Live Emerald b2b Jan 17 and Jan 27

[mississauga]

and we will head to Water Island or Lindbergh Beach later this morning

.

 

 

Where is Lindberg Beach? I think this is the first time I have read of it.

 

Vickie, thanks for your daily updates. You are so disciplined...sending your postings early each morning...guess it's from your early bus schedule routine...lol.

 

Continue to enjoy your cruise as we cruise vicariously with you!

[klugh]

Going on the Emerald on Feb 6th and would like to go to Water Island. Can you give some details on the water taxi and how long it takes to get there.

[PotatoBug]

We have free Internet from St. Thomas, so I'll take advantage of that to try to add to Vickie's detailed posts.

 

You wanted to know if you were getting your weather money's worth: yesterday a short but intense snowstorm blew through the Denver metro area. We ended up with a layer of ice under about 4 inches of new snow, so traffic was an absolute mess. We got about 5 inches in Boulder, but I don't know what Highlands Ranch got.

 

So, yeah, you've got the better of the weather :cool:

[PescadoAmarillo]

Lindbergh Beach is within walking distance of Crown Bay just beyond the airport. Here is some info on the ferry to Water Island:

http://www.**********/general_usvi/interisland_ferry/#Water%20Island%20Ferry:%20Crown%20Bay%20to%20Phillip's%20Landing

 

Edited to add: whoops! Just Google St. Thomas Water Island ferry and the link will come up.

 

The beach on Water Island (Honeymoon Beach) is peaceful and beautiful and well worth the trip. However, after packing a backpack, and walking over to the Water Island ferry, we had a change of heart. I think this morning's early awakening left me sleepy. We returned to the ship instead, and used the hot tub and pool before having lunch in the dining room. I love the ship on port days!! It's very relaxing!

[Mary Ellen]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

[ROWSE]

Vickie or Jeannie: Is there a charge for the Zumba Jeannie mentioned?

 

That sounds fun!!!!

[PescadoAmarillo]

Vickie or Jeannie: Is there a charge for the Zumba Jeannie mentioned?

 

That sounds fun!!!!

No charge, and it is a BLAST! But you will sweat...a lot. They just started it on the Emerald sometime between 12/18 when we disembarked and 1/7 when we returned. Mikko and pAlyssia from the cruise staff are certified ZUMBA instructors, and each session runs 30 or 45 minutes.

[PescadoAmarillo]

So, yeah, you've got the better of the weather :cool:

:D

We checked the CDOT webcams from back home this morning and saw the white stuff! With your temps, though, it won't last long.

[cruzinchris]

We usually eat at Bravo when we cruise and it is quite good,but they are very stingy with a glass of wine.You get an inch and a half of wine for the same price of the entree.

 

Thanks for the recommendation. No worries about the wine. We always order a bottle with dinner :D

 

Sailing on the Island Princess in 9 days!

Chris

[mississauga]

Lindbergh Beach is within walking distance of Crown Bay just beyond the airport.

 

Is it as nice as Honeymoon Beach? If we are on Princess and dock at Crown Bay, will definitely go to Water Island again. Thought Lindbergh Beach might be another option if we were docked elsewhere but guess not.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Lindbergh is not as nice as Honeymoon, but it is within walking distance and so is "free" if you want to go there for just an hour or two.

 

As far as we know, there are no beaches within walking distance of Havensight.

 

Nice CC informal get together at sailaway, beautiful sunset at sea. :)

[toberman]

DH is convinced that, months after we finally return home, our skeletal remains will be discovered, sitting at the dining room table, utensils in hand (but napkins still folded on the table because, heaven forbid we place them in our laps ourselves), waiting for food to be served. !

 

This was my laugh for the day!! Thanks Jeannie.

Glad you're still loving that terrible life on the seas!!

[vickie_bernie]

Hi Vickie

Ask Francesco about his leg. If it's the same Francesco we had a couple of years ago he was having MAJOR problems with a leg (knee?).

If it's him say hello and tell him we hope he's better and make sure to have him make you some pasta!!! He is fabulous!

 

Also, ask if Ben was on the Golden to Hawaii a couple of years ago.

If so, I remember how great he was. I put in my comments then that they should promote him to CD.

