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SD II November 29, ST. Maarten/San Juan, preview/review


Jim Avery
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To Jim & Lois: We are arriving on the 29th, Delta's non-stop from Atlanta to SXM. We look forward to meeting you, and to a fantastic five days! Do you happen know how many passengers are booked on this sailing?

 

Have not asked about the passenger load. They are still featuring it as a special value voyage so I anticipate it is not completely full. The Tide looked good yesterday! RTR!

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Have not asked about the passenger load. They are still featuring it as a special value voyage so I anticipate it is not completely full. The Tide looked good yesterday! RTR!

Yes, they did! RTR! See you soon, we are definitely on the countdown.

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4 Atlantans doing first SeaDream on this SXM-SJU 5 day trip. We've done Seabourn in past and hope that this is as good...Look forward to meeting all and having some fun beach/sun time! We also have the 5/29 Rome-Athens booking on the SeaDream I.

Gantt and Partner Ted....Meg and Husband Phillip.

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4 Atlantans doing first SeaDream on this SXM-SJU 5 day trip. We've done Seabourn in past and hope that this is as good...Look forward to meeting all and having some fun beach/sun time! We also have the 5/29 Rome-Athens booking on the SeaDream I.

Gantt and Partner Ted....Meg and Husband Phillip.

 

ganttc:

looking forward to meeting you. We will have a good time. Enough southerners on board so we know there won't be too bad of a language problem.:D As far as Auburn goes, I have paid off enough Auburn/Bama bets the last few years, we will let you buy us a drink to make it even. See you in St. Maarten!

Jim.

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PS- Rolltide1 - Hmmm. Ted and I both went to Auburn (he's from Birmingham, I'm from Mobile). We won't hold your school affiliation against you. Rgd, Gantt

Ganttc: We also were interested in the 5/29/10 sailing, since Capri and Santorini are the next places we want to visit, and it seems like the perfect itinerary. Unfortunately, there is a conflict with a family event, and we probably won't get to sail then. Anyway, we look forward to meeting the rest of the Southern contingent on this sailing!

RT1 and Mr. RT

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Happy Friday All:

This weekend is to be the beginning of serious packing while those interlopers are in our cabin this next week. As with Disney Jen, we tend to pile all the possible stuff in one location for winnowing down. Unlike Disney Jen, we will get it down to one carry on each.:p Firmly believe in the "two types of baggage" theory--carry on and lost! Also, in the spirit of Disney Jen, we are planning more aboard time than ashore. Saba will be a "sea day" as we have already done the tour and there are no beaches or towns to walk to. St. Barts is a beautiful anchorage and a great place to watch some of the world's best yachts from the comfort of a Bali Bed. Will take a stroll through the town for the inevitable t shirt but mostly SeaDream and the view. Did the car rental thing last time. (see the POS car segment of the review, FT) Anegada is a new stop for us and we look forward to checking out the flamingos and Cow Wreck Beach. Jost van Dyke, of course, means Foxy's, Soggy Dollar, One Love, and Champagne and Caviar. This is the preliminary plan. We will see what develops. Have a great weekend. Roll Tide!

J & L.

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Gosh Jim...You're obviously a PLANNER.....I'll be throwing a couple things in my carry on Saturday night. If I forget something, I know who the point man will be, so pack a little extra of everything for me. We are on the dreaded US Scare connection via CLT. It was over $500 cheaper than the DL nonstop from ATL. We did book the early one so we have the later one as a back up. DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT US. I guess our countdown is REALLY starting now. Super excited. Gantt

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Gosh Jim...You're obviously a PLANNER.....I'll be throwing a couple things in my carry on Saturday night. If I forget something, I know who the point man will be, so pack a little extra of everything for me. We are on the dreaded US Scare connection via CLT. It was over $500 cheaper than the DL nonstop from ATL. We did book the early one so we have the later one as a back up. DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT US. I guess our countdown is REALLY starting now. Super excited. Gantt

 

We also are on USScare outbound, just a day earlier.:eek: Don't worry, if you forget something, there are always t shirt shops.

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Happy Friday All:

This weekend is to be the beginning of serious packing while those interlopers are in our cabin this next week. As with Disney Jen, we tend to pile all the possible stuff in one location for winnowing down. Unlike Disney Jen, we will get it down to one carry on each.:p Firmly believe in the "two types of baggage" theory--carry on and lost! Also, in the spirit of Disney Jen, we are planning more aboard time than ashore. Saba will be a "sea day" as we have already done the tour and there are no beaches or towns to walk to. St. Barts is a beautiful anchorage and a great place to watch some of the world's best yachts from the comfort of a Bali Bed. Will take a stroll through the town for the inevitable t shirt but mostly SeaDream and the view. Did the car rental thing last time. (see the POS car segment of the review, FT) Anegada is a new stop for us and we look forward to checking out the flamingos and Cow Wreck Beach. Jost van Dyke, of course, means Foxy's, Soggy Dollar, One Love, and Champagne and Caviar. This is the preliminary plan. We will see what develops. Have a great weekend. Roll Tide!

J & L.

 

How exciting! I'm insanely jealous! :p

 

I relived our time in St. Barts with yesterday's newest blog post. You're right - it *is* a beautiful anchorage. When we were there, James was stung by a jellyfish while swimming at Shell Beach.

 

Please remember all of us poor saps here when you sip a Painkiller in paradise. You know we'll all be jealous, er, thinking of you. :D

 

Happy packing!

