Sunday, January 29 - San Juan to Minneapolis

When I was booking flights for this cruise I had two goals…find the best price…and find direct flights. Cheap fares proved to be nonexistent…we paid far more for our air than we did the cruise. But…by booking two different airlines…Delta going down and Sun Country coming home…I was able to get direct flights.

Our flight home on Sunday was scheduled to leave San Juan at 4:00 pm. I considered trying to find some sort of tour in San Juan for the morning after we debarked but wasn’t thrilled with the two choices offered by Carnival…1)City tour & Bacardi Distillery; and 2) City tour. There was also a Rainforest Drive that might have been interesting but it was only recommended for those whose flights were after 4:30 pm. 

We…and our friends…were assigned to zone 31 for debarkation so I knew we could hang around the ship for awhile in the morning before heading to the airport. Little did I know just how long this would end up being…

On our last cruise we learned that having breakfast in the main dining room on the last day was so much nicer than fighting the crowds at the buffet…so that is what we did. We timed it so we got to the dining room around 8:15, shortly before it closed. 

Self-assist debarkation started pretty early and then slowly they started announcing the zones…one at a time. We finished our breakfast and headed up to wait by the aft pool. It was a beautiful day and we were trying to soak up as much sun as possible before we headed back to the frozen north. 

Nancy had brought a dice game that was fun, but didn’t take much brains or concentration and we sat around a table playing to pass the time. 

Bob even gave Jim a juggling lesson using the dice! 

There were very long gaps between numbers being called and we waited…and waited…and waited. Finally it was getting close to noon when zone 31 was announced.

Getting off the ship was not too painful and we found our luggage waiting for us. There was a line to get through customs that took some time…and I was starting to appreciate the fact that our flight was late in the afternoon. Jim & Kim and Lowell & Nancy, however, had a 1:30 flight.

They had booked Carnival transfers so once outside they got on a large bus headed to the airport. When we talked the next day Kim said they almost missed their flight because they had to wait for the bus to fill up before leaving for the airport. 

It was a little confusing as we came out of the terminal and when a guy asked where we were going I just assumed he was in charge of coordinating the taxis. Instead he directed us towards a shuttle. I asked the price and was told $10 per person. Knowing that a cab would be about the same price we just got on. There seemed to be a little competition for passengers between the various means of transportation and it took about 15 minutes before the guy had the shuttle full and was on the way to the airport. One family was going to a hotel so we made a stop to let them off before heading on our way.

As we walked into the airport, I knew to look for the agriculture check point. It was right by the door, but I imagine that others walk right by not realizing what it is. They sent our bags through the scanner and then put stickers on the luggage showing that it had been checked. They don’t do a good job of putting the stickers on however and had I not “fixed them” they probably would have fallen off.

We were looking around trying to find where we should check in for our Sun Country flight and saw a line with at least 100 people in it! The line snaked around a corner and we finally found the end and joined the others. No one was working at the counter and the people said they had already been there for an hour waiting. 

Since the scale was not being used, Bob grabbed my suitcase and weighed it…53 pounds. We shuffled a few things around between our luggage and got it down under the 50 pound limit. No one was for sure about the reason for the delay so we just stood there.

I called my son back home and told him to see if he could call or go online to find out what was going on…and then figured I might as well just call Sun Country myself. (At this point I was really glad that Sprint does not charge roaming fees in Puerto Rico!) The recording said that the flight was going to be delayed until 7 p.m. Ughhh.

As word spread through the line about the delay, some people left. I heard them making plans to get a taxi and go out to dinner and come back later. We waited for over an hour and finally the check in started. It turns out that the plane we were to get on was still in Minneapolis and had been hit by a de-icing truck. The damaged wing had to be repaired before it could fly down to San Juan.

Sun Country was giving out $15 food vouchers for McDonalds which was located right around the corner. We weren’t hungry…yet…but once we went through security we couldn’t get back to McDonald’s to use the vouchers. 

Instead we found a quiet courtyard and spent an hour or so waiting outside. I was tired and wanted to get home…but yet how could we complain when we were sitting under a palm tree in January!!

Anyway we eventually did get some dinner and then went to the gate to wait. I had downloaded a movie on my iPad which helped, but the time still seemed to just creep by. It was close to 8:00 before we took off for Minneapolis. We gained two hours with the time change which put us in Minneapolis about 11:30 pm. Our son (bless his heart) was there waiting and drove us back to his house to get our car.

