FLfamilyof 4
World Peace IS Possible
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2001
At 6am, the phone rang and Mickey Mouse said it was time to get up. I had awoken just a bit before the phone ringing, but didn't want to take any chances since we needed to be in Studio Sea at 7:40 am for our excursion round-up. I realized the ship was stopped. I went to the verandah for a look. Hallelujah! We had docked bow first so again, the port side of the ship had the scenic view. The blue water and fresh, ocean scented air make a great combination for curing the "I stayed up too late last night" syndrome. In fact, within 30 seconds, I was ready to go. I decided I better give everybody else another 30 minutes of sleep though. The bay at Charlotte Amalie is absolutely gorgeous. It is probably what most people envision when thinking of a Caribbean harbor. On the surface of the water, pretty sailboats are scattered about. On shore, buldings form a congregation of pastel colors which crowds the shoreline and sprinkles itself all about the mountainsides. Deep green foilage drapes the mountainsides. There are all ready some billowy white clouds above drifting in front of the sun occasionally. I am so delighted to have a verandah to take this all in.
Now time to wake up the family. Actually, it went better than I expected. Since we were going to be snorkeling very soon, I did not bother taking or giving DD & DS a shower
Don't tell, okay? We ate breakfast and gathered our stuff for our adventure. Lots of people were all ready in Studio Sea when we arrived at 7:40. It was FREEZING in there. Of course, we were wearing only bathing suits and coverups. The CMs collected our tickets and gave us towels. We waited for about 10-15 minutes before the group was lead down to deck 1 and off the ship. We walked a short distance to the end of the pier to board the Leylon Sneed. By now, DD, DS and NZ KIWI's DS were full of energy. The boat was very clean and open. Lots of seating outside around the large bow of this 115 ft boat . Also, there is a large wheelhouse with seats and windows. Below deck, is a big room where all the snorkel gear was neatly arranged so it could be picked up at the designated time. Did anyone else see the resident feline? The ride to St. John was awesome. So scenic to travel on water and watch the swirling, blue waves travel on to the beaches that line the island of St. Thomas. The crew described different points of interest as we went along. I suppose it took 30 minutes or so; I wasn't keeping time as I enjoyed the sites.
At this point, I want to share why we took the excursion instead of doing it on our own. Since we had children, we felt taking a taxi, a ferry and then another taxi on St. John would be more difficult than one boat ride. We could have saved $34 if we did it on our own, according to all the helpful info on the boards. However, we felt it better this way. Also, we knew we wanted to do a tour on St. Thomas. If we had gone to St. John on our own, we may have been tempted to stay as long as possible there. So to fufill the original plan of seeing both places, we opted for the excursion knowing we would be back in time. It is all just a matter of preference.
Trunk Bay is a virtual postcard. Many palms line the white, sandy beach. The water is turquoise blue and even absolutley clear in the very shallow area right along the beach. There are 3 ways to get off the boat: take a dingy to shore, climb down a ladder into the water or jump into the water off the back of the boat. We JUMPED! How fun. The boat anchors very close to a coral reef where we saw many species of colorful fish, various types of coral and sea urchins. The swim to the beach was not bad at all. Even DD & DS had no trouble. They swim quite a bit at home and have been snorkeling numerous times though. I did see many children who seemed to be enjoying themselves. The Sharman family from PA (who we met at the terminal), NZ KIWI and jbstein456 were also on this excursion. Usually, if anybody gets cold, it is me. The water was just fine. I never felt even chilled. The time does pass very quickly. We really enjoyed every moment though. Our time here was one of the ultimate highlights of our cruise.
Back at the ship, we quickly showered and ate lunch. Off we went again. We bargained at the pier for an open air taxi to take us, and only us, to Drake's Seat and Mountain Top for the views overlooking Magen's Bay, and to Udder Delight for milkshakes (Thanks Dave_from_Marietta for the tip!). It cost $60 for all of us. Our driver, Bernard, was wonderful. He even stopped at a few other places for us to take more pictures. It is so cool to see the Magic from way up on top of the island. Even DD & DS were impressed! We took tons of video and pictures as we went to all these places. BTW, if you go to Udder Delight, I recommend the Jacoco shake: chocolate, coconut and Kahlua! From one of the vantage points, Bernard showed us that you could see the eastern shore of Puerto Rico in the distance. We REALLY enjoyed our afternoon. We did not shop in Charlotte Amalie because it wasn't important to us.
