Arriving in St. Thomas the day after Christmas, we docked alongside Cunard's Queen Mary 2 and since our ship arrived first, we quickly disembarked and headed to the shops in downtown Charlotte Amalie.
But with passengers from four (4) ships in town the same day, would you care to guess which one of us was ready to return to the ship early?
Really…..Steve thought he'd found a short cut, but turns out it was just an alley with no outlet. We did make it back to the Amsterdam just fine though, and as we sailed away from the dock we waved "goodbye" to the friendly and equally attractive, Queen Mary 2.
One of our favorite islands in the Caribbean is St. Lucia and this is our 3rd visit since first stopping here on the last segment of our world cruise in 2013. We booked a Holland America tour around the island, this time traveling by small catamaran, from Castries to Soufriere. The Amsterdam stopped at both ports that day which enabled us to enjoy this unique tour. As we departed Castries, we sailed past our ship and down the coastline to a small village and then on to a secluded beach for a swim. Rum punch was enjoyed, setting the party mood for this voyage, as you'll see in the photos below.
Soon we sailed towards the Grand Pitons, two volcanic peaks that distinguish St. Lucia, and our destination of Soufriere where we hopped into several vans for transport to an historic Estate in the hills that produced sugar and cocoa for export to the US and Europe. The old methods of production are demonstrated.
On the way back to the port at Soufriere, we could see our ship arriving to pick us up by tender and then sail to our next port which was St. George's Grenada.
Another ship, the P&O Azure, had already arrived and we docked next to her. As we walked to the fort overlooking the city, we could see both ships below.
We sailed on to Bridgetown, Barbados and joined another tour by Holland America that focused on photography. The tour took us overland to the Atlantic side of the island. On the way we enjoyed photographing various scenes like those shown below, including a restored "chattel" home, and the entry to an old estate.
But the scenery along the Atlantic coast was the highlight.
As our ship departed, we enjoyed the sail-away party on the aft deck of the Amsterdam and were blessed with a beautiful rainbow on the horizon.
Please check back for more photos on the 2nd half of our Caribbean cruise back to Fort Lauderdale and as we prepare to leave again for around the world.
Happy New Year everyone !!!
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