Caribbean Cruise April 2023

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Day 1 Saturday April 22, 2023

Our trip started with a drive down to Atlanta where we planned to stay the night and then fly out at 10am to Puerto Rico where we were to board our Royal Caribbean ship, Voyager of the Seas. The drive down was pleasant, albeit windy. Rob and I took turns driving and had a great time talking and the three hours passed in no time. We even made a stop and DQ and Buc-eez on the way down, and still made good time.

Day 2 Sunday April 23, 2023

Our hotel was ok, but I was excited/nervous about the potential uncertainties with the first leg of our journey and I did not sleep at all Saturday night. At 6am we were up and getting ready to leave the hotel for an early arrival for our flight to Puerto Rico. One of the big stressors for me was the fact that we did not take the much touted advice to fly in a day early to your cruise embarkation port. We were flying in the day of the cruise and there were so many things that could go wrong. What if our flight was delayed due to a storm? What if there was some kind of back up upon arrival in Puerto Rico? What if we could not find transportation from the airport to the cruise port? Turned out all of my fears were completely unfounded.

Although the airport in Atlanta was absolutely packed and the line for security took longer that I am used to, we were still at our gate in plenty of time. Our flight went off without a hitch and we actually landed a little early in Puerto Rico. Just outside of baggage claim was a taxi stand and a very nice lady set us up with a friendly taxi driver. There was no traffic to speak of despite the multiple warnings we got from Royal Caribbean, and we were at the cruise port almost 2 hours before our scheduled check in. Although we had been told not to arrive early and there was a chance that we would have to wait to board, the actually let us on without issue. It was a smooth, easy boarding process and in no time at all we were on board.

It was stormy in Puerto Rico when we arrived and it rained a little, but was still so pretty. Voyager of the Seas is a big ship. Although it is not the biggest in their fleet, it was a lot bigger that the Jewel of the Seas that we sailed on in Europe. We went to our room right away and found it to be perfect. We chose to stay in one of the newest staterooms on the ship on deck 11. It was only added a few years ago, as there usually are not any staterooms on the same deck as the pools. I liked the idea that we would have easy access to the pools and the Windjammer. I am so glad we made that decision. It is so convenient and I love being so high up on the ship.

After checking out our stateroom and changing into cruise attire, we ate a late lunch at the Windjammer and then explored the ship. Everyone else had the same idea as we did and there was a long wait for elevators, but it was still fun seeing all the ship has to offer. We then went to the spa to sign up for the raffle that would take place at 6pm, and then came back to the room to find out luggage was waiting for us. We met our cabin steward Sai, from Myanmar. He was super cool.

It was a good thing I insisted on doing the raffle, because we won a $75 dollar off coupon for the spa and also got a manager's special that you only got if you were there. We went ahead and book our spa treatments for the week while we were there.

After a quick stop by the stateroom to change into swimsuits, we headed the short walk to the Solarium to relax in the hot tub and have a few drinks. We met some nice people there and had a good time. It was getting late, and we wanted to check out a few things on the Promenade before eating dinner and being back in our room for sail away, so we changed again and headed back out.

After dinner, we barely had enough time to be back in our stateroom to watch sail away from our balcony. It was so pretty. San Juan looked much more appealing all lit up at night as we glided by on our way out to sea. The moon was at a bottom crescent looking like bowl in the sky and Venus hovered just below it nearly matching its brightness. So gorgeous.

As I am typing this, I am sitting on our deck in the dark listening to the water lap against the boat as we are sailing. It is hard to believe we are on the 11th deck as it sounds as if the water is lapping just below us. I love it. We will keep the balcony door cracked tonight to hear the sound. I hope to sleep well on our first night at sea.

