Sunday, March 6, 2011

Caribbean Cruise 2011

Kent and I flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico (via Las Vegas to Long Beach, CA to Ft. Lauderdale, FL and onto San Juan) A long flight, but worth it. We were taken by bus to the pier where we boarded the Caribbean Princess..... ahhh we are so ready to relax! The islands we visited were all different, the seas were calm and the snorkeling was awesome. We snorkeled at all five ports. We met a lot of nice people, got in a taxi accident (we were okay) found a lost wedding ring for newlyweds and spent the day in a taxi van touring St. Lucia with a Chinese family of eight from Toronto. These are just some of the highlights from our cruise. It was a great week in paradise.......we long to go again! The warm, clear seas of the Caribbean were......... hard to leave behind.

Up, up and away over Keys and Islands

Wow, look at those colors!

Islands in the Bahamas

JetBlue TV monitors show the way to San Juan, Puerto Rico

Docked at San Juan, Puerto Rico our departure port

St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

Secret Harbor . . . our first snorkel reef

Kent getting his snorkel gear ready

Lots of iguanas in St. Thomas

The setting sun as we head for Tortola

A calm morning in Tortola, British Virgin Islands from our balcony

Our ship, the Caribbean Princess at Tortola

Hike into "The Baths National Park" on Virgin Gorda

Strange to see cacti near the sea

Devil's Bay leads the way to the caves at "The Baths"

Two snorkelers at "The Baths"

Granite boulders, grottos and pools make for great snorkeling

On the trail through "The Baths"

Through the caves to the sea

A beautiful sight

This guy was married only 3 days and lost his wedding band in the sea and Kent found it!!  Amazing!!

The happy couple!  We all had fun telling people about our snorkeling for a wedding band on the ocean floor!

Looking down northeast of "The Baths"

Our stateroom on the ship

Looking towards the balcony

Evening sets in on Tortola

St. John's Harbor at Antigua

Antigua . . . on our way to Byrd Island for snorkeling & kayaking in the mangroves

Blowhole formed by the Atlantic surf

The Atlantic Ocean on one side of Byrd Island

The Caribbean Sea on the other side of Byrd Island

The bay where we snorkeled

Pelicans on Byrd Island

Heading into the mangroves

Aren't you supposed to be paddling??

Cool sightings in the mangroves

All aboard . . . here we go!

Shipwreck in Mercers Creek Bay

Three cruise ships at St. John's Harbor, Antigua.  Ours is the ship in the middle

Heritage Quay Shopping area at the pier

View of St. John's from our balcony room

Leaving Antigua

Early morning at St. Lucia in the West Indies

Caribbean Princess docked in Castries Harbor

Tan, on the left and Philip, our trusty taxi driver on the right

Banana plantation, these bananas are shipped to Great Britain

Funny signs

Marigot Bay . . . ever see Pirates of the Caribbean?  It was filmed here.

I like this one, too!

Interesting . . . ever tried banana ketchup?

Wash day . . . a woman carrying the load on her head

Canaries River

Looking down on Canaries, St. Lucia

Enjoying a tour of St. Lucia

The town of Soufriere and Soufriere Bay sit below the Pitons

The Pitons rise 2,413 and 2,600 ft. out of the Caribbean Sea.  Colorful buildings in Soufriere

Driving the streets to the Pitons

Sulfur Springs . . . known as the "drive-in volcano"

A spring blends into the hot spring pools

Tourists enjoying a mud bath . . . we did not try this!!

Next step . . . get the mud off and apply ash

Insane roads and crazy drivers

Yes, that is a propane tank . . . followed by a headache!

We stopped at the eatery to order food to go for our new Chinese friends

The beach

A small arch in the cliffs near where we snorkeled

Soufriere Bay, where Kent and I enjoyed snorkeling along the cliffs while our friends ate their lunch

Daisy, Sidney, Tan and Kent with our taxi van on the beach

Our ride . . . zoom, zoom!!

Hurricane damage from November 2010.  It wiped out an entire hillside community, many of the bodies have yet to be found

Kent and our new family from Toronto in the taxi van

Philip, our courageous driver

This is why you don't drive a car here . . . you hire a taxi!!

An arch near Anse la Raye

Looks like a ladies shoe

On our way back to Castries, the Capital . . . notice the modern road . . . a welcome sight!

Kent reflecting our our day at St. Lucia as evening sets in

The end of another great day!

Pretty flowers along our walk into the heart of Bridgetown, Barbados

A nice walk along the boardwalk

Fruits and veggies are abundant here

Quite a variety of produce

Heading back to the ship

On our way to snorkel with sea turtles and sunken shipwrecks . . . pretty cool!!

Snorkelers

Fancy resorts . . . big bucks . . . $1,500 to $2,500 per night

Just another day in paradise . . .

The water averaged 82.4 degrees!  It's so clear, just look at that color!!  Ahhh

Sun setting on Barbados

Bye, bye San Juan, Puerto Rico.  So long . . .