RE: Carribean vacation

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Originally Posted by Team Richards

WOW that sound like a busy trip but full of interesting stuff. I know what you are saying about being cooped up on the ship I don't think I would like that much.
We hope you have a great time, can't wait to hear all about it.

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As a long time cruiser I can say without hesitation that with the new Mega ships feeling "cooped-up" is unlikely. These ships are llike floating cities and Jason has the right idea about finding quiet places on board. I'd been on over a dozen Royal Caribean ships before I found the Champagne Bar which is in the middle of the ship and seats no more than 15 people. The beauty of a cruise is that you can do as much or as little as you want. Jake's destinations are well chosen and cruising out of San Juan gets you out of the rat race of Miami. I have a lot of friends that stayed away from cruising for the same thinking you have but once they try one, most are hooked. This winter I opted for Sugarloaf which today is completely shut down with 80 MPH winds at the summit. Guess I should have headed to Puerto Rico. I'm sure Jason and his bride will have a great time.

Please have a good time. After all my talking you into trying it, if you don't, I'll hermit myself away, never to be seen again!

Well here it is . . . the story of my trip to the Carribean.

Heidi and I started our vacation by driving to CT . . . mainly because flying out of Bangor was $900 plus change for one ticket vs. $800 plus change for two tickets when flying out of CT). We made sure to arrive in Puerto Rico a day early . . . which was a great move since we arrived to find a sunny, 80+ degree day and greenery everywhere versus the overcast, 29 degree, snow-covered landscape we had left behind in Maine . . . my beloved snowmobile was quickly forgotten after only a half hour.

The flight from Connecticut was pretty uneventful . . . other than the fact that my name appears to be on the "No Fly" list as I had to check in with an American Airlines rep, give quite a bit of extra information (i.e. social security number, date of birth, etc.) and was the only passenger to get selected for the "random" pat-down check . . . fortunately there was no strip search or body cavity search.

Our taxi ride from the airport to Old San Juan gave us a taste of what to expect from island taxi cab drivers as the driver zipped through traffic, cutting in and out of traffic while making liberal use of his horn. We arrived at the Howard Johnson at the Plaza de Armes within 15 minutes and made our way to our room -- an inside room with no windows (this hotel is built in the old part of the city and is over 200 years old). While my mind wanted to go outside and take in the new sights, sounds and smells, my body simply wanted to take it easy and go to sleep . . . and in the end that's just what my wife and I did after grabbing a quick bite to eat . . . at the local Wendys. ;):D

The next morning I woke up early so I headed out to do some early morning exploring and geocaching. After exploring a little bit of the walled city and seeing countless cats and lizards I headed back to the room and Heidi and I spent the morning walking around . . . checking out Pigeon Park (lots and lots of pigeons there) and the El Morro Fortress (along the way I was attacked by an errant kite being flown by one of the many, many families out flying kites and picnicing on this sunny Easter Sunday.)

Around mid-afternoon we returned to the hotel to collect our luggage and get on board the ship . . . that night we met a guy who actually works for Kraft making macaroni and cheese. On subsequent nights we had a table for two on the stern of the ship which meant we usually could catch some great sunsets and/or views of the islands we were leaving. Usually after dinner we would head back to our stateroom and read for awhile before heading to bed . . . the sun, heat and busy days really sapped us.

Ports of Call: We mixed up the ports of call with some tours (all independently booked) and some "down" days with visits to the beach. On most days we rarely spent more than $100 for the two of us, with the exception of the tour in Barbados (this included lunch.)

St. Thomas: Originally my wife and I were going to visit one of the many beaches on St. Thomas, but at the last minute we opted to check out Honeymoon Beach on Water Island . . . and as a result we got to meet some great people. On the ferry ride over to the island we met Jan Robinson . . . a cook and owner of a rental property on Water Island. Jan graciously invited us to a ride in her "limo" which was a golf cart with a rear seat.

After seeing her wonderful home on Water Island (with fantastic views of the bay and Honeymoon Beach) and meeting Tom, the local island handyman, and helping him hang a mirror at Jan's place we were whisked by Jan to the beach (after a quick stop at the dump). Honeymoon Beach was everything I wanted to find in a Caribbean beach . . . it was quiet, there were no crowds of people . . . just beautiful, warm, clear water to swim and snorkel in. Later a catamaran and pirate ship (I was looking for Hollora and Cache Maine to appear, but they never did) came to the beach, but even then the beach didn't seem very crowded. This was an absolutely wonderful way to relax and spend a day in the sun.

