Eastern Caribbean Cruise (January, 2002). Ahh, a January vacation! After having toured the Western Caribbean for our honeymoon, we visited the Eastern Caribbean for...well, our first January together as man and wife.

About the Ship. We cruised the Carnival Triumph. It began it's sailing career in mid-1999, about 40 years after the vessel we sailed upon for our honeymoon, "The Norway." The ride wasn't as smooth as it was on The Norway, nor was it appointed as elegantly. It was, however, a splendid looking ship, with magnificent glass elevators and a simply enormous hulk of a body, they were very different ships. Here's an article on Triumph from Cruise Mates and one from Cruise Critic.  

The only thing we might add to either of these is that we were simply unimpressed with the quality of the food and the service. Our first night, we were simply SHOCKED (Shocked!) to find our tab was already $200! Come to find out, the gratuities for our waiter, bus boy, and cabin steward had already been charged to us, for "our convenience." There's something substantial that happens when the incentive (and the satisfaction) of receiving the envelope at the end of the cruise is taken away that is not to be underrated. Here are some interesting quotes about "Triumph."

QUOTES:

"Good Value. Not for those wishing the finere [sic] style. Great for families and all around fun lovers. Avoid kids by avioding [sic] holiday sail dates. "

"We have cruised seven times on RCCL and Carnival. We were very happy with everything on this ship. This ship is not for the elderly becuase [sic] it is unstable and a very rough ride. Seemed top heavy!" 

"Loved the cruise. Had an aft corner cabin. Huge balcony. Midnight buffets were very disapointing [sic] ."

The bottom line: not bad, not great. An adequate day on vacation still beats (hands down) a great day at work.
We were told to fill out our customer response cards with the thought in mind not to let one encounter or experience sway us. What was striking was that to us, the little things - those singular moments - are those that can sometimes mean the most. Without that, the service aboard the ship was very pedestrian. A good value for the money, but nothing noteworthy.

About the Ports of Call.  We checked out San Juan, Puerto Rico (a little disappointing), St. Croix, US Virgin Islands (nothing but a beach day), and St. Thomas, USVI (a shopping and sight seeing day). And we left from our apparent favorite port of call, Miami. Never having been to Miami in our lives, we'll have been there three times in our first year of marriage. We also took a couple of extra days, rented a car and visited the "Conch Republic" of Key West (put 600 miles on that sucker!). (This is my Favorite Key West T-shirt) before coming home to return to our family and our lives. We have some great pictures of Key West and witnessed a wonderful sunset over the sea at Mallory Square.

Old San Juan (Monday, January 21)

We landed in San Juan at 5 PM on Monday evening.  Actually, it was 6 PM local time, but no matter.  It was quickly getting dark, but we did find the time to wander around a little in Old San Juan.  We walked past the Don Q rum tasting store front - needless to say we bought a little rum.  

We wandered around near the buildings and stores for a little then walked along the fort.  At this point, it was increasingly becoming dark and our pictures really didn't come out very well.  And it was starting to rain off and on.

We decided to check out the little stores along the way.  Most were closed, but we found a few cool stores.  We actually started looking for Senor Frogs, as we saw the Senor Frog store.  We'll after much wandering, we found that they really only have a retail store - not a restaurant - in San Juan.  What a rip.

So we did the only thing we could do...go to the Hard Rock.  It wasn't our first thought, but since all the other stores were closed and since there really was no Senor Frogs, there was no other choice.  It turns out, it wasn't such a bad idea...we had a few Presidentes and met up with the Minnesotans.  

We hung out with "the girls" until it was time to head back to the ship about 11 PM.  

A little history.

In 1595, Sir Francis Drake attacked San Juan in pursuit of gold and silver. The city's artillery effectively defended the city. In 1598, Sir George Clifford, Count of Cumberland, landed in San Juan and sieged the city, but could not take it. After suffering exhaustion and sickness they were forced to leave. Even the Dutch, landed on San Juan in 1625, but the Spanish resistance at El Morro made it impossible for them to take over.   Here are several pictures of San Juan.

