On the Lido deck, near the pool is the Lido Bar. It opens at 8:30 a.m. for those who need something then. Besides selling alcohol, cans of Coca-Cola products and fountain drinks are available. This bar is also the bar that provides drinks for those who are dining in the Lido restaurant, a short distance away. As in most bars, once you have become a regular, the bar staff will get to know you well. That is more apparent on these longer voyages. The bar servers have told me that they really prefer the shorter itineraries because those passengers drink more and the servers make more in tips. Other serving places include the Crow's Nest (good views during Happy Hour - well-attended), the aft facing Seaview Pool and a specialty bar in the Explorer's Lounge. No real bar there, but there is a server present. In the evenings, violin/piano performers are the draw, not the alcohol. You can also gets drinks in the Showroom at Sea (live performance venue) from a behind-the-scenes service bar. Larger ships have more bars, both on Holland America and other cruise lines

Wow - that's a lot of ports. DH did a project many years ago on St. Croix. I would love to go there. And then, DH and I could just cruise on around, here and there. Yeah, that sounds great - if only I could convince him. Didn't you recently post that you two had just returned from a month long cruise? To me, if the passenger load was not huge, that would be the way to cruise as you could either stay longer at some of the ports or see more places - however they have it scheduled. I don't think either of us would do well on the cruises that have several thousand people on the ship. Keep posting those pictures. I may never get to go to any of those places, so I at least can live vicariously through your pictures. Mary

Now it is time to look up! That is Monte Tauro and Castello Saraceno. The castle has a locked gate and no one has been inside for many years. I don't know what the story is there. On the left side of this photo (barely visible) is Madonna Della Rocca. Again, the views are the draw. We were in town for only 2 hours and did not have the time, nor the energy to walk up (the only way up the hill, unless driving). Bad attitude! This was our 4th day in a row of being onshore for many hours - and the next day was going to be another long one. STOP THE PRESSES! I located my note: the town square has a name - Palazzo Corvaia.

I took a 42-day cruise October - December of last year. I took thousands of photos and decided to share. I began my travelog on May 9, and I am working my way through all the ports (Ft. Lauderdale to Caribbean to Africa to Europe, back to Africa to Bahamas and back to Ft. Lauderdale). You can read my thoughts and see my photos beginning with the below link. It is on page 8 of the Garden Web's The Garden Party. You should be able to follow them without too much trouble. The cruise began on October 25 and I am up to November 22, still a long way to go. Many days were at sea and not much to show, however I do have some interesting posts about what to do when you have 6 days at sea in a row! I will continue on The Garden Party until sometime in mid-August. Here is a link that might be useful: The beginning of A Long Cruise