A Winter Escape: Was there any Magic?

[E@syPe@zy]

Your review is great! I still can't get over the sick baby and sick dog left at home. I would have been a mess if I had to leave home with that going on.

It seems like there have been a lot of rough weather cruises in the Caribbean lately. We did a Panama Canal cruise in December and missed our port in Costa Rica....totally bummed out about that, and had high winds (60-70 knots) for 3 days.

Thanks so much for taking the time to entertain us with your review!!

[Indytraveler83]

Day 2: Rockin' and Rollin'

 

Somehow we made it into bed after Suzy's attempts at murder. We woke up in a bit of a haze, heads hurting and stomachs uneasy. I decided that some fresh air would help my pounding head and opened the balcony door and stepped outside to get a nice lungful of sea breeze.

 

Instead... I got a misty blast of sea salt. My eyes adjusted to the light, and a massive blast of saltwater spray hit me in the face again. I looked down the front of the ship as the bow continued to create blasts of water against wind-blown white cap waves. I ducked back inside covered in quickly drying salt, glasses entirely smeared by water. So this is the disadvantage of my beloved cove balconies...

 

We had apparently ordered breakfast at some point that we couldn't remember, and were pleasantly surprised when a tray of coffee, yogurt, cereal and fruit appeared at our door. Room service is nice. Surprise room service is better!

 

After eating and showering, we decided to head up toward the breakfast buffet for something sort of danish or toast to help ease our still uneasy stomachs. We crossed lido and heard "Mr. Shaun, Mr. Jacob! I get you pitcher now?"

 

So we loved Zoey, we really did. But her bright, loud and smiling face, offering us yet more margaritas when we were still likely a bit intoxicated from the night before was the last thing we wanted. We told her we'd get back to her on that, and then spent the rest of the day avoiding lido.

 

At some point we encountered the BIL, SIL and the 12 year old, and ended up in a lanai hottub. Er, sorry.. lukewarm tub. The BIL had spent a good deal of his trip in hot tubs to this point (due to a shoulder injury sustained a few days prior) and he remarked how weird it was that each and every shower is capable of scalding the skin right off your face if you turn it all the way up, but the hot tubs are barely warmer than his baby son's bathwater.

 

We enjoyed a short time in the tub and sunbathing before the clouds got thick and threatened rain. Jake and I could sense that the BIL and SIL wanted a little time on their own (looking for the next baby perhaps?) so we took the 12 year old for lunch.

 

After looking at a few options, we decided to try the Pub Grub (an extra $3.33 per dish) at the Red Frog Pub. We went to the pub and sat in a seating area away from the bar and waited some time before someone came over to see if we needed anything. The server seemed genuinely surprised that we were ordering food, twice telling us it was free on Lido. After convincing him that we really did want to try their food, he took our orders, which consisted of sliders, conch fritters, wings and coconut shrimp.

 

Apparently these orders aren't placed very often at all, and it took them a while to make our food, which came out piping hot and fresh. The server continued to look and act confused by our food only order, and didn't seem to quite know how to act or serve the food, instead approaching us very awkwardly. The conch fritters were the best of the items, served nearly molten in the middle and tasting better than I thought they could. The sliders were also very good, and much lighter fare than a Guy's Burger. The wings turned out well flavored, but a little dry. The worst of the group was the coconut shrimp which had been fried to the point that the shrimp was little more than a wet goo inside the breading. All were served with some very good plantain chips.

 

As we ate, the weather outside deteriorated quickly, with the wind whipping everything around. We headed outside and attempted to walk around the lanai, but they whole front third was closed off, and even walking in some of the open areas became extremely difficult. We came inside just in time to hear the captain announce that waves were coming at a sustained 12-14 feet, with some pushing higher. He also mentioned high winds, but I could not tell what number he said. He urged extreme caution on outdoor decks and stairs.

 

We wandered the ship for a little bit of time, before wandering back downstairs and dropping the 12 year old off at his room, and then heading back to ours for an overdue nap. We awoke to my mother calling our room, bored and wanting something to do. At this point though, we were in an anti-social mood, and told her we weren't feeling good. Instead we attempted to take pictures of the sea from our balcony (hard to do when the lense keeps getting coated in salt) and then wandered up to the casino to loose some money.

 

After bumming around for a little while longer, we came back to our room to shower and get ready for dinner, still avoiding alcohol like the plague. Once seated for dinner, we ordered hot tea and then were confused a little bit the roasted chicken entree vs the chicken breast. Our server tried to explain that the roasted chicken was "bone in" and the chicken breast was "no bone." Most of us ordered the roasted, but my dad ordered the chicken breast, preffering white meat only.

