Great pics... and now all I want is an electric compression chisel.

The Luna made Dan-0 mug is smokin

I love being able to tag along on the "Vacations" you guys take
Thanks for posting pics

I love the reenactment of the Dan-O Mug! Too funny!

Looks like you had fun at the Mai Kai!

Love that pic! I was having flashbacks of Michael Jackson and Richard Pryor :)

MaukaHale we do, there is so much joy to be had in this world. I hope you find some every day.

WooHooWahine your wish is coming true!

DooWop keep an eye out for a email with photos of your mug.

TikiAno me too.

hang10tiki thank you always for the spice you add to these pages.

lunavideogames I took a copy of your photo to show at the Mai Kai. That's how we got Dan behind the bar with a beauty.

LoriLovesTiki it is all that everyone has said it is and there are way more photos of the place here on TC to enjoy.
Looks like you had fun at the Mai Kai!

MadDogMike Dan's a whole different kind of hot!

===============================================================

We had one more day to play before our ship was due to leave. We spent it checking out a beach and visiting zerostreet and his family.

I don't know how many tiki places there are on the beach at Fort Lauderdale but we were pleasantly surprised to park and walk right to one.

Dan posed at the entrance.

This is the view from inside. It's a perfect place for people in the third decade of their lives.

My favorite kind of ice cream.

We arrived zerostreet picked us up at our hotel and drove us to his home.

His studio held some terrific tiki art projects. I bet we've all watched him work on these on his thread. I could have spent a couple of days in his studio just enjoying all there is to see.

This is the back of a mug I made for him. He no longer uses this logo so the mug is nostalgic for him.

Robert had said if we came to his home he would take us to a Cuban dinner with his family. Please meet, Isabella, Amanda and Michelle. What a lucky man to be surrounded by this loveliness each day.

This Cuban steak dinner was so good that Dan and I need to find a place like this in our city. Thank you Robert and Michelle for making our visit so very special.

January 11, 2014 has arrived and it was time to go to the ship. Our driver got in an argument with a traffic controller and so the police made him park and we all got to sit there for an extra half an hour.

Once on board we found our room and knew that Woo Hoo Wahine had found a perfect one for us. This is the third but not the last bathroom photo I have to share.

We were waiting for the rest of our luggage to arrive so we snapped photos in our room. View out.

View inside. Our first big time cruise.

A few hours later we sailed away from Florida on our way to Aruba.

A knock on the door brought us flowers from Woo Hoo Wahine. Not only is she our travel agent she and Soccer Tiki run the Don the Beachcomber Marketplace event and are dear friends. The flowers lasted until our last day aboard. Thank you Karen and Chris, you two rock.

I am back to working on the Wish List and after I finished the trip photos I'll be posting my progress in clay.

Cheers, Wendy

Sorry, toilet humor.

Ano- ya beat me to it...
:)

Wendy- great pics

Awesome, almost 300 pages of fun...

On 2014-01-30 17:46, hang10tiki wrote:
Awesome, almost 300 pages of fun...

Not my studio!!!! :o

Tiki Tower
The Art of Robert Jimenez
http://www.tikitower.com

[ Edited by: zerostreet 2014-01-30 18:22 ]

Okay . . . if I never see Dan's face on Tura Satana's body again, it'll be too soon. He's a handsome fella and all, but that's just the stuff of nightmares.

[ Edited by: Professor G 2014-01-30 19:27 ]

What cruiseline & ship did you sail on? Your stateroom looks very nice!

Dan, you should have had both your ears warmed - one lovely lady on each side :wink:

Wow, so I spent an evening at the Mai Kai and never went to the bathroom? How did I miss seeing that?

There's a woman who works for Trader Vic's named Kier. Coincidence? I think not...

Your cabin looks wonderful and I can't wait to see more!

TikiAno don't ever be sorry I love hearing Dan laugh. Your reward is on the way and it's not from our bathroom.

hang10tiki Your reward is also on the way and it's not from bathroom either.

hang10tiki 350 is the best length for a first time book.

zerostreet Dan loved the way he's showing up in your paintings since our visit.

Professor G I hope you slept well and nightmare free last night.

LoriLovesTiki we were on Celebrity Eclipse. Our room was called a Veranda Stateroom. It actually could sleep four. The bottom of the couch pulls out and the ceiling drops down for two more beds. It was a perfect extravagance for us on a first long cruise and new countries tour. As retired hospital workers we were impressed with the efforts to control the passing of bugs on the ship. There were hand sanitizer machines everywhere and at the entrances to the dining rooms a person made sure you got a big squirt coming and going. No problems came up on our trip. It was happy sailing. Woo Hoo Wahine made all the right choices for our trip.

