Friday, May 1

Tortola, BVI, I just got back from the most fun tour I’ve had in the Caribbean in a long, long time! It was a half-day tour where we spent the first half on a small boat running around Drake’s Passage from Roadtown up to Peter Island and Norman Island. Our guide on this part of the trip was a riot...we were all in hysterics about half the time...and that was before the rum punch!


We then came back to another part of Tortola, boarded an open-air jitney bus, and came back to Roadtown over roads that make the trip up to Donna and Vince’s place at High Knob look like a walk on the Bonneville Salt Flats! Virginia had described Tortola’s roads before, but nothing quite makes the same impression that being on them in a jitney bus does! Turns of 150 to 180 degrees at a very real 45 degree (minimum) slope with no sight distance or room to pull over if something should be coming the other way, which it often is. And that’s scary enough going up! Going down is like cresting the first hill on a major roller coaster...you literally cannot see the road, plus you still have the curves and traffic to deal with! The high point on the island is about 1700 feet, but we’re talking start and end at sea level! A very cool trip...hope my photos came out so that I have something dramatic to post here!

It will be an extra Tylenol night tonight, and maybe tomorrow too, but worth it! Now to get cleaned up for formal night and the Captain’s Circle cocktail party! Mary and Mark have won the top two prizes for most days on board Princess ships. In fact, I probably should have won third, but evidently Princess’ record-keeping isn’t up to par, so I’ll go have a chat with them...not that I actually want a bottle of bubbly, but Princess has a habit of losing track of such things every so often.

Saturday, May 2

St. Thomas, USVI. We docked at Crown Bay instead of Havensight, so couldn’t see downtown Charlotte Amalie. Only a few shops were open at Crown Bay, and most of the rest of the island was closed as today was the big Carnival parade downtown. I considered going to watch, but decided that discretion was the better choice just in case the celebrations got a little too celebratory!

After lunch I actually got off the ship and ambled over to the shop area here at Crown Bay. I found a spot in the shade where a nice breeze made for the ideal temperature. There I sat and watched the other passengers come and go (probably not talking of Michelangelo) and listened to the Carnival sounds from downtown echoing off the hills. I particularly enjoyed watching many of the passengers notice and take innumerable photos of several butt-ugly rock iguanas perched on the rip-rap along the waterfront. It certainly doesn’t take much to amuse me!!

As this is the first time that I have taken back-to-back cruises, I am really enjoying this last night of the first one, since I can just relax while most other passengers struggle to pack all their souvenir t-shirts, native wood carvings, bead necklaces, etc. Hmmmm...now that I think of it, so far I haven’t really bought anything other than some postcards, stamps, and a new lanyard for my camera (and then found that I like the old one better). I’ve said for years that I’ve put more Caribbean souvenirs into yard sales than most people ever see in their lives, and I guess this trip really proves that! (At least so far.)