 

Well... lets just say the two dishes are not exactly that similar. The "bone in" roasted chicken was a chicken breast, thigh and leg with crispy seasoned skin dripping in juices. The "no bone" chicken breast was a nearly rectangular piece of dry and unseasoned meat that looked like it had been stepped on it was so flat.

 

Begin Rant---I've generally enjoyed the changes and improvements to Carnival's menu. But I still can't understand for the life of me how on the same night, at the same time, two "similar" dishes can be so vastly different in quality. The roasted chicken was something you'd be willing to pay a decent price for at a nice restaurant. The chicken breast was something you'd expect in a discount brand microwave meal. What the world Carnival? What the world? ---End Rant

 

Fortunately the server saw my Dad's dissapointment and knowing he had ordered that dish due to being only white meat, quickly produced two chicken breasts of "roasted chicken" without even being asked, and set them in front of my Dad, who appreciated the quick replacement.

 

Most of the table ordered dessert, but I chose the fruit plate, attempting to not throw my already angry stomach for another loop. The plate was fairly good and varied, and I would learn to appreciate the virtue of not destroying my body every single night.

 

We decided to head back to the cabin after dinner to watch a movie, still feeling sick from our 3 day binge, and worn down fromt he constant rocking. We got back to the cabin to a whole new sensation, as every wave caused the cabin to shake, groan and rattle. The waves would hit, and each glass, piece of plastic, light fixture and hanger would rattle and bang, before settling down, and then repeating.

 

We started to get used to the sounds, going in and out of sleep, when suddenly a bang and loud metallic ripping sound screamed through the cabin. We jumped out of bed and peeked out the balcony, but saw nothing obvious. We poked our head out of the doorway where the SIL was asking a room steward about the noise. Long story short, they said someone would investigate, but nothing was every really told to us about the sound.

 

As we tried to settle back into bed, a vibration sound, similiar to about a hundred electric toothbrushes going at once, could be heard through the cabin. Earplugs helped, but didn't entirely drown out the sound. Eventually we drifted off to sleep, but each bang tended to wake us up, and I'm pretty sure I jumped out of bed at least once during the night. We just looked forward to getting off the ship the next day in St. Thomas. At least the floor wouldn't be shaking. Right?

 

Next up: St. Thomas... or what was left of it.

[iriecruising]

Following your high seas adventure.

[You Me & the Sea]

following

[Hogladyrider]

Spot on recall of our rocking & rolling sea days, so sorry you had to endure all this after your "3 day bing" as you put it. I can't imagine how awful that felt. It was bad enough being sober.

 

Great review, enjoying reading along.

[Indytraveler83]

Spot on recall of our rocking & rolling sea days, so sorry you had to endure all this after your "3 day bing" as you put it. I can't imagine how awful that felt. It was bad enough being sober.

 

Great review, enjoying reading along.

 

Oops. I meant “3 day binge”. Guess spellcheck doesn’t work if the wrong word is still a real one!

 

There are so many members that were on this sailing; I’m really interested to see how everyone else feels in comparison to my experiences.

[citizenfrank]

I'm waiting for more of your own IndyTraveler83!

Brilliant

[May1cruiser]

We were also on with you. I always thought it was a myth about how the ship "rocks" differently in different locations, until this cruise. I will say that last january we were in even rougher seas on splendor on the western itenerary.

 

But on this cruise, i walked towards the front on the rough days and it was noticeable between the sounds and creaks were noticeably loouder near the front, even in the forward stairwells. Our room was deck one, just behind midship elevators... in that room, minimal sounds/creaking or motion. I usually bring my own deccor magnets from previous cruises to decorate the room. i watch to see how much they sway. They had the external doors latched on the "secret" decks in front of deck 6 and 7, and that is where i felt the most motion and heard the most sound.

[Indytraveler83]

We were also on with you. I always thought it was a myth about how the ship "rocks" differently in different locations, until this cruise. I will say that last january we were in even rougher seas on splendor on the western itenerary.

 

But on this cruise, i walked towards the front on the rough days and it was noticeable between the sounds and creaks were noticeably loouder near the front, even in the forward stairwells. Our room was deck one, just behind midship elevators... in that room, minimal sounds/creaking or motion. I usually bring my own deccor magnets from previous cruises to decorate the room. i watch to see how much they sway. They had the external doors latched on the "secret" decks in front of deck 6 and 7, and that is where i felt the most motion and heard the most sound.

 

A great example of it was the night of the deck party (forget which night) where the mid ship pool was splashing so bad it kept emptying itself and was closed most of the day, while people calmly swam in the aft pool. I remember seeing the hilarious contrast when someone tried to walk by the pool with a Guys Burger and a drink, got hit by the wave coming from the pool, and promptly dropped everything to the deck. There are few sadder sights than watching someone eagerly think about destroying a burger one second, only to be standing empty handed on the deck, soaked from head to toe the next.

