This was a trip of a lifetime. I won the Cruise through my
work at Interstate Hotels. I invited Kathy Klein, a long-time friend of
mine to go with me. On April 18th we flew to Miami, spent two nights at
the Marriott Doral Golf and Country Club, then boarded Royal Caribbean's
"Freedom of The Seas" and headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and
St. Maarten. The trip was a week long leaving on Sunday April 20thth and
returning to Miami on Sunday, April 27th. Here area some pictures from my
adventure. If you put your mouse on the picture and click it, it will
enlarge to full-size.
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Doral Golf and Country Club by Marriott Miami, Florida
We flew from Tucson to Miami and spent 2 nights at this beautiful Marriott hotel in NW Miami. |
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Hidden away on the property was this lagoon. |
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Typical of South Florida, lots of Palms at the hotel |
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Another view of the Golf Course from my Suite in Miami. |
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Looking from my balcony at the hotel |
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Kathy and I rented a car and drove to Coconut Grove in Miami. This was taken at Peackock Park on Biscayne Bay |
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Kathy in Coconut Grove's Peacock Park |
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The famous CocoWalk in Coconut Grove. Kathy posing next to sign. |
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Cocowalk is a great little shopping plaza in the heart of Coconut Grove |
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Historic Courthouse in Coral Gables |
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Bayshore Drive in Miami, also known as US Highway 1 |
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Kathy and I stopped here and took a walk next to Biscayne Bay |
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After living in Okeecobee for 2 years, I couldn't resist taking a picture of this sign to Okeechobee RD. Hwy 27 runs along the Lake rim all the way to Ocala. |
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Judy DiMeo and I together for the Interstate Hotels Awards DInner at the Doral. |
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Steve Ryan and his wife Raye. Steve is GM at Residence Inn Tucson and won the Cruise after being named General Manager of the Year 2007 for Crossroads Division of Interstate Hotels. Quite an honor. |
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Lisa and Megan |
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Orinthal (Obie) and LaToya |
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Myself with Kathy Klein. |
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Debbie Kapson. She's the Regional Sales Manager for Interstate Hotels. |
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Debbie and myself at Awards Dinner |
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Paul Filla and his wife Patty at Awards Dinner |
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Jeff and Gregory. They are from New York City. Jeff was one of the funniest and nicest guys I ever met. Everyone enjoyed his sense of humor. |
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Kathy couldn't resist taking a picture of this flower growing outside the hotel |
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Freedom of the Seas as we were docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico |
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Old Spanish Fort San Juan, PR |
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The sign speaks for itself |
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This is the Capitol of Puerto Rico looking from the ship |
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Kathy and I posed for this picture in old San Juan |
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Paul Filla and his wife Patty in San Juan |
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As I stood on the balcony of our stateroom this was the view |
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Our port stop in Charlotte Amalie, Virgin Islands |
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On the beach in downtown Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands |
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Looking from the balcony from our stateroom |
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The French-Netherlands Border in St. Maarten |
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Kathy and I shared a coconut in French side of St. Maarten |
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West Indies Mall in St. Martin (French spelling) |
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Kathy loves Volleyball and played every tournament she could while onboard. |
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Kathy waiting for a tournament |
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Kurt and Kathy in a Volleyball tournament |
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Leslie and John Freeman. Leslie is the Regional Sales Mgr for Crossroads. I was fascinated to find out she was the daugher of former Tampa mayor Nick Nuccio. |
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A little bit of Las Vegas on the Freedom of The Seas |
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On the Shipboard TV we could always see where we were. |
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Our stateroom on Freedom of The Seas |
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A Clean Shave - in the Royal Promenade onboard |
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Pilot Boat greeting our ship as we pulled into San Juan |
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Looking down to Miami as our plane took off to Dallas. |
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