Day 144: Grand Cayman

We have not had the best luck, weather-wise, in Grand Cayman this winter. The best weather we've had was on our first visit, when we accompanied Suzan and Greg to Seven Mile Beach. Once, the Georgetown port was closed and the Emerald Princess had to anchor off Spott's Bay (and I didn't even get off the ship). Today was cloudy and humid, but not too hot, and we had no other plans for the day other than purchasing some last minute souvenirs for the kids.

I slept fairly well, all things considered, and went with G to breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room (just toast with peanut butter today, and a decaf café Americano). We were not in a rush to get off this morning, and, apparently, neither were most people. Open tender was called around 8am (we had arrived at 7am). 

We went down to the Deck 3 tender platform carrying just some cash and a credit card. We tendered into a dock even north of the North Pier (the Carnival Glory was in port with us and tendered into the same pier). We walked along the main street to the right, along the waterfront, browsing all the T-shirt shops along the way. Nothing was hitting exactly the right note. 

Then G spotted a sign pointing to a customized hat shop down a street and behind a building. Intrigued, we walked down to check it out and hit pay dirt. T-shirts, monogrammed baseball caps...three times we walked out of the shop and thought of someone else to gift, and turned around and bought more. It was a successful stop. 

I wanted to have Awesome Ambrish embroidered on it but it wouldn't fit. And it might embarrass him. But mostly because it wouldn't fit. ;-)

It s a bit hard to read, but there was a glass floor in the shop over stone steps carved down to a freshwater pool that was the source of potable water in the 18th century

Walking back toward the tender pier, we saw a sign advertising conch fritters and turtle burgers. Intrigued by this, too, we walked down to the restaurant and ending up having lunch there. I've been jonesing for conch fritters since we missed Grand Turk last cruise, and G shocked me (I was gobsmacked!) by ordering and eating a turtle burger. (He liked it!). We went all out and ordered dessert, too, key lime pie for me (of course) and coconut cream pie for G. What we really hadn't realized is that the prices were in Cayman dollars which are worth more than US $ and, in the end, this was a lunch with a value on par with any we had in French Polynesia. Oh well. That was really the only entertainment we spent money on today. 

It rained lightly on and off the entire morning, and, by 2pm, we were taking a tender back to the Emerald Princess. We went to the cabin to deposit our purchases and ended up resting until sailaway. We were showered and dressed for the evening by 3:30pm, and went up to Skywalkers with drinks to watch as the sand bar that is Grand Cayman quickly disappeared into the distance for our last time this season. 

We stayed in Skywalkers long enough to have some nibbles when the PES Lounge was set up at 5pm, and then went to dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room around 5:30pm. Dinner was hit and miss for us tonight, only because we are trying some things that are different from what we usually order. We both started with beef satays (yummy), then I tried the plantain chips and returned them. Not good. I ordered the turkey pot pie for my entree (comfort food sounded good tonight), but G got really brave and tried the Curtis Stone flank steak on the always available menu.  His review?  "There is no end to the chewing until I finally get bored and swallow it", which had me falling off my chair with laughter. 'There is no end to the chewing' might be good for gum, but it is definitely not good for a Curtis Stone dish and is not likely to entice people to try his speciality restaurant. 

Princess really needs to work on those three always available Curtis Stone dishes. Between us, we've tried all three and didn't like any of them. Bring back the salmon, please!!

I was started to fade fast, but we sat in the Piazza and listened to new pianist Monika Rosca. Ryszard Sulek went home last turnaround, and Monika's musical style is totally different. She plays the light, quick tempoed classical music that I love to play (though she plays it much, much, much, much better) and I could listen to her forever. G is not as much a fan and misses Ryszard's more popular music. Is it any wonder that entertainment is a subjective thing when even two pianists have different appeal?

G is in the Princess Theater listening to comedian Eric Lyden. Even if I was feeling 100%, I could not be convinced to sit though his show again, but, feeling as I do gave me a very good excuse for missing it. Hopefully, things will come together to allow us to enjoy a sunny day on the beach in Mahogany Bay, Roatan, tomorrow.  