 

Next entry coming up shortly...

[Indytraveler83]

1st Port: St. Thomas

 

I woke up around 6:30 am about as sea sick as I've ever been on a cruise. I peeked out the balcony door and was greeted by the now familiar shower of sea salt. The sky was grey and the ocean still crashed against the ship in great rattling waves. I closed the door and heard the metallic buzzing that had gone on all night. I angrily stuffed earplugs back in my ears and went back to bed, sure that this stop would be cancelled too, and becoming increasingly certain we would spend the week bobbing around the Atlantic Ocean seeing how much vomit we could accumulate before the cruise was over.

 

At around 8:30 am a rap at the door woke us up, and we went through the all too familiar struggle of yelling through the door that we would be right there, while hilariously unable to find a shirt, shorts, a robe, or anything else that might make us remotely presentable to room service. Somehow I feel like if the general alarm went off, we'd be out the door and fully dressed in 20 seconds flat. But if we can get dressed in under 2 minutes when room service knocks its a miracle.

 

After getting our breakfast, we became aware that the rolling had stopped, the rattling was gone, and somehow sunshine had poked through the clouds. We quickly showered and dressed and grabbed our new camera, heading out to open decks. We were sailing through a gorgeous channel of small islands and large rocks on our way to the island of St. Thomas. Going around the open areas of the ship, we must have snapped 50 or 60 shots before realizing it was now getting time to meet everyone else for brunch/lunch.

 

Our port schedule that day was 11 am to 7 pm. I had cleverly decided that we could meet at 11 am with the family at the lido buffet so that we could meet and eat before getting off the ship, then debark shortly after, missing the crowd. I was eager to eat quickly and hopefully get off the ship around 11:30 or so. With the deli opening at 11, breakfast still mostly open and pizza available, nothing could go wrong. Right?

 

I forgot. My mother was with us....

 

While all of us were sitting with food within 10 minutes, she somehow found herself wondering around lido, spoiled by choice. She finally sat down around 11:20 with a burrito from BlueIguana, and went on to tell us about how she arrived at the choice, her background at arriving at that choice, her childhood and the entire story of the world...

 

The entire time she is talking and rambling on, she's waiving this burrito around in the air, as the rest of us, done eating and eager to debark simply stare at her. Eventually the 12 year old goes and gets some sweets, comes back to the table, eats them and then continue to stare as my mother waives around the burrito, completely caught up in her one sided conversation. Thankfully Jake butts in long enough to ask her if the burrito is any good, which reminds her that she has food, and gets her to slowly begin eating it. By around 12:15 pm she finally finishes the burrito. I quickly get up and announce its time to debark, when she interrupts and says she needs to visit the bathroom, then apply sunscreen before we leave. The BIL and SIL escape to their scheduled snorkeling excursion and leave the rest of us to our fate...

 

Somehow, gracefully we eventually find our way to the bowels of the ship. Strangely enough there's still a line to get off the ship. As we get closer, we see those infamous tablets again. The staff member would scan someone's ship card, and then wait... and wait.. and wait... and eventually it would recognize the guest and this would repeat. As you can imagine, the anxiety to get off the ship was getting pretty high at this point. I had Jake whispering in my ear to calm down, and my mother announcing how excited she was to return to The Legendary Tent City of St. Thomas. She had talked over and over about this exciting shopping destination in the well regarded shopping port of St. Thomas. She'd also just been there a few weeks prior during her Princess cruise, and assured me that the hurricane had done nothing to slow the fabulous shopping of this magical port.

 

Once we got off the ship, we arrived on an oddly narrow fenced dock with an unusual number of ship photographers struggling to stop you to take a photo. Now on one side you have the rust streaked hull of the Magic, and the other side has a chain link fence with metal buildings. And not only are there a billion photographers awaiting to capture this moment, there are people that somehow feel like this would be a good picture. Now honestly I do buy some of the pictures that are taken during a cruise, but this is not a photogenic moment.

 

After pushing through the photographers, we then end up in another crowded narrow line where locals hand out shopping maps, tour maps and beg you to join them. Irritated I continue through the crowds all the way to the taxi stand, and request a taxi to downtown. They load us up onto an open aired taxi and then once it fills up, they make their way to downtown. In an odd and rather sketchy move, the taxi driver then pulls over on a busy street about halfway to downtown and demands payment to continue. I can understand taking precaution to be sure you get paid, if thats been a problem. But it would seem far more polite to require payment up front, than hold your passengers hostage on a busy street. We quickly fork over the life shattering four dollars per person, and she continues on.

 

She stops and drops us off right next to The Famous and Amazing Tent City, and my mother bounds out of the taxi to visit her beloved shops. Jake and I look around... and look... and look... and what we see is about 20 tents, each containing almost the exact same mass produced goods as the next.

