If you go back to St. Maarten, take a taxi to Cul de Sac, and then take the
little boat across to Pinel Island. You won't be disappointed. The Vikings
were just there... we had a great day. Next time Charles wants us to go to
Orient Beach, so we'll do that and see how it compares.
--Tom
"Babie" wrote in message
news:NvGdnez1_f8vu_fanZ2dnUVZ_hCdnZ2d@comcast.com...
> Here's some info about my cruise.
>
> Info about me:
>
> 10th cruise, 1st RCI cruise, 1st cruise in Southern Caribbean and 1st
> cruise longer than 7 days (although I've done B2B a couple times)
>
> Getting there.
>
> I had what seemed like the flight from hell that would make my trip NUTS!
> I flew from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Phoenix, AZ.
> Then from Phoenix to Las Vegas, NV. After a short delay in Vegas I then
> flew to Philadelphia, PA. THEN finally boarded my
> flight to San Juan. There was some mechanical problems on the plane so we
> sat there for about 1 1/2 hours before taking off.
>
> Upon arrival in San Juan, due to the plane delays, a friend and I shared a
> cab straight to the ship. What I got to see of
> San Juan was really great. I've made a mental note to be sure to return
> for a few days so I can enjoy it a little more.
>
> Once onboard the ship, our staterooms were ready. We boarded between 2 and
> 3 pm local time. There were no lines at check in so
> all went very smooth.
>
> The ship and my stateroom were what I expected, so I wasn't disappointed
> in the least. Now, I'm not saying that I was impressed
> or surprised in any way. I had no initial feeling one way or the other
> about the ship or my stateroom.
>
> I'll stop here and give a little information about my experience on the
> ship and with the crew. As well as the other passengers.
>
> For starters. IF the ship has stabilizers, they were never used. I've
> never been docked on a ship where they had to assist you
> off because the ship was rocking so badly WHILE DOCKED in calm waters. The
> gangway literally moved 3 to 4 feet back and forth
> So if you were a slow walker, injured in any way, or elderly, you had to
> have some assistance WALKING off the ship. If I had
> to compare the experience with anything, I'd say it was worse than
> entering a tender when the boat isn't docked.
> (This was only a problem in St. Maarten)
>
> The crew were fantastic! For that matter so were the rest of the guests. I
> won't say that I met and talked to everyone, but
> I came close! I only ran into 2 problems at all, and that was with 2 crew
> members that cleaned the area near the Windjammer.
> That was nothing more than dirty looks every time they saw me. (I have
> bright pink hair and tend to talk a lot and generally
> stand out in any crowd, so I can understand dirty looks)
>
> On the second day at 9am was our scheduled Meet & Mingle. Since RCI (Or
> Cruise Critic) scheduled it so early and only an hour
> before docking in St. Maarten, I was surprised that about 45 people showed
> up! It was a great chance to meet those I'd been
> talking to online.
>
> I'm a late night person. On most of my cruises, I stay up until sunrise.
> This was hard to do with so many ports, but since the
> guests were a bit older and the disco very slow, I had no problem
> sleeping. I did manage to meet quite a few other people around
> my age that liked to hang out and talk. So that was nice.
>
> I participated in The Quest. If you've never gone to or seen the Quest,
> you MUST participate! There were 14 teams,
> and we came in 3rd. I was very surprised how involved the crowd got! And
> it was crowded! I was also surprised at some of
> the "quests" we were sent on! Several of which the CD had to tell the
> camera man to turn off the video camera!
>
> My thoughts on the ports:
>
> St. Maarten - I was not impressed at all. To give the island some credit,
> I did have a terrible headache before even
> leaving the ship. Once I grabbed the water taxi to the town proper (or
> whatever) I was feeling horrible. But it was the first
> port on the itinerary and I'd never been to any of the ports before. So
> the lady I had met on Cruise Critic and I walked
> around a bit. We each put a $5 bill in a quarter slot machine at the
> casino right at the water taxi pier (neither of us even
> won 2 quarters lol) We then walked down the first street there (sorry, I
> didn't get the name) It was really dirty and crowded.
> I normally love crowds, but because of my headache, I was miserable. I was
> annoyed at how narrow the streets and sidewalks were.
> We walked a couple blocked until we say a small market area (between the
> boardwalk and the first street). I walked through it for
> about 10 minutes. I bought a shot glass (I collect those at every place I
> visit) and some bottled sodas for the ship. After about
> 45 minutes to an hour after leaving the ship I told my friend that I was
> going back to the ship. I would have liked to have
> checked out Orient beach and some other things, but my headache was
> getting worse. Although I disliked my first trip to St. Maarten,
> I'm more than willing to give it a second chance. If for no other reason
> than a chance to check out a beach and some local beer.
