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.

It sounds like where Holland America took us in Guatemala (Santo Tomas
De Castilla). It was a container port that they had just decided might
be a stop for their ships. The locals had set up a baby straw market
with a few trinkets but most people just walked around an hours or so
and went back to the ship. We found out you could go to the Navy base
and take a water taxi over to the Best Western so we gave it a shot.
Once there, there still wasn't much to do but we asked if there was
place to take a walk. They pointed up this dirt road and said there
was a gate in the 8' fence with the razor wire on top and we could
walk up that path. They had not seen the guerilla recently there.
It was really a cool walk up this well manicured trail (I think it was
how they got to work). We really had the rain forest experience, not
like just walking around here like the other "rain forest" walks we
have been on. We heard howler monkeys and saw tropical birds we don't
have here. No guerrillas.
15.703286° -88.647983° on the giggle.

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/Best%20Western%20Guatemala.jpg

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/Guatemala/g...avy%20base.jpg
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/Guatemala/guatemala%20navy.jpg
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/Guatemala/g...ine%20judy.jpg