Sunset in the Caribbean

So, here is the long-promised account of our Caribbean Cruise! We sailed on the Emerald Princess out of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Although I really dislike the weather in Ft. Lauderdale, there is something to be said for living in a port from which cruise ships regularly depart. We lucked out on the airfare, using a Southwest miles credit and AA frequent flyer miles, but otherwise just GETTING to the departure port could have cost as much as the cruise! But I digress. We thoroughly enjoyed exploring the ship (Richard) and the fine dining (Letty). The fabulous thing about a cruise ship is that if you can't decide on a dinner option, you can just try them all! (Also Letty).

Princess Cays

This cruise-line owned island and beach was our first port of call. It had good swimming beaches, and abundant free food. Best of all, it actually had the best snorkeling available the whole trip (without a paid excursion). Canny Richard packed two snorkeling masks and his snorkel, so we were able to just float around on our own, as the reefs were really close to shore. Letty was THRILLED to find that not knowing how to swim was NO PROBLEM in snorkeling. Some combination of very salty water, an air-filled snorkel mask and VERY salty water kept her afloat just fine! The deep depths of the ocean were sufficiently lovely to convince her to take swimming lessons soon! Sweet Richard let her use the snorkel most of the time, while he floated on the inflatable raft clever Letty had packed and looked over the side of it. Richard can hold his breath for a surprisingly long time.

*It's a good thing the next day was at sea. Richard and Letty were both sunburned very, very painfully. They spent the next 12-14 hours in their cabin, companions in misery. 24 hours later Letty had a great tan! And Richard was...just as red as ever. In fact, Letty had never, ever seen someone in more sunburn pain. When the itching started she began to fear some sort of restraints were in order.

St. Maarten
Richard slathered on a huge layer of sunscreen (as he had at the first port, SPF 50, and brought it with to reapply (the error which caused the sunburn). He also wore pants, socks, tennies and a thick shirt. We gingerly hiked the 1.5 miles into town, eschewing the overpriced taxis, and found nothing but an ugly beach that smelled of sewage, and a tawdry line of overpriced souvenir shops on one crowded street. Lessons Learned: Stay on boat OR purchase a snorkeling/diving/tour of some sort that takes place off-island.

St. Thomas

This stop was our favorite, as Richard was mostly out of the pain-woods with his sunburn, although he still dressed in the male version of the burka.

Two Hands For Luck

There we saw the world's largest Amber Waterfall, which is supposed to bring you good luck if you touch it!

We first toured Blackbeard's Castle, a variety of 19th century homes, and the Amber Museum. (Richard's pick).










One of the best parts about Blackbeard's castle were the statues of famous pirates everywhere!

Myself and Captain Jack Sparrow (or his twin)

St. Thomas is famous for it's beauty and the red roofs on the buildings. After the historical part of the day, we took an island tour, where our guide stopped at some of the famous overlook places so we could take pictures. You can even see our cruise ship anchored in the bay! At one of the stops there was a man with a goat there so we could take pictures with it!? I don't know how many crazy Americans he is used to, but Letty and that goat got no where near one another.

The island tour ended at Magen's Beach, one of the top ten beaches in the world (Letty's Pick). It is a beautiful heart-shaped beach at the edge of National Reserve forest land, so it is completely undeveloped. It was quiet and peaceful, with the most gorgeous powdery white sand, all the way out to the very deep! Richard even got in the water at the beach for a little bit with Letty, as she is very cute when she begs. Considering that he kept all his clothes on for fear of the sun's wrath, he looked pretty funny! Lessons Learned: Do not purchase excursions from the cruise ship, as we did all of this on our own for literally half the price. Also, St. Thomas is worth a re-visit, as the nearby island of St. John is supposed to be equally amazing.

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos
Our final port was this was a charming little island that seemed to consist of nothing but beaches! Again, don't pay the cruise ship unless you want to dive. We just walked out to the pier and paid a taxi to take us to a beach with good snorkeling. We had a blast snorkeling away, and the beaches were gorgeous white sand. This was probably the prettiest port that we visited, and the least commercially built up, it reminded me a lot of the northern beaches at Cozumel. Lessons Learned: Purchase a scuba or other excursion here if you want to do more than snorkel a bit and swim a bit. Also, if you are paying for a snorkel expedition, the most boring part is the long boat ride there. The best tip we got was from a fellow passenger, who always books independently of the cruise-line to snorkel, and they always book Jet-Ski Snorkel tours! For the same price as a cruise-line snorkel excursion, you can jet-ski to and from your snorkel location!! DEFINITELY doing this next time!

Overall Cruise Lessons Learned.

• September is way, way to hot to cruise the Caribbean. It was pretty much miserable outdoors at all times not submerged in water. We couldn't really enjoy any on-deck activities, as the heat and humidity sapped the fun out them right quick. Next cruise? Nov-Feb.
• Make sure Richard reapplies his 50 SPF every 45 minutes. Bring Aloe Vera and anti-itch cream.
• Dinner is lots more fun when you have time to sit with people, so telling the Maitre d' that you are willing to be seated with others is usually a good bet!
• We are not smart enough to win any trivia games on our own. Team up with intelligent looking seniors to take the prize
• It IS possible to eat yourself sick. Practice moderation.
• Never purchase excursions from the cruise ship (except for St. Maarten).
• Bring your own Dramamine.