Day 143: At sea

It started late last night, with a sudden spiking of temperature and massive headache that signaled I was getting very sick, very fast. Luckily, I was not waking up at home this morning, buried in mail and laundry and open suitcases, and having to wait until tomorrow to see a doctor. Instead, I took an elevator to see Dr. Bronwyn from South Africa and, by 9:30am left with the antibiotics required to have me feeling fit as a fiddle, if not by tomorrow then the day after, for sure.

I spent the day ordering room service and walking up one deck to the Horizon Court Buffet for hot tea and onion soup, and frying through the last episode of Downton Abbey, but mostly sleeping. G has been out and about, being the social butterfly he usually is, and is right now, at my urging, having dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room to be followed by the Captain's Welcome Aboard Party and Champagne Waterfall and then production show I Got the Music. 

I am sorry to be missing all the fun, but am so grateful to be here instead of at home. Another few days of rest and relaxation are just what the doctor ordered, and the Emerald Princess offers both. 

Day 142: Fort Lauderdale (turnaround day)

There is little notable news of the day today, other than the number of in transit passengers (those staying on from last cruise to this cruise) and the weather (cool but brilliant), but most significant is that this is our final turnaround day of our Winter 2015-16 cruising season, and that always makes me hopelessly sentimental. The same things that tend to start driving me nuts after four months at sea (the same.old.elevator jokes, the people who stop in the middle of everything and block traffic, the formal night and MTP and Captains Circle party obligations cruise after cruise after cruise) suddenly stop driving me nuts and instead everything is viewed through rose-colored glasses. It's kind of like the first cruise of the season all over again. I like it. 

We had planned to be on an open deck when the Emerald Princess arrived in Port Everglades today, but didn't make it. Oh well, there will be others. No wait...there won't. ;-) We had a quick and simple breakfast in the Botticelli Dining Room and returned to our cabin to do the normal sorting of paperwork and setting up of a calendar for the cruise starting today. We had heard that there would be between 700 and 800 in transit passengers today, scheduled to meet in the Princess Theater at 10:15am to go through immigration, and we knew we didn't want to get involved with that. Instead, we walked off the ship about 9am, and bypassed the immigration line in the terminal by using our Global Entry cards. 

We later heard that the in transit immigration was held up for 45 minutes by someone who ignored the letter about meeting in the Princess Theater at 10:15am and was using a treadmill with ear buds, causing her to miss the announcements being made for her, too. Oy vey. That's why we left the ship early. 

We first walked up and over the 17th Street drawbridge, and though the Harbor Isles neighborhood (I think that's what it's called) on the other side of the bridge; just for exercise, then stopped at the top for awhile to enjoy the cool sunshine and the Saturday morning boat traffic on the intercoastal. We didn't want to get back to the terminal until 11:30am, when we would be allowed to re-board the ship. 

A slow Saturday at Port Everglades: (from left) RCCL Independence OTS, HAL Westerdam, RCCL Oasis OTS, Emerald Princess 

Loved watching these little sailboats being towed out for a sailing lesson at sea

We stopped into Walgreens for just a few more things- Wet Ones hand wipes, hair spray and another bottle of Barefoot Bubbly and protein bars that will be our lunch and dinner next Saturday when we fly home- and walked back to and through the Pier 2 terminal and right onto the Emerald Princess. We dropped our purchases in our cabin and went down to the DaVinci Dining Room for our last embarkation day lunch of the season. This was no time to hold back; we had salads and entrees AND orange soufflés for dessert. They don't serve those on Southwest!

