It was our Destiny to enjoy the Sunshine. Journeys Cruise Review

[teacher34]

I love your review ! Thanks for taking the time to write this. I can’t wait to read the rest ! 

[tandemcruzr]

Really enjoying your review. We really enjoyed our trip to Aruba.

[NWACruiser]

After a short intermission sponsored by Sir Elton John (in Tulsa), I will be getting back to the review tomorrow.

[jimbri]

Great pictures!

[NWACruiser]

We woke up early enough to watch the Carnival Sunshine arrive at the third port of the cruise...  Curacao!

 

It seemed like the water was calm as we were heading in.   

 

Our first glimpse of Willemstad was the Queen Juliana Bridge.

 

 

The pilot boats were waiting for us.

 

As we drew closer, we could see more of the Dutch architecture.

 

The seas seemed to be rougher than we first thought.

 

 

After the Sunshine docked, we headed to breakfast and then down to the port to meet up with our expedition.  We were heading to Mambo Beach for a day of rest and relaxation.

 

Once we disembarked, we could see just how rough the water was.  

 

We met up with our tour.  We loaded onto a bus to head over to the beach.  The bus took us around the west side of Willemstad.  They pointed out some of the buildings along the way. We crossed over the Queen Juliana bridge on the way to the beach.

 

 

 

[NWACruiser]

We made it over to the beach.  After coordinating between ship time and local time, we had about 2 hours to relax at the beach before we had to return to the Sunshine.

 

We wandered around the beach to find a spot with a little shade.  We found it.  We just hoped the coconuts don't drop while we are under it.

 

The best part of a beach.

 

Or maybe this is...

 

There were a few rocks around.

 

 

 

 

The place was well set up with food, drinks, etc..

 

After a bit, we headed to the water...

 

 

It looked very refreshing.

 

But we suspected it would not be warm.

 

 

 

 

It was also cold...

 

 

 

 

But it was not as cold as Magens Bay.

 

 

 

 

We finally had enough of the cold water and headed back to our lounge to dry off and warm up.

 

 

Lunch sounded good, but we really did not have time to eat before the bus left.

 

 

 

Our beach break was over.

 

They took us back to downtown Willemstad to be dropped off, if you wanted, or back to the ship.  We opted to head to the ship.  A shower and lunch at Guy's Burgers sounded good. 

Edited February 13, 2019 by NWACruiser

[NWACruiser]

After lunch, we headed over to Willemstad to take a few photos and pick up some trinkets.  It was a short walk to get to the Queen Emma bridge.  Along the way we passed the Renaissance Resort and Casino, Rif Fort, and a few vendor areas before we made it to the Queen Emma bridge.

 

 

 

 

Rif Fort

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Queen Juliana Bridge from the Queen Emma Bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We heard a bell and we saw the Queen Emma bridge was about to swing to allow a boat passed.  We headed off the bridge, not knowing how it opened.  It only swung a little as the boat was small.

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, we headed back to the ship.

 

Our day in Curacao was coming to an end.

 

[NWACruiser]

After we departed from Curacao, it was dinner time.  We headed down to the MDR to enjoy another fine meal on the Sunshine.

 

While eating dinner, I noticed something in my wine glass.  I had to take a photo of it.  It was a reflection.

 

Dinner was excellent, as usual.  But we were in a little bit of a hurry.  We wanted to catch the Latin Nights show.

 

 

The show was excellent.  The back-lighting was really cool.

 

 

 

Bruce Marion from RB and the Sunshine Band played Carlos Santana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the show was over, she headed to the casino, and I headed to the Ocean plaza to watch RB and the Sunshine Band.  Afterwards I headed to the Lido deck to see what was going on.  A movie was playing.  It was too far into it to stay, so I found a quiet spot forward to relax before calling it a night.

 

 

Edited February 13, 2019 by NWACruiser

[NWACruiser]

On 2/3/2019 at 10:30 PM, BoDidly said:

 

Darn, That would be one comparison that would make your review interesting . Separating it from the normal reviews given here. . Any chance you have a friend with a scanner ???