Dominica: On this day we booked the first of three tours. The tour was pretty good as we were able to learn about the flora and fauna of the island and see bananas, coconuts, pineapples, cashews, almonds, papaya, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger growing. Perhaps the best stop was Trafalgar Falls . . . the Falls were perhaps the most spectacular and Amanda the local tour guide there was great as she gave a great mini-tour. The only two negatives to this tour was that it seemed a bit long with a lot of driving and the fellow passengers -- a couple that were always concerned about the time and missing the boat (even though we were several hours from the boat leaving port) and two couples that were rude to the point of pushing in front of lines, mocking the Dominican's homes and standard of living, etc.

Barbados: We booked a tour and as a result were able to get a lot of insight into the history and culture of Barbados . . . and at the same time managed to be the first tour company to Harrison's Cave. The sights in the Cave were fantastic with stalagmites, stalactites, underground lakes and streams and waterfalls, etc. After this we went to Orchid World . . . I was a bit surprised to find that I enjoyed this spot even though I'm not really much of a "flower" sort of guy. This was a nice spot to really relax and "stop and smell the roses" . . . or rather in our case the vanilla scented orchid. We then stopped for dinner after a few photo stops near the "Soup Bowl." Our final stop was the Wildlife Refuge and this was without a doubt one of the best places we visited . . . the iguanas, tortoises and other animals were neat to see, but the best part was that we were able to get there in time for the 2 p.m. feeding of the wild vervet monkeys -- these monkeys roam free and around 2 p.m. return for the free food. Afterwards my wife made friends with a captive vervet monkey which was quite expressive . . . making smacking sounds with his jaws, rubbing his belly, putting his hand out for a snack, etc. to show that he really wanted a snack. Unfortunately, we had no snacks and we were pretty sure feeding the animals would not be allowed.

Antigua: This day was a bit of a surprise for me . . . originally I had every intention of going to Darkwood Beach, but at the last minute Heidi and I decided to try Fort James Beach since it was closer and there was a geocache at Fort James (OK, mainly because there was a geocache there). This was one of my favorite beaches for the whole trip . . . it was very quiet, there were plenty of shells to collect and the swimming in the warm, turquoise blue water was absolutely wonderful. The only minor drawback is that the waters were too churned up to be able to snorkel . . . but the massage that my wife and I got from Stacy (a wonderful young lady from Jamaica who talked to us for a long time about her life) more than made up for the lack of snorkeling. I also cannot say how impressed I was with our taxi driver, Lewis, who drives a taxi and owns a small grocery store . . . he brought us to the beach I asked to go to without trying to convince me to go somewhere else like many of the other taxi drivers and he came back for us at the time we had agreed on.

St. Kitts: Without a doubt this was my favorite island to visit . . . in fact I really didn't want to leave. Maybe it's because this island is so beautiful and scenic . . . maybe because it didn't feel overly developed . . . or maybe it's because of folks like Thenford Grey who gave us one of the best, if not the best, tour of the whole trip. Thenford's knowledge and humor of the island's history, culture and wildlife surely cannot be surpassed . . . within just a few minutes of speaking with this great man you will realize that Thenford is a very well read and educated man. When I left this tour I felt as though I had not simply booked a tour, but rather that I had met a friend. After seeing Basseterre and realizing that Thenford knows a lot of folks on the island, we drove out to see the Carib petroglyphs . . . at which point we also met a couple with a baby vervet monkey which managed to give my wife a small nip on the hand. Thenford then gave us an excellent introduction to some of the flora at the Batik factory and then it was off to the awe-inspiring views and interesting history lesson at Brimstone Fortress. We finished out our day with the equally impressive views of the Southeast Peninsula and views of many, many goats and monkeys (do you notice a recurring theme yet . . . I have a "thing" for monkeys) before sharing lunch with Thenford at Cockleshell Beach. My one and only regret of my time in St. Kitts was that I had to leave . . . as Thenford said to us when we first met, "I know some folks are worried that they will miss the ship to which I say to them, if you miss the ship your punishment is that you have to spend more time with me here in paradise." I think truer words have never been spoken.

St. Martin: For our final island stop we took a taxi to St. Martin Park which was a nice way to kill a hour or so . . . it was there that a capuchin monkey pelted me in the chest with a small rock (it could have been worse . . . I could have been pelted with monkey poo)! Afterwards we took a ride with a young, Nascar-wannabe to nearby Dawn Beach. There were a lot of waves, but I could still snorkel and swim. Of all the beaches we visited this was the most crowded . . . but it was more a matter of degree as the other beaches had very few people at them. Swimming in the turquoise blue waters of Dawn Beach was a great way to cap our vacation.

