AryMay's January Photo Review of the Victory

[AryMay]

I am loving your review. I am leaving for this cruise on 3/11/12. I have booked a tour with Cosol and a separate tour in St. Kitts..........so excited. Your review and pics are making me anxious. I can't wait to be on the victory. It looks like you all had loads of fun.

 

Thanks for reading! Yes...the whole week so was so much fun! I'm so glad it finally worked out that we were able to cruise with our friends.

[krummdog]

As I am reading this posting it is bringing back so many memories from our sail on the Victory! After reading all of this amazing review, we have have so much in common! I too am from Minnesota, also stayed at the Intercontinental in San Juan, did the Cosol tour in St. Lucia, and did the Royston tour in that exact same van. Royston's tour was by far the best tour we took, St. Kitts was definitely my favorite island! Amazing review, this is really getting me excited for my next cruise :D

[nytonowhere]

Can't wait to hear about Royston's Tour. He's the one I'm most interested in doing but I think my DH might freak when he sees the van. LOL

 

 

Go with Royston we did his island tour last March best day of the trip! Check out my review at the bottom i have pics of our tour!

[signal34]

AryMay I am considering adding this tour at the last minute but we would be a group of four joining a group of six. How large are his vans and do think it would be too crowded?

[AryMay]

AryMay I am considering adding this tour at the last minute but we would be a group of four joining a group of six. How large are his vans and do think it would be too crowded?

 

I only saw the van we were in for the day. Ten people "might" fit but it would be snug. You should just email Royston and ask him. I know there are other good tour operators, but it was really fun having the private tour with Royston. He did a lot of the stops that other tours make, but was also flexible so that we could spend more or less time depending on what we wanted to do.

 

His email address: roystontours@hotmail.com

[AryMay]

Go with Royston we did his island tour last March best day of the trip! Check out my review at the bottom i have pics of our tour!

 

Your review was one I read before our cruise and helped me decide to book the tour with Royston!

[AryMay]

As I am reading this posting it is bringing back so many memories from our sail on the Victory! After reading all of this amazing review, we have have so much in common! I too am from Minnesota, also stayed at the Intercontinental in San Juan, did the Cosol tour in St. Lucia, and did the Royston tour in that exact same van. Royston's tour was by far the best tour we took, St. Kitts was definitely my favorite island! Amazing review, this is really getting me excited for my next cruise :D

 

Lucky you...I see you have another cruise coming up soon! We took our grown kids and spouses on the Legend in 2010 and had a great time. I did an equally long review with photos after that cruise. Click here for the link to the review.

 

Did you get much snow with the storm that blew through Minnesota this week? I'm sure you are anxious to see some palm trees and blue water!

[AryMay]

Continuing on with St. Kitts.

 

While we were stopped, Royston removed the windows in his van. The weather was beautiful and without the glass we could take better photos as we drove around the island. (Which is one reason I have hundreds of photos from just that one day!!)

 

 

We teased Royston about the license plates on the van…they were homemade.

 

 

Once when we were stopped, this guy shoved this monkey through the window and asked if anyone wanted to hold him…for a fee of course.

 

 

Kim took him up on the offer.

 

 

Whenever Royston passed something interesting, he would pull over so we could get a good photo…like this bush full of egrets…

 

 

…and another bush that had massive thorns. OUCH!

 

[ibcnusoon]

Cute review! What time did you meet Royston at the pier in the morning? I looked at his tour online and it looks like we'd enjoy it too!

[AryMay]

The Caribelle Batik Factory was located at Romney Manor…also part of the estate owned by Thomas Jefferson’s ancestors. The little shop had various batik items for sale…sarongs, shirts, dresses, wall hangings, etc. A lady doing a demonstration explained that the process takes several days to dye a piece of fabric. I ended up buying the same print she is holding…only in browns and golds. (Cost was $40…we will have to frame it ourselves.)