Day 3 Monday April 24,2023

We woke up from a nice night's sleep. The movement of the ship along with the sound of the waves brought on interesting dreams. We were awake in time to watch the sail in to St. Thomas. It was more dry than I imagined, more like the south side of Puerto Rico with cacti and shrub brush. It was still quite beautiful watching the islands rise up from the deep blue waters.
We had breakfast at the Windjammer, then came back to the room to relax a little before our excursion. Around 10 am, another Royal Caribbean ship, Grandeur of the Seas came along side us in port. It was cool to see the smaller ship slid up to the dock get moored as its passengers looked on from the decks above.
At around 11am we disembarked and took the little time we had to check out the shops around the port. There were all the high dollar shops that you expect to find around a cruise ship port but there were also some stalls in the back that were more like I was used to in the Caribbean. Better prices, more variety and the sellers willing to negotiate.
We did not buy anything at that time, because we didn't want to carry it all day, but we looked at what they had to offer so we could pick them up later.
At 11:45 we met our tour on the pier and were escorted to the island ferry. On the walk over we were treated to some local performers dancing and singing to put us in the island vibe.
The ferry had a lower air conditioned deck and an upper open air deck. We opted to sit up top on the way out. Our captain told us all about the sites along the way, pointing out all the beautiful homes owned by celebrities and wealthy business people. It was a really nice trip over to St. John.
St. John was more lush that St. Thomas and more quaint and less populated. We were met by open air busses that drove us across the island to Trunk Bay. Our driver's name was Jupiter. He was funny and informative and stopped a few places along the way to let us get some pictures of the beautiful beaches from the overlooking hills that we were traversing.
Trunk Bay was gorgeous, as expected. It was surrounded by lush jungle and white sand beaches. There was a little sea grass in a one-foot band just up on the beach, but it was easy to avoid and didn't smell at all. The water was crystal clear, cool and refreshing. I couldn't wait to get into the water. I made a beeline to the snorkel trail that they had set up with underwater markers along the way. The markers explained a little about the reef and the sea life that inhabits it.
I was tired from the swim to the trail and back, so the rest of the time there Rob and I just bobbed in the waves (which were not calm) and enjoyed the sun and views. The beach had a steep entrance that made the water create waves near the shore and also made it really hard to get in and out of the water without falling down, which I did, several times.
At 3:10 sharp the busses picked us up and drove us back to the ferry. We were so tired from the swimming. We did stop at the stalls on St. Thomas and I bought a small change purse and some earrings.
Back on the boat, we got ready for dinner. We planned to see a show after and it was formal night on the boat, so I opted to wear a dress. Not a formal dress, but better than shorts and a t-shirt.
We killed some time at the Schooner bar before the show and just happened to be there for the kickoff of a game where you go around and try to collect the most signatures from the staff from different countries. The goal is to find someone from every country represented on board, or as close to it as possible. In two days, we will bring our forms back to the Schooner bar and the one with the most signatures wins a prize. I thought it sounded like fun, so I grabbed a sheet. Wish me luck.
The show started at 8pm and the theater was surprisingly empty. The show was fantastic, so much talent. It kind of seemed a shame for their talent to be wasted on people who didn't seem to appreciate it very much. I hope to see more shows on this trip.
With the show over, we came back to the room so I could blog and we can both go to bed for some much needed rest.
We cancelled our planned dive for tomorrow because we were just too tired for such an early and physically demanding activity. I am glad we did. Tomorrow we will relax with a simple tour and lots of time to rest.
Good night, may our dreams be filled the images of the seas.

