Its Me wrote:
On Friday, February 9, 2018 at 2:33:26 PM UTC-5, John H wrote:
On Fri, 09 Feb 2018 14:11:54 -0500, wrote:

On Fri, 09 Feb 2018 11:30:45 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 08 Feb 2018 22:58:51 -0500, wrote:

On Thu, 08 Feb 2018 19:44:58 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 08 Feb 2018 13:08:54 -0500, wrote:

On Thu, 08 Feb 2018 10:40:52 -0500, John H
wrote:

Hope your trip was spectacular. Understand you went to Antigua,
St. Lucie, Bonaire, and Aruba on the
Disney Wonder! Great time, I'm sure. Probably gained a few pounds
with the fantastic fare.

Glad you're back!


==
Sounds like an interesting itinerary. What were your favorite stops
and activities?

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Antigua was the least favorite. The place made me imagine what Haiti
must be like. Maybe we just
didn't see enough of the place. We got off the ship, walked around
about an hour and got right back
on the ship.

St. Lucie was enjoyable. Took a bus tour around the island and had a
great guide. He was very
knowledgeable of the island's flora and fauna, stopping at several
trees along the way to point out
peculiarities.

Bonaire and Aruba were very nice. Very clean and well maintained. We
took a couple hour Segway tour
in Bonaire, looking at the beaches and the salt production area.
Very interesting. Lots of scuba
diving about 50 yards off shore. No sand on the beaches there
because the sand blows into the sea
and kills the coral. Local government prohibits putting sand on the
beaches. If folks who live on
the coast want sand, they must import it and wall it in so it cannot
blow into the sea.

Aruba also has lots of scuba diving. The island is very sparse when
it comes to vegetation, as is
Bonaire.

The trip was very enjoyable!

==
Too bad you didn't get to see more of Antigua. You were no doubt on
the north end at St Johns which I think is the only port big enough
for a cruise ship. The more interesting harbors where the big yachts
hang out are at the south end, Falmouth and English Harbour. You'd
have to rent a car or go on a tour to get there. Hawksbill Resort, a
bit west of St Johns, is also a very nice place to hang out.

Trust me, even the worst parts of Antigua are nothing like Hati except
for the little fake village called Labadee where the Royal Caribbean
cruise ships take people. We were there once and it seems very serene
until you realize that you're surrounded by barbed wire fences
patroled by heavily armed guards. We were even escorted by armed
guards when kayaking.

I'm sure we'd have been better impressed if we'd signed up for an
excursion tour. I'd do more and
different excursions if we did that trip again.

We always try to avoid those excursions. They are expensive and a
little too "canned" for us. I think the one that finished it for us
was the plant hike in St Croix. We signed up not being sure what to
expect and were met at the dock by "Ooh Alooloo" a black guy (not
unusual in the islands) but we just started walking from there up
through residential neighborhoods looking at the weeds in people's
yards. It was the same crap that grows behind my house and he didn't
even know the real names for anything. It was just stuff he made up.
After talking to him a while, it turned out he was Lou from Detroit
and he was just a formerly homeless guy in St Croix who got this gig
from Carnival.
We paid them something like $50 a head. He wouldn't say what his cut
was but I assume taking 8-10 people for a 2 hour walk every time a
ship landed would pay for an apartment there..

The excursions we went on this time were very enjoyable. Disney asks for
input after the excursions,
and maybe they put a bit of effort into making sure they aren't ripoffs.
I would always trust a
Disney excursion more than those being hawked on shore. I can't think of
one that I didn't find
worth the money.

Sounds like you had a good time. I've never been on a Disney cruise, and
probably never will. Been on 3 Carnival cruises. The one almost 25
years ago was nice, good food, etc. one about 10 years later had slipped
some. The last one 6 or so years ago we wouldn't have gone on except it
was a family thing. Really bad. Carnival is the Walmart of cruises. Never again.

I want to go on a Lindblad cruise. They really look exceptional, and are
on small ships with nice service and real National Geographic folks
onboard to tell you what you're seeing on the land excursions. There's
one that goes down the coast of Costa Rica, stopping two or three times,
then through the Panama Canal. That would be great, but they are very spendy.


We have been on a couple cruises with friends. Wife and I may do another
when we get really old. Do not really like the cruise experience. We may
do,a small ship to or from Alaska. Get up close to glaciers. We took the
BC ferry to Prince Rupert from port Hardy. Is better on the southbound
trip. Going north the close up inside passage area is nighttime.