TikiHula Dan agrees but I think one was enough or I'd never get him to leave for the cruise.
When I showed the photo of the women's bathroom to Dan he said that the men's didn't look that ornate.
Kier here and there? The Mai Kai guy was a man.
More photos coming.

===================================================

The first two and a half days were at sea. There were so many activities available that you had to choose.

I wonder how many miles you can see before the curve of the earth hides other ships from view. This is the back of the ship.

We spent time walking around each of the 15 floors to find everything. Ping pong became a daily game for us. We play to see how many times we can hit the ball before we miss it. That way we don't spend much time running for the ball.

Woo Hoo got us a bonus $300 payback to spend on the ship. I found a camera shop and got a new water and dust proof camera. The one I've been using needs a repair and the one before that bit the dust so to speak. Clay is hard on cameras.

Ships have a dining room where you sit and have a relaxed meal or you can go to the self serve buffet. You may go to both. I was able to find lots of healthy choices at the buffet so we went there for most meals.

Woo Hoo Wahine is over the top as a travel agent and friend. She not only sent us flowers she sent us chocolate covered strawberries. They were the best we have ever had. Thank you Woo Hoo.

I have practiced hypnosis for years so when a hypnosis lecture was scheduled on the ship Dan, I and Polynesian Pattie went to participate. The hypnotist didn't show up because the snow back east caused his flight to be cancelled. So Dan and Chuck put on their own show on stage.

Here's where they thought they were naked!

The Corning Museum of Glass has glass blowing equipment and staff on three ships. We were lucky ours was one. We spent many hours watching these three talented glass blowers create art.

They held a raffle every so often. We didn't win anything but Polynesian Pattie and his wife won three times.

Tomorrow we reach Aruba. Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2014-01-31 08:54 ]

I'm so excited for these recaps, seriously! I've never been to Aruba. I want to go on a Southern Carribean cruise next. I've been one 3 cruises, but never Celebrity. I'm liking what I'm seeing.

Keep the pictures coming!

This is proof that Dan's ambition has always been to be on the stage!

I was swimming as fast as I could
But just couldn't catch up to you guys

Oh boy - I think Hang10 is going to have a field day with the photo of Dan and PP believing they're naked :wink:

Really enjoying your cruise photos so far.

TikiHula- I'm not touching that 1
Lol

Wendy & Dan - Mahalo! Mahalo for letting me help make your Vacation Dreams Come True. I'm so glad you two had such a Tiki-rrific Time. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of your pics......WooHoo!!

LoriLovesTiki each island was very different. I really enjoyed taking photos at each stop.

MaukaHale he'll deny that but he's always been a ham.

hang10tiki you better work on the butterfly stroke, you could have made it.

TikiHula I'm looking forward to tomorrow. We have a challenge ahead to repair cracks on the AL DEAD bowl.

hang10tiki how about with a ten foot pole?

=========================================================================================================

ARUBA

We sailed at night and in the morning the island came into view.

We took a tour to see as much of this rocky island as possible. About an hours drive brought us to some very big rocks.

We managed to climb to the top and were amazed at how many 80+ your olds made it up there with us.

The steps back down were dangerous but everyone made it.

Next we were off to see a natural bridge. When we got there they informed us that a year ago it collapsed in the night but that they still had this small one behind me. The wind was really helping me keep my hair fluffy.

Crashing waves will help this one grow over time.

It seems I find a bathroom photo to share for each post.

At the end of the tour we were dropped off in the town of Oran-Jestad where we spotted a tiki.

It was there that Polynesian Pattie spotted us and we joined them for a visit.

We were back on the ship and as the sun set we choose our next activity.

Once again we sat in the front row and

were lucky to have Dan chosen to have his mind read. Yep Dan couldn't keep a secret and it was plucked out by the mentalist.

That same night we sailed away saying goodbye to ARUBA.

Time to work on tikis and to take more photos. Cheers, Wendy

Wow
Looks like you guys had fun
Well deserved.....

Jon

Awesome............

Just got home and a lil box was waiting

Wow

Pictures don't do it justice

Thank you soooooo much
:wink:

I just noticed ya made it to 300 pages
Two thumbs up......

Congrats on page 300!

I thought Aruba would have more palm trees?

Great photos- did they let you try glassblowing? Did Dan request any tiki objects d' glass?