I had thought about taking my iPad off the ship and sitting in the terminal to use the Port Everglades WiFi, but...shoot. We'll be home in a week. Things can wait. Instead I went up to the Adagio Lounge and phoned Mom (she is doing so well!) and texted friends and downloaded another audiobook to see me through the next seven days. My calendar is already starting to fill up with appointments and commitments, including hanging with the twins for a long weekend in March while the rest of their family is out of town. Such a chore! ;-)

Muster drill at 3:15pm marked shower time, and I returned the cabin to see that G had had the same idea and was just finishing up. By sailaway, we were out on the Terrace Deck for our last sailaway of the season (weep) accompanied by a bottle of Barefoot Bubbly. It had been such a gorgeous day, cool and clear and dry, and was probably the prettiest sailaway from Fort Lauderdale we've had all season. 

The drawbridge opens to allow a relatively small sailboat to pass through.

One final look back through the Port Everglades entrance channel

Two more cruise ships leave Port Everglades after the Emerald Princess.

It was so pretty on the Terrace Deck that we stayed there talking to Dee and Bill from England, who we'd met last cruise, until it was time to go to dinner. The last Caribbean shrimp!  The last pasta conchiglie with chicken strips!  The last flourless chocolate cake!  Every course was especially savored.

We went to the early Welcome Aboard show (good grief...not even Cruise Director Neil's same old same old jokes grated tonight) and stayed for comedian Eric Lyden (Neil's were the better jokes). I dropped a final bottle of Merlot off at the International Cafe only to discover that dear Cherry returned home today, then stopped by the International Cafe for a cup of coffee and to check out the new faces among the crew there. With only a week left, things there will never feel quite the same again. 

But what great memories I have of being spoiled for the the past almost two months!  :-)

Cruise #10: 7-nights to the Western Caribbean

Day 141: At sea

The second we opened our eyes this morning, the first words out of G's mouth were, "I wonder what adventure Captain Forteeze has planned for us today."  This nut I'm married to always makes me smile...well, almost always. We've shared one bathroom and the close confines of a cruise ship cabin for 141 days in less than six months. It's not all love and laughs. I read once that a woman should never let her husband see her floss her teeth (Modern Bride, 1982).  After that horrid night of norovirus on Rapa Nui, teeth flossing doesn't make the cut of indelicate activities my husband has seen me participate in. 

I went to breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room alone today, just for a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal, and G took advantage of me being out of the cabin to do his hand laundry. I stopped by the International Cafe and told Filip from Serbia to "make me a hero", and he handed me a sprinkle donut on a plate to take back to G. Today was Filip's last day, and he will be so missed. We call him Mr. Pastry in the morning when he works in the International Cafe for three hours, and then Mr. Pizza in the afternoon and evening when he works in Prego Pizzeria on the pool deck. 

Filip from Serbia in the International Cafe 

It was also the last day for Nadia from Serbia who works in the International Cafe. She saw me waiting in line and told me to sit at a table and she'd bring me a hot chocolate for G. 

I returned the donut and hot chocolate to G in the cabin and went to the gym for a cardio workout. Today was very sunny and I didn't want to spend too much time working out in a pool. I then joined G for lunch in the DaVinci Dining Room, and he made up for his missed breakfast with a four course lunch. Dear waiter James from the Philippines who's provided us service for many breakfasts and lunches is also going home tomorrow, and was excited about seeing his wife and toddler son for the first time in eight months. 

G adjourned to a hot tub for a huge portion of the afternoon, but I made it through two more episodes of Downton Abbey. I have just one episode remaining to watch, and it just kills me. I am trying to savor every moment. 

In order to to resist watching the last episode, I went to the Grapevine Wine Tasting at 3pm, just for a diversion. I followed that with a couple of walking laps on the Promenade Deck and then returned to the cabin to beat G into the shower to get ready for the evening. 

Dinner was simple, just the tamarind salmon and a glass of Riesling for me. The tamarind salmon has quickly become my favorite entree, surpassing even embarkation day lunch salmon. I would eat it every night except Italian night when I'd have penne arrabiata, and be a happy cruiser. Who could get bored with food as tasty as that?

