Monday January 6, 2020
I awoke early and looked out to a brilliant cloudless sunny morning – 56 degrees. Palm fronds danced wildly in the wind outside our hotel window in Ft. Lauderdale. Today was our day to board the Crown Princess and begin a cruise to the southern Caribbean Islands.
Filled with excitement and the thrill of adventure we joined thousands of other expectant cruisers. Eight huge ships were in port today. They were busy disembarking old passengers and welcoming new passengers as well as restocking their ships in order to leave by early evening.
We were looking forward to a relaxing 10-day cruise with visits to several islands of the southern Caribbean Windward Islands. Princess Cruise Lines hasn’t quite perfected their embarkation process despite the hype about their new Medallion Class system. Anyway, we boarded, found our cabin, and settled in. The Crown Princess quietly pulled away from the dock about five o’clock.
Tuesday January 7, 2020
Our first day was a “Sea Day” to relax by the pool and enjoy shipboard entertainment. There are four outdoor pools, movies “under the stars” on an outdoor screen, an indoor theater, and many places to eat. It’s a huge floating resort hotel.
The Atlantic Ocean was a bit rough with strong winds and rolling seas. In the evening, we were informed that the ship had to bypass our first stop Princess Cays on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas because it was too windy.
Wednesday January 8, 2020: So we had another sea day…… walking around the Promenade Deck, soaking in the hot tub, lounging by the pool, reading, watching movies, enjoying good conversations around the dinner table. I took lessons to learn how to play a Caribbean “pan” – steel drum! Lots of fun!!
Thursday January 9, 2020 During the early morning hours, the Crown Princess slipped quietly into the beautiful harbor of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas USVI.
After being aboard ship for three days, we were eager to step on terra firma and explore the town. The cruise ship terminal was a mini-village of several long covered buildings filled with shops selling every kind of souvenirs and jewelry.
We walked through the commercial area to the main road and found a jitney bus to drive us to the center of Charlotte Amalie.
The U. S. Virgin Islands have been hosting cruise ships for many decades and the majority of the shops cater to tourists and shopping! Even the buildings in the “Historic District” have been converted to shops. We’re NOT shoppers, so there wasn’t anything of interest to us.
We strolled the cobblestone streets for a while and tried to ignore the hawkers attempting to entice us into their stores. We walked along the corniche by the water and eventually returned to the ship. At dinner, we shared a table and good conversation with three couples from Germany, Canada, and England. The ship sailed away from Charlotte Amalie under the light of a full moon:
