My Solo Splendor repo cruise (with pics) 10/24/14

[love2cruise56]

I'm sorry...but I am enjoying this way too much! There will be "NO HAVING A LIFE" until you finish. No Breaks of any kind, be it food breaks, or any other kind, is that clear? :D

 

I love your reviews and pictures. Hurry back. :) Well, I guess I should go get in rush hour traffic on my way home from work. Too bad I can'tread any more until I get home. There should be another installment by then. Thanks so much for your wonderful reviews.

 

 

Thanks for posting your cabin pictures. What was your cabin number?

[Jamman54]

Thanks everyone for following along, and for your patience. My day in St. Thomas will be posted later on tonight, or tomorrow morning.

 

Thanks for posting your cabin pictures. What was your cabin number?

 

I was in cabin 8262.

[gapearl]

I hope I shouldn't feel silly asking but what's LCR? :o

[timmy1958]

I hope I shouldn't feel silly asking but what's LCR? :o

 

Kim - go up a couple posts. Some sort of dice game. :)

[Jamman54]

I hope I shouldn't feel silly asking but what's LCR? :o

 

Not silly at all. You're not the first to ask. Go back to post# 175. :)

[Jamman54]

Welcome to St. Thomas, USVI !!!!

 

 

 

Well, we’re not quite there yet. I woke up around 6:30am to catch a beautiful sunrise…..

 

 

Looking forward I could see that the seas were super calm yet again…..

 

 

That’s St. Thomas off in the distance…..

 

 

I made my way up to the Lido for an omelet breakfast. It was quite busy this morning, since it seemed that everyone was up and ready to get off the ship. Only had to wait for 5 minutes to get my omelet, but finding a place to sit would be a challenge. Of course I know to go up the stairs to Deck 10, where there was PLENTY of seating available!!!

 

 

I chose this table for my breakfast this morning…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Here was my view from the table…..

 

 

We are almost there…..

 

 

I made my way back to the cabin to watch our arrival from my balcony. Here comes the pilot boat…..

 

 

 

There goes the pilot boat…..

 

 

We are approaching the harbor…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

The beautiful town of Charlotte Amalie…..

 

 

Here are some views of the downtown area of Charlotte Amalie…..

 

 

 

 

This is the Marriot Hotel at Frenchman’s Reef…..

 

 

Hard to believe, but we will be the only ship here today. I can’t ever recall being the only ship in this port. The Captain has decided to spin the ship around, and back into our berth…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Yes!!! We will be docking right in front of Senor Frog’s. I know some people were disappointed that we didn’t dock further down, by the Havensight Mall, but this worked for me!!

 

 

We are almost in…..

 

 

The safari trucks are waiting for those taking Carnival shore excursions…..

 

 

The port workers are securing the lines…..

 

 

We are officially docked in St. Thomas…..

 

 

Looking out towards Frenchman’s Reef…..

 

 

To be continued….

[Jamman54]

Here’s another view of Senor Frog’s. It’s probably a sure thing that I will be stopping in there at some point today…..

 

 

The Carnival Splendor’s gangway is directly below my cabin, 8 decks below…..

 

 

One of the many ships photographers is waiting for the passengers to begin leaving the ship…..

 

 

The security gate where everybody must pass leaving and coming back to the ship…..

 

 

My view from my balcony, looking towards the end of the pier…..

 

 

Looking aft, towards the Havensight Mall…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

The ship has been cleared, and the masses are pouring out onto the island…..

 

 

I was not in a big hurry to get off. There was a small group of roll call members who planned to go to a beach at every port of call, so I was going to join up with them today. We met at the lobby bar at 10am, and proceeded to leave the ship. It felt good to be on dry land again…..

 

 

Our plan was to go to Coki beach. To catch a taxi, we had to make the 5 minute walk over to the Havensight Mall. Once there, we were directed to a taxi with some other passengers who were also going to Coki. Soon we were on our way. The taxi fare over to Coki was $9 per person, each way……

 

 

We have arrived at Coki beach……

 

 

Here’s a close up of Coral World right next door. I was last here a few years ago, when my boys and I went helmet diving. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the white diving helmets on the floating dock…..

 

 

Here is the Coki beach bar and restaurant…..

 

 

To be continued…..

Edited November 13, 2014 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

We are going to set up down at the far end of the beach. For the people who like to snorkel, it was best out by the rocks…..

 

 

I’ve set up my spot for the day. If I’m going to be doing a lot of beach time this cruise, I need to stay in the shade as much as possible…..

 

 

My view of the beach, looking through the trees…..

 

 

I have a nice view looking out into the water…..

