So Fascinating--Southern Caribbean (plus 3 days in PR) with Kids

[lolavix]

Perfect Match--It was lovely, although I can't comment on the snorkeling as we didn't make it to the beach. We already know what we'll do next time for sure.

 

alpoplup--Thank you and no worries. I haven't abandoned you all. :)

 

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I apologize for not getting back yesterday. Since we returned two weeks ago, it's been a bit crazy--my kids went back to school, I went back to work (I teach college and it was my first week back last week), we threw my parents a surprise 50th wedding anniversary party yesterday and we purchased plane tickets for next July to Alaska (which has necessitated booking some other items now as prices are usually better the further out you are.) I am anxious to get back here as well.

 

I don't want to promise, but I will try to get back here tonight. I know I've left you hanging at Tet Paul. I have most of those photos ready to go.

 

Please stick around. If you have followed along this far, I don't think you'll be disappointed. We still have additional St. Lucia items, then St. Kitts and St. Maarten. :)

[GalCruzer]

Great pictures!

[ontheweb]

LOL, Lolavix I was just doing the dishes (something you do not need to do when on a cruise) when this great line popped into my head. It was what I should have said when we met.

 

Your kids passed by my cabin just as I was leaving the room, and I recognized them from your Bermuda thread. I commented on how cute they were just as I had in our roll call. I then said "Hello, Lolalavix." You turned back and said my name. And I agreed that's who I was.

 

Here's what I should have said----IN THE FLESH, NOT ONTHEWEB. LOL

[lolavix]

Gal Cruzer--Thank you!

 

On the Web--LOL. That is funny. :)

 

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Without any further ado...

 

This is just breathtaking.

 

 

 

View is still nice, although I caught one of the fellow travelers in the corner.

 

DS2 made a new friend. This is Bobo, and he came on the tour with us.

 

 

"C'mon Bobo, I've got my walking stick. Let's go!"

Edited September 13, 2016 by lolavix

[lolavix]

 

 

 

 

So green.

 

More green.

 

 

A pineapple's beginning.

[lolavix]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just some photos of beautiful St. Lucia.

[lolavix]

I tried the panoramic setting on my camera:

You can see both Pitons here. I need to get the hang of using this setting.

 

OK, now I lost the top of the mountain and the railing is not really curved.

 

 

 

I think I like the second photo better, sans tree border.

 

When DH saw this beach down there, he had second thoughts about skipping it. The logistics just weren't going to work this time. We already have thoughts that if we go back someday, we'll just do the beach break by boat and have a few hours there.

 

 

[lolavix]

Wondering what she's thinking about.

 

On our way back down.

 

 

We made it back and thanked our tour guide.

 

Time for a beverage:

 

We enjoyed our close up view of the Pitons on the Tet Paul trail. Taking a private tour allowed us to see this, and I'm glad we did it.

[lolavix]

The next few stops are probably among the most popular tourist stops.

 

Off to the "drive-in" volcano, with a stop first at a visitor center:

We saw a very quick video and looked at a few exhibits and then we were off to the volcano.

 

 

 

There was a guide who told us a little about it. No pictures of her, though.

 

I had read all about the sulfur-smell, but it didn't bother me very much. Of course, I teach in labs where we autoclave waste, so I'm used to things that smell bad.

 

In the past, people were allowed to walk on the volcano. Several years ago, one of the tour guides fell in this hole, and was burned pretty badly. The people on his tour helped to pull him out and he survived.

 

The tour isn't very long here, but it's interesting to see.

[lolavix]

I don't think I've ever seen one of these.

 

Another view.

 

These are in the area right near the volcano.

 

 

Taken for the bamboo, not the "no smoking" sign or DS2 checking out his feet. ;)

[perfect match]

What? Your job expects you to show up and work? Don't they know you have a cruise review to write? :D :eek:

 

Now, seriously, I am enjoying this journey! I will be here whenever you can get back. I know that writing such a comprehensive review is time consuming, and I appreciate all the time you are taking to share your cruise with us. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who feels this way. Thank you, Lolavix. :D

[lolavix]

Perfect Match--No kidding! Again, you are (all) very welcome. I enjoy writing the reviews anyway, so I'm glad there are others who enjoy reading them.

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I feel like we've been in St. Lucia forever! There is still more.

 

Let's continue.

 

We finished with the volcano, and we were off up the road to the mud bath. We got combined tickets with the volcano, and we paid $55 for all five of us for both items. This was a fun thing to do, and I'm glad we did it.

 

 

We headed down and left our clothes on a bench with a lot of others' items. Donny Boy took my camera, and it was nice since he got a bunch of photos of us.

