Princess Caribbean Cruise
Drift
Through the Night and Wake Up in a Different Port
Here we go again . . . We loved the cruise through the Mediterranean so much that we're heading out to sea from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on another Princess Cruise ship. These ships are enormous
. . . floating cities.
This time, we reserved a balcony room and opted for a two week cruise on the Princess Caribbean (although the 7 Night E. Caribbean Cruise is far more popular) in part because of Family Cruise Rates
We hate being closed in and when sailing; it is a pleasure to be able to lounge on your own private deck to view passing ports. Our vow in 2008 was that in the future, "all cruises will be with a balcony to enable us to escape air conditioning, which is really cooled, recycled, stale air . . . not to mention enjoying sunrises and sunsets from our private deck such as this on our way into Aruba.
Note: Links below are to the history of each port from The Maritime Heritage Project.
Oct-Nov |
Cities
(Click on Links to read Port History at The Martime Heritage Project ) |
| Oct 25 | Ft. Lauderdale Riverboat Cruise: Perfect if you have a few hours layover. We jumped on this at the last minute and thoroughly enjoyed it. Glide by AMAZING yachts "parked" outside of mansions. |
| 28 | Aruba Sightseeing Aruba Maritime History and Our Princess Cruise |
| 29 | Curacao, Antilles Maritime History (Iimage above is of Curacao's noted floating bridge which opens via steam engine to allow ships through) Fodor's Turks & Caicos Islands Tours in Curacao |
Cruise ships such as the Caribbean Princess are so large that they often dwarf port cities around the world, especially in smaller port towns such as those in the Greek Isles and all around the Caribbean.
Hurricane Richard decided to visit Haiti, so while we saw beautiful lighting flashes while flying across, we didn't meet him. Our captain informed us today that we will "follow" Thomas, who is brewing now. He changed course this afternoon. Good plan.
Thomas, like Richard, is a Class 1, so isn't anything like those Class 3s and 4s that take out Gulf states. Spent the day in Curacao and in the caves up in the hills. Beautiful town. 50 nationalities call this home. Really lovely. A highlight of Curacao is the Maritime Museum, which is a short walk from the piers. It is a two story building and the exhibit is laid out to allow visitors to walk through time starting with Curacao's early days. The Museum also has a bright open dining room which is open to the public (a picture of the dining room is included in the following slide show).
Fodor's Aruba, Bonaire & Curacao
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Bright buildings -- funny story behind the bright buildings. During the 1800s, a Governor said the "white buildings give me a headache," and suggested painting them bright colors. Everyone did: yellow, pink, turquoise . . . The Governor owned the paint factory.
Have met a couple of presenters on this ship and am positive that I could give an acceptable/accepted slide presentation, so as soon as I'm back, I'll prepare four one-hour slide shows of the history of the Caribbean, where to go, what to do and begin travelling free. The presentations have been good so this will be fun and travelling FREE is SUCH a good idea, don't you think.
| 31 | Grenada Maritime History |
| Nov 1 | Barbados: Maritime History
Barbados Sightseeing |
| 2 | St. Vincent, St. Vincent/Grenadines Maritime History |
Still following Hurricane Thomas around the Caribbean on the Caribbean Princess. . . Our ship captain is great. At least one other ship of the line has missed two port stops. Our captain gauges our docking to follow the storm, which was last seen heading for Haiti.
Yesterday we were in St. Vincent's; Hurricane Thomas that hit the prior day. They lost about 300 roofs, but in these islands that means the tin roof blew off, it's on the roadway in front of the house, or in a side yard, so they can generally put it back on. No one hurt. Quite a loss of crops, which is not good as this island depends on crops and tourists. The locals live in sublime beauty and don't know it 'cause they generally never travel. Looks a like like Sausalito, but far more beautiful . . . and with warm turquoise water.
I made it a point all day to let our guides and shopowners know they live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. While the economy is dreadful, their medical and schooling is paid for, food must be plentiful also, and people look fine. Minimal shopping, which was SPLENDID -- Aruba is not much more than lots of jewelry shops and it's too flat for my preferences.
| 3 | Antigua, Antigua Maritime History |
| 4 | St. Thomas, Virgin Islands |
| 5 | At sea: Missed Santo Dominto and Grand Turk because of Hurricane Thomas (St. Thomas Maritime History) |
| 6 |
Puerto Rico Sightseeing
Puerto Rico Maritime History |
Our cruise on the Caribbean Princess was rerouted yesterday; we will miss St. Thomas and Grand Turk as Hurricane Tomas is scheduled to hit Grand Turk the same time we were and the port is closed. Spent the day in Puerto Rico. Interesting. Seems that towns under the U.S. flag are cared for way beyond anything under British, French or Spanish flags.
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| 8 | Fort Lauderdale Maritime History |
7am |
Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude