Unlike some of the other ports on this cruise, once I did a little research into St. Lucia, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I saw a picture of the Pitons and knew that I had to get that iconic St. Lucia shot (above!) The question was, which tour would be the best one to take to get us there?
Back at the end of March, to leave the port area in St. Lucia, you had to be on a government-approved tour and the easiest way to do that was to book through the cruise line. We chose the tour that Royal Caribbean called St. Lucia – Island Delights. This tour advertised a drive around the island to Soufriere where you would get a view of the Pitons after driving through a few St. Lucia fishing towns. After viewing the Pitons, the tour takes you to Morne Coubaril Estate for a guided tour of the estate, and a stop at the drive-through volcano (we ended up at Toraille Waterfall, instead, though) before enjoying a creole buffet lunch overlooking the Pitons.
View of the Pitons from our lunch spot
It is a long drive on narrow, twisty roads from Castries, St. Lucia to Soufriere. I was very glad I didn’t have to be the one behind the wheel, but it was absolutely beautiful to watch the scenery go by. Most of St. Lucia is a rainforest so it rained on and off throughout our drive. The photo stops we made along the way were absolutely worth the trip, but the Morne Coubaril Estate tour ended up being a highlight of this whole cruise!
When we got to the estate, our tour guide pointed out the local flora, and then we got to see coconuts husked and drink fresh coconut water. It got even more interesting when we got to the cocoa house and we were able to taste a ripe cocoa bean (left). Let me tell you, it tastes nothing like you would expect, almost like fruit punch. Then, they explained the fermentation and drying process and we got to see the cocoa dance (how they polish the dried beans). After that, we walked to the sugar cane mill and got to taste the fresh cane juice. I have never experienced anything like this. This tour absolutely blew me away! As a lover of dark chocolate, you can be sure I picked up a bar of their estate dark chocolate in the gift shop!
After the tour of the estate, we headed to the Toraille Waterfall (right). There were changing rooms for you to change so you could swim in the waterfall. Nowhere in our booking did it say to bring swimwear so no one in our group did. The waterfall was fine to see. I have seen many waterfalls, I was much more excited for the volcano, but it seems like they are changing that out for the waterfall now on this tour.
After taking a few shots of the waterfall, we headed to our buffet lunch overlooking the Pitons. I was really glad to get an authentic St. Lucia dining experience. All of the food was delicious and you could not beat the view (above). Our tour guide told us that bananas are the biggest industry in St. Lucia, so I was not surprised to see so many of them on the buffet, I just wish I wasn’t allergic!
St. Lucia ended up being our favorite port on the cruise and it may even be my favorite port stop on all of my cruises! If you have the opportunity to visit St. Lucia, take it! Definitely check out Morne Coubaril Estate and do the estate tour. It was an experience unlike anything else I’ve experienced in my life! I left my heart on this island and I cannot wait to return!
Thanks for stopping by! To read more about this trip check out my Island a Day Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.
Marigot from Fort Louis
St. Maarten is the smallest island made up of two countries in the world. Half of the island is Dutch and half is French. Philipsburg, which is where most cruise ships dock is on the Dutch side of the island. The Dutch side of the island (known as Sint Maarten) is a lot like most other Caribbean islands but the French side (known as St. Martin) is like a taste of Europe in the Caribbean. We were very excited to spend time on the French side of the island, but I couldn’t find an excursion through Royal Caribbean that gave us the flexibility to do that, so I did a ton of research and we ended up renting a Jeep to explore the island on our own.
We hopped in our Pink Jeep (I really wish I would’ve gotten a picture of it!) and headed from Phillipsburg to Marigot, the first town you get to on the French side of the island. We explored the popular Marigot market and headed up to Fort St. Louis. The fort was built in 1789 to protect the warehouses of Marigot from pirates. It’s an easy climb to the top and the fort provides a beautiful view of the Marigot Bay all the way to Anguilla on a clear day!
After exploring the fort, we headed to Grand Case for lunch. Grand Case is the foodie mecca of St. Martin with little French Bistros and Caribbean barbecue shacks called “lolos” dotting the beautiful beach. We got stuck in terrible traffic between Marigot and Grand Case, so we did not get nearly as much time to spend there as I was hoping, but we did have a wonderful French Lunch with a gorgeous view at Nice SXM.
Interestingly, this was the only port on this cruise where there were other ships in port with us. There were three other Royal Caribbean ships in Phillipsburg this day, the Jewel of the Seas (which my in-laws had just gotten off of), Harmony of the Seas, and Rhapsody of the Seas, although it didn’t look like there were any passengers on Rhapsody. Anyway, it was fun to watch them dock and check out the other Royal Caribbean ships, especially Harmony!
There was so much more I wanted to see (and eat) in St. Maarten. It has made its way to our (long) list of places we want to return to. If you are visiting St. Maarten on a cruise ship, don’t feel like you have to use one of the cruise line’s shore excursions. If you choose to explore on your own, I highly recommend renting from The Jeep Plug. They gave us a great map and tips for driving around the island.
Thanks for stopping by! To read more about this trip check out my Island a Day Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.
Most cruises have one to two sea days where you have no port stops that give you time to relax and get to know the ship. This Southern Caribbean cruise that we took did not have any sea days. So after a lot of time spent researching each of the ports and what there was to do, we decided to choose two port days where we would take it easy and not have much of a plan. We chose our day in St. Croix to be one of these days.
St. Croix is the least visited of the U.S. Virgin Islands and is the most agricultural. This was very evident in the shore excursion options available in Frederiksted. The third-party shore excursion websites didn’t have anything and what was available through Royal Caribbean was expensive and not very interesting. So, we used this day to sleep in, have breakfast in the dining room, and play Pickleball before heading off to explore St. Croix.
