December, 2013 - Pre Christmas in Naples, FL

Our son, Scott, was planning to be in Naples for a business meeting so Dick, Mary K and I decided to drive over and have lunch with him.

He was staying at the beautiful Ritz Carlton on the beach and it was decorated to the hilt for Christmas!

The Ritz Carlton is gorgeous and the service is impeccable!

We had a wonderful lunch at the Ritz' beach bar....loved the bartender...

and the food was delish.  The dipping sauce for our coconut shrimp was wonderful!

The 3 of us stayed at the Waldorf Astoria just down the road and it was much less expensive than the gorgeous Ritz.  We were able to book one of their bungalow suites...loved the large patio and beautiful landscaping!

The Waldorf isn't on the beach but they own beachfront property and have large golf carts running shuttles all day from the main hotel through a beautiful mangrove forest to the beach.

 

 

 The beach was wonderful with lots of shells...Mary K and I will plan something crafty to do with the shells...right now they're still in the trunk of my car.  The only complaint we had with the Waldorf was having to pay rental fees for beach lounges...seems like the daily $25 resort fee should have covered this.  Not a big deal but seems a little chintzy for the Waldorf.

October, 2013 - Halloween on Board Carnival Victory

We wanted to make sure we booked a cruise over Halloween -- this holiday is an added bonus on most cruise ships!  Just bring a costume and join the fun!

Last year we were on Royal Caribbean for our first Halloween at sea and we couldn't believe the ways in which the crew decorated the ship for this holiday.  We were only sorry we didn't bring costumes but decided to book a cruise next year and "do it right".

This year we decided on the Carnival Victory and it truly exceeded our expectations.  Mary K and I brought our costumes....we were an elderly couple (not too much of a reach for this one!) who were looking for their lost dog.  Here's a couple of pictures of our "dress rehearsal" before we left home.  And, thankfully, yes....we added lots of padding.....

On Halloween night, we decorated our cabin door and left candy for the kids....

and got into our costumes to be judged by the crew on the Promenade Deck in hope of being chosen for the big costume contest.  Passengers wore fabulous costumes and here's just a few...

We were thrilled to win trophies and champagne!