Wendy, thanks so very much! I got home from work yesterday and found a box w/ a fantastic Hanging Bob pendant (with an awesome glaze (It's a Jungle Gem glaze? I love those but haven't had success high firing them).

Wendy, thanks so much for sending... will post photo of me w/ it soon... He'll enjoy his new home along with his other Cevola Bobs!

That mentalist only THOUGHT he was reading Dan's mind. Dan's mind is like a steel trap - rusted shut! :lol:
Keep those pics coming.

hang10tiki we did have fun and there's more coming up.

hang10tiki thank you for all the photo shop fun while we were away. I love coming home to see what you guys have been up too and boy oh boy was it a treat this time.

It's fun to have reached 300 pages and I owe it to all of you who have posted comments. The pages come up based on the number of posts not the length of each post. I could be on here by myself for a long time and not flip a page. You all make it happen.

TikiHula ARUBA is a big rock pile. If we had gone to the beach with resorts I'm sure they have planted some there.
It's all cactus, dirt and rocks.

TikiAno I feel like I learned every technique because we spent hours every day they worked. We watched for two weeks. But this is a dangerous skill. One of the woman has been doing it for 10 years, five on the ship and she still burned her arm. So no audience participation for this art.

We didn't request a tiki but we should have. They made what they routinely do on the ship.

Your necklace is a jungle gem fired at 06. I never do high fire, all my glazes are 06's.

You and hang10tiki really did so many fun photos that you both deserved a reward. I'm so happy you both like what I sent. I'll love it when you post a photo wearing it.

MadDogMike U 2 Funny (:! Here's the next stop on our cruise.

===========================================================================

CURACAO and the city is Willemstad

At the port/dock.

A taxi picked us up at the ship to take us to the trolley ride through town. It took a very long route there and we got to view our ship from a distance of a few miles.

The story goes that the mayor said that white homes contributed to his having migraine headaches. So white was banned.

The funny part was that he owned the only paint company on the island and making this new rule made him rich.

The settlers made their homes from coral and beach sand. The plaster and paint falls off after a couple of years from the salt so it has to be redone over and over again. The government has taken on the task because all the homes are historical. They rent them out as offices as they fix them up but then they have to start again a couple of years later.

No tikis on this island but I did capture this one carving.

It was time to re-board the ship.

On every walk we encountered new art. Sometimes the piece affected Dan! Note: he looks like the tree carving.

The snow let up and the show was on.

Back in the front row again Dan and Polynesian Pattie made it to the stage.

Hypnotist shows are about finding people who will play the game with the hypnotist. Dan and P.P. are at the end on the right of the stage.

First test of cooperation is the "one arm is laden with books in the hand, the other has a helium balloon pulling the arm up", if you lower and raise your arms you get to stay on stage. Dan played along.

He found a willing participant so Dan got to stay on stage for the whole show. Deeper, deeper, ha ha ha.

As predicted everyone in the audience was naked.

Now that reversed and all the "hypnotized" people on stage were naked. Dan's favorite part.

Dan made a good ballerina too.

We had skipped the first formal night but we went to the second one. Dan roasted in his jacket but we enjoyed the fancy food.

The ship sailed on towards the next island and more fun.

Cheers, Wendy

hang10tiki you were reading my mind, you could get a job on the cruise ship.

We cruised into GRENEDA and saw a tropical island.

The trip to a waterfall in the mountains

also led us to a couple of coconut carved tiki necklaces.

The closing of many nutmeg plantations has not been kind to those seeking employment on their island.

This image shows racks of cocoa pods being dried.

The next day we arrived in Barbados where I was to visit my nephew and his wife.

Dan and Kevin.

This is the view from his condo.

Kevin drove us around and showed us where he plays golf.

Kevin, myself and Dan.

Kevin and I grew up together and so when he showed me his vacation photos of course he had taken a bathroom photo. I believe he said this one was hung in Japan for visitors.

Kevin and his wife Colleen. It was hard to say goodbye to them and to return to the boat.

Off we sailed in the night.

Four islands down and four to go. Cheers, Wendy

Here's lookin' at you kid!
I'm gonna get Dan a tutu for Christmas!!! :lol:
Greneda is very lush and green. We did the Eastern Carribean (Bahamas, Grand Turk, US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico) all of the islands were more dry with scrub brush except Puerto Rico

I'm still recovering from not seeing Dan wearing an aloha shirt.... :wink:

(just kidding, Dan!)

MadDogMike I offered Dan and Tutu and he said that he would always prefer a tiki present. Good idea though.

