parkesyau

Fantastic to know. Yes the ABC’s looks amazing and being beach lovers I know we will get those stunning blue beaches. I’ve seen some of the princess itineraries. As much as we loved carnival I think I need to pick based on itinerary rather than cruise liner. To be honest our favourite part of carnival was the sing along piano bar and the nightly music trivia party in the main lobby. Such a tough choice. I keep reading St Lucia is a beautiful island too but itineraries seem to do one or the other. 

Ah thanks so much. Maybe my definition of southern is skewed oops. Our previous cruise took us to half moon cay, grand Turk, San Juan and st Thomas. I loved the waters at HMC (Bahamas) and TUrks my kids loved st Thomas for snorkelling. Kids were bored of walking in SJ but that’s just kids. I do realise looking at a map that some of those islands aren’t really south and very close to where we were on our original cruise.  I just want to pick my neck “batch” of islands to visit and not be disappointed I guess. We loved port days and beach days. I’m seeking some of those beautiful carribean beaches again that I see on postcards. I’m starting on lists but it’s quite difficult. It’s funny in my original trip research once I read some blogs on half moon cay I knew I wanted to go there for the picture perfect beach so I centred my whole trip on it.cominf from australia (yes it’s an incredibly long way) I want to maximise our cruise 

Thanks for that the ABC are definitely on the hit list. I think if we didn’t have the kids and I was going with hubby I would certainly look at celebrity but with kids I think I need to keep them entertained. Ideally would love to go out of mainland USA  it’s far more convenient but I am seriously considering is it worth a departure from PR or Barbados will I get better ports? It’s goinf to be a lot of reading I think 

Ok so I turn a milestone 40 in 2021 and on the back of an epic first cruise earlier this year to the carribean I have decided I want to make the long trek back to the carribean. The southern carribean though. We had such an amazing time in carnival in April on an eastern route with our two kids.that was one fun ship our kids still talk about the fun they had. My absolute favourite was half moon cay. It was what I always dreamed of when I thought of the carribean. Beautiful soft white sand, turquoise blue water. We are very much beach lovers. Kids loved snorkelling on grand Turk too. So now the time has come to plan or at least begin investigating my ne t cruise. I can’t wait. What a way to spend a 40th. This time I want to hit the southern carribean as I hear it is stunning. I’m looking for advise on ports of call for a family who love the beach and me who loves those turquoise blues. I am a little scared to venture away from carnival after having such a fun time. Then again I am also open to doing a back to back cruise and having one with Royal carribean. To me ports are my main concern, ship is second but then again I don’t want something that will disappoint. We were not on any of the big flashy new ships just the Glory but wow what fun we had. The kids especially. Hubby and I with the drinks package he he.

any recommendations on “wow” ports for a southern cruise with those carribean beaches? I have Aruba, Curacao,  st Lucia possibly Dominican Republic, Barbados and Martinique down as recommendations from a friend who worked on Royal carribean many years ago in those waters. My kids didn’t like walking around the heat of San Juan ( I should have left them at kids club) I am open to flying to PR if I need to although some ships do seem to do some of those ports from mainland. For my back to back I was considering one RCI and one Carnival cruise. South carribean for one and maybe the west?  I am very much into ports and less sailing we loved getting off and out and about.

appreciate any thoughts or recommendations. There is just so many ports I don’t know what to pick. I’m so tempted to “re-pick” another half moon cay trip. But I also see cococay for RCI looks good.

kids will be a bit older  by then 12 and 10. They absolutely loved snorkeling and beach. Not into hiking I don’t think 

thanks a bunch , it’s always so much fun planning a cruise 

GT continued...

