LIVE forn the JEWEL of the SEAS, Lots of Pictures, Island reviews and more!

[MDSue]

After a few hours, we grabbed a cab back to the port where we walked around and shopped a bit more and headed back to the ship:

 

 

A view of St. Croix from our balcony:

 

 

 

Well, I'm three islands down and three to go. Coming up- Antigua, Martinique (my surprise favorite), and St. Lucia (a tropical paradise).

 

See you soon!

 

Susan

[kteachcruiser52]

Thanks for the great ideas for St. Croix. Am I correct in assuming I could get a taxi tour or just a transportation to rainbow beach without prearranging it? I am looking forward to your review of Martinique as there is not a lot of information on that port.

[MDSue]

Thanks for the great ideas for St. Croix. Am I correct in assuming I could get a taxi tour or just a transportation to rainbow beach without prearranging it? I am looking forward to your review of Martinique as there is not a lot of information on that port.

 

 

Hello, Yes, you will have no problem finding a taxi to and from St. Croix beaches. There is a taxi/tour stand inside the secure port area and also right outside the gates. We walked back inside the gates and told the person in charge where we wanted to go. She immediately loaded us into a van that had some other people waiting to go and we were on our way. I think they do try to wait until the van is close to full for at least the ride over, but we didn't have to wait either way. You'll get a return ticket for your trip back. It was very easy.

 

I'm excited about getting to my Martinique pictures and review because I had such a hard time figuring out what to do. The general consensus at our Meet and Mingle get-together was that no one knew what to do and the day would probably be a bust. Some people even mentioned staying on the ship that day (which is never an option for us- no way I'm traveling hundreds of miles in the tropics to stay on the ship).

 

The next two days here are supposed to be rainy and miserable; so a good time to try to catch up on my review. If all goes well, I may have Martinique done by tonight (or sooner)

 

Susan

[concord_62]

Thanks Sue! My main camera is a Canon T2i with a 18-135mm lens. I also use a 70-300 mm Canon lens as well.

***

I think our cabin number was 9558. It had a nice large sofa in it and an extended balcony which was nice.

***

Originally, we were on the 8th floor, but when I found a price drop shortly before departure, I called and asked for an upgrade (and got it). That's one of the nice things about CC is learning about price drop policies.

 

Thanks for the camera info. I love pictures so much, but am so lazy carrying things around that I have small Lumix point & shoots. But the beautiful quality of your pictures is changing my mind about what's important :)

 

We were in 9552, just 3 down from yours and if I had it to do all over again, I'd pick the same cabin. Except for a weird creak in the wall, which we only heard at night (and was easily blocked with ear plugs), it was really quiet, was relatively close to everything and had beautiful views. Nice to know about the price change policy.

 

Sue D

[concord_62]

One of the buildings I really enjoyed was:

 

 

Inside were works from local artists and even school children.

 

Love your pictures of Frederksted! We went in the museum as well and saw the art from the high-schoolers, some of which was rather impressive. In another shop, I got a hand-made ceramic bowl that is now holding some of my earrings :)

 

Your contrast of the ship excursion to the beach v. the taxi idea is really good and food for thought. Thanks for presenting better options to newbies like me!!!

 

Sue D

[MDSue]

Day 4- Antigua.

 

This was our fourth trip to Antigua and it is one of our favorite stops. Somehow, we always seem to time our days there wrong, because Antigua has such beautiful beaches, and since the stop is usually around the half-way mark, we need a break from the strong sun of the beaches. If at all possible, at least part of your time in Antigua should be spent at one of their beautiful beaches; probably the prettiest in the Caribbean.

 

However, for us, we had just spent two days in a row doing mostly beach days and we were ready for a break again, so we ended up scheduling a last minute ship excursion. Originally, we had thought we'd like to spend some more time at Nelson's Dockyard because we had visited it on another visit and enjoyed the location, but my sister saw a tour that advertised a visit to a local pottery shop and hand-made cotton works, along with a few other stops along the way. The tour was called "Taste of Antigua" and although the trip was somewhat enjoyable and the guides were fine, we felt very let down in the end because the pottery and cotton stop was nothing but a tiny one-room building in downtown St. John with just a handful of locally made pieces that were for the most part completely unremarkable.