=====================================================================

Tiki and more colorful tikis are found on the island of ST. LUCIA. This island is a tropical paradise and we took a hundred photos while there. Here are my favorites.

Check out the bay behind the tiki.

There's always shopping at each stop and here we are with Polynesian Pattie.

There is an old town called Hood near where we live. The building lean on each other. I saw one in St. Lucia and snapped this photo from the bus.

This one also, I was lucky to get it.

At the next shop you got to hold a python for $2. I guess they bite because he taught me how to hold its head before he lowered it onto my shoulders. I like lizards too.

This was the last tiki I saw. It had a sign on its head announcing that a garden was open for touring.

We made our next stop to view these two huge rocks called Petit and Gros Piton.

We visited a tropical forest with mineral springs.

Many of our group soaked in the mineral baths. Two women slipped in suntan oil. Both were taken to the hospital, one with a compound fracture of her arm. She never made it back to the ship. The other lady was in a sling for the rest of the trip.

We took it easy and enjoyed the foliage. We walked all the paths that we could find and I took photos for future paintings.

One path led us to the waterfall that feeds the baths. These are all geothermal springs and the water is warm. I was a tour guide in Yellowstone National Park and this brought back lots of memories of hot potting.

Back on the ship we sailed away.

Our last event of the day was to enjoy a Beatles impersonators concert. It was so good that Dan went back for the second show.

Three islands left. Cheers, Wendy

It looks like you two had a wonderful trip!!! Looking forward to seeing the rest of your pictures :)

St. Lucia looks wonderful. The mountains look like Tahiti.

And there's Dan not wearing a hawaiian shirt again :)

Glad you were able to see some tropical tikis in St. Lucia!

Python
:o
:o
:o
:o
:o
:o

Oh my goodness! After seeing the picture, the "Wendy the snake charmer" mug needs to happen! Now that would be one cool as heck mug!
Lookin' good, Wendy! Glad to see the fun (and warmth) continue!

SoccerTiki you should have Woo Hoo plan your next trip, ha ha! You are lucky to have your own professional Tour Agent in the family.

TikiHula it was so hot for Dan, not for the rest of us, that he kept choosing white over Hawaiian.

LoriLovesTiki they sure were colorful.

hang10tiki this was my second python hug in my lifetime. I hope it's not the last.

DooWop so many mugs to make and so little time. That would be a fun mug. We like the vintage Cobra's Fang mug that Babalu brought back a few years ago.

===============================================
At this point in time we are in Antigua. We boarded our tour bus and they guy in front of us had a KU hat. I asked him which Hawaiian Island he found the hat on but when he turned around I could read the front said Kentucky University. Dan and I just think tikis all the time.

The City of St. Johns.

Some ruins at the top of a hill.

A spectacular view of the harbor. Then disaster for someone who loves to take photographs to share.

Our tour took us to Nelson's port where we could could view these pillars. My camera ran out of space so this is taken off the inter-net. I missed lots of photo ops this day but luckily I was able to buy a disk once we were back on board the ship.

The sun sets as we sail on to St. Maarten.

We arrived and decided that we should walk to town. Our tour on this day didn't leave until 1 PM.

45 minutes later we arrived just as everything started to open.

It was very hot out so we took an almost empty boat back to the ship. When we got off the waiting line to take the boat to town was at least 500 people long. They should have walked because they were in line in the sun.

Once on the tour it was mainly views of the ocean from the bus and shopping stops like this one.

Always have quarters and dollar bills for the bathrooms are not free. Another pretty public bathroom.

From the bus we saw many, yes many, iguanas up in trees. That was a surprise.

They also have cows that mow the lawn in cemeteries.

Near the boat Dan found these but we had no room in our suitcases so we left them behind.

This was the first dock where our ship was right across from another ship. This one from Germany was full of nudists who flashed us on our ship. I missed a great photo op dang it!

Tomorrow will be our last island and then on home. I've been working clay each day so I'll have lots of photos this week of the Wish List projects.

Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2014-02-05 17:01 ]

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2014-02-05 20:57 ]

Wendy, the Ku hat comment is the best!

Great photos, thanks for sharing.

It sounds like the German nudists might inspire another mug???? :wink:

I didn't know Germany had many nudists! I learned something today.

You crack me up, Wendy! Thats actually a Kansas university hat. Kentucky is UK. Rock chalk jayhawk!

Argh! Sorry for double post.

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2014-02-06 17:00 ]

TikiAno always fun things going on if you look for them.

