I Am A Celebrity!: Another Year; Another Caribbean Cruise

Rainbow; Caribbean 2014
Copyright Andy Richards 2014 - All Rights Reserved

WE DEBUTED our Caribbean Cruising way back in 2012, aboard Princess' Ruby Princess, just two years after our first-ever cruise to Alaska. Living in northern Michigan in the center of SAD territory, a warm - weather cruise is a welcome respite. For the preceeding 35 years or so, we hunkered down during the cold season, working and saving, and reserving what time off we did have for trips to see family at Christmas and during the summer. Before that, my own family had a similar approach. For my dad, "spring break" was a good time to find a part-time job and save some money for college. Unlike many of my contemporaries, I had never taken a warm-weather, "spring break" (or any other time during the winter months) vacaton in my life.

we loved it. Who wouldn't?

PERHAPS NEEDLESS to say: we loved it. Who wouldn't? We left Saginaw, in February, covered in dirty, slushy, old snow; cold, grey and dreary. The next day, we boarded a cruise ship in Fort Lauderdale, and spent the next 10 days in the bright, warm sunshine. Though we didn't make it every year afterward, did a Caribbean Cruise several more times after that.

The Pier at Redcliffe Quay - St. John's, Antigua
Copyright Andy Richards 2025

IN 2015, we bought our retirement home in Palm Harbor, Florida (Tampa Bay area). By then we had focused our cruising pretty heavily on seeing the world in places like The Mediterranean and Europe. Reasoning that we now lived in a quasi-"Caribbean" place (it can get cool here in Florida, but never snows and most of the time is sunny and warm), we took a few-year hiatus from Caribbean Cruises.

Cargo Ship; St. George's, Grenada
Copyright Andy Richards 2014 - All Rights Reserved

THE COVID-19 pandemic hit the travel industry and patrons hard in 2020, and by the time we came up for air in late 2021, we were looking for any excuse to get on a cruise ship in just about any place again. We ultimately jumped back on a Princess ship (Regal Princess) in and around The English Channel, in late 2021. Then again in January, 2022 we were once again on the familiar old Celebrity Reflection, returning once again to the Caribbean (albeit this time the "Western Caribbean). We had missed the warm-weather cruising. Missed the relaxing days at sea and the always warm sunshine. We have cruise again in the Caribbean every year since.

in January, 2022 we were once again on the familiar old Celebrity Reflection, returning once again to the Caribbean (albeit this time the "Western Caribbean). We had missed the warm-weather cruising

THIS YEAR (2025) we boarded The Celebrity Beyond (the Celebrity fleet's 3rd of 5 in their "Edge Class" and a new ship for us), joined some friends we had met on a cruise in the Baltic in 2022. We had cruised with them on a very similar itinerary in 2023 in the Eastern Caribbean. As we always seem to do, we met some more new friends too (and will be joining them on a Caribbean Cruise again in 2027).

Incoming Cruise Ship; St. George's Bay, Grenada
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

IT SEEMS like the Caribbean Cruises get kind of "same old, same old," after a while. But we always find something new to do and learn something new about ports (even the ones we have visited multiple times). This year, our 11-day cruise stopped at St. Maarten (where we have ported multiple times), St. Lucia (we spent a day there in 2023), Grenada (once in 2014), Barbados (a day in 2023) and Antigua (again, a day in 2023). On our cruises in Europe and other parts of the world, we try hard to make the most of our shore time, booking an ambitious schedule of excursions. On the Caribbean cruises, we have developed a much more "laid back" style of travel. We booked just two formal events and let things fall where they did, on the rest of the ports.

