Southern Caribbean Cruise January 2018
We flew to
Ft Lauderdale on Jan 2. It was 15 degrees in Atlanta when we left. Ft Lauderdale was rainy, windy
and cold from the same storm system impacting the rest of the East Coast. The day we boarded the Holland America Koningsdam, it was still rainy
and cold. Most people were wearing raincoats and no one was venturing on deck.
The ship was supposed to disembark at 4pm. It was 8pm before we left,
due to too many cruise ships in port at the same time and the ship was
experiencing a mechanical issue. Bottom line no photos leaving port.
Day 2 and 3
were sea days, getting us to the South Caribbean.
We worked out, walked the ship, played Trivia, went to shows and went dancing. We
also spent time on the sun deck on Day 2,
because the sun finally came out
and the clouds went away. Day 3 was rainy and cloudy all day. The farther south we went, the trade winds kick in and cleared the sky for the most part. We did win Trivia though!
Day 4. Philipsburg, Sint Maarten. Sint Maarten was damaged extensively by two hurricanes, Irma and Maria, last year. The Konigsdam was the 1st ship in the Carnival fleet
to make a port call there since the hurricanes.
We had intermittent sunshine and rain showers all day. After docking we
took a water taxi over to Phillipsburg. Many places are still rebuilding from the hurricanes, but, most
shops, bars and restaurants were open. There are few historical sites in the
city, the Court House being one, so, we
spent our time walking Front Street and the Boardwalk. After our 10,000
steps, we spent a few hours lounging on the beach.
That evening
Zach and our Trivia teammate, John, we’re selected to play the "What’s on Earth Game Show." Not an easy game to play!
They came in 2nd.
Day 5. Castries,
St Lucia. It was the 1st fully sunny day of the cruise. In the morning, we hired a car to drive us up
to the fortress, Morne Fortune. If, Zach was fully recovered from his left Achilles
surgery, we could have walked.
After the fort, the driver dropped us off in town. We
went to Derek Walcott Square, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, and the Castries Market which, unfortunately, was mostly closed due to it being a Sunday morning . We were hoping it was fully engaged, since those markets are a great place for photos .
On the way
back to the boat we bought a special hand carved hummingbird for our neighbors, Sam and Meryl, who are watching our house.
That
afternoon we hung out on the deck sunning
till Trivia time. After that the ship did some scenic cruising along the coast by the Pitons.
The 2nd Trivia of the day, BBC Earth: Trivia from
Earth we won with a prefect score of 30, thanks mostly to our teammates John
and Marta. The closest score to us was
9.
Day 6. Bridgetown, Barbados. Bridgetown was the largest town we have visited so far. It even had a
Burger King and KFC and Payless Shoes. We spent the
morning doing the historical stuff. We
went to National Heroes Square with the
Statue of Lord Nelson and the Parliament Buildings.
From there
we went to St Michael’s Anglican
Cathedral and cemetery.
Next we went
to the Queen’s Park and Independence Arch.
We spent the
rest of the day at the Boatyard on
Brown’s Beach on Carlisle Bay. It was a
bit crowded, but, it had very clear water and white sand. We enjoyed it,
especially the free shots and happy hour drinks.
Day 7. Fort-de-France,
Martinique. The ship docked right by the town, so, we walked right off the ship
to see the sights. We went to the La Savane, the park with the headless statue
of Josephine, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Then to the
Schuelcher Library, Maison Bougenot and Cathedral Saint Louis.
Our last
stop was Ft Saint Louis. Our tour guide, Maurice was very knowledgeable, He was
also a Rastafarian and hadn’t cut his hair in 21 years. The fort is still
an active French naval base, so only parts are available for tour. In the middle of the tour a rain
storm came up and we all took shelter in one of the forts tunnels.
That night
we won evening Trivia missing only one answer. It was our third win!!!
Day 8, St
John’s, Antigua. In the morning we
went to St John’s Cathedral and the Government House,
and walked
through the shops for a while.
In the
afternoon we went snorkeling on off a catamaran. Cathy said “ stay with
me”, when I got in the water, she was
long gone and I never saw her till we
got back to the boat. I had the camera and was supposed to take pictures of her
snorkeling; all I got was pictures of stinking fish.
After the
snorkeling, the crew served rum punch and took us to a beach where we walked along
the beach below a fort in the hills overlooking the bay. We
didn’t get back to the ship in time to help our team with trivia.
Day 9. St
Thomas, Virgin Islands. Today we took a
shuttle to Coki Beach and spent the day there. The other places we wanted to visit were still closed from the
hurricanes damage.
We
finally won Music Trivia with 29 out of 32 points!!
Day 10. Sea
day. We won Team Trivia and Music Trivia today!!
Day 11. Last port day was spent at Hall Moon Cay, Bahamas. The Eurodam was also in port, so we were able to visit with our friends Emily and Rory from the crew of the Eorodam. Half Moon Cay beach is very nice; lots of white sand and sparkling clear water.
We spent the last few days trying to extend our cruise, but it was booked up. Back home to the cold we went.
