St. Lucia
We had a magnificent day in St. Lucia. The Pearl docked early, but we’d all decided to sleep in a bit and have a leisurely morning since we had a long port call. Around 9:30 we headed off the ship. We had hoped to rent a car, but the only agency we saw couldn’t accommodate us so we went back to the taxi stand and they were very helpful. We told them we wanted a nice beach with a bit of snorkeling if possible, good for kids and some shade. They all agreed that we should go to Reduit beach just north of Castries. Our cab driver, Nelson, took us to his van and off we went. The island is gorgeous – lush and tropical and full of color. Dan has dubbed it the Hawaii of the East. As we drove Nelson gave us lots of great tidbits about the island and then pulled into the Rex Resort and dropped us off. He agreed to return for us at 3:00. We walked through to the beach and found a lovely little bay with sailboats and soft, soft sand. Gorgeous crystal clear water. We rented 2 chairs with an umbrella and settled in. The kids hit the water, the daddies went to check out the snorkeling and the mommies dove into their books with occasional dips in the water to cool off.
The kids were having so much fun and reported seeing some fish right where they were playing. Dan and Chris reported great snorkeling if you walked down to the end of the beach and went in by the rocks. Lots of color. Chris had found this huge conch shell. It was a little broken, but pretty cool anyways. So, he took the kids down the beach to shell hunt. When they returned it was lunch time and we walked to the closest restaurant and had lunch while looking at the bay and enjoying the tropical breezes.
After lunch, Susan, Alex and I went down to try our luck at snorkeling. We went out a long way and saw some interesting coral and zillions of fish swimming super fast in schools. It was hard to make out what they looked like because they were going so fast, but still neat to see. Unfortunately, the wind had kicked up and the waves were getting big and it made for less visibility and harder snorkeling so we didn’t say out long and missed some of the great stuff, but we had fun and got our exercise as the swim back was challenging.
We had about 20 minutes to play in the water and then we all packed up and met Nelson for the drive back to the beach. Susan and I wanted to stop at the craft market, so he dropped us there and Dan and Chris took the stuff and the kids back to get dry. Susan and I wandered the market. There wasn’t a ton of interest, but “How can I help you my dear?” was asked of us a lot. Susan found some little trinkets to take back to her kids’ classes and we just discovered a nice gentleman’s jewelry when the rest of the gang caught up with us. The girls instantly fell in love with his necklaces and Anthony agreed to give them a deal. They both chose a necklace and shook his hand and he chatted with them. It is clear the kids are adored here. We found that on the beach as well. St. Lucia was definitely one of our favorite islands.
We wandered back to the cruise port and Dan took the girls in to get a drink and see if the Wii was up on the big screen while the Hancocks and I checked out the tanzanite store. Then we met up with them and the kids played Wii against Dan and we sat and relaxed before heading up for showers. We took the girls to dinner in the buffet as usual. Pretty much they eat the same thing every day. Alex has cheese ravioli with red sauce and Laura has angel hair pasta (which we’ve convinced her is the same as fettuccine – so don’t tell!) with alfredo. Laura has chicken on the side and then they both get fruit. Some nights Alex has a plain crepe with butter. Dan and I generally have a snack while they have dinner. The girls really wanted to take pictures together and they happened to have on matching outfits so we quickly did their hair and I took them down for pictures. The photographer seemed to be having fun with them as he took a LOT of shots. We’ll see what we get soon.
I dropped the girls at kids club and then met Dan, Chris and Susan for dinner at Cagney’s, the steak restaurant. We enjoyed a nice dinner and I finally managed to get raspberries and cream for dessert! Hooray.
The kids were having so much fun and reported seeing some fish right where they were playing. Dan and Chris reported great snorkeling if you walked down to the end of the beach and went in by the rocks. Lots of color. Chris had found this huge conch shell. It was a little broken, but pretty cool anyways. So, he took the kids down the beach to shell hunt. When they returned it was lunch time and we walked to the closest restaurant and had lunch while looking at the bay and enjoying the tropical breezes.
After lunch, Susan, Alex and I went down to try our luck at snorkeling. We went out a long way and saw some interesting coral and zillions of fish swimming super fast in schools. It was hard to make out what they looked like because they were going so fast, but still neat to see. Unfortunately, the wind had kicked up and the waves were getting big and it made for less visibility and harder snorkeling so we didn’t say out long and missed some of the great stuff, but we had fun and got our exercise as the swim back was challenging.
We had about 20 minutes to play in the water and then we all packed up and met Nelson for the drive back to the beach. Susan and I wanted to stop at the craft market, so he dropped us there and Dan and Chris took the stuff and the kids back to get dry. Susan and I wandered the market. There wasn’t a ton of interest, but “How can I help you my dear?” was asked of us a lot. Susan found some little trinkets to take back to her kids’ classes and we just discovered a nice gentleman’s jewelry when the rest of the gang caught up with us. The girls instantly fell in love with his necklaces and Anthony agreed to give them a deal. They both chose a necklace and shook his hand and he chatted with them. It is clear the kids are adored here. We found that on the beach as well. St. Lucia was definitely one of our favorite islands.
We wandered back to the cruise port and Dan took the girls in to get a drink and see if the Wii was up on the big screen while the Hancocks and I checked out the tanzanite store. Then we met up with them and the kids played Wii against Dan and we sat and relaxed before heading up for showers. We took the girls to dinner in the buffet as usual. Pretty much they eat the same thing every day. Alex has cheese ravioli with red sauce and Laura has angel hair pasta (which we’ve convinced her is the same as fettuccine – so don’t tell!) with alfredo. Laura has chicken on the side and then they both get fruit. Some nights Alex has a plain crepe with butter. Dan and I generally have a snack while they have dinner. The girls really wanted to take pictures together and they happened to have on matching outfits so we quickly did their hair and I took them down for pictures. The photographer seemed to be having fun with them as he took a LOT of shots. We’ll see what we get soon.
I dropped the girls at kids club and then met Dan, Chris and Susan for dinner at Cagney’s, the steak restaurant. We enjoyed a nice dinner and I finally managed to get raspberries and cream for dessert! Hooray.
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