March 13-14 Fly To Miami

March 13th. Flying to Miami to join our 11 day Holland cruise to the Eastern Idlands of the Caribbean.

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Note: We are a little anxious about our coming and going to Miami to meet our cruise ship. As of today, we are a month in to a war vs. Iran. Oil shipments are stopped at the straight of Hormuz, gas prices have shot up. We are also a few months away from a Trump war in Venezuela, which has affected travel in the Caribbean a little. And, I'm sure, American's aren't liked anywhere at this point.

Oh, we are also 4 weeks into a government shutdown. So TSA folks are not getting paid. So we expect delays at the airports.

Our country is a mess!! Thank you, Donald Trump!

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Our Uber arrived at 4:00AM as ordered. We sailed through the Boise Airport and arrived in Seattle on time. Got on the plane on time....then the trouble started. It was 55 degrees when we left Boise, lightly snowing in  Seattle! Problem was, the de-icing crew got way behind. We sat on the plane for 3 HOURS waiting to get de-iced. We finally left only 3+ hours late.

Once in Miami, we easily found the hotel (Embassy Suites by Hilton) shuttle bus and finally got to our room by 9:00. Decent late dinner in the hotel restaurant. Then to bed! 

Saturday March 14 Finally on the Boat!

This morning's breakfast at the hotel buffet. Lots of cruisers here! Turns out there are six cruise ships departing from the terminal today. Think about this: that's about 30,000 people! We were advised to be at  the terminal by 11:00 and we arranged for a hotel transfer van - no problem! However, then we found out that the ship had been delayed in docking this morning due to overnight storms; so they had to process departures.So now we had to sit in the waiting hall for TWO 1/2 hours before finally boarding the ship!

We got unpacked and familiarized ourselves with the ship. Not much different from the other Holland ships we'd been on but it seems a bit smaller.

These are the ships that are docked here today; they'd all left for their Caribbean destinations by 6:00PM. 

These are the ships: 

• Icon of the Seas (largest cruise ship in the world - 8500!)
• MSC World America (6500)
• Virgin Reslient Lady (4000)
• Regent

Fine dinner in the MDR then a short dance show in the theater.

Tomorrow is a Sea Day - we look forward to a relaxing day!

 

Sunday March 15 Sea Day

Warm, sunny, windy day at sea. Busy day, nonetheless. Presentations about the Islands, "Port talks", shore excursions and pirates. Excellent dinner at the MDR included steak and Espelette Beef Tenderlon. Followed by the World Stage for the always fun introduction of the Captain and crew followed by a hilarious magician named John Accardo.

Tomorrow is another Sea Day. The Captain has said to expect a gale force wind and rough seas!

Monday March 16 Sea Day

Our second Sea Day on the final leg to the islands. Very windy today with the ship bouncing around a bit, but not serious. But even though the sun was shining, it was not a good day to be out on the decks!

Our evening entertainment was a comedian who had us laughing until our sides hurt!

Tomorrow we go ashore at Phillipsburg on St. Maarten. It will be good to get our feet on solid ground!

Friday March 20 Dominica

This morning we find ourselves docked at the city of Roseau on the island of Dominica. This island part of the British Commonwealth but shows some of that same French influences we saw in Martinique. So, they drive on the wrong side. The language that is common to everyone in the Caribbean is Creole. The city is old with narrow streets. History of these islands goes back to the 1600s. Obviously geared to tourism; lots of min-buses scooting around.

Our excursion today, 9 of us ( in what would become impressive to me) in a Toyota mini-bus. We left the city and headed up into the mountains to visit two waterfalls, part of the National Park system. The road was steep and bumpy with lots of hairpin curves. I was glad I wasn't driving. 

After about 40 minutes of this discomfort, we arrived at "Emerald Pool" which featured a waterfall cascading into a beautiful pool. It was a difficult walk up and down steep stone steps. Sam opted to stop about halfway. We are now in the rain forest, at an elevation of about 3500 feet.

Next stop, about 30 minutes more on this terrible road, brought us to Trafalgar Falls. Another challenging walk on wet, stone steps brought us to a great view of two waterfalls. Quite spectacular! Sam was a trooper and managed this hike with only a little help! 