 

First you went into a very warm/hot bath. It was a lot warmer than I would use for a regular bath.

 

You can see the kids wincing with the warmth of the water.

 

Time to get dirty!

 

You head over to the ledge and they bring out buckets of mud. We didn't have the very dark mud that you sometimes see, but it was still fun.

 

 

 

 

Not sure why DS2 has this expression. He is dirty from playing a lot of the time anyway.

 

[lolavix]

 

I just like this photo and how they're standing in the same pose.

 

 

Again, not sure with the expression of DS2, but the final mudding.

 

And one more that is a better view of everyone but me.

 

After you finish, there are outdoor showers where you can rinse off. We tried our best, and I will mention here that after a regular shower back on the ship, we were fine. This mud did not stain as some does.

 

We have one more stop before we needed to head back to the ship. We were doing fine for time, so I wasn't as concerned.

[lolavix]

Next stop was the waterfall. To be honest, I am not sure which waterfall we visited. The descriptions say that you can't swim in the Diamond Waterfalls, but we did.

 

 

So maybe this is Toraille Waterfall? I also didn't see any signs for the botanical gardens, which are near Diamond Waterfall...it could be that I completely missed them, but I'm thinking that this is Toraille? We paid $3 apiece to enter and finish rinsing off.

 

 

 

I don't have a ton of photos from this stop. We were only there for about 15-20 minutes. The water is cold, but very refreshing. There are places to change as well, although we didn't bring clothes to do so.

 

It was about 2 PM when we departed the Soufriere area. We felt like we had seen a good deal.

 

I think I mentioned that the ride up was fairly smooth. The ride back was a little bit rocky, at least for me. Since we weren't stopping at all, Donny Boy drove more quickly, and the roads are windy. Add to it that we had only eaten snacks and were a little queasy/light-headed anyway. None of us got sick, and DS1 even slept. We arrived back to the port only about an hour and 5 minutes after we departed the Waterfall, whereas it took 2 solid hours to get to Tet Paul.

 

I don't know if the blurriness is due to my hands, or the speed. ;)

 

 

We walked through the shops and did a little bit of shopping. Again, we don't buy much--a little barbecue sauce and a magnet were it, I think.

 

I liked this pier.

[lolavix]

We got back onboard and did our regular routine. DH took the boys to Waterworks, I showered quickly, and DD went to find her friends.

 

When I made it upstairs, I met DH in the pizza line. Close to dinner or not, we were hungry, and we each got pizza. The kids ate some as well.

 

I took some photos from the deck, since I hadn't yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trying out the panoramic:

[lolavix]

When I went to the Welcome Aboard Show, Felipe recognized passengers who were in the military as well as veterans. He mentioned that there would be a formal get together this day...at 4:45.

 

DH served in the Air Force during Desert Storm, so we figured we would go check it out.

 

 

 

There were probably about 40 people present. Felipe came and spoke and recognized each branch and had those in attendance who were in that branch stand up. Then the theme for that branch was played.

 

Air Force went last:

 

They had a couple of the performers from the entertainment group come and sing a song. Then it was time for a group photo.

 

They told us it would be available for purchase. We could never find it. DH even asked at Pixels. No matter, we have our own.

 

This was a nice gathering. However, DH had said that another way of doing this recognition might have included other passengers who weren't military (e.g. do this at dinner in the MDR, instead of waiters singing one night), and that they should not have asked us to purchase dog tags as a way of making a donation to former members of the military--not that he doesn't think that vets in need should be helped, but we never heard about this in the Fun Times or anywhere else. (In other words, why continue to hit up the families of people who have already served? Wouldn't anyone else care to do this?) Also, they had no snacks at all at this. I found it odd. Carnival hosts "Meet and Mingles" every week (although our cruise's was canceled). Why not give us a few things to nosh on while we're honoring the vets/active military?

 

The gathering lasted about 30 minutes. It was nice to do anything at all, since as far as I know, NCL didn't do anything for the military. But a few tweaks would make this recognition even better.

 

We headed back to the cabin to get ready for dinner. It was our second elegant night and we cracked open our second bottle of wine and headed off to the MDR.

 

Tonight we were alone at our table, so I have food pictures...

[lolavix]

I got the cream of broccoli:

and I also ordered the NutKracker, which was the winning drink at the mixologist contest on Tuesday. It had Bailey's and some other things and was pretty good.

 

DS1 ordered the chilled cream of bing cherry soup:

 

DH got the seafood platter:

 

DH and DD also got escargot, which I must not have photographed. Maybe in the excitement of it arriving, I forgot.

 

For dinner, three of us got the Chateaubriand, once we explained to DS1 that it was steak. It came with peas mixed with raisins.

