We Be Cruising, Literally

December 3 – 10, 2017

When I last wrote I indicated we would be doing a first. Well that was taking a cruise. In all of our adventures a cruise is one thing we had not done. So the Sand T of SIT went on a seven night cruise leaving from Port Canaveral.

 That's a Big Ship

Leaving Port Canaveral

We were able to go with some friends, Frank and Linda, who have been on more cruises than I have fingers and toes so we felt good about tagging along with the pros.

We had three stops along the way and disembarked at each one. We visited St. Thomas where Steve and I had actually been before. We didn’t stay off the boat long although we managed to go back to a restaurant we had been to back in 2012. It was nice to see they were still around after the hurricanes.

St. Thomas Awaits

 Ahhh

Hanging Out

I Am Pretty

Tickles is Still in Business

Our second stop was San Juan Puerto Rico. Frank and Linda had not been there before so they enjoyed wandering around old town as much as we did. We went to the Fort which is part of the National Park Service. We enjoyed reading about why would they put something like this on the island and it was wanted by European nations. It just happened to be in the perfect location for ship travel. The Spanish built the fortifications on the island. They have done a great job preserving much of the wall that once surrounded the entire island.

 Linda and Frank

 The Cistern

 The View

 Hard Bunks

 Protection from Everything

 Watch Tower

 The City

You can see damage from hurricane Maria but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the locals. We wandered around as long as time permitted and would have enjoyed staying there much longer.

Watching Over

Damage Remains

 

Parks Nearby

Cobblestone

Ready for Christmas

Friends

Color and Class

Along the bay

The Pet of Choice

 Blended Fort

Part of the Wall

So Long San Juan

Leaving the island

 Gives you perspective

Our next stop was Labadee Haiti. The part of the island we spent the day on is owned by Royal Caribbean. They have done a nice job in creating a relaxing and fun place to spend a day at the beach. You can even go zip lining here but unfortunately the road was washed out so we didn’t get a chance to zip over the Atlantic!

 Beach Fun

Just Wandering

 Colorful

 The Island

 Native Dancers Perform

 Peaceful

Sunset as We Leave

It was amazing what the ship does have to offer. For newbies like us it was quite impressive. You think you are in a mall that has a lot of restaurants to pick from, a theatre for shows, casino, and of course several pools. Our time on the ship was spent mostly reading, wandering, and well what else eating!  We did get to a few of their shows which were great including Cats. Needless to say if you choose to be busy 24 hours a day you certainly can.

 Mashed Potatoes Anyone?

 Just one of the kitchens on the ship

 They Really Don't Drive this around

 Ginger Bread Houses Galore

One of the Pools

 
Theatre

Guess Who

 The Promenade

 Christmas

Central Park is Below

Who knows if we will do this again but it was a blast and now we can add a couple more places to our list of where we have been.

As always more to come from SIT!