We pulled into our driveway at 3:30 am after a 3 ½ hour drive from Minneapolis…and being awake for 23 hours straight! I crawled into bed at 4:00 am and the alarm went off at 5:30 am for me to get ready for school. I can honestly say I have never been so tired in my life...and our wonderful week in the Caribbean seemed more like a dream than reality!

Saturday, January 28 - St. Martin

Today’s plan…a private tour with Joyce Prince.

As the “planner of port day activities” I did a lot of research. I also wanted to make sure that I was taking into consideration what everyone wanted to do. Since our friends were new to cruising they requested that we see as much of each island as possible. That eliminated options such as spending the day on a beach.

For St. Martin I had narrowed down our choice to either Bernard’s tours or Joyce Prince. The cost of a group tour with Bernard was $40 each but he also quoted me a price of $350 for a private tour for our group of six. Joyce was also available for a private tour and her price was $375.

I read many favorable reviews for Joyce and chose her for that reason. I really didn’t read anything negative about Bernard but it just sounded like Joyce was a fun and personable person…which she was. However…at the end of the day I would have to say that St. Martin was my least favorite island of the cruise. Oddly enough however, Lowell & Nancy both thought St. Martin was one of their top islands! Just goes to show you that opinions differ…so make sure you take that into consideration when you read reviews!

Joyce had instructed us to meet her outside the shopping area at the port at 9:30 so we made sure to get there a little early so she wouldn’t have to wait.

She specifically told us to wait by a certain statue and that was where she would pick us up. 

9:30 came and went and we were still waiting. The sun was getting hot so we tried to stand in the little bit of shade from a palm tree…until we happened to notice a sign that said “Keep off the grass.”

It was getting close to 10:00 when Joyce finally pulled in. She had gotten delayed by road construction so unfortunately our day was cut a little short. Rather than making suggestions on what we should see, Joyce just said…"I will take you where ever you want." We appreciated her willingness, but not having been to St. Martin before it would have been nice to have a little guidance. 

Nancy wanted to buy a tanzanite ring so we started the day shopping. There were many, many jewelry stores and we were thankful for Joyce’s suggestions on which stores to check…and how to bargain for the best prices. 

The ring shopping took some time and it ended up that Kim also bought herself two rings and then she and Nancy surprised me by buying me a ring to thank me for my planning! Eventually Nancy did find a ring that she liked but it needed to be re-sized and picked up later in the day.

Joyce drove us around the island showing us the points of interest.

She took us to a small stand on a hill that sold guavaberry (a liqueur) and spices…but also had a nice panoramic view.

The finches feeding on the fence caught Bob’s attention…

Joyce took us to Orient Beach, but since Lowell wanted to snorkel we decided we wouldn’t swim there…we would wait and find a beach better suited for snorkeling later. However…since we were there, we just had to make a brief stop at the nude beach…just to say we had been there. 

We walked down the beach a short way…the water was beautiful. Some people were flying colorful kites and Kim took a picture…only to be reprimanded…”NO cameras allowed!” 

Visiting the beach was an interesting experience…but not one I would probably repeat. I can say that there were going to be some people that left that day with a sunburn in places that had never seen the sun before…

The guys thought it would be funny to take off their shirts for this photo so they would look naked!

It was getting late and we all still had things that we wanted to see and do and it was becoming obvious that there was no way we were going to get to everything. Besides snorkeling, Lowell asked if we could find a place for lunch that served authentic Caribbean food. Joyce suggested that she call ahead and have our orders ready so it wouldn’t take so long. She made some suggestions…including goat…and got our orders written down. But…when she tried to call her cell phone didn’t work. She actually had a second phone and it didn’t work either. 

We got to the restaurant and I saw that they were barbequing meat out by the street so I suggested we go with that thinking that it would be quicker and we would still have time to shop at the outdoor market nearby. Traffic was horrendous so Joyce dropped us off and told us where to meet her after we were done eating and shopping.

After ordering the BBQ, we waited…and waited…and then waited some more.

A band was playing right next to where we were sitting and it was so LOUD that we couldn’t even hold a conversation. 

By the time the food was finally served it was around 2:00…the time we should have been meeting Joyce. So…no time for shopping.