 

 

Some of the batik fabric being dried on the clothesline behind the shop…

 

 

The gardens around the batik factory are beautiful.

 

 

As we continued our tour around the island, we continued to see groups of the muddy school kids on their walk-a-thon. Most of the time they seemed to be unsupervised. I am a teacher and can't even imagine letting a bunch of kids hike for several miles on their own!

 

 

Driving along the coast you could look up and see our next destination…Brimstone Hill Fortress…a fort perched at the top of a big hill.

 

 

Royston also pointed out an area where the water was white…this was due to the volcanic activity on the island.

 

[AryMay]

Cute review! What time did you meet Royston at the pier in the morning? I looked at his tour online and it looks like we'd enjoy it too!

 

Royston asked us to meet him at the dock within the first 15 minutes of the ship docking...so shortly after 8 am. He was right there waiting for us when we got off the ship.

 

It was nice getting an early start to the day because there was so much to see.

[AryMay]

Royston paid our admission ($8 each) to get into the fort and we started up the hill.

 

 

The road leading up to the fort was steep…and narrow. At one point we met another van. Royston squeezed over as close as he could…

 

 

…but the other van refused to pass by and ended up backing up a long distance to find a spot wide enough for us to get around him. (It probably had something to do with the fact that there was steep drop off on his side of the road!)

 

 

A group of Americans (part of an elder hostel) were doing some excavation work at the fort.

 

 

There was a parking area where all of the other tour groups parked…but Royston drove us around to each part of the fort. The fact that there were no roads didn’t seem to faze him!

 

 

[AryMay]

It was easy to see why this was a good place to put a fort…you could see for miles!

 

 

 

After leaving the fort, Royston took us to a fishing area. He didn’t just drive along the shore…he drove into the water!

 

 

The area near the shore was like a grave yard for old fishing boats. Some had been there so long they were completely covered by vines.

 

 

Royston’s friend had a home nearby…

 

[AryMay]

Lava from the volcano on the island has formed an area known as “Black Rocks”...a popular stop for tours.

 

 

There were some tourist stands located in the parking area…and also a public restroom.

 

 

This donkey was tied next to the restrooms!

 

 

Eventually Royston took us to the spot that I had been looking forward to most…the view of where the Atlantic and Caribbean Oceans meet. Instead of pulling into the area where the other groups had stopped, Royston headed up a narrow winding road…definitely not a road that was traveled regularly.

 

When he stopped we were sitting right on the edge of a steep cliff and we were worried that if we moved the van would topple right over the side. But...it was worth it to get this view...one I will never forget.

 

 

Knowing there had been a rock slide recently didn't make us feel any better about being so close to the cliff so we were glad when Royston got us safely down the steep road. If you look closely you can see a giant boulder on the road below.

 

 

[ibcnusoon]

The view from the fort is breathtaking! I think we'll bypass the forts in Old San Juan and definately check this fort out on St. Kitts. Was that Nevis in the background?

[AryMay]

Royston had called and ordered our lunch and we got a “special delivery”! Lunch was included in the price of our tour and was a “roti”…a wrap with spicy filling inside. We had our choice of beef, chicken, or conch.

 

 

We stopped and ate our lunch at a small, quiet beach. It was funny but we all agreed it was our favorite meal of the whole cruise…even better than anything we had on the ship!

 

 

Lowell wanted to do a little snorkeling so Royston took us to South Friars Beach. While he swam, the rest of us walked along the beach. There was a beach club which looked like a great place to spend a day.

 

 

As we were leaving the beach, there were a bunch of monkeys playing in the trees. We sat for the longest time…amused at their silly antics.

 

 

On the way back to the ship, we had to pass by the landslide area that we had seen from above…

 

 

And as was typical of our day…Royston took us on one more steep, narrow road.

 

[AryMay]

It was sad to say good-bye to Royston at the end of the day. We truly felt like we had spent the day with a good friend. This is one tour I can recommend without any hesitation. Royston’s tour was the least expensive of any that we took during the week ($45 each) and included lunch, drinks and admission fees to the fort…a bargain even with a generous tip added.

