Travel Postcards: Caribbean Cruising

Windstar calls this "The Perfect Ten" islands cruise. While I wouldn't call it perfect, it was pretty great. We were treated royally, as always, by the staff. There were just over 300 of us aboard, so almost full. This was our first cruise with this many guests, so there were some lineups for the restaurants, but service was friendly and efficient. You can book the specialty restaurants, the French-themed Stella Bistro, and the steak oriented Candles, where we often eat. Jim especially loves the escargot and French onion soup at Stella's. I have been going to stretch and yoga classes and we've swim at every Port. The snorkeling hasn't been as good as we hoped, but did see some fish at a couple of spots.

Now to the islands. Montserrat. A small island where we swam at a black sand beach and had a drink on the beach. Heavy rains while back on ship.

Roseau, Dominica:. We hired a taxi to go to Champagne Beach to snorkel. Our driver took us through the congested capital with colonial architecture and bustling marketplace. This island, like so many others, was discovered by Columbus and fought over by various tribes before becoming an English colony in1805 and becoming independent in 1978. Hurricane Maria's wrath from 2017 is still very evident.

There was a lot of turbulence and plant growth in the water, as well as jellyfish, but we did see some colorful fish, as well as the "champagne" bubbles rising from the rocks that give this beach it's name.

Castries, St. Lucia. Again, French and English possessed this island, which finally went to the English in 1814. Independence in 1979. I went on a short tour by taxi with a few others from the ship, climbing 2795 feet above the port, to Morne Fortune. This island was birth place of two Nobel Laureates, Sir Arthur Lewis, an economist, and Derek Walcott, an author.

Stores around central park and bandstand

Market place

Wild ginger

Most of Castries historic buildings were destroyed by fires or flooding, but not so many by hurricanes.

Mayreau. Sadly, high seas kept us from going ashore to our beach barbecue.

St. George's, Granada. Since we had more time to explore, we saw more of Grenada than most islands. From Fort George, we looked down on the Carenage, a working harbour of fishermen. Lots of local flavour and English spoken. It's the island of spices, which were present in the Cruise Ship Terminal, a lovely aroma of nutmeg especially. Felt very safe walking through town, and back to the ship through the Sendall tunnel. The tourist police presence was reassuring.

Bequia, Grenadines. Pronounced Beckway. Once a source of illicit trading, shipbuilding and turtle fishing. After the Seven Years War in 1763, St. Vincent and the Grenadines were ceded to the British, along with Grenada, Tobago, Dominica and Canada. In return, France got St. Lucia, Guadalupe and Martinique.

We walked the Belmont Walkway to Princess Margaret Beach, where we were
joined by dozens of Italian cruisers with orange towels. The swimming was refreshing.

Anse Mitan, Martinique. Lovely French Island, expensive shops. Part of the Lesser Antilles. We pulled in during choppy seas and the tender ride was a bit wild! Martinique is the birthplace of Empress Josephine. We immediately felt we were in France, as we wandered the Rue des Bougainvilliers, past boutiques, bistros and the Creole Village, to the ferry marina, where we discoveryed the ferry to the capital, Fort de France, hadn't been running in about three weeks. There was also a taxi strike that day, narrowing our options. We decided to have a drink in a bistro and use WIFI!

Les Saintes, Terre-de-Haut, Guadalupe. Les Saintes are a collection of islands, and Terre-de-Haut is the larger of two inhabited ones. They were discovered by Columbus, Nov. 4, 1493. They became French in 1815. The town of Bourg is picturesque with whitewashed, red roofed houses, populated with descendents of Norman and Breton fishers and boat-builders. We hiked the steep hill to Fort Napoleon for the view, then made our way to the swimming beach at Baie de Pompierre to cool down.

Sorry, no photos, but goats are everywhere, even at the beach. Somewhere I have photos of them.

Today was the only time the marina on the ship was open and it was much too rough to swim or snorkel. They must have opened it so they could say they did.

Gustavia, St. Barthelemy. A destination for the rich and famous. Many of them had yachts moored in the harbour, including Jimmy Buffett. Gorgeous setting meets urban flair! Swam at lovely Shell Beach where there was pretty good snorkeling too. Spent 20 euros for two drinks to use WIFI when we could have picked it up for free across the street. We bought some more bottles of French wine to enjoy on board on the next leg of the cruise.

The island has a colorful history, including being a way-station for French pirates plundering Spanish galleons. It's one of the only islands in the Caribbean without a substantial population of African descent. Today island laws prohibit mass tourism. I guess the rich and famous want exclusivity!