Spring Cruise, Part Two

This post is all about our excursions.  While on the cruise, we made three stops:  Nassau, in the Bahamas; and then St. Thomas and St. Maarten in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The boys and I did not get off the ship at Nassau.  But we sure enjoyed the other two ports.  For one thing, the weather was perfect. For another, the water was gorgeous!  It was the unique aquamarine and deep blue that you see in postcards.  Wonderful!!

In St. Thomas we did a little shopping, then we all packed up, got on a catamaran, and went snorkeling and Turtle Cove.

Our huge ship!

There were iguanas all over the rocks near the ships.  I mean---REAL iguanuas, really huge, and really close.  We counted sixteen!  One of them chased after me a minute.  I found out later he was attracted to my tote bag, which was a bright blue.  Scarey.

Sailing to Turtle Cove, Sam is ready to snorkle!

 Danielle, Corey, and Brittany are soaking up the sun!

Benny jumps off the boat--this is how they were expected to get into the water and go!

 Happy snorkelers.  They said they saw lots of stuff--fish, sea urchins, coral, etc.

And true to its name, we saw a LOT of Sea Turtles!!  They were bobbing around all over the place, and seemed genuinely interested in floating to the surface and checking us out before submerging again.  As long as they were left alone, they did not seem to mind all the extra swimmers.

We were all treated to free "tatoos" from the ship.  Also, see the neat ring I am wearing?  Benny bought that for me from the ship and suprised me with it.  I love it!

Afterwards Benny got a turn steering the boat home!

And he got some good pictures of our mammoth ship as we returned.

Our next stop was St. Maarten.  This was also a pretty place, but not quite as nice as St. Thomas.  We got on a bus and took a tour of the area.  They have beautiful beaches, amazing hotels and lovely water, but much of the actual island is run-down, shabby, dirty, and lined with homes and buildings that look ravaged by hurricanes.

We did see a real live iguana, again, in a TREE.

We went to a shopping area as part of the bus tour, and we shopped for fun souveniers.  Here, Benny and Mom are checking out a spice-market stall.  They sold home-made hot sauces and you can bet Benny bought one!

  Lots of inexpensive T-shirts, hats, and trinkets galore.  We bought hats, shirts (one had an iguana on it), a carribean doll, and jewelry.

Mom and Sam enjoy an ice cream.

Funny bus, painted very creatively.

This is us earlier in the day, when we set off for some brief shopping.  We had a great time!