So we spent The whole day at Jacks playing swimming feeding fish and patting dogs. At about 4:30 we decided to call it quits and head back towards ship. The kids swam the whole way back as we walked. I wanted to browse the shops so I left hubby and two kids at margarita ville pool. Basically just a giant pool with music and drinks etc. I am more of a beach person and in such a wonderful location I don’t know why you would want to sit poolside but I guess some people like it.

our walk back looked like this playing at margaritaville pool

Once back on board it was time to shower and get ready for another fun evening. Back to

Our usual routine of dinner and trivia later. Now this is where I mucked up.i totally didn’t look at the dress code and for some reason didn’t realise it was formal night until we sat down at dinner. For some reason I assumed it was on sea night. My son was most upset and thought we would get in serious trouble but the waiters said it was completely fine. There were a few others that either forgot or didn’t bother.So we ate dinner quickly, played some clue and then back to the lobby for 80s trivia fun .

Another great day and two very exhausted kids again. We were all sleeping so well on this cruise.

As I said Grand Turk was fantastic. The beach is wonderful and the people at Jacks were great.

Def our second favourite port on this trip. I would be happy to head back there on a future cruise...

Sadly our trip was almost about to end... coming up our final sea day on this magical cruise !!!

Grand Turk to be continued....(I have to board my flight.)

chloe and calypso

one of the best family photos we have taken in a long time. How we managed to all be looking smiling and not blinking is a miracle

hooray for grand Turk

awesome jerk chicken

my sandy va Gina ...come on I had to say it

Finally topher arrived and his new pal calypso who was a pup

These dogs are like little celebrities. Topher is the white one. They love company pats and kids. Oh and food. If you are eating prepared to have them as an audience

Here’s some pics of us at the beach that day. The kids watched topher dig, swam with him, swam with fish, swam a lot in general haha.

Here’s some pics

Can I just say again how much I LoVE a balcony room and am so glad I upgraded. This must be what business class feels like on flights( I’ve never been)

Originally I can considered hiring a “ golf cart” and getting around the island but to be honest we are such beach people I just wanted to stay put. A few months back via this forum I started following jacks shack and their famous dog topher on Fb so I ditched the golf cart idea and thought it’s best to just stay put near Jacks have some drinks and a swim.

Like I said earlier I didn’t have great expectations of Gt I think I was just still so blown away by HMC but boy did we love it here.

We went to lobby all geared up around 9:15am surely we would be let out soon. Time for a cocktail( why not when you have cheers)

I have never had a drink at 9am before haha

Just another fruity cocktail and before I knew it at 9:30 they made an announcement and off we went. Even just walking down the pier and seeing the water I started to get excited and knew we were in for a good day. Blue skies beautiful greens. Casey saw us and had a chat on our way out saying it was one of her fav ports and the water was so green. So true. Jacks gets thumbs up from many of the crew too they all seem to head down there

.

Ok now I’m super excited as we walk down the beach to Jacks. It took maybe 10 minutes at most. Lots of vendors along the way with chairs and food etc but we kindly declined and headed to the end.

I think we were one of the first few there and paid $10 for two chairs and umbrellas and the kids bolted for the water yet again

Casey was right this water was beautiful and so green. It wasn’t as gradual a decline in as HMC but still great and safe and shallow for the kids.

Topher and his pal calypso hadn’t arrived yet so I went and got another cocktail “ a sandy vagina” and gave the bar staff some little Aussie gifts and a license plate that they add to the collection. Jack and the dogs hadn’t arrived but I assured the kids they will come.

Kids played and swam we drank and swam and really just chilled out.

GRAND TURK

Sorry I have been a bit delayed with the review. I am now sitting in an airport waiting for a work conference flight and have a spare hour up my sleeve. So what better way to kill time that to relive Grand Turk. I don’t have my laptop there for I can’t make this blue and stand out but I’ll upload lots of pics.

We awoke to something cute in our “ letterbox” from Casey from the funsquad. A little trophy to the kids for their dancing at trivia party. My kids loved Casey mainly because she was Aussie( and plus my daughter was pinning the clue murder on her as she was ms Scarlett)

Up to lido we go for breakfast. Can I just say I loved our room position. Deck 8 towards the front. Very close to central elevators and stairs one floor up to lido a few floors down to restaurant. So handy.