 I do have a scanner now.  I am trying to figure out the best settings for scanning negatives.  At some point in this review I will do a comparison between the two "ships"

[BoDidly]

That's going to be interesting,  hanging in there till the end !👍

[NWACruiser]

The seas were calm and the skies were clear.   It was a beautiful day in the middle of the Caribbean Sea!  We were cruising at 19 knots on our way to Saint Maarten.  We would not arrive until tomorrow morning.   

 

Even though it was a sea day, we had a few things to get done.  We were approaching the halfway point of the cruise...  and the dirty laundry was piling up.  Today was wash day.  But there were other things to do besides wash day.

 

We went to the Sunrise dining room for breakfast.  I had the eggs over hard with bacon and toast.  Very good.  She had eggs benedict.

 

There was Bingo going on in the Liquid Lounge.

 

After breakfast, we wandered around the ship trying to find the proverbial coin.  My understanding was the coin on the Destiny class ships were located near the basketball court.  I walked around the basketball court, jogging track and everywhere else I could go to on the aft side of the ship.  I was not able to locate it.

 

The funnel deck on the Destiny was a lot different back then.  It was the pre-cursor to Serenity.  aka.  adults only.  Now it has the mini-golf course.

 

 

 

 

There is a shuffleboard area on the deck near the basketball court.

 

They also have the ropes course there.  I did not try it.  Maybe next time I will try it.

 

 

They made a three story Serenity area.  It was really nice.

 

 

 

The waterfall was great.

 

The hairy chest contest was going on.

Our table-mate was just sharking the contest.

 

 

 

Mikey was getting the party going, as usual.

 

Music was getting people into a dancing mood.

 

The pool was available for your use.

 

After the contest was over, the Blue Iguana was a popular place to hang out..

 

Unless you were a rum person...

 

 

We had Guy's burgers for lunch.

 

While I was taking the photos, Arie supplied my wife with a double tequila shot.  I had a mai-tai along with the burger.

 

Arie and Vicente were having a great time.

 

After lunch, we headed back to the cabin to gather our dirty laundry.  We finished the laundry before dinner.

 

While the wash was going, I went to the meet and greet with the Sunshine Production Show cast.

 

They were a fun bunch of people.

 

For dinner, we were going to the Ji-Ji Asian Kitchen.  We had pot stickers and spring rolls as an appetizer.  I had the peppered beef and she had the Singapore chili shrimp.  We had shrimp fried rice and broccoli as a side.  For dessert I had carmelized crepes and she had the creme brulee.   The dinner was absolutely delicious.    It was served family-style so we got to share.  

 

After dinner, I headed to the Ocean Plaza for a bit to watch the band play.  She went to the casino for a bit.  Later we went to the late-night comedy show.  The first guy was funny.  The second one was not that funny.

 

It was time to head to bed since tomorrow was St. Marten!

[NWACruiser]

Today we were going to stop in St. Maarten.  We also had no excursions planned. The excursions that were available did not really cover what I wanted to see:

• Orient Beach
• Grand Case
• Marigot
• Maho Beach
• Hurricane damage

We also planned to watch the Chiefs finally make the Super Bowl after 49 seasons since last going to (and winning) it.  It has been a long time of suffering the Super Bowl Blues.  Was this year going to break the curse?  

 

I got up in time to watch the Carnival Sunshine enter Philipsburg.

The Grandeur of the Seas beat us to the port.

 

 

 

 

 

After a quick breakfast on the Lido deck, we headed into the port to find an adventure.  

 

 

She stopped into a shop to pick up a trinket and I took a few photos.

 

 

 

We got a water taxi to the town and went our merry way.

 

We made it to town.

 

 

The beaches looked nice.

 

We walked into town to figure out what to do.  I found her talking to someone.  She found a lady cab driver who would take us on a tour.   After discussing things, we had today's plans made.

 

Candy Girl was now our ambassador to St. Maarten/St. Martin.  We were going to be pleasantly surprised.

