed or empty stores (I forgot to take a picture so this is from the internet).  

The door was locked and we knocked.  Then one of the girls who worked in the spa showed up a let us in.  She didn’t say anything about our appointment but I guess since we were the only people around, we must be the 11:30 appointment.  The bano was across from the spa and very rustic. 

There were two rooms with a single massage table in each. In a few minutes, another girl showed up and we got settled in the rooms. The tables were really tall and I had quite a time getting up on them – Ellen must have really struggled.  The place did seem clean (and had no smell) and they asked us to sanitize our hands before starting, which I thoutht was strange.  The ladies were wearing logod uniforms.

The massages went the full hour and they were great.  They were indeed $25 dollars for each of us – we tipped each of our girls $3 and they looked like they didn’t expect to get a tip.  One more trip to the bano and we started back to the bus pick up location.

We retraced our route 

and stopped again at the Plaza Colon to get a picture of the enormous trees that line the plaza.

We got to the gate and the bus was there.  After a bit of a wait, we returned to the ship – there was essentially no traffic so the trip took maybe five minutes.

At the Sansouci Cruise Terminal, I got a couple of pictures of the signs

as well as a nice picture of Serenity docked.

We were able to get something to eat in the Trident Grill – I had the salmon sandwich along with the gazpacho.

While getting ready for dinner, I caught another sunset and some spectacular clous from the stateroom.

We had dinner in the Waterside Restaurant.  We had ordered special meals (through the Guest Services Desk) for tonight – duck for Ellen and a hamburger for me.  I had written down the orders but the email to the Maitre D’ had a burger, fries, and a baked potato but no duck.  The kitchen was able to find another burger so we both had hamburgers.  The burgers were small and a little over but I liked mine. 

On the way out we ordered lamb chops and two hot dogs for tomorrow.

We passed on “Icons in Concert”.

A nice day of exploration and relaxation in Santo Domingo.