We just returned from the cruise. Here are some photos. Didn't take too many this cruise. A description of the cruise and some of the ports follows the photos.
Jay and Julie at one of the Formal Dinners.
Sunrise on the ocean
The Centrum Grand Staircase
Main Floor of the My Fair Lady Main Dining Room
The Stairs leading to the second floor of the My Fair Lady Dining Room
Steaming Back to Baltimore
Stained Glass on the Aft Stairway
Looking Forward in the Centrum
Looking Aft in the Centrum
One of the Glass Elevators in the Centrum
On Monday we left Baltimore about 4:30 in the afternoon. It was midnight before we entered the Atlantic Ocean. Tuesday for part of the day we had 11-15 foot waves and the ship was rolling a bit. Later in the day the seas got smoother. We were sailing with Dave Jonasz a friend and railfan from Detroit, and Al, Kathy, and Kari from PA. Al works with me at the trolley museum. Also seven others from Berkeley Springs were aboard.
We sailed for three and a half days reaching Tortola, the capital of the British Virgin Island Friday morning. We took a "bus" tour of the island which lasted three hours. We went up and down the mountains on roads that make West Virginia look like the Plains states. The "bus" was a GMC 3500 with seats on the bed holding 20 people. Some of the views from the various peaks were really outstanding and I didn't bring the camera because we had not plans to take a tour. Next time I will take the camera everywhere.
The next day we were on Antigua. We basically just looked around at the shops. Didn't do a tour.
Sunday we arrived at St. Maarten docking on the Dutch side. St. Maarten consists of a Dutch and French side. The Dutch side is inderpentent but the French side is still part of France. We got together we a family of eight and shared a van for a three hour tour of St. Maarten. This tour included the infamous Orient Beach (nude), the beautiful and expensive French town of Marigot, views from 1200 feet above the island, and the Airport Beach where you can almost touch the planes landing and taking off. FYI, most of the nude people on Orient Beach were male and over 60!
Monday found us at the shopping center of the Caribbean, St. Thomas. We went into town and did some minor shopping and just looked around for a while.
Tuesday we pulled into San Juan. Went into the shopping district, got a tee shirt, and found a nice little coffee shop right next to the dock. Had a nice coffee/chocolate drink and purchased a pound of their great coffee. Hope to try it soon. If we like it, they have a web site and you can get it delieved. However, we will be back in San Juan in November.
Wednesday we visited Royal Caribbean's private resort at Labadee, Haiti. Walked around the very hilly area for a bit. Watched the people coming down the Zip Line and then walked out to the point. They serve lunch there but we went back to the ship for lunch.
We left Labadee at 2:30 and headed back to Baltimore where we arrived two and a half days later. Our last day at sea on Friday was a bit rough also. Basically the water around North Carolina can be a bit rough at times.
A few comments about the ship: The Enchantment of the Seas is an older ship as ships go but it was greatly improved in 2005 and is scheduled for additional improvements in December. The food is wonderful and different each of the 12 days. Also the shows in the large theater were different every night. The ship holds just over 2,000 so it isn't crowded. This was our second cruise on her and will certainly cruise again on her in the future.
This is our fourth cruise with Royal Caribbean. In November, we will board the Explorer of the Seas from New Jersey for another cruise with this company. Currently 22 people have booked with our group and I have room for ten more people. A bus will be provided from Berkeley Springs for this 11 day cruise.
