A vacation you say. Really? Well sure. You do the same sort of thing week after week and at some point you need a break. Even if the things that your doing are fun, educational, exciting, and relaxing all at the same time. Plus we got a hell of a deal on the cruise. RCL for 8 nights to St. Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan, and Labadee Haiti. A deal on a last minute cruise and no airfare. Cheapest cruise we have taken so far.
The ship we went on was the "Independence of the Seas". The largest ship we have been on with 4300 passengers and a crew of 1300. It also had 4 pools including the Solarium, an adults-only retreat*
6 whirlpools, two of them cantilevered whirlpools overlooking the ocean, State-of-the-art Fitness Center, Library and Card Room, Poolside outdoor movie screen, casino, numerous restaurants, climbing wall, surfing pool, mini golf, basketball court and a 5 story promenade with shops and restaurants and a few bars. There was more but I won't bore you with it all.
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| The Promenade |
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| The wave pool |
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| Walking the deck at night |
The ports we visited were great. We rented a moped on St. Kitts which I would not recommend doing because the roads are not in the best of shape. However, we did have fun and saw more things doing it than we would of going on one of the ships excursions. Highlights included "Brimstone Hill Fortress" described as the Gibraltar of the West Indies. The views were fantastic and the fort is in great shape. A great piece of history. (No history lessons this time. LOL)
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| Brimstone Hill Fortress. Blow up the photos. The view was breathtaking. |
St. Maarten was a highlight of the cruise. In the morning we took a nice walk in the shopping area. If you want jewelry this is the place to go. It seemed like every other store was a jewelry store, all duty free of course. Then in the afternoon we went "America's Cup Yacht Racing" on THE "Stars and Stripes" which won the America's Cup. We were out for about 2 hours. First we learned our specific jobs. I was a grinder and Lynn was the trash talker. After that we raced against "True North" a Canadian yacht. What fun. We ran 4 legs of the course. When we traveled into the wind we were tacking back and forth so I was grinding away to trim the sails. On the down wind run the bar was open. I can not explain in words how much fun this was. At times we came within a few feet of the other boat. Win or lose it was an unforgettable experience. We won by the way. We would do this again in a heart beat.
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| The boat we raced on. |
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| Lynn was the trash talker. |
San Juan was beautiful but we were only on the Island for 4 hours. Not enough time. We were able to see the two main forts Castillo San Felipe del Morro and Castillo de San Cristobal. Both spectacular but we had to rush through them faster then we liked so we could get to Old San Juan. This is a beautiful old part of the city with beautiful architecture, great shops and interesting people. All in all a good stop but we need to go back and spend more time.
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| Wall carving done by a Spanish prisoner about the 1600's |
Our last stop was Labadee Haiti. Here we went snorkeling and then just sat on the beach relaxing. Saw some great fish and it was a needed rest after 3 straight days of running around 3 different islands.
One of the other highlights of the cruise were our dinner companions. When we signed up for our dinner seating we wanted a group table so we would meet some nice people. Well we struck gold. We sat with 2 other couples. One from Canada but originally from England, and another couple from New Jersey who were on their 4th cruise this year. Please note that this was March 1st. We were all retired and just had a great time together. More friends to meet down the road.
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| One of 2 formal nights on the ship. |
Well that's it. A nice relaxing time on a beautiful ship, and a nice break from our routine. We were however really glad to get back to our home. (5th wheel).
See you down the road.