>
> St. Kitts - Again, I wasn't very impressed. No headache this time, but I
> just couldn't find anything to do near the pier
> except shop. And once you've seen 1 Diamonds International, you've seen
> them all. So I grabbed a shot glass and headed
> back to the ship after browsing for about an hour.
>
> Antigua - I really loved Antigua. But then I didn't do anything. I walked
> around the pier area, shopped a bit and walked
> into a cute little bar. I sat down and ordered a beer. (I love trying
> local beers when I travel) I started talking to the man
> next to me and it turned out he was a local. We sat and chatted for about
> 3 hours. He bought all the rest of my drinks for me, and
> it was a really great day. (He was a straight man, so no, don't think
> that! I talk to everyone!)
>
> St. Lucia - Another port I liked a lot. And another that I did nothing in.
> I walked around, bought a shot glass and some
> Sheridan's, then was headed to a bar for a beer. (I ordered 2 lol) The
> lady working there fell in love with 3 of my rings. So
> we talked about them for a bit, then she offered me some money. Now I
> won't say how much, but I got four times what I paid
> for them about about half what they are appraised at. (I sold her 3) So I
> started back to the ship when 2 English ladies called
> me over to yet another bar (they were on the ship) We sat and talked for
> hours! We had more local beer and had a great time!
>
> Are you seeing a trend? Drinking and talking in port? LOL
>
> Barbados - Ok, I felt great, and had not been to a beach yet! So I marched
> my butt up to the Information Desk and asked a cute
> gay purser where the crew liked to go. He said the "Boat Yard". So I went
> to my stateroom and changed. Before leaving I ran into another
> English lady and invited her to go to the beach with me. We grabbed a cab
> (about $15 total) and headed out. Upon arrival at the
> Boat Yard I was very worried. First, all you see is a shack surrounded by
> other businesses. ABD it costs $15 per person to go in!
> This was the best $15 I'd spent the entire cruise! The cover charge
> included chairs, 1 drink, non motorized water toys and a free
> shuttle back to the ship. This place is a blast! If you want to party, go
> there! If you just want to lounge in the sun quietly
> go there! It had everything you'd want. The crew member I had asked where
> to go was there as well as about 20 others. We had
> a lot of fun together!
>
> FINALLY there was a day at sea. I was really looking forward to that as I
> left Barbados. But I ran into a couple that are my
> age at the disco that night. So we ended up talking, drinking, and
> generally having a great time! We got the boyfriend into bed
> and the girl and I spent most of that day at sea together )without ever
> sleeping from the night before) It was a blast!
>
> Needless to say that after the sea day, I was even more exhausted!
>
> Isla De Margarita - Another place that I LOVED! I only walked around the
> pier area, ran into a cruise critic pal and she and I walked on
> the beach collecting shells, talking and just getting some sun. It was the
> most relaxing day! The beach and water were beautiful!
> There was a cute little sandbar. We had to wade (about thigh deep) about
> 10 foot to get across to it, but it was worth it. SO
> many shells and coral and not many people.
>
> Curacao - Well, it was beautiful. I found it was way too expensive for
> most things. But the couple that are my age and I walked around, grabbed
> a bite of Dutch food (Bitterballin'... just for the name LOL but I liked
> it) The little alley ways, streets and nooks were a great
> time to explore. Not that there was much I wanted to buy... especially at
> some of the prices they wanted. I'm sure had I looked
> I could have found some great deals on more useless crap to clutter our
> home with.
>
> Aruba - Nowhere near as beautiful as Curacao, but the people were
> friendlier, the prices better, and the port time GREAT! I walked
> around for about 3 hours by myself in the late morning and late afternoon.
> Bought a few things for me and finished my entire
> Christmas shopping list! I then returned to the ship to find my friends.
> We made plans to meet at my stateroom at 5pm so we could go
> to Carlos & Charlie's for drinks. A lot of the crew was there so we
> partied with them until about 9 then all stumbled back to the ship
> together lol.
>
> All in all, it was a nice cruise. Although I prefer a ship with more
> nightlife, the chance to see so many ports at such a low
> price (I paid just over $1000 including my airfare including the single
> supplement) made up for the lack of nightlife.
>
> I'm mostly neutral about RCI, so I'll be giving them another chance just
> on a lather ship. I would, however, do this same
> itinerary again if I have the chance before she leaves the fleet in March.
> (I'm considering the Feb 25th sailing for my birthday)
>
>
>
|