May 31

Our third port of call

During our research beforehand on St. Lucia, everyone recommended that you go to a little town called Soufriere. It was said to be the prettiest part of the island. So, during dinner last night, our table mates said they were going on a Carnival excursion that went to this town. We found out that Soufriere was a good hour and a half away and would cost a lot to get a driver to take us there. So, we decided to spend the small fortune and go with the planned excursion. We were so glad we did!

The first part of our day was a bit of an island tour as we travelled to Soufriere. We stopped at several places along the way. The first was Marigot Bay. Absolutely beautiful. Because it is a small bay surrounded by mountains, many boats and yachts come here during a storm to avoid being damaged.

Our tour continued up and down very curvy mountainous roads  (which Adam stomach was not fond of!!) Along the route, we saw several cashew trees and our driver stopped to grab the fruit from it. I had never seen where cashews come from. We were told that if you put this fruit to your lips or take a bite, it is so acidic it will give you blisters. And there is only 1 nut per fruit. No wonder cashews are so expensive!

Our next stop was at a botanical garden and waterfall. As soon as we started going through, it started raining, but it wasn't too bad and we were in the rainforest, so it was fitting. The plants and trees were beautiful

The water that flows here is a grayish color because of the volcanic ash and sulfer

there were also warm water springs

Diamond Falls

Our next stop was the little fishing village of Soufriere. Once here, we boarded our catamaran for the second part of our day

The twin pitons (the two mountain peaks behind us) are what St. Lucia is well known for. We had such a great view from our boat

Once we were on our way, they served us a Caribbean lunch that was delicious

We travelled for about 45 minutes and then stopped at an area to swim. As soon as we pulled in, we were surrounded by locals trying to sell us coconuts and conch shells. We bargained for a conch shell for the boys

We had so much fun today. We got to do so many things and see some really beautiful parts of the island. We are so glad we did this one!

We got dressed up again for our second formal night tonight

May 30

Our second port of call

We arrived in Barbados with not a clue as to what to do. So, we went to the little visitors center and got some info and a map. As soon as we walked out, there was a tour guide ready to take us around the island. What the heck. Sounds like a good tour for a decent price, so we agreed and he found a few more people to join us. He did a great job and gave us a lot of info as we drove the entire island. Our first stop was at the oldest church in Barbados. I found the pipe organ to be quite interesting as the pipes came out horizontally towards you and not vertically toward the ceiling.

Our guide shared that the church is so popular that it has 3 services each Sunday to accomodate all the people who want to attend. He also commented on how religious the island is.

Our second stop was at this overlook. It had just started raining and the fog had moved in. It was still beautiful

On a clear day you can easily see the ocean and another island off in the distance.

After our tour we had lunch on the ship and then got back off to venture downtown. We had a great day despite the bit of rain we had and met a fun family on our tour, but overall weren't too impressed with the island. It's hard to compare to what we saw in St. Thomas.

May 29

Today was our only day at sea. We took advantage of being on the ship all day by taking advantage of all the fun onboard. We began our morning with a little round of mini-golf. Do you know how hard it is to try to get a golf ball in the hole when you are moving through the ocean and the wind is blowing very hard?

Tonight was our first formal night. It's a rare occasion these days that we get to get all dressed up and go to dinner. Actually, I don't think this has happened since our last cruise five years ago!

We both had the lobster and shrimp

But not too long after dinner, Adam decided he needed some pizza

and then finally finished the night with an ice cream cone. Geez!!

May 28

Our first port of call

This was the view from our window this morning when we woke up

When we cruise, we no longer prefer to go on arranged excursions or tours offered through the ship (too pricey and limited). Throughout our research beforehand, we kept reading about doing 99 Steps. Once you climb the 99 Steps there are supposedly great views of the island. So, we walked about a mile through town to get here and then started climbing.

The view from the top was beautiful, but we were expecting a bit more

So, we kept walking a bit and found Blackbeard's Castle. The tour of the multiple buildings was pretty cheap, so we did it. The statue below is Blackbeard, one of the most dreaded pirates of all time.

Captain Hook

The view from the top of the tower

Captain Jack Sparrow

This was a really interesting tour. I don't think I really knew that the pirates from the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, were real people. Below each pirate was a plaque that gave each pirate's history and personal info.

We also toured a little rum factory, a nice historic house, and a coin museum. Towards the end of the tour was an amber museum. Amber is dried tree sap that is used the make jewelry and other fascinating things, like this: the world's largest amber waterfall

St. Thomas gets a high rating from me! So beautiful. We definitely didn't have enough time on this island. Guess we'll have to come back!!

Adam got a bit adventurous at dinner tonight and ordered duck for his appetizer

I took a liking to the warm chocolate melting cake

May 27

San Juan, Peurto Rico

This morning we flew to our departure port in San Juan. Our cruise doesn't leave until 10:00 tonight, so we had some time to explore the city. It was very busy today as people got off the ship and new people were getting on. After waiting a while, we were able to hop on a free trolley tour of Old San Juan. The tour took some time becuase the traffic was so bad. We probably should have just walked around. (I could have gotten better pictures that way)

This is a fort that overlooks the ocean. Today it was crowded with lots of people flying kites and just relaxing in the grassy area.

Our first towel animal (not quite sure what it is)

The big sail away/ bon voyage party on the lido deck