Southern Caribbean Cruise
Two girl friends on a 10-Day Southern Caribbean Cruise and island-hopping adventure!November 25, 2007
Paradise's End
Like Grace, I'm very glad to be back home now. The cruise was a perfect relaxation vacation. We came back to the Thanksgiving holiday which made it even more perfect. It was like a vacation from vacation for me. I got a few days to unwind before I need to kick into full gear for work on Monday. I know that everyone has been waiting to see pictures. Wait no longer. The photo gallery link can be found at the bottom of this page.
I guess it's my turn to put in my two cents about our last two port of calls, Curacao and Aruba. These two islands were very different from St. Thomas and Dominica. Though they're all in the Caribbean the terrain is drastically different. St. Thomas and Dominica were mountainous and covered in green dense forest. Curacao and Aruba on the other hand are relatively flat and dessert-like with cactuses. The islands are less than 40 miles away from South America. I didn't pay much attention in Aruba, but Curacao had this nice warm and constant breeze. We were warned about it onboard to hold on to your hats. In Curacao, we docked in the capital city of Willemstad. I loved how colorful the buildings are. Even the houses further inland are colorful, so it wasn't just flashy in the touristy areas. We did a little walking in the "punda" which is the shopping district in Willemstad. It was there that we were approached by some locals who eventually showed us around and paid for everything. We went to the Curacao distillery and Mambo beach resort and back to the punda. We went back onboard for the dinner BBQ and then back into town to have a couple drinks at a local piano bar called Sopranos. Remember the warm breeze I was talking about? The breeze was so cool and relaxing at night. I felt I could just sit there all evening, sipping on a drink and listening to the music from the piano bar. All that was missing was a hammock. The guys we met earlier were supposed to meet us there also, but they never showed up. In a way I was relieved. In hindsight, we didn't take any safety precautions by going off and trusting these strangers. Same thing with the guy Ralph in St. Thomas. In the back of my mind I'm really glad we're back and safe. Fortunately, the strangers we came across were nothing but nice to us. The next day we arrived in Oranjestad, Aruba. We decided that we just want to hang out at the beach on our last port day. We went to Palm Beach and stayed there for a few hours. Afterwards, we headed back to port and did some souvenir shopping. We didn't get to spend too much time there, but it was a beautiful shopping center. It reminded me of the indoor shopping center at the Aladdin in Vegas. Except all the colorful buildings and blue sky are all real! Anyway, all the fun in the sun really made us tired quick so we finally headed back for the ship.
All in all, my first cruise was very nice. It was just what I needed. Also, not to be biased, but I couldn't have asked for a better cruise line to go on my first cruise with. Of course there were things I wish were different, but overall I couldn't complain. I would definately go on another cruise again. I don't know if I can handle being on a cruise ship for anymore than 10 days though. Maybe I'd feel differently if I was more prepared for the trip or if I had gone with Seung. I constantly wished he was there to experience everything I experienced. Many aspect of the cruise was very romantic for couples. As I mentioned before, there were a lot of old couples onboard. Although they made me happy and smile, they also made me sad and miss my baby a lot. Anyway, I would recommend for everyone to go on a cruise at least once. Don't knock it until you've experienced it. Then again cruises aren't for everyone. Up to you. I mean I was never really interested in going on a cruise before, but now I think I might've caught the cruising bug because I'm already plotting where I want to cruise to next. Mexico? Alaska? South America? Europe?
I guess it's my turn to put in my two cents about our last two port of calls, Curacao and Aruba. These two islands were very different from St. Thomas and Dominica. Though they're all in the Caribbean the terrain is drastically different. St. Thomas and Dominica were mountainous and covered in green dense forest. Curacao and Aruba on the other hand are relatively flat and dessert-like with cactuses. The islands are less than 40 miles away from South America. I didn't pay much attention in Aruba, but Curacao had this nice warm and constant breeze. We were warned about it onboard to hold on to your hats. In Curacao, we docked in the capital city of Willemstad. I loved how colorful the buildings are. Even the houses further inland are colorful, so it wasn't just flashy in the touristy areas. We did a little walking in the "punda" which is the shopping district in Willemstad. It was there that we were approached by some locals who eventually showed us around and paid for everything. We went to the Curacao distillery and Mambo beach resort and back to the punda. We went back onboard for the dinner BBQ and then back into town to have a couple drinks at a local piano bar called Sopranos. Remember the warm breeze I was talking about? The breeze was so cool and relaxing at night. I felt I could just sit there all evening, sipping on a drink and listening to the music from the piano bar. All that was missing was a hammock. The guys we met earlier were supposed to meet us there also, but they never showed up. In a way I was relieved. In hindsight, we didn't take any safety precautions by going off and trusting these strangers. Same thing with the guy Ralph in St. Thomas. In the back of my mind I'm really glad we're back and safe. Fortunately, the strangers we came across were nothing but nice to us. The next day we arrived in Oranjestad, Aruba. We decided that we just want to hang out at the beach on our last port day. We went to Palm Beach and stayed there for a few hours. Afterwards, we headed back to port and did some souvenir shopping. We didn't get to spend too much time there, but it was a beautiful shopping center. It reminded me of the indoor shopping center at the Aladdin in Vegas. Except all the colorful buildings and blue sky are all real! Anyway, all the fun in the sun really made us tired quick so we finally headed back for the ship.
All in all, my first cruise was very nice. It was just what I needed. Also, not to be biased, but I couldn't have asked for a better cruise line to go on my first cruise with. Of course there were things I wish were different, but overall I couldn't complain. I would definately go on another cruise again. I don't know if I can handle being on a cruise ship for anymore than 10 days though. Maybe I'd feel differently if I was more prepared for the trip or if I had gone with Seung. I constantly wished he was there to experience everything I experienced. Many aspect of the cruise was very romantic for couples. As I mentioned before, there were a lot of old couples onboard. Although they made me happy and smile, they also made me sad and miss my baby a lot. Anyway, I would recommend for everyone to go on a cruise at least once. Don't knock it until you've experienced it. Then again cruises aren't for everyone. Up to you. I mean I was never really interested in going on a cruise before, but now I think I might've caught the cruising bug because I'm already plotting where I want to cruise to next. Mexico? Alaska? South America? Europe?
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