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The Grand Princess
Princess Cruise Line...
February, 2012...
7 Day Eastern Caribbean Cruise set sail from Ft. Lauderdate, FL with the following Ports
of Call...
~ San Juan, Puerto Rico
~ St. Maarten, Virgin Islands
~ St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
~ Princess Cays, Bahamas
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San Juan, Puerto Rico...
Do we look like tourists, or what...?
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| Overlooking the city of San Juan from inside the fort. |
Now, doesn't this beach below look inviting? We need to make
another trip back to San Juan so we can spend a little more time on this beach...or maybe a lot more time!
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| San Juan beaches - wish we could have stayed... |
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Sint Maarten or
St. Martin,
Virgin Islands...
(depending on the Dutch / French side)
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| WELCOME TO ST. MAARTEN, VI |
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| As we sail into St. Maarten, VI |
| Check out all the island hoppers... What a life! |
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| Ronnie enjoying the view of St. Maarten, VI |
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| This is how to enjoy the beach in St. Maarten |
St. Thomas,
Virgin Islands...
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| Magen's Bay from top of the hill...one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. |
Magen's Bay in St. Thomas is just wonderful. Calm waters, cool
breezes blowing through the trees and white sandy beaches. One of our favorites.
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| Instead of umbrellas, they have shells... |
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| We rented a shell which is great for shade on the beach. |
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As we sailed into San Juan, you can see the majestic old San
Juan Fort on the banks of this Caribbean island. See photo above left.
Unfortunately, on a cruise you only have a few hours in port and we took a tour
of the old and new city of San Juan. But we didn't get to see as much of the island as we would like to...so, we just
need to plan another trip!
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| Ronnie in the lookout tower of the old San Juan fort |
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| Imagine standing in the lookout tower of the old San Juan fort protecting the city... |
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| Map shows Dutch and French side of St. Maarten |
We docked in Phillipsburg on the Dutch side, then took a bus to the French
side where we spent the day at Orient Beach...
...oou-la-la!
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| Welcome to the French side of the island... |
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| Orient Beach on the French side of St. Maarten |
Not unusual to see nudes enjoying the sun & fun farther
down on this French beach...
| Oh, look out...!!! |
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| There is one beach you really need to avoid...Maho Beach, near the end of the runway at the airport. |
St. Martin is known for it's short airport runway...so, carefully check
out the beach you choose to spend your day!
The ship sailed into Heavensight Pier and we took a bus to the top
of the hill overlooking the most beautiful bay known as Magen's Bay (above left.) We spent the day on the beach at Magen's
Bay. The day we were there, they had a wedding on the beach. This was one of our most favorite beaches of our
cruise. Nice sandy beach and calm, clear water and lots of shade trees...nice! Great little bar on the beach where
we had "Sex on the Beach" and "Bushwackers"
...that would be drinks, of course.
| Must be nice to anchor in the harbor in St. Thomas |
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| ...and take the dingy to shore for the day. Then hop to another island the next day... |
OK, below is Ronnie & Kathy on the beach in Princess Cay, Bahamas.
The water was nice...after you got over the shock.
Yeah, we did change to our swim suites and enjoyed the day...
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