It was a sea of towel animals on deck and my son Loved it. He went around looking at them all and even took one back to the room ( not sure if that was allowed haha)

Today I had a breakfast burrito from blue iguana and loved it. Kids went back for the fruit loops and Cheerios and stocked up for snacks on the beach. They discovered they loved eating fruit loops plain out of the box

Here’s some pics from breakfast

hubby got some sort of quesadilla egg thingy

We were due to dock around 10 am but at around 9 am we were getting ready in the room and I remember looking out and seeing Grand Turk fast approaching. The water looked so amazing and blue

Sorry I have been a bit behind finishing my review....stay tuned Grand Turk coming up hopefully later this evening when I have some time once the kids go to bed. I must say GT it wasn’t a “must” port for me but oh boy did we fall in love with it!!! Easily our 2nd Fav behind Half Moon.....review and pics to come in the next day or so!!

Elevator dancing and a very busy 70s trivia party

the PR door in monochrome I still love it sorry I just love ET and he was in SJ

trivia fun

Despasito.... My kids could not stop singing this mainly because it mentions Puerto Rico!!!!

This was an early dock at 7:30am and we were due to leave by 3:30pm.We were in no rush today. I want to see the Fort and wander the streets. I knew today was going to be a painful day. Zac is a sook when its boring walking as he calls it so i did try endlessly to convince him to stay at kids club. Sure enough he wanted to come. So we had a quick breakfast and off the ship by 8:30am. We decided to walk to the tourist information shop so i can get a map and some info on the free trolleys. There were literally hundreds of vendors trying to sell you tours as we walked along the boardwalk. Im sure you could have bargained and got some cheap prices. One guy even said the kids are free if they sit on your lap. UM......WHAT? have you seen our kids? they are almost teens not toddlers. Imagine having that on my lap in hot sweaty cars. No thanks.....

As we got to the information it was closed until 9am. Urghhhh it was already pretty hot and the complaining had started. We sat outside the office they had a little park and fountain. Kids were happy in the shade waiting. Sure enough they finally opened about 9:15am. I got a map but she couldn't tell me where the trolley stops were and she said some were open and some weren't. Well that was no help. So back across the street to the trolley stop and sure enough a trolley comes within 10 minutes heading to Fort San Cristobal. Thats exactly where we were headed. The trolley was fine, no air con and hot but got us there no problem. We headed in and spent a good hour around the grounds here. Got some great views and pics. The kids enjoyed it here and there was a lot to see.We went to the various lookouts and rooms.The kids loved learning a bit about what it used to be.

Once we had enough it was time to head off and the next stop was MY STOP !!!! i had been eyeing off tanzanite for a while and hubby decided to buy me a ring. I did some research and learnt of a great little family run shop called 7seas who did beautiful rings. I had been in contact with them before leaving AUS and couldn't wait to see what they had on offer. They were in the main street and we either get a trolley part way there or walk. The trolley didn't arrive for a while so we decided to walk with the promise of ice cream from a little street vendor. Well once the ice cream finished the complaining started again from Zac. I loved walking the little streets seeing the colourful buildings. I really wished i didn't have a sooky son in tow. He now decided he wanted to go to kids club (eye roll - we are not going anywhere yet)

We found the store and it was pitch black. Upon further inspection every store around it was pitch black. This in turn ended up being some massive power cut that meant the old town had no power. Some store owners were saying they were being told for 3 days. Lets just say most stores we went into had no power at all.

So here i am looking at tanzanite rings with the torch of my iPhone. It was hilarious. But the boys in the store were absolutely 5 STAR SERVICE. i was taking them to daylight, they were recommending different ones, then the one i liked was a bit beyond my budget etc. I told him what i was prepared to spend and he pulled out this gorgeous ring which at first i wasn't sure, but now i look at it every day on my finger and thing that he made the perfect recommendation. The shape is not something i have, it matches my fingers and i have had nothing but compliments. Don't worry ill post photos it is a beautiful white gold diamond and tanzanite ring and every day at work i look at it and think of the carribean.

