Last day in St. Croix :(

We woke up Saturday to our last port of call, the U.S Virgin Island of St. Croix. We had been excited to see this island because one of good friends got married there and had so many great things to say about it. We were bummed that our cruise ended just like it started though- with a cloudy, overcast, at times rainy day. :( But like my daddy says, a bad day on the beach beats a good one at work. I couldn't agree more!

We were determined to make the most of our last day despite the clouds and headed from the port to the city of Christiansted, about 45 minutes away. We had signed up for another snorkeling adventure off the coast of Buck Island. We had a great time snorkeling but the water was so rough that it was downright exhausting. We loved the views of the beautiful fish and coral reefs below us but after about an hour we were so tired from fighting the rough water that we were ready to get back on the boat :)

We headed back to the shore, ate lunch at a cute little seafood cafe by the water, and then toured around Christiansted to do some shopping. I found a cute summer straw purse and then it was back to our port at Fredericksted for our last night on the ship :(

Trey loved the name of this boat

That night we decided to just go all out at dinner and basically between us ordered one of everything from the dessert menu (just so we could say we tried them ;) hahaha Don't worry- we didn't actually eat all of it. It was just fun to try and gosh were they good!

We went back to our room after dinner to rest for just a little bit because I told Trey it was our last night and we just HAD to go to some of the dancing parties all over the ship that night. Well... after reading all about our excursions and crazy schedule from the trip all week, wouldn't you know, we fell asleep... and didn't wake up until 2:30 am! We must have been tired. We actually tried to get up and see if anything was still going on but sadly we missed the boat. So we came back and finally got 8 hours of sleep our last night.

In the morning we woke up and had breakfast overlooking the shore of Old San Juan from the Windjammer Cafe. We couldn't believe our trip was almost over but it was a great end to a wonderful week.

We've already starting thinking of our next trip. Maybe Bora Bora, Greek Islands, Grand Canyon? ;) ha We'll see.

Our Favorite Island- St. Maarten!

Day 6 we woke up in St. Maarten. We had heard so many great things from friends who had been there before and couldn't wait to go shopping in downtown Phillipsburg on the Dutch side and catch some rays on one of the beaches on the French side.

But... the first thing I thought of when I woke up that morning was- Kate Middleton must already be a princess by now! haha. I couldn't get enough of the Royal Wedding coverage from the limited channels we had on the cruise ship and I had been watching some CNN coverage before I went to bed the night before. I was so excited to see her dress and all the crowds so I woke up and turned on the tv. The only thing showing anything was Fox News and I tuned in just in time to see the balcony kiss live. Trey thought I was nuts that I was so into the wedding but it was just so neat to think of a real life fairy tale coming true. I wasn't impressed with her dress or makeup but still thought everything about the wedding was so special and she was one lucky girl. I was glad to at least have seen a little part of history in the making (and no worries- I got my full royal wedding coverage at night when our cruise ship broadcast the entire wedding again with their BBC coverage that night- ha, what can I say, my Nana is British and she built it up for me. I had to watch!

Anyway, back to the island. We got off the ship a little later than usual (because of my wedding obsession) and headed to the water taxi stand for a ride to the downtown area for my favorite.... SHOPPING!!!!!

Waiting for the water taxi. The water was just beautiful! The bluest we saw all week. It was unreal.

Water Taxi

Shopping Shopping Shopping!!!!

Trey and I bought some Guavaberry liquor from this famous store. They decorate their bottles with pretty hand painted designs so we made sure to grab a few as a souvenirs.

After we got our shopping fix in we headed to the French side of the island to the north and camped out at Orient Beach to catch some rays before heading back to the ship. It was very windy but made it feel amazing because the sun was blazing down on us but it felt so breezy you didn't feel the heat.
Did I mention the French side is known for their nude beaches? We saw some topless people where we were laying out but for the most part everyone was in bathing suits. We decided to take a stroll and actually in this picture below we were about to cross the rocks behind us, unbeknownst to us into a major nudist colony part of the beach.

I think Trey was hoping to see find some beauties laying out on the beach but the joke was on him. It was old flabby and fat men and women... mostly men! hahahaha And I mean completely naked! He quickly was over the thrill and wanted back the normal side of the beach but I sure got a laugh out of it. And we both couldn't help but break our straight face when we overheard a man getting lathered up in sunscreen by his wife saying, "hey honey, not on my crack." I kid you not. hahahahaha Yep we saw enough old shriveled twig and berries to last us a lifetime. It was an experience for sure and we got a good laugh in us.
Sadly our time in St. Maarten came and went too quickly. We would have loved to see more of the island and experience the beaches a little longer but there was just so much to do and not enough time to do it. It was back to the port so we didn't get left behind. We would love to go back one day though.

