What I Learned by 25

Our last cruise was a milestone of sorts—it was #25. It’s made me think of how much I’ve learned since that first one back in 2005, such as:

Gumby guarantees a good time. The weather's bad. Ports are missed. Someone gets sick. Luggage comes late. Luggage goes missing. We’ve had it all. Bending with the wind can rescue a precious vacation.

Homework pays off. Like knowing you need to sign up for Royal Caribbean’s shows before you go if you want to make sure you see them. Finding out if there’s a laundry onboard. The cost for a massage. The ship’s pros and cons. Perusing the cruise line’s website, reading cruisecritic.com’s boards and checking out YouTube videos are some ways to go about it.

 

To make sure you see "Blue Planet" on Allure of the Seas, be sure to sign up online before you board

A passport to the Caribbean. While you may be able to get by without a passport on a Caribbean cruise, you won’t easily get by government authorities without one if you’re stranded on an island. And the passport can’t expire within six months of your return to your home port. (If you skip the passport, you’ll need a driver’s license and birth certificate.)

Walking off means sleeping easier. There’s a lot to be said for taking your own bags off the ship. While it may be more convenient to let the ship take your luggage, it comes with risk. Our suitcase almost ended up 700 miles from our home because someone grabbed it in the terminal by mistake.

Specialty dining is worth the money. We fought off paying for specialty dining for the longest time. When we finally took the plunge, we never looked back. Better food. Attentive service. More intimate setting. Yeah, you’re paying for food twice. But it’s worth it.

 

150 Central Park on Oasis class ships comes with an extra cost, but it's worth it

Whatever comes on, goes back off. Two weeks at home, and your extra pounds will be gone. So eat and enjoy!

Changing it up keeps it fresh. If you’re a frequent Caribbean cruiser, working in something different each trip can add some new excitement. During one cruise stop in St. Thomas, we took an excursion to the stupendous island of St. John. Another time, we got the Unlimited Dining Package on Allure of the Seas. Yet another, we got a mini suite on a Princess ship.

 

Just one of the spectacular sides to St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

It’s all in the fine print. We’ve missed so many great events because I’ve forgotten to study the daily newsletter. Increasingly, you only need to look at your phone to find out what’s going on.

Sanitizing is key—even when they don’t tell you to. We’re fanatical about staying healthy onboard. We load up on wet wipes before leaving home and use them before meals—and during them. The ladles in the buffet, menus in the main dining room, the salt and pepper shakers—these all can harbor germs. We clean everything in the stateroom, too.

Tipping for pleasure. Those extra dollars we give the crew when we leave is so important to them and their families. It makes us feel good too—even when we’re miserable that our trip is over.

The Must-Do Excursion in St. Thomas

The must-do excursion in St. Thomas? Going to St. John.

St. John, sister island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, is probably one of the most-photographed places in the Caribbean. For good reason. It’s flat-out gorgeous.

Yet, it’s surprisingly under the radar, though the Mamas and the Papas found themselves there. During their very early (and broke) days, they camped on the island until they wore out their welcome and ended up back in St. Thomas.

Kicking up some spray

The cruise lines run excursions to the island, ferrying you over in a 20ish-minute ride along the St. Thomas coastline, past massive mansions peering down from their hillside perch.

Ours was an invigorating ride, as we sat on benches on the narrow ferry deck, hovering over our cameras as the boat kicked up some spray.

There was narration, but we would’ve got more out of the PA system in a Manhattan subway station.

The road up and around

In Cruz Bay, St. John’s compact little harbor, the blue water sparkled in the sun. A few shops and cafes lined the street along the water, but they’d have to wait. Our open air van was ready for us.

From there, we climbed and climbed, winding round and round, along an impossibly narrow road, white-knuckled from our vise-like grip on the handle bars.

And then paradise

The van pulled over four or five times, each overlook more stupendous than the next. Like a theater curtain going up, the tropical brush would open up to nearly empty pristine beaches, un-built up, unspoiled, nature in the raw. 

Paradise along the road.

But Trunk Bay is where I gasped. 

The horseshoe-shaped beach, with its unblemished sand and gently flowing water, fringed by foliage—all against a panorama of ocean dotted by islands and small sailboats—was just too much beauty to absorb. See what we saw in this brief video clip.

The magnificent Trunk Bay.

Chic shopping to end the day

Our tour of the island ended all too soon and we found ourselves back in Cruz Bay with just enough time for a quick peek into a few of the cutesy boutiques at Mongoose Junction Shopping Center on North Shore Road. The shopping is predictably dear—you’ll find no bargains here. But it’s fun to browse just the same.