The big entertainment for tonight was the Voice of the a Ocean, and, for lack of something else to watch, we went. As I've said, we are not two of the 500 million people who have reportedly watched this show worldwide, so we had no idea what to expect. Well, it's basically competitive karaoke, heavily produced and dramatized. The three 'coaches' were Hotel General Manager Peter, Rhumba Duo singer Teresa, and Magic To Do vocalist/magician Erik. Seven passengers performed, and the first two were really good. The others were decent, but couldn't compare. The coaches selected their teams and then each chose a finalist (that part confused me...why pick their favorites and then eliminate one or two of them?  Wouldn't they, after they chose one really good singer, choose the not so good ones for their team so it would be easy to choose their finalist?). 

The coaches and their teams 

After the three finalists were selected, passengers who had picked up wireless voting devices on their way into the Princess Theater (requiring a ship card as a deposit and limited to one per couple) voted on which of the three finalists should be the champion. The first singer won with 70% of the vote, which was surprising because I thought the second singer was just as good. I guess that's where it pays to have campaigned for votes ahead of time, and get friends you've made or came on the cruise with to attend and vote for you. 

Chad (in the middle) won it all

Given no other show to watch, I might go again. The Emerald Princess orchestra played for about 15 minutes before the show began, and accompanied the singers, and made it worthwhile, and we were lucky that two of the singers were really good, but if there weren't any good ones, it could be an excruciating hour to sit through. As I've said, we like being entertained by professional performers, but have to concede that most of America seems to like these competitive shows. Singing, dancing, talent, cooking...heck, there was even a Christmas house decorating competition show on when we were home over the holidays. I guess Princess is just giving its passengers what it seems the public wants.

We made a pass across the Lido Deck for ice cream with strawberry sauce and sprinkles (G) and red velvet cheesecake (me). We are moving clocks back an hour tonight, and forcing ourselves to go to bed early. We'd like to once again watch our arrival in Fort Lauderdale tomorrow. It makes for a long day, but the opportunities for us to do that are quickly coming to an end. 

Day 140: (Not) Grand Turk (two rescues at sea)

This was definitely the strangest day of our current winter at sea. 

Our scheduled arrival in Grand Turk today was at 1pm, but any plans we had for sleeping in were put to bed (haha) at about 7:30am, when we heard the now-familiar tones indicating an announcement was coming into the cabin. This was a surprise; surely Captain Forteeze would not be announcing a change of plans related to Grand Turk that early in the day?

The captain announced that there was a 46 ft. catamaran in distress nearby, and the Coast Guard had requested that the Emerald Princess respond. This kind of excitement doesn't come our way everyday (thank God), and we were quickly propelled out of bed and up to the jogging track on Deck 19 with its 360 degree views around the ship. Just before 8am, we saw one of the Emerald Princess rescue boats launch and, looking as tiny as a speck on the big blue sea, it started making its way at an angle toward the back of the ship and beyond.

What we didn't see, ever, was the sinking catamaran, nor the dingy into which Captain Forteeze had told us the boat's passengers were using to stay afloat until help arrived. Whatever was happening was happening well out of the vision of anyone in the ship not using high powered binoculars. We later learned that there is a very large coral reef in that area just off the coast of the island of Hispaniola, and that is why the Emerald Princess could not navigate closer to the distressed boat. I don't know what we had imagined we were going to see (G mentioned the Emerald Princess orchestra on the Promenade Deck playing My Heart Will Go On as the catamaran sank into the abyss), it wasn't going to play out quite that way. 

Captain Forteeze kept us updated every step of the way (every step, God bless him), but we eventually lost a bit of interest and went down to breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room. As soon as we had finished, we went out on the Promenade Deck, and it was amusing to see people lined up on both sides of the ship, all swearing that theirs was the side where the action was playing out. Honestly, we had no idea where it all was, but G finally got on Google Earth and determined that the catamaran was most likely In that huge shallow reef area and so it was west of us. 

The grey dot is the Emerald Princess at the edge of that large submerged shallow reef where the catamaran went aground. 