 

Candy took us back to the ship so we can get a few things gathered up since we were not prepared for the tour.  She waited for us to get everything together and meet her for the trip.

 

She grew up in Jamaica.  She has lived in St. Maarten for many years and is now a citizen.  She had a lot of stories about the good and bad sides of an island with two independent governments, the hurricane, and the crime that takes place there.

 

 

She also gave us an extensive tour of the island.  We headed out to Orient Bay.  She discussed where to stay in Orient Bay when we come back.  

 

We had about a half hour or so to spend in Orient Beach.  We were dropped off on the "more inhibited" side of the beach...

 

Orient Beach

I had to go into the water... and yes it was cold!

 

 

The dog wanted anyone to play with him and his tennis ball.

 

 

 

We did notice a few ladies topless on the beach.  I will not show them.  

 

 

 

Yes the water was cold!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We headed back to our taxi to head out to the next part of the tour.

[NWACruiser]

Eve though Orient Beach was devastated by the hurricane, we still thought it was a great place.  I can't imagine what it was like before.

 

One of the issues with two independent governments on a small island is car theft.  Police are not allowed to cross the borders in a chase.  The car thieves know this and steal cars on one side of the island and cross the border to the other side to get away.  Therefore the biggest crime is car theft.  

 

Infrastructure is better on the Dutch side than the French side.  This allowed the Dutch side to recover faster than the French side.

 

Grande Case

We made it to Grande Case.  She took us down the main road, which is a narrow one-way road.  It does boast to have the greatest density of restaurants of any Caribbean island.  Grande Case still has a lot of damage from Irma.  Many restaurants have not come back yet.  

The main drag is a narrow one-way road.  

 

 

It does have a nice quiet beach.

 

 

Anguilla is not too far away.

 

 

Creole Rock

 

 

We were a little disappointed that it was Sunday, and for the most part, St. Martin was closed down.  The stores are closed on Sundays, even when cruise ships are in port.  

 

Marigot

 

Marigot is the capital of the French side.  It is a really beautiful place.  The terrain is hilly, to say the least.

 

 

You can see arriving aircraft from the hill.

 

Fort St. Louis overlooks the bay.

 

This one was a little shy.

 

 

This one was not shy at all.

 

Rare time I am not behind the camera.

 

 

Fort St. Louis

 

 

 

Candy Girl

 

Our tour was not quite over yet.  We still had a spot or two left...

 

[NWACruiser]

Back to the Dutch Side

We headed back to the Dutch side of the island.  

 

As we approached Juliana Airport, we passed by a marina where there were numerous boats destroyed by the hurricane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Maarten's favorite rum.

 

Maho Bay

 

This is the famous beach also known as Airplane Beach.  There was a crowd of people there awaiting the arrivals and takeoffs of the jumbo jets.  

 

Candy parked her cab to allow us to spend whatever time we needed to enjoy the beach.  She got us a table at the Sunset Bar and Grill and a schedule of arrivals and departures.  

 

 

There was little room on the beach.

 

 

They were watching the sky to see when the next arrival was coming.

 

 

Some people even posed for photographers

 

Some came by boat.

 

Some were there for the snorkeling

 

 

They were all waiting for this

 

 

 

The real reason some were there was to survive this.

The jumbo blast.

 

 

 

 

We had a great lunch and pina coladas while watching the arrivals and departures.  When we were ready to head back to the ship, we found Candy.  

 

She was a great tour guide and ambassador.  When we return we will look her up to manage our transportation around the island.   She drove us back through Philipsburg and to the Carnival Sunshine.  

 

The Costa Pacifica arrived while we are out on our tour.

 

The day was not over, but we needed to shower and get ready for dinner.  After we showered, we went to Serenity to watch the Saints-Rams game.  

The Sunshine was not the only ship showing the games.

 

The Saints had the lead for awhile.

 

 

 

 

The sun was getting ready to set.

 

The Costa Pacifica was about to set sail.

 

 

We headed to dinner.  While at dinner we got the score for the Saints-Rams game.  We finished in time to watch the Chiefs finally punch their ticket to the Super Bowl...

