IT SEEMS like these posts about a particular cruise are getting too long. I know that no matter how compelling the subject seems, when a post languishes on, it becomes hard to stay with it. So, I will "try" to shorten them up - in some cases by making multiple posts. keep in mind, however, that I started this new blog out by confessing that I don't do short very well. 😆 The prior post discussed the ship (the Celebrity Reflection), and its role in why I became a Celebrity convert. I probably will say more about this particular ship than others, because we have been on 4 separate cruises on it (and have one upcoming in February, 2023, on its sister ship, the Constellation).
BUT WHAT about the cruise? While having a good experience on the ship is surely going to "color" the overall cruise experience, it doesn't change the on shore experience (other than to the extent the cruise line chooses an itinerary).
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| Old San Juan Harbor Entrance Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
THIS WAS our second (of several) Caribbean Cruises. The new ship, and new friends definitely shaded this one a bit differently than the first. And, we were starting to get our "sea legs" (cruise legs?). As it was our third cruise, we began to have an idea of what to expect (even though expectations were influenced by a new and different environment). We planned some excursions this time (more on them later). The itinerary for this cruise was Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten (again). The cruise began and ended in the Port of Miami, be I won't count that as a port (even though the cruise ship does). We did arrive in Miami the night before, and we did seek out and eat at a Cuban restaurant in the Cuban section of town. We boarded the ship fairly early the following day.
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| Celebrity Reflection - Old San Juan Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
WE REALLY didn't know anything about Old San Juan, and the stop was one of the shorter ones on the cruise. So, we decided to "play that one by ear." Just like old times. 😀 That actually worked out pretty well. By then, we had realized that we like our new table mates, Lou and Penny a lot, and got along well. Neither of us had any excursion plans for the stop, so we decided to get off and walk around together. The day we were there was a federal holiday (recall that Puerto Rico is a U.S. holding), in observance of Martin Luther King Day. Because it was a federal holiday, the old fort, Castillo San Cristobal was open, admission-free. It is a pretty impressive fort, mainly for its splendid views of the Atlantic Ocean, immediately to the north. The fort is on a narrow, island separated from the mainland (Isla San Juan). The Cruise port is on the other (south) side of this narrow island and in a very protected bay. It is an easy walk to the fort and other points of interest in Old San Juan. The fort was interesting enough. The views were spectacular. The earlier photo is a Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) Ship following our Celebrity Reflection into the harbor. It is just rounding the westernmost tip of the island.
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| Sen'or Frogs Old San Juan Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
EVENTUALLY, WE found our way to one of the most significant cultural additions to the Caribbean. The facility is so important to the culture, that they have built their shrines in nearly every port. There are actually 2 of them in San Juan. I am not sure what this guy, Senior Frog, actually did in Caribbean history, but it is obvious that he is a . . . err, frog of some importance. And I obviously won some kind of award, though I don't really remember what it was for. 😈
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| Sen'or Frogs Old San Juan - 2013 Celebrity Princess |
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| Norwegian Cruise Line Ship - Old San Juan Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
OUR NEXT port of call would be St. Maarten. We looked forward to seeing it again. This time would be different, though, as we were determined to see more of the island than we had previously. We scheduled a driving tour of the island (actually, my wife did that - I just showed up when and where directed. I was quickly learning that - among other callings in life - she could easily have been a travel agent/tour organizer). The tour took us around the Dutch part of the island, and then up to the French side. On the French side, besides a tour around, we had two significant destinations. The first was Grand Case, an area of super-ritzy resorts and resort hotels along a beautiful beach formed by Baie de Grand Case, a somewhat sheltered bay on the northwest side of the island. One of the highlights for us - we didn't stop but may be back there some day - was the street of bars. It seemed to go on for blocks and was storefront after storefront - side-by-side - of restaurants and bars. We then went on up into the center of the town of Marigot. There is a nice stage/gazebo in a park right on the beach, and we could see the small harbor we had read about, and the smaller boats moored there. We stopped for about 1/2 to walk around and the driver recommended the bakery which has become more or less famous in Marigot.
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| Harbor in Marigot, St. Maarten Copright Andy Richards 2013 |
IN ONE of the prior blogs here, I foreshadowed one other thing that really left an impression. There is some serious money on St. Maarten. Among others, we saw the home (really compound) owned by millionaire Bill Gates. It was up a long drive, way up into the hills. But what left the impression was the "housing" if you could call it that, along the road at the bottom. They were shacks, with rusty, corrugated metal roofs. So yes, there is serious money. Mixed in with serious poverty. Popular talk has it that celebrities like Brad Pitt, Nicolas Cage and Brittney Spears also own residences on the island. What I don't know is how much they contribute to the St. Maarten economy. It may be a lot. I am not judging; just that it left an impression.
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| Marigot, St. Maarten Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
THIS TIME, we did get to the airport and saw a jet taking off. Unfortunately, I wasn't in a good position for a photograph of the plane, but I do think I captured the craziness of the scene. If you want to see the plane shots, just Google "Maho Beach runway, St. Maarten," and I am sure you "get the picture."
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| Airport Beach Bar - St. Maarten Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
THE OTHER spot we stopped at was the famous (infamous?) Orient Beach. It is a large beach with lots of public beachgoing facilities. It is quite touristy, including a charge to use the restrooms. But beachgoing and families is not really what Orient Beach is most famous for. Orient Bay is on the east side of the island, up in the French 1/2. It is in a huge, and very congested area. To the south of the parking area, is the "adult beach" area. You can use your imagination. Or - I can just spell it out. It is "clothing optional." 😅 But here is the thing. If you have St. Tropez, and supermodels in mind, you will be sorely disappointed. What we saw were a few very old (like I am talking older than me 😆) just kind of "letting it all hang out." Sorry, but no pictures. I have been trying for almost 10 years to unsee that scene! But hey. It's famous. Tours are going to take you there. They didn't force me to look. Nobody forced Lott's wife to look either. 😐
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| Pastry Shop - Marigot, St. Maarten Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
ALL IN all, we really did enjoy seeing more of and getting to know more about St. Maarten. We would be back again in another couple years, with a more laid-back visit. In the meantime, you can see more photos of St. Maarten here.