Nice rundown. How was the ship, food, staff and accomodations? Welcome back!:)

Also, your opinion of vacationstogo.com?

that's a lot to read jake... can you paraphrase that? or just say how it was on a scale of 1 to 10... :rolleyes:;):D

glad to have ya back :D

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Originally Posted by dubord207

Nice rundown. How was the ship, food, staff and accomodations? Welcome back!:)

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I'm pleased to report that everything was much better than I expected -- I went in expecting the worse, but hoping for the best and knowing that I am pretty easy to please. I half expected a party-like atmosphere, but either due to the timing of the month (after spring break and school vacations), port of departure (PR) or length of cruise (7 days) we were fortunate to have very few children or obnoxious college students on board.

The ship was older and you could tell it has had a hard life . . . our pink-colored sink had some scorch marks from a cigarette, curling iron or hair dryer at some point . . . and one of our reading lights was not working . . . but minor issues to me. The stateroom and other areas of the ship were clean . . . and that is the most important thing to me. For Heidi and I we were looking at the ship more like a hotel and restaurant . . . as long as it was clean and provided us a place to grab a bite to eat and catch some Z's we were good. I believe this ship is due to go into dry dock in a few months. While we were there the crew was always painting or working on maintaining something to keep it as clean and running.

Food was excellent. We had a table for two other than the first night's open seating . . . great views of the stern with the sunset and/or island fading from view every night. We skipped the formal nights and one night's dinner when Heidi wasn't feeling well . . . we did the deli that night . . . which was just as well since Heidi puked up what she said was a pretty good tuna sandwich. We never ate lunch on board . . . too busy in port and honestly we were never all that hungry. Breakfast was spent with the buffet . . . if one line was too busy we would try another line. My only issue was the last day when the scrambled eggs I picked out were quite runny . . . other than that I couldn't complain about the food. The prime rib was fantastic . . . desserts were half decent (although a lot of folks rave about the chocolate melting cake and I thought it was OK, but nothing really special.) As for me I tried some of the pizza . . . again not as good as many raved about on line but then again I'm comparing it to UHOP's pizza. :D Ditto with the Reuben . . . Dysarts does a much better Reuben, but I can't say it was bad. As for the soft serve ice cream . . . I can definitely attest to the fact that it was pretty darn good.

The best part of the cruise was the staff. Ketut from Indonesia and Rolando from the Phillipines were great waiters . . . very attentive to us . . . met any request . . . water glasses never were empty . . . made some good recommendations. Our steward was Jose from Nicaragua . . . he was a wonderful man who learned that Heidi loved the towel animals (she even ended up buying the stupid How To Make Towel Animals Book!) and so he made sure that she had a new towel animal at every opportunity and always made sure we had ice for the sodas we brought on board. Other staff that we met were just as nice and friendly and very willing to spend a few minutes to talk to you and tell you about their homeland and their families.

Accomodations were fine . . . we opted for the cheaper inside room. It was nice and quiet other than the first night when the over-excited kids next door began screaming at one point and another pack ran wildly through the hall . . . however that was the first and only night . . . and in fairness I think Heidi and I were in bed by 10 . . . right after the LifeBoat Drill was completed.

I guess the best thing I can say is that I'm already looking at booking another cruise next year . . . right at the start of February . . . I'm looking at Royal Carribean, Princess and Carnival since I honestly can't say as though I was disappointed with them . . . but as I said I'm pretty easy . . . just don't spread that rumor to anyone! ;):D

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Originally Posted by darterkitfox

Also, your opinion of vacationstogo.com?

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So far, so good . . . although I was supposed to have some on board credit due to a price drop . . . and the OBC never materialized. It wasn't a big deal since the only credited fees I had was the normal tips, a soda that Heidi bought and a How To Make Towel Animals book . . . no gambling, no drinking and no shore trips (we're kind of boring peop.e.) I have an e-mail into the travel agent that sold me the trip . . . we'll see what happens. Honestly, I was pretty happy with the original price . . . but hey if I can get something for nothing I'm all for it! I'm thinking that I would probably go with this company again . . . but I still want to see what they might do for me with the OBC issue.

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Originally Posted by Hiram357

that's a lot to read jake... can you paraphrase that? or just say how it was on a scale of 1 to 10... :rolleyes:;):D

glad to have ya back :D

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11 . . . and while it was good to get away, it's also good to get back . . . it won't be long until we start scheduling some geocaching trips . . . or at least some trips to the nearby restaurants!

Sheesh! Great trip report, but didn't you do any geocaching? LOL!