Making the Most of a 7-Day Southern Caribbean Cruise

Puerto Rico: Southern Caribbean Cruise

The U.S. has five major territories.

Puerto Rico and St. Thomas makes two that I’ve visited.

I preferred Carnival’s 7-day Southern Caribbean itinerary which leaves out of Puerto Rico.

This would make my second trip.

My first visit would have been incomplete without a visit to El Yunque.

St. Thomas

There’s not much to do at the St. Thomas port. It has small local shops and wasn’t busy.

I booked the Skyride in advance with Carnival. It was $19.99 for unlimited rides.

For some reason, I thought I had left my fear of heights atop the Lamanai Mayan Ruins in Mexico.

I’m learning that overcoming fear is a gradual process.

I’m taking it one day at a time.

The Skyride takes you 700 ft over Amalie.

When the wind picked up in the cable car, I was frozen to my seat. I did manage a few pictures and videos.

It rained off and off throughout the cruise. Yet no amount of moisture could ruin the natural views of the island.

Once you add the famous Bushwacker drink, it’s an alluring combo. The drink is a cross between cremas and coquito.

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Saiint Maarten

Saiint. Maarten is broken up into two sides (French and Dutch).

The cruise ships dock in St. Maarten, the Dutch side.

The main differences were signs.

Saiint Maarten was in Dutch and St. Martin in French. You could purchase macaroons, ice cream, and jewelry to name a few.

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My love of perfumes led me to the French side. Perfume making at Tijon deserved its own blog.

The Gibraltar of the West Indies: St.Kitts

St. Kitts is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

I almost missed my excursion. An elderly couple from the ship needed help finding the tour guide for their Priceline excursion.

I booked through Carnival. Some of the reviews spoke of the train breaking down, so I booked the earliest one.

I found this excursion years ago and thought it was so unique.

It’s not something you would expect from the Southern Caribbean or the Caribbean period.

We had an educational drive to the train station and the guide on there continued.

St. Kitts is the cleanest Caribbean island I’ve visited so far.

I also learned their government was actively involved in building homes for their citizens. It reminded me of Habitat for Humanity.

The train ride is not for the faint of heart. It shakes and sputters!

You must hold on for dear life to move around.

The views as usual is the reward for bravery!

I forgot I was in the (Southern) Caribbean.

There were so much land and sprawling mountains. This trip showed me a little of everything the Caribbean has to offer!

It was barely noon and we were offered unlimited alcoholic beverages. I enjoyed the pina colada in Puerto Rico so much that I chose it there too.

We had a chorus that traveled from car to car to serenade us acapella.

Bring your camera, you won’t regret it.

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The Hawaii of the Caribbean: St. Lucia

I found out after that St. Lucia is known as the Hawaii of the Caribbean! Lush greenery, active volcanoes, and a tropical climate!

The name fits!

I think the Caribbean islands are some of the most underrated! I’m blessed to have gotten a small taste of all it has to offer!

I’ll start off by saying there are multiple  ways to get to Soufriere by land or sea. I chose land.

The reviews of this excursion had prepared me for a long day and that it was.

Some discontented travelers felt like it was overrated.

I disagree. Don’t miss it regardless of how you get there.

Though it took 8 hours, there was enough movement, sightseeing, and restroom breaks to make it worthwhile.

I can’t say enough about our tour guide. His passion shone through.

He taught us that bananas, cacao, coconuts, and tourism are the top sources of revenue.

We stopped at a banana farm and got to sample the sweet fruit.

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Creole

My biggest surpise was learning the people of St. Kitts spoke a Creole dialect that was the same as Haiti.

There were mixed reviews about AC temps in the van, food and hustling merchants. I have no complaints.

The tour guide went out of his way to make us feel welcomed and comfortable throughout the day.

I met a traveling couple from Canada. There was also a trio couple from Puerto Rico.

At one point in the trip, one of them took a picture of his sleeping wife and it was so hilarious.

Our first stop was at a college gift shop. They had unique wood sculptures available for purchase and a nice view of the Pitons.

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Be sure to carry single bills as most of the restooms on this tour charged a fee.

We then traveled to an open market. I stayed to the side since I knew I would not be making a purchase.

Behind the market was a beach with sailboats as beautiful décor.

I wished the day was less cloudy to get a better view of the Pitons. The tour stops at many places in order to get various angles of the twin peaks.

At the drive-through active volcano, the smell of sulfur was really loud. This tour’s time didn’t allow, but they offer sulfur baths.

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We stopped at Maranatha Gardens. Don’t let the name fool you!

Be prepared for rocky terrain and a lot of stair climbing. I was out of breath!

It was more like a rainforest. There were Biblical quotes scattered throughout on pastel wooded signs.

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I brought snacks but we did stop at a restaurant for lunch. The homemade BBQ sauce was finger-licking good.

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Barbados

The port is a huge industrial area with large cranes and shipping containers.

Carnival offered a shuttle to the indoor market portion.

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Mother nature seemed pretty hormonal throughout the whole 7-day cruise. The last port (Barbados) was no different.

The sun peaked out at times but the rain was on and off.

It wouldn’t matter much since the caves were indoors. The cost is $99 with both Carnival and Priceline’s Shore Excursions.

The driver was late and the tour company tried to cover it up and lie so that seemed to cloud the day even more.

The caves were a masterpiece. I just wished we had more time to explore.

The Caves

Most of the limestones were phallic-shaped. The guide asked us what they reminded us of.

I was surprised most of the answers were PG. There were children around so that may be why.

I liked how they named the different areas according to how the cave formations looked. One area with high ceilings was named “The Cathedral”.

You have to see it in person!

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Between trying to cover and wipe my camera from the constant water dripping above my head, it was hard to take pictures on cue.

There is a walk through tour but the one I had booked was for the trams.

The bus driver tried to recover by driving past Rihanna’s old house but I don’t think it worked. At least not for me. I don’t recall anyone leaving a tip either.

Barbados could’ve been any big city in the states.

I had planned on attending their famous fish fry since we had extended time in port. But the weather put a damper on everything.

All things considered, I’m grateful this itinerary included so many port stops. For the first time, Carnival didn’t fully deliver the promised fun on board.

I think the biggest contributor to this was the large demographic of families on Christmas vacation, language barriers, and a nonchalant cruise director.

You live and you learn!

Have you traveled to the Southern Caribbean?

~Poof…Bee Gone

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