 

i will comment about it tonight! There are two Francesco in the dining room both are matre d but he does sound like the same guy, will let you know Karen.... we talked about you and Al today and how we missed your remembering last year.

 

We have free Internet from St. Thomas, so I'll take advantage of that to try to add to Vickie's detailed posts.

 

DH is convinced that, months after we finally return home, our skeletal remains will be discovered, sitting at the dining room table, utensils in hand (but napkins still folded on the table because, heaven forbid we place them in our laps ourselves), waiting for food to be served. Mom is concerned that I am becoming seriously too spoiled. And I have to admit that both predictions are entirely possible. This life is just too good.

 

We spent our day at sea quite differently than Vickie and Company. We always enjoy breakfast in the dining room, but then started to work it off right afterwards. For me, it's up to Deck 19 for some walking. DH stretched a pinkie lifting a drink in the hot tub. Then to line dancing with Alyssia; DH worked his biceps eating fish and chips in the pub lunch. Finally, ZUMBA with Mikko (yeah, he's back) while DH walked...to the ice cream station. Dinner was my favorite, cioppino, at our windowside table for 2 (thank you, Nicola) where we watched the moonrise over coffee afterwards.

 

This morning we set the alarm for 6am, and were up on the front of Deck 16 when the sun rose and the moon set. What gorgeous photos! DH is off the ship running errands (yes, we do still have to fulfill a few minor responsibilities, and we will head to Water Island or Lindbergh Beach later this morning.

 

Having a great time!

 

funny and sounds so much like your honey.

 

will have to try this zumba

[vickie_bernie]

water island is the best, we caught the 1030 ferry there were too many for the ferry but the driver came right back and took the ones who didn't make it right away. We caught the first one.

 

Beach was amazing as usually... i had bought a float that is like a ring with a mesh in the middle that you can sit in, it is easy to blow up and easy to get in to and out of. We stayed until the 215 ferry and came back on board.

 

We had an informal Cruise critic gathering at Tradewinds for sailaway. Peter the Captain Circle host attended and bernie and I shared our bottle of wine with him. He then bought us a drink, I told him to surprise me and he laughed I know what you like he said and came back with a mojito, yup i do... first time i met him was on the island with two mojitos from the elite lounge!

 

To find out more about water island you can check out the website jeannie talked about and also you can go to my blog and search water island as i talk about it in previous posts.

 

Dinner tonight, we are to get escargot delivered, so Bernie can't wait.

 

Oh found out the most travelled cocktail party (yes not a lunch) has a cut off of 303 days!

 

There are two captain circle party nights.

 

Tim Donnovan the cruise director is up and about but he still looks weak.

 

karen Ben was on the Grand with us two years ago, his fiancee is the teen program coordinator, she is beautiful according to bernie, they are still not married (which we rubbed it in as to WHY). Great guy and we noticed he is much more sauve and mature after two years and still a great guy.

 

Captain is calling for great weather for the entire cruise.

 

Still don't have a cabin assignment for the next voyage. Apparently there are 280 doing a b2b, 260 last time.

 

Night

[senior lady]

The curves that I go to has just started Zumba. I'm going to my first class next tue am. Before I go to work.......... might be a mistake:eek:

[cruzinchris]

v_b: DH and I will go to Bravo on Friday night. My birthday is on Thursday, but we'll celebrate when we arrive in FLL for our Island Princess cruise.

 

Bon Voyage!

Chris

[vickie_bernie]

Water Island is always amazing. We caught the 10:30 ferry and there was quite a few of us, in fact they had to send the ferry back to catch the few that didn’t make it. The hill up and then back down to Honeymoon Beach is a little bit of a trek but if you are use to walking then it won’t be a problem. Many of the locals will offer a ride with their golf cart if you ask nicely.

The beach was quiet – for about an hour – then a large catamaran arrive, a Princess excursion with about 60 people on it and they got off to enjoy the beach. Note when we got back on board we checked out the excursion and found out it was a $110 cost per person, they did stop at a snorkel spot and it did provide free beverages and lunch, but we opted to go there on our own, which cost $10 per person return for the water taxi, and we purchased our own beer at the corner store (brought a small cooler full of ice).

