Day 14 St Thomas, US Virgin IIslands

Since I read a blog about 10 years ago I have wanted to visit Honeymoon Beach on Water Island. Today we did that!

First of all we needed to visit St. Thomas. This independent excursion is easier to do if you dock at the Crown Bat Marina as it is walking distance to the Ferry Island Ferry. Our ship was docked at Havensight - a distance of 5 km by taxi. Taxi rates are set by the government so they are a fixed rate to travel certain distances. 

The taxi rate from our pier to Crown Bay Marina costs $9 US per person. We loaded onto a Safari taxi that seats about 25 people and Crown Bay Marina was the first stop - about 15 minutes away. 

We knew the water taxi to Water Island left at the top of the hour so we would be catching the 11 am ferry as we just docked at 10 am. A person needed to go into the Marina office to purchase our round trip tickets for $20 US pp. 

While waiting we visited with two couples from the USA who were very friendly. They were travelling on one of the Royal Caribbean ships docked a stones throw away from the dock to catch the Water Island ferry. 

The biggest fish I have seen on this trip - it was about 3.5 feet long. We saw it from the Water Island Ferry dock.  We also saw a turtle in the distance. 

The ferry ride is a short 10 minutes over to Water Island. Generally there are golf carts (or bicycles I have been told) or feet to move around Water Island. 

We bypassed the golf carts as we knew it was a short steep walk for 3 to 5 minutes up a hill - then down to Honeymoon Beach. 

Our first glimpse of Honeymoon Beach as we walked with the four Americans. 

There were three large cruise ship excursions that had already arrived by boat when we arrived, so it was about three hours later when the crowds cleared enough for me to want to take pictures. 

The water was a beautiful blue and the white sand was comfortable underfoot. The waves were small so it was without effort to swim and snorkel.   Not much to spot for snorkelling so it was about spending time in the warmth of a beautiful Caribbean Island beach with a population of 116 people. 

We stayed for almost four hours and then decided to catch the 2:15 pm ferry back to the mainland. While walking up the steep hill, two girls driving a golf cart were kind enough to offer us a ride back to the ferry!  We gratefully accepted (though perhaps I was more excited than J). We had a friendly conversation with Rachel and Ashley. When we told them we were Canadians they said "Oh our neighbours to the North."  I told them offering two strangers a ride in a golf cart would be a very Canadian thing to do. And they replied, "That's the nicest thing anyone has said to us on this trip!"

So thank you Rachel and Ashley for being thoughtful humans!!

We stayed in the shade of the library / post office shelter while waiting for the ferry to return. 

And then all of a sudden there was a herd of people walking down the road, so we walked right down to the dock where we would dock the ferry. We knew the first 42 would get on the boat - and then we saw the smaller ferry boat arrive - and that count would cap out at 32!  And so a line of people were left at the dock as we pulled away.  The Captain said she would immediately return to Phillip's Landing on Water Island to pick up the remaining passengers. Given that there were four cruise ships in port today ( one of only 2 days in April where there were that many ships) I would have thought they would have the foresight to use only the larger size ferry!

But thanks need to got to the amazing blogger pescadoamarillo who posted her detailed instructions on how to visit Water Island independently for a very affordable price!!  Thank you J!! You set the standard on how to write an inspiring travel blog.  I can only hope to emulate you a teeny tiny bit in my efforts!

Once back at the Crown Bay Marina we hopped in a very lovely taxi van with two Australians who were also heading back to the Caribbean Princess at Havensight dock. We each paid $9 for the ride. The Aussies gave us some great insight on what to do when visiting Sydney in 2027. 

I went straight up to The World Fresh Marketplace (the buffet) on the Lido deck for a salad and bowl of miso soup. J changed his clothes in our cabin before joining me. I knew they changed the buffet offerings at 3 pm so wanted to ensure I got lunch!

We showered up for dinner and enjoyed our window while eating our meal!

The Norwegian Luna holds about the same number of passengers as our ship - about 3100 guests.

We both went to the show in the Princess Theatre featuring singer Trenyce. This time it was called Dancing to Disco. A very professional show and once again entertaining!!

Another great day!!

Day 13 At Sea

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."  I was reminded of this quote while sitting in the Caribbean Princess Theatre, listening to Destination Expert Lance Schuler share his insights about our next two ports. The quote was once said by Andre Gide, the French author, essayist and Nobel Laureate in literature. I think the quote summarizes a good part of why I love to travel. The quote reminds us to step out of familiar surroundings to see the world and grow. 

So about three of hours of my day onboard were spent in education lectures. While many folks spend hours by the pool in the sun or finding shade somewhere on deck or playing cards or Bingo,  I prefer learning stuff!

