Tanner8: Carnival Cruise to the Caribbean Feb 14th-21st

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Carnival Cruise to the Caribbean Feb 14th-21st

Jeff took me on a cruise for Valentines, well actually not for Valentines just for fun, but we left on February 14th so we will call it our Valentines Cruise.We flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico via Calgary to San Fransisco, To Philidelphia to San Juan. Can you say round about and very long flight? It was also a red eye and sleeping on planes is not my specialty. But once we got to the ship everything was okay.Our ship didn't take off until 10:00 pm so we were able to unpack and explore the ship. It was open seating in the dining room the first night and we were seated by some wonderful women from Slovinia. It was fun to visit with them. There was a big party on deck as the ship set sail for St. Thomas.

We were docked in St Thomas when we woke the next morning. We had beautiful weather. We shopped some of the stores at the pier and then caught a taxi to Magan's Bay. We could rent beach chairs and just sit back and relax for the day. There were two weddings on the beach. I don't know if I would like to share my special day with a bunch of sunbathers but to each his own. It was a very beautiful bay.

Dominca was our next stop. It seemed like the poorest of the Islands. They were celebrating Carnival and the music could be heard as soon as you stepped off the ship. We just walked a few blocks and were able to see the people in bright beautiful costumes dancing to the blaring music coming from a number of big trucks. As we wandered trying to decide what we were going to do for the day we were hijacked(that is the word I will use) by a sweet but forceful taxi driver named Frankie who added us to his tour and we were off to explore the Rainforest and Island. It was a good tour as they go. We were traveling with people from Quebec, Utah and the south. Frankie showed all kinds of plant life as we traveled. We hiked to Trafalga Falls which was beatiful but very crowded with other tourists. We then went to Champagne beach named for the bubbles that are out in the ocean that resemble champagne bubbles. It turned out to be a snorkeling beach but no one else in our group wanted to snorkle. The beach there was black sand from the volcanoe.

Wednesday was Barbados. I think it was my favorite Island. There was shopping right at the dock, but you could also go into town where it looked like the shopping was a lot more modern. We took a taxi to a beach called the boatyard. For $10 you got 2 chairs an umbrella, use of all their facilities, free drink and a ride back to the ship. It was a great place. (Thanks to Jeff for his research) The beaches a soft white sand and the ocean was crystal clear. This is a place I would love to go back to and just stay for a while.

St Lucia was next. It was beautiful but ended up not being out favorite because of taxi drivers who took advantage. We ended up not going where we had originally wanted to go.(They said they didn't go there and you learn you need to just keep asking around. Don't go with the first person you meet) So we went to the beach for the day. It was very nice sand but felt like Mexico to me because the people are always trying to sell you things ALL DAY LONG! Then our taxi driver stiffed us and didn't return to pick us up. Oh well Ce la vie!

St Kitts was beautiful. We took a snorkeling excursion. Fun and scenic. (didn't enjoy the mouthful of salt water when a wave went over my head,but still enjoyable) Jeff saw the most between the two of us, Squid, puffer fish and a baracuda (glad I missed that one). We returned to the ship for lunch and then hit the shopping. They have recently built up all around the pier to make tourism their number one priority.

We sailed into St. Maarten on Saturday. It is an island that is half Dutch and half French. One side is governed by the Dutch and The other by the France. We took a great tour. Salt used to be their main industry but now it is tourism. Most of the people speak all three languages. English being the third. We went to the airport where we watch a plane take off. Right behing the runway is a beach where people go to watch the planes land. They fly right over your head, but when they take off the engines cause the sand to fly everywhere and we watched as the people on the beach were blown over and sandblasted from the wind. It was crazy! I loved the French side for the buildings and the open air market. I loved all the beautiful things they sold there and the way they said Merci instead of thank you. We ended the tour at the beach as it started to rain (the first of the trip). While it downpoured we enjoyed a lunch of freh lobster.( Yummy but always expensive) It stayed overcast but was still a nice day at the beach. Just beware the topless sunbathers.(when in France....just kidding)

We had a great cruise. It was the first time we had sailed with Carnival and I wasn't sure what to expect but over all it was great. Lots of things to do, good food, and we met some new friends who were wonderful dinner companions.

We docked back in San Jaun and had a day to explore that island. It was wonderful to just wander all over old town San Juan. I loved all the buildings and details that they had. We wandered up to the fort and along the wall. We stayed at a wonderful hotel called the condado plaza. It was very modern and Art Deco and I loved just wandering around.

It was a wonderful and relaxing week.