So when I last wrote (a couple of days ago) I was recounting my trip through the Caribbean. I had left off on the island of St. Thomas,in the US Virgin Islands. We had taken a shore excursion that ran us over to some of the highlights on the island. We went to Blackbeard's Castle which snaked and wound it's way down the hills from the top of the island right down into the main shopping area on St. Thomas. If you are a fan of jewelry and high fashion, this place will be right up your alley. I am not a big purchaser or Coach bags and Rolex watches, so we continued on down through the art shops and knick-knack stores and eventually found a surf shop. We picked up a couple of t-shirts, spent the afternoon taking in some more of the sights, said "no" to the 400 times we were asked if we needed a taxi and eventually made our way back to the ship.
The next day (Thursday) was another "sea day". The weather wasn't so great so we took it easy, visited with our friends and went wine tasting in the Pinnacle Grill. I think I forgot to mention that we had dinner in the Pinnacle a couple of nights previous - The Pinnacle is a fantastic restaurant on the ship that requires a reservation and a small extra charge. The Ship already has excellent food, but the Pinnacle takes to the next level. It reminded me of a very high end steak restaurant - and the Fillet was superb. I highly recommend the Pinnacle Cut fillet, with a couple of side dishes and the Molten Chocolate Cake to finish up.
Thursday night was a big show entitled "Stage and Screen" and the cast members did a fabulous job! Afterwords was a comedy show and then some late night schmoozing with friends and Dj Sparky again in the Northern Lights club. This night our new friends we had met on the ship -Amy and Joel and Geoff and Erika- came out with us and had a great time. Friday morning came a little soon for some of them but luckily it was just the private island of the cruise line.
We went ashore on Friday the Half Moon Cay and laid in the sun, did some Jet-skiing (in the open ocean mind you - it was wicked!) and then came back to a huge on-island Bar-b-Que lunch. We visited with friends the rest of the afternoon...everyone knew that the trip was quickly coming to and end. 3:30 came and the "All-Aboard" blew and it was time to head back to the ship.
The wife was tired and took a nap so I spend the rest of the afternoon wandering around the ship taking most of the "stock" photos you see on the Flickr page. It was nice because the vast majority of the guests were either packing or resting for one last night of fun!
Dinner was excellent (as usual) and we said our good-byes to friends we had met and to the wonderful crew that had helped us all week. It was sad to have to good-bye because we had such a great time...but we had made some great friends and we hope to hear from them soon. We had seen an old friend and we will miss her, but she'll come home to visit in a few months.
Lots of people had told me that cruising, especially on a Holland America ship was meant for old folks, but if you're young at heart, you trip is what you make of it. The service, cast and crew were second to none and the only thing I found wrong with the trip was our fault...we only booked a 7 day trip. I guess that means it's time to start saving for that 10 day cruise next!
Take care and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Next up, a special Christmas edition of the Adventures of Captain Gale-
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