Category: Travel – Cruise

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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A bit of a gloomy start to the day but I’m sure the clouds (and misty rain) will all blow away.

For breakfast we headed to the Solarium. It was a great choice. It was nice and quiet, easy to get a table, and the food selections better than I had expected.

By 9am we had docked in Nassau, Bahamas. We had a bit of drama here as Athena’s scooter had been moved during the night (from outside their room) and we hadn’t been able to get it returned yet. When we were about the leave the boat we realized how big a walk Athena would have – and wouldn’t be able to make due to pain. We spotted a wheelchair and asked if we could use that to get the exit. We were told yes and someone wheeled Athena off the ship, only to be told at the bottom of the gangway that it couldn’t be taken any further. So it was back on the ship and Kevin (who had just returned from fetching the kids passports) had to go in search of the scooter so we could take that with us. Ended up being the best thing as Athena would have had to miss out on things without it.

Finally at 9.30am we were in Nassau and met with our tour guide, Nick from Cheryl’s Bahama Taxi & Tours, and we were on our way (once Kevin and Nick managed to get the scooter in the vechicle).

Our first stop was the Ardastra Zoo.

Where we saw lots of cute birds and animals…

and lots of lovely plants and flowers…

This amazing flower is growing out the truck of another tree.

But the main star of the show (and the reason we were here) was to see the flamingo show.

The flamingos have been trained to march and it was so fun watching them parade around the arena (in which we were the only viewers). I don’t know why but I thought flamingos were a lot bigger than they are.

Such beautiful birds. Anyone who knows me knows I have been a big flamingo lover for years.

We were even allowed to go into the arena and be a part of the flock.

After the show the birds are free to wander around the zoo so we had to visit some more with my favourite bird.

And, of course, I had to take a selfie :-).

We all loved the visit here. Not sure if you noticed I was wearing my flamingo top in honor of the occasion. And I got the cutest soft flamingo to remember my time with the flamingos.

Our next stop was the Pirate Museum.

I already knew not to expect a lot here (due to mixed reviews) but Athena and Christy really enjoyed the visit.

Time to buy some local chocolates. I think these might have to be the most beautiful chocolates I’ve ever seen.

And the wall and steps outside were handcarved by slaves in the 1600s.

Photo opp with a pirate.

And a local policeman guiding traffic.

We then drove over to see the Atlantis resort. Looks amazing. Hope I get to see inside (or maybe even stay there) one day.

This poor tree was knocked over in the recent hurricane.

We stopped for lunch at these little shacks.

Run by locals who have gone and caught conch and fish that morning.

I requested a vegetarian meal. When this salad came I thought that was it. It was a little spicy for me but I managed to eat about half and was satisfied.

Then they bought out this. The rice was amazing (I’d already eaten some of Athenas and still ate all this) and the plantain really yummy. Great to try some local foods.

Kevin and Athena shared fish and conch.

And then ordered a bowl of plantain after trying (and loving) mine.

If you’re wondering about Christy, she had two packets of crisps, as there was nothing on the menu she would eat (though she did try the plantain).

There was some more sightseeing on the way back to the ship. And Athena decided to get their hair braided by Peggy (who had talked to us upon our arrival). Not the best photo to show it off but it really suits them.

We were running almost late by this time so I snapped a quick photo to show the size of Oasis of the Seas and then Christy and I were offered a ride back to the ship (which was very nice even though the guy was grumpy with so many people running “late”).

But we were back on board by the time of 2.30pm and got to enjoy sailaway at 3pm.

Looking down into Central park.

Tonight was formal night. We didn’t bring any “formal” clothes but still made an effort to get a little dressed up.

Tonight I had corn fritters…

and mashed potatoes and veggies (as the one vegetarian option wasn’t very appealing).

We were too tired to stay up for tonights show (unfortunately i booked all late shows when in fact we were finished with dinner in time for the early show), so it was back to our cabin and off to bed.

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