A larger view. We were heading to Grand Turk (Cockburn Town) when the Emerald Princess received the call from the Coast Guard about the catamaran in distress. 

Then came the announcement that the engine on the rescue boat had quit when it was within a mile of the dinghy, and now the rescue boat was also in need of rescuing. We watched as a tender boat was launched (Captain Forteeze said they were sending out a couple of engineers to see if they could repair the rescue boat engine), and the ship's second rescue boat was also launched. We were told that this was all playing out a few miles from the ship, which you would think we could see, but, probably because these were such small boats, we didn't see anything. Captain Forteeze later told G that they were able to see all this from the bridge using high powered binoculars. 

We spent the morning going from one vantage point on the ship to another, front to back, up to Deck 19 and down to Deck 7. I did take a few minutes to trade in the crystal I had received at last night's Captains Circle party for another (Suzan!), but, other than that, we, along with many on the ship, were in a waiting mode. Captain Forteeze eventually made the not unexpected announcement that we would not make it to Grand Turk today, which is always a disappointment but for what better reason?

Around 1pm, we went for a quick lunch, and during it, Captain Forteeze announced that a Coast Guard helicopter from Puerto Rico had rescued the four people from their dinghy (three Americans and a South African) and everyone in the dining room cheered. We think it was a chartered Daydream catamaran from the US or British Virgin Islands. After that good news soon came more: the tender boat was starting to tow the first rescue boat and the second rescue boat was staying with them back to the ship. They were still about three miles away. 

All this time, the thrusters were being used to keep the Emerald Princess off the reef, and the back of the ship was doing its usual shimmy-shake. Sometimes it felt like the ship would rattle itself apart, and then it would be less intense. Members of the security team were on the Promenade Deck through all of this with stacks of blankets and robes, which must be the protocol during rescue efforts.  We later learned that ten pizzas were sent to the bridge because this whole thing lasted nearly eight hours (hopefully the officers in the Entine Control Room and those security officers were also fed). 

It was after 2:30pm before we finally spotted the two rescue boats and the tender boat nearing the ship. Captain Forteeze said they would first load the distressed rescue boat and then turn the ship to load the other two boats, all on the leeward side. We went up to Deck 19 to watch as the tender boat towed the rescue boat as close to the side of the ship as it could, and then the second rescue boat acted as a tug, pushing it into position and holding it there until it could be picked up. That's not something they practice everyday! Once again, everyone cheered and applauded and then ran to the other side of the ship to watch the remaining two boats get picked up. 

With the tow line still attached

Holding the rescue boat in place 

Picking up the second rescue and tender boats

It was after 3pm by the time Captain Forteeze made what he promised would be his last announcement of the day, that his crew was all safe and that the Coast Guard had notified the ship that their helicopter had landed and the four rescued people were all safe and thanked the Emerald Princess for its efforts. Whew!  Honestly, we hadn't done even one thing and we were exhausted by it all. 

The Cruise Director's staff had put together a revised schedule of activities for today, but most people seemed to want to either watch all the excitement (or at least keep an eye on the horizon for a sign of anything), or lay in the sun by the pools. After it was all over, I went back to the cabin to get out of the sun and watched another episode of Downton Abbey (I'm still not through them all). G eventually returned to the cabin saying he had just run into Captain Forteeze and asked him (among other things) if our arrival in Fort Lauderdale would be affected. The next thing we heard was Captain Forteeze making another announcement he promised would really be his last, assuring everyone our arrival in Port Everglades would be on schedule. Harious. 

The day just seemed so turned upside down that we had no desire to get dressed for dinner in the dining room. Instead, we stayed casual and went to the Horizon Court Buffet for dinner with a view of a gorgeous sunset. We even skipped all entertainment tonight (Magic To Do) in favor of sitting on the Promenade Deck and watching the ocean go by. I imagine it is a lot more comforting to do that from the deck of the Emerald Princess than what those four people in that dinghy had to deal with last night. 

