Snorkeling in the Caribbean

The second port was Phillipsburg on an island called St. Martin or St. Maarten (depending on which side of the island you are on . . . the French or the Dutch—Phillipsburg is on the Dutch side). Our ship, the MSC Orchestra, was the third ship to dock. We backed into the port right behind a Disney ship and across from a Royal Caribbean ship . . . amazing how the crew can maneuver these huge ships. It was quite warm and it was a very long walk into town. Once we got to the shops we found it to be quite crowded with the three shiploads of passengers shopping for souvenirs. Cecile and I shopped a bit and then met the guys back on-board for lunch.

The third port, my favorite of the cruise, was St. John's on the island of Antigua. Ken, Cecile, and I signed up to go on a Catamaran Sail/Snorkel excursion. Gary chose to stay back and walk the town (he doesn't like to swim). It was a gorgeous day and the sea was fairly calm, making for a nice sailing experience on a large catamaran. There were probably forty of us excited about seeing the beautiful coral and colorful fishes in the clear aqua blue water. The boat sailed with a crew of four who were quite helpful in getting our equipment passed out so that we were ready to jump in as soon as we got to the perfect spot. We were required to wear a floating device around out waist which was quite cumbersome in trying to keep your head in the water while maneuvering your body into a comfortable floating position, then once our face was in the water . . . there were maybe, at the most, a half dozen zebra fish . . . and a sunken rusty ship . . . and that was it! Oh-so-disappointing, as far as the snorkeling part of the day went. When we got back on board the catamaran and returned our fins and snorkel mask— the rum punch started flowing, the Reggae music sounded over the loud speakers, and we soon forgot how poor the snorkeling was! The second part of the morning was spent on the beach. Cecile and I enjoyed just swimming in the clear water, keeping ourselves cooled off from the hot sun. Some adventurous souls hiked up to see the ruins of Fort Barrington, a British fort looming dramatically over the shoreline, built in 1779 to protect the British island from the French. We all agreed this day was the most fun of the entire cruise!

Here are the three ships docked. The MSC Orchestra is on the left, backed up behind the Disney Magic, and across from the Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas. Can you just imagine all those passengers in town spending lots of money!

The red arrow is pointing to our cabin—Deck 12, Room 12189!

Early arrival in Antigua we could hear roosters crowing all through town . . . made me think of "our" chickens back home.

We listened and watched a car running through town with political announcements coming from loud speakers. Rather obnoxious sounds for 6:30 in the morning!

Here is a "sister ship" of the catamaran fleet, just like the one I was standing on taking this picture from which we did our snorkeling.

This beading display had Cecile and I drooling. I bought a set for myself, and a set for Cecile (a belated birthday present).

Karen, one of the crew members, is the beading artist. Here she is adding a couple beads (actually remaking the bracelet she had on display) to my bracelet.

Karen had a great personality, and made the whole sailing and snorkeling adventure lots of fun!

Fort Barrington, high up on a cliff overlook the beach.

Life is good!