The ship made its way toward St. Thomas, and we were seeing land around 7:30 AM ships time. I don’t know if I mentioned, but we are in the Atlantic standard time zone. That means two nights ago we were told to set our clocks ahead one hour. and you should always stay on ship time when you’re on a cruise.
K,D and I met on the lido deck around 745. We had a nice leisurely breakfast, while the ship made its way to the port.
Speaking of the Lido deck, there is such a huge variety of food in this area every single day, three meals a day. I still don’t like the layout of of the buffet. It just seems so chopped up and there are like two separate main areas and they Have the same food. It’s mostly the same but they’ll throw in some thing different. They have a separate pastry shop. I think there’s only one there could be two of those two though and they have all sorts of desserts and you can buy specialty coffees in there you know espresso’s, all kinds of different things. Those specialty coffees are not included in your regular cruise fare, but they are included when you have a drink package.
We have the standard drink package and that was purchased when we booked the cruise during a promotion for the drink package gratuities $50 onboard credit free Wi-Fi. We only have the standard drink package but there is a premium package. I think there are only a few things that are considered premium cocktail wise. There are a ton of wines by the glass that are only in the premium package so if you’re a big wine drinker, I would recommend upgrading to that package.
The ship cleared customs fairly quickly. Once we docked and people were getting off the ship about 915 or so. We waited a little bit and went down and then changed into our bathing suits and packed our bags.
We proceeded out of the secure area and asked where the taxis were to go to Magen’s Bay. All the fairs are published on giant boards at the taxis site, and they are also published at the various locations around the island. For us, it was $12 per person one-way. When we got to Megans bay, we had to pay an additional five dollar entry fee.
The “taxis“, we’re actually trucks with various numbers of bench seats, like mounted on the truck bed completely open air and not really that comfortable. However, the discomfort of the seats was nothing compared to the ride. We began at the port, which is on the Atlantic Ocean side. We rode up and up and up over this very steep mountain, and I prayed the driver would not wreckers off a cliff or loose brakes. But we made it there in one piece and move down to the far end of the cove where they were less people.
That water was just so beautiful and so clear and so calm, I was amazed. We frolicked in the water for a bit. And I have to tell you a tip here, pack a noodle in your suitcase. They are very light weight and they bend and fit perfectly in the bottom of the suitcase. I also brought my swimway inflatable lounge chair, although we didn’t use it today.
I saw many other people today that had also brought their own floats for the beach.
There is a restaurant on site as well as a bar. I had a frozen, mixed drink, a Bushwacker, and it was $10. D ordered food. She got chicken tenders and french fries and K and I had a taste of the tenders and fries. Personally, not a fan everything was deep-fried, of course.
After a couple of hours, we were ready to head back to the ship and took a return “taxi” for again, $12 a person. And once again, the taxi ride was an experience. L O L.
You need both your ship ID and a government issued photo ID to get back on to the ship. We rid ourselves of our sandy suits and proceeded up to the Lido deck to have a little bit of lunch. I had a very good turkey sandwich on this great bread, but I have no idea what kind it was. I also had some fresh fruit. The watermelon and cantaloupe are magnificent.
After lunch, we got back off the ship and looked in the small shopping area at the port. There was nothing special there, but I did learn something on the ship a new thing, or rather a new sing for me: the cruise line has made a deal with a bunch of shops, and I believe a restaurant or two in the port area and you can use your medallion to charge things to your account on the ship. The advantage to that is that you don’t have to carry a lot of cash with you or risk your credit cards. But the real advantage is that you get 7% back and onboard credit for every dollar you spend. Good deal huh?
We were back on board well ahead of the 630 all aboard time. I have managed to get us reservations at the steakhouse tonight at 7:40. The regular dining room menu did not appeal to us. Unfortunately, at the last minute I started to feel very nauseous and told the kids to go have dinner without me. I was very disappointed, but I am hoping I can get another reservation and I know K&D will want to go back. So food porn another day.
I started to feel better about nine and ordered some room service. Hot tea and a PBJ! I have no idea why my stomach does what it does, but I have been plagued with digestive issues for years.
So I’m staying in tonight, no casino for this girl! I thought I’d catch up on the blogs and answer any questions you might have.
Also, please excuse the way the posts have the pictures put in. I’m doing all this on my cell phone and it’s very hard to move the photos once they’re added to the blog, so I’m not gonna do that until I get home and can edit the posts on my laptop.
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