Cruise Log Part 6: Look What the Tide Brought in!

Wednesday the 10th we arrived in St. Thomas.  We also went to Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas on our last cruise.  I love the view from the balcony of the island and all these little sailboats moored and dotting the bay.  It's so picturesque.  Our excursion for the day was to go to Magen's Bay Beach.  Supposedly it is one of the top 10 beaches in the world.  It was very pretty and very fun.  We had an open air bus to take us there.  We were first taken to a scenic overlook where we could see the beach from above and it was beautiful!  There was a lady there with a donkey, that seems to be a famous fixture there because I saw a lot of postcards with that donkey on it, wearing a hat and flowers.  There were also locals selling bottled water because it's more expensive on the beach.

When we got down to Magen's Bay, Scott went to change (I had worn my swimsuit and just put a sarong and a t-shirt on over it) and I went in search of beach chairs to rent.  We set up our chairs and went out into the water.  I had my waterproof camera strapped to my wrist.  It was a beautiful day with blue skies and fluffy white clouds.  The waves were awesome.  It was like being in a wave pool.  If you stayed pretty close to shore, you were really tossed around.  There were teen boys laying on the sand and waiting for the surf to come up and then it would suck them back into the water.  I made the mistake of hanging around in that depth, looking for seashells and got tossed around so much, I had sand all in my swimsuit.  I went out in the water a little farther out to mask what I was doing and pulled my swimsuit away from my body, hoping to wash all of the sand out of it (it didn't work, apparently.  When we got back to our cabin and I peeled off my swimsuit, I was caked with sand).  I was enjoying floating on the water and feeling the waves push and pull me.  I could spend a whole week at that beach.  Or live there!  So peaceful and relaxing.  I finally figured out that there was a little "shelf" near the shore.  It was really fun to let the surf carry you towards the beach, but if you had your legs drawn up, you could brace your feet against that shelf and not be swept along the sand (which is quite abrasive).  Then when the wave went back out, you'd be sucked out again.  I did this back and forth over and over for a while.  I may be easily entertained, but all I wanted for this trip was to relax and de-stress and this was the best of any of it, just floating along with the waves.

When the tour bus was ready to take us back to the dock, we decided to do some shopping.  We have been through some of the shops in St. Thomas before, so we knew the street where most of the major shops were and also the markets near the pier.  Shopping is a big deal in St. Thomas because it's duty free.  They hand out all kinds of coupons and free offers, especially for jewelry.  Next time I go, instead of wasting all kinds of money on the spa, I'll save it for jewelry shopping.  I really love the Tanzanite and the Ammolite and colored opals.  The sales people are a little pushy.  They stand on the sidewalk in front of their shops and try to convince you to go in, even offering you free stuff and nearly pushing you in the door.  One guy seemed very helpful, telling us the layout: this way is food, this way for clothing, that way for jewelry, etc.  But, then he urged us to come in his shop.  One place that I like to go into is Mr. Tablecloth.  They have tons of linens.  Last time, I bought a jacket there.  This time, I got large and small white lacy parasols.  I think they would be adorable in my photography!  Can you imagine a mother/daughter picture?  In the back of the store, there is a small drugstore and we have visited there both times to pick up necessities and a few souvenirs.

After we got back on the ship and showered, we went to La Cucina for dinner, which is the Italian restaurant on-board.

My Caribbean Cruise Blog Day 4

Cruiser’s Log, Day 4 (1/12/10)

I woke up in the middle of the night, coughing and choking, so I got up for a while. We were passing by San Juan, Puerto Rico at the time. After my throat felt better, I went back to bed.

When I woke up, I looked out the balcony and saw a small little rock island going by. We got ready and went to breakfast at the “Garden Café”, then we went back to the room and got ready as we were docking in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The weather was beautiful! Blue skies, sun, and warm temperatures! But, of course, we weren’t going to the beach!

We collected our things and went downstairs. We were docked between a Carnival cruise ship and a Princess cruise ship. I thought our ship was big enough, but Princess was even BIGGER! And I heard later that there was another one that was even bigger than that! I can’t even imagine! We joined a group going to Coral World and took an open air taxi to the other side of the island to Coki Beach. We were a little disappointed in the park, but it was okay. We saw little sharks and sting rays. Then we went in an observation tower that reached below the sea and we were able to go down and look at the fish, etc. We saw sea turtles and iguanas. We took a break to sit and we called Sue to check on things at home because we were getting AT&T service. I had forgotten the two hour time change and the kids were still at home before school, so I was able to talk to them! I was so happy! The longest I have gone without the kids is four days and I can hardly get through their weekends with their dad without talking to them.