Day 4 Tuesday April 25, 2023

What an eventful and fun day! I love St. Kitts!
This was supposed to be our dive day, but we were both so tired last night from the Trunk Bay tour that we decided to take it easier on this day. We cancelled the dive and book a Island History and Rum tasting tour. It didn't leave until 11:45, so we were able to sleep in and take it easy in the morning. We had breakfast delivered to our room and then we toured around the boat to the areas that we didn't get to earlier. We first checked out the sports deck which was closed when we first came aboard.
The sports deck has a tennis/pickle ball court, a basketball court, golf course, climbing wall as well as the water sports like flow rider and the water slides. There is so much to do, if you have the time and want to.
We then made our way down to the helicopter pad. It is always a great view and we did our "King of the World" moment. All along the way, we made sure to get as many signatures as possible from staff from different countries. I hope to win that scavenger hunt and more importantly, I enjoyed meeting all of the people. They all seem to really enjoy sharing their country.
At 11:30 we left the boat to join up with our tour group on the pier. We were escorted to a bus not far from the pier where we were met by our driver, Winston. He was so much fun and clearly had so much pride for St. Kitts. As he drove us through the capital of Basseterre, he pointed out all the main landmarks and told us a little of the history of the island. It was the first colonized island, landed on and named by Christopher Columbus...after St. Christopher (of course). It was later shortened to St. Kitts. He also told us a lot about the sister Island of Nevis. He said they are two countries, but one federation. Slaves were brought to the colonies to work in the sugar cane fields and tobacco farms. Today their descendants are the primary inhabitants, and enjoy not only freedom from slavery, but also independence since 1983.
Although Winston told us that they paid a lot in taxes, he also told us all the amazing ways the government assists its residents. From helping the less fortunate get housing to making sure everyone has access to primary as well as secondary education, they really make sure that all of its 50,000 residents have chance to thrive.
We noticed that the people all seemed well dressed, laid back and happy. And they all seemed to proud of their island.
Their flag has green for the lushness of the island, yellow for its year-round sunshine, black for its African heritage and red to commemorate its freedom from slavery. In the center there are two stars that represent hope and liberty. Really cool.
We were taken to the beautiful old plantation called the great house where we were taken on a tour led by our fun loving and playful guide, Doreen. She joked with us, teased us and gave us lots of rum. She even tried to steel Rob away. I managed to keep him, but she told him to call her if anything changed. haha.
I gave Rob my shots, so he had a nice buzz on by the end. All of the rum tasting was done in a nice spacious air conditioned room. It was a relief, since the rest of the house was not air conditioned and it was hot and humid there.
The Rum was all made with natural flavorings and Rob said they were all delicious. I sipped each one and my favorites were the coconut cream and lime. Rob like the vanilla best.
Our driver came back to get us and took through another part of the island with spectacular views of the Caribbean.
St. Kitts was the greenest of the islands that we have visited so far. Many of the islands were dry, since it is the dry season, but somehow St. Kitts was still green. It was so beautiful rising out of the water.
When we got back to the pier we walked around a little to do some shopping. I got drawn in to buying a beautiful necklace with a sea turtle made from Larimar. I love it. We also got a few souvenirs. While out walking around, I saw a man with two little bitty monkeys. For 10 bucks he let me hold them and posed them on my shoulders and head. It was so cute!
Back on boat, we dropped off our things and made our way to the Spa for our scheduled massages. Rob got a herbal poultice massage and I got the manager's special (a Swedish massage with hot stone add on). We both thoroughly enjoyed it.
Dinner was at 7:30, so we relaxed a little and then got ready for dinner. It was Caribbean theme night, so we dressed the part and made our way to the dining room. The dining room is spectacular, with huge chandeliers, and grand staircases. I got a steak and Rob got pork chops. It was very nice.
After dinner, we went to Studio B for the Ice Odyssey show. It was so good. They grabbed some poor guy from the audience and put him in this big throne where he was pushed around for more than half the show. It was so funny. Poor guy was probably freezing as it was cold in the theater, and he only had on a short sleeve shirt. 😊
What a day. We were so tired, we went directly back to the room and crashed.

