Trip Report - Royal Princess 10 Day Eastern Caribbean November 16 - 26, 2016

[jaycruising]

We were in St Lucia bright and early this morning, we were along the dock by 7:15 this morning, even though we were not suppose to arrive until 8. So we had to be up early this morning and get our breakfast and head out to our usual table. We were to meet Spencer and his team at 8:20 behind the Tourist Information Desk, they would have someone holding a sign and would direct us to where we needed to go.

 

We were able to find Spencers team quite easily, paid the balance for our tour, and then were split into our groups depending on what tour you were going on. we waited for probably 20 minutes until it was sorted and we headed to the marina to get into the boats. Spencer was the captain on our boat and he is wonderful, his whole team really is. So we quickly made our way from Pointe Seraphine to Jalousie Beach via the speedboat. It was so nice we were there in no time. If you were driving it would have taken about an hour and a half, we were there in about 20 minutes.

 

When you arrive at the beach and you are looking to the left are the free seats, the ones that are included in your package, this area is not that big so it is best to get there as soon as possible. Looking to the right is the Sugar Bay Beach Resort, you can go over there and rent their cushy chairs, I believe they were $50 each, might have been more. I was more then happy in the included seats. A couple people from our tour did go over and rent out the ones at the resort. We claimed our seats under an umbrella, back close to the washrooms and the area where Chery sets up her both to sell souvenirs. This was the view from our seats.

 

 

 

This area to the right of the boat dock is the snorkeling area, it is marked off by a rope and bouys. I absolutely loved snorkeling here, it is some of the best I have ever experienced it was amazing. However my photography definitely taught me a lesson, DO NOT use zoom on my point and shoot camera, it made the quality of my pictures terrible. I am embarrassed by these photos, you can tell the ones that I did not zoom and the ones I did.

 

Be careful heading in, the area is very rocky and it is hard on the feet!

 

 

 

 

[Sadebud]

Glad you are continuing on! Pictures are terrific!

[jaycruising]

 

 

 

 

 

I was so excited to find this guy, I just wish the picture was clearer.

 

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Time to pop my head up and see where I am, damn water spot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Squid! This was the first time I ever saw it while snorkeling. Actually I didn't even know what it was, thank goodness for google!

 

[jaycruising]

I have to get back to work now, but will finish this up later today.

[jaycruising]

Glad you are continuing on! Pictures are terrific!

 

Thanks! Now that I have the back end figured out I hope to finish it all this weekend!

[jaycruising]

 

 

Time to head in and take a break, I was out there for at least an hour and probably could have spent more time out there. When we will be far away from our seats mom and I will take turns to head out for a swim, just to keep an eye on our stuff. So it was time for mom to head in and enjoy the water for a bit. When just going in for a dip we headed to the other side of the dock, it is a sandy bottom and much nicer to get into. After she came out I decided to head over to the other side and do a bit of exploring, and to check out the water on that side. Like most Caribbean Islands all the beaches are public so you can go in the water anywhere.

 

While we were relaxing the other tours that had been on the island joined us to enjoy the beach portion of their tour, Spencer’s daughter was leading that tour and she brought us all back banana’s fresh from the tree, they were amazing! Just made me realize just how crappy our fruit is here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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And here comes the rain! Might as well stay in the water.

 

 

Let's play with some camera settings.

 

 

 

And selfie time!

 

[jaycruising]

Back to our seats to enjoy the view. We started talking to the girl who ran the souvenir both, I really enjoyed our chat. I actually found the people in St Lucia to be the friendliest! The it was time for us to have our included lunch! It was absolutely delicious, included chicken, plantains, rice, green banana salad, it was all so good.

 

 

After enjoying my meal, and relaxing and talking with Chery so more it was time to head out snorkelling again, this time I was on a mission, she told me that sometimes in the sea grass at the entrance of the snorkelling area you can find seahorses!

 

 

 

 

 

[jaycruising]

 

 

 

 

Time to pop my head up again and see where I am. Damn water spots again!

 

 

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No seahorses :(. guess I will just have to go back and try again!

I headed back to our lounge chairs to relax a bit before it was time for us to get back on the boat and make our way back to port. Before we left I decided that I wanted to buy one of the paintings that Chery had done and was on display on her stand. Mom bought a smaller painting and some banana ketchup. This is the picture I bought.

 

All too soon it was time to pack up our bags and get back on the boat. On the way back to the marina we took our time and did some sight seeing.

 

 

[jaycruising]

This is a bat cave it was kind of cool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Notice the black sand? Most beaches in St. Lucia have black sand because of the volcanos.

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This is the village of Soufriere.

 

 

 

 

 

I believe this is the village of Canaries

 

 

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I love how colourful all the houses are.

 

 

 

 

 

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Then we headed into Marigot Bay, otherwise known as Rich Bastards Bay. They told us that Sofia Loren and Mick Jagger both have homes in here, I have not verified that.

 

 

 

 

[Optotronics]

Thanks again Jay,

We just booked the $65 "Spencer's snorkeling adventure" for our day in St. Lucia on 11/20. He said he needs at 10 passengers to do the excursion. Hopefully more cruisers on the royal this cruise will take advantage.

[jaycruising]

 

 

 

They said the below spot was used in Pirates of the Caribbean, again I am not sure. There are kids that jump off of the cliff and then will swim up to the boats asking for money.

 

 

[jaycruising]

From here we made our way directly to the marina to end our day. These are our hosts for the day. Spencer is on the left.

 

 

I really cannot say enough about this tour and Spencer and his team, they were absolutely amazing, they made sure we didn’t want for anything the whole day. As my mom said, it seemed more like we were guests that had been invited to their home. Many people have done Spencer’s tours over and over. I’m pretty sure that I will be one as well, I couldn’t imagine booking with anyone else. Next time maybe we will do the land and sea tour.

 

Once we were dropped off we had a bit of time before all aboard, so we headed to the port shops to see what else we can find. I bought my Christmas ornament and a bottle of St Lucian rum for a friend back home.

 

Then we headed back on board to take a shower and enjoy our balcony for a while before sail away. I decided to take some pictures around the port from our balcony before we left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jaycruising]

This is the shopping area for Point Seraphine.

 

 

I really do think that this port area is one of the most beautiful that we have visited on this trip.

 

We left the port at 5:45 and started making our way to St Kitts.

 

 

 

 

Shortly after we got ready and made our way down to dinner in the dining room. Unfortunately due to my crappy memory and lack of taking notes I have no idea what we did for the rest of the evening. But we were going to have an early morning in St. Kitts again, so we packed our bags to get ready for that adventure.

 

I have to give a few extra thoughts on St Lucia, it was one of the ports I was most unsure of, but it actually turned out to be my very favourite. I will definitely return wether as a land vacation or on another cruise. I found the people of St. Lucia were also the most friendly that we encountered on this trip. I really can’t wait to go back.

[jaycruising]

Thanks again Jay,

We just booked the $65 "Spencer's snorkeling adventure" for our day in St. Lucia on 11/20. He said he needs at 10 passengers to do the excursion. Hopefully more cruisers on the royal this cruise will take advantage.

 

We were the only ship in port that day and he filled at least 2 of the boats, so my fingers are crossed for you! Maybe mention it in your roll call if you are a member. I promise you will not regret a day with Spencer and his team.

[pretty princess]

Enjoying your review. Love your photographs. Thank you

[zaks pack4]

Your photos are stunning! Bringing back memories of trips in the past on this same itinerary, and looking forward to repeating these same islands in December 2018. Thanks!

[NPSfan]

Love your reports; I’ve got the same itinerary in January!

 

 

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