LoriLovesTiki more like flashers having fun with our ships passengers. The captain of our ship called the captain of their ship to ask him to make an announcement asking them to stop because there were a few children aboard our ship.

kingstiedye my ancestors are from the UK (United Kingdom) and Kentucky. I must remember the hat incorrectly. Thank for the fix.

===========================================

I kept forgetting to mention this. Thank you hang10tiki and Janelle. I wore your glass necklace gift on the trip. I like them both a lot.

The last island and the last three days on the ship.

St. Thomas was just a bump in the ocean

and then we were there.

Luckily he never heard anything coming his way.

We took off in a bus and at the top of the hill we could see our ship docked.

The largest gift shop we ever saw was ready to take our money. Dan spied a display rack made of wooden tikis.

He took it all to the cash register to see if they would sell it to him.

He was one happy guy when they said yes. $50. As you can see here the tiki display was two sided.

One huge bottle. Nope we didn't bring home any rum. We barley had room for this rack.

Further up the hill we had another great view.

On the way back to the ship we passed through town. The driver called it one big jewelry box.

St. Thomas is in the U.S. Virgin Islands and so it was the U.S. Coast Guard they escorted us out of the bay.

All our tours were finished and now it was time to head home. We went to all the shows. This was a juggler who also skipped rope on a unicycle.

It was easy to enjoy just looking at the vast ocean.

The MC of all the entertainment was a good friend of the crocodile Hunter so he put on a lecture about his friend. It was very special. Dan and I liked him and his show so we were happy to see him remembered by someone who loved him.

Our last formal night. Dan dresses up well.

I kept hoping for lobster and it finally came on the same night as beef wellington. Chef Ramsey always yelled at cooks over this dish so I wanted to try it. Well I have to say it was better than the lobster which was also excellent. This was the best meal of the cruise.

Cirque De Sole, oh heck I can't remember how to spell it.

More ocean.

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale at 6 am and were off the ship by 7 am. That meant 6 hours in the airport until our first flight to head home. We had a very good meal at Chilli's.

Home at last. Dan took care of the luggage.

Thank you all for taking this photo journey with us. I've enjoyed choosing the photos to share and telling the story.
Thank you Woo Hoo Wahine for sending us by way of the Celebrity Eclipse, it couldn't have been a better ship. We enjoyed everything.

Our next trip will be to Don the Beachcombers for Marketplace. Woo Hoo and Soccer Tiki throw the best art party ever.

I'll start posting my clay work next. Cheers, Wendy

Looks like a fun trip! That is great that Dan was able to purchase that tiki rack. I can think of a thousand things he can do with that.

Emily and I went to Antigua for our honeymoon and had a great time. The Caribbean is a great place to take a boat through.

WOW....fabulous pictures...looks like you all had a great time.

Uhhhhh Girlfriend...I cannot believe you wrap that snake around your neck...USOCRAZY!!!!

Wendy- glad u like the necklaces

Dan- o in front of a cannon

I think Janelle found a cannon recently in Oahu
:)

Dan-0 once again proves my theory
He is "The most interesting man in the world"

Stay Tiki my friend...

Worst sound ever, slurp of an empty tiki mug through my straw!!!

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2014-02-06 23:41 ]

lunavideogames he's been hanging Tiki Tonie necklaces on the rack and some key chains. See below.
I bet you spent all your time on the beach?

VampiressRN I like snakes. This one was really heavy. I'm glad he showed me how to keep its mouth closed.

hang10tiki Dan said he kept calling her but he never heard her reply. Maybe the cannon's had dead batteries.
Dan also loves being the most interesting man in the world number two.

=============================================================

Here's a bunch of Misc. stuff I've been waiting to post.

Buzzy the world's best Chippin Male at an event.

Our waiter at Paesano's this week. Related?

=============================================================

Dan found a Maori business card holder a while back and decided the perfect card was the one for Soccer Tiki and Woo Hoo's event.

==============================================================

The Bowl that never repairs. More cracks showed up and Dan still loves this bowl and wants to display it. So I puttied the cracks and let them dry. I sanded it

and then painted to blend it with the glaze. Now it's back on the shelf.

===============================================================
We saw a turkey in the parking lot and that inspired Dan

to order a turkey sandwich at Claim Jumpers.

==============================================================

The ST. THOMAS tiki rack is now filling up.

==============================================================

Gotta run have some more fun and play with more clay. Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2014-02-07 12:50 ]

Saw lots of them in Puerto Rico and in the Yucatan. I was hoping to find a restaurant that served iguana but no such luck. I imagine it taste like rattlesnake, which taste like chicken. Could be why they call iguanas "tree chickens" :D
Dan cleans up real nice!