Some things to do in Old San Juan.  

Paseo de la Princesa – A great place to spend weekend afternoons. Local artisans display and sell their work. Also there is live music early Sunday evenings and on many other occasions.

Massive City Wall – Construction of this 42-foot-high wall that surrounded the city began in the 1630s. It is made of solid sandstone blocks and held together with mortar, limestone, sand and water.

La Puerta de San Juan – The San Juan Gate was constructed in 1520. This strong, heavy wooden door was the official entrance for those who came to Puerto Rico on wooden sailing ships during the colonization. Up the block is La Catedral de San Juan where Mass would be held to thank God for allowing them to make the journey.

La Fortaleza – Originally built as a defense fort, this small castle has been utilized as the governor’s mansion for centuries. Guided tours Monday through Friday.

La Catedral de San Juan – This beautiful Cathedral, built in 1540 is a good example of Gothic architecture in the New World. Here in a marble tomb lie the remains of Juan Ponce de Leon.

El Morro – Six level castle 140 ft above the sea, overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and San Juan Bay.

San Cristobal Fort – Completed in 1771, this castle was designed to protect the city from land invasions.

Teatro Tapia – This is one of the oldest theaters in the Western Hemisphere. Performances of plays, ballets and concerts are held regularly.

Museums – Old San Juan is full of museums. Art exhibits and collections of historic items can easily be found throughout this historic neighborhood.

Tuesday, January 22, 2002.  We landed in St. Thomas.  Our "Shopping" Port in Haversight.  We were going to rent a Jeep and head out across the island, but decided against it - being that they drive on the left with right hand drive cars, it seemed like a bad idea.  So we walked over to Paradise Point and took the tramway up.  The view from Paradise Point was amazing.  

There were upwards of eight cruise ships in port that day. When you do the math (8 ships x 3000 guests = 24,000) you realize how much the cruise industry means to the economy on this island of 60,000.  

There were a couple of shops atop the tramway, but nothing of any real interest - meaning they were there because they were there, we weren't there because they were there.  We had a quick beverage and headed back down to go shopping.

We found a local beer called Blackbeard Ale that was very nice and in general there was a lot of duty-free shopping that one could do.  We bought only a couple of libations at a small pub, although it would have been very easy to pick up that digital camera.  The atmosphere was wonderful and we had a great day.

A little history.  The US Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix) used to belong to Denmark and were known as the Danish West Indies. The US tried to buy the islands for $7.5 million in 1867 (an enormous amount of money at that time) but the Danes refused. They agreed in 1917, however, when the US bought them for $25 million in gold. Much of the old 17th century Danish architecture remains in Charlotte Amalie. (from 50Cups.com)

St. Croix (Wednesday, January 23)Our third port of call was St. Croix.  We basically spent the day in St. Croix at the beach if you can believe it.  We did absolutely nothing but R&R.  How much better could it get?

After arriving at the port in Frederiksted, we surveyed the situation and decided that today will be a beach day.  

We hopped into a cab and for $6  (each) round trip, we headed over to Rainbow Beach - so our $12 bought us a little over a mile in travel for two (the cab ride from Logan Airport in Boston to Michele's parents - all of 3 miles tops, cost us $15).  Tourist maps tell you where in relation to your location things are, but remarkably not how far, so you have no idea if $6 each is a good deal or not - it really wasn't.

We sat on the beach most of the day just watching the world go by, on occasion jumping in for a little while, and enjoying each other's company. 

 After the beach, we went back to the ship to wash off the sand (YUK) and then headed over to the little shops across from the port.  

There were several surf shops along the way and we picked up a t-shirt.  Otherwise, we just hung out at a little restaurant, had a frozen drink or two, and headed back over to the ship.  A relaxing, final port of call.

Somewhere at Sea (January 23-24, 2002)

What's in that Grolsch bottle?  In-keeping with our message in a bottle "tradition" from our honeymoon (still waiting to hear!) we set adrift another message somewhere between the US Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic.  We'll let you know if we ever hear back.