Category: Cruise Ships

Exploring Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

November 10: Our port visit today was the city of Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. We had planned to take a catamaran to the island of St. John for another beach and snorkeling day, but Mother Nature changed those plans. This...
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Exploring Martinique by land and sea

November 9: Today we visited Martinique, “the island of flowers”. This French colony gets few cruise ships, in my opinion because there are few English-language excursions available and Euros are used in trade. US dollars are only grudgingly accepted even in Fort-de-France, at poor exchange rates and with change...
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Exploring Sint Maarten & Saint Martin

I’m already a day behind, as we’re now sailing from Saint Lucia to Barbados, but here’s what happened before that πŸ™‚ November 5: Winds of 30-35 knots caused the outside decks on the Noordam to be closed for 2 days. Having a nice breakfast delivered to our cabin is...
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Sailing into the Caribbean on the Noordam

As I write this at 06:40, 25 minutes past sunrise, we’ve just passed Anguilla and are approaching Sint Maarten. These 2 islands are the first land we’ve seen since leaving Fort Lauderdale, which is now 1167 miles behind us. The weather has been poor, with winds averaging 30-35 knots...
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Rain in Skagway, sunshine in Glacier Bay

I said on my talk from the bridge last night that I’d be on deck looking for whales at 04:00 this morning, and there were people there to talk to me – I love enthusiastic passengers! The first hour (around Hoonah) was slow, but there were several humpbacks at...
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Whales, glaciers & alpine flowers in Juneau

Even though I didn’t get to bed until well after midnight on Monday night, I was up at 04:30 this morning. My subconscious mind must have received a message about how beautiful the morning was. This photo was shot in Stephens Passage just north of the mouth of Tracy...
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Cruising the Inside Passage to and from Vancouver

It’s now Sunday morning at 06:20, and we’re sailing northbound on calm seas past Malcolm Island near the north end of Vancouver Island. I’m on my way home, though on a roundabout route that will take 7 days. For the past couple of days the Coral Princess has been...
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Ketchikan, & Misty Fjords Flightseeing

It’s now 09:05 on the final day of this sailing on the Coral Princess – we’ll be “At Sea” all day. At the moment we’re in the open ocean off Bella Bella, British Columbia – between Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlottes. The seas are fairly calm and the...
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A day on the ship in rainy Juneau

Mother Nature never did cooperate today so instead of being an “Explore Juneau” day (in my case Mt. Roberts hiking day) it was a ship day for a lot of people, including me. I was actually surprised at the number of people who did venture forth – pleased, but...
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Cruising Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay

We docked at Skagway just after 05:00 this morning, and I’m killing time now until 10:00 when Cathy is going to meet me. She’s taken the day off work and is bringing the dogs down to see me. The past 2 days have been our glacier viewing days. Hubbard...
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