Follow up to Live from CB 12/5-12 THE PICS!

[cdamion]

Day 6 - Dominica (Part 1)

 

Dominica was one island I was very much looking forward to seeing. I had arranged a tour ahead of time with Reyno Tours, who wanted to make sure that us Cruise Critic people enjoyed ourselves. I did enjoy the tour. There is much to see on Dominica and the tour gave a good taste, starting off through Roseau, then into the mountains, and finally down to Champagne Reef.

 

Dominica by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Steel pan player caught me taking a picture from the balcony:

 

Steel Pans by cdamion, on Flickr

 

It was noticably cooler once we got up into the mountains.

 

Dominica mountains by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Untitled by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Waterfall 1 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Waterfall 2 by cdamion, on Flickr

[cdamion]

Day 6 - Dominica (Part 2)

 

These two falls next to each other come from completely different sources.

 

Twin falls by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Untitled by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Bubbling hot springs at Wotten Waven - over 200 degrees:

 

Bubbling Hot Spring by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Steam from hot spring by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Hurricane David knocked this tree onto the school bus where it has remained ever since:

 

Bus crushed by Hurricane David by cdamion, on Flickr

 

CB in Dominica by cdamion, on Flickr

[cdamion]

Day 6 - Dominica (Part 3)

 

Up in the mountains we had a short walk to TiTou Gorge. No pics of the waterfall because we would have had to swim in 57 degree water to get there and none of us were brave enough for that temp.

 

Tour to Titou Gorge by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Narrow footbridge by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Wood pipe by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Next was Champagne Reef where the hot springs bubble up under the ocean:

 

Champagne Reef 1 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Champagne Reef 2 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Champagne Reef 3 by cdamion, on Flickr

[srpilo]

Nice !!

This is just iceing on the cake :)

 

 

 

 

Thanks

Srpilo

[cdamion]

Day 6 - Dominica (Part 4)

 

Past the area with the bubbles coming out, there is a pretty nice reef to snorkel. Not too many pics here because there were quite a few jellyfish in the direction I chose to swim. Had I gone in another direction, I later learned, there would have been no jellyfish, and instead I would have seen seahorses, oh well, save those for next time with K:

 

Champagne Reef 4 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

After the tour returned, I headed out into the town of Roseau to explore:

 

Roseau Dominica 1 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Untitled by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Untitled by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Untitled by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Dominica church by cdamion, on Flickr

[cdamion]

Day 6 - Dominica (Part 5?-lost track)

 

Dominica is the least developed of the islands we visited, which I liked. With two exceptions, nobody bothered me for money or $2 for pictures that was common in Grenada. This island is a bit of a diamond in the rough. It is right up my alley, but may not be for people who are more comfortable in developed resorts.

 

Deeper in Roseau by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Deeper in Roseau 2 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Untitled by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Untitled by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Roseau Dominica 2 by cdamion, on Flickr

[cdamion]

Day 6 - Dominica (Part 6? I dont even remember now)

 

Dominica reminds me a lot of Hawaii - particularly Kauai and the Big Island. There are no white sand beaches, but plenty of green rising quickly from the sea. This is an island I would like to come explore on a land-based trip.

 

Before we left the Seabourn Spirit lifted its anchors from a cove a little ways away and sailed away.

 

Seaborn ship by cdamion, on Flickr

 

As we pulled away, I just enjoyed the lush mountains passing by as one of the passengers from Dominica gave me tour of the coast.

 

Untitled by cdamion, on Flickr

 

CB Bridge in the mountains by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Dominica's Mountains by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Tallest peak in Dominica over 4000' by cdamion, on Flickr

[balconyfriends]

Great Pictures!!!!I really enjoyed them.

[HelloHelloHola]

Hi cdamion, glad you had a good time. The photos are great. Especially the underwater shots. May I ask what camera you used for those shots? Also, was the same camera used for all the photos? I would like to get an underwater camera but I just don't know enough about it. Thanks.

[cdamion]

Hi cdamion, glad you had a good time. The photos are great. Especially the underwater shots. May I ask what camera you used for those shots? Also, was the same camera used for all the photos? I would like to get an underwater camera but I just don't know enough about it. Thanks.

 

The camera I used for underwater pics was just a Kodak easy-shot 813 (I think). I have it in a Dicapac case, which is a thick, soft plastic case that seals the camera in with velcro, etc. If you google "dicapac" you will see them. I have used them on a few occassions and they work well. I do not put an expensive camera in them though, just in case.

 

The camera for almost all of the land-based shots and on the ship is a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5. It is a small fully manual compact camera with an ultra zoom lens. It actually does better than my 2 DSLR's which I left home because I didn't feel like carrying them. The time manual comes in handy is when I need to set the shutter speed high like taking pictures from moving taxis, or to play with the settings in the severely back-lit shots.

