Cool Breeze Cruiser
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To say Royston’s tour goes ‘off the beaten path’ would be an extreme understatement! He took us places that I bet a lot of Kittitians have never been in his old ‘beater’ van that I thought we would have needed an ATV or a Billy goat to get to but we never felt unsafe though I teased him the whole day about his driving ‘on the edge’! He could get a job as a stunt car driver if he ever gives up being a tour guide because he can put that van on a dime!
Royston's tour included the $10pp entry fee into the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park.
Off we go through the fields. Royston is very fit but does not walk anywhere he can drive on his tours!
HI!
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The boards at the top show the steps in making batik.
The Batik store has plenty of items for sale. I expected them to be more expensive.
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Romney Manor is the home of Caribelle Batik.
This 400-year-old SAMAN tree presides over Romney Manor.
The ladies gave us a short batik making demonstration.
When you reverse the material it is the same on both sides.
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Royston was fun, friendly, knowledgeable, and professional. He has the cutest sense of humor. Not sure how to describe it exactly but he is funny & very endearing & he definitely knows the history & anything else you could want to know about St. Kitts!
Royston asked me what I did in St. Kitts on our previous visits. I told him we did the rain forest hike, etc with Javin. A few minutes later I accidentally called him Javin! He laughingly called me out on it & started calling me Joyce who we had toured with the day before. For the rest of the day I would say, “Hey Javin what about this” or he would say “what do you think Joyce?” Gotta love that guy!
An interesting tree!
Our first stop was at Romney Manor & Royston asked if we wanted to get out of the van & walk around. He walked with us answering any questions we had. We never felt rushed & could stay as long as we wanted at stops.
Never seen a tree like this! Ouch!!!
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Unfortunately J.R. was still suffering from where he got ‘rum punched’ (actually he fell) in Antigua so he slept in that morning & spent the day in the hot tub on the ship. He DEFINITELY missed out on an amazing tour!!!
Royston was waiting when we got off the ship at 8:15AM just as he said he would be. We waited a few minutes on a lady named ‘Stacy’ who had booked his tour but was a no show. One of my pet peeves is people who do not show up or even call to let small tour operators know they are not coming. Not only did we give up a few precious minutes waiting for her but he also lost a paying customer for his tour that day.
Mitch & Royston were 'looking' for 'Stacy' even though they had no idea what she looked like! We knew we were going to be in for a great day with Royston!
We went to get in his 'windowless' van & Royston asked if one of us wanted to sit up front. I did so I went to get in on the right side which is the driver's side. Royston teased me & asked if I wanted to drive & our day of fun & adventure started!
We passed the house Royston shares with his father. Royston is not a big ‘water’ fan though he literally lives on the ocean so he kept laughing at me for taking pics of the water.
There is a reason St. Kitts is one of my favorite islands. It is GORGEOUS!!!
Having no windows in the van made for some great pics!
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...and one pays serious money for it also!
When we booked our GSOV it was only $20pp higher than a regular ocean view! :)::):)
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One of those amazing Scenic Grand Oceanview cabins on the Glory for a cruise next year! I wasn't going to book a fall cruise but got to looking and thought, "Just for the heck of it, let's call _______ (enter name of PVP here) and see if one of those cabins everyone raves about is open for this sailing." It didn't show availiable online, but when I called him it was! So we will be cruising in style over Halloween next year. :p I am so excited to see one of these cabins in person!
We have 9200 & our friends have 9201 on the Glory booked for Halloween 2015! :):):) We will take good care of 'your' cabin for you! :p
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St. Kitts…J.R. & I had been to St. Kitts a few times & it is one of our favorite islands. This time we booked Royston’s Tour with Lynn & Mitch. My daughter & her husband toured with Royston last year & said it was one of the best tours they have ever done.
Royston's website...
Royston's Trip Advisor Reviews
Lynn emailed Royston & got it all set up for our group. We specifically requested Royston for our tour guide & wanted to tour in his old “beater’ van that has the windows removed.
This was one of the emails from Royston…
“Here is the tour..
You would circle the island clockwise starting on the Caribbean side touring Basseterre then working around to the Atlantic stopping at Romney Manor, Caribelle Batik, Brimstone Hill Fortress, Dieppe Bay point, Black Rocks, Timothy Hill and a few other scenic places. The island tour is about 5 hours & then have lunch at a beach (South Friars) on the peninsula where you can then have some beach / snorkel time if you like before heading back. $45 each including all drinks, lunch and entrance fee.”
I am not usually at a loss for words (just ask J.R.) :p but I am having the hardest time writing about Royston’s tour. I can tell where we went & what we did but I don’t think I can do justice to the ‘experience’ we had that day.
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Antigua is absolutely gorgeous by sea!!!
We were having tons of fun!
And then the staff started leading us in some dances.
J.R. is making sure my cap doesn't go overboard!