Day 5 Wednesday April 26, 2023

We got an early start to today. We had to be at the theater to join our tour by 8:20, so we got up, ate at the Windjammer and were down to the theater by 10 after. There was already a lot of people there, so it was good that we were early. We were led out to the catamaran which was large and had plenty of seating for the 30 plus people that were on the tour. Our boat crew were a lot of fun and got us in the party mood right away.
No alcohol was served until after the first beach break, so there was no raucous behavior on the way around the island and the captain was able to point out all the features of the island as we sailed by. Like St. Thomas, Antigua was dry and had a lot of cacti. It also had a lot of tropical vegetation but was not as lush this time of year as it is the dry season. Despite that, it was so pretty. There were rocky outcroppings, pristine waters and beautiful white sand beaches. The waters were brilliant teal, and the sky was made more interesting by having some cloud coverage and storms in the distance. We even saw a waterspout forming. There was enough sun to light up the water and it looked even more brilliant against the dark skies.
Most of our boat crew were Jamaican, but even the locals seemed to have the Rastafarian vibe. Everyone seemed to be having fun.
I have forgotten the name of the first beach that we stopped at. It was nice beach, but there was very little shade and the water was a bit wavy. I spotted a little patch of shade against a wall barrier and we snagged it for ourselves. It was mostly for our stuff because we spent most of our time in the water anyway. Rob found some pretty shells, so we put them in our bag to take home. I tried to find shells too, but only ended up getting knocked over by a wave and coming up with half the beach inside my swimsuit. I didn't even realize it until we were back on board boat and I took off my rash guard and a pile of sand came pouring out. As it turned out, I had sand everywhere. Sand was in places sand has no business being. There was no way to remove the sand aboard boat so I would have to wait until our next beach break to put the sand back in the ocean where it belongs.
While we were on the beach, the crew set up the catamaran for our lobster lunch. Once we were all on board, they pulled up anchor and headed out to the spot they were going to anchor for us to eat. This is when the bar opened.
Rum was freely pouring, and beers were being drank. There was even some champagne, but no one was too inebriated yet, as lunch was coming.
The lobster was brought out as soon as we anchored and it was delicious. It was served with potatoes, rice and beans and a small salad. It didn't take long for the lobster to be cleared away and the anchor to be pulled up for the trip to our next beach break. In the meantime, there was music and laughing...and lots of alcohol.
The second beach was called Deep Bay and it was beautiful. Along the right side as we sailed in, there was a ritzy resort with 1500 dollars a night bungalows over the water. They each had there own infinity pool and that gorgeous bay as there view. On the other side of the beach up on an overlook were the ruins of an old fort. It was made from volcanic rock from the island and looked even more ancient than it was.
The beach itself had no development on it. Behind the beach was a jungle with a few trails to who knows where. There were trees close enough to the beach and the beach was big enough that anyone who wanted could find shade. We found a nice tree to put our stuff under and then headed to the water. I immediately tried to rid myself of the grains of Antigua that were lodged in my swimsuit and then was finally able to just enjoy one of the most beautiful beaches I had ever seen. The sand was powder soft and the water was just perfect. It was crystal clear and just the right temperature. The bay was much calmer that the water was at the previous beach and just bobbing in the water looking at the breath taking surroundings was heaven. We even had some cloud cover. It was so nice, we didn't want to leave. We walked down the beach a little to get a good look at it then walked back toward the boat where locals had set up little shops to sell there wares. We didn't find anything we wanted and we were being called back to the boat, so nothing was bought.
Before we left, a group came through on horses, closely followed by a little dog. The poor horses were already lathered and clearly exhausted, but they still had tourists to carry.
Back on the boat the party really started. Everyone was feeling good and the music was cranking. Dancing started in earnest and we were entertained by all the revelry. We even participated a little.
Just before we pulled back into port, on of our crew did a quick little show, lip-syncing a song called big bamboo. It was so funny. We had so much fun.
We shopped at the port briefly (I wanted a t-shirt). We finally found the local vendors and I found what I wanted for a lot less than the port shops.
Back on board the ship, we showered and I found even more sand in the process. I finally got rid of the beach, got dress in casual clothes and we went out searching for some last minute staff from countries we didn't have for the scavenger hunt. Once outside we heard a commotion from the Promenade and found the parade in full swing. We went down to watch, then found more staff for signatures.
We ate quickly at the Windjammer to be back in time to the Schooner's bar to turn in our scavenger hunt. As it turned out, I was the only person to show up to turn in a paper. So, we got a coozy and a keychain for our trouble. It was lot of fun collecting the signatures though, I would totally do it again. The scavenger hunt hostess said she would look for some other prizes relating to scrap booking for me and try to track me down to get them to me later. We will see, I guess.
We played a little in the casino, had a drink and some ice cream and then came back to the room to blog and rest. I am on the deck this evening and storm is skirting us, bringing in a lot of wind, chilly air and some misting rain. It is also rocking the boat a little more, so it should make for a good night's sleep.

