My January Caribbean Cruise -- Week Two

This post is a continuation of the summary of my husband Neil's and my two-week Caribbean cruise. On the ninth day we stopped at Kingstown on the island of St. Vincent and took our best shore excursion--sea kayaking and snorkeling. The first photo shows me in my green solo kayak paddling away from the shore. The second shows some me and others waiting our turn to paddle through the "Bat Cave" enroute to Byahaut Bay, where we beached our kayaks and snorkeled. The third photo shows coral and black spiny sea urchins, which we were told to avoid.
























On the tenth day we stopped at Bassettere on the island of St. Kitts, where we hopped aboard a local van bus to ride to the bottom of the hill on which perched Brimstone Fortress, the "Gibraltar of the Caribbean" built by the British in the 1700s. We hiked to the top and toured it then caught a ride back to the ship and lunched there. In the afternoon, we boarded the St. Kitts Scenic Railway for a tour of the island on an old sugar cane train, complete with rum punches. The fourth and fifth photos show the fortress and the sixth photo shows the train.
























The eleventh day was another At Sea day, when we signed up for the fabulous and exclusive "Chef's Table" experience. The evening included a tour of the kitchen during dinner hour with champagne & appetizers there, personal service and discussion with the Executive Chef, Maitre 'D, Head Pastry Chef, and Director of Food & Beverage Service (who gave us his card to give to our pastry-chef-in-training son), two photos with these folks, wonderful food prepared tableside and paired with upscale wines, and a Princess cruise lines cookbook. The seventh photo shows me in my white coat in the kitchen with my glass of champagne and the eighth photo shows the dinner cooks in action. The ninth photo shows our risotto course, the tenth shows the main course (veal shanks), and the eleventh shows us with our desserts (on plates made of sugar), the chefs and the maitre 'd. What a night!













































On the twelfth day, we stopped at St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands and took a ferry ride the the National Park on St. John, where we relaxed on the lovely Cinnamon Bay beach. The twelfth photo shows the beach and the thirteenth shows yachts in the harbor at St. Thomas. On the thirteenth day, we stopped at picturesque Old San Juan in Puerto Rico. In the morning we walked to the Cathedral of San Juan where Ponce de Leon is buried (see the fourteenth photo). From there we walked to Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, built by the Spanish in the 1500s (see the fifteenth and sixteenth photos), and to the Castillo de San Cristobal, built in the 1700s (see the seventeenth and eighteenth photos). In the afternoon, we caught a ferry to the Bacardi Rum Factory and took their tour (nineteenth photo).














































































On the fourteenth day, we stopped at Grand Turk island of the Turks and Caicos, where we had the fascinating experience of swimming with stingrays. The twentieth photo shows me "kissing" a stingray and the twenty-first shows one swimming with a pilot fish. Our cruise ended the morning of the fifteenth day with disembarkation in Fort Lauderdale and a return to the real world of snow and cold in Colorado Springs by that evening.

My January Caribbean Cruise -- Week One

My husband Neil and I really enjoyed our two-week Caribbean cruise, even though we were some of the youngsters on board the ship. The majority of folks who can get away for a 14 day cruise in January are in their 70s and 80s. Many of our "Anytime Dining" dinner companions (different ones every evening) were seasoned cruisers, having gone on 25, 40, 78, or more cruises. We got a lot of information about different companies and itineraries. We also learned that instead of asking, "What do you do?" most asked, "What do your children/grandchildren do?", so we had plenty of opportunities to brag about our own kids. Often Neil made a comment about me being a mystery author, and many of the women were interested, so I handed out a few bookmarks that I learned to carry with me in my purse.





The first photo shows me leaning on the railing of the top deck of our ship, the Grand Princess, as we left Fort Lauderdale, FL our first afternoon. The second day was an At Sea day, and our first formal evening, complete with champagne waterfall. The second photo shows Neil and me pouring champagne with Bruno, the Maitre 'D. The third day was also an At Sea day, since we were traveling all the way south to Aruba, our first port call. The third photo shows me relaxing in one of the hot tubs on the pool deck late that afternoon.









When we arrived in Aruba the fourth day, my college roommate Ashley, who works for the Valero refinery on the island, met us at the port and took us snorkeling, sight-seeing, to lunch at her favorite dive shop, and to see her home (what I most wanted to see). The fourth photo shows us outside Ashley's front door. Notice she's wearing a T-shirt from our alma mater, the College of William and Mary. The fifth photo was taken by Ashley, of Neil and me in front of the cruise ship shortly before we departed the island. Our next stop was the nearby island of Curacao, where we toured Hato Cave, took a walking tour of town and explored the Mariner's Museum. The sixth photo shows the famous Queen Emma floating pontoon walking bridge that connects the two sides of the city of Willemstad, Punda and Otrabanda. Notice the brightly painted Dutch architecture!






The sixth day was another At Sea day, and our second formal night. That evening, we enjoyed dining in Sabatini's, one of the two upscale restaurants onboard--7 courses over 2.5 hours. We're seated in front of our main courses (mine was twin lobster tails) in the seventh photo. Doesn't Neil look dashing in his tux? On the seventh day, we stopped at Port of Spain in Trinidad and hiked through the rainforest to the Maracas Waterfall in the morning. The eighth photo shows the top of the waterfall, and the ninth shows the two of us getting soaked underneath it. In the afternoon, we took a taxi to the Botanical Gardens and walked back to the ship through the city and past the "Magnificent Seven" old colonial mansions. On the eighth day, we took a photography tour of Barbados then toured the Mount Gay Rum factory (and bought a bottle). The tenth photo shows the famous undercut rock on the beach at Bathsheba.