I have several photos from today to post, but am once again internet constricted (150 minutes over 7 days does not go far). I will upload them from Fort Lauderdale when we arrive on Saturday. 

Day 139: St. Thomas

I could write tonight about all the ways we considered spending our day today in St. Thomas, and they would all be more exciting than what we actually did (which was nothing). We had thought, until yesterday afternoon, that, since we were going to be docked at Havensight, we would take a safari bus down to Red Hook on the eastern side of St. Thomas and take a ferry over to Cruz Bay on the island of St. John. After over 6 hours on a boat yesterday, we re-thought that idea. 

Over dinner last night, we talked about taking a safari bus to Coki Beach, since we had enjoyed that so much with Suzan and Greg earlier in the season. This morning, that idea also went by the wayside. I thought that simply walking into downtown Charlotte Amalie and taking photos of the tiny alleyways and courtyards where so many of the shops are located (we've never done that) was a fine idea. However, G apparently abandoned his religion altogether today, and decided he'd rather just stay on the ship. 

Did you sense the earth tilting on its axis this morning?

In our defense, yesterday really was a tiring day. I also awoke with bumps and bruises and abrasions from my knees to my ankles. A couple, I think, came from my fall in our cabin when it was so rocky a few nights ago, but the rest were solely attributable to repeatedly climbing the ladder onto the boat yesterday. A down day on the ship, using our AT&T Internet, making phone calls and using the pool and hot tub sounded perfect.  And that's all we did. 

Charlotte Amalie is one of the prettiest harbors in the Caribbean

The Regal Princess and the HAL Westerdam were at Crown Bay. I was surprised to see the Westerdam could fit on the north side of that pier.

The Celebrity Reflection was docked in front of us at Havensight, and the Freedom OTS arrived about 11am and took the third berth. 

Freedom OTS lifeboats doing drills

Freedom OTS docked behind us at Havensight

We were showered and dressed formally for the evening by 4pm, and went up to Skywalkers to watch sailaway without getting wind blown. It was very interesting to watch as the Emerald Princess moved sideways away from the pier and then backed up and swing bow to starboard, narrowly avoiding the Freedom OTS in the third berth. 

Backing out around the Freedom OTS

We went to dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room (escargot, lobster and mandarin sorbet for dessert) and then arrived at 7pm for the Captains Circle party. We were honored to be the #3 Most Traveled Passengers again this cruise, but didn't dawdle afterwards; we wanted to get seats for the 8:15pm performance in the Explorers Lounge. Singers Matthew Tyler and Erik Bryan from the production show cast (Erik is the magician in Magic To Do) and dancer James Walters performed a tribute to the Rat Pack, and, accompanied by the Emerald Princess orchestra, it was a fantastic show. Deputy cruise Director Frenchie told me they'll be doing it again next cruise, and we'll be certain to see it again. They received a standing ovation and came back out for an encore. I love to see that kind of talent!!

The ship is stable again tonight (yay) and we don't arrive in Grand Turk until 1pm tomorrow. We can look forward to a good night's sleep AND an easy morning. At this point in our winter, both are just what we need. 

Day 138: St. Martin

Today was in the twelve top 5 best days of the entire winter. And it's only 8:45pm as I start this post, but I can barely keep my eyes open. It was that great of a day.

But it was another rough night last night. Even the crew is talking about it, and most of their cabins are much lower on the ship than ours is.  Waiter Victor said he was awakened by the ship's shaking at least once an hour last night. That's pretty good...we were probably awake four times every hour. Although the Emerald Princess didn't arrive in St. Martin until 10am today, at some point last night I did set an alarm for 8am. I was afraid that we might just sleep in, especially once the ship was docked and stable. 

G skipped breakfast altogether but had a hot chocolate while we were waiting on Deck 5 to disembark. I went down to the International Cafe a little earlier and had a cup of coffee and my second breakfast sandwich of the season. (So, if you're keeping track, that's a grand total of two times that I've gotten food at the International Cafe. Staying away from that food is key to having the same clothes I wore in September still fit). 