 

My mother eagerly begins one of her famous conversations with a jewelry vendor, and the rest of us quickly wonder through the tents, trying to see the value in the place my mother has taken us. Taxi drivers and private tour operators roam the aisles aggressively stopping anyone who will listen and offering a tour.

 

I tell Jake that we'd always told our families we might break off from them at St. Thomas, and that it was time to exercise that right. I asked a friendly looking vendor about beaches, but they say most of them are too rough and too cold to enjoy today. He goes to his mother and tries to tell her, but she promtly hands him her return cab fare and says she's just going to tag along with us. She then continues her game of trying to bargain with vendors. I try to tell my mother the same, but she stares deeply into some unknown stone on a pendant (at the exact same tent she started) and says "just a minute..."

 

At this point I'm not just frustrated, I'm furious. The beaches apparently aren't a great place to be, the shopping is awful, and our families are using passive aggresive tactics to keep us from at least exploring on our own. Jake tries to talk me down but I'm not into it. Red faced and ready to unload on someone, I turn away from him and right in front of yet another open air taxi driver who prompty unfolds a map and goes into his offer...

 

To be continued...

Edited February 8, 2018 by Indytraveler83

[Hogladyrider]

Hysterical......I'd be on a binge too!

 

Can't wait to read more.

[Cruisin4fun_vacationtime]

This is hysterical. Thank you so much for writing it and letting us share in your experiences!

[harleydi]

I'm loving this review so far. Have to follow to see how it ends!!

[Indytraveler83]

St. Thomas Continued:

 

So this is where I tell you about my comic misadventures in a Virgin Islands prison after delivering a raging right hook to an unsuspecting taxi driver, right?

 

Not quite...

 

I realize that this very eager taxi driver is actually my key to changing my day. He offers to take the 4 of us (my parents are still stuck by the first vendor and out of sight) for a tour of the island, up the mountain, onto several scenic stops overlooking the city and the beaches. He says he will also stop at Secret Harbor for about 20 minutes, and if anyone wants to stay, he’ll return an hour later to pick them up. He claims he will do this for $25 per person.

 

I turn away, saying that the 12 year old didn’t bring any tour money. He quickly assures us that he’ll let the child ride for free, making it $75 for the four of us. I tell him that sounds okay, but that there’s actually 6 of us in the group, and I’m not sure how much money they have left. Now it’s $100 for all 6 of us, and the tour leaves in just 15 minutes. I tell him he’s got a deal, and announce to the group that they each need to give me $20 and the taxi leaves in 15 minutes with or without them.

 

Everyone but my parents are excited about this, as they’d just paid $60 per person for a similar tour on Princess and said it was just a rough ride up the mountain and down again. I don’t particularly care at this point, heading toward the large open aired taxi.

 

We board up, and the man announces he won’t take any payment at all until the end of the trip, and that we aren’t to pay him if we don’t enjoy ourselves. Okay, guy’s got some confidence. We quickly leave the city and start the steep climb up the mountain. He stops about halfway up at a scenic outlook and tells us a little about the area, and points out various points of interest, as well as hurricane damage. This is the first time we’ve gotten to see the island as a whole, and while certain areas look like tropical paradise, others are piles of debris, damaged houses or completely flattened sections of forest.

 

The tour guide points out several items of interest throughout and we arrive at the scenic mountain top complete with the large souvenir shop and its “Famous Banana Daiquiris.” The guide walks us through the shop and to the back where a large patio gives you a stunning view of the island. He then sets a time for us to meet him back at the taxi and tells us to take pictures and enjoy ourselves. (Side note: this is the first time I’ve ever been taken to any sort of shop or store by a guide and not received an immense amount of pressure to buy something)

 

Jake and I take pictures while our families shop and buy badly overpriced jewelry and banana daiquiris. At some point my mother started talking to the guide (surprise!!) and told him that he was doing a far better job as a guide than during her Princess cruise, and for a third of the price.

 

He told her he’d spoken with the cruise lines about working with them, but they would only give him $10 a head, and still charged the tourists $50-$60. He said the operators who work with the cruise lines are too burnt out and underpaid to give a s***. And this is the most compelling argument for why cruise lines don’t want to skip ports. If true, they make immense profits from scheduled excursions. This interaction has made me seriously second guess ship sponsored tours.

 

After loading up again, we made a few more scenic stops before getting to Secret Harbour. We stopped at a fantastic scenic overlook of Meagan’s Bay and he gave us some history of the bay. Looking down, half of the beach was closed, and it appeared there were only a few people in the water, most appeared to be sunbathing or playing in the sand.