 

 

Here’s a view of the entrance to Coki beach……

 

 

I see our first bucket of beer has arrived. 6 bottles for $20…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Looking towards Coral World again…..

 

 

The water is crystal clear and calm…..

 

 

Feeling hot, it was time to get in the water and cool off. I grabbed my water camera and dove in…..

 

 

Looking towards the beach bar…..

 

 

We are set up under that group of trees…..

 

 

Here I am, enjoying the beautiful water…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Here are some more random shots that I took while I was cooling off…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Here I am on my lounger. I ordered another bucket of beer, a cheeseburger, and some fries. A perfect way to spend the afternoon…..

 

 

This was my view to the left……..

 

 

This was my view to the right……

 

 

At 3pm we decided to call it a day and head back to the ship. There were plenty of taxis waiting there, so we didn’t have to wait for a full taxi before leaving…..

 

 

As we crossed from one side of the island to the other, we could see the Carnival Splendor in the distance…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We are now back at the ship…..

 

 

I have plenty of time to have a few drinks at Senor Frog’s…..

 

 

I found a seat on the opposite side of the bar, which was perfect for people watching. I ordered up a yard of Goombay Smash…..

 

 

My bartender…..

 

 

Truer words were never spoken!!!

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

I have a great seat to watch the beer chugging contest…..

 

 

This conga line leads you to a free shot!!!

 

 

 

 

It’s time to head back to the ship. At least I don’t have far to go!!

 

 

Nobody has fallen into the pool….. yet!!

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Goodbye Senor Frog’s…..

 

 

The Carnival Splendor docked in St. Thomas…..

 

 

The Carnival Splendor gangways…..

 

 

We’re lining up at the security gate…..

 

 

That’s my cabin way up there…..

 

 

Once back on board, I made my way back to my cabin, and hung out on the balcony until it was time to sail away. Another view of Senor frog’s…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Lovetwocruz2009]

Beautiful photos. I have some of the same shots at Coki beach. I love snorkeling from the beach.

 

It seems your 3 day journey from NY to St Thomas was pretty calm. On avereage, are the seas calm on the Atlantic? I know on the West Coast, the Pacific can be quite choppy year round.

 

Thanks for the review.

[najnelle]

I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be looking at these beautiful sunny beach pictures from my home where it it currently 4 degrees outside. We never made it to double digits today. It's nice to pretend I'm somewhere warm and sunny.

[Jamman54]

Beautiful photos. I have some of the same shots at Coki beach. I love snorkeling from the beach.

It seems your 3 day journey from NY to St Thomas was pretty calm. On avereage, are the seas calm on the Atlantic? I know on the West Coast, the Pacific can be quite choppy year round.

Thanks for the review.

 

Thanks for reading!! In all my sailings from New York, I can only remember a couple of days that it was rough. This cruise was the smoothest I've EVER been on. I never felt the ship move the entire cruise!!

 

 

I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be looking at these beautiful sunny beach pictures from my home where it it currently 4 degrees outside. We never made it to double digits today. It's nice to pretend I'm somewhere warm and sunny.

 

Now all you need is a Pina Colada, or the drink of your choice!! :)

[Jamman54]

Senor Frog’s is about to close down for the day…..

 

 

A steady stream of passengers is re-boarding the Splendor…..

 

 

Looking out towards the Marriot Hotel at Frenchman’s Reef…..

 

 

A couple of views of the skyway to Paradise Point…..

 

 

 

The last of the passengers are making their way towards the ship…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Everyone is back on board, so now we have pushed away from the pier…..

 

 

 

The sun is almost down as we leave Charlotte Amalie, and the island of St. Thomas…..

 

 

 

Passing the Marriot Hotel…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Leaving St. Thomas behind…..

 

 

I was a little tired from the day, so I took a nap before getting ready for dinner. Tonight, I had two orders of shrimp cocktails to start…..

 

 

Followed by an order of blackened tilapia, and then a flat iron steak…..

 

 

For dessert I had the WCMC, with two scoops of vanilla ice cream.

 

Tonight in the Spectacular Theatre was the Game of Love show, hosted by Malcolm. I decided to skip that and head to the casino to play blackjack for a while. As soon as I sat down, the pit boss came over and handed me a “Drinks on us” card, which I immediately christened……

 

 

I played for a couple of hours until it was time to head to the El Morocco Lounge to watch the Carnival Quest. It was hilarious as always. Then back to the cabin for the night, where I found a card and some chocolate covered cherries from the Players Club…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Here is tonight’s turn down service…..

 

 

Tomorrows Fun Times, and the free picture from the Diamond Party…..

 

 

Tonight’s towel animal…..

 

 

I had a GREAT time in St. Thomas today. Coming up next: My first ever visit to St. Kitts!!