caribbean

Wow, how the time flies--it's already December and our trip to Miami and the Caribbean was two months ago. Things have been busy at work but now with the holidays approaching things have settled down some, and I'm on two weeks vacation. Time to wrap up the writeup of that previous trip, eh?

So after a week in swanky Miami we headed to the port and boarded the Liberty of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship.
For the moment it holds the honor of being the largest cruise ship in the world, along with its sister ship Freedom of the Seas. The Liberty has everything you'd wish for on a cruise ship: a shopping mall promenade, nightclubs, a casino, a skating rink, even a surfing pool. And multiple restaurants to dine at including a Johnny Rockets. But we spent most of our time in the breakfast and lunch buffet, and typically had dinner in the luxurious main dining room.

Our first port of call was San Juan, Puerto Rico. Old San Juan is just that--an old quaint colonial town with cobble-stone streets and plenty of shops to check out. Our time in San Juan was brief; we only had a few hours to walk around before sunset. But we did get to have dinner at the restaurant that was the birthplace of the Pina Colada.

Then it was a few more days at sea to reach our next destination, the island of St. Martin. St. Martin is a 21-square mile island shared by the Dutch and the French. The ship docked at Philipsburg on the Dutch side, but we signed up for an Excursion that took us across the island to Marigot on the French side for some shopping, and then had lunch and a few hours of beach time at Orient Beach, which was one of the nicest beaches I've ever been to. The sand was fine and soft under my feet, and the water was many incredible shades of blue. The only thing that put a damper on things was losing my sunglasses when I got pounded by a rogue wave.

A few more days at sea gave us ample time to explore the many things the ship had to offer. Eventually I had to succumb to temptation and try my hand at roulette in the Casino Royale. My strategy is to stick to mostly even bets like red and black, or occasionally doing one of the 1/3 bets. It seemed to work well for me, after a few hours I walked away with about $300 and my ego intact.

Last port of call on our Caribbean cruise was Labadee, a beach resort area on the island of Haiti. Note the welcome sign that seems clearly inspired by the recent success of the Pirates of the Caribbean films--that Labadee Luc guy sure looks a lot like Capt. Jack Sparrow. I'm not too convinced that Haiti is politically stable enough to be a recommended vacation spot, but Labadee is a resort in a remote region privately owned by the Royal Caribbean cruise line. Not much in the way of things to see or do beyond the beach, but that suited me just fine. A floating beach mat, some sunscreen, and I am set.

After that it was time to head back to Miami. A couple more days and nights at sea, which gave us ample opportunity to hit the buffet and order extra deserts after dinner. Oh man, a cruise is really not a good way to lose weight. Sure, they have healthy options on the menu, and a full gym and fitness center, but who's going to stick that regimen while on vacation? Someone with more willpower and commitment to fitness than me, that's for sure. I wish I could say I have come back home and diligently hit the elliptical machine every day, but that would be a big fat lie. As we head into the Christmas holiday the heavy and hearty meals just won't end, but at least I'm going to try to make some use of the elliptical every so often, if only to avoid a massive coronary at the dinner table when my father-in-law serves prime rib next week. I'm definitely planning to have seconds!