Back at the ship, DD & DS were ready for Oceaneer's. No surprise there. As we left St. Thomas, I saw a rainbow over Paradise Point as a tiny rainshower drifted over us. Love that ship's horn! Then I went to the aft deck on deck 7 to video the final views of St. Thomas. DOOGIERUNNER & wife were soon there too! Californai MOM appeared on her verandah, which was adjacent to this area, and said hello. Nice to see all our DIS friends all around the ship. DH & I then lounged around for awhile until it was time to get ready for Palo's.We had ressies at 8pm with NZ KIWI and DH. Our server was Carita, from Finland. Very charming and great service. The food was fantastic. As with brunch, it was definitely a notch, or two, above the other dining rooms. Remember, I had no complaints there either. We took about 2 hours to eat. Of course, we ordered the chocolate souffle. Heaven in a dish I say! Carita brought out other desserts for us to share as well. Off to get the kids and go to sleep. Only 2 day left now and I was starting to feel a bit sad that this would all come to an end. We were having our best vacation ever!
Now time to wake up the family. Actually, it went better than I expected. Since we were going to be snorkeling very soon, I did not bother taking or giving DD & DS a shower
Don't tell, okay? We ate breakfast and gathered our stuff for our adventure. Lots of people were all ready in Studio Sea when we arrived at 7:40. It was FREEZING in there. Of course, we were wearing only bathing suits and coverups. The CMs collected our tickets and gave us towels. We waited for about 10-15 minutes before the group was lead down to deck 1 and off the ship. We walked a short distance to the end of the pier to board the Leylon Sneed. By now, DD, DS and NZ KIWI's DS were full of energy. The boat was very clean and open. Lots of seating outside around the large bow of this 115 ft boat . Also, there is a large wheelhouse with seats and windows. Below deck, is a big room where all the snorkel gear was neatly arranged so it could be picked up at the designated time. Did anyone else see the resident feline? The ride to St. John was awesome. So scenic to travel on water and watch the swirling, blue waves travel on to the beaches that line the island of St. Thomas. The crew described different points of interest as we went along. I suppose it took 30 minutes or so; I wasn't keeping time as I enjoyed the sites. At this point, I want to share why we took the excursion instead of doing it on our own. Since we had children, we felt taking a taxi, a ferry and then another taxi on St. John would be more difficult than one boat ride. We could have saved $34 if we did it on our own, according to all the helpful info on the boards. However, we felt it better this way. Also, we knew we wanted to do a tour on St. Thomas. If we had gone to St. John on our own, we may have been tempted to stay as long as possible there. So to fufill the original plan of seeing both places, we opted for the excursion knowing we would be back in time. It is all just a matter of preference.
Trunk Bay is a virtual postcard. Many palms line the white, sandy beach. The water is turquoise blue and even absolutley clear in the very shallow area right along the beach. There are 3 ways to get off the boat: take a dingy to shore, climb down a ladder into the water or jump into the water off the back of the boat. We JUMPED! How fun. The boat anchors very close to a coral reef where we saw many species of colorful fish, various types of coral and sea urchins. The swim to the beach was not bad at all. Even DD & DS had no trouble. They swim quite a bit at home and have been snorkeling numerous times though. I did see many children who seemed to be enjoying themselves. The Sharman family from PA (who we met at the terminal), NZ KIWI and jbstein456 were also on this excursion. Usually, if anybody gets cold, it is me. The water was just fine. I never felt even chilled. The time does pass very quickly. We really enjoyed every moment though. Our time here was one of the ultimate highlights of our cruise.
Back at the ship, we quickly showered and ate lunch. Off we went again. We bargained at the pier for an open air taxi to take us, and only us, to Drake's Seat and Mountain Top for the views overlooking Magen's Bay, and to Udder Delight for milkshakes (Thanks Dave_from_Marietta for the tip!). It cost $60 for all of us. Our driver, Bernard, was wonderful. He even stopped at a few other places for us to take more pictures. It is so cool to see the Magic from way up on top of the island. Even DD & DS were impressed! We took tons of video and pictures as we went to all these places. BTW, if you go to Udder Delight, I recommend the Jacoco shake: chocolate, coconut and Kahlua! From one of the vantage points, Bernard showed us that you could see the eastern shore of Puerto Rico in the distance. We REALLY enjoyed our afternoon. We did not shop in Charlotte Amalie because it wasn't important to us.
Back at the ship, DD & DS were ready for Oceaneer's. No surprise there. As we left St. Thomas, I saw a rainbow over Paradise Point as a tiny rainshower drifted over us. Love that ship's horn! Then I went to the aft deck on deck 7 to video the final views of St. Thomas. DOOGIERUNNER & wife were soon there too! Californai MOM appeared on her verandah, which was adjacent to this area, and said hello. Nice to see all our DIS friends all around the ship. DH & I then lounged around for awhile until it was time to get ready for Palo's.We had ressies at 8pm with NZ KIWI and DH. Our server was Carita, from Finland. Very charming and great service. The food was fantastic. As with brunch, it was definitely a notch, or two, above the other dining rooms. Remember, I had no complaints there either. We took about 2 hours to eat. Of course, we ordered the chocolate souffle. Heaven in a dish I say! Carita brought out other desserts for us to share as well. Off to get the kids and go to sleep. Only 2 day left now and I was starting to feel a bit sad that this would all come to an end. We were having our best vacation ever!
