Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Grenada
It rained when we got to Grenada, but that didn’t last long and we saw a beautiful big rainbow from the pier.
The ship didn’t offer a certified dive excursion so we booked the dive ourselves. Only my husband dove in Grenada, but I tagged along. The dive operator, Dive Grenada was by a nice quiet area of Grand Anse Beach and I enjoyed just relaxing. There weren’t a lot of people at the beach. The loungers were comfortable and I could always find a shaded area to stay in. The dive shop also offered free wi-fi so I was online the whole time I wasn’t in the water. Later in the morning, the waves got bigger and I got pummeled by one. That wasn’t pleasant.
Grand Anse Beach is beautiful.
Docks are not allowed at Grand Anse Beach so the divers had to battle the waves and lug their gear to the boat.
We had to be back to the ship by 1:30 as it was to set sail to Bonaire at 2pm. We got our passport stamped at Security/Immigration when you enter the pier. There was a line when we got back to the pier at 1pm, but it was a quick line. We head to Horizon Court for lunch and it was packed.
That night, I left John in the cabin and went around the ship to take photos for my Cruise Critic fellas. I stopped by the International Cafe, had some desserts and the shrimp salad everybody was raving about. I loved it!
The loungers at the Calypso pool were all covered, ready for the evening MUTS.
Below is today’s Princess Patter on embarkation day, click here to download the Princess Patter for the entire cruise.
Reviews after the jump…
Read on…
Southern Caribbean Cruise – Day 3
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Dominica
The ship was late in getting to Dominica. Our meeting time for the dive trip we booked via Princess was 9:20am so we headed to the gangway at 9am. The gangway was packed.
The Roseau (Dominica) pier was tiny. The pier was packed with tour operators and cruisers waiting for the rest of the cruisers booked for the tours. It was hot and the vehicles by the pier made the wait very uncomfortable.
Before we could get our excursion tickets at the Princess tour desk, we had to sign dive waiver forms and present our certification card. But when we met with the dive operator (Dive Dominica), we found out that they weren’t given the waiver forms we signed at the ship so we had to fill them out again… waste of time, paper and ink.
In the afternoon, we went to get our passports stamped, then bought magnets by the pier ($3). If you want your passport stamped, take the street right in front of the pier, between the bank and museum. Look for the police headquarters which is right before when the street curves to the left. It’s about a 5-minute walk.
Below is today’s Princess Patter on embarkation day, click here to download the Princess Patter for the entire cruise.
Reviews after the jump…
Read on…
Southern Caribbean Cruise – Day 2
Monday, April 25, 2011
St. Thomas
The ship arrived at the Crown Bay pier at St. Thomas at 7am. My husband left at 7:30am for his dive trip and I left at 8am for my snorkeling excursion. There was barely a line at the gangway.
I booked the St. John Trunk Bay Beach and Snorkel tour from Princess. We boarded the ferry right by the cruise terminal and took about an hour to get to St. John. Then we rode an open-air tour bus to Trunk Bay. Trunk Bay was beautiful. There weren’t as many fishes as I would like to see, but still a good place to snorkel. We snorkeled around the little island you see on the photo below in the middle of the bay. There was an underwater snorkeling trail that tells you different marine life you would see at Trunk Bay. The signs said that the surf conditions that day was choppy, but I thought it wasn’t that bad. I think it was a also good place for newbies to snorkel.
I booked John’s dive trip through Blue Island Divers. It was cheaper than the ship’s excursion. John forgot the name of the dive sites they went to, but it wasn’t one of his favorite dive spots. Marine life wasn’t very healthy.
John and I met at the pier after our trips and headed to Horizon Court for lunch. We went back to our cabin to shower and fell asleep right after. We then got out of the ship to buy some magnets. The magnets were quite expensive at Crown Bay ($5). There weren’t a lot of shops. I’ve heard people recommend going to the Havensight pier for shopping.
We were so tired after shopping that we slept through our dinner (8:15pm). We woke up at 11pm and went to Cafe Caribe (extension of Horizon Court) for dinner. Late at night, Horizon Court closes and Cafe Caribe opens.
Below is today’s Princess Patter on embarkation day, click here to download the Princess Patter for the entire cruise.
Reviews after the jump…
Read on…
World’s Top 10 Scuba Spots
Forbes Traveler have “assembled an expert panel of underwater adventurers to identify the 10 Best Scuba Spots in the World.” And guess what. Coron Island in the Philippines is one of them, with its bountiful shipwrecks.
Here’s the whole list:
- Blue Corner, Palau, Micronesia
- Blue Hole, Lighthouse Reef, Belize
- Coron Island, Philippines
- Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean
- Southern Red Sea, Sudan
- Cocos Island, Costa Rica
- Coral Sea, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
- Providenciales, Turks and Caicos
- Bali, Indonesia
- Dinah’s Beach and Observation Point, Papua New Guinea
TUESDAY FUNNY: divers & sharks
Why go dive with a buddy
My SCUBA instructor always stressed that you should never go diving alone. If you have equipment problems, your buddy
can help you. If you run out of air, your buddy can help you. If you meet an aggressive shark, your odds are 50-50 instead of 100%.
Two divers were checking a new reef when they saw a shark. The shark circled them, menacingly. One diver took off his fins and reached inside his BC and pulled out a pair of super-power fins. His buddy signaled: What? You can’t out swim a shark! The diver signaled back: I don’t have to out swim the shark – I only have to out swim you!
(via Salty Dog Dive Center)