We are smarter now, and knew where to line up (right outside the Internet Cafe on Deck 5) to be one of the first people off the ship. We were packed for a boat/beach day, and once we disembarked, we walked through the cruise pier area and exited the port, turning left and walking down to the Dock Maarten small boat marina. It was an easy 15 minute walk, and we walked through Chesterfield's restaurant on the waterfront to meet up with Captain Bob. 

Captain Bob's is the top rated excursion on Trip Advisor for Philipsburg, the town on the Dutch side of Sint Maarten where the cruise ships dock. This was the tour we had tried to get on the last time we were here but there was no space available. We had immediately reserved two spots for today and were thrilled to see how sunny it was. There were five boats going out today, and we didn't all do things in the same order, but, in the interest of time, I am simply going to copy and paste the tour description from the email that Captain Bob sent me at the time we reserved our trip. With a couple of exceptions (which I'll note), this is how we spent our day. 

Captain Arno was not too hard on the eyes. And that luscious French accent...

Source:  http://www.paradise-islands.org/st-maarten/map.htm

It helps to picture our day if you have a map of St. Martin to refer to.

Tour description

We take off along the South coast of St. Martin to Simpson Bay and through the Dutch side bridge into the Simpson Bay Lagoon.  During the winter, we pass up close to some of the biggest private yachts in the world (these were huge, but by the time we returned to Philipsburg at 4:30pm, the second largest privately owned yacht in the world was docked right next to the Emerald Princess). 

Bridge crossing Simpson Bay

Yacht parking lot

New bridge over Simpson Bay to the airport

We cross to the French side of the lagoon, towards Marigot and under the French side bridge into the Caribbean Sea.  

The long south shore of Anguilla in the distance

Grand Case Beach lunch stop pics: 

That float gets around!

Our delicious lunch. We chose mahi mahi.

We travel along the North coast of St. Martin stopping to see all the beaches along this coast, Lovers Beach, Friars Bay, Happy Bay, and Grand Case.  We also pass a most interesting rock formation.

Creole Rock...this looked exactly like where we snorkeled with the sea lions in the Sea of Cortez last year.

Depending on the weather and the number of boats present, we stop at Creole Rock or one of the other nice spots to do some snorkeling. (We actually stopped at Creole Rock after a huge lunch, a couple of beers and a guava berry colada. It was very windy and rough and I opted not to snorkel, causing G to almost fall off the boat in surprise. He claims I have never before missed a snorkeling opportunity. He's probably right.)

After, we continue along the coast past Anse Marcel toward the eastern side of the island and the Atlantic Ocean.

This will bring us to Pinel Island where we have lunch  (although we spent some time on the beach, we actually ate lunch in a beach restaurant on Grand Case Beach) and some time to relax on the beach.  Pinel is a tropical paradise with calm, shallow, blue water and swaying palm trees.  There is a small boutique under the palm trees where you will find unique items not found in the normal tourist traps on St. Martin and the prices are very reasonable. 

Pinel Island pics:

Loved these tables in the water!

Lobster G

Sugar birds in the gift shop

Iguanas, of course. They are everywhere in the Caribbean

After lunch, we sometimes head over to Tintemarre Island if the group and the waves allow.  It can be rough going there, but the spot is nice and a great place to swim and walk the beach.  Tintemarre is a deserted tropical island with a beautiful beach and is usually un-crowded.  There is no development on the island and no public transportation to it. (We were able to get to Tintemarre today and I snorkeled there. We saw turtles from the boat but I couldn't see them snorkeling because the wind had reduced the underwater visibility). 

The long, relatively secluded beach of Tintemarre. I might have said it was completely secluded if mine hadn't just been the only footprints on the beach on Eleuthera!

