March 5 - Home

Disembarking the Voyager was very smooth, helped I'm sure by the fact that there are only 700 passengers.  We had our last breakfast in the main dining room, and again, it was mostly empty.  That amazed us since on Princess, the last morning is a zoo.  And we could have even had room service breakfast if we wanted, another thing that is unheard of on Princess on the last morning.  After breakfast, we waited a short time in the Horizon Lounge until our luggage tags were called and walked off easy breezy.  We were quite surprised to see that ours was the only ship in port that morning.  Last November there were 4 or 5 of the large ships and since they all dock in a row, the place was a madhouse.  This time we found our bags easily, breezed through Customs, and called a Lyft which was there within 5 minutes.  We had time at the airport to use our Priority Lounge pass, which at our terminal was actually a restaurant where we had a $29 spending allowance each.  I took advantage to order a club sandwich to go for the plane ride.

I watched 2 movies on the plane (The Wife and A Star is Born).  Again, glad I hadn't paid $9 to see either one.  The final flight from Los Angeles to Redmond was fine except for pretty good turbulence leaving LA and a bit more on our way down to Redmond.  It was snowing, of course, but the roads weren't too bad.  And thanks to good friend Mike Golden who cleared our driveway a few days ago after the worst of the snow had stopped, our driveway was manageable.  We were able to walk up it dragging our suitcases.  Anna and Russ also came by and pulled some snow off the roof.  The icicles are amazing, some reaching almost to the ground.  The steps were ice rinks, but the new snow gave them a little traction so we got back in without problems.  All was well with the house - no broken refrigerator, heat pump or water pipes.

All in all, another wonderful trip.  We are looking forward to the 2020 World Cruise even more now that we have experienced Regent. 

March 4 - At Sea

Our final day of the cruise.  It has really flown by.  Pool lounges were not available in the shade again so we went up top to the Observation Lounge for reading, etc. I got so absorbed, I almost forgot my massage.  It was wonderful, just what I needed before our long trip home tomorrow.  After lunch we found our suitcases on the bed all ready for packing.  So we did that, then I went to the pool and Michael went to the gym.  We had a lovely final dinner (pulled out all the stops with crab salad, escargot and lobster tail.)  In lieu of dessert we went to a lounge and I had a Grasshopper, a real blast from the past, and Michael had his last Baileys/Grand Marnier combo.  Sniff.

Ah well.  Back to reality tomorrow.

March 3 - At Sea

After breakfast we couldn't find pool loungers in the shade so we spent a short while on the upper level in the shade of the smokestack, but that didn't last too long so we returned to the cabin and spent time on the balcony.  I did go to a lecture on the history of sugar production.  I learned that Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio is so named because it is the shape of a sugar loaf which is how it was sold in early days.  You kept it in a special box and chipped off the amount you needed.  After lunch, we were lucky enough to find loungers in the shade.  So all in all, it was a lazy day again.

We ate dinner with Dora and Steve again and had wonderful escargot, lobster thermidor and Beef Wellington (shared those last two). 

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is our last day.

March 2 - St. Maarten

We've been here before so this time we signed up for a semi-submersible boat ride and visit to Marigot.  The boat ride was nice. The last time I was in a "glass bottom" boat I nearly got sick, so I wasn't sure what to expect this time.  This boat was a little different in that we sailed to the viewing site up top and then went below to sit in the glass enclosed area for a while to see the fish.  It is very narrow and you walk in and fold down the bench behind you.  We were the last to enter just in case I wanted to leave; last in, first out was our operating theory.  I just turned the AC vent right on my face and was fine.  Next was a shopping stop in Marigot on the French side of the island.  When we were her last November we stopped at the same place and were amazed to see the glass on top of the atrium of the indoor shopping mall had huge cracks in it from hurricane Irma in 2017.  Happy to report they have finally repaired the glass. This weekend is Carnival time again and traffic was really slow heading back to the ship in Phillipsburg on the Dutch side.  There were 6 cruise ships in town, so that didn't help.  We had an early all aboard of 2:30 which we made easily, but at about that time they were calling for 3 people to call Reception.  Finally at 3:00 the last woman made it on board  She apparently wasn't aware of the early departure time.  We were told that on the last cruise, a couple were left behind when they didn't show up and had to make their way to Miami to meet the ship.

Another lazy afternoon and a good dinner at Sette Mari (the Italian restaurant) a deux. And again an early evening.  We have only made the 9:30 show a couple of times.  Ah well.

We are now heading back to Miami and will have 2 sea days.

tight quarters

March 1 - Roseau, Dominica

Today we met at 9:15 for our tour to the Emerald Lagoon and River Tubing.  Ten of us were loaded into an air-conditioned van.  It was a bit rainy, but that didn't last long.  It took us about 45 minutes to get to the lagoon which was way up in the mountains over a very windy and pot-hole ridden road.  The Lagoon was small but beautiful and some of the group went swimming.  Next up was tubing the river after another 30 minutes creeping along a road with big ditches and more pot holes to dodge.  The tubing was much more fun than I anticipated.  We were in individual inner tube type things with a paddle.  You have virtually no control of course, so all you can do is go with the flow and try not to get hung up on rocks or the occasional branch.  But even if you did, there was a guide to come along and drag you back into the flow.  I was only able to appreciate the beauty during the quiet stretches - the rest of the time I was trying to direct  my tube to go where I wanted, or at least try to remain facing forward, an exercise in futility but great fun.  I felt like the ball in a pinball machine, bouncing and spinning all the way along.  I wish I had pictures, but I don't have a waterproof cover for the phone so I had to leave it in the van.

