Marvy Mare

Wrunkles - Was the Fred a restaurant? Maris

The pilot boat heading in. Sandy point to the right. The town houses in this photo are "The Projects' - community housing. As our tour guide said 'Where in the world can you find community housing like that? - a view of the water and a beach." These men must have no fear of heights. All the people in St. Croix are friendly. I think he was waving to me. Goodbye St. Croix!

The ride was fantastic. So much information, friendly people and great scenery. I forgot to mention that Jill Biden was somewhere on the island while we were there. The Bidens are regular visitors to St. Croix, somewhere around Christiansted. They don't own a place. I guess just a regular Air B & B. Lol. Our guides were great. It was Steve's last day. He had been working on trails to the north of the island. He planned to lead Eco Tours there. Both Randy and Steve were from somewhere in the United States, but had come to love the island life and were very involved in the community. Bonus, since St. Croix is part of the U.S. Virgin Islands (a U.S. territory they can live and work there.) And though we didn't see any turtles in our travels, there were a number of them floating around by the ship. I did remember reading before our vacation that you didn't have to leave port at one stop to see Sea Turtles. Guess it was St. Croix! It was an early sail away (4pm) from a beautiful island. And we only saw a bit of it. The sun finally came out. I'm glad it waited. I needed a bit of a break from that bright warm sun.

Another view of the shoreline to the north of the port. I did mention flora and fauna before I left to take lightening photos (it was wild and got some great ones) at home. There is a problem with an invasive species on the island -eww- snakes. Someone, let their pet red tailed boa constrictor go on the island. There was only one but these snakes make their own babies if they don't have a partner. So now there are many and they can grow up to 15 feet. There are also mongoose on the island. They eat snake eggs but these lovely boa constrictors give birth to live young. Not too much posted this morning after technical issues and a thunderstorm break. Now the dogs are restless. Off to the park. Maris

DAY 5 CRUISE (cont.) St. Croix Fixed!! I think it was just the way I loaded the photos. This is a popular spot for snorkelling on calm days. There were some snorkelling tours scheduled on this day that were cancelled due to the weather. The water here is fairly shallow, until it's not. There are lobsters here in the shallower water that you can catch quite easily apparently. Where the water changes colour (we could see it but it doesn't show in my photos) it drops off steeply into the Puerto Rico Trench to over 13,000 feet. On our ride back, we made a few stops along the way. We stopped up a dirt road (probably about a third of a way from the point of land in this picture). Steve told us about some of the fora, fauna and residents of the area. Dan Aykroyd had a home up the road and would often stop to speak to tour groups. He didn't happen to come by when we were there. We are having a thunderstorm. I should shut the computer down and try to get some lightening photos. Until later. Maris

Just Testing - I think I'm in business again. Maris

April 5 - Still not working. I had some suggestions from a friend that I tried. Maybe it's my browser? Maris

I'm having trouble copying and pasting my images. Just quit on me. I'll try later. It's nice out here. I should get out and do some yard work anyway. Maris

DAY 5 CRUISE St. Croix (cont.) I borrowed this photo from Roger T. who was on our tour. I hope he doesn't mind, but I'm in the photo and it just proves that I was on this trip. I am a failure at selfies. They definitely aren't flattering to the over 65 crowd and make me look fat (lol). I'm the one with my back to the camera with the grey helmet and grey back pack. I had the camera in it. It was heavy and I probably just should have brought my phone. I would have taken more pictures. This coral 'beach' was at the north end of our tour. We climbed the only hill on our tour to get there. You can see here how rough it was. The coral reefs are being attacked by some kind or bacteria, I think. There are some experimental treatments being carried out to try to restore the coral.

I was told that there was really nothing to see. Wrong of course. There isn't a large cruise port area, but the island was beautiful. The people of the area we traveled through were the friendliest of any of the islands that we have been to. They seemed to make an extra effort to greet visitors. Apparently the north side of the island is the popular area for tourists. Maris

Thank you for your kind comments and for following along, iceleve! Sometimes I feel as if I am talking to myself, but that's OK as well. Yes apparently Christensted is the more popular tourist area. The area were Frederiksted is didn't have many resorts, stores or restaurants. I know some people on our cruise went to Carambola Beach Club on the north side of the island and said that it was wonderful!

A couple more photos of Sandy Point. You can see how rough the water is. Steve pointed out the Manzanilla de la Muerte berries. Translates as the 'little apple of death'. The Manzanilla is one of the most poisonous trees in the world.

