Cruisin'...

We left at 6 am on September 17th 2010 to begin our very long journey to Puerto Rico where we set sail for a very fun, long, crazy and relaxing 7-day cruise to the Southern Caribbean.  Our destinations were exotic, hot and very sunny and we lucked out and had perfect weather the entire time.  It was exhausting and unforgettable all at the same time.  We went with a group of wild kids (I say kids only because Eric and I were the eldest of the group) and we had a great time. 

Here is the pictorial proof.

Day 1:

We arrived in Puerto Rico by about 4pm and crashed in our hotel and we were exhausted.  No pictures.

Day 2:

Day 1 in Puerto Rico




We explored our way around Old San Juan,   stopped at Senor Frog's for lunch.  Braved the pouring rain storm that came a went very quickly, We visited the Castillo San Felipe del Morro which was right next to an awesome old cemetery. Let pigeons eat out of our hands and went to the Parrot Club for dinner.

 

Day 3:

Second day in Puerto Rico and boarding day.



We visited another castle fort Castillo San Cristóbal and nearly sweat to death.  Then we headed to the ship to cool off, get comfortable and set sail!



Day 4:  

St.  Thomas




Eric and I ventured out and walked around St Thomas open-air market, took a little city tour and went to a gorgeous beach complete with resident iguanas and white sand.

 

 Day 5:

The Nature Island of Dominica


In Dominica we spent the day with the whole group and had a blast river tubing, exploring the rain forest and wading in the hot mineral pools.

 

 Day 6:

St. Lucia


While part of the group went scuba diving, we took a scenic tour of the forest island of St. Lucia.  This island is very mountainous so shortly into the drive I was feeling quite carsick.   I had to ride with my head between my legs so I wouldn't hurl.  Never the less, St. Lucia is a gorgeous place.  We went to the Peton Volcano and saw the steam pools at the base of it, stopped at a local bakery and had some delicious bread, drove through acres and acres of banana plantations and admired a gorgeous waterfall from afar.

 

 Day 7:

St. Kitts




St Kitts (AKA St. Christopher) was pretty interesting experience.  We rode in a very bumpy, open-air cab and had a bit of an island tour, walked the rain forest for 45 minutes, stopped at a really cool botanical garden and then went to Cockleshell Beach, which was supposed to be the nicest beach on the island.  I suppose "nicest" is a relative term but really?  It was far from nice.  We did, however, get some great, cheap massages on the beach which left me sore for days.  If you are wondering about the pig picture, Cockleshell Beach has a resident pig, Wibur, that wanders the beach and just lives there...ew.  That left me a little turned off to Cockleshell Beach but hey, you can win em all.

 

 Evening of day 7:  Dinner with the crowd



We had dinner every night in the dining room with our huge group and always had so much fun, eating, chatting, laughing, and eating some more.  It wouldn't be a cruise if there wasn't way too much food.



Day 8: 

St. Maarten



St. Maarten is a place that I pledge we will go back to someday.  It was gorgeous and I think my favorite thing was that the residents are prohibited from begging people for money or trying to sell you stuff.  Given that every island was crawling with people trying to swindle you out of every penny, this was quite refreshing and a perfect last cruise day.  We wanted our last day to be a beach day so we found the perfect beach to go to- Pinel Beach!  So gorgeous and very French (you know what that means, right?  Luckily there weren't many nudists).  We were there for about 5 hours and boy did my skin not appreciate that.  The sun there is evil- even in the shade.  I was probably in direct sunlight with 50 SPF on for about 30 minutes and got one of the worst burns of my life.  I spent the rest of the time in the shade but no matter, I was fried.  Eric was worse.  We had a great time playing in the warm, crystal clear water but we paid for it.  I resorted to covering myself with my beach towel because there was no other escape.  We paid $15 for a bottle of Aloe Vera on the ship that night.



Day 9:  Disembarkation and the LOOOOOOONG trip home.

Luckily we weren't kicked off the ship at the break of dawn.  We were able to sleep in a little, eat some breakfast and hang out for a little while before our number was called to disembark.  At this point we were ready to go home but really dreading the REALLY long flight home.  We made it home at about 1am and were very tired and still very sun burnt but so excited to see the kids sleeping faces and be back in our own beds.

Most of the group the first day in PR.

The whole crowd on formal night.

Me on Pinel Island.

The Ericksons and the Parrys in PR

Us in the taxi van on the Dominica Island Tour

Me...uh, I don't know what I am doing.  Just being me.

Eric and I enjoying the Caribbean sun and slowly frying our skin but loving it.