Southern Caribbean Cruise 1999

I was looking for a one-week vacation in winter and Carnival Cruises had a deal I could not pass up. It seems that after the 1^st of the year the demand is low so I found a great deal on a 7-day cruise to the Southern Caribbean.

The cruise started in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with stops in St. Thomas, Dominica, St. Maarten, Martinique and Barbados. It was quite a lot to pack into 7 days but I was up for the task.

I arrived in San Juan the day before so I would have some time to see the city. The part I was most interested in was old San Juan. There is quite a lot of history there. The Spanish had built some great forts to protect the city from invaders. The cobblestone streets are still the same after hundreds of years. I boarded the ship in the afternoon and to the sounds of a reggae band we off to sea.

Carnival bills itself as the fun ship and it lives up to its reputation. Dancing, drinking and partying along with island sightseeing is the agenda for the day. Our first stop was St. Thomas. I wanted to snorkel at Trunk Bay at St. Johns so I took the ferry from Red Hook to the island. The surf was up so snorkeling was out there. I ended up taking a bus around part of the island and then headed back to the ship. I tried to avoid all of the tourist shops in Charlotte Amalie, as everything there is very expensive.

Next stop was the island of St. Maarten. This island is unique as half is Dutch and half is French. I shared a taxi with 2 ladies that I met the night before on the ship and we were off to Orient Bay. The sand was warm and the sun hot as we arrived. Half of the beach is clothing optional which was quite interesting. Par sailing, snorkeling and people watching are the main activities here. After we got plenty of sun and surf we headed back to the ship. My normal routine was up early and to bed late with a short power nap before dinner. This worked out great, as I didn’t miss any of the action.

The next morning the ship arrived at the island of Dominica. This was one of the places I was looking forward to visiting, as there are not a lot of tourists. I was booked on a scuba dive to start the day off. We took a boat around to the other side of the island and found a great reef there. The water was very pristine with lots of colorful fish and coral. After the dive I rented a taxi to check out some of the island. We went up to a waterfall in the mountains and then drove around some local villages. I finished the day at the local market to buy some souvenirs. This was a very beautiful island that reminded me some of Hawaii. That night I entered the blackjack tournament and wound up winning it! The cards were in my favor that night.

Another day, another island. Today was Martinique. Caribbean charm with a French flavor. When I was in grade school I was fascinated by the eruption of Mont. Pelee in 1902. The town of St. Pierre was completely destroyed killing 30,000 people. The ship docked in the capital, Fort-de-France so we took a taxi to the other side of the island. A very beautiful drive through the mountains landed us in St. Pierre. There were several reminders of the eruption such as burned out buildings and a fascinating museum detailing the events. Later on we were off to the ship and soon sailing to Barbados.

This was our last stop before returning to San Juan. The Mount Gay Rum distillery was a short walk from the ship so I wandered there to see how worlds oldest rum distillery operated. Quite interesting with plenty of rum to sample at the end of the tour. For the afternoon activity I booked the Jolly Roger tour. I’m not a big fan of tours but everyone said this is a must if you like to have fun in the sun. It seemed like half the ship was on this one. Two large sailing vessels with pirate flags transported us to a great beach area about an hour down the coast. Free rum punch was provided along with loud dancing music. Need I say more? After a while everyone was hammered and dancing. Some of the women were taking off their tops and flashing the other boats. Me? Well after my first swing on the rope I dislocated my shoulder and had to be helped into the boat. After several shots of rum I started to relax and to my surprise my shoulder popped back into place. I was saved a visit to the ER but still was in pain. That night the dining room was half-empty as most people were still partying. A day to remember!

After sailing from Barbados we had a delightful day at sea before docking in San Juan. In summary Carnival lives up to it’s reputation as the fun-party ship. I really had a great time, as did most of the passengers. The food and service was excellent and the ship was very clean. Next time I want to do the other ports of call in the Southern Caribbean itinerary.