DAY 5 CRUISE (cont.) St. Croix As I mentioned earlier, it was suggested that I not even get off the ship in St. Croix. I've never been there and I will probably never go back, so I decided to check it out anyway. We had On Board Credit that needed to be used, so instead of planning our own shore excursions on this trip we booked a few through Celebrity. I love to ride my bike. I did see one bike ride somewhere that wouldn't allow anyone 70 or over. There didn't seem to be any age restriction for the 'Bike Ride and Tour', so I signed myself up. Ken didn't feel he would be comfortable riding a bike for 10 miles, though in retrospect it would probably have been easier on his hip than the many miles he put in walking. But our friend Angus, decided he'd do the bike ride as well. I'm glad we did. Our tour guides Steve and Randy (I hope I got their names right) were personable and had lots of great historical and ecological information to share. It was cloudy for part of the trip and even rained for a few minutes. I welcomed the clouds. My pale Canadian skin wasn't used to the sun and even though I tried to stay in the shade, I was burnt. They took their time fitting our group of 15 for bikes, making sure that we were all comfortable. Great bikes too. A perfect one for everyone. Our first stop was by the statue of John Gottleib (General Buddhoe). He led a slave rebellion in 1848 to abolish slavery in the Danish West Indies. Mocko jumbies - Stilt dancers. Another great reason to visit St. Croix is the people. Steve (our guide) told us that everyone that you come across will give you a friendly greeting. He was right. We felt really welcome. When we passed a school, the children ran to the fence to say hi to us. It was definitely the friendliest island that we visited. Ken, found the same when he and Lorie walked in town. They learned about the island from some locals as well. Our ride took us up the west side of the island, from Frederiksted to Sandy Point Beach and then up the other way past Rainbow Beach but not as far as the Carambola Tide Pools. The next stop was a small park on the waterfront where we could get a view of the Silhouette. We were the only ship in port. It was raining. The only rain of our trip. It was also very windy, though it's tough to see how windy it was in this photo. The high winds lasted for at least 3 days of our cruise. That's my bike. The blue one front and centre. We rode through town and then followed the waterfront to Sandy Point Beach. The beach is a nesting area for Turtles. Steve said that on their normally calm days ('it's never this windy') we might be able to see turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs. St. Croix has a Sea Turtle Project run by volunteers and funded by donations. Leatherback turtles that nest here can be the size of a small Volkswagen (according to the woman Ken & Lorie spoke with).

Thanks Norris! Good to know that you are following along! I would love to go back to San Juan someday. Then I will be looking for restaurant suggestions. Maris

DAY 5 CRUISE - Friday, March 17 St. Croix Appropriately, there was a rainbow early in the morning on St. Patrick's Day. I think this gentleman may be looking for the gold. I was surprised at how green St. Croix was. Though, I was told not to even bother getting off the boat at Frederiksted I thought that it looked very pretty. Nosey neighbour photo. The suite next to us. I did't see any sign of life next door until about Day 7 of our cruise. Then they seemed to be around all the time. I wonder if they got on at a port or moved up into that room? I also noticed that their railing had been varnished. Ours hadn't. Those suite guests sure get treated well - Lol! Ken wandered around town with our friend Lorie. They were told that those big homes up on the hill were bought up by "Arabs" a few years ago.

DAY 4 CRUISE - Thursday, March 16 San Juan We had a nice view from our veranda and could watch the ferry coming and going. That ferry was a long way from home. Maybe those people are so happy because it's been a long trip for them. Dinner that evening was in the MDR again. We sailed away while we were having our dinner. We were seated by a window as usual. I'm always fascinated by the Pilot boat and the pilot. Scary job. The was right below our window at dinner. The Pilot boat comes right beside the ship (the water was very rough that evening)and the Pilot comes on the ship via a ladder to a doorway on the side of the ship. He is escorted to the bridge to help 'pilot' the ship in waters familiar to him. He leaves the ship the same way. For dinner I had French Onion Soup. It's available each night so I thought that I'd try it. It was OK but I like my recipe better. I also had the turkey. Again it was OK but I'm sure that the turkey we have this Easter weekend with our family will be better too. I think that was the only meal that I was a bit disappointed in. But everything does taste good when someone else makes it and clean up afterwards. The menu choices seemed a little less than on our former cruises. Again, a walk around the ship and early to bed. Another busy day coming up.

