We flew to Puerto Rico and cruised from there. We did this years ago on another trek that included St. Lucia, St. Thomas, Antigua, and Barbados. This trip included St. Thomas, St. Kitt's, Aruba, and Curacao. We sailed on the Adventure of the Seas, which is a very nice ship though not as large as the new Quantum Class fleet of boats. Still, it has everything you need... pools, spa, rock wall, even ice skating. If you are a real foodie, you might not be satisfied with cruise food in general. But this pregnant girl had plenty to choose from, and I think RC has some of the best. There are several options each night at dinner, including the lobster tails I devoured one night.
Some of the new Quantum Class ships boast Broadway shows like "Chicago" and "Mama Mia." Adventure of the Seas doesn't have that, but we enjoyed comedy, variety, music or ice skating performances each night.
We definitely talked about what our girls would enjoy on the ship... kids club activities, water slide, Caribbean music and dancing, etc. and we plan to bring them along one day. But as I told my husband, it wouldn't have been nearly as relaxing if they had been with us, and I never would have finished my book :) Plus, it's wonderful to have time alone with your spouse! God bless our parents and sisters for babysitting!
Ok, enough commentary. More tips can be found below. Onto the port cities...
1. Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
This was the only island on the trip we had been to before. We love an island tour and chose Godfrey Tours. We hopped on an open air, safari bus and they took us to the main shopping area for an hour, then to the highest point on the island for gorgeous views and a "world famous" banana daiquiri. Next, we went to a beautiful botanical garden.
Then, we had a choice of being dropped off at one of two beaches: Megan's Bay or Coki Beach. Megan's Bay is a little bigger, but Coki beach has more water sports. We went to Coki last time and chose it again. David was able to go SCUBA diving from the shore right when we walked up without a reservation! He didn't even have his dive certification card with him, and they were able to look it up.
I got a chair, ordered a grilled fish sandwich, enjoyed the sunshine and read my book. So, we were both in paradise. Coral World is adjacent to the property and has aquariums, sea animal encounters, and SNUBA, which looks hilarious :)
2. Basseterre, St. Kitts
On St. Kitts, David with Poinciana Tours took us to the gardens of Wingfield Estate where we saw this amazing 400 year old tree overlooking the ocean.
Next, we went on a moderate hike through the rainforest and were lucky enough to see a monkey up in the trees. Our tour guide knew every plant and tree by name and had a cure for every ailment by "making a tea." I told him he should sell tea at the end of his tour! His house is located at the entrance of the estate, so the rainforest was his childhood playground. It was lush and quiet, except for the occasional zip liner zooming by overhead! Afterwards he served a punch and homemade banana and raisin breads made by his wife. Next, he dropped us off at a gorgeous beach on the Southeast peninsula, South Friars Bay.
St. Kitts is not commercially developed and you will not find all of the Sandals, Beaches, etc. that some islands have. The Marriott looked nice and included a spa, casino and golf course. You can see Nevis from St. Kitts, and they have a Four Seasons resort. This might be worth a return trip...
3. Oranjestad, Aruba
We didn't have anything booked, but when we walked off of the ship there were these pink school busses all lined up ready to take people on island tours for $20. Sounded good to us! Aruba is a really dry island... there are cactuses everywhere and our guide said they have never had a hurricane. Quite different from the lush greenery and rainforests on other tropical islands we have visited.
We climbed to the top of the Casibari Rock Formation and could see a spectacular view of the island. Next, we went to the lighthouse by La Trattoria Italian Restaurant. Again, stunning views. Several on the tour asked to be dropped off at Palm Beach by all of the hotels and restaurants. This looked like a prime area for Spring Breakers. We chose the more secluded Eagle Beach instead. We grabbed a delicious lunch from a food truck right on the beach.
Now, I will admit I thought about Natalie Holloway a lot on this excursion. I mean, who doesn't hear Aruba and think about that tragedy? But our tour guide mentioned that the crime rate on the island is very low, and when I thought about it that incident involved two tourists. Something terrible like that could happen anywhere in the world. I feel certain, though, that it has affected their tourism and people's general perception of the island. But it didn't really look like they were still hurting from it judging by the commercial development everywhere.
4. Willemstad, Curacao
This was our favorite stop on the trip. This island was not as secluded as St. Kitt's nor as commercialized as Aruba. In addition to tourism, Curacao has a diverse economy including oil refining, financial services and international trade. It boasts one of the highest standards of living in the Caribbean. Like Aruba, the island has low rainfall and is covered in rocks and cactus. Still, the island was beautiful and we may consider a return trip.
David booked a SCUBA diving trip with SCUBACao. Our guide was a young guy from Belgium, who was quite interesting. He picked us up in his truck at the cruise terminal, along with another couple from Indiana.
We went to Playa PortoMari beach, which was beautiful. Shore dives are not David's favorite, but he said this was by far the best shore dive he has ever done. And I, again, was able to get a chair ($3 - the cheapest so far!) and enjoy the beach and swimming area. I could get used to this :)
Lunch was on a hilltop overlooking the countryside at Blenchi, a former plantation turned boutique hotel. The meal was as delicious as the views. Sadly, we stayed for so long that we had to cut our island tour short to return to the ship.
We had one more day at sea to enjoy all the ship had to offer then it was time to head home to our girls and our responsibilities. Until next time!
Some tips:
- David never likes to book excursions through the ship. He just researches online beforehand and refers to Trip Advisor for recommendations and reviews.
- Bring an empty, large water bottle. You can fill it up on the boat each morning before you depart on excursions.
- Bring your own hair dryer. I left mine at home to save the luggage room and was dissatisfied with the one in the room... you can only access it through the drawer. It has a short cord and you have to hold down the button the whole time to make it work.
- They have two "formal" nights at dinner. I couldn't find this on the web site or our itinerary, so I figured they didn't do it anymore. A sundress is fine if that's all you've got, but if you have a dazzling number in your closet you never get to wear, bring it.
- You don't need to pack beach towels. They let you check them out as you exit the ship on port days. You turn them back in at the same spot. You are only charged if you don't bring them back.
- Every beach that we went to had restrooms, restaurants, and chairs to rent (some for a few dollars, one place for $20).
I hope you found this helpful! Let me know what cruise tips and recommendations you have!
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