Honeymoon Cruise | Part III
Day 7: Castries, St. Lucia
By day seven, the morning workouts were long gone. Austin and I had likely gained a combined total of almost 10 pounds after a week of eating heaping three-course dinners and buffet meals. Occasionally after dinner, we had “second dinner” at the pool cafe—pizza and nachos galore!
We hopped off the ship early to get in line for our sailboating excursion. As it turned out, we were the only two people on a boat of over a thousand retirees interested in an afternoon of rigorous rope-pulling and helm-manning. Private sailing lesson? Don’t mind if we do!
We boarded the racing sailboat owned by a woman from Britain who relocated to St. Lucia. Her and her assistant, a St. Lucia local, showed us the ropes (literally). At no point did either of them take the helm—it was a truly immersive experience. On the way out of the bay, Austin manned the helm while I followed a stream of shouted commands, tying off ropes and watching the boom. We switched spots on the way back into the harbor. I had never been on a sailboat before, so I tried not to scream in terror as the side of the boat dipped down—nearly flush with the water—each time we changed directions. Turns out, that’s typical. But according to our instructors, we’re both natural sailors! This is definitely an excursion I would recommend to anyone looking for an active, non-traditional adventure.
Once we were back on the ship, we tried our hand at rock climbing (it was completely empty because, again, not many retirees looking for a thrilling climb) and then happened upon a dance competition in the Centrum. They play a song, and your team performs the dance that corresponds to the song. I honestly can’t remember if our team won, but we sure had a good time (especially when one of our table mates came up to us in the middle of the game and slipped us each drinks from the bar!).
The main act that night was John Moyer, a comedy hypnotist. I got my hopes up a bit when I first saw the schedule that day, mistakenly wondering when John Mayer switched to comedy. Austin and I were skeptics walking into the show, and I can’t say either of us were truly converted to the art of hypnotism. It was the typical “when I snap, you will fall deep asleep.” There was one woman on stage who, each time she thought John was out of view, would conspicuously peek up at the audience with the widest smirk on her face. As he turned around, she would snap back into her “hypnotized” state, but from our front-row seats I could see her shoulders shuddering as she held back fits of laughter. John was the comedian, but this woman was easily the funniest part of the show.
Day 8: Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis
This was island four of five, and once again we headed out early for our excursion. My advise to future cruisers: Don’t book an excursion for every single day of a cruise, especially when visiting five islands. We were getting pretty exhausted at this point. The plan for today: rainforest zip lining. And once again, a private excursion since we were the only couple to sign up!
It was a half hour shuttle ride to the location, which was—as you may have guessed—in the middle of a rainforest. The guides suited us up in harnesses and loaded the group (which had grown in size because of another cruise ship offering the excursion) into a open-bed truck. We journeyed to the top of a mountain and were face-to-face with what seemed like a mile-long zip line. Of course, I was first! There were four zip lines in total that zig-zagged us down through the rainforest, travelling at speeds of up to 90 miles per hour. Not once was I scared, but I can say that a zip line that long gives you plenty of time to look around and enjoy the beauty of the island! Below me was the rainforest and just a bit further, the ocean.
After returning our gear, a man approached us and asked if we wanted to hold his monkey. On his arm was a tiny baby monkey with a little diaper, munching on grapes. Austin happens to dream of owning a monkey, so I could see his wide eyes brighten with excitement from a mile away. So I handed over the cash and we had a quick photo shoot before hopping in the shuttle.
That evening, Austin hunkered down in the casino lounge to watch the Kansas City Chiefs football game, so I took $50 out of his wallet to try my hand at blackjack. I mistakenly thought this would be enough cash to last me the rest of his game. After doubling my money, I returned to the bar to find out that the first quarter wasn’t even over yet. The casino was nearly empty though, so I sat at the bar with Austin for the rest of the game, sipping my virgin mango daiquiris (basically just a cheap fruit smoothie—but my delicious staple drink throughout the cruise).
Day 9: Philipsburg, Sint Maarten
For the fifth day in a row, we pulled ourselves out of bed early in the morning to line up for our excursion. Today, we would be going on Sea Trek, which involved putting on an astronaut-like helmet and walking underwater. However, when we got on the dock, they informed us that the company had cancelled the excursion due to a lack of underwater visibility. Typically this would have put a real damper on the day, but we were surprisingly relieved. An entire day on a beautiful island to ourselves? Hallelujah!
We took the water taxi to the beach-side street and began exploring the shops. This didn’t last long for two reasons. One, the temperature was becoming unbearable as noon approached. And two, the locals were approaching (and sometimes following) us every few steps, asking if we wanted to rent a beach chair and umbrella (both of which filled up the length of the shore—hundreds of chairs, most of which lay empty). We finally found a small spot on the sand that was clear of chairs, umbrellas, or pestering salesmen. This was, by far, the most beautiful beach of all the islands. The sand felt like sugar and the water was bright blue. We spent about an hour floating in the water and watching the tourists pad past the colorful shops that lined the shore. I could tell we were truly content because I even forgot to pull out my camera and take a picture. The one photo we have is of myself sitting on the dock, waiting for the water taxi back to the ship.
The rest of our day was a blur of buffets, cruise entertainment, and late night snacks. Only three more full sea days on the ship!
Day 10: Sea Day
After five days in a row of waking up early for island exploring, you best bet we took this opportunity to sleep in. We woke up just in time to hit up the breakfast buffet before they closed and then headed to the theater for Family Feud. We submitted our names, and of course were picked to go on stage! Now, I like to think that I’m pretty good at Family Feud, but this was definitely not my day. It didn’t help that I was the second-to-last person in our “family”, so the stakes were even higher. The question: What is a sport that doesn’t use a ball? The three people in front of me took all the obvious answers, but the real kicker was the lady who was sitting next to me, last in line. She kept talking to herself (or to me? I wasn’t exactly sure). I’m trying to think to myself, and all I can hear is this old lady excitedly whispering “Gymnastics… Oooo rock climbing! What about skiing? Is skiing a sport? Jogging!” This lady was bonkers. Suddenly it’s my turn and I have come up with zero ideas, and just blurt “Curling!” As you can probably guess, that was not on the list… And the game was filmed and played on every cabin room TV for the remainder of the cruise. When we went to dinner that night, one of our table mates said they saw us on TV. We responded, “Really? Which show?” Embarrassing as it was, it was pretty cool being famous on the ship!
Click here to view Part I of our honeymoon cruise.
Click here to view Part II of our honeymoon cruise.