Heading back down toward the port. Even the bank was beautiful. We found a seat in the shade in the square by the port. Only one of the street vendors was open. There was a small bar close by and we each had a Carib. It went down well. My one complaint about the San Juan stop was that we arrived so late. It was very hot, and hilly. We wandered a little further down past the cruise ships and then went back to the boat for a late lunch. I think we missed out on trying Puerto Rican food, but we just didn't know where to go. I should have researched that. Any suggestions for next time? When we asked the Puerto Rican ball players back in Miami, what we should do when in San Juan, they said 'Try the food." And we didn't. Lots of outdoor seating on a Port Day. The dogs are restless again and it's still kind of dark, but we have a busy day ahead. Till later. Maris

I posted this photo because I love the print and colours of this woman's dress. The backless thing wouldn't do for me but the colours, priceless. I've been looking for a dress for our son's wedding. There it is, but mine would need a back. Turns out there was a great view from the park as well. The park was build as a canon placement wall between the two forts. The wall is quite low. I guess to canons could fire over it. The fence isn't pretty but necessary so no one falls over. The small brown sign to the right says in Spanish and English 'Do not climb or sit on the wall.' Good advice. The fence would make it tough too. Hundreds of Pigeons. Back to 'Umbrella Street' actually called Calle de la Fortaleza (Fort Street). I think the Governor's mansion may have been at the end of the street. The fellow on the right is looking for tips. Maybe if we had paid him, he would have let us by the police. Lol. Maybe he was a she. And looking closer at the sign, it said 'Tips for photo'. Sorry, I didn't read that but I was just taking another photo of the street. I did hear a young woman say 'I'm obsessed with this.' The street I guess. We found this place too. There was a fairly long line up for the Pina Coladas and even though it was 5 o'clock somewhere we didn't wait.

DAY 4 CRUISE - Thursday, March 16 San Juan - Puerto Rico We did manage to find our way around. We had been looking for Umbrella Street, that turned into Butterfly Street and found it. And we found the Parque de Las Palomas (Park of the Pigeons). I wasn't about to stand around and have pigeons land on me, but other people did. Here, you pay for pigeon food and they will land all over you. I'm still working on getting chickadees to land on my hand at home. Actually, I haven't filled the bird feeder at home in a while. I might try that at home today.

Still pretty. We loved San Juan. Maris

Makes sense, but just not as cool. And I still wonder why the street was closed off. Maybe the people who live there were sick of tourists. Maris

I love looking through into these hidden courtyards. I guess this used to be Umbrella Street. We should have gone to the one in Puerto Plata. Pretty butterflies, but not sure where the umbrellas went. And the street was closed off with barriers and guarded by police.

DAY 4 CRUISE - Thursday, March 16 San Juan Plaza Colon - one of the first squares we found as we got off the ship. San Juan is a wonderful port. You get off the ship seemingly in the middle of town. I do wish we had done a walking tour. We thought it might be a bit much for us. But as it turned out we walked just over 22,000 steps that day. Ken did most of them too. I cut my morning deck walk short to take sunrise photos and I figured that we'd do a bit of walking in San Juan. The statue commemorates the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus landing in Puerto Rico on November 19, 1493. Columbus names the island Juan Bautista (in honour of the ball player - just kidding) in honour of St. John the Baptist. The tour bus looked fun. I saw it parked later when we came back from our walks. Maybe it was taking an afternoon tour. We were in port until 7 and the Seven Seas Navigator until 8. It looks like the Silhouette is right up on the sidewalk. I've never been to Europe but I'm thinking that some streets might look like this. This is either a walking tour or a group heading up to La Carreta for lunch. If I had taken the walking tour I might have been able to tell you what this building is. I do know it's very pretty. And to remember everything I would have had to take notes, but next time I will take a tour. Craft Store. It's all uphill from here. Glad I wore my running shoes.

Hcat - The early morning is the best time on the ship. On mornings when we have an early port visit there are always other people in the Ocean View getting coffee at 5. I almost feel as if they are invading my space. Lol Maris

Castillo San Felipe del Morro is one of the oldest fortresses build in the Caribbean. The Spanish began construction on the site in 1539. It was completed in 1790. The Spanish successfully defended the harbour from the English and the Dutch, but in 1898 the U.S. was successful in gaining control of the harbour. The wall built around Old San Juan was completed in 1873. One ship in before us. Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas. U.S. Coast Guard The ferry terminal. As we were docking, I heard a young mother say to a crying toddler 'If you don't stop, I'm taking you home.' Lol! Talk about unrealistic consequences. We were docked just after 11am and it was hot, hot, hot!