Days 2,3 and 4 in the Southern Caribbean

Day 2 - St. Croix DH has gone scuba diving this morning, leaving me to get into trouble on my own! I attended the Cruise Critic meet and greet at 10:00 am and I was impressed that the ship’s officers went out of their way to attend. There was coffee, tea, orange juice and pastries set out for the meeting and the officers took the time to speak to us about their duties. One of the gentlemen was in charge of food services, and I was impressed. Over half of the ship’s crew was under his direction. There are about 500 employees working in the food sector. Each of the officers then spent time talking to all of us individually or in groups, answering any questions we might have had. After the get-together I headed for the Aqua Spa for a facial and massage. Heaven! When Wayne returned from his excursion, we took a walk around the small vendor tents along the end of the pier and found a T-shirt for Justin. Not much else going on there, so we returned to the ship. I wish I was braver and felt comfortable taking trips by myself. I’m sorry to say that the highlight of visiting St Croix for me was seeing a dolphin swimming in the harbor. If I’m ever here again, I will sign up for one of the ship’s excursions to tour the island and not be such a big baby.

Day 3 - St. Kitts St. Kitts was wonderful. Such a beautiful island. I accompanied Wayne on his scuba tour, and was a passenger on the boat. It was perfect just relaxing with the waves rocking you gently and the breezes keeping you cool. A welcome breeze, I might add, as it was very hot when we left the ship to meet the tour operators.

Day 4 - Dominica My favorite stop so far! I absolutely loved it! I took a whale-watching trip while Wayne was diving. We spotted sperm whales about 30 minutes after leaving the pier. Captain Jerry stopped and dropped the hydrophone into the water, listened for a few minutes and announced that there were whales in the vicinity. He gave a courtesy call to the whale-watch operator of the ship's tour (this one was booked independently), so that they could ensure that the ship's passengers on that boat also were able to see the whales. Soon enough, we spotted 2 whales in the distance, moving toward us. We worked our way closer and I have to tell you that I was awed by the sight. Eventually, they were joined by three more, and then they moved themselves toward 3 or 4 more animals and formed a small group where they socialized for a while. There were 6 adults and 2 calves! I took some video, and apologize for the shakiness. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The whales were so close to the boat, they actually swam up underneath us and surfaced behind us. Then they swam along side the boat, no farther than 15 feet away. One whale gave us the eye as he (or she) swam by. One of them had to be at least 30 feet long. This day has been my highlight so far. I can't believe the wonders of our earth and sea.