I had such a wonderful time on the cruise that I had to share the next stop, St. Thomas.
JTwisdom and hubby
We arrived at St. Thomas on Tuesday morning after spending Monday at sea. Instead of exploring St. Thomas, my hubby and I planned a different adventure. We rode on a ferry boat to the island of Tortola to play with the dolphins. St. Thomas is a part of the US Virgin Islands, while Tortola is a part of the British Virgin Islands. We traveled on the boat for about an hour and a half before we reaching our destination. Since Tortola is a British territory, we had to present our passport and Declarations paperwork at the Customs and Immigration Office before entering the country. After being cleared by the office, we boarded a van and headed to the beach where the dolphins live.
After getting our instructions for the trainers, we had an opportunity to get in the water with Ezmeralda, our dolphin. Ezmeralda and the other dolphins are such sweet animals, very playful and happy. It was so relaxing being in the water with them. They are so intelligent and carefree.We gave Ezmeralda a kiss and she returned the gesture. We could also dance with the her. It was truly a remarkable and unforgettable experience for us. I always remember seeing the dolphins on TV, but never imagined being that close to one.
JT and Ezmeralda
After leaving the dolphins, we spent some time at the beach and taking in the beautiful sites: the palm trees, the exotic birds and clear-blue ocean water. I was enjoying every moment of it. When boarded the van and returned back to the Customs and Immigration Office where we had to once again had to show Declaration paperwork and go through a security check point, just to leave the country. We stepped on the the ferry boat and headed back to St. Thomas. It is such a beautiful day and we saw some lovely views.
Views of houses from the Ferry in St. Thomas
Once arriving back in St. Thomas, we disembarked the boat and had to go back through the Customs and Immigration Office. Since we were now going back into the United States, we had to show our passport and submit yet another Declaration paperwork to get clearance to enter into the country. Each time, in Tortola and now back in St. Thomas, we spent about 30 minutes in line, waiting for everyone to their clearance. After getting the okay, we got back on the boat and rode back to the port where our ship was docked.
While waiting in line to get on the ship, we saw a couple iguanas coming out of the ocean and walking along the edges of the sidewalk. I sensed they were used to people because they never came too close to us. This iguana doesn’t look all that friendly but looks can be deceiving. We returned to our room exhausted from a full day on the ferry boat and with the dolphins. It was time to get a little rest before dinner, the night’s show and to prepare for tomorrow’s adventure – St. Maarten / St. Martin.
The formal night at sea was quite elegant. Almost all of the passengers dressed in their formal gowns, tuxedos or blazers and ties. I do not see many people dress up anymore. Jeans and T-shirts are common attire, but tonight it was a much different story and very special thing to see. I enjoyed seeing everyone all dolled up.
After Dinner we ventured out to the Royal Promenade to listen to the ship’s captain welcome everyone. There were over 5,900 passengers and over 2,200 employees. Wow! That’s a lot of people! The Captain stood on elevated platform, looking out to the people on the deck below. He could look down, while the people looked up to him.
A house band, standing behind the Captain, played a variety of tunes after the Captain finished his welcome speech.
This was a fun night and we enjoyed the opening festivities of the evening.
On the Royal Promenade we found a classic roadster car. I stopped for a quick photo-op.
The Bahamas was really beautiful and at this point it was time for us to get ready to get back on the ship. After our tour, we proceeded to an indoor shopping mart which also served as the entrance where we board onto our ship. The line includes everyone boarding all cruise ships at port, not just our ship. It looks crowded; but the line moved smoothly and it did not take long to get to security checkpoint. In this picture, you see some people looking down because they are getting out their passports and sea-passes. You need both forms of identification to get through and to be allowed back to your ship.
Line to get back on the ship in Nassau
After going through the checkpoint, my hubby and I went to our room and dropped off our souvenirs. We purchased T-shirts, a photo album, a tote bag, a starfish and a couple of shells. My hubby snapped a few good pictures of Nassau from our porthole in our room before we set sail.
Views from Our Ocean view room
Paradise Island
We then ventured up to the top deck to see the ship set sail from the port. All these excursions and sightseeing worked up an appetite. We ate a tasty lunch and then decided to do some power walking. Yes, walking clears the mind, and my goodness, the walking path around the ship is so beautiful. And we saw, believe it or not, other passengers walking and jogging around the path on the ship. I guess not everyone is interested in eating non-stop. The track encompassed the entire length of the ship and provided some of the best views of the water. Not many people knew about the chairs in the back of the ship, so we were able to have the area to ourselves. It is hard to believe, but with a ship with over 8,000 people on board (with passengers and staff), we could have a place to ourselves and not be disturbed. It was just heavenly.
My hubby and I on the walking and jogging path
We finished our two miles around the ship and decided to take in some views.
Enjoying the view from the back of the ship
Wow, this was too much fun. Now it is time to head back to our room and get ready for formal night. So the next post will show my hubby in his tux and me in my formal gown.
We have arrived in Nassau, Bahamas on the second day. I had a great nights sleep and this particular morning looked like it’s going to be a sun shiny day.