 

Afterwards he took us down the mountain to Secret Harbour. He led us to the beach and set another time to meet us at the taxi. About a fourth of the group elected to stay on the beach, and he agreed to meet them much later in the day. Secret Harbour was gorgeous and very peaceful. I think we all ended up staying quite a bit longer than he’d intended, but he patiently waited for the group to get back to his taxi and headed back to the port. True to his word, he told us to only pay him if we had enjoyed ourselves. Most of us tipped him fairly well, and were honestly surprised at how much fun we’d had for such an inexpensive guide.

 

Back at the port, we all split up to do some shopping. Jake and I tried to find a store other than a jewelry store. And we tried… and tried… and tried… At one point we walked by 10 in a row, turned the corner, then walked by another 10. The few that weren’t selling jewelry were mass produced trinket stores selling poorly made junk with “St. Thomas” emblazoned across it.

 

After just a few minutes we headed back to the ship, only to find an insanely long line to get back on the ship, despite the fact it was only around 4:45, and the ship didn’t depart until 7. Again, the tablets seemed to be the culprit, scanning ID’s painfully slow.

 

Up next: Final thoughts on St. Thomas, and an evening aboard the ship.

 

[Indytraveler83]

Final thoughts on St. Thomas:

 

So I apologize for being particularly long winded, but I really wanted to justify my thoughts on St. Thomas. In short… I don’t get it.

 

When I was researching this trip, I picked this particularly itinerary because all of the ports were so highly rated. St. Thomas led the pack and I read that the swimming, shopping and historical sites were amazing, and that there was so much to do. I just don’t see it.

 

I admit that the beaches were very nice, and had it been a bit warmer, this would have made for a good beach day. I also understand the island is having a particularly tough time recovering from the hurricanes. But the tourist areas appear fully intact and undamaged, with most of the damage apparent in residential areas (sadly). The shopping here is absolutely awful unless you are looking to get ripped off by a jewelry vendor or want a piece of junk that has “St. Thomas” written across it in letters nearly as big as the “made in China” label on the bottom of it. Aside from beaches and shopping, there is little else to do, and the vendors, tour operators and locals are aggressive and pushy, sending me into flashbacks of our disastrous stop at Progreso some years ago.

 

Even with the nice beaches, I don’t see what St. Thomas has over beach stops like Roatan, the private island stops and especially Grand Cayman. As a whole I just don’t get the high ratings. This island is a pretty good beach stop if you can dodge around the aggressive locals. I never felt unsafe or unwelcome, but aside from a friendly local guide that I literally stumbled upon, I saw very little that would make me recommend this island to others, and I certainly wouldn’t pick another itinerary for this stop. Overall St. Thomas came with very high expectations that were not at all met.

 

And on with the evening now:

 

After getting back on the ship, we headed to our room tired, sweaty and starving. We had all agreed to meet for dinner later than usual, so I picked up the phone and ordered room service. We took turns taking showers, and then room service arrived shortly after. We removed our carry-on wine from the fridge, took our food to the balcony, and watched the sunset over St. Thomas. It made for quite the calming afternoon after a hectic day.

 

After what seemed like no time, we met the family in the dining room for dinner. This night there was no line and no wait to get into the dining room, and when we entered it was about half full. On the advice of our waiter, I ordered the shrimp curry, as did my soon to be MIL.

 

Service tonight was very slow, and it took forever for each round to come out. We emptied both pitchers of water on the table, and had to flag someone down to refill them. The shrimp curry arrived, and while my MIL thought it was very good, I realized I hadn’t read the description very well, and it contained cooked pineapple, one of my least favorite foods. (Seriously, why do people grill fruit?) I did not dare ask for a replacement, with as slow as the staff was this night, and instead picked out the shrimp. The curry wasn’t spicy, and honestly just tasted like a thick soupy mix. We all ordered dessert, and it felt like they’d forgotten about us. The MIL finally flagged down a server and told him that the show in the main theater started in 15 minutes, and she’d like to finish her meal.

 

After another 10 minutes, dessert finally arrived. We ate it quickly and all agreed to go to the show afterwards. We hurried to the theater where the show was just starting, and the theater appeared packed. This was the first playlist show most of us would attend (only the MIL and 12 year old attended Flick), and it was the country music themed show (forget the name).

 

We looked on, and the MIL appeared very disappointed that we may not even get to sit, when suddenly we hear “I missed you! Where have you been??” Zoey comes out of seemingly nowhere, hugging us before we even realize its her. We greet her, but tell her it appears we won’t be able to watch the show. “Nonsense” she says. “You wait here.” She ventured off into the theater, and within seconds comes back “Follow me, you get good seats.” Before we know it, we are all seated, and seated 4 across in 2 rows in front of each other, much better than we’d expected. Drinks were ordered and arrived almost immediately. Pretty soon we were just watching the show, sipping drinks. I’m pretty sure the MIL slipped Zoey a $20 bill for the help, without even ordering a drink herself.

