14 Day Caribbean Cruise: The Ports

 The highlight of the cruise is stopping at the various ports of call.  The time spent on each island is not nearly long enough, but with a bit of guidance from Vicki's presentations - the Destination Expert on the ship, we tried to make the time count.  Let me share some of the highlights of our experiences.  


St. Maarten was the smallest island we visited, with an area of only 87 km² (34 sq mi)
Half of it is a Dutch and half French.  We stopped in Philipsburg, on the Dutch side.

How can you not be happy when the day begins with a rainbow.

 The first thing we had in mind was to find a place with wifi, shade and some refreshing beverage.  We got our drinks and then the server decided he need a siesta (see the feet sticking out of the hammock!)

Strolling along the beachfront.

Strolling along in the shopping district.

Sitting in a coffee shop and watching the world go by.

Meanwhile, Dave went on a helmet dive. It was something completely different. 

He was walking along on the sea floor, surrounded by fish.

St. Kitts & Nevis is the smallest sovereign state in the Western hemisphere and is part of the British commonwealth.  We stopped in the capital, Basseterre. We did a driving tour of the island and our guide was very informative about his country.  It is a jagged volcanic island with dense rainforest having reclaimed the sugarcane fields. 

The best view of the harbour is from the cemetery!

Typical architecture with stone on the bottom and wood on the top.

These are the ruins of the Wingfield Estate sugar factory where the sugar cane was processed into sugar, molasses and rum.  

This is the banyan tree with the roots coming down from the branches and when they reach into the ground, grow another tree. 

That's one big leaf!  A good hiding spot perhaps.

Orchids growing in the rainforest.

Romney Manor was once the Wingfield Estate owner's residence, now home of Caribelle Batik.  I could have stayed longer.

So many beautiful colourful pieces of handmade batik fabrics. These would be fashioned into garments and accessories. What to choose?  

Viewpoint with the Atlantic Ocean on the left and the Caribbean Sea on the right.

St. Lucia is now an independent nation as part of the British commonwealth. It has a long history of the French and British contesting control of it.  It is a volcanic island with the two Pitons being a famous landmark. We landed in Castries, the main city, and did a walking tour.  It was Sunday and many shops were closed. 

Apparently the ships and the airport have to be in good communication to sail past the end of the runway.

When slavery was abolished in 1834 throughout the British Empire, the slaves had to continue working for their owners as 'apprentices' for four years to get accustomed to freedom.  They built their own homes which were very easily dismantled and moved as they could be let go from their position on short notice.  These were examples of those types of homes.  The original 'tiny house' perhaps!

We walked around the harbour and returned to the ship by ferry.

Time for a refreshing rum punch.

This was a plate of cracked conch.  It tastes a bit like calamari, but chewier.

The Super Bowl was shown on the big screen TV on the pool deck.  It was a warm evening to sit outside and enjoy the game as we sailed on to the next port of call. 

Barbados is the most easterly of the Caribbean islands, not part of the archipelago of the Lesser Antilles. We landed in Bridgetown, the capital, and were off on our excursion first thing in the morning.  Ed & Sharon went on their own adventures for the day.

We were heading out on a catamaran to do some snorkeling and beach time.

This was where we hoped to swim with the turtles. None were to be found on this day, but we enjoyed snorkeling (once I got the hang of it), and saw lion fish, sting rays and many other fish.

With the sails catching the wind, we were off.  What a thrilling ride, rum punch in hand.  We stopped off near a beach and swam to shore to go for a walk, collecting seashells.

Back at the port, we had the most delicious fish tacos.

"You could get hit by the boom and die, 
You could fall overboard and die,
You could capsize and die - 
or you could stay home
and fall off the couch and die."
(as seen on a t-shirt)

A beautiful end to another wonderful day in paradise.

The country of Trinidad & Tobago was our next stop.  Despite being under a general state-of-emergency due to gang violence, we were encouraged to visit, with caution. Trinidad was the largest and most populated island we visited.  It's economy is driven more by oil and gas than by tourism.  Nevertheless, they are well organized and we were easily able to get a taxi for the four of us to tour the city. The capital, Port of Spain, with a population of about half a million, is notorious for traffic congestion. Our capable driver, managed to maneuver through a very tight alley with every car just inching its way around the corner.  And this wasn't during rush hour yet!  Here is where one should probably take a long excursion with Princess Excursions to be assured a timely return to the ship.

