Category: Travel

Another beautiful day at sea. I was awake about 4.30 and let Kevin sleep in. Athena turned up just after 7am. Kevin was kind enough to go and get us tea/coffee and we hung out in the room until we got hungry enough to go in search of breakfast.

Today we went to Central Park…

You definitely don’t feel like you’re at sea in this area. Much as I loved the area I’d rather see more ocean when I’m on a cruise.

We had breakfast at the Park Cafe, where Athena and I were very excited to find a bagel bar…

I had an onion bagel with the sun-dried tomato cream cheese. And it was AMAZING!!!! I actually went and got a second one to take back to have in the room :-).

We assumed all the bird noises were fake until a real bird came to visit Kevin while we were inside. We actually ended up spotting a few real birds. Not a bad place to live I guess :-).

After breakfast we headed back to the room where our bed had been all nicely made. I rarely see it like this as Athena tends to lie there while I sit on the couch (better for my back).

We finally saw Christy around 11am (she’d been out at teen club last night). Unfortunately I ended up with a killer headache so we closed up the blinds (mostly) and I lay on the couch and watched youtube for a bit. Thankfully by lunchtime I had improved a lot.

When we finally went to have lunch at the American Icon Grill (ie. the dining room) we discovered we were too late – it shuts at 1.15pm (I thought it was 1.30pm) so it was back to Windjammers for us.

I had minestrone soup….

salad, pasta and mashed potatoes…

Kevin didn’t feel too great after lunch so we waited a bit and then headed to solarium without him.

After a swim in the rather crowded little pool we lay out for bit, Christy and I sharing one of the comfy lounges looking out the front of the ship.

When Kevin joined us I moved to find a seat with him and I finally got my virgin pina colada.

Back in the room the vlog for day 6 was finally ready to go public. I then watched some more vlogmas videos.

Just after 5.30pm we decided to go to the dining room for dinner so we ended up being a little late. Kevin refused to change out of his shorts and t-shirt, even though it was formal night. But was refused entry into the dining room in shorts and had to go change into long pants.

Like always there wasn’t much to choose from. The main veggie tonight was pasta, which I’d had at lunch, so I just ordered the veggie crudites and dip (from the kids menu)…

and potatoes and veggies (again).

I was so tired at dinner and yawned the whole way through it, so it was right to bed when we got back. I tried to read but was falling asleep and I think I was asleep before 8pm – which is early even for me :-).

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Another cloudy start to the day after another not so great nights sleep. Thankfully the blue skies were shining through by the time we approach St. Marteen-St. Martin – an island that is half Dutch and half French.

We went to Windjammers again for breakfast as I got another unusual, by yummy, selection.

We then snapped a few pictures of the island. Last time we were here was in 2004. Athena wasn’t joining us today, being in a lot of fibro pain, after such a big day yesterday.

Once off the boat it was easy to see just how big Oasis is compared to other ships.

We eventually found our tour company – Bernards – and met our guide, who actually failed to introduce herself.

She was great though. Our first stop was to see some sea urchins. I was relieved to find them alive and that the guy was actually looking after them well.

I was in the back seat so didn’t get the best photos as we drove around (the window had tinting on it). Our first stop was at Orient Beach – we chose the relaxation part but didn’t pay $10 per sun lounge.

 

Since we were mainly going to be swimming.

Then Kevin and Christy decided to go parasailing (Kevin has done it once before as a teenager). They also got a short jet ski ride as it took them out to the main boat.

The awesome views from high in the sky.

Both of them loved it.

Then it was back in the van to drive around the small island some more.

And a stop for lunch. We had wanted to go to a rastafarin vegetarian place but it must only open for dinner. So instead we went to a recommended patisserie (we were on the French side afterall).

Kevin and I both had savoury crepes – mine was vegetarian (of course) and Kevin had chicken. Christy had 3.5 croissants 🙂

Kevin and I also got a chocolate eclair but it had a chocolate mousse filling rather than cream (like we’d get in Australia) so it was too rich for me – Kevin managed to eat it though.

We then went to Maho Beach which is right on the airport so planes fly right over your head. We arrived just in time for the small planes to start arriving.

And for a bigger plane to take off. Unfortunately 747s stopped coming here in October.

But we did have a pretty big plane fly over us, which was very cool.

From here it was some more sightseeing on the way back to the ship.

We were back onboard just after 2.30pm and went for a spa in the canterlever (sp?) spa. Was nice to sit and relax.

We decided to skip the main dining room again and go to Johnny Rockets instead.

It ended up being a great choice and was a nice, fun, relaxed meal.

with way too much food. I had onion rings and then a veggie burger (which was yummy).

We then went for a few rides on the carousel (though Kevin only managed one ride after eating too much dinner).

Athena and I rode in the peacock carriage before moving to other animals for our second ride.

Athena didn’t feel up to the show Come Fly With Me tonight but wanted some company so we went back to my cabin while Kevin and Christy went to the show – which they said was REALLY good.