On the way back to Philipsburg, we go back all the way around the island past Bay Rouge, Plum Bay, Long Bay.  (Somewhere in this area we went past a few huge compounds right on the water. Our pilot Arno told us that one of them was Donald Trump's. I think that's a fine place for him to live. ;-) ) Then past Cupecoy, & Mullet Bay and then stop at Maho Bay to catch a big jet taking off or landing at the international airport.  The planes pass very close over your heads and you get to see why PJIA international Airport is listed as one of the 10 most dangerous airports in the world. I think it was rated as #3 on the TV show of the same name. Search St. Martin landings on YouTube and you will see what I mean.

Because the airport services a small island, there are not flights coming and going all day, every day.  Normally we do get to see at least one big plane come in and go out but there is no guarantee.  Some days there are no flights scheduled at the time we go by and on other days, if there is a delay or the plane leaves early we may miss them.  We do not get off the boat at Maho beach because we are forbidden to come close to the beach for safety reasons.  The effect of being on the water right under them is still impressive plus the view of the "nuts" standing behind the jets as they take off is quite interesting. (We saw one large Westjet flight from Toronto and two smaller planes land today). 

Then we continue back to Philipsburg for a 4:40 PM arrival.

There is a short video posted on YouTube that covers the entire trip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUEydx9xWiA&feature=plcp&context=C4e9e978VDvjVQa1PpcFPKxXnNm6szOUe58pOFdRwsPvJWKJJ-Pvs=

End of tour information

You can see why I was particularly happy that my Fuji XP80 camera had started working again. I used the camera all day today and it performed beautifully. The boats were very new and extremely powerful with three large outboard engines. There was limited shade from a Bimini cover but all the seats were well cushioned, which was a good thing. We flew across the water, and actually went airborne a couple of times. Bags that weren't secured in a dry hatch were soaked. We never even bothered to use our beach towels; we wouldn't have stayed dry very long anyway. And I'm glad we left our iPhones behind. Nothing was safe from the spray. 

The water color everywhere was just spectacular. We had never before toured around St. Martin by boat, and were surprised by all the development and beaches. There are beaches tucked around every point of land, and most of the island is comprised of dry hills covered with vegetation and cacti. 

We also had a wonderful view of the southern shore of the neighboring island of Anguilla (An-GWIL-a), and in the distance we could see the mountains of the tiny island of Saba (Say-ba) and the hills of St. Barths. We have never visited Anguilla or Saba but have stopped in St. Barths a couple of times on Holland America cruises. Normally, only the smallest ships stop in St. Barths and mainstream cruise lines never stop in Saba or Anguilla. 

America's Cup yacht excursion near Philipsburg  

The second largest privately owned yacht in the world, Eclipse, with its own missile defense system.

Once back at Dock Maarten, we stopped in the Amsterdam wine and cheese store on the dock where we were treated to ice cream made right on the island, courtesy of Captain Bob. We arrived back on the Emerald Princess around 5pm; it had been a full and fun day. We each raced through showers and made it to the dining room by 5:45pm. Not especially hungry after a wonderful lunch on the beach and then ice cream, we each ate a couple of appetizers and more ice cream (there's always room for sorbet!) and made it to the 7pm performance of production show Disco:  Blame it on the Boogie. The cast must have had as good a day as we did; they were having so much fun tonight that they received a well-deserved standing ovation at the show's end. 

David Pitchfork and the Emerald Princess orchestra were playing Dixieland jazz in the Piazza and we stopped to listen to them. We are feeling quite spoiled to have a 7-member show band after the 4-member band on the Pacific Princess. They are also performing for tonight's Love Boat Disco Deck Party, which we would love to stay up for...but there is no way. G is already asleep and I will be soon. Our arrival in St. Thomas tomorrow is scheduled for 7am and, though our plans for the day aren't firm, we don't want to sleep in. 

I have several photos to post about our boat excursion today, but am close enough to free internet in St. Thomas to wait until tomorrow. I'll add them, and also upload a few more photos from the Eleuthera Death March then.