This
movie is a compilation of several movies we took from the tender back
to the ship from Stirrup Cay (It's also about 8MB, so if you have a
slow connection, don't bother waiting around!!). Note the Norway in
the background and how it seems to go flying up through the ceiling
and then shooting down. This is not your typical tender ride...this
being our second cruise, we know what the ride should be like!
Sun
Miami, FL - - 4:00pm
Mon. At Sea
Tue. At Sea
Wed. Philipsburg, St. Maarten 9:00am 6:00pm
Thur. St. Thomas, U.S.V.I 6:00am 5:30pm
Fri. At Sea
Sat. Great Stirrup Cay, NCL's Private Island Noon- 6:00pm
Sun. Miami, FL 7:00am*
The
thing about cruising the Norway is that it's hull is so large,
it cannot dock at the ports of call. It requires tendering -
sounds simple enough, but getting 2000 people to shore using
two (sometimes three) tender boats that hold 300 people takes
a while. It's the one thing that really takes away from the
experience of the ship.
There's no formal border between Dutch St. Maarten and French St. Martin.
No split personality, either. Just hypothetical line in the sand and beautiful
Mullet Bay. On the Dutch side is a casino and shops and on the French,
Charming cafes and high-fashion boutiques.
Philipsburg
is four parallel streets squeezed between Great Bay, where the cruise
ships dock, and Salt Pond, where salt was made many years ago. The vision
of a previous generation of island leaders was to maintain the Créole
houses on the shore, providing arriving boats with a look back into the
island's past. For the most part, this has been done as the larger hotels
sit at the edges of town or just around the rocky promontory that separates
Great Bay from Little Bay. More
on Philipsburg>>
We
chose to wander around the Dutch side (Sint Maartin) and so a little shopping
and swimming. We bought a wonderful Dutch Delft christmas ornament and
basically spent the rest of the time on the beach.
St.
Thomas, U.S.V.I (January 24, 2003)
Charlotte
Amalie, the capital of the United States Virgin Islands and the most popular
cruise port in the Caribbean. Charlotte Amalie (named for a Danish Queen)
is where the ships dock and the white and pastel houses are heavily sprinkled
against a background of emerald hills. Colorful sloops dock along the
waterfront, and a few steps back, down alleyways lined with old Danish
warehouse buildings, is a world-famous shopping center. More
on St. Thomas >>
Our
day in St. Thomas was essentially spent doing a little shopping in Charlotte
Amalie then onto the "Kon
Tiki Raft." By the time we tendered over, we had little more
than an hour to shop the stores.
We
found a couple of little trinkets and bobbles, then off to the Raft.
The
raft looked like the boat the castaways were rescued from Gilligan's island
on. Their "glass bottom" was somewhat over stated, but the experience
was worth it. Here's a Google
Search for other Kon Tiki links
Great
Stirrup Cay is Norwegian Cruise Line's private island. The first
time we were there, it was a pretty lively beach party. This time though
(notice the last picture in the second row - Michele's got a fleece jacket
on) South Florida and the northern caribbean (note the last picture for
guidance as to where GSC is) were getting hit with some of the coldest
weather in over 30 years. It was nice to sit on the beach, but WAY too
cold to swim....
Making
matters worse, the cold and warm weather were causing extremely
rough waves, making for a rather uncomfortable formal dinner
evening on Friday (GSC was our Saturday stop...note the waves
against the rocks). As we've said before though, I'd rather
be in the Caribbean on vacation and chilly than warm and at
work at home!
