Voyager of the Seas Review 12/9 - 12/16 (PART TWO)

[imatarb]

DAY FOUR - ST. THOMAS

 

After a ridiculous cattle call to 'present ourselves to Customs officials' we made it off the ship. I'm still not certain what the purpose was for the whole Customs silliness, but the lines moved, and we were out of there 20-25 minutes after we started lining up. If anyone knows the reason for this, please fill me in. I'm clueless. Did I miss the info in the Cruise Compass?

 

We didn't book a tour in St. Thomas, and I'm a bit saddened we didn't. The cab fare ate us alive. We did the St. Thomas Skyride first. Beautiful views, and at $18/adult (there are $2 off coupons on their website) and $9 per child, it was a great way to see the ship from above, not to mention other beautiful views of St. Thomas.

 

We took a taxi to the shopping district in downtown, and that was a steal at $4/person. We spent about an hour and a half in that crowded madness, and then we found a cab to take us to Sapphire Beach.

 

Price for that? $9/person ONE way. Yikes...there's $54 in cab fare just to get to the beach and back. It was painful, but Sapphire Beach was beautiful. Not much in the way of amenities, and the chairs were extra money at $7/chair. We just laid our towels on the sand and enjoyed the sunshine. We never did see a restaurant or bar. There was a gift shop, Barefoots, bathrooms and an area to rent snorkeling equipment and the like.

 

Spent a couple of hours here, and then we headed back to the ship.

 

DAY FIVE - SAN JUAN

 

We did the City Tour and Bacardi Factory Tour through RCCL, and there was a nice number of people, around 25-30 total. We saw the city highlights first and then it was off to Barcardi. Only spent about an hour or so at Bacardi, and I was slightly disappointed we didn't get to go into the actual plant and watch the production lines. We watched a movie, went through an area that had historical documents, old rums, etc. At the end of the tour, you were able to redeem your drink tickets for some cocktails.

 

NOTE: If you take this tour, sit in the back of the bus. Kino, our tour guide, gave us extra drink tickets, as Bacardi gave him extras. ;)

 

We also bought some wonderful local Puerto Rican whole bean coffee at a coffee shop right near the ship. I'm drinking it today, and the smell is truly intoxicating. Amazing how truly fresh and wonderful the coffee is. The store was Cafe Colao (787) 725-4139 In Old San Juan. Ask for Nora. She will choose the best blends for your liking.

 

DAY SIX - LABADEE, HAITI

 

I don't know....this is a weird place. It's just a glorified beach stop. Nothing more. The locals were very eager to please and friendly, but I'll admit, I found the little flea market a bit daunting. I was handling my own, and I almost even stopped at a few booths. I quickly changed my mind when I saw a local dig his finger DEEP into his nose, dig out a big one and proceed to wipe it on one of his wares.

 

No thanks.

 

My favorite part was the sign posted repeatedly along the beachfront.

 

DANGER

Be aware of constantly changing ocean currents and also the following forms of sea life: sharks, barracudas, sea lice, jellyfish, sea urchins and fire coral.

 

Okay....makes me want to jump right in! I had to have a picture of this sign, and once I post my pics, you'll get to see it, too!

 

I guess now I can say I've been to Haiti.

 

PART THREE - Day at Sea and Disembarkation

[KandMGIn]

Hi there. We are on in 9 days and so excited. Can I ask where on the website you found the $2.00 coupons? I printed some but they are for drinks and such, not skyride fare.