 

The ship was divided between Blue Iguana Patriots fans and Red Frog Chiefs fans.

 

Well the Chiefs finally broke their curse... and were headiing to the Super Bowl...  except Dee Ford was offsides, and the Patriots had life...  And the curse continues...

 

Congratulations to the Patriots for their win.  I was an unhappy camper for my team.  Both teams played their butts off...  

 

Maybe year 50 will finally break the curse!

 

I had to drown my tears somehow, so I headed down to the Ocean Plaza for a while to listen to music... before heading off to bed to get ready for the next adventure of the cruise.

 

 

 

[NWACruiser]

St. Kitts

It was a gloomy day arriving in St. Kitts.   We had an early excursion on a catamaran snorkeling and beach day.  She was not feeling well, so I had to go alone.  

 

I made it to the excursion in plenty of time.  We boarded the cat and got ready to have a fun day.  

 

The Viking Sea was also in port.

 

 

It did not seem to be a nice day at all.  But we were going to make the best of it.

 

 

The crew was getting everyone ready for the snorkeling part.

 

We approached the area we were going to snorkel at.

 

It seemed to becoming a nicer day after all.

 

It even cleared up back in town.

 

 

The snorkelers got into the water...

 

Some people got a little help...

 

 

 

 

We had some observers on the shore.

 

 

 

The bar was about to open.

 

Lunch was also about to be served.

 

We set sail for Nevis, and it looked stormy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The beer was cold and the rum punch was strong.

 

We made it to Nevis and it was sprinkling on us.  But we got off anyhow.

 

 

 

I think a dog is a chick-magnet.

 

 

The only way to get into the cold water.

 

Have a cold one in the cold water.

 

 

Double-fisted drinker.

 

 

 

It was a social outing.

 

We loaded back onto the cat to head back to the port.  The rum punch was flowing and the party started.

 

 

 

 

 

After we got back to the port, and tried to walk a pier that kept moving back and forth (at least that is my excuse) I arrived at the cabin.  She was feeling better and wanted to go to the port.  So I took a shower and changed.  We did a little shopping in port, but it was raining and we did not stay too long.

 

Back at the cabin, I took a nap before dinner.  It was going to be a busy evening...

 

[NWACruiser]

VIP Show  A Tradition to Continue

 

I woke up in time to go to dinner.  We were going to have a busy evening, and the rum punch was wearing off...  That was a good thing.

 

The VIP Show is the one show that guests are participants.  I started to perform on our Alaska cruise, and I must continue it.  

 

Dinner was very good, and the water tasted great.  Then i had to get to the show to sign up.  They have several things to participate in.  I try to get in "The Hustle".

 

The show starts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I am on stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magic Mike Moment!

 

 

YMCA Time

 

 

 

 

The finale begins.

 

 

 

 

After the show was over, we headed to the casino to unwind a bit.

 

Now I had terrible luck at the casino the last time.  It refused to take my money...  In fact, it doubled what I was playing...  Tonight my luck was back.  I lost my winnings quickly, and what I had started with...

 

We had an early port time in San Juan and retired to the cabin for the night.

Edited February 17, 2019 by NWACruiser

[schazzy]

13 hours ago, NWACruiser said:

Now I had terrible luck at the casino the last time.  It refused to take my money...  In fact, it doubled what I was playing...  Tonight my luck was back.  I lost my winnings quickly, and what I had started with...

 

Ahhh, so I see what you meant earlier, our luck is the same 

 

Thank you for the reviews of St Maarten/Martin and St Kitts, those are the two ports on our upcoming cruise I've been the most curious about. We have plans for St Kitts, already have a independent trip to Reggae Beach booked, but no plans for St Maarten/Martin yet, hopefully we can find a tour like you did, do you remember how much it cost? 

[mar214]

I was thinking the same thing! I would even book this same St Maarten taxi driver! Do you happen to have contact info for her?