The boys in the store were unbelievable. i was helped by Karan who recommended the ring and MAX the owner went above and beyond to get it resized while we wait(without power i know but their sister store had backup power)They are not owned or operated by cruise ships and I'm glad i went here.

Max even told us where to go for lunch and walked us over. He said all the locals go there and its good. Restaurant Manolin.....Wait a minute i had heard great things about this place on trip advisor.

Sure enough we got there just before 12 and i am glad we did because about 30 mins later the queue was out the door They have good home cooked food. We tried various dishes, our kids had a ball at siting at the counter and our server was spot on. He looked at my son when he ordered the pork chop and said " its big". Sure enough zac ate it no worries.

By now he just was dying to get back on board so hubby said he would call it a day. Chloe wanted to "shop " and without me realising had seen some clothes in the window across from the restaurant she wanted to try on. So back we go, collect my ring and part ways. We go into this shop and its pretty busy. She selects some tops with pandas on it and has about 3 items. They were no more than about $50. Well when i saw the line to pay i knew it was going to be a wait. I wasn't quite prepared for a 55 minute wait. After about 15 minutes of waiting when i noticed we had moved 2 steps forward i knew it was going to be painfully slow I know their power was out, but jeez these women were in no hurry. Hand writing everything up, taking money, dealing with people who changed their minds etc etc.

I asked her twice if she really wanted these tops and she did. My offer was if i waited she had to walk with me to the PR door so i could take a photo. She was fine with that.

My goodness they would have missed a lot of sales that day. Im sure people gave up and left. They had super cheap shoes and women clothes.She wears her panda tops all the time so now it was worth the wait.

By the time we leave the skies did not look too good. I pull out google maps and find where the door painted with the PR flag is located. It took 10 mins to walk there and I'm happily snapping as we walk. It had been painted in black now booooo i wanted the vibrant reds and blues. Oh well took some photos and back towards the ship we go. I am getting sms constantly from hubby telling me to not miss the ship. He was such a panic for nothing. We were back on board by 2pm. We had a stop for ice cream and souvenirs on the way. I liked oLD SAN JUAN. i would have loved time to walk around and see and do more with hubby (no kids). The people were lovely.

As we sailed away we had the perfect view pulling out past the forts. We didn't get up to El Morro but saw it as we sailed. It was pretty grey by now and Chloe and i did have to dodge some rain going back to ship.

We all had dinner again as a family with Pande. As i said we only had a kid free dinner once. To be honest i loved having them around for dinner talking bout our day and they got to have and try some great food. I am pretty sure this is where chloe tried and ordered the frog legs.

They went to kids club for a bit and tonight we were back at Trivia night in the lobby. Tonight was 70 and tonight was so much more upbeat and fun. It all started with one of the lipsynch contestants riding the glass elevator and dancing. Then people got in the elevator with him and danced too. Then it became an elevator dance off, people going up and down dancing away during the 70s trivia and songs. By about half way through trivia my husband decided to go get our kids and bring them to trivia dance party. They end up in the lift with the aussie contestant and LEO ( my son loved leo from the fun squad). He became obsessed with Leo by about day 2 or 3 when he went to see him at bingo.

they kids had an absolute blast dancing in the elevator, then the dancing moved to the lobby. Casey the aussie fun squad member was talking to them and dancing with them because they were aussie and having fun of course. As we were leaving she quietly asked for my room number as she wanted to give the kids a card for their dancing which i thought was so sweet.

They were absolutely exhausted tonight. they now love trivia so much they asked if they could come every night....I don't blame them that was some fun nights and great laughs....Lights out!!!!

Your review just gets better and better. Love your pics. And I agree with your son about the chocolate melting cake!