J tried to find partners for a game of bridge today but they only had three players!

We had a Cruise Critic Meeting in Skywalkers this morning. The organizer of the event is in the green T-shirt here and she is standing with some of the ship's officers in attendance. 

The two women on the left stood out. Jennifer Sesic is the Hotel General Manager. She has worked 26 years with Princess and started at the bottom and worked her way to be one of the three most senior people below the Captain. Next to her is Gabriela de Melo (Gabby) who is Guest Services Director. 

We had a really great conversation with Gabby talking about some of the challenges we were having with our future cruise planning for 2027. She created some really fun banter with us saying how she looked forward to retirement when she had such problems where she could actually cruise for fun (not work). She reminded me of what our oldest son had said to us in the past - "First World Problems Mom!" Yes indeed, we realize we are privileged to travel as much as we do. 

I did praise Gabby for how she handled some challenging questions from guests at the In Transit meeting a few days ago. She was concise, professional and clear in her expectations when dealing with what some might say were grumbling passengers. 

We did find a few minutes to go up and deck and collect some Vitamin D!

Champagne Waterfall ready and waiting. 

Captain Stephen Lewis at what will be his final night of command on the Caribbean Princess. He is going home to his family tomorrow and our new Captain will take over. It was formal night tonight. I will share menus with you here:

Our ship's officers shown today. Tomorrow we will have a new Captain to reveal!

Day 12 Princess Cays

What a delightful day in the Caribbean!! We were seasoned enough at cruising to know to grab a tender ticket right after breakfast. Today that allowed us to get in tender group three. 

J and I were lucky enough to sit on the upper deck of the tender while heading to the island. 

Tender boats are required when a port is too shallow to  allow a big cruise ship to dock - or if the infrastructure (like a pier) doesn't exist to use. So the captain dropped an anchor at the front of the ship and we used tender boats to get to shore. 

We walked along the patio stone pathway to get to the far right side of the beach - where we know the best snorkelling can be found. We found a couple of loungers available in the shade and settled in for the morning. 

My view watching J walk in backwards into the water as he was wearing snorkelling fins. Empty chairs in front of me and the Caribbean Princess in the distance. 

We had a beautiful blue sky day on this white sand beach. J snorkelled for an hour then I went out for about 30 or 40 minutes. I was hungry for a bit of lunch and J wanted to snorkel some more so we each did that. The dood and beverage team brings food over from the ship to the island. I chose to have a bratwurst sausage and some watermelon. 

There are picnic tables to eat at under shade but I elected to return our beach chairs. Once J returned we were ready to ride a tender back to the ship.

Once back on the ship we cleaned up, ate some more and had a FaceTime call with our oldest son back in Canada. Somehow the afternoon was over and we made our way to the dining room for supper!  With our new table assignment, we are the only table of two amongst two larger tables of eight. Our servers manage to take our orders and deliver our food while the other tables are still ordering drinks and looking at their menu. I like this opportunity to eat in under an hour, rather than 90 minutes!!  We love all the servers we have had this cruise and last!!

After super I went to the entertainment in the Princess theatre. Trenyce performed a tribute show to Diana Ross and Whitney Houston!  That woman has stage presence and can sing!!! She broke into the music scene in 2002-2003 while singing on the second season of American Idol. I closed my eyes when she was singing and you could have sworn Whitney Houston was in the house!  (Were it not for her untimely death that is). 

Trenyce came up the stairs in the audience right near me. 

When I returned to the room J invited me to go for a hot tub. We had the place to ourselves on deck 17- with the occasional passerby. And we could spot the stars of Orion in the sky. 

A great day at Princess Cays!!

Day 11 Turnaround Day

We have the great joy of staying on the Caribbean Princess for one more cruise. So this morning while most people (90% of the ship) are disembarking, we just had to gather in the Coral Dining Room with the other passengers who would be returning to the ship with us. 

We had the comfort of the dining room tables and chairs to sit in and enjoy our tea while all the guests checked in. We stayed there for about 40 minutes then made our way to Fort Lauderdale pier 21 port authorities. Normally Princess docks at pier 2, but the Regal Princess was docked there today. 

There were at least 17 people that needed wheelchair assistance and there weren't enough wheelchairs for everybody so that seemed to be part of the slow down. Once we used our medallion to scan off the ship we then walked to the immigration lines - processing was exceptionally quick. We simply had our photo taken by immigration. If the light turns green that means you are good!!  You can simply process to the next stage. The occasional person had the light go red and then they had to walk up to an immigration agent in person. 

Once lined up in the big hall after that step, we waited for the ship to get to the zero count (and the wheelchairs became the limiting factor here) then we were allowed to check back onto the ship. From the time we left the ship and returned back to our room - about 45 minutes had passed. 