 

I’m not a fan at all of country music, and therefore didn’t enjoy the show much at all. But I can appreciate that the playlist actors performed extremely well, and were very well rehearsed. I was also shocked at the set. In recent years it has seemed that Carnival has gone to smaller groups and no set pieces, relying instead on a digital screen for the “set.” This show was the exact opposite. The set was a massive scale, taking the entire stage and rotating and changing. It had a large cast and live musicians in the orchestra pit. While I didn’t particularly enjoy the music, I was absolutely impressed by the re-dedication to real set pieces, and decided I would return for the next few shows.

 

Jake went to bed after that, and I tried to stay up, joining my parents in the piano bar. Twice I nodded off in my seat, and excused myself and went to bed. When I arrived in my room, the obnoxious buzzing had returned full force. I put my earplugs in and laid down. For once the seas weren’t tossing and turning, causing me to drift off to sleep quickly and easily, holding onto the hope that my sky high expectations of San Juan would not also be in vein.

 

Up Next: San Juan

[John319a]

Do you remember the tour guy's name? We might do that when we are there next month.

[Indytraveler83]

Do you remember the tour guy's name? We might do that when we are there next month.

 

I don't remember unfortunately. Most of the open air taxis on the island are identical Ford trucks with open seating on a covered fiberglass carriage on the back, carrying around 30 people. I do remember that our guide had a floral pattern on his red truck, where most of them are just solid red. We found him on the edge of downtown, right next to the "Tent City."

 

He seemed very friendly with most of the others, and I get the impression that they all operate very similar tours. If I were you, I'd try getting on board with one of them at the port, so that you don't spend the money we did getting into downtown first (trust me, unless you want jewelry, that $4 taxi ride is a waste). They seem to keep a schedule among themselves, with no one leaving at the same time, and everyone offering a time slot 15-30 min different than each other. Trust me, they won't be hard to find, as most of them will walk right up to you if you don't seem like you are absolutely certain of your destination.

[Lounroxluv]

Can’t wait to hear the rest

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Mr. Blonde]

Zoey pulled no punches with the drinks either. While we found the entire ship to serve stronger drinks than I'm used to, she was particularly generous with the good stuff, causing us all to be rather tipsy after just a few rounds of pitchers.

 

 

Note to self...find Zoey as soon as I board on March 10.

[John319a]

I don't remember unfortunately. Most of the open air taxis on the island are identical Ford trucks with open seating on a covered fiberglass carriage on the back, carrying around 30 people. I do remember that our guide had a floral pattern on his red truck, where most of them are just solid red. We found him on the edge of downtown, right next to the "Tent City."

 

He seemed very friendly with most of the others, and I get the impression that they all operate very similar tours. If I were you, I'd try getting on board with one of them at the port, so that you don't spend the money we did getting into downtown first (trust me, unless you want jewelry, that $4 taxi ride is a waste). They seem to keep a schedule among themselves, with no one leaving at the same time, and everyone offering a time slot 15-30 min different than each other. Trust me, they won't be hard to find, as most of them will walk right up to you if you don't seem like you are absolutely certain of your destination.

 

Okay, thanks. We'll find someone!

[Hogladyrider]

Loving your review as we were on the same cruise.

 

We have been to St, Thomas many times and this was a visit first for us since the hurricane damage of last fall. The island definitely took a hit and I hear the damage was worse over on St. John.

 

One of our best excursions in St. Thomas was one we did on our own. We took a taxi to Red Hook and hoped on the ferry over to St. John for the day. Once in St. John we took an island tour $20 pp and so worth it, talk about steep climbs and our driver left us off at Trunk Bay so we could spend the remainder of our time on the beach, which is oh so beautiful.

 

Unfortunately our time in St. Thomas this cruise really wasn't long enough to do this same trip but next cruise we will probably go back over to St. John. We spent this trip on Secret Harbor for the day. It was our 3rd visit here and the snorkeling is great the seas are always calm but the service was very very poor.

 

In the past we've visited Coki and Maegan's Bay but recently there have been numerous reports of local crime increasing there.

 

We learned a while ago shopping is best done online anymore as so much is made in China and very few "deals" in local ports.

 

Again, really enjoying your review!

[Indytraveler83]

Note to self...find Zoey as soon as I board on March 10.

 

Her full name is Zothan if that helps. Just tell her you like your drinks strong, slip her a little extra cash after the first drinks, and she will be the most alcohol enabling friend you’ve ever had!

 

Thanks for all the follows and comments guys! I’m gonna try and keep up the pace over the next several days and get you the full story!