 

 

And dessert:

 

 

Guess what, on the web...It was finally time for me to get the warm chocolate melting cake.

 

I will say that it was delicious! I have had it before (Top of the Hub in Boston, on NCL and I've made it myself). It didn't melt as much as some of the others, but it was very rich and chocolatey...and good! :)

[lolavix]

Everyone seemed to get different things:

 

Amaretto cake, ordered by DH. This was tempting, too, but I knew I needed to get the warm chocolate melting cake in at some point.

 

Cheesecake. I think DD ordered this.

 

Baked alaska. I forget which DS ordered this--maybe DS1?

 

And of course, Andrias gave us our nightly magic trick.

 

 

And of course, the nightly dance--Flo Rida's "Low".

We had a conversation with the girl in the white tank in the restroom at Caribelle Batik about cruises. Funny.

[lolavix]

 

Another good meal completed.

 

We had fallen into a routine...kids running off to kids' clubs, and DH and I finding some entertainment. Tonight was the Motor City show, and we really enjoyed the music.

 

Colorful costumes...

 

It was a nice way to spend 45 minutes or so.

 

We headed back to the cabin. There were no comedians tonight, so I figured it was a good time to do some laundry. People were still ironing, I think, but the washers weren't super busy (in that, I didn't have to wait to use them, although there was at least one other person using them). I only did one load, which definitely helped when we got home (although I still had a bunch of laundry to do, it made it easier).

 

Our friend for the evening:

 

I think I puttered around for a bit as DH played on his iPad. I went and retrieved the boys and quietly folded the laundry.

 

And we headed towards St. Kitts. Goodbye St. Lucia. Great island to visit, and wish we had more time to swim!

[perfect match]

I thought the mud bath looked like fun. However, I already know withoit even asking him that there is absolutely no way I would get DH to do it! :eek: He is just not a mud bath kind of guy!

[ontheweb]

So, you finally had the chocolate melting cake.

 

We ate at the buffet that night. DW would rather eat at the buffet. She likes to just make her own salad and have something small. (She actually manages to lose weight every cruise!) We had decided before the cruise that we would eat at the buffet whichever formal, er I mean elegant, night was not the one with lobster.

 

We also ate at the buffet the first night as it was just easier to do. I thought we would have a disagreement at some point as to where to eat. On the last night I was mulling my options if she really wanted the buffet. I could go to the dining room after eating with her and say I just wanted dessert. (I did not want to miss my last chance at chocolate melting cake.) Or I could go to the dining room without her and meet up later. (I actually did that one night on a cruise and ended up sitting next to someone who was a graduate of the same university as me one year after me.) But, the problem was solved as I saw the menu included eggplant zucchini parmesan as the vegetarian choice. DW does look forward to eggplant on cruises.

 

I'm not sure about your statement that our meet and mingle was cancelled. I don't think there was ever one scheduled. I believe you have to let them know you have 25 participants to have them schedule one. We never had close to that. We had your family, us, and Rencas, plus a few one post people.

[lolavix]

Perfect Match--The mud bath was great. It's not something we'd probably do again, but fun to do once.

 

On the Web--I eyed the vegetarian options some days, too. They never won, though. There are new "Meet and Mingles" that you can just go sign up for, which I did back in April or May. The thread for it is here, and it's a sticky at the top of the Carnival page. About two weeks before the cruise, I got an email which said it was cancelled. From what is said in the thread, it doesn't sound like they are that well organized right now anyway.

 

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Finally! A new island...

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We couldn't believe how quickly the cruise was zipping along. Two more islands to go, but we'd be home in two days as well. :p

[lolavix]

We had our regular breakfast in the buffet and gathered our things for the day.

Port Zante. I had seen so many photos of it prior to actually getting there, I felt like I had been here before.

 

 

We had booked a private tour through Thenford Grey. We walked through and met with our guide, Henry Williams. We found him easily and we were off.

 

 

 

Just some shots of the street and some of the shops.

 

 

I'm always amused when I see familiar things (e.g. KFC).

[mickev99]

I'm excited to hear about this day. I was between Thenford Grey and Royston Tours and decided on Royston, which I do not regret and would book again if I ever went back there. Interested to hear how it went with Thenford...they both had fantastic reviews. I think Royston may have been a little cheaper, maybe that's why we went with him, can't totally remember now.

 

We loved St Kitts!!

[ontheweb]

Lolavix, I had read that sticky thread, but I do not remember getting an e-mail saying that the meet and greet was cancelled. How would Carnival have our e-mail addresses based on our posting in cruisecritic?

 

We always looked at the vegetarian choice since we only chose between that and the fish.