J and I got into bathing suits and headed up to deck 17 aft to enjoy the shade, empty chairs and the views. We ended up moving to the adult only pool on deck 14 where we called my Mom and sister and our youngest son. Always great to have a reasonably stable connection for a video call!

After lunch in the Palm Dining Room (which was very busy!) we went to the future cruise booking desk to talk through future options. She confirmed my travel agent sister LC had secured great prices for our 2027 plans!

Chrisanto is our room steward and has been doing an impressive job keeping our room spotless!

We went up to deck 16 for sail away at 3 pm. It is always lovely to sail out of Fort Lauderdale!

After sail away we had some time in our room before our 5 pm dining reservation in the Island Dining Room. We had table 283 by the window which was lovely with waiter Farley and assistant Definate who gave us attentive service. 

The show in the Princess Theatre was by the Dynamic Duo who had some great strength and flexibility moves - filled with the somewhat predictable juggling in the middle. 

Tomorrow we are in the Princess Cays so we will get ready for a beach day!  Life is Good!

Day 10 at Sea

Today was our final day at sea on the first of our two 10 day cruises.  We have the good fortune to stay on for a second 10 day cruise.

At 10 am this morning we were invited to an information session  called "Transit Guest Get Together" where the process to disembark the ship was fully explained to us.  It was a good session to fully explain expectations for going ashore for immigration purposes. Ultimately, we are to meet in the Coral Dining Room at 9:20 am with the group of about 300 back to back cruising "In Transit" guests.  Hopefully the process won't be too lengthy.  Under an hour would be a win! 

Just as we left that session, we were fortunate to stumble upon the line of people leaving the Princess Theatre food demonstration session and join them for a tour in the kitchen!

After lunch we attended a Navigation at Sea information session, held by the 2nd and 3rd navigation officers.  It was informative and fun to listen to their banter. 

We discovered this lovely quiet hot tub on deck 17 aft - and had a soak in the morning and in the evening!

And we are so thankful not to have to put our suitcases outside in the hallway for removal by the ship's staff because they are disembarking!

Day 9 At Sea

It is a real luxury to have a day at sea in the Caribbean.  I don't feel pressure to pack so much information into the blog - so we will share just a few things from today.

After breakfast my morning was built around doing a load of laundry in the laundrette!  It is a thrill to have access to washers and dryers on Princess ships and not be obliged to use their laundry service.  

Two Maytag Commercial washers and dryers located on our deck five (Plaza) and were simple to operate.  All machines were in use once I added our load into one of the two washers!

I attended an educational lecture called The Real Pirates of the Caribbean that was really informative.  There is so much to learn about history!

I saw that the Coral dining room was open for lunch so suggested that we go eat there.  The check in desk had a sign that called it the Reserved Dining Room.  And the staffer at the desk knew our names (because of the medallion technology worn by all guests on Princess) and Mr & Mrs. G you are welcome to go to the Palm Dining room at Deck 6 Aft.  Ah, okay, I guess this is one of those dining spaces reserved for friends in high places, and we are most definitely not among them!  So now we know!  Lunch in the Palm Dining Room where we eat breakfast every day, was most delightful.  We even got a window seat!

After lunch, J had been invited to a future cruise presentation at 3 pm and I was allowed to attend as his guest.  They were showing future cruise itineraries and delivering food and alcoholic drink to our table as fast as she could say Mexico, or Japan!  We finally told them to stop giving us the alcohol because I wasn't drinking them (except for the Aperol Spritz which I know my sister likes) and J didn't need it all.

At the front of the ship on deck 8, J was looking to see any sign of flying fish or any other marine life!  We had no luck.

Then it was time to get cleaned up for formal night.

J was on one knee to take this photo of me and the Cruise Director popped her head around the corner and said, "I thought he was proposing to you!"  I laughed and said, "Well he did 33 years ago!"

The menu was special as it is the only night when lobster is on the menu!

I loved my lobster tonight - and the chocolate pistachio dome dessert - such a treat.  J had the tuna, and it wasn't cooked to his liking, but J is never one to waste anything so when our water Christian offered to replace it, J declined.  I think J will order lobster on the next cruise!

We then headed to the final theatrical performance, Broadway Ballroom.  This group of singers and dancer were performing their final show after being on this ship for 6 months (and rehearsing on land for 2 months) so it was a bit of an emotional farewell for some of them.  There are four singers and 10 dancers in this group so we will see new faces on our next cruise.

Not much more to report on this second to last day at see for this cruise (but I am ever so thankful not to be shovelling snow back at home ;)