 

The other stops were enjoyable and the drive through the rainforest area were nice enough though. The stop at the beach was super short though- no time for the "refreshing dip" they described. We grabbed a quick bite to eat of local fare that was quite good, snapped a few pictures of the beach, and were quickly on our way. Honestly, the tour would have been better if they skipped the "cotton and pottery" displays and gave us more time at the beach. I just looked up the tour description and it has changed somewhat. I'd give it a grade "C" and will most likely "wing-it" on my next trip to the island.

 

Some of our other excursions we've done over the years is a helicopter trip over to Montserrat- my favorite but most expensive excursion ever, a $25 tour of Shirley Heights, Nelson Dockyard, and other scenic overlooks- a last minute tour we signed up for at the tour booth in St. John (also a very enjoyable day). and an $8 taxi ride over to Valley Church Beach on our own. I'm going to post pictures of this trip and add a few from previous visits to give you lots of ideas. We also enjoy just shopping and hanging out in the port of St. John. They have a huge indoor market with tons of vendors which can be intimidating for some because they are all vying for your business and pretty much have the same types of souvenirs. However, I don't mind the market because I understand that our purchases are their livelihood. I've probably bought more knick-knacks and t-shirts than I need just because I enjoy stimulating the local economy.

 

St. John also has many nicer shops as well, with higher end purchases. I particularly liked a local goldsmith who made his own pieces. I didn't make a purchase there, but wish I had. His creations were more unique than the typical stores found at every cruise stop.

 

We also bought a painting from a local artist. They will remove the paintings from the framing to make them easier to take home. I have a Caribbean room in my house for all my Caribbean themed paintings. I'm trying not to let the collection overtake the whole house, though:) One thing you have to look for if you are going to take a painting home that was previously mounted on the stretchers are the edges of the painting. When you have these pieces framed at your local framer, they need enough material to stretch around the frame and the artists often don't leave enough extra material. I bought a beautiful bird painting in Costa Rica years ago and lost part of the birds tail to the framing process. I was lucky not to loose part of the beak also.

 

Anyway, enough chatter. If you have any questions about excursions in Antigua, just ask. I have tons of pictures spread out over various computers and will dig up my favorites. and start with this year's excursion.

Edited April 30, 2014 by MDSue

[MDSue]

Taste of Antigua tour- ship excursion

 

Our first stop was at a local woman's home where we gathered in a covered patio for a talk about natural plants, herbs, and fruits that were widely used for various remedies before pharmaceuticals became commonplace. She described how many pharmaceutical companies are located in Antigua and other Caribbean islands to research the various possible benefits of these natural ingredients.

 

 

 

 

She served us a tea made out of some of the plants she described and some of the local fruits.

 

Many people lined up to buy some of the various items she sells made from local ingredients. I bought a bottle of some kind of hot-pepper cream supposedly good for muscle pain. Haven't tried it yet, though.

[MDSue]

After we left there, we drove through the rainforest area and stopped off at a pineapple farm where black pineapples were harvested:

 

 

Pineapple plantation:

 

 

We also drove past plenty of banana plantations. As you can se in the picture, Antigua has been suffering from major drought conditions for the past 8 years. Water conservation is a big priority on the island.

 

[MDSue]

We stopped for pictures at this overlook of one of Antigua's many beautiful beaches:

 

 

And then we stopped at FFry's (not a typo) Beach for a delicious local lunch on the beach. We only had about 30 minutes total to eat and check out the beach, so no time for a dip in the beach. I would have preferred more time here, but I think the herb demo lasted longer than planned:

 

 

The small structure in the background was the area where we ate lunch:

 

Edited April 30, 2014 by MDSue

[MDSue]

I feel the beach is worthy of a few more pictures because they are so beautiful. The water is more of a milky turquoise color than the typical Caribbean beaches. I've heard that is due to the sand stirred up in the water; great for swimming but not for snorkeling.

