Travelogue to the Caribbean

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After being 3 days in Miami, we finally get to hit the great adventure; the 8 night cruise around the Caribbean. We got to the port in Ft. Lauderdale and saw this huge boat, all of my family was so excited to get in. Getting to the port was so funny because the receptionist looked just like my aunt. It was an extremely hot day and immediately as we got in to the boat, we went to eat, to meet the ship, then to the obligatory drill, to play some sports and finally when the bags got to our rooms we went swimming. After 2 days of fun; swimming, playing sports, trying the wakeboard, partying, going to the theatre, going to classes, relaxing, shopping and great food, we hit the 1st port of call. St Maarten. A really nice but small island (U.S. Virgin Island), we weren't so excited because we already knew this place, but it wasn't as we remembered it was way better, and we tried more things, like watching the planes arriving just inches above our heads in the beach. In this island you need to go swimming, because its a really hot place, and the sea water is so good, really refreshing, and its just great. It is full of this kiosks, which are great because you can relaxed without getting so hot, nor the sun burning you completely. There are many activities to do in the ocean, one we tried that day was the banana, which was really fun. Just next to the shore there are great restaurants, mostly typical american food but its great, probably were I have gotten my favorite Grilled Cheese Sandwich. In St. Maarten, theres a really famous market, where you can get anything from really good brands, and its all original (pandora, Mk, Ray Ban, etc.). Also you can get typical stuff from the island, such as clothes, cooking utensils, key chains, jewelry, accessories and other. In the market theres a famous Macaroons shop, which are probably the best you can try, they are so cold which is so refreshing and they have thousands of flavors, if you go you better get many. The same day, but in night we had our first formal dinner, the captains dinner, before dinner there was a great show made by the captain (which was greek) and most of the crew, in the royal promenade (like the main hall), it was really funny and we got to know everyone one the crew. After that it was the times celebration, in which crew members dance representing different musical ages, which was really fun because everyone joined them singing and dancing and they were throwing balls so everyone was playing. That day we had an excellent meal in which I got clam chowder, lasagna and 3 chocolate mousse cake. We were assigned to the Romeo and Juliet dinning room (all dinning rooms were Shakespeare themed) our waiter was named Alfred, he was really funny, nice and was an excellent waiter. It was really nice because after dinner was the dinning staff party, were you congratulate all the dinning personnel (chefs and waiters). The next day we got to St. Kitts a really small but nice island, we were so excited because we had never been to this place before, it is so nice and its a town that basically is divided in 2 the historic part of the island and the nice part of the island. In the nice part, you can find almost all hotels and all the rich people houses, which look so nice from the outside. One of the greatest part of this part of the island was that you could see were the Atlantic and the pacific ocean divides, which its just unbelievable. Because we had never been to this island before we really wanted to know the place. In the cruise we met some people from Mexico, with which we became great friends and we decided to go on a tour together. In the tour we basically met the historic part of the city, the volcano, the cathedral, the old prison, the sugar cane camps, which was there biggest industry but time before most of the population were European slaves, which led to the independence movement, and so much more places. We went to eat traditional food in a great restaurant, which was horrible service but great food. The food uses a lot of Mediterranean spices such as curry. In Christmas's Eve, we had our second and las formal dinner, we went to the royal promenade to make the last time shopping and to see all the special decorations, then we went to the theatre to see the christmas play, which wasn't good, or at least i didn't like it so much because it was sort of a musical, and i expected it to be like a Christmas story that already existed, and it was crew member singing and giving each other gifts. When the play finished we went straight to dinner. The dinner that day was so good, although I hate stuffed turkey, because it was Christmas I ordered it and I loved it. That night as a family tradition we did the secret santa gift exchange. I had to give to my sister, so I got her a bag she wanted. My mom was my secret santa, and all nights she gave me a small detailed and finally as the big gift she gave me tons of clothes, which I really liked. In christmas day we got to Puerto Rico, after one day at sea, we were so excited because its one of our favorite places on the Caribbean, because the prices for the boat to stay in the port are so expensive, we were only going to be there a few hours, so we waked up really early in the morning to get breakfast and to go to many places. After a walking around the island, we are walking in one of the main avenues of the island, full of shops and restaurants to go and eat, especially because my sisters didn't got breakfast. We went to a great place in which we ate the best food you could imagine, all typical from Puerto Rico, the waitress was so nice and she ordered for us, her suggestions, which were all great, we were so pleased of eating there and we cant wait to go again. The first time we went to Puerto rico was about 5/6 years, so we didn't remembered so much things we remembered that we loved the museum, the fort memorial, which we visited with our cousins, so we decided to go again. It was really pretty and the view from the top was extraordinary, the tour guide was really nice and explained us everything perfectly. San Juan, Puerto Rico is known for having two forts the most famous and the most important is the “Moro” were the memorial is; it had a great view and it has a huge garden full of watching towers, cannons and sculptures made out of cannon balls. I really liked that place an we were there a long time taking pictures and watching some animals like lizards, which you will probably find if you get to go. I was really excited to be there because I had basically no memory about the place. In one of the most important avenues you can find almost all of the governmental houses (or offices), one of our favorite was the San Juan´s Court Room. Which in the inside its based as the International Court Of Justice, which is so pretty and you must se it if you go. Puerto Rico as well as all the Caribbean is really hot. After our short day in Puerto Rico we are heading back to the cruise (ship), disgracefully we couldn't see lots of places, besides the short amount of time we were gonna be there, almost all the shops, restaurants, museums, and basically everything was closed because it was Christmas day. Disgracefully the international market where you can get things from most of the world was closed, which was something I was really excited of. The next day we got to Labadee, Haiti, which its a Royal Caribbean island. We were really impressed that we had to go through security because it was the companies island. When we got there we were expecting to know the traditional Haiti, but it was completely different. It was basically like an amusement park which holds the longest zip line in the world, nut we loved it. Since the boat was arriving we could see all of the exterior of the island, which was all surrounded by a great wall, which was the ancient fort, it had thousands of guard stations and it was surrounded fully by water. After the security check point when you enter you pass through an ancient gate that will take you in a walk through the ocean and then arriving at the fort. When you get to the fort you are recommended to go on the fort tour, which is really nice and they start to tell you about their french independence and their history, you get to see many parts of the island which are really nice, and its like in the middle of the jungle so its really interesting and its great for talking pictures and you will get to a point were there are many rocks in the ocean that makes sounds which is so cool. After the tour we went to the island were we first went to the part that has the most attraction, we swim there, ate there and me and my brother got on some of the attractions. After that w ant to the market to buy some typical stuff (I got a wooden spatula), then we went to the art gallery and finally to the huge water slide and the sea games. Then we went back to the boat to hit our las two days at Sea finally arriving to Ft. Lauderdale and we stayed 1 more day in Miami. It has been one of my best vacations, and one I will never forget

After 2 days of fun; swimming, playing sports, trying the wakeboard, partying, going to the theatre, going to classes, relaxing, shopping and great food, we hit the 1st port of call. St Maarten. A really nice but small island (U.S. Virgin Island), we weren't so excited because we already knew this place, but it wasn't as we remembered it was way better, and we tried more things, like watching the planes arriving just inches above our heads in the beach.
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