Did you even notice we were gone?
Frankly, wordpress takes forever to upload my pictures so I’m getting a little impatient with blogging. However, because I feel the need to gloat and make you all jealous, I am posting a few little gems from our cruise to the Caribbean.
First up, we stopped at a little island in the Bahamas called Eleuthera. Sounds magical, right? Well, it would have been, except all we saw was the tourist trap portion of the island that is actually owned by Princess Cruises. That’s right, a cruise company actually purchased real estate, and we stopped there. Our day at Eleuthera would have consisted of vegging out on the beach all day (I’m not complaining), but we also booked an excursion for snorkeling. Unfortunately, the snorkeling here was disappointing, to say the least. So if you ever find yourself on the magical island of Eleuthera, try not to pay any extra money and just enjoy the island for what it’s worth. A beautiful beach in the middle of nowhere.
Princess Cays, Eleuthera, Bahamas
Next up was St. Maarten. The island is divided between two nations, France and the Netherlands Antilles. We were on the Netherlands/dutch side. We spent most of the morning shopping, and we spent the afternoon snorkeling in “shipwreck cove”. And yes, there were actual ships at the bottom of the ocean.
Shopping in Phillipsburg, St. Maarten
View of St. Maarten from catamaran
Snorkeling in St. Maarten
Perhaps my favorite part of the cruise was our visit to Magens Bay in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Magens Bay was rated one of the top 10 beaches in the world by National Geographic, and now I know why. It was beautiful, and I would go back to St. Thomas in a heartbeat just visit that beach again.
Magens Bay
View of Magens Bay from above
Charlotte Amalie Scenic Overlook, St. Thomas
The final island stop was to Grand Turk, capital of the Turks & Caicos islands. This was a rather depressing island, but all the people still seem so cheerful. Again, lovely beaches. Grand Turk used to be famous for salt production, but their economy has since been devastated by large salt companies like Morton. Now around 80% of the islands inhabitants work for the tourist industry.
Salt flats on Grand Turk
Swimming at Governor's Beach, Grand Turk
And, last but not least, a picture from our cruise ship.
Cruise Ship
Oh, and Jesus. He guided us to our stateroom every day.
Jesus
Jealous, much?
oh wow i am SO jealous!!! magens bay is beautiful. i also adore trunk bay in st. john – a ferry ride over from st. thomas. i really need a vacation & you just kicked that feeling into overdrive. thanks a lot, kim!