This was our fifth cruise on Royal Caribbean and the biggest ship that we have ever been on. This was also the first time that we did not have to take a plane flight to start. We left out of Cape Liberty New Jersey. That in itself was a real treat. It saved us from flying and gave us extra sea days!
It was snowing in New Jersey when we left, and freezing cold upon our return. But what was in between was so worth it!
Our original plan was to drive up on the morning of the 2nd and get right on the ship. But the impending weather made made us rethink and come up with a new plan. We booked a room on Staten Island. This actually turned out to be cheaper than our original plan. Parking at the ship terminal would have been over $200, but the room with free parking, free shuttle, free breakfast, and no tolls turned out to be a cheaper option. Plus we were refreshed in the morning and met some other people going on the same cruise.
We were glad we made this plan, as the weather was nasty and it would have been nerve racking to drive. Over 200 people missed the ship and had to fly to San Juan to get on!
Our ship was right across from the Statue of Liberty in the port. Wish the weather had been better!
Our first stop was Labadee, Haiti which is a private beach owned by Royal Caribbean. It sure has changed since we were there last.
Second stop was San Juan. Nothing new here, but we still enjoyed it!
St Kitts was the only island that we had not been to. So we opted to take a tour of the island. It was long, but enjoyable!
When you actually meet and talk with the natives you find out just how rough they have it. Or do they? They live in paradise and this is all they know! This lady worked us hard to get Margo in a photo with her pet monkey. For a small donation of course.
This shot from the shores of St Maarten give you an idea of just how huge this ship is!
These lizards were plentiful and apparently very used to visitors.
On the ship they had $10 sales in the main area. OMG, you would have thought they were selling gold for $1 an ounce. It was fun watching the pushing and shoving!
Bumper cars on the ship? There sure were!
And swimming pools. I couldn’t even count them. Indoors and out. And hot tubs all over the place!
And the whole ship was just gorgeous! We were amazed everywhere we went.
And of course as with most vacations this was the worst sight. The sight of leaving it all behind and going home……..
I also made this video. It would have been tough to post ALL of the pictures that we took! LOL