[kdooley]

We leave on this same cruise on Sunday, so it was really nice to see a preview of what's to come! Great pictures and comments!

[cdamion]

Day 7 - St. Thomas (Part 1)

 

Well, the cruise is rapidly coming to a close. I had no plans whatsoever for St Thomas since I had a land-based vacation here not too long ago. I ended up walking to town a couple hours after we docked.

 

Charlotte Amalie 2 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Next, I took a taxi to Crowne Bay to see the Queen Mary 2, which the local iguanas were immensely interested in too.

 

Iguanas 1 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Queen Mary 2 a by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Queen Mary 2 b by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Iguana by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Next up, the ferry to St. John from which I had a good view of the CB & The Emerald

 

Princess Ships by cdamion, on Flickr

[cdamion]

Day 7 - St. Thomas (Part 2)

 

I got to St. John and wandered around Cruz Bay a little bit. I had forgotten how much I liked this little town. I ended up at a bar on the water having my all-time favorite drink - the Painkiller.

 

St. John Ferry Dock by cdamion, on Flickr

 

St. John 3 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

St. John 4 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

St. John 5 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

St. John 2 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Painkiller by cdamion, on Flickr

[cdamion]

Day 7 - St. Thomas (Part 3)

 

After a while I headed back to the ferry and back to the ship to get the last leg of the trip to San Juan. I caught one last glimpse of the QM from Skywalkers - the only place on board it was visible from.\

 

Emerald Princess by cdamion, on Flickr

 

CB at Havensight by cdamion, on Flickr

 

QM2 at Crowne Bay by cdamion, on Flickr

[cdamion]

Day 8 - San Juan (Part 1)

 

Well, the day has finally arrived. Time to get off the ship. I headed to the Gallery Inn (where you can spend a full day exploring), then wandered around San Juan

 

Gallery Inn exterior by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Gallery Inn interior by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Fort Morro 1 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Fort Morro 2 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Old San Juan 1 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Old San Juan 3 by cdamion, on Flickr

[cdamion]

Day 8 - San Juan (Part 2)

 

I did humorously get trapped (sort-of) at the fort because of a very large demonstration protesting something about the schools and the police

 

Demonstration 1 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

Demonstration 2 by cdamion, on Flickr

 

From the fort, I had a good view of the Carnival Victory getting ready to set sail.

 

Carnival Victory by cdamion, on Flickr

 

I wandered around Old San Juan until sunset. It felt like another busy port day until I headed to the wall of the old city to watch the CB leave San Juan without me.:(

 

Fountain at Sunset by cdamion, on Flickr

 

CB Leaving me Behind by cdamion, on Flickr

 

I sincerely hope you all have enjoyed the "live from" reports and these pics. These are just a few of nearly 2000 I took. They will show up some time down the road when I turn them into slide shows. I also have several pics of the CB that I will post in a separate thread in the next day or so for those interested in the ship, but not necessarily all of the ports.

[SCFCRUISER]

Bravo cdamion!!!! I'll be looking for the ship pic's.

 

Thanks,

Steve

[Woobstr112G]

Great pictures. Thanks for posting them.....:):):)

 

Bob

[CrusinAgain]

Thanks for posting the pics. They are great! So you prefer Dominica over Grenada? Would you do this itinerary again?

[u2cruiser]

Pictures really bring your report to life. I have the same great little camera as you and it really does take some beautiful, detailed pics. (if anyone is looking for a new compact digital)

My favourite of all your pics is the Fountain at Sunset, in San Juan. Do you mind if I save that one to my pics?

 

I share your liking of Dominica. Many on our cruise didn't like it at all as there weren't enough shops or tourist traps, but getting into the heart of the interior and the town was a real treat and very memorable.

 

I will be visiting some of those islands next year so thank you so much for a glimpse of them. Looking forward to the next installment. :D

 

Isn't it sad when you see the ship leaving without you? I felt bereft watching the Grand sail away from FL after my first ever cruise. :(

[gingera]

Wonderful pics and great commentary... Thanks so much for sharing.

[sunluvr21]

Cdamion, thank you so much for both the live thread and the great pictures! We're sailing on the CB in March and this is an awesome way to get a glimpse for what lies ahead! :)

 

Rachel

[oratheeexplorer]

Your pictures are amazing.......thanks so much for taking the time to share them on here......would love to do the southern carib cruise sometime......airfare is so much more for us to San Juan than to Fort Lauderdale......maybe some day! Thanks again!

[Les_Bill]

cdamion, thanks so much for your live reports and the great pictures. We leave in 6 weeks on the Emerald, and these pictures sure put us in cruise mode.

[kruisey]

You should be a travel writer.

Enjoyed your journey and pictures so much.

They certainly lighten up the winter days.

Thank you so much:)