 

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This morning we were up and had breakfast before our arrival in St. Thomas at 11am. We sat out on the deck and enjoyed tea/coffee coming into the port.

St. Thomas is one of my fav. places so I was very happy to be back.

When we were cleared to leave the boat we had to hunt down a “taxi” which we did, then had to wait while the driver filled up the mini van before we were on our way. The drivers here are quite mad and road rules don’t seem to apply. Finally we arrived at the American Yacht Harbour and met with Captain Wilson and his boat Deju Blue. We were quite late which I felt rather bad about.

The boat takes 6 people but since it was only the 4 of us we had lots of room.

We all love being on the water so it was such a fun day – with Caribbean music playing and the salt air in our hair.

Our first stop was to get lunch (which had been ordered via phone) from the pizza boat – yep, you read that right.

The pizza was huge – lucky we only got one to share – but was really delicious.

Then it was on to our first snorkel stop.

The water was SO clear and such a lovely temperature. And there were so many fish of all sizes and colour (I’m sure we have more photos of them but I haven’t downloaded them yet).

These baby yellow fish hadn’t yet left their hatching area.

Below is a Christmas tree worm (good to snorkel with a scuba diver (ie Kevin) who knows what so many things are).

Kevin went up on top of the boat (there are two seats) to get this photo.

Onto our second stop.

Which was more challenging with choppier water (Captain Wilson checked we were up for it).

Again so many fish and stunning corals. Again better photos were taken.

Then our last stop (at the island of St John) was to see some green sea turtles.

Luckily Captain Wilson spotted one for us right away and we were able to follow “George”, as we named him, around (with his two friends) as he fed and then came up for air.

This day was definitely one of the highlights of both the cruise and the trip overall and it’s one we’ll remember forever. It was the best snorkeling I can ever recall doing and in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I’d love to come here one day and spend a whole week exploring.

The sun was starting to set as we finished our 4 hour trip and headed back to the marina.

The awesome Captain Wilson had also organised for a taxi to come and pick us up and take us back the ship.

It was so strange arriving back at night. We had a quick look at the stalls and Christy bought a dress she had been eyeing in the morning.

Back in our cabin we had some treats waiting for us (for being in Diamond Club)

We were too late arriving back to have dinner in the dining room so instead we showered and changed and went to Sabers (Mexican). Unfortunately there were very little vegetarian options so we left and went to Windjammers.

After dinner we went to watch the diving show and had gotten seats on one of the less known decks. Unfortunately though it was cancelled due to it being a little rocky (not that we had noticed).

So it was back to our cabin for another early night. Not that I minded terribly :-).

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A sea day always means not a lot of photos and much to blog about. But it also means a nice day of relaxation.

Kevin was kind enough to go and get me a cup of tea, which I enjoyed with some biscuits.

We headed up to breakfast in Windjammers about 8am (minus Christy who was still asleep). I hardly ever eat eggs these days and these were cold so remained uneaten (sadly). I did enjoy the fried rice and potatoes.

I was also very excited to see they had the chocolate donuts I had always loved so much. I forgot that they had changed the recipe and I no longer really like them. I had a few bites and left the rest.

After breakfast we went to explore the boardwalk. On the way we admired some the art works (for sale in the auction) featuring golden retrievers.

Just after I said this was a great  area for kids I noticed Kevin was already playing on it :-).

  

Such a cute, fun area that you’d definitely not expect to find on a ship.

Kevin wasn’t the best this morning and Christy wasn’t hungry so just Athena and I went to lunch at the American Icon Grill – which is just liking the dining room on other RCL ships.

Here you can order from the menu or get stuff from a small buffet, which includes a salad bar.

We chose to do a bit of each.

Having no idea how big the menu lunches were !!! Obviously I had to leave a lot of food. I had also (mistakeningly) ordered key lime pie for dessert. It was nice but too sweet so I only had a few bites.

Love this piece of art that was near our table.

After lunch we went back to the room, then Christy and I went to the solarium pool for a swim. Such a fun pool – very small, but little fountains and shower and the water the perfect temperature. We were in for quite a while before we got out and laid on a sun lounge while I dried off.

It was a funny afternoon with rain showers/clouds passing over and then the sun coming back out. I sat out on our balcony reading for a while when I got back.

We went to the dining room again for dinner and I was again disappointed in the vegetarian options. At lunch today there had been two veggie options for the main dish. Tonight at dinner there was only fruit salad for the starter, and one dish for the main. It didn’t appeal at all so I just got mashed potatoes, a baked potato and some veggies.

We were supposed to see the ice skating show tonight but were too tired to stay up for it. Christy went and said it was very good.

I was trying to work out why I’m struggling more with tiredness on this cruise and then realized this is the first one since I’ve been on cymbalta – which has really caused a lot of sleep disturbances. On other cruises I would sleep through every night but now that only happens every couple of nights :-(.

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