We all headed up for sailaway from the beautiful island of St. Thomas, Peter the Captain Circle Host came with us and it was nice to catch up with him. This is his second contract at a Circle Host, he came from the stores prior and he is doing a great job as a Circle Host, he met many of the Cruise Critic gang and well he is very happy that there is botex on board! Really is that a hint Peter! He certainly doesn’t need it!

Bernie didn’t make it to the afternoon trivia as we were at the sailaway, but Anita went and her team came in second, but was saddened to report that there was no prizes handed out! Nope, the host said no prizes on times that we are in port. A little sad I feel, they could of handed out the Princess shopping bags at least.

Dinner in the Dinning Room was Princess Dinner theme. Francesco our matre d made us a special treat, we opted out of the appetizers and salad as he gave us wonderful bruchetta, escargot and then a lovely tomato and mozzarella salad. For the entre I had the beef strogonaoff, with sherbet for dessert, Bernie had the coffee crème brule.

After dinner we went to chat with our favorite Purser Kikki from Vancouver and got to know Robson who is from Brazil and we caught up with him and picked his brain about going to there next year. We then went to the 10:30 show that was a comedian – Rollin’ Jay Moore – who we have not seen before but after a half hour we left, he was not really our type of comedian and he kept referencing U.S. things that we had no idea what he was talking about.

We were asleep by 11:30 getting ready for Dominica. We are currently pulling into the pier for a 9:00 am departure, we have a group tour planned with Antours for River Tubing again, can’t wait it is so much fun. Oh and we are dock at the pier that is about a mile away from the town as there is another ship in port.

Another addition, Tim the cruise director is back but there is still no morning trivia question no shout outs and I have to say it is really missed

[u2cruiser]

Enjoying your updates over a coffee vickie_bernie. Thank you for taking the time to post.

 

Water Island sounds very interesting for next time we're in St. Thomas.

You know a lot of people/crew onboard your cruises ;)

[chamima]

Hi Vickie

Enjoying living vicariously through you.

If Francesco is the same person we had the only way he'll remember us is from our wine. He was a really good looking Italian gentleman. More your age (or younger) than ours. ;)

[klugh]

Thanks for the update on Water Island. I will be Sailing on the Emerald Feb 6th and I was in St. Thomas 10 other times and never went so I would like to see Water Island this time. I am excited to hear about the river tubing, Last March when I was there the cruise line cancelled the tour because the water levels were low.

Thanks for all the information. You are getting me so excited for Feb.

[cruiseron36]

v_b: DH and I will go to Bravo on Friday night. My birthday is on Thursday, but we'll celebrate when we arrive in FLL for our Island Princess cruise.

 

Bon Voyage!

Chris

 

They have the best garlic/butter rolls I have ever had!

[mississauga]

Thanks for the update on Water Island. I will be Sailing on the Emerald Feb 6th and I was in St. Thomas 10 other times and never went so I would like to see Water Island this time. I am excited to hear about the river tubing, Last March when I was there the cruise line cancelled the tour because the water levels were low.

Thanks for all the information. You are getting me so excited for Feb.

 

Just make sure that you check the ferry schedule ( google the current ferry schedule ) before you go so you know when to schedule your ferry time going and returning. Vickie mentioned that this time there was a lot of people so the ferry returned for a second ride but that is not the normal procedure. As she and PescadoAmarillo have mentioned in past postings and Lives, the ferry pretty well runs on time.

[cruzinchris]

They have the best garlic/butter rolls I have ever had!

 

Just what I wanted to hear before spending 10 nights on a cruise ship! I'll have to go carb-less on the Island Princess :D

 

Sailing in 8 days.

Chris

[daWoods]

Vickie!!!! Good to hear you and Bernie are having a good time.....again! And again getting to the warm weather ahead of us! We're on the Grand for 2 weeks in March. We were on the Emerald 3 years ago and loved her. ENJOY!

[Tweedy]

Water Island is always amazing. We caught the 10:30 ferry and there was quite a few of us, in fact they had to send the ferry back to catch the few that didn’t make it. The hill up and then back down to Honeymoon Beach is a little bit of a trek but if you are use to walking then it won’t be a problem. Many of the locals will offer a ride with their golf cart if you ask nicely.

 

Out of curiosity, how long is the walk from the ferry pier to Honeymoon Beach?