[phinfan63]

Another option for St Thomas - we went thru High Pockets and rented a sail boat (this was just for the 6 of us in our party) and it was a great day. Drinks flowed, lunch was prepared and served and they stopped several times for the guys to snorkel.

[Indytraveler83]

San Juan:

 

I’ll admit my first impressions of San Juan weren’t very good. From our balcony, we saw the industrial side of the island as we sailed in, and then we pulled into port at the Carnival cruise terminal, which looked extremely beaten up by both the hurricane and time. Near the end of the dock, part of the cement walkway lay in the water, and some sort of water tank at the end of the pier was being filled with water almost as fast as it was leaking, making me think of the kids WaterWorks area on the ship. A tanker truck was parked on the pier, with a pretty Mad Max looking fuel pump on a trailer sitting next to it. From just this view, I was preparing for another day of disappointment.

 

Our room service breakfast arrived and we ate, showered and got ready to head out. I’d gotten a little wiser from the prior day, and told everyone to meet outside our rooms at 8:30 am (the ship debarked at 8) ready to go with sunscreen on, bladders empty and stomachs full. Everyone met on time, though my mother didn’t appreciate it when I asked her why she wasn’t swinging a burrito around this morning.

 

Debarkation went a little faster, it appeared the tablets were now working at dial up speed, and I only saw a few people die of old age waiting to get off the ship this time. The pier was much more open and less crowded than at St. Thomas, making it far easier to dodge around the photographers eager to get just the right picture of you with the fuel tanker in the background. We were forced to walk through the cruise terminal, which appeared to be entirely empty on the first floor. Walking out of the terminal was the first view any of us got of Old San Juan.

 

It is very hard to describe our initial reaction. We were bombarded with the colorful sights of Old San Juan, the medieval looking wall bordering the city, and the menacing fortress of El Morro barely visible in the distance. Music flooded our ears and a hot, sunny day was already beginning at this early hour. Fluffy white clouds lingered in a piercing blue sky, and turquoise sea crashed against the barriers at the base of the city wall.

 

Some hurricane damage was apparent, especially at the newer seaside buildings near the port, and at the port itself. But everything inside the walls appeared to be safe and secure, save a few boarded up windows high on buildings here and there. Harmony of the Seas was already in port, and Anthem was scheduled to arrive a short time later. Tourists poured out of the port area like an invading army, and the locals rushed to meet us.

 

San Juan did not have any shortage of vendors, tour operators or guides who wanted your attention. But unlike St. Thomas, vendors stayed behind their booths, and guides stood in place, attempting to get your attention, but not pursuing you. The difference may be unnoticable to some, but the decrease in aggression level made San Juan feel welcoming, rather than overwhelming.

I had read on this site that Old San Juan is very walkable, and to not waste money on tours that would drive you through places you wanted to see. Instead we stayed along the seaside boardwalk, walking past all offers and soon ending up on the walkway at the base of the city wall. I struggled to get anyone to move, as everyone had cameras out, snapping picture after picture, exclaiming how gorgeous the sea, the wall and the sites were this day. I agreed, but told them this was akin to enjoying Disney World from the ticket line, and implored them to continue into the city. Eventually the path was blocked off due to repairs to the wall, and we entered the city through a gate in the wall, which looked like it was still prepared to be sealed off against hostile invaders.

 

We walked down the narrow city streets, encountering dozens of feral cats that our mothers were dying to pet. We made it to the top of the walls, and were surprised to see the little guard towers on the wall were open and able to be entered. We took even more pictures, then followed the pathway around a corner.

 

Everyone gasped as El Morro came into full view. This massive fortress was carved into the cliffside of a narrow bay entry, and even 400 years after its inception is a menacing and captivating presence. We quickly walked up the walkway that stretched across a massive lawn and into El Morro. The entry price was only $7 per person, and included free entry to the other fortress as well. Our 12 year old got in free, and soon we were exploring the stairs, rooms and walls of El Morro.

 

We all split up, for which I’m glad. Jake and I quickly ascended and descended staircases, ramp ways and walked through dark cavernous rooms. El Morro has been mostly restored, but handrails and new footing has been expertly disguised and minimalized, making the fortress safe enough for tourists, but still very original looking. We made our way all the way to the shoreline, up through the cannon batteries, and eventually to the top and the base of the lighthouse. Jake announced that he’d taken nearly 200 pictures of the fortress alone.

 

I cannot put to words how awestruck we were by this place. It was as beautiful as it was haunting. The fortress is so very easy to walk to, and the $7 admission won’t break anyone’s bank. They permit you to walk in almost every place of the fortress, with very little off limits. We spent most of the morning here, only meeting back up around lunchtime, starving, thirsty and sunburnt.

