Caribbeans continued...

I have tons of photos and I wish I could show them all, but here are a few of my favorites :)

 In between boats...

Blue blue waters...

Warm, beautiful beaches

Best place to be!

Looking out for ya!

Zipline time!

Beautiful sunset!

Shadow time!

Banana ketchup on plantain chips yum!

Our hardworking chefs

Old San Juan

End of a great trip! The week went by quickly and I fear that I have been spoiled by this vacation.  We all need little breaks from life and it is these times when we realize the importance of our relationships with others and the need for time to relax and enjoy life for what it is. 

Shore Excursions!

Each day we stopped by a different island and the passengers were allowed to explore the island via a shore excursion through the cruise ship or meander on their own and try to navigate to their destination.  Our first two days we stopped in St. Thomas and Tortola and did not sign up for shore excursions but tried to find our own way about. One thing we learned is that on these islands it is hard to travel on your own.  In order to get around you need to get a taxi and they are hecka expensive with only two passengers.  The weather was cloudy for the first two days and so most of our plans fell through and we ended up not doing much on these two islands because of that.  We did get to see gardens with lots of tropical flowers and wander the streets where jewelry seemed to be the main seller.

View of part of St.Thomas

Green gardens!

Cute Caribbean Spice store

After the disappointing first two days we decided it was better to sign up for the shore excursions so that we could at least have an easier and stress free time seeing and having fun on the islands.  We arrived in Antigua the third day and had an awesome time kayaking and snorkeling there.  The waters are blue, clear, and warm.  It was amazing!

Antigua

Our fourth day landed us in St. Lucia and I have to say this was my favorite island. We did a bus tour of the island along the Soufriere area that took us to see the landmarks of the Pitons, the Diamond Waterfall and mineral baths, and the world's only drive-in volcano, Sulphur Springs which really did smell. This island is so beautiful and lush.  Everywhere along the roads there were mango trees, breadfruit trees, bamboo, palm trees etc.  The people were friendly and our tour guide, Sammy was so funny and sweet.  We ended the tour with a Creole lunch and then headed down the windy road back to our cruise ship.

The Pitons!

Sammy our awesome guide!

Barbados was our last island and we did a canopy adventure which was a zip line adventure! This was pretty fun. We were harnessed , helmeted, and gloved and zipped over the trees 7 times with distances ranging from 150 feet to almost 300 feet.  It wasn't as scary as we thought it would be and we had a lot of fun talking with others in our group.  I also learned the true value of a hard helmet when a branch fell from above and thoroughly wacked me on the head.  Totally unexpected, but no one got hurt and that branch got laughed at as I tucked it into my harness and brought it back with me.  We also got to lounge at the beach this day after our canopy tour which was wonderful!

Ready to do some zipping?

Wheee!

What can be better than a day at the beach??

In Old San Juan, the architecture was quaint and picturesque.  Everything is of the old style and it was interesting to see the different buildings and the rich historical buildings and forts.  I'm really glad we got to stay an extra day in Puerto Rico.  It was by default this happened actually because as we were booking our flights back home we discovered that it would be cheaper for us to fly out on Monday versus on Sunday. Great addition to our trip!  

Feels like we're in Greece

I love the vibrant colors

 Puerto Rican food here we come!

More to come.........

Back from the Sunny Caribbeans!!

I'm back in rainy Seattle! The past 8 days in the Caribbeans with my best friend was wonderful! There is no way I can post the 400+ pictures I took, but I will post highlights.  We flew out of Seattle early last Sunday and arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico around 7 pm.  Our cruise ship the Princess Caribbean sat  in dock with a couple of other cruise ships which we also saw at the other ports we stopped in throughout the week.

Early flight out, just in time for the sunrise

Our itinerary for the week:
Day 1-St.Thomas
Day 2- Tortola
Day 3-Antigua
Day 4-St.Lucia
Day 5- Barbados
Day 6-open sea  heading back to San Juan
Day 7-one day/night in Old San Juan
Day 8- Departure for all day flying back home

Arrival on the Princess Caribbean!

I was worried about being seasick initially as I had been on one other cruise before and had felt the sea rolling under me.  Surprisingly though, I was perfectly fine on this trip and was glad for it.  I'm not sure if maybe we were traveling slower between islands or if I just outgrew my seasickness, but whatever the case I did not have to worry about feeling green.  Our cruise boat was huge! It had 17 decks all with a different name.  Our cabin was located on deck 14 Riviera. It took a couple of days before we were accustomed to the various dining locations, entertainment areas, etc and even then sometimes when we took the stairs we'd keep walking and would pass where we wanted to go.  There were two pools on the 14th floor as well as a hidden back pool which we discovered on our 2nd to the last day.  Lots of passengers lounged on this deck as it also carried the pizza, burger, and ice cream station as well as the two buffet locations on board. Yes, can you tell ...a lot of eating took place on board. 

Home for the next 7 days

Palm dining room

Breakfast!

Top- salmon, focaccia, pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, cinnamon
pastry, turkey link, scrambled eggs with sauteed mushrooms

We had our dinner seating in the Palm Dining Court, but also had tried the other dining halls, Island and Coral which accommodated open seating when we missed our scheduled 6 pm dinner time due to oversleeping or movie watching.   The food on board was just ok for us. I had been on a cruise with Princess to Alaska and I remembered it being fantastic, but the food did not seem as fresh or as appetizing this time around during dinner.  We did enjoy the daily tea time they had from 3-4 pm as well as the fresh thin crusted pizzas and the morning omelets with as much fresh fruit as you want from the buffet line.  I think I overloaded on fruit everyday with pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, honeydew melons, tangerines, etc.  Wonderful! 

Off to the Southern Caribbeans!

I'm headed off for a week long cruise in the Caribbeans!  Leaving tomorrow morning bright and early from Seattle at 6 am to Dallas, and then finally to Puerto Rico at 7 pm where we will then head off to our cruise boat and proceed to leave dock at 11 pm! I'll have lots to post upon my return, but until then happy eating!!