Day 6 Thursday April 27, 2023

Today is our 10th wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has been 10 years already. Definitely the best 10 years of my life. It is so amazing that we get to spend our anniversary out here in the Caribbean together.
Today we had a lazy start. We were so tired yesterday, that we went to bed early, but still managed to sleep until nearly 7am. We had breakfast delivered to our room, which was really nice, then we just stayed in our room until close to time to meet our tour for a bus ride to Rockley Beach in Barbados.
The pier is really long here and it is really hot and humid. We were glad to see shuttle buses just outside the boat taking passengers to the terminal at the end of the pier. We took the bus, many walked.
Inside the terminal were a lot of port shops, the kind that all touted being duty free, but charged an arm and a leg. We looked around briefly, then met our just outside the terminal. It was really hot, and the buses to Rockley Beach were very narrow, meaning that we were crammed up in our seats, making it even hotter despite the ac going on the bus.
The driver pointed out the features of Barbados and gave us a little history. Barbados is made of limestone, not volcanic rock. It is the only island in the Caribbean that is not volcanic, which explains why it is one of the flattest islands that we have visited.
It was also the least appealing over all of the islands. As we drove through town the driver pointed out the tiny local houses that looked run down and poor, the red light district that transformed at night lined with ladies of the night awaiting customers. Further down was a huge area with multiple horse racing tracks. Along with the all the Rum and Cigar making factories, you can really satisfy your vices in Barbados. Not really my cup of tea.
The capital of Bridgetown (named after the two bridges in town), is a crowded, bustling town. The Island has a population of 300,000, most of whom live in Bridgetown. That number is added to by the thousands of visitors that come in each week. Today, our ship was the only one in port, adding just under 5000 people to the city, but the pier can take up to 6 ships and is often full up in the winter, adding more than 30,000 people.
It is no wonder that traffic was crazy. It was a literal free for all in the very narrow streets. Just like all the islands we visited so far (including the American St. Thomas) everyone drives on the left side of the road. That alone is confusing, but add to that no street lights and everyone just entering the road at will and it can be crazy. Our driver did well and got us safely to Rockley Beach.
During sail in I noticed a lot of sargassum in the ocean, so I wasn't terribly surprised to see it on the beach. I was surprised, however, by the sheer quantity of it. It was a good 30 feet into the ocean and all over the beach. There was one small patch relatively clear where you could get into the water, and it was where everyone was. We weren't planning on the beach anyway, so I wasn't too disappointed in that. I was disappointed, however, that the famous boardwalk that I had planned for us to walk was lined with only restaurants and absolutely no shops. Add to that the heat and the high humidity and we could see that our excursion was a bad idea.
We decided to forego the planned exotic lunch idea and eat at the KFC on the boardwalk because it was air conditioned. It was also expensive, but at least we got to sit in the cool and decide what to do from there.
I did a quick internet search for the best way to get back to the ship and found that a taxi service a little like UBER was the ticket. It was more expensive than the many mini busses that often stopped to offer rides, but it was air conditioned and the driver was really pleasant. He answered all the questions I asked (i.e. What is the primary language in Barbados? English, though most speak a kind of broken or "pigeon" English.)
He got us back to the pier and just outside we found a bunch of the kind of souvenir stalls I was hoping to see on the boardwalk. We found just the trinkets we were looking for and then made our way back to the boat. Once again there were shuttles waiting to drive us up the long pier. The shuttles were free, provided just for us Voyager of the Seas guests.
I wanted to let someone know that we left the tour so they would not be waiting on us at the beach. We went to Guest Services and they really appreciated me taking the time to let them know.
We were both so hot that we decided to take the extra time we gained by coming back early and swim for a bit in the Solarium. The water was really cool and refreshing. I found a section of shade under the lifeguard's umbrella, so we hung out there until we were both a little chilled. We warmed up on beach chairs for a little while and then I decided to come back to the room and blog.
Tonight we celebrate our anniversary by having a nice dinner at Chops grill. 😊
We got cleaned up and dressed up and made our way to the Chops Grille just on the fore side of the ship on deck 11. We were greeted with a beautiful setting and seated by the huge glass windows overlooking the sea. We were under way and the sun was just setting, so it was quite pretty.
I mentioned that it was our 10th anniversary when we came in, but they didn't seem to respond. It didn't matter, because the atmosphere was already special. We did order a lovely French red wine to go with our dinners.
For starters I had a lobster bisque and Rob had mushroom soup. Both were amazing. So rich and divine. Dinner for Rob was rack of lamb and I had the petit filet mignot. Delicious.
After we ate the main course and were perusing the dessert menu, several of the staff came out with a piece of red velvet cake with a candle on top and sang to us. It was so cute and kind of funny. We didn't want too much for dessert, so we just shared the red velvet cake. It was so good. Layered along with the cream cheese was a layer of chocolate. The best red velvet ever. Our waiter told us that if we still wanted to order a dessert, he would pack it for us to take back to our room. We did just that, although we ended up being too full to ever get to it.
The wine took affect and we sort of swayed out of the restaurant. To be fair, the ship was really rocking us, so it wasn't just the wine. 😊 We found our way down to where they take the professional pictures and did some poses that we will check on tomorrow.

Before we went to dinner, our room steward had asked us if we were going to be out for a bit, because he had something to "drop off" in our room. When we got back from dinner, we found two towel swans facing each other making a heart shape along with a sweet card. He is so sweet.
Since we were still feeling good, we decided we wanted to do a round of miniature golf and maybe some ping pong. We changed back into more comfortable clothes and headed up to deck 13. With the ship swaying and us still unsteady ourselves, it was miracle that we got through the whole course just a few strokes over par. I was a few less strokes over par, so I won that one. Rob made up for it in ping pong though and beat me 11-2. It was fun. It really worked out that we gave up on the excursion and came back to the ship instead. Tomorrow, St. Lucia!

