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February 4th
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We leave Winter and head south :-) !
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This iguana came to welcome us to Fort Lauderdale
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42 of us in the lobby of the Embassy Suites
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Our first glimpse of the Majestic Princess
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February 4th
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A beauriful evening as we pull out of the habour at Fort Lauderdale
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We had a super nice venue for our Spirit of the West welcome reception
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Jo-Anne & Dennis Stratham - 2 of the many repeats this year
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Laura & Harold Theriault - 2 more repeats :-)
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February 4th
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Annie & Elgar Grinde - 2 more repeats
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Brother-in-laws Ernie Israelson & Ric Arthurs
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Sisters Pat Bird & Linda Arthurs (with Ernie & Ric)
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Annette & Steen Jochumsen - 5 times repeats
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February 4th
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Brothers Dwight and Ross Cullum - first timers
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Diane Peake, Marilyn & Gary Pinder (8 times), Ed Peake (15 times)
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Jim giving a little history on the 22nd Annual S of the W cruise.
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Ernie Israelson's dessert - 1st night in the dining room!
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February 4th
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Happy Birthday Barb MacFarquhar!
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Ed Peake entertaining our group
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The room set up theatre style for us
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A great Spirit of the West evening!
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February 6th & 7th
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So nice to get our own section in the dining room!
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Happy Birthday Carolyn Leask! Great place to celebrate a birthday!
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Our Sommelier, Kudakwashe, showing Jim a good bottle of wine
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St Maarten ... our first stop. 27 C - 81 F at 8:30 AM
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February 7th
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They wanted to take our photo ... smile boys!
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Mark and Kathy figured this looks like their kind of port !
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5 ships in port - the Majestic Princess on the far left (behind the tree)
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A picture from the taxi as we head into town in Cole Bay
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February 7th
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One of the excursions was a tour at Toppers Rhum Distillery
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We found Sint Maarten to be truly as the licence plate stated
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Happy Birthday Diane Peake! And a Milestone one, too!
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One of the many desserts offered ... hard to decline!
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February 8th
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Our view from the Majestic Princess as we pull in to St Kitts
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Jim, Kathy and Karen walking the board walk from the ship
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They found a cab to take them on a tour which passed Carib Beer
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And Ross University, school of veterinary medicine
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February 8th
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A great 1 hour tour of, like the sign says, St Kitts Sweet
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This tower was a windmill used process sugar cane
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At the look out the support crew got monkeying around ...
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Jim and Karen thought a picture at the sign made more sense!
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February 8th
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A great view of one of the beautiful bays and beaches at St Kitts
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The cabby dropped off the support crew at a beach / bar/ restaurant
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A great swim, some sun, and back to the ship for happy hour
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Marilyn Weeks at one of the Spirit of the West reserved tables
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February 8th & 9th
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Debbie Kleinknecht at dinner as we get ready to leave St Kitts
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The Majestic Princess alongside at St Lucia
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The support crew on a private boat tour on the "Trick Sea"
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One of the hotels with many separate buildings for the rooms on St Lucia
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February 9th
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The guide said St Lucia was the female Island, with two breasts - the Pitons
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This beach is called "Sugar Beach" and the white coral sand is imported
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The support crew at sulfur mud bath amidst the stunning Pitons
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The guides painted the guests (except Mark's one hand print on Kathy)
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February 9th
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Another sulfur pool to wash off the mud except for the face
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Faces were left for more pictures like this one of Kathy
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The sulfur pools were warm but the water fall not so much ...
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... but not as bad as it looks as Mark washs the mud off Kathy's face
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February 9th
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Lover's Rock where the kids jump off and swim to the boat for tips
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One of the three Sandal Resorts on St Lucia
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The Trick Sea heading back to the Majestic Princess after a great day!
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Back on board at the evening's get-together Harold Theirault tells a story
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February 10th
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Kathy poses on the sign as we leave the ship in Barbados
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Kathy, Chris & Janet Currier, Gary & Vicki Hetrick waitng for their tour
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Gary and Marilyn Pinder are also heading to Harrison Caves
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Like a lot of the Islands, Barbados at one time was all sugar cane
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February 10th
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One of the many windmill towers that was used to process sugar cane
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Everyone off the shuttle and heading inside at the Harrison Caves Tour
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Gary and Vicki with their head protection (playing Gabby Hayes)
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Kathy, Chris & Janet, Marilyn & Gary on the cave train and ready to go
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February 10th
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Vicki and Gary also waiting for the the train to roll on
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And off we go ... stalactites and stalagmites everywhere!
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And running water and cave after cave after cave - amazing!