 

 

 

[MDSue]

Two years ago we visited Antigua and made sure we finally had a beach day on the island. For $8 each way, we grabbed a van/taxi to Valley Church Beach. When you get off the ship, you just have to go to the tour booth right as you walk off the dock and tell them where you want to go and they will hook you up for a group cab. If you go with a private cab and not from the tour both, it will probably cist a good bit more. They had plenty of waiting cabs for the return trip to the dock. At the beach, there was rentals for chairs, umbrellas, and all sorts of watersports. They had free Wi-Fi at the bar/restaurant. They also had bathrooms on-site

 

 

 

Here are a few shots of Valley Church Beach from before:

 

 

 

[MDSue]

A few more from Valley Church:

 

The Nest- cold drinks, food, and free Wi-Fi:

 

The beach:

 

[MDSue]

Now, back to our Taste of Antigua tour.

 

After our stop at the beach we headed back to St. John's for our stop at the pottery and local cotton weaving stop. This was by far the most disappointing let down. We stopped at a small, one-room building that held a handful of handmade scarves and linens (I mean a very few), and about a half dozen pieces of new pottery and an equal amount of historical pieces. A young man gave a short interesting talk on how old and new pottery was made and a little about the home grown cotton and what it was used for. When I looked up the tour on RCI's website, they described different stops for the pottery and cottons than what our tour entailed.

 

I didn't take a picture, though. I did buy a few handwoven coasters, but the stop was not what I expected.

 

From there, we ended our tour back in St. John where we spent the rest of the day shopping and stopping for a cold drink where we could get some free Wi-Fi time. We ordered two frozen drinks and the owner (I assume) came around and gave us login information:

 

[MDSue]

Antigua- skipping around a bit. There are so many options for Antigua and I wanted to share a few pictures from previous pictures to help you decide what to do if you visit.

 

One of the other tours we did on a previous visit included stops at Shirley Heights and Nelson's Dockyard:

 

This is the overlook at Shirley Heights:

 

 

And here are some pictures from Nelson Dockyard:

 

 

 

There is a nice restaurant, a shop, and some historical buildings, and a beautiful marina. We only had 45 minutes to explore there, so we mostly just walked around and took pictures. One day, I'd like to spend a few hours there.

[MDSue]

One more from Nelson's Dockyard:

 

 

 

This year, our view of St, John's from the ship was not on the best side. It is a really beautiful port to pull into. Here are some pictures of St. John's:

 

 

[MDSue]

The downtown area:

 

 

This is the large indoor straw market:

 

 

Another view from our ship- a past trip:

 

[MDSue]

One of these days, we'll take a walk to this church, but for now, I just have to settle for pictures:

 

 

We said goodbye to Antigua in preparation for our next day in Martinique:

 

[MDSue]

We had our Meet and Mingle scheduled for that evening at 5 pm. We met in the vortex lounge where we had a beautiful view of the sunset after our sailaway:

 

 

 

[MDSue]

Here's a few more shots of the Vortex Lounge and Hollywood Odyssey Lounge:

 

 

[MDSue]

After a little while we retired to our balcony to finish watching the sunset. Originally, I thought this island was Montserrat because the top is almost always covered with clouds from the steaming vents from the volcano (something we saw up close many years ago on our first trip to Antigua and we took the helicopter tour). However, according to the map I was looking at, I think it was either St. Kitts or another island close to Antigua. We passed Montserrat a little later and I could see it lit up at night. Only a small part of Montserrat is still inhabited. The entire capital of Plymouth was wiped out by ash from the volcano eruption. When we sailed by, I recognized the complete darkness of one side of the island.