Day 7 Friday April 28, 2023

It was really early as we slid into St. Lucia. We were greeted to towering green hillsides and pristine waters. It is everything I hoped for. We had a really early excursion, so we ordered room service. All the other days they came early, so I thought we would be fine ordering for between 7-7:30 and still be able to leave by 7:40 to get to our meeting point in time. Unfortunately, that did not work our for us. We didn't even get the call that they were on their way until 7:25 and we waited and waited and they were still not there. We had to leave at 7:40 without any breakfast.
Rob was worried with me being a diabetic, but I was pretty sure that they would have juice or something on board the catamaran we were taking on our tour to the Pitons. I was right. Even after the long wait and not boarding until after 8:30, I did just fine and just as I was feeling a little light headed, juice was offered. It was delicious fruit punch and revived me with no problem. Neither of us got too hungry because we were distracted by all of the amazing sights. St. Lucia is a good sized volcanic island made of lush peaks and tropical vegetation lined beaches. Palm trees were everywhere along the volcanic sand beaches and the crystal clear teal waters looked all the more beautiful against the darker sands.
Our tour boat took us into the stunning Marigot Bay where such celebrities like Oprah and Mike Tyson have vacation homes. Several super yachts stood in the harbor. It was so quaint and stunningly beautiful I couldn't help but think of Tales of the Gold Monkey. I will have to look up where that was made. It was almost as lush as Kauai, HI, which really says a lot. As we sailed on around the island, the two grand peaks of the Pitons towered out of the water. Rob sat with his feet hanging over the edge at the front of the boat as we sailed to the Pitons. He told me later that he saw flying fish jumping out of the water and soaring above it for a few minutes before disappearing back into the sea. He said they looked like little hummingbirds above the water. So cool. I looked for the rest of the cruise hoping to see them but never did. The boat stopped for us to do some photo ops and just take in the picturesque scene.
We turned around to head to a swimming spot for a quick beach break. As we came around a bend I saw this amazing secluded beach line with palm trees and palapas and casually said to Rob, "boy, I wish we could go swimming there." To my surprise that is exactly where we were heading. Up close the beach was even more spectacular. I might have another favorite beach of all time. In the center was this amazing little lagoon that led back into the jungle. The sand was dark and soft and the water so clear that it looked like an aquarium. The only down side was that we only got to spend a measly 30 minutes there. That was when I told Rob that we need to return to St. Lucia sometime when we could stay longer. We are going to have to make that happen.
Before we left the beach, some locals were selling fresh mangoes and coconuts. We got some mangoes and they were so good. Really sweet and juicy.
The way back, we spent most of the time on the front of the ship in the sun letting the wind dry us off a bit. We had unobstructed views of the spectacular shoreline and the occasional house or village or resort that dotted it. I am in love with St. Lucia.
We went back on board boat to drop off our stuff, change, and eat lunch and then we got back off to walk around the local tourist market just outside the port shops. They had a really nice bazaar style area set up with dozens of shops. They were mostly selling the same souvenir items, but we walked through it all to pick up a few items to remember it by. I got a t-shirt and Laurel a wrap. Rob found a patch and I talked him into a really nice button up cotton shirt. There was sweet black kitty laying in the shade near one of the booths, we of course had to stop and pet it. A lady at the nearby booth said she was the cat's representative. I laughed; it was a good hustle. Several others chimed in saying that the cat relied on them for its food, so... Everyone was laughing. I loved it.
Getting back on board, we grabbed an ice cream on our way to our room. Rob wanted to go to the pool. I just wanted to shower and relax for a bit while enjoying our amazing view from our deck.
At 7 we headed down to dinner at the Windjammer. They had caviar again, so I grabbed some and made the mistake of eating them first. They were so delicious and savory that everything else I ate seemed bland by comparison. I ended up not eating much at all for dinner.
After dinner, we went down to see the performance in the main theater. As always, they put on a good show. They work so hard, they must be exhausted after 2 shows in one night.
Back in the room, we were greeted with the depressing exit paperwork that we needed to take care of for departure on Sunday. I wasn't ready to think about leaving quite yet, so I didn't even look at it. Instead, I ordered a PB&J and some cookies from room service (I was so hungry) and watched a little tv before heading off to bed.

