Caribbean Cruise 2012

Touring the Caribbean by ship and car with the Jones clan

20121020-1102


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El Rincon, Puerto Rico. 20121030.
Olympus OM-D E5. All photos copyright, Bill Caid 2012. All rights reserved.

The Trip

Since time slips through your fingers like sand in an hourglass, a collective decision was made to organize a week-long group cruise in the Caribbean with the Jones Family while all members were sufficiently healthy.  The plan was to assemble the troops at mom's place and get a van to take us to the cruise ship departure dock in Bayonne, NJ.  From there, the ship heads south for 4 days to Phillipsburg, St. Maarten in the French West Indies.  From St. Maartin we would travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands of St. Croix and St. Thomas.  From the USVI, the ship would conclude the cruise in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  The balance of the Jones team would return to NYC via air.  Kathleen and I decided to rent a car in Puerto Rico and then do an ad-hoc road trip around the island for another week then return to San Diego.

Trip Details

The link table below contains links to the photos and dialog for each of the days of the trip.

Links to Daily Adventures
Part Dates Adventure Locations
1
20121020
 Departing Bayonne, NJ
2
 2012121-22
 At Sea on the Celebrity Summit
3
 20121023-24 At Sea and St. Maartin
4
 20121024
 St. Maartin and Orient Beach
5
 20121025
 St. Croix
6
 20121026
 St. Thomas, USVI
7
 20121027
 Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
8
 20121028 Old San Juan to Dorado, Puerto Rico
9
 201029
 Dorado to Guanica, Puerto Rico
10
 20121030
 Guanica to Ponce, Puerto Rico
11
 20121031
 Ponce to Fajardo, Puerto Rico
12
 20121101
 Fajardo to San Juan, Puerto Rico
13
 20121102
 Old San Juan, Puerto Rico to San Diego, CA

 

Conclusion

The Caribbean is an interesting place, but it is curious that the weather there was about the same as our home in San Diego only with more humidity.  But, there were plenty of interesting things to see.  Travel outside of the continental U.S. requires a passport, so if you go, insure you have yours with you.  If you choose to travel on a cruise ship, be warned that you will be a captive "for the duration" so make your decision carefully.  Also, motion sickness is real and the best solution is an inexpensive over-the-counter drug called meclizine HCL.  It works, does not make you drowsy and you can drink alcohol with no ill effects (except the drunkenness and subsequent hangover of course).

We really enjoyed Puerto Rico.  Without being too crass, it was "Mexico Lite" in that it has all the Latin culture and feel without the angst from being in a place where there are some things that you really cannot trust, even in a pinch.  Nearly everyone in PR speaks some english although not as their preferred language.  And, of course, PR is a U.S. Commonwealth and there officially part of the states.  U.S. Dollars are the default currency.

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Copyright Bill Caid 2012