Cruising the Carribean

We left Puerto Rico for a 5 day cruise through the Caribbean on the Silverseas Cruise line. Our ship was the Silver Cloud. I am not really a fan of cruises but this small luxury cruise line with only 200 people was better than the 3000 people cruises. 

By traveling on the smaller ships you can dock at the small islands. Our agenda was St. Barts, Nevis, Virgin Gorda, Prickly Pear and Jost Va Dyke.

 Our cabin was spacious with a living room, bedroom and marble bath. Notice the welcoming champagne and beautiful white orchid. All rooms have balconies on this ship.

Leaving Puerto Rico at sunset 

After a rough night at sea ( I was sea sick all night - Yuck! ) we arrived at St. Barts in the French Virgin Islands. The bay and port was filled with very expensive and interesting yachts. The most unusual was the Megayacht "A" owned by a Russian Billonaire. It only cost $300 million and after researching it I found that it was designed by Phillipe Starck. Check out the video of the interior. It looked like a submarine and at night the bottom of the boat glowed with a blue light.

 

I loved the red roofs in St. Barts!

Lunch was at the surf side restaurant called Cote Port. I could practice my French by ordering a Salade Nicoise and a glass of wine. 

We also venture over to the Eden Rock resort for a stay on the beach and shopping. 

Drinks on the porch!

We found Shell Beach and had more drinks at the bar that overlooked the beach.  

Our view from the bar.

A little shopping spree where I found the most beautiful tops by Sabrina Crippa. My husband almost choked when he paid for it but it was worth the 5 compliments I received at dinner. It was in euros so how was I to know - Wink Wink! 

The next day was Nevis. Beautiful and not as much hustle bustle as St. Barts. No real shopping just beautiful rain forests and beaches. 

We found the Four Seasons Resort and sat on the beach for awhile enjoying the view. A few drinks at the bar - check out the bubble light fixtures.

Lunch at a local spot called Chevy's. I had grilled lobster and a Killer Bee rum Punch ( the house speciality) The service was not fast but the lobster was the best I had all trip. Bloated, a little drunk and filling out my bikini a little too much we made our way back to the ship. Everyone was super friendly!

The Beach at Nevis. 

Next stop was Virgin Gorda. The Russian ship followed us there too. Beautiful water - one side Atlantic and the other the Caribbean.  I noticed all the islands names from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

The Baths are worth the hike. Beautiful!

The best resort was Little Dix Bay. 

I love this shower!

Picnic on Prickly Pear Island - Rum punch!  Definitely a sailors dream place. Not a lot of big yachts. A quieter easy going place. 

The last stop was Jost Van Dyke - a small island with only a couple of restaurants and bars on it. It is suppose to the place to go for New Year's Eve if you own a yacht. 

We had drinks at Foxy's until the wee hours. 

Sort of like Key West with the garments hanging from the ceiling. 

Sir Richard Branson owns a couple of the islands off the coast of Virgin Gorda. Here is Nester Island - you can rent it for $50K per night!

Beautiful roof - like the house in Mexico I am designing. I love looking at the tropical style for inspiration. 

By the time we returned to Puerto Rico we were sunned, full, and inspired! Little did we know that wearing flip flops back to Virginia was a mistake since when we landed it was 19 degrees.

Puerto Rico

Our winter vacation to the Caribbean started off in San Juan Puerto Rico. It was a place a had never been to before. We stayed at the El San Juan hotel in Isla Verde which is over a bridge from Old town  San Juan. The hotel room was very modern and brightly decorated. It had seen a little wear but considering it was free from my AMEX points,  no real complaining. The floors were tile and there were no rugs. No balcony and the view was Ok. You had to look over a roof to see the ocean but that was better than we thought we would get with free points. 

The ocean was not the clear blue of the Caribbean but typical Atlantic Ocean green gray. The beach was small and the hotel was busy. 

The best part about this hotel was the salsa dancing in the lobby at night. I participated after lots of prodding. 

The first night we went to La Playita, a hotel and restaurant on the water. The service was a little off - after an hour no ceviche for appetizer? But the dinner was good and they did apologize. We had our first Mofongo - a potato type starchy vegetable that is molded into a dome shape. 

 The best meal we had was at the hotel restaurant - Koco, an ooof! restaurant. The service was wonderful and the food delish! Grouper over coconut risotto, raw oysters,  pumpkin ravioli.

 For breakfast we took Rachael Rae's advise and found La Bombonera, a pastry shop and restaurant founded in 1902. We had a house speciality, a Mallorca - the biscuit type pastry with powdered sugar on top.

A venture to the historic fort that protected the Caribbean seas for decades until of course the Americans took over.

 While we were there the town was celebrating the end of the Christmas holidays or their San Sebastien's  days. The town was full of parades and parties well into the night. I was glad we were on the Isle because we had thought about staying at El Convento - that would have been a problem unless we- wanted to party until 2 or 3 in the morning.

Another dinner at the hotel for football - Brother Jimmy's. Here is the waitress making fresh guacamole. 

Another Mafungo at Plato's restaurant. 

Interesting architecture throughout the streets of San Juan. Row houses in a variety of colors: 

 An interesting old remnants of old sea walls and gates:

All in all Puerto Rico was warm and fun! Too bad it was 19 degrees when we returned to Virginia and silly me still had her flip flops on.  Next I will post about our Silverseas Cruise to St. Barts and Virgin Gorda.