MissiCruzs

Ocean Medallion accessories.

Senior Officers onboard this cruise.

Planks menu.

Yesterday we got off the ship and did a little shopping and spent the rest of the day resting. This is a very port intensive cruise and the sun and water get to you. What we had planned on doing was walking down to the water taxi and going to Grande Anse Beach. I took some pictures to guide you along the way. When you are docked in Grenada there is land on the right blocking your view of the beach. The water taxi is down on the left. It's a little bit of a walk but not bad and the boats are small but there are 4 or 5 of them. I saw on the sign that they've added a beach. I'll have to look that one up for the next time. In the second picture the water taxi pier is the second one way down on the right.

Approaching Trinidad.

Gliding into Grenada this morning... the Spice island!

Tomorrow finally we have another Princess production show and I'm hopeful for some good entertainment. Shea Rafferty had a good voice but in my opinion didn't sing what showed it off. The first show was good but the second show was called Best of Broadway... if you're going to do that then bring it and he didn't. He sang the most obscure Broadway songs we never heard of. You just don't engage the audience that way. We want to hear what we know and sing along and he didn't do it. Tonight was Erik Bryan with Let me be Frank as in Sinatra... nope... he just didn't bring it. I was impressed that we had a lot of shows scheduled for this 14 day cruise but after 20 plus Princess cruises I'm used to their singers and dancers knocking it out of the park...Magic to Do was a fail... we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Yesterday we went online and booked Harbour Lights beach club. For $20 total we reserved 2 chairs and an umbrella with a credit card. Today we walked through the cruise terminal and out the other side and followed the signs to the right until we reached the taxi dispatcher. We were guided thru until we got to the taxis telling them along the way we were going to HL. We got into a taxi that ended up with 6 couples and he stopped at every beach club that was asked for. HL was last. There is a huge parking lot next door for taxis and a small lot in front of the building. The only beach club we saw that had this. Taxis are $5 pp. I think this is the nicest beach club along Carlisle Bay. We checked in up front and were fitted with a white wristband and walked thru the building to the other side. There's an inside bar and an outside bar, food service, lots of tables, restrooms and showers. We had 2nd row reserved seating with our name on the umbrella but Derek moved us to the front row because we were so early. Furniture and umbrellas were good quality and condition. Derek does come around later and takes drink orders. There's a tour desk onsite if you want to swim with the turtles. The water was drop dead gorgeous, crystal clear with a white sandy bottom. It's a gentle slope into the water... there's no dropoff! We left a little before 1, were directed to a taxi with another couple and again it's $5 pp back. This is the perfect beach day!

Double rainbow this morning in Barbados.

Yeah I thought that was ridiculous. I'm drinking a Martini with dinner and I'm sure the waitstaff has no idea what the wines actually are... so stop in Vines and bring your own. 😁

Wines by the glass Michaelangelo DR.

Today we are in St. Lucia. I was very disappointed to pull into the harbor and find Jewel OTS at the cruise village dock and we ended up in the industrial dock. Before the C word it was one of the best docks... interesting stores and bars selling $2 beers. There are new buildings going up behind it now... condos maybe? We went on a ships tour... Coastal cruise to the Pitons with a beach stop. The company appears to be new. It's called Carnival Sailing and we were on the King of the Carnival. Big boat with a great crew. It was a great ride until the beach stop. We were surrounded by canoes... kayaks... etc... with locals hawking their wares. We could barely walk down the steps and get in the water. The whole time they were yelling to get our attention... just surrounded the ship. Really irritating. The Cat shouldn't have allowed it. It went on all the way until we got back on the boat.

There are local vendors in a covered area right before Terminal 1 and a bar. Terminal 1 has a small Duty Free shop with the best alcohol prices I've seen for years.

Currently on the Emerald Princess and we were in Guadeloupe today...a first for us. We docked at Terminal 2 and it's just a big empty building except for security coming and going. When you return to the ship there are restrooms right inside the building. Once you exit there is a green pedestrian walkway you can follow over to Terminal 1. The information/taxi stand is across the street and next to it is a red roofed building that is the exit out of the port. We had an excursion... which I will post separately about... but we had lunch with someone who went to the taxi stand and they said they were only offering a 4 hour island tour for 50 euros per person. I don't know if you could find taxis on the other side of the gate. The guys on our excursion recommended Gosier Beach and said a taxi should be $15... which is something I saw online also. You might have to arrange ahead of time. I'm posting pictures to show the taxi/exit area. The taxi stand is behind the American flag in the picture.

The Christmas elves were onboard today.

Vines Menu

Today we're in Guadeloupe for the first time. I plan on doing a review and posting on the port board because there's hardly any info there. We did an amazing snorkeling excursion that ended up at a small sand island. It was a wonderful day.

Each port will have a booth offering excursions. San Juan very walkable. You could spend half the day in the fort exploring. Amber cove has a big cruise port with lots of shops, a great swimming pool and zipline... no need to leave. It's a long way to get to anything from the port. The nice beaches are almost an hour away. Grand Turk is not very big. Walk thru the port toward the right to get to the taxis and you can negotiate for an island tour.

I'll take some pictures of menus as I get to them and post. Vines menu is only 2 pages. And no more free tapas. You can purchase a raw veggie thing for $3 or a charcuterie board for $12 and something else I can't remember. The MDR has an extensive list but not all by the glass. There is no Vouvray anywhere. Very disappointing for me.

Shower on the Emerald vs shower on the Rotterdam.

New way to pick up a tour or taxi to the beach. We ended up on a mini bus...$7pp each way and he came back and pick us up at the designated time. They drop you off at the old place so you have to walk thru the shops and security.

Lovely day at Carambola Beach club.

Nevis over there in the background looking like a volcano erupting.

We were on the Rotterdam. Going from the staterooms and big walk in showers to showering in a broom closet with a curtain was difficult. Can't wait for the Sun next year.

For years I've hoped to have Magic to do on my cruise and I was so disappointed. I love Princess production shows but this one was not good. Completely disjointed and at one point near the end one of the female singers had the stage for a solo and the song had absolutely nothing to do with the theme of the show. If we weren't in the middle of the theater we would have walked out. Waste of an evening.