Category Archives: Cruises

Cruises, French West Indies Cruise

Wind Surf Cruise: St. Kitts and Return to St. Martin

Basseterre, St. Kitts

The last time we were in St. Kitts, there was basically a casino and not much else. The town was pretty poor. That was 25ish years ago. Today, the port has been enlarged, they created a shopping area full of stores for us to shop. It was an amazing transformation.

We decided to take a tour of a different side of the island on a refurbished sugarcane train. The trains were originally built in 1912 and 1926 respectively. The tour included 12 miles on a bus with a driver who gave a bit of history about the island.

The train portion of the tour is 18 miles on a narrow-gauge track. The train hugs the northeastern coastline where you see beautiful views of the ocean, surf, cliffs and vegetation is all around. The train crosses on steel bridges with views of deep canyons. As you circle around the coast, you can see Mt. Liamuiga, a large volcano inland from the train. You can also see Nevis Peak across the inlet. It rises 3200 feet and is the highest point on Nevis. (it is the featured picture)

The refurbished trains probably look a lot better than when they were actually working the sugar cane fields

The tour included drinks. Anyone like rum? They also had a local singing group who went from car to car.

Sugar Cane plantation ruins
Sugar Cane field ruins.
One of the spectacular views from the train

I have to say the seats weren’t the most comfortable and you really couldn’t get up from your seat because the train rocked along the tracks. I thought the tour was a bit too long. The train runs fairly slowly so you are on the train for about 2 hours. I felt an hour or an hour and a half would have been perfect.

The bus picked us up at a different station from where we embarked and took us back to the port.

That night we went to Candles, the grill restaurant. The food was quite good. The nicest thing is the two restaurants do not have an upcharge even thought the food is taken up a notch.

Day 7 Philipsburg, St. Martin.

When we arrived at Philipsburg the following morning, we were picked up by our taxi driver. Originally, we thought we would be able to go somewhere for a few hours before boarding our plane. Instead, we did some last-minute shopping and cruised around downtown Phillipsburg. It was a lovely week in a beautiful part of the Caribbean. We look forward to coming back at some point but there are a lot of places still on my bucket list.

Cruises, French West Indies Cruise

Wind surf cruise: Guadeloupe and St. Barts

Les Saintes, Guadeloupe is not on the island of Guadeloupe. It is part of a group of tiny islands 6 miles south of Basse-Terre, the main part of Guadeloupe. From what we heard, it is much more of the old Caribbean and not as crowded as the main island.

After the one tour that was run by the ship and then having the experience of getting a local taxi drive to take us on a tour, we decided to go on another tour with a local. We took the lifeboat to the dock. We did get a local taxi driver to take the four of us on a tour of the island.

This is the port at Les Saints.

We would never have found all of the sites by ourselves. The bay of Les Saintes ranks among UNESCO’s list of most beautiful bays in the world. Overlooking the bay is 19th-century Fort Napoléon, with a museum and cactus garden. It was worth the trip to see it.

The view is from the old fort. It is a 19th Century fort built by the French.
Since we didn’t add any pictures of us. Here we are overlooking the gorgeous bay. With us are Mike and Fran Burday on the left and Mike and I on the right.
View of the Wind Surf from the island.

Gustavia, St. Barts

Who doesn’t love St. Barts? It is a real jewel in the French West Indies. If you are a shopper, this is the place. If you want really good French food and hotels, this is the place. It is also the most expensive island to do almost anything. It is the playground of the “rich and famous” especially for Christmas and New Year.

We were awestruck by the amazing yachts. One of them was the Gene Machine owned by Jonathan Rothberg who invented the Gene Machine, a next generation Gene system still used by many labs (old habits die hard. I worked in the molecular laboratory industry). It was only 160 feet.  Another was the “James Bond” Sky Fall, a 223-foot yacht. There were so many huge yachts at anchor, it was hard to imagine how many people owned them. As it turns out, a lot less own them than rent them. We took a walk along the waterfront to stare at the yachts and hoped someone would invite us on. We only saw the crews so the owners were busy somewhere else or sleeping. Sigh. What would that be like (even for a day!)

Gene Machine owned by Jonathan Rothberg
We told the crew from Sky Fall we wanted a tour. They basically laughed at us.
Another view of Sky Fall

St. Barts is a volcanic island. From the beginning, it was considered too rugged for large-scale agriculture so the island found its fame in trading.