Today was the beginning of a carnival weekend so traffic was horrendous on our return to the ship once we got back into town.  This island was hit very hard by Hurricane Maria and there are still signs of it everywhere.  They are an independent country, part of the British Commonwealth, and received aid from Great Britain, France and the US but they still have a long way to go.

We didn't get back to the ship until about 3:30 so we just skipped lunch and cleaned up and relaxed in the cabin for a while.  At sailaway time we went to the Observation Lounge for an "adult beverage" and to watch the sunset.  We had arranged to have dinner with Barbara and Ron so we met them at the Compass Rose.

Another good day.  We were both tired, probably from fighting to stay upright during the van trip and beating off rocks on the river float, so we turned in early.  Tomorrow is St. Maarten.

February 28 - Gustavia, St. Barts

St. Barts is part of the French West Indies.  We had booked a catamaran sail and snorkel trip, but decided this morning we didn't really want to do that so we turned in the tickets.  Since it's a tender port, we had to wait for the tours to go on ahead so we didn't leave until around 10:00 am.  Getting into the tender was a bit exciting with the swells, but the crew is fabulous and if you listen to them, they will tell you precisely when to take the step so you don't end up tripping or falling into the boat.  This is a pricey island and that was reflected in all of the mega-yachts moored outside and docked at the pier.  We simply walked around window shopping - no tacky souvenir shops here.  They were Hermes, Channel and the like.  A stop into a grocery store was interesting.  Liquor prices were pretty comparable to home, but food that we could compare to home was at least twice as expensive, and sometimes more.  We did stop at an outdoor cafe after a while for a beer, but by then we'd seen the whole town so we made our way back to the ship.

Another hard day reading or dozing around the pool.  Not only do they come around offering to fetch drinks, or handing out cool towels, they also will clean your sunglasses!  Seemed very decadent but we took advantage.

Since we still have a bit of shipboard credit left, I booked a massage for Monday.  We had dinner in the Compass Rose with our "neighbors" friends Fran and Briggi from Michigan.  I think our waiter might have been new since he struggled a little bit, but it was fine.  It's not like we have to be somewhere.  

Tomorrow is Dominica.

February 27 - St. Thomas, USVI

We were here in 2018 with Viking Ocean and did the overview tour of the island then.  This time we signed up for a boat ride to St. John and then a beach visit.  Just as we boarded our boat it started pouring rain and blowing quite hard.  The first half of the boat ride was wet and wild.  But I did learn that I don't get seasick easily which is good to know.   The skies cleared and the seas calmed after a while.   Once at St. John (about 45 minutes away) we climbed aboard one of  these safari jeeps that we've done before .  This is a platform with bench seats that holds about 20 people mounted on the bed of a Ford 450.  It was a 20 minute drive to our beach - Trunk Bay.  There is still a lot of visible damage from the hurricane over a year ago.  One resort at Kaneel Bay was destroyed putting 500 people out of work and there are no plans to rebuild.  The boat driver emphasized several times that we would be leaving the beach at 11:45 because the boat back was leaving promptly at 12:15.  At the beach our driver said he'd be picking us up at 12:45 and the local guy who was arranging things told us 12:15.  Mmmmh.  Anyway, while they all got on their phones to sort this out, we headed to the beach.  There was snorkel gear available, but between Michael's hand which is still healing, the departure time uncertainty, and the water being a bit colder than we expected, we simply relaxed on the beach and spent a little while in the water.  It was very relaxing which was fine.  St. John is a beautiful island and we thought maybe one day we'll use the Westin timeshare here.  So we eventually left at 12 noon and by the time we got back to the pier, the 12:15 boat had departed.  There was a backup but it was having some issue with the pump so we had to wait for that to be repaired, which took about 30 minutes.  It was fine since we had shaded seats and the temperature was perfect.  The captain declared the pump fixed and off we went.  Fortunately, the weather on the way back had improved so the ride was smooth but very noisy - hopefully not from the pump.

Back at the ship, Michael napped for a bit while I did laundry in the complimentary launderette and watched The Favourite on the TV.  I must be missing something because I didn't really see what all the fuss was about even though the previews looked promising.  I forgot to mention that I watched Bohemian Rhapsody on the plane to Miami and didn't care for that either.  Good thing I'm not a voting member of the Academy.

We had our second reservation at Prime 7 and shared a table with Fredda and Dave from outside Denver.  Another delightful time meeting new people and learning about their lives.  The food was fabulous again.  Regent is really setting the bar very high for future cruises.  By the way, there is no doubt that we will be doing the World Cruise with them next January.  We've begun saying "when we're on the world cruise ..."  I didn't really think it would be an issue, but now we know what to expect and we can make better preparations.

One more thing about the cabin that I love.  The sitting area near the balcony can be curtained off from the bedroom part so I could read last night without disturbing Michael while he slept.  And then, if you want, you can also pull a curtain across the entryway between the closet and the bathroom for more privacy.  This is the biggest cabin we've ever had and it's their lowest category. 

I had plans to go to the show, but best laid plans ...

I've been remiss on pictures, so here are a couple taken today.  Tomorrow is St. Barts