After checking in at "Da House" in Old San Juan, we met the family and Bob and Adri's friends, who live in Puerto Rico, for dinner at Tantra.
SUNDAY - NOVEMBER 6
We slept at DaHouse..perhaps I should say that we
tried to sleep there...booming party noises from the street drifted into the hotel till the wee hours of the morning! We walked the blue cobblestone streets and had a delicious breakfast and coffee at Caficultura
Harry and I took the Horse-Drawn Trolley tour of the Old Town area after breakfast.
A few photos of the sights that we saw along the way.
After the trolley tour, we walked the Paseo de la Princesa, a very beautiful promenade along the seashore.
We were able to board the ship at 2:00pm. Welcome Aboard!
The ship's pool provided welcome relief from the hot Puerto Rican sun.
How did we get from learning that camouflage clothing is forbidden in Barbados to this?!?
...a silly ending to our first dinner on board the Serenade of the Seas.
Thanks Willie!
MONDAY - NOVEMBER 7
We look a bit more civilized by the next night, when we had our first formal dinner.
TUESDAY - NOVEMBER 8
Harry and I swam with the turtles in Barbados! A great excursion that included lunch.
TUESDAY - NOVEMBER 9
On Wednesday we arrived at St Lucia where Harry and I took a two-part tour. In the morning we toured the island on land by bus, traveling on the steep and winding roads into the rain forest, with spectacular views of the harbor and the Pitons. We made stops at the quaint old fishing village of Anse La Raye and at the Diamond Botanical Gardens. After having lunch at an old plantation, we boarded a catamaran for part-two of the tour.
We saw the Pitons from a different perspective, had the opportunity to swim in the ocean, and cruised through Marigot Bay, where we were surprised to see Annie, Bruce, Trish and Rita collecting seashells on the shore.
Bruce, Trish, Rita, and Annie toured the island on their own.
Bob and Adriana saw some of the same things that we did as they toured the island of St Lucia independently.
THURSDAY - NOVEMBER 10
Welcome to Antigua!
The Antiguan Experience Tour was our favorite. Jacqui, the tour guide, was so enthusiastic and delightfully informative. The tour started in Yvonne's modest home. Yvonne's roots were Irish, but her family has lived in Antigua since the 1600's. Her home was chock-full of memorabilia, island art, family photographs collected over all those years. We were welcomed with island punch and entertained by her talking parrots on the back patio.
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| Yvonne Hall |
We learned that Antigua is a very dry island (hard to believe, because there had been a flash flood the night before we arrived!). Because water is precious, at rest stops we were instructed "if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down."
The tour concluded at one of Antigua's 366 beaches, where we had lots of time to swim and enjoy the lunch and entertainment provided.
Zipline Daredevils!
Bruce, Rita, Adri, and Bob signed up for the Ultimate Treetop Challenge in Antigua.
Family Picture
Enjoying cocktails in the Schooner Bar before our second formal dinner of the cruise.
FRIDAY - NOVEMBER 11
Welcome to St Maarten!
Magical Highlights Tour
Our ship ported on the Dutch side of the island. This tour took us around the island, first by sea, then by land, all the way to the French capital of Marigot. The island was celebrating St Martin's Day, so local festivities were going on in the towns along the way. While we were in Marigot, we went to a French bakery, Serafina's, and had delicious coffee and pastries.
In the afternoon, we took the water taxi to a nearby beach, where we were greeted by a Rasta-man, who sold us the use of an umbrella, two beach chairs, and five drinks for $20.
SATURDAY - NOVEMBER 12
Welcome to Saint Croix!
Valerie makes her way to the pier to join theWest End Highlights Tour. What a bummer that she fell off a ladder and tore the lateral cruciate ligament in her knee just one week before the cruise. A rented wheelchair gave her a ready place to sit and rest when that was what she needed.
The first stop on the West End Highlights Tour was the Whim Plantation, which had been a working sugar plantation in the 18th century. The property was very interesting to explore. The Great House looked like a great place in which to live.
The botanical gardens on the island are planted on the ruins of what was first an Arawak Indian village from 100 to 900 AD, then a Danish sugar plantation from 1733 to 1917, then a catte ranch from 1930, and finally a botanical garden in 1972.
The final stop on the tour was at the Cruzan Rum factory, where we could see the process of making rum and where we could taste the finished product!
After the tour concluded, we had lunch at the Windjammer on the ship, then walked from the port to a beach nearby for our last swim in the ocean. Heading back to the ship, we met Bruce and sadly returned to our home-on-the-sea for the last time. We had a busy night getting everything packed up and ready for our disembarkation which would be the next morning. Harry's last "hurrah" of the cruise was a Nathan's hotdog in the Seaview Cafe.
It was a great trip in every way.
It was good to be with family.
It was good to meet Trish and Rita.
(We will continue to pray for your sister, Nancy.)
We are grateful for traveling mercies and beautiful memories!