 

This is one of the other islands with an afternoon shower:

 

 

 

 

Next stop: Martinique

 

Susan

[purplethorn]

still loving the pics ... hope I didnt miss St Lucia

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[MDSue]

still loving the pics ... hope I didnt miss St Lucia

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Thanks- St. Lucia was our last island this trip- so you haven't missed them. I'm ready to start uploading Martinique tonight and then St. Lucia next. I think St. Lucia must qualify as having the most tropical beauty of all the Caribbean islands. I should have them posted by tomorrow or Friday.

[purplethorn]

great! I am tuned in :D

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Familygoboston]

Lovely photos of Antigua sail away sunsets:D

 

So you've settled it for us! We will go to Nelson's Dockyard, DH and DD huge history buffs, and I think they will enjoy this most. I think we will hire a guide and have him take us to one of the beautiful beaches afterwards!

 

This week I am pinning down some of my excursions...so I'm waiting to see what you did (and have done, since you are kind enough to share past excursions too) in St Lucia before I book. We have Barbados, St Lucia, St Martin, Antigua and st Croix on our Adventure itinerary.

I've got Barbados booked, (Calabaza cruise, which we did in nov and LOVED,) St Lucia we've decided what, but still need to pick "who" we tour with, St Croix we want to Kayak and the lady said, "email me in Sept" Maybe jumped the gun on that one;) but for instance our Barbados cruise is already 1/2 full-at least of just the people on our roll call! Our 1st choice guide for Budapest was booked when I contacted her 9 months out, but luckily our # 2 was open. So it doesn't hurt to plan early!

St Martin we always go to our favorite beach, so it's just Antigua left and I think Nelsons Dockyard (with a beach stop) is it! Thanks for the photos! :D

Edited May 1, 2014 by Familygoboston

[MDSue]

Lovely photos of Antigua sail away sunsets:D

 

So you've settled it for us! We will go to Nelson's Dockyard, DH and DD huge history buffs, and I think they will enjoy this most. I think we will hire a guide and have him take us to one of the beautiful beaches afterwards!

 

This week I am pinning down some of my excursions...so I'm waiting to see what you did (and have done, since you are kind enough to share past excursions too) in St Lucia before I book. We have Barbados, St Lucia, St Martin, Antigua and st Croix on our Adventure itinerary.

I've got Barbados booked, (Calabaza cruise, which we did in nov and LOVED,) St Lucia we've decided what, but still need to pick "who" we tour with, St Croix we want to Kayak and the lady said, "email me in Sept" Maybe jumped the gun on that one;) but for instance our Barbados cruise is already 1/2 full-at least of just the people on our roll call! Our 1st choice guide for Budapest was booked when I contacted her 9 months out, but luckily our # 2 was open. So it doesn't hurt to plan early!

 

St Martin we always go to our favorite beach, so it's just Antigua left and I think Nelsons Dockyard (with a beach stop) is it! Thanks for the photos! :D

 

 

 

I love your planning style- I've always been a compulsive island planner. This is the first time we have largely winged it day-to-day and ended up having a great experience every day.

 

I'm curious what your favorite beach is in St. Maarten. I've been to Orient Beach twice, Dawn Beach, and Maho Beach to watch the planes. I'm always looking for new places to visit.

 

We've been to Barbados twice and loved it both times. On our first visit, we booked an catamaran sail and snorkel excursion with a stop by the turtles. At the end of our excursion, we had the option of staying at the beach (Payne's Bay, I think) or taking a cab back to the port. We chose to stay at the beach.

 

When we were ready to grab a cab later on, our driver offered to take us back through the neighborhoods and he gave us a short tour.

 

On our second visit, I signed us up for a photography tour through Princess. It was one of my favorite excursions. Our guide was a professional photographer from Barbados. He took us to parts of the island off the beaten path. I came back with pictures of some really beautiful beaches, overlooks, and other places.

 

I've got all my Martinique pictures uploaded and ready to start posting tomorrow. I'm hoping to get St. Lucia posted also, because I have to go out of town Friday afternoon.

 

I've dug up a few more ship pictures to share also.

 

See you Thursday!

 

Susan