January 25, 2015 – St. Thomas

We wake up to the thrusters pushing us into port.  We are here early (7 am) and we are docked at Crown Bay.  Now I know many say they don’t like this pier but like I always say look at the positives.  

This is our favorite pier over Havensight, it is quieter, and it is so much closer to the Marina that you can go to and take the Water Taxi over to Water Island.  Which we have done many many times (click on the label on the right for St. Thomas to find those blog posts) and I can highly recommend for a quieter relaxing experience. 

But today we are doing something different.  We love to travel and it is exciting for us to be back in the Caribbean, and we have been to St. Thomas around 20 times but there are times that we need to try something new.  Many of our friends often go to Emerald Beach Club at Lindenberg Beach so Paul and Yvonne meet up with us at Horizon Court this morning and we enjoy a nice meal and I am able to finally get my blog posts up very easily.

This is the first time I have had breakfast up here and again I really LOVE this Horizon Court.  So much better laid out and easy to access and quite easy to find a seat too.  The staff are so attentive and my latte is deliver so fast too cause this ship has an espresso machine right where the pastry shop is – so everyone is safe I have had my caffeine fix.  

We gather up all our beach items, lather on the sunscreen and today I am bringing a t shirt too to keep on to keep my back and chest out of the sun.  We are off the ship really early and we make our way thru the shops to the taxi stand where we quickly get a taxi to Emerald Beach for $4 per person.  The ride is maybe five minutes ( I know some walk it and it could be done but take note there are no sidewalks and there is a good hill to climb too ).

There is a hotel here and they rent out chairs and palapas – we take two lounge chairs under a tree for $7 each chair.  I believe I overhead the guy say that the two chairs under the palapa is $20 total.  The hotel has a nice restaurant and offers free wifi too.  The washrooms are close by and are clean and there are some showers too so you can rinse off.
We spend the next few hours relaxing, swimming, floating in my float in the water meeting new people, walking the entire beach and have a great time.  

my underwater selfie

Bernie went snorkeling and when he comes back he is raving about what he has seen (he even saw an octopus).  So Yvonne and I agree to go with him to check it out.  What is nice is the snorkel experience here is much easier than yesterday’s.  The rocks on the left are a great habitat for many species of fish.  We see a lot and I can’t wait to post the pictures when I get home.  Check out the video of the cuttle fish below.

We dry off and then decide to head back to the ship.  There are numerous taxis waiting at the hotel and we head back to the ship around 3 pm.  

We decide to head to Alfredos for pizza and Bernie gets his Blue Moon beer and I order the white Sangria to share with Yvonne but who am I kidding I drink most of it.  I order the Vegetarian and gee I am going to have trouble cause this is my third pizza I have tried and I like, sorry no I love  all of them.  If you haven’t tried Alfredos make sure you try it out the next time you are on board.  Not all the ships have it, and I know the Grand that has it has a slightly smaller menu but it is still very good.  The staff are very good too.

Back to the cabin to shower and rinse everything off and we watch a bit of tv but we are both having a hard time staying awake.  We crawl under the covers and a combination of such a comfy bed and a full day in the sun we fall asleep.  I do wake to hear the Captain announce our departure.  

I have to add that the medical staff on board any Princess ship are well trained and professional.  They can handle almost any emergency and really you will get faster medical attention on board than you would on land.  So way to go Medical Staff!

I wake up and I am confused, what day is it?  What time is it?  Oh my we have slept for two hours!  We feel bad cause it is 6:45 and we had told Paul and Yvonne that we would try and make it to the Elite Lounge tonight and it closes soon so doubt it.  

We dress and we wander around a bit and this long nap has thrown us, we certainly are not hungry and we forgot the Patter in the cabin so we are trying to figure out where to go.

Geoff of the Cruise Staff is hosting a Flags and Geography Trivia.  We join another couple – who happen to be from the Lower Mainland of Vancouver and we actually do quite respectfully but don’t win but I can say I learned something.

We wander out to the Atrium and Crooners and chat with a lovely couple Bob and Chris from Kitchener Ontario, again small world that is where I was born.  They tell us about their lives, kids, grandkids and their winters in Florida. 

Such a sweet couple, in fact we ended up talking with them for 45 minutes and when you think we only asked to see their Patter.  See it really is the journey not the destination and the people  you meet along that journey.

We had every intention of heading to the comedian Steve Caouette in the Princess Theater but we are late for his show now.  Everyone is raving about him and then when people tell us about his show we realize we just saw him on the Grand in November and yes he is very very funny and worth seeing.  

As we walk past the seafood bar we see Tim and Rebecca and again we stop and chat for awhile…. Hmm this is beginning to be a trend and of course when you have already been on board for a week you can’t walk to far before running into someone.  

So now we have really missed the comedian, and the Atrium is starting to get busy for the second show of the Royal Princess International Music Event and I really want to see it so we find a spot along the railing on deck 7 (trust me you don’t want to be sitting way back in Crooners or Vines you need to see it).  It is a musical extravaganza featuring all the vocalist, musicians and the singers and dancers as they took us around the world with music and dance.  We see Lynne on her own and call her over to the railing and well none of us can stop ourselves from tapping our feet, swaying those hips and singing along.  A total WOW performance and one I need to catch on the next sailing too.

Okay it is now 10 pm and we are starting to get a little hungry so we head up to the Horizon Court for a few items and everything we had was good, everything was hot!  Now I know people call this a buffet but it is not like a cafeteria it is like a very nice buffet you would get at a very nice hotel.  On other ships we have come across items that were so so, or didn’t like at all or were not cooked right or cold but so far we have not encountered this at all.  I swear I can not tell a lie this is true and I would tell you.  But if you do find something on board in the dining room, Alfredos, Room Service, the buffet and it isn’t right just ask for something different and they will try and accommodate you.  One night Bernie’s steak was not cooked the way he liked it and our waiter whisked it away and he was brought a new one very quickly and done right.

As we wander along the Promenade we see Trevor is playing the steel pan in the Wheelhouse and Tim and Rebecca ask us to join them for a drink so we catch up with them.  

Rebecca lived in Vancouver and she shares her stories of growing up there, and how they met.  Such a lovely couple.  
Trevor joins us as his set and I promise him I will be at the next steel pan class tomorrow.

Tonight we have to go see Kory Simon perform in Crooners so we head there at around 11:40 for the last few songs of his set.  After his show we chat a bit and find out he is getting off February 7th to head on vacation.  Not sure who will be replacing him but they will have big shoes to fill.

Back in the cabin at just before 1 am, we better set the clock Bernie says.  WHAT!  But he is right we have to be somewhere at 10 am tomorrow and at the rate we are going we are bound to sleep thru it if we don’t.  Boy in the week we have been on vacation we have certainly gotten use to the not getting up at 3 am for work.

Tonight’s Entertainment other than what I mentioned above is:  MUTS Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, NHL All Star Game on the TV (wow hockey), Pianist Nadia in Wheelhouse, LGBT get together, Poker night in the casino, NFL 2015 Probowl on MUTS and in the Vista Lounge, Motown Music Hour with DJ Shea in Club 6.
Oh and they have apparently fixed the door on deck 7 aft to the open deck.  I didn’t say anything to anyone other than in my blog, but I truly appreciate it.

Also I am excited to see that I have had over 10,000 hits on my blog since we left on this trip.  Thank you everyone for the lovely comments and posts on the Facebook Fan Page I am glad you are enjoying it.  If you have any comments or questions feel free to post them on either site.