We got back on the ship and hung out by the pool for the take off party. Every day when the cruise ship was leaving a port they'd have a party of some sort by the pool so our typical routine was to get back on board and head to the upper deck to relax in one of the many hot tubs and listen to the calypso band playing. It was a nice way to relax at the end of a crazy tour day.

Sunset leaving St. Maarten

View of the Royal Promenade below (basically an indoor shopping mall inside the ship)

That night our room attendant surprised us with yet another amazing towel design feat. When we got back to our room after dinner we saw he had wrapped our towels into a cute little monkey. He was pretty talented with his work all week but thought this one was pretty neat.
Next post- our last day :( in St. Croix

St. Kitts and Antigua

Day 4 we arrived in St. Kitts bright and early and Trey and I got off the boat with no itinerary in mind. We didn't know much about the island and thought we'd just see what the day brought us. It didn't take long to figure out. When we walked through the welcome sign at the port we were greeted by tons of taxi drivers holding up signs for this or that tour. We got a deal with one guy named Talbo and he ended up doubling up as our taxi driver/ tour guide. He even had a head set and was talking to us the whole time and describing the sights. It was great!

Good Morning St. Kitts!

Vervet Monkey- they're so cute!

Stop at Caribelle Batik- where they print on fabric

Caribelle Batik

Black Rock Beach

When the tour was done he dropped us off at Frigate Bay where we enjoyed a lunch with a beautiful view of a very isolated bay and then relaxed for a little bit before we headed back to the port. While we enjoyed the day, there really isn't that much to see or do on the island so we were ready to move onto the next stop in Antigua.

Frigate Bay

That night Trey and I had made reservations to dine at one of the specialty restaurants on the ship, Portofino. We almost cancelled them before we left because the only reservation time they had available was 6 pm and since we wanted to get the most out of our days we thought we might be rushed getting back to the ship in time to get ready. But- we were so glad we didn't. It was our favorite dinner of the entire cruise. Not necessarily because the food was great- which it was!, but because we finally had a table for 2 and they sat us right next to the window where we could see the ship leaving port and setting sail for St. Maarten. It was such a pretty view and we were glad for the early seating because it was still light enough to enjoy the view.

It was kinda funny too because after we'd stuffed ourselves with all kinds of exotic appetizers and meals our server brought us a dessert that said "Happy Anniversary!" haha When we booked the cruise the travel agent had asked me if we were celebrating anything special. I told her not really, but she pressed me to say something because she said they sometimes will do something special for you so I said, ok, our early anniversary! haha. Why not?! ha The dessert was de- licious! I mean, the food on those ships is just sinful. Nobody should eat that much! But, it was a treat for a week.

We left dinner and took a breather in our room to settle our full stomachs then it was up to the top deck for a little put put and back to the club for more dancing!

Day 5 in Antigua was beautiful! Out of all our ports of call we enjoyed Antigua and St. Maarten the best. We would love to go back one day and stay a week... or longer :) We met a tour guide at 8:30 am... very early for vacation, I know (seems to be a theme for cruises) and the guide took us all over the island to see some of the major tourist attractions.

The first stop was Blockhouse and Shirley Heights lookout point.

You could see a breathtaking view of the English Harbor and Nelson's Dockyard down below and it was especially beautiful that day we were there because of the sailing races taking place. I've never seen so many sailboats at one time! It was such a sight to see.

From Shirley Heights we made our way down to Nelson's dockyard, named after Admiral Nelson who established Great Britain's Caribbean base on the island in the 1700s. We really enjoyed walking around the dockyard and marina and learning more about the history of the island- and let's not forget the stop for our free rum punch included on the tour. Those Caribbean islands sure do love the rum. Now I see the ongoing theme of rum in Pirates of the Caribbean. It flows in the islands like water. ha

From the dockyard it was back to the port but we lucked out since we took the early tour because it was only about 11:30 in the morning and they offered to drop us off at a beach for a few hours if we chose to. Trey and I decided to camp out at the popular Dickenson Bay and just enjoyed relaxing by the calm water for a few hours. I was in heaven and didn't want to leave. It was a great day!

Dickenson Bay

And- that night was our second formal night on the ship!

I love any opportunity to get all dressed up and Trey and I had a great time at dinner with our new friends Andrea and Oscar. They were from Guadalajara, Mexico and shared a table with us all week. We really enjoyed getting to know them and I even got to practice my Espanol. Though- their English was much better than my Spanish ;)

Next up... St. Maarten/ St. Martin (it's both Dutch and French depending on what part of the island you're on)