Savannah, Georgia

4th of July, 2006 My family went away for a couple of days to the most charming, historic and beautiful city of Savannah, Georgia... it was established in 1733 and was the first colonial and state capital of Georgia.

This place is truly amazing! It is like being lost in the past... wherever you look, the homes and buildings are gorgeous colonial architecture, old oak trees everywhere drapped with moss, enchanting parks and even the new buildings are built to make them look like centruries old to preserve the colonial feel in the whole city of Savannah.

My family stayed at Hyatt in the Historic Riverfront. To our amazement, the hotel is very modern looking inside and out... although it is a first rate hotel, to me it’s almost an eye-sore compared to all the old charming hotels and bed & breakfast houses around. The hotel is in a great location though! the ground level is the same as the River Street where all the shops and restaurants are an attraction by themselves. We ate at a Greek Restaurant that had the best osso buco I ever eaten. The restaurant is inside a building that was built in the early 1800’s... wow, it was kind of eerie and the streets going in and out are paved with probably the original cobblestones. The following day, we went on a guided-tour bus around the city. It really felt like we had gone by in time... the good old times!

Hyatt... where we stayed

River Street... just below Hyatt Hotel

Greek Restaurant on River Street

Historic Riverfront... just outside Hyatt

we're on a Bus Tour...
horse-drawn carriage is also available for tours...

Forsytt Park... 

the building in the background was design to make it look like the Buckingham Palace

one of the many charming bed & breakfast

Savannah Cotton Exchange

Washington guns... remains from the Civil War

shops

a sad story behind this monument... a young lady waves to passing ships in hopes that it is her beloved's ship coming back from the war to marry her... but years gone by and he never did come back... she waved the flag for 44 years! wow, that's devotion...

Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas

“There's no thrill in easy sailing when the skies are clear and blue, there's no joy in merely doing things which any one can do. But there is some satisfaction that is mighty sweet to take, when you reach a destination that you never thought you'd make.”

Radiance of the Seas

3rd - 9th of December 2006

This particular cruise was special to me since it was during my birthday! My family totally loves cruising with any of Royal Caribbean’s ships. Radiance of the Seas is a smaller ship, but they did not compromise on anything. They excel in pretty much everything that’s why we keep coming back for more! This was a 7-night cruise that originated in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The itineraries include: Key West, Florida; Cozumel, Mexico; Montego Bay, Jamaica and Georgetown, Grand Cayman.

 

"Sailing alone soothes me because the sea is fair, not cruel. It judges only your ability. It does not care who or what you are. It does not ask your age, color, sex, address, sexual orientation, education or IQ, but only your competence. It requires only that you can sail. If you can, you survive. If you can't, better stay ashore. That's fair, more fair than most of us experience on land...and refreshing."

Among her spectacular features are the 10-story glass-constructed Centrum, glass elevators facing the sea, and the highest percentage of outside staterooms in the Royal Caribbean fleet.

Passenger Capacity: 2,501

Centrium

The solarium pool. It's like being lost somewhere in Egypt.

One of the two formal nights at dinner time.
Yes, bring at least two formal attire when cruising, unless of course you don't care for that sort of thing. You do have other options. There are many casual dinning elsewhere in the ship. 
  

 The gorgeous two-story dinning room!!!
Our (private) table was by the huge mural at the center back.
 Hubby was amazed by our good fortune in garnering our very own table.
The norm is always be in a table of 6 or so, where one is forced to commingle with others, whether you like it or not. 

Don’t get me wrong; some are good company, while others are just disagreeable. 

  

One of the many casual dinning @ the formal dinning room.

We welcome with both arms all the pampering and attention that we're getting in this voyage.We don’t get this kind of attention on land. Well, on occassion.

 Docking in Key West, Florida

We walked around here and shopped for souvenirs;
very touristy. Don't you think?  

Docking in Cozumel, Mexico

Alayna is looking forlorn at this point. Poor thing was sick, it looks so obvious in her expression. She must have been sea sick (no GI problem) or just in a shock of her new environment.

My family just wondered 'round the port and shopped 'til we dropped.

Montego Bay, Jamaica (MoBay)

We hired a cab and had a fantastic city tour. Our driver was awesome, he took us wherever we want to go sight seeing, shopping and even where the locals hang-out!

A terrific experience considering that drivers are very wild... reminds me of the Philippines :))

Atop a famous mountain resort in MoBay.

Last destination: Georgetown, Grand Cayman

getting ready to tender...

We purchased a hand shaker for Alayna to keep her entertained,

but now Bill is annoyed with that noise :))
It's hard to please everyone.

A sea of ships. 
There must be 7 to 8 cruise ships out there.

Bill have scuba dived at StingRay City the prior years, long before we meet.  
He loved the experience!

Last day of our cruise...

Alayna got sick on this trip, so she's praying to get home soon.
Love that sweet smile!  
 

My birthday! December 7
Black and white tandem.
 

Tribute night to the waiters and waitresses from all over the world!
Thank you! 
Merci!
Gracias!
Grazie! 
Maraming salamat!
Arigato!
Paldies!
Va multumim frumos!
Etc!!!
 

"Ships that pass in the night and speak each other in passing;
Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness;
So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another,
Only a look and a voice; then darkness again and a silence."

Farewell night... 2nd formal dinner

We had the best table, just for three!

Bill asked me how I convinced the cruise line to give us our very own table,

little did he know that I had nothing to do with it, just got really lucky! :))

Here are some of the ship's highlights:

Rock-climbing wall

Portofino Italian Restaurant

Chops Grille

Seaview Café

Themed bars and lounges

Casino RoyaleSM

The Colony Club, a unique British colonial-style lounge with self-leveling pool tables

African safari-themed Solarium

Indoor/outdoor country club with golf simulator

Adventure Ocean® youth facilities

Day Spa and Fitness Center

Sports court with basketball/volleyball court

"If you have to be somewhere by a certain date, you aren't cruising, you're racing."

Loved it! We are coming back for more!!!

*****