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Barbados, unlike the volcanic formed islands, is formed from Coral
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February 10th
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Huge large caves and water bodies at every corner
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What looked like icicles wallpapering this wall were made from dripping water
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A very nice clean place that we totally recommend
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Six of the group on the elevator back to our guide / driver
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February 10th & 11th
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This large tank was used to hold sugar back in the day
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Pulling alongside in Trinidad - a new island to most of our group
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We're thinking Billie and Hugh wish they were with us now ...
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Some really nice and architecturally historical homes along our walk
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February 11th
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A bunch of the group did 12,900 steps - here we pass a cricket game
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A lot of the walk was around the outside of this beautiful large park
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This is the White Hall, home of the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
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We ended on a board walk with the Majestic Princess ahead of us
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February 12th
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Karen watching for her people as we start a private group tour on Grenada
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Kathy and Mark's bus as we leave the cruise ship behind
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Our driver was amazing to be able to get through the spots that he did
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A very lush green island with quite a few rivers and streams
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February 12th
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Jim and Karen's bus as we stop for a pee break during our island tour
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Many of the houses are on stilts & freshly rebuilt after huricane Ivan
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Our destination was Belmont Estates, a plantation with a chocolate factory
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Another very neat & tidy place. The building here is the chocolate factory
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February 12th
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Not sure on the story behind this old wall but it's pretty cool
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Our whole group at a processing building with the property rep
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Here he shows us a cocoa pod as it looks when it comes off the tree
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And the cocoa meat inside the pod when it's cut open
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February 12th
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Then we were given a bean to break open and taste (kinda yukky)
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Then on to the drying racks, some outside and some in green houses
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Now we're back in the processing building where the sorting takes place
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Then on to the store and a room where the dried beans turn into chocolate
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February 12th
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I think pretty much everyone bought chocolate of one flavour or another
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This machine actually presses the bean until it is a smooth chocolate paste
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Now lunch in the restaurant right on the property
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It was great. Here's one of about 6 tables just for our group
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February 12th
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February 12th
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February 12th
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February 12th
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Back on the road again and we passed many of these mini markets
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Greeters were awaiting us at our stop at Grand Etang National Park
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Grand Etang National Park and Grand Etang Lake - beautiful !
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En route back to the ship - Agro, a Canadian Agriculural supply company
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February 12th
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A super view of the bay with the Majestic Princess awaiting our return
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A typical very narrow road where they drive on the wrong side of the road
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That night Ed Peake opened our get-together in this really nice theatre
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Mark MC'd the evening with others coming up to share a story, poem, etc
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February 13th
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Another private group tour, this one in the ship's massive galley
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Rows and rows of stainless steel - this row is some of the ovens
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We actually had Rodelio Florentino, the executive chef, do the tour
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The tour ended with the first ever female head soux chef,
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February 13th
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The dining room staff helps say, "Happy Birthday Jo-Anne Statham"
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After dinner part of the group took over a good size part of the hallway
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Another fun evening with lots of stories being swapped
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The support crew interviewed Marilyn and Gary Pinder for the radio show
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February 14th
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Alongside on Curacao - beautiful beaches and torquoise water
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It's hard to show in pictures but compare this photo with the next one
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The bridge opens & closes left to right horizontally on boat shaped floats
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It's now open and everyone is allowed to walk across. Very unique!
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February 14th
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There's more fruit in this super long market than Safeway carries in a year
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The bridge all lit up at night ... looking from the other side
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Looking at the other side from about halfway across the bridge
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The Majestic Princess at night. We didn't set sail until 9:30 PM
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We have announced the 2026 cruise destination! A Bucket List Trip for many!
February 16th to March 7th, 2026
Machu Picchu Tour PLUS a 14 day Incas and Aztecs cruise on the Oceana Vista
from Lima Peru to San Diego! Download the
2026 cruise info here.
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February 15th
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We get closer to the end of another fantastic cruise - one more beach day
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One last get-together with music and story in "our" Hollywood Lounge
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George Sluzarczyk shares some inspiring stories with the group
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Part of our mesmerized group listening to George ...
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February 17th
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One side of the room at our "don't make me go home" party
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The other side of the room at our "don't make me go home" party
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Ed Peake's last performance of this year's cruise - he was awesome!
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The pawnshop guitar being donated to the ship staff on the last night
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We have announced the 2026 cruise destination! A Bucket List Trip for many!
February 16th to March 7th, 2026
Machu Picchu Tour PLUS a 14 day Incas and Aztecs cruise on the Oceana Vista
from Lima Peru to San Diego! Download the
2026 cruise info here.
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