Fuel Tanker - Castries, St. Lucia
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

OUR FIRST stop was St. Maarten, and it had actually been a few years since we had been there. The main line cruise ships all dock in the more accessible deep-water port of Phillipsburg, on the Dutch side of the island. As some readers may know, St. Maarten is divided north and south with the Dutch territory being roughly the southern half of the island, and the northern half: French territory (up there is it know as St. Martin). We have only ventured up to the French side on one of our four times there. Nothing against it. Just circumstances. Our first trip was our first time in the Caribbean, and it had been a very eventful year. We did not book much in the way of excursions. In St. Maarten, we walked around the main street of Phillipsburg, had lunch in a shady spot on a quiet beach in the city's marina, and generally kicked back. The second trip, we made up for it, taking a guided tour around the entire island and spending a couple hours in the main town in the French side: Marigot. The third trip was with a group of two other couples from Michigan and we elected to rent chairs on the beach and have a few beers. This year, we had no real plans other than to get off again and walk around. On the first day on board, we met our newest Candian friends: Sandi and Steve, who live just north of Niagara Falls in Port Erie, Ontario. They knew of a special cigar shop and liquor store and we agreed we would get off the ship together and walk around with a mission to find it. We did, but the rest is pretty much anti-climactic. Due to world conditions they had virtually no cigar inventory. I ended up buying a couple that were purported to be rolled in St. Maarten using cuban leaves (no tobacco is grown in St. Maarten). They weren't very good. I did get a nice deal on a couple bottles of very nice bourbon. It was a showery day and I didn't even bother with the camera that day.

In 2023, I started purposefully making photos of these "welcome" signs (didn't get this one in 2023, but made it a point to do it this time)
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

ST. LUCIA was the next stop (so-called southern Caribbean cruises generally involve about a day and 1/2 to get down there, daily stops for 4-6 days, and a day and 1/2 to get back to Ft. Lauderdale. We had been there 2 years ago, with the same group and taken a very nice tour around the island, seeing some of the highlights like the rainforest, a very nice botanical garden, and from the distance: the island's famed landmark twin peaks of the Piton mountains. That group generally goes to a beach at most stops. We don't, so in those cases we fend for ourselves. But this day, none of us had "a plan," so we got off and walked around, staying mostly in the tourist area at the port.

"Birdseye View" of our Celebrity Beyond Cruise ship (From Ft. Frederick)
St. George's, Grenada
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

MY WIFE and I had booked an excursion for the following day in Grenada. True to form, our travel mates sought out a beach and enjoyed the tropical weather. To put things in perspective, they live near Buffalo, New York and had endured one of the hardest winters on record there. They were trying to soak up as much sun as they could to take back to (well, almost) the "North Pole" with them. In 2014, our only other stop in Grenada, my wife had a (thankfully minor) health emergency. We had arranged for a multi-passenger golf cart and driver to take us around the island and we had to back out at the last minute. More than 10 years later, we had a chance to get that back.

Grenada's seat of government, the Parliament Building, sits high up on a hill in St. Georges (but not the highest viewpoint), giving some great photographic views from the grounds
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

THE EXCURSION was pretty good and very interesting. We began the day with a stop at Grenada's Capital seat (Grenada is a parliamentary system, and they call it their "Parliament" building). With a population of just under 120,000, Grenada is part of the British West Indies federation. While King Charles is the titular "head of state," the country is primarily run and governed by the Parliament with the Prime Minister being the leader of the government. If I can say so, the Parliament is both austere and grandiose at the same time. We did not go inside but it appears from the glimpses we got that it is built for utility. I did find a few nice views from the grounds, however.

A view to the south, from the Parliament Grounds
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

TO THE south you can see houses in the hills, and what was apparently a stately mansion which appears to be in a state of disrepair today. Yet I still found it photogenic. To the west, there is a nice view of the St. George's (Carenage) inner harbor. We drove around the harbor at the end of our excursion, but did not stop. On my next stop in Grenada, I want to make my way to the harbor, and walk around. It was full of boats - mostly the working fishing fleet which did not seem to be out on that day - and surrounded by colorful buildings. It would be a fun "walk-around."

Carenage Harbor from the Parliament Grounds
St. George's, Grenada
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

OFF IN yet another direction was a view of a less urban flavor, looking at some of the rural housing and businesses on the island. As so often happens, it was the splash of color that drew the eye. Careful observers might note that the painted wall along the road sports Grenada's official colors and mimmicks the Flag of Grenada.