 

As we hesitantly left El Morro, we saw that the lawn had come alive with locals. I guess this massive green area is used as a park by the people of San Juan, and dozens of kites filled the sky, people played with their dogs, their children and their families, and several picnics were just being set up. It was so neat to have just left a site filled with so much history, to then stumble right in the middle of vibrant Puerto Rican culture. Everyone appeared friendly and happy, music played from everywhere all at once, and it seemed like the entire island had decided to celebrate the beautiful day with us. We strode through this crowd, hoping one of the kites whipping through the sky wouldn’t come crashing down, and entered the narrow city streets in search of some food...

 

Up next: Puerto Rico Part 2

[Indytraveler83]

San Juan Part 2:

 

We wandered through the colorful city streets, and after heading south for a little while, we found several shops advertising “fresh gelado” and ice cream. I nearly ducked into one myself before someone in our party noticed an open air restaurant right around the corner. I had to be dragged away from the gelado and into a seat at the restaurant. A menu was placed in front of me, and a server introduced himself. I was never able to catch the name of the place.

 

There was a bit of a language barrier, and the menu was mostly in spanish, but we took it in stride, and soon had drinks and food in front of us. The drinks tasted extremely weak, but that was likely due to Zoey’s obsession with making us alcoholics than anything they did wrong. The first thing to come out was chips and queso, and it might have been the best queso I’ve ever had. Everyone ordered something a little different, but the shrimp wrap I had was fantastic.

 

As soon as the checks were paid, I stood up and told everyone they could do what they wanted, but I’d be having my gelato now thank you. I made a beeline for the small gelado place across the street, and wasn’t particularly surprised to see the 12 year old right beside me. We entered the small shop, and the 8 of us, combined with another small group ended up nearly overwhelming the small place. However, it was just the frozen burst of sweetness I needed, and I proudly marched down the city street, face buried in cheesecake gelado, looking for more fun.

 

After a little bit of ducking in and out of stores, we came across a small grouping of vendors with tents in a park square. I saw artists actually making their items on site, and bought some rather cool paintings that one woman was working on that were painted directly onto bird feathers.

 

The only complaint I have about San Juan, is that encountering a bathroom is about as likely as encountering Godzilla strolling down the street, gelado in hand. We would stop and ask about bathrooms, and they would direct us somewhere that didn’t have a bathroom. That place would direct us somewhere else, and the cycle would repeat. Eventually we found a place on the oceanside that looked like a small terminal that happened to have open bathrooms.

 

After a little more shopping, we decided we were spent, our legs turned to jelly and our skin even further sunburnt. We got back on the ship about an hour and a half before last call, meaning that the line to get back on the ship was very short. However, that didn’t stop the tablets from making this short line move painfully slow. A few photographers decided this would be a good place to take gangway pictures, and I couldn’t help but think this wasn’t the worst idea. For once, they weren’t the ones slowing things down.

 

Getting back on the ship, Jake and I decided to take the 12 year old to the waterslides and Waterworks area. With the ship in port, and the sun blazing down on us, these areas were actually open, and it wasn’t too cold to get in the water. The slides were running slower than I remember on the Dream, but it was fun, and the 12 year old had tons of fun with the large tipping bucket in the Waterworks area. We stayed until we were all shivering, and the ship began to move out of port.

 

Returning to the room, we made it just in time on the balcony with the camera to catch the ship passing El Morro. We took our last pictures of the fortress and already missed our experiences in this fantastic city. We quickly showered and got ready for dinner, which would be the second formal night.

 

We headed upstairs right as the dining room open, and pretty much walked in with no wait. Service was much faster, (though I think this is the first time that lobster hasn’t been available both formal nights that I’ve sailed) and we quickly had drinks and apps in front of us.

 

My father had thought about the beef lasagna, but due to some confusion (completely on his part, sun and alcohol was affecting him a little extra tonight) he selected another dish he didn’t really want. Our waiter served him what he asked for, but as soon as everyone else had gotten their food, he came back with the lasagna, and insisted that Dad try it. He did, and loved it. I quite appreciated that the waiter read the situation correctly and gave Dad what he didn’t even realize he wanted.

 

After dinner, went went and saw 88 Keys together, and I found this show to be a little more fun than the country show. It still had the massive set and the same group of singers, but added the piano bar player to the mix. Zoey found us again, and I ended up with a couple of drinks before I really knew what had happened.

 

Jake stayed out at the casino with his mom, and they had a fun time at the Alchemy Bar. I wasn’t feeling particularly good, so I headed to bed early, laying down and watching tv for most of the night. I think Suzy was trying to kill me too quickly. Zoey knew that after dozens of drinks over several days, she’d eventually destroy my liver and digestive system.

 

The ship was going slow, so the metallic buzzing was minimal, and I thankfully got some deep sleep for the first time all week.

 

Next up: Grand Turk