Blogs from Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands, Central America Caribbean - page 4

We spent a lazy morning playing in the sand at the beach. When Oliver napped, Andrew swam and I read. We followed up our lazy morning with a busy afternoon downtown. Cabs (again, vans) stay parked in the hotel parking lot. They easily hold our group, so we made the short (5-10 minute) ride to Blackbeard's Castle with ease. I'd read online that the castle is frequently closed; it's really only open when cruise ships are docked. We were lucky today, though, because they were open when we arrived, and we started out the only visitors (more came later). Blackbeard (Edward Teach) was a pirate made legendary by his crazy antics. Apparently, he was a large man (6'3", 230 pounds), especially for his time (early 18th century), and he had a full, black beard that he ... read more

My parents, Andrew, Oliver and I woke at 3am MST in Denver to start our journey for Saint Thomas. The first leg of our trip took us to Chicago, where we met with my brother and sister, Andy and Julie, and my sister-in-law, Erin. The eight of us flew to Miami and then down south for another couple hours to Saint Thomas. After fourteen hours of travel with a fourteen month old, I landed feeling more stressed than anything else (not that Oliver did poorly; in fact, he was incredible. It was exhausting, though). Still, it was difficult not to feel the relaxing nature of vacation when we disembarked the plane (outside) and stepped into 73 degree, humid air. We strolled over to baggage claim where a man was handing out shots of pinapple rum. Andrew ... read more

This week is American Thanksgiving which means schools are out, families are on vacation, the ship is packed and we are busy in the teen club! I am so happy to have a co-director for the busy holiday cruises, especially on this ship because it is so huge. Kristina and I work really well together. Thankfully, considering how many teens we have onboard, so far things have been going really well and the group is fun and friendly. Today we were in St. Thomas which is the day we offer a teen excursion. Not surprisingly with the number of teens onboard, we had a half dozen sign up to go out on the tour with us. Kristina, myself and half a dozen teens met with the rest of the tour group outside on the pier and ... read more

Today we were in St. Thomas. We’d originally planned to do some shopping (Lin’s plan not mine) and then maybe take a cab to Megan’s Bay. But we ended up just relaxing most of the morning and then headed over to the shops at the dock after lunch. I bought someone a Christmas present and Lin bought herself a ring and maybe a few other things. The ring had to be sized and they said it would be done by 4. We stopped at a bar for coke/tea and French fries. Then I headed back to the ship while she watched the iguana’s and waited for her ring. After the ship left port it was time for Bingo so I headed up there. Still didn’t win Bingo but did win the drawing (well sort of I ... read more

Our plan for this cruising season was to sail up the Caribbean chain, stopping along the way to visit new islands and re-visit some of our favorites from last year. Our goal was to reach the Virgin Islands by April and spend a month there before turning back and heading south again (our insurance for the boat dictates that we must be out of the hurricane belt by the first of July). So once we left St. Martin we sailed west to St. Thomas, which turned out to be is the farthest point of travel for the Rum Runner this year before we turned back and completed our yo-yo thru the Caribbean chain. We spent very little time in the Virgin Islands last year, and were excited to return. Our first stop was Charlotte Amalie, the ... read more