We have an excursion this morning so we better get a good breakfast. My hubby and I decided to go to the Solarium, a healthy-inspired restaurant. The restaurant has saunas and tubs. You can have your lunch by the pool. The bran muffins were delish, so much so I am going to be incorporating those in my breakfast here at home.
Solarium Restaurant outside view early morning
After breakfast we are off the ship and waiting to board our excursion. So why not take some pics with friends.
The highlight of the excursion in Nassau, Bahamas was the tour of Fort Charlotte. Fort Charlotte was a British fort built in 1793 by Lord Dunmore to protect the island from invading pirates.
Our Tour Guide
We actually were able to go underground and see cannons.
Cannon
Enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Bahamas!
Nassau, Bahamas
A great day filled with new experiences and great memories.
After my hubby and I picked up our luggage from the terminal ramp at the airport, we proceeded outside to board a shuttle van to take us to Port Everglades where the cruise ships are docked. At our ship’s terminal, we used our room number to know which line to go into. From there, we registered as guests on the ship, presented our passports, had our photographs taken, and received our sea-pass cards. The sea-pass cards served as our room keys and our credit card for anything that we wanted to purchase while the ship. In addition, we also had to present the sea-pass cards when leaving and re-entering the ship during while at the ports-0f-call.
The check-in process was quite simple and we were on our way in just a matter of moments. We were now ready to board the ship by entering our sea-pass cards into the electronic kiosk. Finally we could board the ship and our adventures began on the Royal Promenade. The Royal Promenade is the main central gathering place for restaurants and shops. We were there only a few minutes and dancers came up out of the blue and started dancing in the streets.
Amazing!
The Royal Promenade on the Oasis of the Seas
After checking out the Royal Promenade for a bit, our next adventure was to find our room. We found our room without too much trouble. However remembering where it was at during the course of the next week would be a challenge. Check out the ocean view window that we had.
Our luggage had not arrived yet so we wanted to check out our ship leaving the port.
So my hubby and I set out to explore. It was amazing to see so many people on this ship from all over the world. There were almost 6,000 passengers and over 2,000 workers on the cruise. There are 24 restaurants, numerous shops, a library, a zip line, a skating rink, a full-scale theater, a diving pool and areas devoted just for teens, youth, toddlers, and babies. There are sixteen levels of passenger rooms. After doing some exploring, we headed up to the 17th level where we watched the ship leave the port. The photograph below is the view from the top deck. It was not like what you would see in the movies, no one waving bon-voyage. I suspect that is because security is much tighter these days. Pretty view of the Fort Lauderdale, FL beach. First stop tomorrow morning will be Nassau, Bahamas.
I am back home in Missouri resting from my fun-filled cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. Last week, my husband and I cruised for seven days on the Oasis of the Seas to the Bahamas, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. This was my first time on a cruise and the Oasis of the Seas was the way to do it. My hubby and I don’t do much relaxing when we vacation. We want to see what the city, town or country is like and we soak up as much of the culture as we can. And that’s exactly what we did on this vacation. We did so much that I will be doing “Cruising on the Oasis of the Seas” posts for the next few weeks because I want to share my memories on such a wonderful vacation I don’t know too many people who have went on cruises so this was a great experience.
When we left early Saturday morning (March 26th), it was cold and ready for snow in Saint Louis. We dressed in layers because I knew it would be in the low 80s when we arrived to South Florida. We woke up at 4am and headed out the door by 5am. We dropped off our little guys, Gio and Vinny, at Happy Tails before our 8:25am flight. Happy Tails is a great place for our doggies because it’s a cageless kennel. The dogs run freely and play with the other doggies all day. Our little guys love it.
Vinny and Gio
Some members from our church (G2GCC) also went on the cruise. A few of them went on the same flight as we did, so it was nice to meet up with them at the airport. The airplane was on schedule and we landed safely in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at noon. For my birthday a couple years ago, my hubby bought me a really cute Cool Girl luggage set from Maxx New York, that is no longer available for purchase.
We got a great tip from a friend on a great price on extra luggage and it happened to come in colors so we picked purple because a lot of people have black luggage and it can be hard to tell them apart unless you have a way to identify your specific bag.
A good way to decipher darker or any color luggage is to tie colored scrunches or ribbon on the handles.
Packed and ready to go!
Stay tuned for more posts filled with exciting memories of our cruise of a lifetime.
Learn More About JT
Bubbling with Elegance and Grace started out as an outlet for my passion for fashion but has evolved into a place for me to teach, collaborate, and inspire. My hubby has since joined the team and we have been digital creators for 13 years. We are thankful for those who believed in us from the beginning and those who have just started riding with us on this lovely journey.
After leaving the dolphins, we spent some time at the beach and taking in the beautiful sites: the palm trees, the exotic birds and clear-blue ocean water. I was enjoying every moment of it. When boarded the van and returned back to the Customs and Immigration Office where we had to once again had to show Declaration paperwork and go through a security check point, just to leave the country. We stepped on the the ferry boat and headed back to St. Thomas. It is such a beautiful day and we saw some lovely views.
We returned to our room exhausted from a full day on the ferry boat and with the dolphins. It was time to get a little rest before dinner, the night’s show and to prepare for tomorrow’s adventure – St. Maarten / St. Martin.
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