 

Do consider Alaska for your next cruise. It is a totally different experience but so awesome. We did Alaska last summer and it was just amazing.

 

Can't wait to see the rest of your cruise!

I always would love to see Alaska and the kids would get such a kick of the wildlife...it’s just so hard for me to give up the sunshine. I much prefer beach and sun. Hehe I am so torn! If only I could do both cruises.

tiny blue fish where everywhere

Finally getting some pics of st T up.

ST THOMAS-USVI

Another Port day, yay. Originally i was so looking forward to St Thomas. I had originally booked a private boat charter with Island Wilson after so many great reviews and his pricing was great plus he took photos of you underwater. Unfortunately his boat got wiped out by the hurricanes. I did look at other charter companies but in the end decided to stay at St Thomas. They were considerably more in cost. I was contemplating even getting one to the soggy dollar bar too but i think its something i would do when the kids are older.

Now my kids had never snorkelled.Sure they love swimming and the beach, but never actually put a snorkel mask on. After lots of research i decided we would head to Coki Beach. It was between that and Sapphire but i heard depending on wind Sapphire isn't as protected. Sure i could have followed the hordes to Magens bay but i wanted to introduce the kids to a spot of snorkelling. I had pre planned a private transfer with Marley which was great and so convenient. Better than sharing a lift with the crowds and plus we got to the beach when there was barely anyone there.

Wow did it feel like a party or what walking off the cruise ship here. There was a band playing, people dressed up, singing, limbo and heaps of vendors offering you tours or rides. I couldn't find our driver so i messaged the company via the Facebook app and sure enough a few minutes later we meet up. Off we go to his private air conditioned van. I can't remember our drivers name but he was so cool. Telling us a bit about the island, what they have been through post hurricane, and assured me we would like Coki.

Pulling up to Coki i didn't think much until we walked on the beach. Prepare to be hassled straight away. A guy followed our van down the road and introduced himself and his shop for hire of all types of equipment. We don't mind this, we have travelled to Bali a lot and its really common there with hagglers. As i said we were one of the first on the beach i felt like the place was just waking up. It would have been almost 10am by now. So we got our two chairs and snorkel masks for the kids. I got chairs up the front so we could watch the kids. Sure enough later in the day my front became someone else front. Oh well.

A lady in a pink polo came over and introduced herself as our waiter and told us not to order off anyone but her. I must say i was a little scared now and later in the day when she sent her " friend" to take my order i refused to give it until she came over. Just in case someone was trying to cut her turf.

My son had a mini meltdown with the snorkel mask he did not like the thought of wearing it initially and trying to learn to use the snorkel. 15 minutes later and some slow encouragement and he was a pro. My daughter was off and running straight away. We went near the coral world end. It seemed to be where all the rocks and fish were. If you wanted space just walk down the beach to the other end its not a huge beach.

The fish came flooding around us, probably expecting food. You get dog biscuits with your food. And don't leave them on your beach chair because the chickens will steal them. Hehe yep chickens just wandering around again. Strangely enough i ate jerk chicken again for lunch. My kids were in and out snorkelling, sand castles etc again. I went out a few times for a snorkel and they took the underwater camera again to get some amazing shots. Lots of sword fish and tiny little neon blue fish. Enjoyed a beer and a cocktail as well as a " deep fried lunch" of southern chicken, jerk chicken chips, nugget etc. We just took cash for this day.

the beach here is lovely the water is stunning. A bit of broken coral walking in initially but nothing major. You certainly don't need water shoes.

It was really quite peaceful here despite the people. I would say the beach was about half full.

I had organised our driver to pick us up around 3pm. I think our onboard time was 5:30pm. for a 6pm departure. He was prompt and on time so we returned our snorkel gear, got our shipyard back (which you leave as a deposit for the rental) fr the kids ice cream and back in the van we go. St Thomas is very hilly and green. There was some damage along the way you could evidently see.

