Early in December 2012, Colleen and Norman Wicks of Speers left on a Caribbean 10-day cruise.
They stayed overnight in Saskatoon Dec. 5 and flew to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. where the weather was 26 C and sunny. Here they stayed overnight at the Hilton Hotel.
Dec. 7, they boarded their cruise ship, the M.S. Noordam Holland American Line. The ship was all decked out for Christmas with decorations, Christmas trees and gingerbread creations.
The Noordam had 1,859 guests and a crew of 811.
Their first stop was at Half Moon Bay for the day. It is a small island owned by Holland American. Dec. 9, they were on Grand Turk Island with its crystal clear, turquoise water and powder white beaches. Here, they took a tour and saw many historical points of interest.
Dec. 10, they were at Samara, Dominican Republic. Here, they spent the day on the ship and basked in the 29 C sunny weather. The waters were too choppy for anyone to be tendered ashore. Other venues visited inlcuded Kralendyk Bonaire, Willemstad Curacao and Dranyestad, Aruba, all owned by the Dutch.
Just a few miles north of Venezuela, they took tours and enjoyed the interesting history and beautiful scenery. They returned to Fort Lauderdale Dec. 16. They flew home via Toronto to Saskatoon.
They had a wonderful cruise and said they had lots of great entertainment, lots of food and it was interesting to know that their cruise director came from Regina. All in all, they had a wonderful trip and travelled 2,573 miles.
