Adventures and Beach Days on our Caribbean Cruise

Day 3 – St. Martin

St. Martin was an awesome island! We had an excursion planned, so we woke up relatively early, ate breakfast, and headed to meet Captain Bob for a snorkel adventure. Kristin and Dan did this excursion earlier this year when they were cruising the Caribbean and gave it a rave review, so we had to do it too! We met Captain Bob and he put us on a speed boat with a newer skipper. Our first stop was a snorkel spot. Unfortunately, the weather in St. Martin was sub-par and so the snorkeling wasn’t great. Captain Bob told us before we got on board the snorkeling would be marginal, so we weren’t surprised, but it was still a bummer. We saw a few fish and then got back on the boat and headed to a beach. The captain stopped the boat a little ways from shore, so we had to swim in. The water was so nice that we stayed in for the entire time we were at the stop and swam around. It was dreamy. St. Martin really is a beautiful island!

Our next stop was lunch at a beachside restaurant. Eric and I both got Mahi Mahi with rice and it did not disappoint. Yum! We also sat in beach chairs, while we waited for lunch, and after lunch to relax. Our next stop was near the airport. We stopped the boat and watched the planes take off and land directly over our heads. It was amazing! Our final stop was our favorite beach of the day. It was seriously gorgeous. The waves were so gentle and the water was so warm. It was a picturesque Caribbean beach.

The marginal weather created some beautiful rainbows!

After the beach, we headed back to the dock and got on the ship. We had a few minutes to relax and then it was time to get ready for dinner. Dinner was great, as usual, and then we went to the show City of Dreams put on by the singers and dancers of the ship. The singers and dancers were incredibly talented, and the production value was great. However, the show was really odd as a whole. After the show we went back to our rooms, read more of our books, and then went to bed.

Day 4 – Dominica

Dominica was the most beautiful island on the trip. It’s a volcanic island, so it was very mountainous. Before the trip, we booked a shore excursion through Royal Caribbean for Dominica and we were so glad we did! It was an awesome snorkel adventure on Champagne Reef. There is still minor volcanic activity on Dominica, particularly on Champagne Reef. It gets its name from the gas bubbles from the volcanoes that make the water warm and bubbly, like Champagne.

We got on our boat for the snorkel adventure and met the staff – they were great and really high-energy. We rode around on the boat to get to our first snorkel spot. Riding on boats in the ocean is one of my favorite things – it’s so dreamy with the wind and water and beautiful surroundings. We got to Champagne Reef and jumped in. The water was incredible. Our guide pointed out several types of coral on the reef and even let us hold a tube coral – it felt like a sponge, super weird. He then took us around the reef to several different areas to see fish, the reef, the drop-off, and of course, the Champagne bubble. It was so surreal because the water was much warmer and really bubbly. This was definitely one of the best snorkel spots we’ve ever been to.

We got back on the boat and headed to our second snorkel spot. On the way, we saw a pod of dolphins! They played in the wake of our boat for a while. I have always loved seeing dolphins in the wild. Our second snorkel spot was near a 1000 foot drop-off. We saw some of the most incredible fish near the drop-off, so we hung out around there. It’s so surreal to stare out into what seems like blue water forever. It was fantastic. We got back on the boat to head to shore. On our way, we saw a sea turtle!

We headed into the ship for lunch and then came back out to Dominica to do some shopping around the port. We are going to have a Curio Cabinet once we get into our house, so we wanted to get something from our trip to put in there. We opted for a carved Sea Turtle. It’s really awesome. We headed back to the ship to read by the pool and take a nap before dinner. We both really enjoyed our books on this trip! We got ready for dinner and then headed to the Dining Room. Jackie gave us an idea of where to go the next day in Barbados. After dinner, we listed to cha-cha music in the Centrum and then participated in the Putting on the Hits game show, where we had to guess several number one hits. Eric and I won a keychain for knowing a song by Florida Georgia Line! 

We then headed to another part of the ship to listen to move live music. One of our favorite parts of the cruise was the live music playing every night all over the ship. We went to the Safari Club and listed to the orchestra play Jazz Music, and then headed to the Schooner Bar to listen to piano music. The pianist was amazingly talented. He would take requests and play whatever people asked him to. It was our favorite place to relax in the evenings. Unfortunately, I was feeling seasick that night so we called it an early night and went to bed.