It was a longtime French possession but it was sold to Sweden in 1784 so the French could obtain trading privileges in Gothenburg. It returned to France nearly a century later still as a trading island. From trading, it turned itself into a playground for the rich and famous.

We walked around the downtown area and did some window shopping in the designer stores. Every designer has stores there. Anyone who is anyone has a shop there. It is hard to imagine but they were able to came back from Irma quickly. Money helps.

St. Barts shopping district
More shops

We stopped off for an early drink, well mid-morning drink. It was the alcoholic kind after all, where were we going to go and other than walk to the lifeboat, not much to worry about. The place was the Le Creperie but it was more than just coffee. It was a great spot to stop and enjoy our visit.

Early drinking, Mike, Mike, Fran and Nancy

When Mike and I visited here years ago, it was on a sailboat. We never really went into the town but snorkeled at a big rock that is par of the harbor. The snorkeling was great as the water was crystal clear and the sea life was abundant.

On the way out, we saw some more superyachts, one of them owned by Roman Abramovich, a Russian Steel magnate named the Eclipse. It is 533 feet.

Quite a view from the lifeboat going back to the ship

One of the others we saw is EOS (305 feet) owned by Barry Diller and Diane Von Furstenberg.

and finally, we saw French luxury giant LVMH owner and billionaire Bernard Arnault’s 333-foot yacht named the Symphony. Pretty impressive to see helicopters taking off from the ships. They looked so small in comparison to the ships. It was awesome.  

Quite a sight even in the dark. Taken from our ship

I would really like to spend more that a few hours there one of these days but there are so many places to go. Perhaps we will get back there someday to stay for a couple of days.  

Cruises, French West Indies Cruise

wind Surf Cruise: Dominica and St. Lucia

We never visited Dominica and, to tell the truth, the main town isn’t wonderful but the rest of the island is quite beautiful. It is a relatively poor island and is quite prone to hurricanes because of its location. Dominica is known as “The Nature Island of the Caribbean” due to its lush scenery and varied flora and fauna. The island has rainforests and is home to the world’s second-largest hot spring, Boiling Lake. Morne Trois Pitons National Park is a tropical forest blended with volcanic features and was recognized as a World Heritage Site. Some plants and animals thought to be extinct on surrounding islands can still be found in Dominica’s forests.

During our visit to Dominica, we were scheduled to go on a water/snorkeling tour but it started raining that day so we cancelled the trip. Our friends did go on the trip and had another incident with a boat that day. It was just bad karma.

Once the rain seemed to stop, we decided to go into Roseau and see the town. We hired a taxi at the pier. There were six of us from the ship going to the middle of town but when we got there and saw the “middle of town,” we decided to stay in the taxi and go back. The taxi driver offered to take us for a tour so for $25 per person (there were 4 of us by that time), it was very reasonable. His tour was terrific. He showed us the beauty of the island and took us to the rainforest. His tour included a now “famous” car that was crushed by Irma.

The crushed school bus (it was empty at the time) was a souvenir from Irma. It is now part of the landscape of the island.
Wild coffee plant along side the road.

He stopped along side the road and showed us wild coffee plants and cocoa plants as well as stopping by the volcanic heated pools.

Hot springs water rushing into a waterfall.
Just another waterfall. We passed so many and they were all beautiful. Plenty of ways to hike up to them.
Just another beautiful waterfall. Dominica is a lush, beautiful island.

We asked about how they managed during the hurricane since there was no electric for a few months. He said people lived in cars, charged their phones in the cars and subsisted on canned food as the lush bounty that the island provides.

Poinsettias growing wild.

He also spoke about the takeover of many industries by the Chinese. He was very concerned that the government was being too heavily influenced by the Chinese. According to him, the people prefer working with Americans working with them but the Chinese is providing needed funding for public programs. This was a wonderful tour with a lovely gentleman who showed us the beauty of his island but still wouldn’t visit the town.

Pigeon Island, St. Lucia

This was the second place we never visited before but I really can’t say we saw St. Lucia because Pidgeon Island is just an island separated from the main island.

It was too far time wise to go to the main part of St. Lucia, we went with the barbeque-on-the-each day. The crew and island people set up beach chairs and cabanas. Everone took some time to go into the water while waiting for the beach feast.