Not ready to get off the Excellence but at least we have a lot of fun filled days left on the Triumph!
And we had to say good-bye to our new friends.
We had a great day shared with good friends on a beautiful catamaran in gorgeous Antigua! Can't get much better than that!!!
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Net dancing?!?
Chris was hanging in there!
Rum punch was free flowing!
Chris is starting to get his dance moves going so he can take over for J.R.!
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Throw a little romance in the mix!
Warning... Kissing on a fast moving catamaran can cause your cap to go overboard. This is where Erika lost hers!
And some gorgeous scenery.
The motion of the ocean got to Chris for a few minutes (the rum punch probably didn't help either) & Erika had to comfort him.
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J.R. decided to get the dancing started!
I think Erica felt sorry for J.R. so she joined him. Looks kind of like they are doing a scene from 'Kung Foo Fighting'! :eek:
At some point on the way back J.R. got 'rum punched'! I think this might have been when it happened. :p
Then Mitch took over for Erika & they started doing 'the J.R.'!
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Really enjoying your review and beautiful photo's.
Thanks. I am enjoying reliving it! :)
I am SOOO glad to see a review of at least 1 leg of the possible B2B. With the no solo surcharge I really almost booked this trip BUT Galveston was a deal killer for me. Looking at possibly doing it out of New Orleans (bucket list city for me) or MIA in 2016. Doing only 1 leg is crazy $$$ for me since air is a killer.Both legs had a great itinerary. Our family 'kind of' did both legs since my daughter & son-in-law were on the 1st leg & we were on the 2nd! :p
I found a great deal on air from Galveston to Nashville & was able to use SW reward points to cover the flights. Of course I had to do some serious online Christmas shopping through SW Rapid Rewards partners to get the extra points I needed! :p:D
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Alcohol is served after snorkeling. Since Lynn & I didn't snorkel we got to get the party started early!
The Rum Punch & the Captain's Special are VERY good but also VERY strong & they can definitely sneak up on you (Just ask J.R.)! The staff brings drink trays around for you to enjoy while on the island.
The mock 'fish bite'!
While we were playing in the water (and drinking rum punch) the crew cooked a delicious lunch on the back of the boat consisting of chicken or fish accompanied by salad and vegetables. Lunch was served was served buffet style & was very good!
Things got a little more lively as we headed back.
What did J.R. do now?!?
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The Excellence pulls right up to the shoreline at uninhabited Green Island and has a descending staircase to get on the beach. You can relax on the beach, snorkel or swim in the warm turquoise waters. The beach stop is nice but there are no chairs or facilities. The restrooms on the Excellence are nice though for a catamaran.
Chris & Erika were 'almost" first time snorkelers.
Mitch was ready!
And of course Mitch's sidekick was right there with him.
I don't think the snorkeling was amazing but our group enjoyed it.
Everybody headed back to shore.
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The catamaran ride begins very calm, but then goes into the Atlantic for an adventurous 15 to 20 minutes. This section of the trip was a bit rougher than the last two times we were on the Excellence because there were huge waves. It is like a roller coaster ride but only lasts a short time. One the most fun parts of the day!
The staff moved everybody back a little that were seated up front & they monitored the conditions.
You should expect to get wet if you are sitting near the front or along each side! :D
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Off we go!
We passed a horse back riding excurision.
And we passed our 'home away from home'!
We stopped at a Sandals Resort and picked up additional passengers.
The crew was great and entertaining. The commentary was excellent pointing out all the popular spots and homes of the stars & the mega yachts in Nelson's Dockyard were spectacular!
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Sorry for the delay. I have 222 pics from Antigua & had a hard time deciding which ones to post so if I add to many just skip to St. Kitts! :D
Also to protect the innocent :eek: I have to be VERY careful which pics from Antigua to add! :p:D
We have been to Antigua twice & both times we booked the See Antigua by Sea on the Excellence catamaran. We rarely book excursions through the cruise line & almost never book the same thing twice but it was so much FUN the first TWO times we booked it again!
See Antigua by Sea is a Carnival excursion that is run by Tropical Adventures that provides a circumnavigation of Antigua’s magnificent coastline. Carnival recently announced Tropical Adventures is the winner of the prestigious “Caribbean’s Leading Tour Operator” a new award offer by Carnival Cruise Lines.
Tropical Adventures website
And the Excellence Trip Advisor reviews
Antigua is gorgeous and this tour is a great way to see the island by sea on an 86ft Power Catamaran.
We departed at 9:30AM & it lasted approximately six hours. The cost was $114.99 pp. & included lunch, drinks & snorkel gear. We definitely got our money’s worth!
We walked off the ship and down the pier to the where the catamaran was docked, not even a 5 minute walk.
We wanted to be some of the first to board the Excellence so we could get our favorite spot, the starboard side of the boat in the front. It provides the best view unless you want to go up on top. Even when everyone is on-board it doesn’t feel crowded.
