The Virgin Isles

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Geo: 18.3428, -64.9265

Light creeped under the drapes to cabin 11664 heralding the arrival of a new day and the chance to explore the US Virgin Island of St Thomas and its neighbour St John. We arrived at the Crown Harbour pier at 10am with disembarkation starting soon after that.

We ordered room service as we were on a shore excursion today and so thought breakfast in the room was an easier option. We made our way ashore shortly after 10.30 to a sea of people all trying to find their tour guides. It was slightly chaotic, not helped by a vicious sun beating down upon everyone. Eventually we were tagged and told to walk round the harbour following a young man called Carlos to a small boat called Independent Sea. Once aboard we made our way up to the top deck for the 45 minute journey across the narrow sea between St Thomas and St John. The captain of the ship was a wealth of information and spoke during most of the journey giving us details on what we could see as well as plenty of history of the islands from Christopher Columbus and his woeful navigation techniques to the facility devoted to fostering human-dolphin communication By John C Lilly and the cost, current value and owners of some of the more lucrative houses on the islands. Oppenheimer (father of the atomic bomb), Streisand, Spielberg & the daughter of the Shah of Iran have all lived or currently reside here.

We pull into the quaint port of Cruz Bay and some people disembark as they are on other tours. We stay aboard as part of our excursion is a coastal tour of the national park. We slowly travel north and eastwards along the coast, passing by exclusive resorts and pretty little bays with crystal clear waters and beautiful beaches. After a little while we head back to Cruz Bay and jump in a taxi, which is more of an open air pick up truck, and head to the north of the island and Trunk Bay which travel magazine Conde Naste has voted one of the 10 most beautiful beaches in the world.

We spend a little time on the beach before grabbing some lunch from the snack shack and then heading back into town. We take a walk around the shops at Mongoose Junction and stop off at Joe's Rumhut for a Mojito by the harbour. A quick walk around the National Park Visitors Centre and it's time to head back to the Independent Sea and the trip back over to St Thomas. Again the captain is full of information on the short trip back. We stop off at the Marriott Hotel to drop some other people off and then have a quick tour of the Harbour at Charlotte-Amalie, the capital of St Thomas.

The theme for tonight on the ship is Colourful Caribbean and so we stop at one of the stalls at Crown Harbour to buy a couple of bright shirts in which we dress. We head to Boleros for a pre-dinner drink and then Blaze for a few more. Dinner tonight is at Rita's Cantina, a Mexican Themed Restaurant on the Boardwalk. We signed up for Rita's Fiesta which includes dinner, 3 Margaritas and lots of dancing and other silly things. it was a lot of fun. We're we're sat at a table with 4 other couples. 2 from Tampa, 2 from Lithuania and the other 2 from I don't know where as they were at the other end of the table. The food was good, the music was loud and the drinks were strong.

We retire early as it was a long day and the Margaritas have taken their toll.

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