After a day and night at sea, the temperature warmed nicely when we pulled into Ft. Lauderdale Port, the last of 7 cruise ships in the harbor that day. Ft. Lauderdale is officially the largest cruise port in the US. Very impressive and they are building more space. 250 passengers boarded.

We were very happy to see an excursion to the Everglades offered by QM2 and we took it. We had driven across Aligator Alley a couple of times but never stopped to meet the locals. It's well worth it and fear not, you will see many and large aligators

There are over a million aligators in the million plus acres of the Florida Everglades and this clown picks a rock to cling on to!!

7 cruise ships departed Ft. Lauderdale Saturday evening with the QM2. In our 2004 Queen Mary 2 maiden voyage our ship was getting all the attention in ports. This is a picture of the Oasis of the Sea

Barbados for a Day

We opted for a half day tour in a jeep which gave us a good overview of an island country we had never visited before. Barbadians got their freedom from Britian around 1960. The Britt's influence is seen in the many Anglican churches.

We were surprised when we came upon a rural police station named for Eric Holder Jr. Our guide said nothing but when I asked him, he confirmed that our Attorney General is a native of Barbados (and he has a birth certificate and cannot be elected President of the USA)

Barbados is unusual in that

it was not created from a volcano like most all other Carribean Islands. Rather it came from the bottom of the sea (FedEx next day air, no doubt) and it is made of porous coral which you can see is

Testing Testing Testing!! New Blog for QM2 1/13/2011

Welcome back to the 2011 Travels With Phyllis and Barry Blog. We are so amazed and blessed that so many friends, upon learning of our Queen Mary 2 cruise have asked if we were going to do another Blog. The reward of just knowing that you enjoy following our unvarnished adventures, far outweighs the cost, time and technical hassles.

You are one of 5 persons receiving an email advising you of this Test posting and it would be very helpful if you would Comment on the blog or send an email to me, advising that you were able to open the Blog just like you did 3 years ago. This is my first effort in 3 years. Thanks.

Lisbon Portugal by Land & River

This was our second visit to Lisbon and we opted for an overview bus tour and an hour and half boat ride to see the city from the Tagus River.

We had to be reminded that Portugal became a Republic as recently as the 1970s.

The old town is still the center of activity expecially for tourists.



Because the Queen Victoria was not leaving the port until midnight, we took advantage of the opportunity to have a fine meal at one of their many seafood restaurants not far from our ship.