Day 5 – Barbados

Barbados had the most pristine beach we had ever seen in our lives! Jackie recommended a place called the Boatyard, so we decided to go there. We got off the ship and took a cab to the beach. There was a fee to get in, but it included beach chairs, umbrellas, a free drink, and several other amenities. Well worth it. The beach was incredible. We spent all day relaxing. Eric finished his book while we were at the beach, and I made good progress on mine! We played a lot in the water, which was so warm and gentle. There was a rope swing, so I had to try it out. Eric took pictures. There was also an iceberg floaty that we climbed on and slid down. It was so much fun. Barbados was our favorite stop on the cruise!

After a day of fun, we headed back to the ship for a quick snack and to relax by the pool before dinner. Dinner was, of course, excellent. After dinner, there was a comedian, Michael Ziegfeld, who works for the Tonight Show. He was hilarious! He told several funny jokes and did Ventriloquisms, which were surprisingly funny! He involved the audience a lot, which made it really fun. We then listened to live music in the centrum before calling it a night. I finished my book while Eric put photos on our computer and then we called it a night!

Soft serve for days!

Day 6 – Grenada

Grenada was beautiful from the ship, but not so awesome once you got off.  We slept in a bit and then headed to Grenada for the day. We started walking towards a fort that Eric wanted to check out and got intercepted and ended up on a walking tour of Grenada. The city was beautiful, but it was very hot and not a great day for walking. We ended up walking away from the walking tour to head back to catch a water taxi to the beach. Grenada doesn’t have a lot of great beaches because it’s also a Volcanic island. The only good beach close to the ship is Grand Anse beach, but it’s very crowded because it’s the only beach. The water taxi waited until it was completely full before leaving the dock, which was very hot to wait. Once we got to the beach it was nice to relax for a few hours, but it wasn’t our favorite beach of the trip. We headed back to the ship early and decided to just relax by the pool. If we were to stop at Grenada again, I don’t think we would get off the ship.

Friday was our second formal night, so we got dressed up fancy again for dinner. I ordered a lobster tail and Eric ordered the prime rib. They were both fantastic! The show that evening had Broadway hits. It was really fun to watch. We then went down to karaoke, which was so fun. We didn’t sing anything, but we really enjoyed watching everyone else. We then headed to the Schooner Bar to listen to the pianist. He was seriously our favorite! After all the music we called it a night!

This little guy was seriously my favorite!

Day 7 – Sea Day

Saturday was our last day on the ship and it was great! We slept in and relaxed by the pool in the morning and then headed to the Art Auction. We didn’t want to buy anything, but we wanted to see what it was all about. It was surprisingly entertaining! The auctioneer was really great at talking about the paintings and it was fun to see people bid. After the auction, we relaxed by the pool more and watched the World’s Sexiest Man competition. It was really funny. I put my feet in the pool for a while which was so pleasant. It was a warm day and the water felt wonderful!

We then did Christmas Music Trivia, where we were the runners-up! Wahoo! Our last dinner with Jackie and Kadek was really nice. Jackie told me that I was now going to worry about the presentation of the food when I cook. What she doesn’t know is that Eric cooks way more than I do.  Jackie was always very concerned about the presentation of food. One night at dinner she told us that a particular dish tasted great, but the presentation wasn’t very good so we shouldn’t order it. I loved her directness. When dinner ended I gave her a hug and told her thanks for an awesome week. Seeing her and Kadek every day really was a highlight of the cruise for us. She told Eric that if I ever put him on a diet to come see her and she would feed him. It was hilarious.

After dinner, there was another comedian. He was funny but not as good as the first one. However, the cruise director pointed out all the things that we were going to have to do for ourselves now that the cruise was over, like cook our own food, pay for our own food, make our own beds, not have awesome folded towels every day, and not know the days of the week because it wasn’t on the floor of the elevator. It was really funny. He was a great cruise director.

We watched a few Minute-to-Win-It games and then headed to the Schooner Bar for our favorite pianist. Before long it was time for Christmas Carols in the Centrum. Dennis dressed up like Santa, which was great, and led the ship in Christmas Carols. We sang so many great ones from Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, I’m Dreaming of the White Christmas, Joy to the World, and Oh Come All ye Faithful. It was such an awesome ending to our cruise. I loved singing all my favorite Christmas songs in a beautiful location with the love of my life (who is surpassingly not embarrassed when I sing really loud and terribly, because I love to sing). The cruise surprisingly helped to put us in the Christmas spirit. One of our favorite things was that we found a channel that played Christmas movies non-stop. We would always turn it on while we were getting ready.

It was a great week at Sea!