Day 8, Saturday April 29, 2023

We woke up at our leisure and relaxed a little before grabbing breakfast at the Windjammer. While there, the ship was passing by a dramatic small mountainous island jutting out of the sea. I asked around to see what Island it was and no one seemed to know. I went back to the room to look it up and found out it is the tiny island of Sabah, a Dutch territory. Only 6 square miles and with no sandy beaches, it was no wonder no one had heard of it. It did have a population dotting the surface of the almost pyramidal landmass. A cloud hung over the peak of the island making it look like island from Joe vs the Volcano.
As I was checking my phone in the room, Rob called for me to come out on the deck. He had seen some flying fish and wanted me to see if I could catch sight of them. There were birds hovering beside our ship, hoping that we would stir up the flying fish. They were not disappointed. We saw the small fish leap out of the water and glide across the sea. We also saw one of the birds swoop down and grab one. We only saw a few of the hundreds of fish we saw leap out actually getting nabbed by the birds though. Apparently soaring across the ocean works for the little fish. I thought they looked like little swallows as they glided. So awesome.
We do not port in St. Maarten until almost 10am, and our tour is not until 12:30, so we are taking advantage of the free time to relax and recover from all of our adventures. We checked in on Laurel and then went down to the pier to meet up with our tour group. We saw the mother-daughter duo that we met on the party cruise in Antigua that had also joined our tour for today. Our tour was a Rhum tasting and beach break tour. The bus driver drove us around the island a little on the way, pointing out different landmarks and giving us a little history. St. Maarten was the first Island settled in the Caribbean. It changed hands multiple times from English, to French, Spanish and Dutch. It finally ended up being split by the Dutch and the French. It is only 60 something square miles, and the Dutch control the bigger half, that is the side we are on. Their capital is Phillipsburg, which is a quaint little city with a lot of new architecture mixed with the colonial and a love for commemorating events and people with statues, apparently. There were several round-abouts that we went through, each had a statue in the center. One showed an African man with arms outstretched, his shackles broken to commemorate the end of slavery. Another showed a one-armed man that used to take it upon himself to make sure the kids got across the road to school safely, even threatening the drivers with a machete if they didn't stop right away.

The Distillery itself was small and doing their best to keep up with growing demand. They have six signature flavors that are exported all over the world, but they also made all kinds of other exotic flavors that you could only get on the island. The lady that owns the distillery mixes all of the different flavors using all natural ingredients by hand in small batches that only fills about 10 bottles each. We got to taste a lot of the local flavors and they were amazing. There is also a single person who made all the rum infused gelato and another individual who baked all the rum infused rum cake. We sampled those as well and they were so good. We were going to get to sample some chicken soaked in a peach habanero rum, but the power went out at the distillery. I felt bad for them, it was terrible timing. They still continued the tour by natural light, and we all bought stuff from the store. It got really hot in there though without the a/c and they had to remove all the gelato that they were selling out to another facility. I was a little bummed because I wanted to try some of the other flavors. I did buy some rum cake to bring back to the boat for later and Rob found a rum infused cigar to enjoy once we got back to Tennessee.

We had the option of skipping the beach break and just coming back to the ship, so we took it. It was so hot, and we were both tired. We could see the beach and decided that we just didn't need to swim in it on this day. We also knew that the shops back at the port were air conditioned, so even though the prices were higher there, that is where we did our shopping.

We were so hot that we decided to take a quick dip in the pool once we were back on board. We also grabbed some ice cream, and those two things did the trick. We are now nice and cool and ready for our last night on board ship.

We dressed for dinner and ate at the Windjammer for one more dinner on board. We then made our way down to where the professional photos were displayed just in case we decided to get one of the ones taken of us. On the way, we went outside on deck 4 to take a peek at the tail end of the sunset. The boat was sailing directly west, so we couldn't really see it from where we were. We realized that we were on the deck that led to the helipad, so we decided to go there to view the red skies instead. The sky was amazing. The sun was already down, but the interestingly shaped clouds were lit up a brilliant red. The stars and planets were beginning to be seen in the sky as well. It was so pretty. We just stayed up there for a while enjoying the views and the cool breeze created by the ship's movement. So romantic.

It was such a fitting end to our cruise, as we literally sailed off into the sunset.

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