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Happy Friday All:

This weekend is to be the beginning of serious packing while those interlopers are in our cabin this next week. As with Disney Jen, we tend to pile all the possible stuff in one location for winnowing down. Unlike Disney Jen, we will get it down to one carry on each.:p Firmly believe in the "two types of baggage" theory--carry on and lost! Also, in the spirit of Disney Jen, we are planning more aboard time than ashore. Saba will be a "sea day" as we have already done the tour and there are no beaches or towns to walk to. St. Barts is a beautiful anchorage and a great place to watch some of the world's best yachts from the comfort of a Bali Bed. Will take a stroll through the town for the inevitable t shirt but mostly SeaDream and the view. Did the car rental thing last time. (see the POS car segment of the review, FT) Anegada is a new stop for us and we look forward to checking out the flamingos and Cow Wreck Beach. Jost van Dyke, of course, means Foxy's, Soggy Dollar, One Love, and Champagne and Caviar. This is the preliminary plan. We will see what develops. Have a great weekend. Roll Tide!

J & L.

 

The planning is very DisneyJen like too:p

 

Anegada is very different from the rest of the USVI and BVI. Cow Wreck is one of our favorite beaches!

 

The sailor in you will appreciate the approach into Anegada with all the reefs. It's more of an atoll than island!

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The planning is very DisneyJen like too:p

 

Anegada is very different from the rest of the USVI and BVI. Cow Wreck is one of our favorite beaches!

 

The sailor in you will appreciate the approach into Anegada with all the reefs. It's more of an atoll than island!

 

maybe, just maybe someday my SD cruise will actually make it to Anegada . . . missed it last time and not on the itinerary for the 5 day in December. I"d rather go there than St. Maarten or even, I know its heresy - St. Bart's

 

FT

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maybe, just maybe someday my SD cruise will actually make it to Anegada . . . missed it last time and not on the itinerary for the 5 day in December. I"d rather go there than St. Maarten or even, I know its heresy - St. Bart's

 

FT

 

To paraphrase the immortal words of Mammy in Gone With The Wind: "Chile, I done tole you and tole you" to take this cruise. Philip just has to work out that pesky job interference.:D

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Be sure to rent a jeep on Anegada (Concierge can set it up), rather than taking the free "cattle truck" to Cow Wreck beach (not joking about the truck:eek:). Take the little rutted tracks that go off the main ring road periodically (but watch for soft sand). You will end up on some spectacular beaches, completely deserted, without a sign of human presence. Pretty amazing in this day and age.

 

Also hit the beach grill and bar out on the point on the far end of the island (Loblolly Bay, Big Bamboo restaurant) for lunch. Fair snorkeling there. Bring water and towels. It is worth a drive over to the "Settlement" to see the goats, burrows, cows, etc. roaming the village.

 

On Saba, take a taxi up to Windward town (the upper town). Right at the beginning of town there is a little visitors center for the hiking trails. From there you can do some cool hikes. They have maps at the visitors center. Bring water. If they put out the swim platform, be aware of the strong current. If you let go of the line they put out, you better be a strong swimmer...

 

Anegada and Saba were two of our favorite islands. As different as night and day.

Edited by Ragnar Danneskjold
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Be sure to rent a jeep on Anegada (Concierge can set it up), rather than taking the free "cattle truck" to Cow Wreck beach (not joking about the truck:eek:). Take the little rutted tracks that go off the main ring road periodically (but watch for soft sand). You will end up on some spectacular beaches, completely deserted, without a sign of human presence. Pretty amazing in this day and age.

 

Also hit the beach grill and bar out on the point on the far end of the island (Loblolly Bay, Big Bamboo restaurant) for lunch. Fair snorkeling there. Bring water and towels. It is worth a drive over to the "Settlement" to see the goats, burrows, cows, etc. roaming the village.

 

On Saba, take a taxi up to Windward town (the upper town). Right at the beginning of town there is a little visitors center for the hiking trails. From there you can do some cool hikes. They have maps at the visitors center. Bring water. If they put out the swim platform, be aware of the strong current. If you let go of the line they put out, you better be a strong swimmer...

 

Anegada and Saba were two of our favorite islands. As different as night and day.

 

Anegada sounds great. Don't know about renting after the POS Samurai in St. Barts but then a "cattle truck" might not get DWs approval as a Chico's friendly environment.:eek: Will figure it out after a few Painkillers and BBCs.

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Jim tell Lois to but on her big girl panties and take a ride in the local open air taxi on Anegada.

 

Nothing like sipping on an ice cold Red Stripe or Carib beer with the wind blowing through your hair as you bump along the road listening to some reggae:D Just remember you will need one hand to hold onto the the seat in the truck bed and and one for your beverage:p

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Jim tell Lois to but on her big girl panties and take a ride in the local open air taxi on Anegada.

 

Nothing like sipping on an ice cold Red Stripe or Carib beer with the wind blowing through your hair as you bump along the road listening to some reggae:D Just remember you will need one hand to hold onto the the seat in the truck bed and and one for your beverage:p

 

Actually, it sounds like a lot of fun. I think we took much the same truck in the Yucatan. No worries about drinking and driving.:D

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Must be really getting there. Just got cabin assignment--309. Lois is packing already.:eek:

 

Lois is my hero!! I start packing all my Chico's stuff almost a week before we sail:p

 

We had cabin 309 on our first SD cruise many moons ago!

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