We had an ominous beginning when J.R.’s ‘goofy hat’ went overboard in the first five minutes. Luckily a staff member was nearby with a hook & fished it out for J.R. It would have been a long day for him with no hat!
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Hi Juli,
Getting excited about our October cruise by reading your review. As always, your pics are wonderful and so much fun seeing Lynn and Mitch and you two together. Does the Triumph seem much bigger than the Miracle? Maybe I'll be able to talk Don into the Suess brunch now after seeing how much fun it looks.
Looking forward to the rest of your review.
Hugs, Jacquie
Thanks Jacquie. We did have so much fun on our cruise!
We considered doing the October Triumph cruise but we used our 25% off & booked the 14 day Glory cruise October 31st. Amazing itinerary with 8 ports!!! So far 10 of our group from our cruise to Hawaii plus our cruisin' buds from CA have booked .
The Triumph is bigger but you know the Spirit class (Miracle) is my favorite class. I like being able to walk straight through on all the decks on the Spirit class instead of going up & over on the Triumph. Small thing though. I would definitely book on the Triumph again!
Our cruise had no solo supplement so there were a lot of solos in double occupancy cabins so the ship did not seem crowded at all.
I know you & Don are 'beachy' people but you should check out Royston's Tour in St. Kitts. Probably the best & most bang for the buck tour I have ever done. I will try to add it to my review in the next day or so.
Hugs back,
Juli
Thank you, Juli, for posting a review! DH and I are booked on the November San Juan-to-Galveston cruise on the Triumph, so I was so tremendously excited to see this :D.I do have a couple of questions - did you have many children on this cruise? I don't see any in the ship pictures you've posted. Also, what was the demographic? I'm figuring on an older one than our last 5-day cruise on the Triumph, LOL!
I can't wait to read more!!
Thanks! :) Hope you have as much fun on your cruise as we did & it will be AMAZING! :D
I did not hear a number but I did not see many kids. Of course Carnival does such a great job of hiding the little rascals, oh I mean of keeping them busy & having the time of their life's!!! :p:D
We were DEFINITELY not the youngsters on our cruise & I am 54 & J.R. is 61 & my daughter was on the 1st leg (Galveston to San Juan) & everybody said it was a lot older demographic than our cruise. Fun people are fun people at ANY age & we always manage to find those people to hang out with! :)
I have been really busy the last few days but I will try to post Antigua & St. Kitts in the next day or so.
Antigua= SO MUCH FUN & St. Kitts= one of the best tours ever!
Juli
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Antigua was our next stop & I have about a 'zillion' pics from that day & I need to decide which ones to use for my review plus I need to get my story straight! :p Let's just say we had way to much fun in Antigua! :D
Loving your review! "Fish bite" sounds like a good name for a drink. I think I might need a strong drink after that fish bite LOL.Maybe a drink served in a mini fish bowl that has a big bite to it! :D
I have a crazy 'fishie phobia' anyway & if I really thought there were fish in the ocean I would never get in! :p So I am glad Erika & I were lounging on the beach because I would have absolutely freaked out!!! :eek:
Maybe I will post the 'fake bite' the guys staged when I post our day in Antigua. ;)
Thanks for sharing, really enjoying your review!Thanks for reading!
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Then we went to Orient Beach where we walked the beach for a while. It turned out to be such a gorgeous day!
And everyone has to get a pic with 'the sign'!
All to soon it was time to leave St. Maarten & go back to our home away from home!
Joyce was great to work with from our first correspondence to the end of our day in St. Maarten. She is very personable & knowledgeable about the history & culture of St. Maarten & we enjoyed our day with her.
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We went to Marigot next & walked around the open market booths for a few minutes before having lunch at Sandy’s Waterfront Bar & Restaurant where I had the Chicken Brochette & the others had the Coconut Shrimp. It was all yummy & then they brought out complimentary passion fruit shots. They were HOT but good!
And then we had to pull a prank & Mitch became Joyce's man! :p
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Mitch took this pic under the plane & J.R. took a cool video that I have no idea how to post!
We got back in Joyce's van & enjoyed an icy cold Carib beer!
And the sun finally came out to stay!
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We headed to Maho Beach so we could get there before the big plane was due in. Joyce poured us a cup of her signature rum punch to take with us to wait on the planes.
The first plane coming in.
Had to get a pic with Captain Morgan!
There is a board with flight times posted but Joyce had looked it all up before we got there & timed it so we would get to see the big plane coming in. We saw quite a few while we were waiting on the big one.
Triumph 2/20/2015 Review San Juan to Galveston with six ports
in Carnival Cruise Lines
Posted
Royston drove us right up to all the greatest spots for the best views!
We were parked on the edge of an embankment & Lynn & I were yelling at poor Mitch to not lean out the window!