Caribbean Cruise! March 2014

After staying put for a couple of months, we were ready to explore again!  This time, we took R&R to Miami and cruised the Caribbean.


We landed in Miami, rented a car and drove across Alligator Alley to visit our family in Naples, FL.  I got my hair done (thanks Denise Zimm), did some shopping and we had a great family dinner at Chops that evening.  It was so great to see family.


We drove back across and headed for Fort Lauderdale where we met my mom, who flew down from NY to spend some time with us.  We spent a couple of days in the Lauderdale area, drove to Vero Beach to have lunch with my mom's friend Larry and then we drove back to Miami to board the first cruise to Key West and Grand Cayman.  My mom joined us for this 5 day cruise.  We discovered, as we were registering, that it was spring break week and our cruise was about 2,000 spring break college students.  Oh boy....note to self....check on spring break dates before booking a cruise in March!!!  It was wild to say the least.  We had a fun time, as we usually do, but could have done without the shenanigans going on.  I have never seen the ship's police before but they were out in full force during this cruise.  The hot tubs were jammed packed full of college kids with red solo cups.  There were kids passed out in hallways and lots of running up and down hallways.  At least the piano bar wasn't packed, which was a lot of fun each evening and the specialty dining rooms weren't crowded since most of the spring breakers were eating at the buffet all day and night.


The three of us had a great time in Key West, where we did our very own pub crawl.  We did the "tourist" thing and took a tour around the island, getting off at the southernmost point of the continental US and then we walked back up the main street.  Our first stop was at the original Margaritaville, which was awesome since I am a Parrot Head (Jimmy Buffett fan).  I ordered, what else, a margarita and we shared some chicken wings.  We then headed over to the Hard Rock café to buy a glass to add to our collection.  Then it was off to Coyote Ugly to check it out.  Kirk enjoyed the lunchtime dance on the bar by our waitress!  After that, we headed to Sloppy Joe's, Ernest Hemingway's old hangout, where we enjoyed conch fritters along with an electric lemonade, which was quite tasty!  After that, we ended our pub tour at Kelly's (which is owned by Kelly McGinnis, of Top Gun fame).  We somehow made it back to the ship, cleaned up and enjoyed a great dinner and evening of shows and beverages!


Grand Cayman beach was beautiful.  We rented an umbrella and chairs and parked ourselves at the beach for the majority of the day.


Before we knew it, we were back in Miami.  My mom flew back to NY and Kirk and I spent the night in Miami.  We boarded another ship the following day, just Kirk and I, setting sail for the southern Caribbean.  This cruise had no spring breakers and was very relaxing.  We spent a lot of time on the ship on the upper decks in the sun reading and resting.  We did visit the gym on board, to work off all the wonderful food and drink were consuming! 


Our first stop was St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.  We walked from the ship to the downtown area and walked up the 99 steps to Blackbeard's Castle, which really isn't a castle, more of a tower at the top of the hill.  There was really not even proof that Blackbeard had been on the island but it was a huge tourist draw so there you go!  After we walked around, we caught a cab to Magen's Bay, which was voted one of the world's most beautiful beaches by National Geographic.  It was beautiful and  we enjoyed a lazy afternoon on the white sands. 


Next stop was Dominica.  Kirk planned a grand surprise for me.  All I knew was that I needed water shoes.  Kirk planned  a whole day of adventure for us.  We started the day with a snorkeling trip to Champagne Bay.  I was a little nervous about the snorkeling....I am a bit claustrophobic and was worried about getting water in my snorkel but I worried for nothing.  It was fun and we saw wonderful things in the bay.  Our guide showed us many species of fish, coral and the "champagne" spring where we swam through millions of tiny bubbles coming up from the ocean floor.  We then hopped back in the van and drove to a natural spring where we swam (in FREEZING cold water) into a gorge to a waterfall (they filmed part of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies here).  We climbed up the waterfall and behind it, then we jumped off into a pool of water about 10 feet below.  It was exhilarating!  Our guide had some local rum punch for us to try after we returned to the van.  It was rather tasty.  We also enjoyed a local beer.  Then we were off to the double waterfalls, where we took photos and hiked down into the rain forest.  We found natural hot springs, where we stripped down to our bathing suits and enjoyed a soak.  All in all, it was a FABULOUS day and a great surprise.


Next stop was Bridgetown, Barbados where our friends Gary & Sandra Bennett are stationed with the State Department.  They picked us up at the port and we spent a great day touring the island with them.  We had a wonderful picnic near the Atlantic side of the island, where the surf is very rough. There are no hotels on this side of the island because you can't swim because of the rough waters.  We ended the day at a beach club, enjoying the sun & sand and our friends. 


Next stop was St. Lucia.  We walked to a beach which was right near the airport.  It was not crowded and we found a lighthouse at the top of the hill near the beach.  Yes, we hiked to the top of the hill to explore and enjoyed a terrific view of the island and the bay where the ship was docked.


Our last stop was St. Maarten (the Dutch side).  It was a fun beach.  We rented an umbrella, two chairs and a bucket of cold beer and spent the day being beach bums. 


This cruise was relaxing, fun, and a chance to reconnect.  This was definitely the cruise I enjoyed the most so far!  We also enjoyed the time in the states.  I couldn't wait to get a cheeseburger!! :)