Caribbean Cruise – Part 1

In December, 2022, we took a 20-day cruise around the Caribbean.  It was two 10-day cruises back-to-back.  We were looking for a warm vacation and wanted to take a cruise to build up some sea days prior to booking a longer cruise in the future.  This was our first travel outside of the US and Mexico since the pandemic.

Because this was a long trip, I have split this post into three parts.  This instalment, Part 1, will describe the ports during first 10-day cruise.  Part 2 will describe the ports during the second 10-day cruise.  The third part will describe life onboard the ship.

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Ship Embarkation – Fort Lauderdale

We arrived a few days early in Fort Lauderdale to run some errands and enjoy the warm weather.

Princess Cays – Bahamas

Princess Cays is a private beach resort on the southern tip of Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas.

As is true with most things relating to cruises, you can do a lot there, or very little.  There were shore excursions to other parts of the island and various types of recreational equipment for rent.  As is normal for us, we didn’t do any of that and explored on our own, although we stayed (mostly) within the perimeter of the resort.

We walked from one end to the other of the resort, and behind it on a dirt road and on the beach beyond the resort.  After we were finished with our walk, we selected some beach lounge chairs in the shade, looked at the ocean, looked at birds, people watched, etc.  Kevin went in the water; it was cool so I didn’t.  We finished up our shore excursion with lunch at the beach-side barbeque restaurant at the resort before taking the shuttle boat back to the cruise ship.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico was a place that we had wanted to visit for many years.  We took our first Caribbean cruise 25 or so years ago, and it started and ended in San Juan.  However, our travel arrangements were made for us without consultation (or the ability to change them) and as a result we had almost no time in San Juan, even though our plan was to add a few days to see it.  In fact, we barely made it to the ship before it sailed and went directly from the ship to the airport.  We had not had the opportunity to return until now.

Our ship was docked in Old San Juan, perfect for a day of self-guided exploration on foot.

We started with a walk from the port area along the waterfront, then walked to the two Spanish Colonial-era forts, El Morro and Castillo San Cristóbal.   We then walked up and down the various streets, some of which were blocked by construction (probably as a result of the most recent hurricane).

We ate lunch at Yeyos and had mofongo, a local version of a dish that originated in the Dominican Republic.  The restaurant had a mix of locals on their lunch break and tourists, so we assume that the food was authentic.

We then walked around a bit more of the city on our way back to the cruise ship.

Based on our short visit, San Juan specifically and Puerto Rico in general are places where we would enjoy spending more time if we get the opportunity in the future.

Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands

This was our first trip to the British Virgin Islands.  Tortola is a popular base for yachts of all types and sizes, including sailboat charters. Road Town is the hub of charter activity.

We were docked within easy walking distance of town again, so once ashore we were off to explore!

We spent some time walking up and down the waterfront.  We then, after asking a few locals for directions, found the J. R. O’Neal Botanical Gardens.  This was a very peaceful and enjoyable way to spend part of the day.

We then returned to the waterfront area for lunch at a barbeque food truck that Kevin had read about, J Blakx Jerk BBQ.  It was an excellent typical Caribbean meal of grilled chicken, salad, and rice and peas.  There was one other couple there from the cruise ship, and many local people coming by to pickup takeout for lunch.  Highly recommended for anyone visiting the area!

We didn’t feel quite ready to head back to the boat, so we had a drink at a bar and restaurant near the cruise ship before heading back on board.

Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe

This was our second visit to Pointe-a-Pitre, although it had been approximately 25 years.  Guadeloupe is a French overseas region and department, with the same status as the regions and departments in mainland France (similar to Hawaii’s relationship to the US).  Even more so than in San Juan, there was a lot of construction during our visit, we assume repairs from one or more hurricane.

We were docked right in the center of the city, so we were once again able to walk directly off the ship into town.  We walked up and down the streets and to the local market.

We finished our short time on shore with a visit to an excellent restaurant recommended in our guidebook, Le Yacht Club.  We managed to order food with my tiny bit of French and our waitress’ little bit more of English.  The food, view and atmosphere were all good.  Once again, there was one other couple from our cruise ship there and the rest of the customers were local. It seemed to be a special occasion and business lunch restaurant.

After lunch we headed back to the ship.

Fort-de-France, Martinique

This was our first visit to Martinique, another French overseas region and department.  Fort-de-France is a bigger and more modern city than Pointe-a-Pitre.

We were able to walk directly off the ship into town as usual on this cruise.  We walked the waterfront, and then walked through the city.  We had a couple of potential lunch restaurants picked out from our guidebook, but they were closed.  Our fall back plan was to eat at one of the many casual food stand style restaurants in La Savane park, but it was very windy and would have been difficult to eat outside.  So, we ended up heading back to the ship a little earlier than normal to eat onboard.

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

This was our second visit to St. Maarten, another port on our first Caribbean cruise approximately 25 years ago.  We couldn’t remember what we specifically did last time we visited, but in retrospect we are fairly sure it was very similar to what we did this time – we headed to the beach!

Much of Philipsburg is focused on duty-free shopping, something that does not interest us.  But, there is a nice beach (Great Bay Beach) within walking distance of where our ship docked.  We enjoyed a nice walk along the waterfront to reach the beach, where we took a dip in the water after walking the beach to the end.

There were several locals that tried to get us to rent beach chairs from them for the day along the beach walk.  We weren’t interested in doing that, but we did want lunch!  We ended up eating at Lizzy’s Beach Bar on what turned out to be the last day that the restaurant would be open before the owners went on vacation for the holidays, so they were out of several things. But we did had a nice meal with a great view, and enjoyed visiting with the restaurant staff.

After lunch we stopped to get a coconut (literally a coconut with the top cut off so one can drink the coconut water) and then walked back to the ship.  We drink coconut water daily at home (although we buy it from the store), so we were happy to find that treat.