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| St. Kitts Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
NEXT STOP, Basseterre, St. Kitts; another place we had never heard of until this cruise. But a place in the Caribbean with some history, we learned. There are actually 2 islands of note here: St. Kitts and Nevis. Nevis' claim to fame (for all you U.S. History buffs) is that it is the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton (probably not so well known by most of the populace until more recent days, with the huge popularity of the "Hamilton" musical). Politically, the two of them are part of a single nation: The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. Essentially under the influence of England, the islands are part of the West Indies and are separated by a channel from the Caribbean to the southwest to the Atlantic to the northeast, between the two islands (called "The Narrows"). These two Islands form part of a chain of islands that roughly separates the Caribbean from the Atlantic, including Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Vincents, Barbados and Grenada. Several of these islands are popular cruise stops. We have been to Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Kitts, Dominica, Barbados and Grenada, on various Caribbean Cruises through the years. Basseterre is the capitol of the federation.
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| St. Kitts Village Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
ORIGINALLY SETTLED by agrarian nomadic tribes as early as 100 B.C., the most recent were perhaps the Carib tribes (doesn't take a great leap of logic to come up with "Caribbean" from there). In 1493, explorer, Christopher Columbus landed there and claimed the territory for Spain (I seem to remember something about 1492 and the "ocean blue" from back in my grade school history classes). For the next several hundred years, control of the island alternated between Spain, England and France, who were constantly at war with each other and in competition for control of the territories in the Caribbean. England seems to have finally won out - either through might or negotiation, and the federation has been affiliated with England and later the United Kingdom since 1783.
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| Abandoned Sugar Plantation - St. Kitts Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
ONCE A primarily tobacco producing region, strong competition from the Virginia Colony in the Americas resulted in a shift to sugar cane in about 1640. The Europeans introduced African Slaves to the island shortly after they arrived and slaves comprised the main labor force for the labor-intensive tobacco and later, sugar cane plantations. In 1934, British Parliament abolished slavery, and 4 years later, all slaves in St. Kitts were emancipated. At one time the world leader in sugar production (during the late 1700's) a combination of increased competition, increased costs of production and the removal of certain protective tariffs cause a decline which eventually caused the government to shut down production in 2005. Up until that time, sugar with the near exclusive factor in the economy of St. Kitts.
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| Narrow Gauge Railroad Tour - St. Kitts Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
TODAY, ST. Kitts primary industry is tourism, although they have experienced a bit of a boom in technology manufacturing. The islands are caldera-like volcanic formations, which slope steeply upward to a plateau above sea-level. One of the innovations that the St. Kitts sugar industry was known for was the narrow-gauge railroad which circumvented the island up near the top of the plantations. The railway was used to carry the sugar cane down to sea-level for processing and shipping. One of the more innovative tourism ideas was to convert these trains to open passenger cars and do a tour around the island on the train. From the train, you can see not only the old plantations up the mountainside, but also the villages of St. Kitts. There homes are neat and well-kept, but it is apparent that there is not a lot of wealth inherent in the typical village.
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| Village - St. Kitts Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
THAT MORNING, we took a driving tour of the island - mainly the Basseterre vicinity. Our guide gave us much of the history of the island, as briefly outlined above. Afterward, we boarded the narrow-gauge railroad, for a circle around the island. They served us a local sweet cake and a potent fruit punch, while giving us some history of the sugar plantation industry. St. Kitts is mountainous, and there is a lot of what could be described as "jungle" up those mountains. And where there is jungle, there are bound to be snakes. But not in St. Kitts. The Indian Mongoose was introduced to a number of Caribbean islands over 150 years ago, to control the rat and poisonous snake populations. While there is some evidence of snakes (primarily the non-venomous "Racer" snake), findings are rare. Of course, like any introduction of an invasive, non-native species, there were negatives. At one point the omnivorous animal nearly decimated the St. Kitts chicken population, and also did damage to vegetable crops. Some of that still occurs today.
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| Catamaran Cruise - St. Kitts Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
OUR DAY ended with a catamaran sailing tour around parts of the island and back to the cruise port. They had more rum-based drinks on the Catamaran, too. Who even needs a "drink package" on the ship? 😀
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| Celebrity Reflection Sail-Away - St. Kitts Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
WE RETURNED TO St. Kitts a couple years later. Though we had heard it was a place we needed to visit, we didn't get over to Nevis either time. We have a February, 2023 cruise scheduled which will be stopping in St. Kitts, and we plan to get over to Nevis this time.
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| Miami Skyline - Port of Miami Copyright Andy Richards 2013 |
HEADING BACK to Miami, where it all began, we spent our final day "at sea." It was one of the most enjoyable of my Caribbean cruises, making new friends and getting to know a new cruise line (which would become our "go-to" line for future cruises). We arrived back in Miami in the early morning, and though I have been a Florida resident now for several years, we spend very little time in and around Miami. But I was up as we entered the Port of Miami, and the sunrise behind the city was very nice. We would make 2 more Caribbean Cruises in the next couple years, and then a several-year hiatus. But in January of this year, we again cruised in the Caribbean - this time in the Western Caribbean. We have another Eastern Caribbean cruise scheduled in February, 2023. Even though we live in "Caribbean-like" conditions at our home near Tampa, we still love to get away, see the islands, and meet new people!