 

Our driver took us through the city, onto the freeway and up a twisty-windy mountain road.

At the top was the Benedictine monastery. It was a place of peace and quiet to sit a while. As it was on top of the mountain, it also had beautiful views of the city below.  

Our driver took us to another viewpoint of the cruise port with Venezuela in the distance.

We stopped at a lovely botanical garden in the city.

The flamboyant tree, not so flamboyant when not in bloom.

Carnival is a big deal and goes on for weeks before Lent. 

We tried out a local dish called fried bake, a typical breakfast food. It's a deep fried bun usually filled with fish, but they only had sausage ones left.  

We returned to the ship with the sounds of the steel pans ringing in our ears. Trinidad is the home of the steel pans.

Grenada, known as the spice island, is one of the world's major producers of nutmeg, mace, clove, cinnamon and cocoa.  We stopped in the picture-perfect town of St. George's.  We started out all together on a walking tour, beginning with some non-touristic stores.  That was rather refreshing. It was a fun place to explore on foot.

Along one of these streets we came across a little spice and chocolate shop. I bought some nutmeg and mace, which is the outer covering of the nutmeg.

We walked carefully through the tunnel...

...to a working harbour.  When we'd walked around to the other side, we were hoping for a ferry ride back to the cruise ship harbour. No such luck. We stopped at a lovely seafood restaurant on the way back to the tunnel. Beside the tunnel were some stairs. 

Up at the top was a church that was being restored.

And of course, a lovely viewpoint.

Then it was down the narrow streets back to the ship. It was a very beautiful day to be walking about.

  

After a day at sea, we arrived in Curacao.  This one of the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao), very close to the Venezuelan coast.  It's Dutch heritage is notable in the architecture and language. This was my favourite stop, maybe because we stayed later into the evening and didn't feel rushed in our walking tour of the Punda, the old city.

Welcomed with traditional costumes

Let's not get lost!

Happy Valentine's Day

The chi-chi doll represents the oldest sister who is a proud, strong, voluptuous Caribbean woman. 

The floating market (really not floating), had many stalls of fresh produce, and other gift items you didn't know you needed.

The artists alley had many beautiful murals with little art studios tucked away behind the doors.

The Queen Emma pontoon pedestrian bridge would swing open for ships to go through.  It was fascinating to sit and watch it from the restaurant, and also so much fun to be on the bridge as it was swinging open.

Dave & I went to the Maritime & History Museum. It was so interesting to learn about the pirates (and privateers) of the Caribbean, the history of the Dutch West India Company, slave trade, the oil industry and so much more. Our brains were full.

When the large four-lane Queen Juliana bridge was built, the Queen Emma pontoon bridge became a pedestrian only bridge.

So much beautiful artwork at every turn.

It was Valentine's Day and we enjoyed a delicious meal on board the ship. 

After dinner, we had a lovely stroll along the waterfront to see the bridge and buildings all lit up. 

Sailing on under the light of a full moon.

Our last island stop was in Aruba.  Aruba is another country within the kingdom of the Netherlands. 

Dave & I opted for an UTV ride excursion which began early in the morning.  Ed & Sharon joined with another couple in a taxi tour of the island seeing some of the same sights we did, but arriving there with less dust in their hair and mud on their clothes.

Our excursion began with a convoy of UTVs making our way through the city streets, around traffic circles until we got onto dirt tracks.  From there it was uphill and down on rocky tracks, through potholes, with cacti on both sides until we came to the ocean.  We stopped at several viewpoints to enjoy the scenery as, while driving, the driver had no time to look around and the passenger was hanging on for dear life!  What a blast! 

  

Don't fall off the little natural bridge.

One of our fellow travelers had only one leg, but he didn't let that stop him from going along, and driving!

The Natural Bridge.  The bigger one collapsed in 2005.

California Lighthouse

Once we got back to the ship, we had brunch, or was it lunch?  Anyway, we got cleaned up and explored the town on foot.  What a fun filled day. 

We had to sail away too soon.

Sailing back to Florida.

Two days later we had to say good-bye to the Majestic Princess.  We all agreed that it had been a wonderful trip. The trip home was the usual chaos of airport lines and the hurry-up and wait for your connecting flights.  Everything was uneventful.  Ed & Sharon had different flight connections home and had a few delays, but made it safely.  We returned to winter: from +26 in Florida to -26 at home. brrrrr