Rural Landscape as viewed from the Grenada Parliament
St. George's, Grenada
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

THERE ARE 3 (remaining) forts on Grenada: Ft. George, Ft. Frederick and Ft. Matthew. Two of them (George and Matthew) are under major reconstruction and cannot be visited. The last one is the smallest and there isn't a lot to see, but the views down and over the town of St. George's are amazing; and the history fascinating. The three forts are all on high points with commanding views. The largest, Ft. George, is on the other side of the inner harbor from the other two, between the Caribbean (St. George's Bay) and the Carenage Harbor. According to our guide at the fort, they are also all connected by underground tunnels. We could see Ft. George and its commanding postion in the center of the island facing the port of St. George's. Ft. Frederick is probably the smallest fort and although the buildings were mildly interesting to me, I mostly took advantage of the high viewpoint to make some photographs.

From high above the Parliament Building (from Ft. Frederick) yields a more dramatic and complete view of the building. I was hoping we would have an opportunity to see it from up above, and was pleasantly surprised.
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

AFTER THE fort, our driver took us to a beautiful park a ways south of the cruise port, with a large field overlooking the Caribbean. Known as "Quarantine Park," it is out on a point jutting out into St. George's Bay. Though the views were impressive, including a shot of our Celebrity Beyond Cruise Ship, it was a very windy day and our stay was rather short.

Celebrity Beyond docked at St. George's Cruise Port and viewed from Quarantine Point - approximately 2 miles away

GRENADA IS known in the Caribbean as "The Spice Island," ("not to be confused with the historical "Spice Isles" of Indonesia) as numerous various spices are its primary export. Most of them are native to the island. Ironically, the one that isn't, nutmeg, was brought into Grenada in 1843, when a British ship left a small number of nutmeg trees on the island. Information is mixed, as are its sources, but our guide (and at least one internet sight found on Google agreed) told us Grenada is the second largest producer of nutmeg in the world; second only to Indonesia. Other sources differ with that ranking, but suffice it to say, they all agree that Grenada is a significant provider of the nutmeg consumed in the world. Other importan spices are turmeric, coco, mace and cardamon. During our stop, our guide gave us a quick demonstration of the fresh spices, even offering them up for taste, before delivering us back to our ship.

Quarantine Park - St. George's, Grenada

THE STORY behind Quarantine Point/Quarantine park is that in the 1892, the then governor of Grenada built an area (it is very small) out on this rather isolated point to isolate victims of smallpox, yellow fever, malaria and similar highly contagious and communicable diseases of the times. In modern days, the property has been converted into a public recreational space, hosting public events and cultural gatherings. Today, the park is flanked by several very high-end beach resorts.

St. George's, Grenada from the deck of our Celebrity Beyond Cruise Ship

JUST SOUTH of us lies the famous St. George's University. Our driver drove us through the impressive and attractive campus. Another thing I would like to do on another trip to Grenada is spend some time (camera in hand, of course) walking around the campus. Situated in perhaps the most affluent area of St. George's, the campus is relatively compact. The university opened in 1977 (chartered in 1976 by Grenada's parliament), as strictly a medical school. The brainchild of several U.S. residents, it was started as an alternative to U.S. students who weren't granted admission to any U.S. medical schools. By 1999, the university had added a liberal arts program, and degrees in veterinary medicine soon followed.

St. George's, Grenada from the deck of our Celebrity Beyond Cruise Ship

FOR ME what gives it its notoriety to the many of us who are not directly involved in the medical profession was its role in the only direct military action of the Reagan presidency. In 1979, there was a forced turnover of the long-entrenched, conservative prime minister, Eric Gairy (serving and instrumental in the charter and establishment of the university), by a Marxist regime, resulting in the ousting of Gairy and the establishment of Maurice Bishop as the new prime minister. For years of dissaray and infighting resulted in violence. In 1983, Bishop and several of his ministers were executed by an insurgent element in Bishop's own party. In a rather drastic approach, the newly controlled government instituted martial law, including a "shoot on sight" curfew. The U.S. was concerned about the 1,000 - odd U.S. citizens in Grenada, including over 100 students at the university. Encouraged by U.S. and British, U.S. troops conducted a surprise invasion of Grenada, presumably to rescue U.S. citizens. It was controversial. I'll leave it at that. But there is history there, and it was fascinating to see the university in person.