Our final stop of the tour was back down in the city to the Botanical Garden, which wasn't much to see. We were expecting to see some parrots but that didn't work out. On the way down we stopped at a place called Morne Bruce Garden for a great view of the city and the Zuiderdam at the pier.

Our tour ended at the pier at about 2:00. That Toyota mini-bus served us well, those were some tough roads! We walked along the main drag to find something for lunch. Once again, we were disappointed. We did stop at this one place that had been recommended, only to find out that the lunch serving hours were  over. You'll see in the pictures all those white tents lined up along the street. Those are all merchants selling the usual tourist crap. And, they're all the same! How do any of them make any money? We were the only ship there today.

So, back on board and quick bite from the Dive Bar to hold us over until dinner.

Our enterrainment tonight was the same comedian we had seen before. He is hilarious!!

Tomorrow was go to St Kitts.

Saturday March 21 St. Kitts

This morning we find ourselves arriving at the city of Basseterre on the Island of St. Kitts, another member of the British Commonwealth. The much smaller adjoining Island of Nevis is combined with St Kitts (Federation of St. Christopher) to make up the country, which gained independence from Britain in 1983. In fact, these two islands make it the smallest sovereign state in the Western Hemisphere.

The town was founded by Thomas Warner in 1623, the first successful Britiah Colony. France and England fought over it for years! Sugar was the main industry here until the British outlawed slavery. Now its tourism.

Norwegian Sky (2000) is right behind us.

Our first excursion stop, again by Toyota mini-bus, was Romney Gardens, a beautiful spot with a 200 year old tree. (This was far superior to the "garden" we saw yesterday). In residence here is the famous Caribelle Batik studio. An artist was hard at work showing how to wax the fabric. Lots of amazing colors!

Back on the bus, we continue on what they call "The Old Road" (which is fairly new since a Hurricane damaged the original). We head up the mountain to the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built by the British beginning in 1690, using African slaves. The most famous battle was 1782 when the French dislodged the British and took over the fort.

Its a huge compound and gives credit to the engineers as the stone buildings are still in good shape after more than 200 years. The hike up to the top of the fortress is brutal. Five paces up then a step, five paces, then a step. Built the views are impressive! (Sam stayed below, was I the only one who found the trek difficult?)

Back to Basseterre by about 1:00 to explore the cruise terminal which is a large tourism complex that is more typical of other Caribbean ports, that we haven't seen at our previous stops. Found a nice little cafe for lunch called Sweet Cane. Conch chowder!

Dinner tonight was our second "special" dinner, this time in the Pinnacle Grill. We both had steak. Food and service is a step above what we'd get in the Main Dining Room. Excellent!

Tonights entertainment was a musician who was awesome on the Saxaphone, but also sang popular tunes. He was OK.

Tomorrow we're at U.S. Virgin Islands.

Sunday March 22 St. Thomas U.S.V.I.

Arrived this morning to a beautiful sunrise at the city of Charlotte Amalie, capital of St. Thomas. Our extension wasn't until 11:30 so we just hung out this morning, had breakfast in the MDR, (which I don't like!)

Our excursion was a bus ride to "Top of the Mountain", elevation 1540 feet, for some great views of the bay. Then back down to the city and the St Thomas Sky Ride, a gondola up the hill to Paradise Point. Great views and a nice lunch at "Taste". Back on board by 2:30 for a 3:30 departure. 

Fascinating history here. There are three main islands: St Thomas, St John and St. Croix. Collectively they are a "Caribbean Insular Territory of the U.S."  First settled by the Spanish in 1555, over the decades constant conflict between Spain, France, UK, Netherlands, Denmark and Norway. Slavery was abolished in 1848 which was the end of the sugar plantations. 

In 1917, during WWI, the US was afraid the Germans might build a sub base here, so they started negotiations with Denmark to buy it. They struck a deal: U.S. would pay 25 million in cold coins AND agreed to cede its interest in Greenland to Denmark! (Trump wants to take Greenland back!)

The main industry now is tourism, with Rum production next. There used to be giant oil refineries on St. Croix (Hess) but those ceased operations in 2012. Now the facility is a storage tank farm. The islands are totally dependent on imported oil....which could become a huge problem.

Residents here are U.S. citizens. And get this: They drive on the right side of the road (left over from Danish occupation) but all the cars are American with left hand drive!

Weather was mostly cloudy today, but warm and humid; few showers around.