[NWACruiser]

6 hours ago, schazzy said:

Thank you for the reviews of St Maarten/Martin and St Kitts, those are the two ports on our upcoming cruise I've been the most curious about. We have plans for St Kitts, already have a independent trip to Reggae Beach booked, but no plans for St Maarten/Martin yet, hopefully we can find a tour like you did, do you remember how much it cost? 

 

Candy Girl Taxi 395 1(721)523-7733 / 581-1466

email: m.craig@live.ca

 

We negotiated with her to $80 total.  She can carry up to six in her cab.

[schazzy]

11 minutes ago, NWACruiser said:

We negotiated with her to $80 total.  She can carry up to six in her cab.

 That's not bad at all, same price as our St Kitts tour/beach trip.

[mvaughn11]

Thank you for your trip review and all the fabulous pictures.

[NWACruiser]

4 hours ago, mvaughn11 said:

Thank you for your trip review and all the fabulous pictures.

 

More to come.

[NWACruiser]

San Juan, Puerto Rico

We arrived in San Juan early in the morning and we were docked before I could get photos of us coming into the bay.  We had no plans for the day other than having some Puerto Rican food for lunch.  

 

 

The last time we were here, we did a tour, of San Juan that included lunch... at Burger King.  We were not going to trust any tour this time.  It was breakfast on the Lido deck before the long walk from the ship to the port.  

 

 

 

We did some walking around Old San Juan and the pier.  The city has mostly recovered from the hurricane, with a few exceptions.  It felt good to be back there.  

 

 

 

While shopping, I had to go back to the ship for something. On the way out, an ambulance pulled up to take a someone to the hospital.  I hope they were OK.  It just reminded me not to worry about the little things.  

 

 

 

We did some shopping in town.  While talking to a shop owner, we asked where is a good place for food.  He recommended Punto de Vista Rooftop Restaurant.  

 

The view from the rooftop

 

It was close to the port.

 

Interesting mural.

 

We had a pina colada each and split carne fritas and a side of arroz y habichuelas.  We had plenty to eat. The food was very good.  The drinks were good.  The view was interesting.  After lunch we walked around Old San Juan before heading back to the ship.

 

I took a few photos from the ship of San Juan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a nice and relaxing day in San Juan.  The ship was leaving earlier than normal for most ports due to the travel time to Amber Cove.  Everyone was back on board by 2:30 and we were ready to set sail at 3:00.  We had a busy night ahead before an early port time at Amber Cove.

 

 

 

[NWACruiser]

The Carnival Sunshine was on its way to Amber Cove!  We went to the forward deck under the Bridge to watch us depart.  The last time we left San Juan it was night.  This time we could see everything in daylight.  It is a beautiful port.

 

Castillo de San Cristobal  in the background

 

 

 

Carnival Glory was in port also.

 

Isla Grande Airport

 

 

 

Adventure of the Seas was also in port.

 

Working our way out.

 

Ferry terminal in Old San Juan

 

Coming around to Castillo San Felipe de Morro.

 

La Fortaleza

 

 

Bacardi Rum Factory

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bye Bye San Juan...  See you next time.

 

Yes it was another beautiful day in port.  But the Atlantic was not very smooth, and we could feel the ship rocking as we headed to Amber Cove.  We headed to the MDR for dinner. When we were about two and a half hours out of San Juan, the ship listed to the port side enough to move the wine bottle across the dinner table.  Then the ship really started to rock.  It was obvious something was going on and the seas were rough.  

 

The captain made an announcement that we were heading back to San Juan due to a medical emergency.  We were cruising at 23 - 24 knots on the way back.  The medivac team met the ship outside of the port to pick up the passenger.  We heard later the passenger was in stable condition.  But we were now five hours behind schedule.  The rest of the night the ship was heading at least 23 knots on the way to Amber Cove.  The captain made the right decision to turn the ship around.  

 

They also made an announcement we would arrive late in Amber Cove (not a surprise) and we will depart later so no excursions were going to be affected.  Tonight would be a night to close the ship down as we would not have to get up early tomorrow.

[mvaughn11]

Wonderful review! What kind of camera were you using?