Then we went in an area to see different fishes, lobster, etc. in little aquariums and they brought in two sea lions, which was fun to see and made the trip worthwhile. Then we finished up a little nature trail, bought a couple of things in the gift shop, and headed back to the taxi. Our driver, Agnes (cab number 1110, which we remembered since our room number is 11010), took us back to the pier. From there, we walked around the Havensight Mall which is right next to the docks, and did some shopping. Then we caught another open air cab to the downtown area, which wasn’t far and only cost us $4 each.

We walked around redeeming coupons for free stuff (mostly jewelry) and shopping. We also stopped by the post office and mailed some post cards to the kids. We walked and shopped some more. We thought we had to be back at the ship early because we had signed up for a murder mystery dinner, so we headed back via taxi and went up to our rooms and showered. But, we realized that we had the dates wrong. The murder mystery dinner is tomorrow night. Oh well, we were pretty tired from walking and the sun, so we were pretty happy to be in. I painted my nails with my new nail polish from Del Sol, which changes colors in the sun. Then we went down to dinner at the “Garden Café.” Since it was early, it wasn’t very busy and we got a nice table right by the windows with a beautiful view of the bay and the sailboats and the coast of Charlotte Amalie.

After dinner, we refilled our drinks and went back to our room. We sat on the balcony as the ship departed and watched St. Thomas fade away and the beautiful sunset until it was dark. Then Scott took a nap and I watched P.S. I Love You on the movie channel. I am so glad that we have the balcony room. I don’t mind being in my room when we have such a spectacular view and a door to let in the fresh sea air. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have an interior room and not be able to see the outside except in the common areas.

I guess I was wrong about the Caribbean sea. I guess we will be in the Caribbean for a while in the middle of the night. Our little loop to kill the night before we dock in Tortola tomorrow. And I was reading in our excursion description that our trip tomorrow includes being in the Caribbean sea.

I was flipping channels after my movie and found out that there was a 7.0 earthquake and strong aftershocks in Haiti, which shares its island with the Dominican Republic, which is where we were yesterday. Pretty scary that that is so close. They are saying it was felt as far away as Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (which we passed by 2 nights ago), and that there were initially tsunami watches for Puerto Rico (which we passed by last night and are still not far from) and the Bahamas (which is where we will be Friday). I am wondering what time exactly the earthquake occurred because twice while we were shopping today, I felt like I was still on the ship, because it felt like the floor moved beneath my feet. I had to do a double-take and realize I was on the ground, not the ship. I blamed it on “sea legs.” But over dinner, Scott said he felt the same thing. It makes me wonder if we felt it there in the Virgin Islands. So devastating for the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, but I am so thankful for God’s protection for us.

I tried to wake Scott up to go get a snack, but he was near comatose, so I went out by myself. I went through the “Garden Café” and grabbed a few pieces of this fabulous bread that tastes like a soft pretzel. No, really, REALLY soft! And I got an apple along with the bread to take up to the room in case either of us got hungry again. Then I went to pick up our portraits that had been taken Sunday night. They also had up our picture from that morning, leaving the gangway, encountering some friendly pirates. It was a good picture and it’s hard to get pictures of us both together and since it is our honeymoon, I would like more of us together. So I bought it. I refilled both of our drinks and walked around some tables set out with $10 watches, pashminas, purses, and wallets. I didn’t see anything I couldn’t live without, so I headed back to the room.

I played my Nintendo DS for a while (Dr. Layton’s Diabolical box) and then we ordered some dessert from room service. We were watching two other cruise ships from our balcony not too far away. We had seen two others in port today, but had heard that there were two more somewhere. It was interesting to see their lights in the dark. I sometimes feel a bit panicked when I think of how deep the ocean is or how we are out in the middle of it and how I don’t swim very well or that there are sharks somewhere. But it helps when I can see land nearby or the other ships. When I saw the other cruise ships, I asked Scott if we were circling the wagons. Maybe the “pirates of the Caribbean” were upon us! I went to bed and Scott stayed up reading.