It was breezy, but oh-so-sunny this morning. I walked off the ship as soon as we were cleared by the local authorities with the intention of checking out the mysterious AT&T store at Crown Bay that never answers their phone. On the Internet, it said that the store would be open from noon to 5pm on Sundays. But when I walked to the store in the marina area at Crown Bay, the sign on the door said it was closed on Sundays. No matter. A quick look inside showed a single display of cases and nothing else. I don't think they stock iPhones anyway.
It's the islands, mon. And it's just one reason that, as much as we love the thought of spending a month on St. Thomas (or Barbados), the reality would be a bit less than utopia. Spending extended periods of times in the islands requires more patience than we possess.
So, back on the ship, we ate a quick breakfast in the dining room and packed for a beach day. G carried cereal for the iguanas as we walked off the ship, and spend a few minutes entertaining himself and the other passengers who gathered around by feeding them by hand. They look so ferocious when they stand on their two back legs and stretch to get a piece of cereal from G's fingers, but they actually don't even have teeth, and gum their food. (Still, I keep my distance).
The taxi fare to Magens Bay is $9 per person each way, and the admission to the beach is $4 per person, so it's a $44 day just to be there. Chair rental is $7 each, but you have to drag them down the beach and back yourself, and there are no umbrellas. All of this made us glad we went there- once- and very much disinclined from ever going there again. There are much nicer, wider, less crowded beaches on several islands we visit, and while I'll admit that Magens is a photogenic beach from above, from beach level it's nice but not outstanding.
Now we know. What we also know is that it would be unimaginably crowded when there are several ships in port. The beach is simply not that wide. We had heard, when there were six ships in port, that it had been towel to towel on the sand, and now we understand why.
At 3pm we packed up and caught a taxi back to the ship. The taxis both directions were of the open air, jungle safari variety, but on our return to the ship, our driver went a different way, through the old, narrow alleyways that house the jewelry shops (closed at 3pm on a Sunday), and gave us a nice narration along the way.
Once on the ship, we showered quickly, as we had been invited for drinks in Jim and Marcia's mini-suite. Sailaway from St. Thomas is always a pretty one, and we enjoyed the cheese and crackers and veggies and dip that Marcia had picked up earlier from the buffet as we sat on their large balcony. We all went to dinner just after 5:30pm (they sit next to us), and for the first time I had the orange roughy on the Chef's Menu and it was probably my favorite non-salmon fish so far.
The Most Traveled Party was at 7:30pm, and I was into my fifth gin drink of the day (I had started at noon), as I ordered a Breeza Marina and then a second one. We learned of more imminent moves among the ship's officers. I don't know it it's an every few years thing, or because the new ship, the Royal Princess, is launching in June, but there seems to be a lot of movement right now. We'll miss all the familiar faces when we return next year (IF we return next year...it's never certain until final payment 75 days before the cruise).
We fell hard into bed after the party. Lots of sun, fun, waves and gin had taken their toll. We had been told while at Magens Bay, that it would be a rough night, as a storm bringing huge swells was developing just north of St. Thomas, and we'd heard right...the ship was really rocking and I don't think it was the gin.
;-)
Photos 1-4: Magens Bay Beach. The small island is the distance is Brass Island (I think)
Photo 5: coming down the south side of St. Thomas when returning to the ship. This is the Charlotte Amalie harbor with Hassel island in the middle and Water Island on the right.