St. George's, Grenada from the deck of our Celebrity Beyond Cruise Ship

THAT ENDED our day and we returned to the ship. The sunlight of the late afternoon was setting over the city and from the viewpoint of our cruise ship deck, I made some nice photos of the city. Like so many cities all over the world, the landscape is often punctuated by church steeples. St. George's is no exception.

THE FOLLOWING day, our stop was Barbados. The only other time I was there was in 2023, with the same group. They went to the beach. I demurred, planning to go ashore and explore. When there is no shuttle running from the ship to the port terminal, it is quite a long walk around the jetty to the terminal. The terminal is similar to most modern cruise terminal stops in the Caribbean. Tourist trap. On steriods. Intending to walk out an explore, to me everything looked really sketchy. One of those fimes I should have done my homework. But I hadn't, and not feeling particularly adventurous, I walked around the terminal for a few minutes, bought a T-shirt, and returned to the ship. My bad. This time I did do some homework. I learned that there is a nice beach/boardwalk just outside the port, and it is a short distance to the center of town, where there are some impressive colonial structures. I will check them out. Next time.

"Tall Ship" style cruise ship - St. John's, Antigua

THIS TIME, I had another mission. As a younger person, I played in the pit orchestra for my home city's players performance of the humorous historical musical: 1776. I remember lines from a particularly dark song about slavery that ended with the phrase: "Barbados and rum." I have always remember the connection and during my homework session, discovered Mt. Gay Rum distillery (the oldest in the Caribbean). I had a hankering for a tasting, and my wife and I made an appointment. I must have liked it because I brought 2 liters home with me. 😊

Redcliffe Quay; St. John's, Antigua

OUR FINAL port stop was St. John's Antigua. Again, my sole other visit there was in 2023. On that day our whole group got off and hired a driver to take us all around the island. It was a long, but very fun day. There is an awful lot going on on this island. We had such an in-depth excursion that when we returned to the port we were ready to get back on board, get cleaned up, and relax over pre-dinner cocktails. We didn't explore the immediate port area. The main cruise port today in St. John's is "Heritage Quay." It is large enough to dock multiple ships and on this trip we shared the dock with one of Princess' newest and best: The Enchanted Princess. It is a beautiful ship and given the opportunity I couldn't resist photographing her, as well as our Beyond side-by-side.

Redcliffe Quay; St. John's, Antigua

PRIOR TO the cruise, my pre-cruise research involved searching for things to do in St. John's. For the most part, it seemed like we had done or seen most of it. There was one area, though, right under our "proverbial nose," that we had missed. The legacy port immediately adjacent to Heritage Quay is Redclifee Quay. It is still there and still being used by some smaller cruise ships and some specialty cruise ships (like the "tall ship" cruiser docked on the Redcliffe Quay pier). As such the older buildings of a retro-cruise port remain. They continue to operate as shops and restaurants and are beautifully maintained in their colorful painted clapboard form. I got off the ship alone this time, with a short mission: to photograph as much of Redcliffe Quay as there was to shoot. Turns out is is pretty small. Still I had some fun and made a few pictures.

Redcliffe Quay; St. John's, Antigua

THE NEXT two full days were spent "at sea," returning to Fort Lauderdale. Ironically, the entire first part of the cruise, including the downward sail, and every day except for Antigua, were very windy. Indeed this is the windiest Caribbean Cruise we have been on. Then from Antigua on, things turned calm and it finally felt like the Caribbean we remembered. Little wind, calm seas, and lots and lots of sunshine. So those last sea days were delightful. Just enough to get us back again. On board, we booked February Caribbean Cruises for 2026 and 2027. Both will be on "new" ships for us (Ascent in 2026 and the older solstice class Eclipse in 2027). 2027 will bring 3 new islands for us - the so-called "ABC" Islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaco, in addition to 3 familiar eastern Caribbean Islands. Lots to look forward to - intermixed with our other cruises.

The Enchanted Princess - St. John's, Antigua

OUR NEXT cruise will be in August/September, on the Celebrity Apex out of Southampton, England to the Norwegian Fjords. Stay tuned!

Celebrity Beyond and Princess Enchanted Princess - St. John's Antigua

I Am A Celebrity!

Sunday, May 4, 2025

Another Year; Another Caribbean Cruise

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