These blue cabanas were really handy to keep the sun in check. It was pretty hot.

Besides all of the picnic food they had a steel band to play while we were there.

These are only a few of the steel band members.
Cookies anyone?

There are ruins of a fort that was built in the area. It was alternately used by the French and British. The British used the heavily fortified Pigeon Island to spy on the French in Martinique. 

Basically, this is the only thing to see on this island.
The fort ruins
St. Lucia ocean view

It was a very relaxing day.

Cruises, French West Indies Cruise

Wind Surf cruise: Nevis

Day 1 Charleston, Nevis

The first port we visited was Charleston, Nevis. Nevis is typically associated with St. Kitts. They have a long, intertwined history. They were both visited by Christopher Columbus in 1493, Francis Drake in 1585, and Captain John Smith of Jamestown, Virginia fame in 1607. They became rich islands on the back of sugar cane. When sugar cane farming went away, they became tourist destinations.

The distance between the two islands is a little over 17 miles. This map is on a post looking toward St. Kitts.

Nevis is also famous for being the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton. We decided to take a tour because it included a botanical garden in Nevis.  My dirty little secret is I go to botanical gardens anywhere and everywhere I go. Also, Mike and I visited Nevis a couple of times on a sailboat many years ago. At that time, we landed via zodiac on the beach next to the Four Seasons. It was so inviting and beautiful. On that trip, we took a tour of the English homes that were once sugarcane plantations. My memory of Nevis was a beautiful idyllic place. Well, that was pretty much a fantasy.

Charleston is okay but I kept thinking it would be so much nicer. This time we saw the “real” island. We visited the Alexander Hamilton museum.  I have to say it was actually quite depressing. It needed significant work although it survived Irma so it is a sturdy structure. The shutters were hanging by a screw. The inside was not worth the visit because there wasn’t much inside and it was basically a trip inside a basement. Hopefully, they will get funding to make it more inviting.

Alexander Hamilton Birthplace
Another view of the Alexander Hamilton Birthplace. It really needs some restoration

 From there, we went to Lord Nelson’s home. who is best known for his valiant command of the British fleet during the Battle of Trafalgar. who is best known for his valiant command of the British fleet during the Battle of Trafalgar. It turns out he met and married a woman who lived on Nevis and made the island his home. 

During our bus tour around Nevis, we passed a park that was heavily decorated for Christmas. It was a bit over the top but fun to see.

I am using this photo from the botanical garden because I wanted to show the entryway.

The next stop made the whole tour worthwhile. It was the Nevis Botanical Garden. It is situated on the Montpelier Estate overlooking Mount Nevis and the ocean. It is owned by Christi Douglass.

Christie Douglass is the owner of the Botanical Garden. She is a wonderfully engaging individual. Our tour was so special because of her. Thank you Christie!

Her husband passed away and she remained on as the owner, tour director, and anything else she needs to be. She gave us a beautiful tour of the garden and spoke about what they added to the original garden in the way of plantings and Asian sculptures, collected over many years by the Douglases, who are collectors of fine art and antiquities.

Just a few of the hundreds of bromeliads planted along the trails.
This massive statuary greets you as you walk into a n enclosed rainfall planted area.
A beautiful large staghorn fern
The statues were all collected by the Douglass’s over many years. The vibe is very much Far East. It is calm and just beautiful.

She also collected many plants from Thailand because she has a home there as well as Nevis. Because we live in Florida, we are typically surrounded by much of the beautiful plants but the addition of the sculptures just elevated the experience. At the end of the tour, they gave us a delicious drink. There is a botanical shop for souvenirs on the property as well as a restaurant that looked lovely.   

Getting back to the ship was an experience. We boarded the lifeboat to go back and were almost at the ship when when the motor overheated and we smelled smoke. Instead of anyone telling us what is wrong, they shut down the motor and we were adrift.

We were watching the other lifeboat trying to tow us.

The winds and currents were pretty strong; we thought we were headed back to St. Martin. Unfortunately, the crew was not communicating with us so we had no idea what they were going to do to get us back. There were about 40 hungry and bathroom-needing people on board, all wondering what was happening. About an hour later, they finally dispatched another lifeboat to come and tow us back.