We were dropped back at port and spend about an hour at the shops before passing the band and party scene again to reboard. I really did enjoy St Thomas but if i was to go back i would love to get that private charter boat and go snorkelling in the surrounding waters. I hear there are turtles and fish everywhere. At least this was a great introduction for the kids and they absolutely loved it.Back in florida a few weeks later we went to discovery cove which was another snorkel session and they just love it. I would also love to see the areas tike Jost Van Dyk, the baths etc. The USVI look great. I would love to see some other ports next time. The people are lovely and wonderful.

Once we had all showered i decided to get a cocktail and sit on the balcony of our room to watch us pull away. We were facing the port. The band had packed up and there were quite a few people making some noise. By now its almost 5:45 and people on different balconies start boo-ing and jeering late comers who are running to the ship. Some had shopping bags etc some looked like they were in no rush. They didn't seem to have come off any "ship excursions" and they certainly weren't in a rush. Lets just say from about a dozen people around me they did not get a welcome reception for being late. I just sat back and enjoyed my cocktail. I know someone asked me in an earlier post what that blue cocktail was but seriously i had no idea what any cocktail was. I was just ordering all the tropical ones. The lobby bar had my favourite rum ones. The blue one i got from the golden restaurant menu and i think it was called blue moon. Honestly if it sounded good i got it. I preferred iguana on Lido for cocktail tastes. You could certainly taste the tequila.

I don't think i tried everything.

Anyway horn goes and we start to pull away from St Thomas. By now kids are hungry and its close to 6. We wanted a quick dinner as they were dying to get to hasbro game show on stage. Off we go back to golden dining and back to Pande. I told her we need to go to the hasbro show and she was like " no problem we will have you out in plenty of time.

I tended to have the "daily specials" most night. I think this was the night i ate wayyyyyy too much with a pasta as a starter and conch fritters and chicken breast. Ha Ha why not So much swimming today had taken it out of me.

We were at the theatre doors by 7:15 pm ready to see the Hasbro show. My daughter insisted on being in the front row and was desperate to get on stage. I feel sorry for my son he has no chance if his sister is around she just jumps up and down like a crazed girl until she gets selected. Dustin ran the game with Casey and Michelle. They selected a bunch of kids and adults and had a few different games to play. It was pretty good to watch. Of course my daughter got on stage and was part of Connect 4. This is where her basketball skills come into play. Her team made it to the grand final and the winning kid was basically the youngest and cutest. She was just gorgeous and won a bunch of board games to take home. Thank goodness i had no way to take anything back. Chloe got a monopoly deal pack which has proved to be so much fun to play. I think all contestants got a prize.

By 8:30 we decide to take the kids to kids club they wanted to do some activities there. Off hubby and I go to the lobby again for cocktails and Trivia.Tonight trivia was a bit busier but fun. As i said earlier, by the final evening this trivia was the party to be at and so busy. there is just so much to do on board i just didn't know what to pick. Joanne in the singalong wasn't o this evening so trivia won.they also had a lip sync battle preview after the trivia so i had strict instructions to pick up my daughter early enough to see this. The kids had an absolute blast at the tail end of trivia. They were dancing and singing along. There was no way they were going to miss trivia after experiencing the last half of it. The battle was cool, the two contestants got up and did a song each. Before long we were all exhausted again and knew we had another port day tomorrow.

Overall i liked St Thomas. I think if my original plans happened i would have loved it more but overall its a lovely port and beach. I hope it bounces back soon because these people are so lovely. Would i return? i think i would pick another port before rushing back here. The USVI all seem so beautiful not to mention the BVI. this whole area needs to be explored.

Heres some pics to enjoy...I will just say a few days ago i sat down and started googling other carribean cruise routes for 3-4 years time :) I know the routes aren't out yet but i turn 40 and i have just found what i want to do. Another cruise. I think this time southern may be the way to go Although my cruise friend who worked on cruises put a spanner in the works by mentioning alaska. I have 3 years to decide.

Photos to come.