Travel Update

I promised to post updates on my back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean but, I didn't. I want to use my expensive Royal Caribbean WiFi minutes trying to post something. I am back from the cruises. The 2 cruises were a lot of fun. I got to see St. John (USVI), St. Kitts, Aruba, Curacao, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten and the French side St. Martin and St. Croix. Travel highlights include a really fun tour called Taste of Barbados where I got to visit a Bajan rum distillery then, the group travelled to a nearby plantation mansion where we were shown how to make 2 drinks: corn & oil and a Bajan rum punch. Our teacher let us enjoy a LOT of free samples. I know I was half sloshed by the time I returned to the Serenade of the Seas.

Another tour I enjoyed was a walking tour of Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The guide was Heavenly Petersen. The lady did a fantastic job. I learned some interesting things about the island and about one of the founding fathers of the United States i.e. Alexander Hamilton. He lived in St. Croix for 8 years but, he never talked about it apparently when telling of his early life. From what Heavenly told us, our group could understand why (his mother was a convicted adulteress for starters).

The ship Serenade of the Seas was great. It has a first rate crew and lots to do on-board. I got to try the automatically adjusting pool tables. They really worked. The ship moved a lot at times but, the balls on the pool tables didn't. The food was very good and overflowing in abundance. My 2 cabin stewards kept the 2 cabins I stayed in immaculate. I would definitely recommend this ship. I was sad when it was time to leave. I could have happily done another 2 cruises on her.

Overall, I had a really nice time. I can't wait to do back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean. That'll be next November when I sail with them out of Venice en-route to the Greek Islands. We'll see if they look as good in real life as they do in the pictures. Happy travels all.