We finally got let off the ship! We think they held us onboard until there was no lightning risk.
Walking across ship on our way to disembark onto a private island! Julian got us a cabana!View from the cabana. Bevin found the hammock right away!
It was nice because the passing storm had created cloud cover so we got a couple hours of not getting totally blasted by the sun.
She graduated to a floaty.
There are fish in the lagoon, of several varieties. Also baby crabs. And we saw a jellyfish, as well as a rather large stingray!
Once she found out you could peer at the fishes she took to the deep water.
We actually ended up floating out past the lifeguard on the far side of the floating cabanas. No pictures exist, because water, but there are some artificial reefs they’ve made out of concrete blocks. Bunches of fish!
Lounging in the shade. The sun is mighty and terrifying. It’s a long walk to the boat, but it doesn’t LOOK like it because the boat is so big! We didn’t do the water park. Two of the slides are vertical drop, you stand in the tube and the floor drops out. I wanted to try… 😂 The water from the pier. There are fishes!
It was really fun to see actual tropical fish in actual tropical water.
The color of the water is just amazing. Phone doesn’t do it justice. Beautiful clear calm ocean. Thanks Bahamas! Mesmerized by the dual ripple wakes we leave. Bevin appears slightly toasted. Floating with the fishes for so long!
We went back to the steakhouse on board because it was so good the first time. All the food we had was amazing, and the staff are fantastic.
A more sensible slab of meat tonight. According to the statistics we have sailed more than 1/10th of the distance around the equator. Waiting in the room for our call to disembark. Cruise ports aren’t always in the nicest neighborhoods. Miami Skyline is impressive though. Bev is ready to travel.
And now we’re at the airport. Due to flight changes and such all of us had our flights moved back from our original times, so now we have about 6 hours at the airport. Wheee?
Spent yesterday transiting from St. Thomas to the Bahamas and Royal Caribbean private island Coco Cay.
Sailing away from St. ThomasGoodbye St. Thomas! Didn’t take Bevin long to find her soft serveWe went to the ice show. Not AS impressive as the water show, but they had drones! A very pretty night at seaPlaying with the astrophotography setting on my phone. Further “night sight”. Probably would be better if it weren’t hand-held. Walking through the ship to get to the front and watch the docking. Coco Cay ahoy! We seem to be approaching rather fast there captain… Spin the ship, reverse thrust!
It’s actually really impressive how precise this GIANT ship can control itself. Watching them parallel park is a thing of beauty. Not a tugboat in sight.
Waiting to disembark, ugly little rain clouds in the neighborhood. Waiting to get off still.
Really it’s not that adventurous… We haven’t encountered any pirates, and our ship detoured to avoid a tropical storm, so we haven’t even had any weather other than heat and humidity. And a nice 20kt breeze as the ship sails along, all but imperceptibly motionless from the inside.
There are advantages to being on the world’s largest cruise ship.
Enjoying the breeze and the screaming from the water slides. The deck was nice until the sun took it over. “Central Park” was a bit cooler. The upstairs suite lounge offers a great view, as well as great AC and all the ice water you need. Not a ship in sight on any horizon. Central Park at night is pretty lovely.
After a few days at sea we arrived at St. Maarten. Our room is on the 17th floor. That dock is waaaaay down there.
The view of the ship from the dock is impressive though.
We walked all the way around the bay to “downtown”. Unfortunately it’s really been devastated by weather damage from years back and the economic downturn more recently. Lots of closed shops and hotels, not very much rebuilding going on. Beautiful beach though, and a great view back to the ship.
We didn’t explore beyond the local city. On the way back though we stopped at the cheese shop, this being the Dutch half of the island, and bought some amazing Brie and Stroopwafles.
Arriving back to the ship we found our towel animal collection had grown.
A penguin doesn’t usually find himself in cacti, but he seems happy enough.
Went to the steakhouse for dinner, which was amazingly good. Bevin got a steak the size of her head, or perhaps larger.
A quick night’s sailing brought to St. Thomas. Back in the US!
Walked the mile or so to downtown and poked around. Very Pirates of the Caribbean in it’s architecture, and definitely in better shape that St. Maarten was, but lots of shops closed up as well. Hard when tourism is such a big part of your economy and it’s been gone so long.
They do have iguanas though. Do not anger them.
Everything has been great. Great food and entertainment on the ship, great weather, and a ship that’s just under 1/3rd full means everything is very comfortable and not crowded feeling.
We’re hanging out in the lounge drinking iced tea and rehydrating. Boat should be departing in an hour or so. Another day at sea tomorrow!
