This was our second of three consecutive port days and it turned
out to be the best of the bunch. We stopped in St. Thomas, which Sarah and I
had been to previously and which I didn’t remember being overly fond of. But again,
any tropical island is better than Ottawa in February, but in our past
Caribbean cruises, St. Thomas was always the least distinctive stop. I also
remembered it teaming with people trying to braid hair, sell trinkets, or give
island tours. But our experience this time was completely different. Sarah
booked an excursion to Sapphire Beach for us and the kids. (My parents, not
being beach people, opted to wander close to port and shop instead.) It started
with a shuttle to the other side of the island – lots of hairpin turns and
roads curving along the edge of a giant cliff, which always makes me think,
“How do people learn to drive here?!?” and then makes me think, “How bored
would these people be driving in some Canadian suburb?” The driver was a
wonderful guy, very nice to the kids, very invested in their safety – but I’ll
admit to understanding maybe three of every five words he said. I’m guessing
his first language was Spanish, and he had a super-gravelly voice. But really,
I think it’s ninety percent my fault. I’m getting old and I can’t unravel a
heavy accent like I used to (said the guy who needs subtitles to watch Doctor Who.)
The beach was really beautiful. It was big and quiet,
populated with just a few folks from the attached resort and then the two dozen
or so people from our excursion. And the tide was active but not dangerous
(we’d get to dangerous later.) The older kids loved it. Susannah was a bigger
challenge because she wanted to do everything the other kids did. The tide was
fine for the bigs, but it was strong enough to knock her over easily, and while
I don’t think she would be in serious danger, if left on her own she’d be
coughing up water all afternoon. So we held her around the waist while she
walked in the surf hating us. The excursion also included snorkeling gear.
Veronica gave it a quick try but preferred playing in the sand. Teddy tried a
lot harder and did well, but I don’t think he saw much. Then Sarah and I took
independent swims out to the coral, where there was supposed to be turtles and
mantas and Aquamen and whatnot, but the most we saw was fish – which was still
fine. After a few hours, we had to head back to the shuttle. On the way back,
the driver told us about how he’d learned to drive by the time he was ten, and
by twelve he was taking shared shifts on his dad’s taxi (he drove nights while
his dad drove days). Before getting to the ship, we stopped at an island
lookout. I took the best photos my blackberry would allow, and I also had the
chance to add to my small but dear photo collection of Novelty-Dressed Donkeys
Of St. Thomas.
Then it was back to the ship, a brief Fun Factory visit for
the kids, and off to dinner. The kids were practically vibrating they were so
excited to return to kids’ club. It was a Birthday theme that night. Veronica
described it as follows: “Everyone
gets to celebrate their birthday – even the
teachers!”
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