Kim and I had watched some of the YouTube videos from Maho Beach and decided that we really wanted to experience seeing the planes come in for a landing firsthand. Not knowing our way around the island, we had no idea of distances or travel time, but the afternoon was slipping by us and the chances of us visiting Maho Beach, going to a different beach for snorkeling AND making it back to the jewelry store to pick up the ring didn’t seem possible. I wish Joyce would have just said, “there is no way you can do all of that”…but rather she made it seem like she wanted to try. With only a little over an hour left we decided to skip the snorkeling (we didn’t want to get back to the ship at the last minute.)

On the way to Maho Beach we got to see a little more of the island…and some pretty fancy yachts.

The traffic around Maho Beach was pretty congested, so Joyce dropped us off while she went to find a place to park. We agreed to meet back up within 20 minutes. The beach was fairly crowded, but most people were doing what we were there for…watching the airplanes. Those that were actually swimming and enjoying the beach were in the minority.

A very narrow road is all that separates the beach from the end of the runway and planes were landing every few minutes.

We watched several land…some small planes…some larger ones. It was pretty cool to see them go overhead at such a low altitude.

After seeing several planes land, we watched as an American Airlines jet taxied to get ready for take off. We had seen the YouTube videos of people getting blasted, and the warning signs were clear...

…but yet for some reason we thought it would be fun to stand behind the jet when it took off. It was one of those things that falls under the category “what in the world were we thinking?”!!!

Oh my goodness…as soon as the jet engines revved up we were hit with gale force winds and then we were sand blasted. We joked later that we got a free micro-derm abrasion treatment…but at the time it was unbearable. We started running away…towards the water. The beach actually has a fairly steep slope leading down in the water and Nancy fell…or dropped…to the ground…I’m not sure which! 

The word was that a big Air France jet was scheduled to land at 3:00, but we knew we had to get going to have time to pick up the ring…so we missed it. 

Our goal was to be back at the port around 3:30 or so and we made it. The official time to be back onboard was 4:30 but we knew that we had to be packed up and ready to put our luggage out. We wanted to get it done before dinner so we could still enjoy the evening activities.

I think there were several factors that made our day in St. Martin less than perfect. For one…it was the last day of the cruise and after having such wonderful experiences at the other ports it was hard to compete. Also the day was too short…both because Joyce was late and because we should have made arrangements to get started earlier. Lastly…we had too many things we wanted to get done. It would have been better if Joyce would have given us some direction in planning the day rather than just telling us we could do whatever we wanted.

I forgot to mention that we did make a stop back at the jewelry store and Nancy's ring was ready and waiting for her! Now all three of us gals had some new bling!

Earlier that morning I had noticed that in addition to all of the yachts anchored in the harbor, a HUGE yacht was docked next to the Victory. I took a few photos…I had never seen a yacht with a helicopter before! The cruise ship between the Victory and the yacht was also pretty cool…I would have loved to see it with the sails unfurled!

As we were returning to the ship, Bob overheard someone say that the yacht was the biggest in the world. I took note of the name…The Eclipse…and googled it when I got home. Sure enough it is the largest…and most expensive yacht…557 feet long and a price tag of $1.2 BILLION…and is owned by Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich.

Here is what I found online:

The 557-foot Eclipse reportedly comes with features including two helipads, a submarine, multiple hot tubs, a pool and a missile-detection system. Another story has Eclipse with "two swimming pools -- the larger of which converts into a dance floor when drained -- bullet-proof glass, 6ft home cinema screens in every guest cabin and a master cabin where the roof opens to allow Abramovich and his girlfriend Daria Zhukova to sleep under the stars. An anti-paparazzi electronic "shield" will take care of their privacy while on board."

It sounds as if most of this is speculation, but regardless…it was IMPRESSIVE!

Leaving St. Martin…

See the plane taking off?

The sun was setting as we headed to dinner.

Showing off our new rings!

Bob decided that the last night was a good time to break out his “trick tie”! Obviously "HE" thinks it is funny!

And…it was time to to say our good-byes to Sam and Remesto. We gave each of them extra tips (in addition to the auto tips) and they seemed so, so appreciative. They came around the table and gave us all hugs before we left.

The night was finished off with the Legends show. A couple of the performers were very good…most were just mediocre.

A fru-fru drink during the show.