 

 

Back to the ship after a long, full day…

 

 

 

 

 

And a little peak at the “neighbors” as we left St. Kitts.

 

 

Coming up next…our last day…St. Martin.

[AryMay]

The view from the fort is breathtaking! I think we'll bypass the forts in Old San Juan and definately check this fort out on St. Kitts. Was that Nevis in the background?

 

Yes...I believe it was Nevis. I had never seen the ocean from such a high vantage point and it was truly breathtaking. (But the fort in Old San Juan had some pretty cool views also!)

[VIQT]

Great review. I really enjoyed it.

[paget]

Great review. We are on the Victory April 15th. Already have Cosol booked in St. Lucia, now I think I will book Royston for St. Kitt's!

[Buddapus1]

Thanks for the review and the pics. Can,t wait to sail out of San Juan again.

[ibcnusoon]

Great review. We are on the Victory April 15th. Already have Cosol booked in St. Lucia, now I think I will book Royston for St. Kitt's!

 

 

us too!!!

[krummdog]

Lucky you...I see you have another cruise coming up soon! We took our grown kids and spouses on the Legend in 2010 and had a great time. I did an equally long review with photos after that cruise. Click here for the link to the review.

 

Did you get much snow with the storm that blew through Minnesota this week? I'm sure you are anxious to see some palm trees and blue water!

 

Very cool and yes we are! We got a few inches of snow, not too bad.

[AryMay]

Saturday, January 28 – St. Martin

 

Today’s plan…a private tour with Joyce Prince.

 

As the “planner of port day activities” I did a lot of research. I also wanted to make sure that I was taking into consideration what everyone wanted to do. Since our friends were new to cruising they requested that we see as much of each island as possible. That eliminated options such as spending the day on a beach.

 

For St. Martin I had narrowed down our choice to either Bernard’s tours or Joyce Prince. The cost of a group tour with Bernard was $40 each but he also quoted me a price of $350 for a private tour for our group of six. Joyce was also available for a private tour and her price was $375.

 

I read many favorable reviews for Joyce and chose her for that reason. I really didn’t read anything negative about Bernard but it just sounded like Joyce was a fun and personable person…which she was. However…at the end of the day I would have to say that St. Martin was my least favorite island of the cruise. Oddly enough however, Lowell & Nancy both thought St. Martin was one of their top islands! Just goes to show you that opinions differ…so make sure you take that into consideration when you read reviews!

 

Joyce had instructed us to meet her outside the shopping area at the port at 9:30 so we made sure to get there a little early so she wouldn’t have to wait.

 

 

 

She specifically told us to wait by a certain statue and that was where she would pick us up.

 

 

9:30 came and went and we were still waiting. The sun was getting hot so we tried to stand in the little bit of shade from a palm tree…until we happened to notice a sign that said “Keep off the grass.”

 

 

It was getting close to 10:00 when Joyce finally pulled in. She had gotten delayed by road construction so unfortunately our day was cut a little short. Rather than making suggestions on what we should see, Joyce just said…"I will take you where ever you want." We appreciated her willingness, but not having been to St. Martin before it would have been nice to have a little guidance.

 

Nancy wanted to buy a tanzanite ring so we started the day shopping. There were many, many jewelry stores and we were thankful for Joyce’s suggestions on which stores to check…and how to bargain for the best prices.

 

 

The ring shopping took some time and it ended up that Kim also bought herself two rings and then she and Nancy surprised me by buying me a ring to thank me for my planning! Eventually Nancy did find a ring that she liked but it needed to be re-sized and picked up later in the day.

[AryMay]

Joyce drove us around the island showing us the points of interest.

 

 

 

 

 

She took us to a small stand on a hill that sold guavaberry (a liqueur) and spices…but also had a nice panoramic view.

 

 

 

The finches feeding on the fence caught Bob’s attention…