2013 Adventures, Boarded the Cruise Ship!

[dgbg100106]

The color of the water is beautiful there! Looks like Paradise!

I remember it being so hot while we were there, that all I wanted was shade and cool drinks. I was still on pain meds then, so hopefully this trip will be a little better...

 

[dgbg100106]

St. John's is the capital and largest city of Antigua and Barbuda, a country located in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. With a population of 24,226 (2000), St. John's is the commercial center of the nation and the chief port of the island of Antigua.

St. John's is one of the most developed and cosmopolitan municipalities in the Lesser Antilles. The city is famous for its various shopping malls as well as boutiques throughout the city, selling designer jewelry and haute-couture clothing. There are also many independent, locally run establishments, selling a variety of fashions.

The investment banking industry has a strong presence in the city. Many major world financial institutions have offices in St. John's.

There is a fresh produce, meat and fish market on the southwestern edge of the city where fresh produce, meats and fresh fish are sold daily.

The Antigua Rum Distillery is located at the Citadel and is the only rum distillery on the island. Annual production yields more than 180,000 gallons bottled.

When we were there this last time we did a segway tour. Note for everyone out there, this is not a smart move after you have foot surgery! My foot kept falling asleep and I had to walk around a lit. I am sure I slowed the tour down a lot by being so slow.

Here are some photos from last year...

 

[dgbg100106]

Philipsburg is the main town and capital of the country of Sint Maarten. The town is situated on a narrow stretch of land between Great Bay and the Great Salt Pond. It functions as the commercial center of Saint Martin island, whereof Sint Maarten encompasses the southern half. As of 2006, it has 1,338 inhabitants.

The island was first sighted by Christopher Columbus on 11 November 1493, but there was already an Arawak settlement there before his discovery. Philipsburg was founded in 1763 by John Philips, a Scottish captain in the Dutch navy; the settlement soon became a bustling center of international trade. Two historic forts bear witness to Philipsburg's strategic importance in St. Maarten's history: Fort Amsterdam and Fort Willem.

The main shopping district, Front Street, is in the heart of the city.

We have been a couple times to this island and it is where I got my watch a couple of years ago. But this past year, I did not even get off the ship, the Segway tour really did me in. So I sat around with my foot propped and drinking cold drinks.

This year we are heading to Princess Juliana International Airport World famous for its close-proximity photographs of landing aircraft, Princess Juliana International Airport (IATA: SXM, ICAO: TNCM), west of Philipsburg, has become for many a reason in itself to visit Sint Maarten.

Due to its short runway (7,200 ft), airplanes on approach for Runway 09 have to fly at unusually low altitudes, overflying mere 30-60 ft. over nearby Maho Beach.

Jet blast from departing aircraft is also another 'attraction' as it creates artificial waves. However, jet blast is physically hazardous so viewers need to exercise caution; local authorities placed a warning on the airport's fence to alert people to the dangers of jet blast.

 

[TifffanyD]

Fun!!! What r u doing i Tortola? We went to the barbs at Virgin gorda... It was nice but we were diverted due to a hurricane so the waves were rough.

Are you docking at St. John or st Thomas ?

I like st Martin... So clean and beach right there. And I do like the liquor allowance on the easterns

 

[dgbg100106]

Charlotte Amalie is the capital and largest city of the U.S. Virgin Islands, founded 1666 as Taphaus. It is located on the island of Saint Thomas and as of 2004 had an estimated population of 19,000.

The city is named after Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel (1650–1714), queen consort to King Christian V of Denmark. It is famous as a deep-water harbor that was once a haven for pirates and is now a frequent port of call for cruise ships, with about 1.5 million cruise ship passengers landing there in 2004. Charlotte Amalie has buildings of historical importance including St. Thomas Synagogue, the second-oldest synagogue in the Western Hemisphere.

As I said earlier, we go back to this same bar and have bushwackers.

If you look beyond the boutiques and you will discover historic sights such as the bright red, 17th-century Fort Christian, (this was fenced off when were there the last few times), and the taxing 99 steps stairway. We climbed all the way up these two or three years ago( and there are really 103 steps), and there is really nothing there once you get there.

Charlotte Amalie is easy to explore on foot.

I think we are buying alcohol here this year, there are a few things we can pick up that are much cheaper than at home. So we will buy in town, they deliver straight to the ship and then it is brought to us the last night, and it is just really easy.

We will go back to the little dive bar and have a few drinks, then wander the street...

 

[dgbg100106]

Fun!!! What r u doing i Tortola? We went to the barbs at Virgin gorda... It was nice but we were diverted due to a hurricane so the waves were rough.

Are you docking at St. John or st Thomas ?

I like st Martin... So clean and beach right there. And I do like the liquor allowance on the easterns

We have nothing planned for tortola... I am not sure we are doing anything. We will wander around.

We are going to both St. John, and St Thomas... And St Marteen..

We just take it easy this cruise. We will walk around and look but mostly we are just hanging out with friends and relaxing.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I am going to really enjoy this blog.

 

[dgbg100106]

I am going to really enjoy this blog.

I hope you do.... It will be good for me to be more focused this time around. I know that Alison wants lots of ship pictures, so hopefully, I can accommodate her too. Then I need to get food porn for you! And David loves sunset pictures...

