St Kitts and San Juan, Puerto Rico

The view from the deck of the ship shows St Kitts to be a beautiful island. Unfortunately I had neither the energy nor the desire to go ashore that day. This cruise has taught me that seeing five islands in five consecutive days is just too much. I can do a maximum of three days in a row without getting overwhelmed and overly tired. St. Kitts was on the fourth consecutive day, so it didn't really have a chance.

We visited San Juan on the 5th consecutive day, and both pictures were taken through my cabin window. This time we had been up very late the night before. We got up to go through customs and eat breakfast, and then went back to bed and slept until just a few minutes before we were scheduled to leave the port. I had a different kind of adventure that night, and if I had it to do again, I would have made my priorities the same. After all, San Juan is not going anywhere. It will still be there when I return to it next week. This time I do plan to do some exploring, and to bring back some good photos.

The very first island we visited on this cruise also never saw me. We had gotten a very late start out of Norfolk, due to engine issues, so we ended up with only a couple of hours of shore time available when we arrived at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. That time was made shorter by the necessity of tendering to shore. I imagine that I will have another chance to visit that island, also.

My next cruise starts on Sunday, just a few days away, and I can hardly wait. I'm sorry this will only be for 7 nights, because being on a ship has gotten to be addictive. I like being pampered and I like being away from the stresses at home. Cruising gives me the freedom to be a different person from what I am at home, and the change is a pleasant experience. It's also a great opportunity to meet new friends, and sometimes even to get to know people from home better.

This cruise will be returning to both St. Thomas and San Juan. It will be a good opportunity to get new pictures to share. And I just like being on a ship. What more excuse do I need for another cruise? None that I can think of!

St. Thomas

The first photo is the view of St. Thomas that greeted us from our cabin window. It made the island look very inviting.

I had been to St. Thomas 16 years prior, and it has changed greatly in the interval. The dock for the cruise ships is new to me. Last time we anchored out in the harbor & tendered in. I recognized the place where we landed, but that was about all. It was very nice to be able to just walk off the ship without needing a tender.

While we were in port there were two other ships present. One was Celebrity's Constellation, which was of interest since our next cruise is on the sister ship Millennium. The last photo shows just how big the ship is. You can see it rising above the buildings. When I cruised before, between 1987 & 1990, I was on a couple of large ships, but there was nothing the size of these new ones.

Once again we opted to spend our shore time walking. We walked from the dock to the straw market and back, which totaled about 3 miles. The walk was very pleasant, especially since there were sidewalks and the traffic was not threatening as it has been in other places. Absolutely nothing looked famliar to me.

While we were resting on a water-side bench, a pelican landed in the water just a few feet from us, which was interesting. But by far the best thing we saw was the lawn covered with wild iguanas. They seemed to be as curious about us as we were about them.

We will be returning to St. Thomas next week on the Millennium, & hopefully I will have adventures & new pictures to share.

Bridgetown, Barbados

My online ramblings got sidetracked for a couple of weeks, but I must resume them if I am to get the last cruise covered before I head out on the next one in just over a week.

After Bermuda, Barbados is probably my favorite of the islands I've visited. I guess I must like the neat, clean, British feeling. We were there on a Sunday, which was a great disappointment. It is difficult to get a true feel for a place when everything is closed and very few people are out and about. We chose to walk around town rather than do any kind of shore excursion. The parts we saw looked pretty nice and there was much to look at that I found interesting.

On the way into town we passed a long, beautiful garden that was right next to the sea. Further on we encountered a marina, where catamarans were leaving, carrying passengers on shore excursions. Unlike many islands, this area near the docks was nice. On some islands, like Curacao, many of the buildings near the dock are run down or abandoned (however Curacao is otherwise beautiful, and I would like to go back again).

The town square was very peaceful and pretty, with interesting flowering trees, other flowers, and grass. When we continued beyond that we found a beauty supply store open, and that was as far as we went. They had quite a selection of wigs, the biggest variety I've ever seen in one place.

On the way back to the ship we walked through the long, seaside garden. Many things were in bloom, and many of the plants not in bloom had leaves with very interesting colors and patterns. The overall effect was one of great beauty. Many of the plants were unfamiliar to me, but one, the Baobob tree, I was able to identify because of a stamp collection display in the terminal building. There was a beautiful lavendar Bougainvillea and a tree with very interesting, bold pattern on the leaves.

About the most fun thing I saw, which was completely unexpected, was a large number of crabs on the concrete banks of a paved ocean inlet. Unfortunately the photo doesn't show the fish that were in the water.

I hope to return one day so I can do shore excursions, as I'm sure that they will allow me to see wonderful things that can't be found close to the ship.