 

Bring lots of dollars to shop at Mongoose.

The last word

Laurance Rockefeller, conservationist and philanthropist, and son of John D., appreciated the uniqueness of St. John enough to buy up most of it. Then in the ‘50s, he gave it away—to the U.S. government, with the caveat that the land never be developed.

Today, it’s a National Park, which guarantees that when you finally make it there, you’ll find it just as I’ve described it.

Musing’s Top Tip: If nature calls when you get off your bus ride, behind the shops at Mongoose Junction Shopping Center is a separate building with clean bathrooms. If you can’t find it, one of the shop folks can direct you.

Watch for the Signs—How the Ports Tease and Tempt You

In San Juan, they’re in Spanish. In St. Barts, they’re in French. And everywhere else in the Caribbean, they’re colorful, often kooky, design to tempt, taunt and tease. I am, of course, talking about the signs.

We take restaurant and shop signs for granted. But they can stop you in your flip-flops. Bring a smile to your face. Some of them are even memorable. Like the one at the St. Thomas Crown Bay pier greeting cruisers with “Free Beer Tomorrow.”
 
Below are some of our favorites for your viewing pleasure. And don’t forget, the next time you’re tripping the Caribbean, watch for the signs!

Glad we settled that. (Dominica)

Sure beats chicken noodle! (St. Maarten)

Any funnier and you’d have to feed us. (Grand Cayman)

Leave your fishing rod at the door. (Grand Cayman)

Anything else come with that? (St. Maarten)

 

Taking a sip? Leave your partner on the ship! (St. Maarten)

Wahoo! It’s ladies' day! (St. Maarten)

Their clothes or their grammar?  (St. John)

Amen to that! (St. Maarten)









When Cruising is Unforgettable

A big reason I think most of us travel is for that element of surprise. Let’s face it; our lives can become pretty routine. Leaving home brings out the explorer in us and brings the promise of the unforgettable.
 
As we’ve cruised over the years, we’ve had a number of moments that will stay with us always.
 
Many have been in the ports we’ve visited, and some have been onboard. Here are just a few:
 


Curaçao in color

Sunset over Curaçao. With no trees or power lines in the way, you can get some amazing sunsets over the sea. Rushing back to the ship in Curaçao after putzing around in town, we were treated to an amazing blaze of color that changed by the minute. Cameras came out and we captured memories that bring us back to that day again and again.
 
The schooner, the sunset and the Pitons. During a slow turn around St. Lucia’s Pitons on Holland America’s Noordam, a schooner in full sail passed between us and the iconic peaks, just as the sky was putting on its own show. The confluence of the elements made for some spectacular shots.


Some twists and turns, and then a peek into paradise, on the lovely isle of St. John

St. John the Divine. Tired of shopping in St. Thomas, we ventured out on an excursion to its sibling  isle of St. John. The bus took us up and down the steep slopes, and round and round tight turns. But nothing could have prepared us for the overlooks—pure paradise. It’s no wonder the island’s remote and untouched beaches show up again and again in cruising brochures and websites (and Musing’s blog wallpaper).
 
Alone on the bay. We couldn’t tear ourselves away from Mahogany Bay—even when nearly everyone else was back on the ship. The prize was the chance to float in the calm clear water—completely alone with a relaxation seldom known.
 
Sugar cane and an ocean view. The quality of excursions varies wildly, but the best we took was a bus tour around Barbados. The driver was knowledgeable and chatty, happily doling out Barbados 101 as we passed banana trees, poinsettias in the wild and windmills. A lookout stop over the wild Atlantic side brought incredible ocean views for great photo-taking and a vendor who shared his sugar cane with me for my first taste of raw sweetness.
 
Juiced up and iced up in Glacier Bay. The cold gray mist that chilled our bones was quickly forgotten as the Golden Princess slid gingerly through the narrow mountain-framed channel and icy silent waters of Glacier Bay, eventually revealing a massive baby-blue glacier, its frozen spires piercing the cloudy skies. While not a postcard-perfect Alaska day, most definitely one we’ll not forget.
 
Midnight at the buffet. Our first cruise on Celebrity’s Constellation started it all for us, now 10 years in the past. The eye-popping midnight buffets may be long gone, but cruising’s still making us marvelous memories…



The Constellation's Grand Buffet is a thing of the past, but the memory lives on

…like a stunning sunset at a Ft. Lauderdale sailaway….water show high dives on Allure of the Seas…the Constellation room steward rushing to open our cabin door for us…Michael Love truffle pops at the Welcome toast on the Caribbean Princess…Christmas music with a reggae beat on the ferry into Philipsburg…

What are some of yours?