Finally, the ship was back in sight. The race was on for the closest bathroom.

It was alternately funny and worrying but we finally got back and they kept lunch going for us. Later that day we met with the Captain who had a lot of data but no sympathy or apology. They begrudgingly gave us a note apologizing. That could have been handled much better.

Cruises, French West Indies Cruise

WindSTar Island Adventure in the Caribbean: Part 1

Last December 2019 before Coronavirus reared its ugly imposition on all of us, Mike and I went to the French West Indies on the Windstar Line’s Wind Surf.  We first cruised on the Windsurf many years ago in the Mediterranean when the ship was first launched. We enjoy smaller ships and the places they can go that larger ships cannot. While it is small, it still has 300+ people on it and it makes up for its size in so many ways.

For example, personalized service is so much better on a smaller cruise. The waiters get to know your name and your preferences for food and drinks.  By the way, the food was quite good; much better than most cruises. In addition to the dining room, they had two other restaurants available for dinner; Stella Bistro that was a French restaurant and Candles that took over the Veranda restaurant the served breakfast and lunch.

The Wind Surf just came out of drydock where it was modified and added a couple of rooms and updated the venues and mechanical parts. I have to say our room looked like it did years ago so I don’t really know what they did. The one thing not available on “sailing” ships are balconies. I have to admit, I missed being able to sit outside our cabin.

For entertainment, there were two musical groups in a couple of different bar areas.  Between the music and the delicious drinks, we had a comfortable end of the day. We were a bit surprised to find out there was a sommelier on the ship. We started a few conversations with him that resulted in a wonderful wine dinner after he found a few other couples who were game for a special dinner. The wines and champagnes were very good and his pairing suggestions for the food worked very well. It was held in the French bistro restaurant (Stella Bistro).

The Wind Surf just returned to the Caribbean from Europe and this was the first trip since dry dock. A number of people came over on the two-week journey and stayed on the St. Martin week.   One another note, Mike and I visited many of the islands where the cruise would take us with the exception of three: St. Lucia, Dominica, and Guadeloupe. On our other visits, we were on small chartered sailboats that just held 6 of us plus a captain and cook. We really loved those trips. Many of my comments about the islands we visited before contrasted with the changes in the many years since our original trips to the islands.  

On this trip, we traveled with friends one of whom is a travel agent. It was fun to travel with us. Since we had an early flight out of Ft. Lauderdale, we stayed over night on the east coast.

We flew to St. Martin a day ahead to make sure we were there without worrying about a “just-in-time” flight. The airport in St. Martin is still rebuilding from the effects of the Hurricane Irma two years before. The airport functions but it certainly has a long way to go. Along those same lines, many of the hotels are back in operation but the island is  still rebuilding.  

This view is from the taxi on the way to Philipsburg from the Queen Juliana Airport

We stayed at the Holland House overnight. It is a very nice hotel in the middle of Front Street, the main shopping street in St. Martin. Their staff was very helpful throughout our visit and I would recommend it if someone was going early for a cruise. Otherwise, I would stay at a hotel on the beach. Duty-free shops were all around us. All of the jewelry or designer clothes anyone could want was on either side of the entrance or across the street.

The back of the hotel faced the beach and it was simply beautiful. The view was the “boardwalk” with its wide promenade and then the gorgeous blue water and beach. We had a very lovely room with a balcony so we could just sit and watch the sunset or sunrise or any other time.

Early morning view from our room at the Holland House
St. Martin sunset beach view from our balcony.

They had nice bars inside and out. They also had a nice place for dinner so we didn’t bother going anywhere. The food was good. The service at the restaurant was a bit spotty.  

Looking down from our balcony on the bar and restaurant at the Holland House

It is really to travel with a travel agent because she knew who to contact for anything and the best way of getting around as well as the better tours. Fran arranged a driver to picked us up at the airport, dropped us off at our hotel, picked us up from the hotel the next day, and picked us up from the ship when we got back. The driver was really great. We just had to get in his van and off we went at the right time.

The next day, we went shopping (for a change). It is actually the only time I can get Mike to go into stores with me.

St. Martin celebrates its Dutch heritage with wooden shoes in the shopping area.

I love it and he is really good about the it especially because I bought him a shirt. Then it was time to go and our taxi came right on time and we left for the harbor.