Right at the end of the cruise pier in Frederiksted is Fort Frederik. Fort Frederik is a red masonry fort built by the Danish in the mid-18th century to ward off pirates. The fort, named for the Danish King Frederik V, is on the National Register of Historic Places. One of the most interesting facts about Fort Frederik is that it is believed that Fort Frederik fired the first salute from foreign soil to the new nation of the United States in October of 1776. In 1848, the fort was also the location of a slave revolt that led to the emancipation of slaves in the West Indies.
The fort is pretty small and doesn’t take too long to visit. Like many places in the Caribbean, the fort was damaged by Hurricane Maria and many of the exhibits did not survive. It only costs $5 to enter the museum and they could use all the money they can get to continue the restoration work.
After walking through the fort, we walked the main drag, found a coffee shop and bakery, and got caught in the most torrential rain I’ve ever experienced on a cruise. We had to hide out for a while to avoid getting soaked! After walking around for a little bit we headed back to the ship. It was fun to sit out on our balcony and watch the people return (top). Our friends could even see turtles from their balcony!
The other port where we ended up taking it easy like this was in Bridgetown, Barbados. I don’t know if it is still like this, but in March, to get off the ship in Barbados you had to take an approved tour. By this point in our trip, we had already visited four ports and we were tired. Nothing looked super exciting so all we ended up doing was shopping in the port area and going back to the ship. This was really hard for the die-hard traveler in me, but I guess now I have a reason to return to Barbados!
Thanks for stopping by! To read more about this trip check out my Island a Day Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.
When I booked this cruise with two ports in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the first thing I did was look up Virgin Islands National Park and see how possible it would be to get there from St. Thomas or St. Croix. As it turns out, the National Park is located on St. John and there is no airport on the island. The only way to get there is by boat, with a ferry running from St. Thomas.
With a limited time in port for the day and the number of steps needed to get to the National Park (taxi from the port to the ferry dock, ferry to St. John, taxi/tour around the island), we decided to book a St. John Island Tour excursion through the cruise line. Unfortunately, that tour was canceled due to lack of interest so, with one day’s notice after we had boarded the ship, we had to figure out a new plan. We decided the easiest way to the National Park was through the one available excursion which they called “Champagne Catamaran Sail and Snorkel”.
Boats at Honeymoon Beach
From the port, we took an open-air bus to Red Hook where we boarded our catamaran for St. John. After tossing anchor at Honeymoon Beach, we got a snorkeling safety talk and tips about where to view the coral and the turtles and we jumped in the water. For one of my friends, this was the first time she had swam in saltwater, so it was a shock for her!
Snorkeling with Turtles
I enjoyed snorkeling through the reef and seeing all the interesting sea life, for me, but the highlight of this snorkeling adventure was seeing a turtle! It was easy to tell when someone had spotted a turtle because there were a bunch of people in a circle around it. We watched it swim to the surface and then go back down to the sand.
After our snorkeling adventure, we got back on the boat and sipped champagne and cocktails on the way back to St. Thomas. It was a great excursion and I am glad we chose it, but I am disappointed that we didn’t get to see the rest of the island. I guess we will have to go back sometime and get to spend some time on the land!
We originally didn’t have any snorkeling booked for this cruise, so I didn’t end up buying a new action camera or waterproof housing for my phone as I had planned. So, the first night after booking this excursion, I had to go to the photo studio and pay cruise prices for a waterproof phone case, so I would have photos to share with you from this excursion. Learn from my mistake! If there is a possibility of snorkeling and you want photos to remember it (or if you’re like me and wear glasses and take photos while snorkeling so later you can see what was down there), buy your gear before your trip!
Thanks for stopping by! To read more about this trip check out my Island a Day Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.
We chose to stay in Luquillo, Puerto Rico before our cruise because of its proximity to El Yunque National Forest. It is only about a 40-minute drive from San Juan airport to Luquillo. We chose to stay in an Airbnb as opposed to a beachside resort and I am really glad we did. Later in the trip, we spent a little bit of time in the Isla Verde area. While we enjoyed our time there, most people in the area were from the mainland, and the shops and restaurants catered to mainlanders. By staying in Luquillo, I feel like we got to experience real Puerto Rico.
Luquillo is known for its beautiful beaches and the most popular one is known as Luquillo beach. More than a mile long and shaded with coconut trees, Luquillo beach is a beautiful place to sunbathe and enjoy the ocean.
Luquillo Beach
If you get hungry while at the beach, step over to the Kiosks where 60 local food vendors serve all kinds of food and drink from local Puerto Rican food to Mexican and Italian food as well as your favorite tropical drinks. Before visiting Puerto Rico I read everything I could find about the Kiosks (honestly there’s not much out there) and I had no idea what to expect. Some of the kiosks serve grab-and-go fried food or pizza, but some of them are full sit-down restaurants with a view of the beach. We chose to get dinner from Kiosk number 2, La Parilla. It is one of the full-service, sit-down restaurants serving Caribbean and Puerto Rican food. We tried the Pastelillos (Puerto Rican meat pies), arepas (dumplings), Queso Frito (fried cheese), Bolitas de Queso (breaded fried cheese), Sorullitos de Maiz (fried corn sticks), and Nuggets de Pescado (fish nuggets). Everything we had was wonderful and we finished with flan for dessert!
It is only about a 40-minute drive from San Juan to Luquillo so it is a doable day trip. Or, stop on your way back from El Yunque, enjoy the beach and get some food from the kiosks before you head back to San Juan!
Thanks for stopping by! To read more about this trip check out my Island a Day Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.