This should be fun either way.

 

[TifffanyD]

We have nothing planned for tortola... I am not sure we are doing anything. We will wander around.

We are going to both St. John, and St Thomas... And St Marteen..

We just take it easy this cruise. We will walk around and look but mostly we are just hanging out with friends and relaxing.

I love taking it slow!!! And I didn't know St. John had a dock!

Will be interested to see Tortola. We went right from ship to ferry to VG to ferry to ship! No idea what's there

 

[dgbg100106]

San Juan, officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista (Municipality of the Capital City, Saint John the Baptist), is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States.

As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of the United States. San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521, who called it Ciudad de Puerto Rico ("Rich Port City"). Puerto Rico's capital is the second oldest European-established city in the Americas, after Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic.

Several historical buildings are located in San Juan; among the most notable are the city's former defensive forts, Fort San Felipe del Morro and Fort San Cristóbal, and La Fortaleza, the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Americas.

Today, San Juan is one of Puerto Rico's most important seaports, and is the island's manufacturing, financial, cultural, and tourism center. The population of the Metropolitan Statistical Area, including San Juan and the municipalities of Bayamón, Guaynabo, Cataño, Canóvanas, Caguas, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Carolina and Trujillo Alto, is about 2 million inhabitants; thus, about half the population of Puerto Rico now lives and works in this area.


Two years ago we went to The Castillo de San Cristóbal or Fort Cristobal as many call it. It is a Spanish fort in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was built by Spain to protect against land based attacks on the city of San Juan. It is part of San Juan National Historic Site.

Castillo de San Cristóbal is the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the New World. When it was finished in 1783, it covered about 27 acres of land and basically wrapped around the city of San Juan. Entry to the city was sealed by San Cristóbal's double gates. After close to one hundred years of relative peace in the area, part of the fortification (about a third) was demolished in 1897 to help ease the flow of traffic in and out of the walled city.

This fortress was built on a hill originally known as the Cerro de la Horca or the Cerro del Quemadero, which was changed to Cerro de San Cristóbal in celebration of the Spanish victories ejecting English and Dutch interlopers from the island of this name in the Lesser Antilles, then forming part of the insular territorial glacis of Puerto Rico.

Last year I did not get off the ship, but these pictures are two or three years ago... I can't really remember.

Then we went down to old town

 

[dgbg100106]

I love taking it slow!!! And I didn't know St. John had a dock!

Will be interested to see Tortola. We went right from ship to ferry to VG to ferry to ship! No idea what's there

Our big intensive cruise is usually the Europe one in the fall, so we seem to just relax on this one.

I will hopefully share as much as I can.

 

[dgbg100106]

This is an island that is owned by Royal Caribbean, there are beach activities here, and they usually put on a huge lunch buffet for everyone, and after the first time we were here we have not been back to the island.

The resort area is completely tourist-oriented, and is guarded by a private security force. The site is fenced off from the surrounding area, and passengers are not allowed to leave the property. Food available to tourists is brought from the cruise ships. A controlled group of Haitian merchants are given sole rights to sell their merchandise and establish their businesses in the resort. Although sometimes described as an island in advertisements, it is actually a peninsula contiguous with the island of Hispaniola.

So I am sure we will not get off here either.

 

[dwheatl]

I thought you were going to say the Segways weren't a good idea after visiting the rum distillery.
I also love the color of the water.

 

[dgbg100106]

I thought you were going to say the Segways weren't a good idea after visiting the rum distillery.
I also love the color of the water.

that rum distillery was a joke.... But I had that on Tortola and Segway on St John's

no it was a mistake to segway in a walking boot for sure.

 

[TifffanyD]

that rum distillery was a joke.... But I had that on Tortola and Segway on St John's

no it was a mistake to segway in a walking boot for sure.

The rum distillery was bad??

 

[Pinkocto]

Brandi I'm loving this! You're helping me get ideas for the TA already.

Your pictures are beautiful. Caribbean water is so gorgeous!

 

[dgbg100106]

The rum distillery was bad??

Yes, that was the whole thing... The guy behind the counter. The rum was not good either. The top seller was something called panty remover.

 

[dgbg100106]

Brandi I'm loving this! You're helping me get ideas for the TA already.

Your pictures are beautiful. Caribbean water is so gorgeous!

Thank you... These were taken with my old camera, the Nikon D80. And now I have an even better camera, a Nikon D7000, it has even better color representation.

 

[podsnel]

Hi! I have floated over from Allison's TR- I have become a cruise ADDICT, absolutely LOVE them, wish I could make more vacations cruises! So I am very excited to read about your adventures...

We have spent alot of time on St John (USVI) and are HUGE Bushwacker & Pain Killer fans- where/what is the bar you go to on STT?

Looks like it will be an excellent trip- very smart to go in February, I think! We got stranded down in STJ one year because of snow- nothin' better than your last day of vacation turning into your second to last day!

 

[franandaj]

Interesting facts on all the islands. We are looking at some cruises and letting us know about all these ports gives me some ideas. Right now we're only looking at Nassau and Castaway Cay, but we may be looking for some others soon.

You're so close now! Thanks for remembering that I'm interested in seeing what the ship itself looks like! What line are you guys on again?