Cruising Through Postcards # 18

 Blog 1846

Good day again. It`s time for a wrap-up of my latest adventure. This all happened back in November of 2024. So here we go with Cruising Through Postcards # 18. It`s been a couple of months , but I always wait until all the postcards arrive back home. That has finally happened with the last one arriving a few days ago from Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas only 143 days after I posted it. 

Our adventure began by flying from Calgary to Fort Lauderdale via Toronto on Saturday Nov 2nd. We had a hotel booked Sat night in Ft. Lauderdale near Port Everglades. We were headed out on a 10 night Caribbean cruise on the Sapphire Princess of Princess Cruise Line. We headed to the port around 11:00 am. After a short check-in at the port we boarded The Sapphire Princess  around noon hoping for an on time departure at 3:00 pm. Here is a pic of the Sapphire Princess. 

  

We did indeed depart Ft Lauderdale on time at 3:00 pm enroute to Princess Cays, Bahamas , 431 km south. After a great night`s sleep we arrived in Princess Cays around 9:00 am.  

Princess Cays , located on Eleuthera Island is the private resort of Carnival Corporation in Bahamas. After tendering ashore we set foot on Eleuthera. We had a great day there  swimming, sunning and later enjoyed a fine BBQ for lunch. Around 3 pm we again boarded a tender boat for the short ride back to the Sapphire Princess.

There will be no cards from Princess Cays unfortunately. There is no post office there, and no stamps available. Cards are available, but cards alone won't cut it.  

So we departed Princess Cays at 4 pm and set sail for St. Thomas in the U.S.Virgin Islands. The next day was a sea day so we arrived in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas at around 10 am on Wednesday , November 6th.

Charlotte Amalie Harbour is a beautiful harbour , with lots of cruise ships visiting often. Its blue-green waters and white sand beaches make it a tropical paradise. Unfortunately it didn't seem like one the day we were there, it was raining quite hard. 

Here's your look at Charlotte Amalie.

My Lovely Teena sent this card back home and used 3 U.S. stamps. The stamps , top left to right are - from 2024, celebrating Health Care. Next is a stamp honouring John Wooden, also from 2024. He was a basketball coach. The 3rd stamp was issued in 2019 and celebrates the Purple Heart Medal, the medal awarded to U.S. service members wounded or killed in action.

 

I'll just note here that most of the cards from this cruise were sent by Teena.

The Sapphire Princess departed from Charlotte Amalie at 10 pm and sailed for St. Maarten. We arrived here just after 8 am on Thursday Nov 7th. Teena and I were very glad to arrive here. It was our 3rd cruise attempt for St. Maarten. A couple years ago a stop in St. Maarten was cancelled due bad weather and then another time our cruise was cancelled due Covid.  But we kept at and finally made it. Success at last. 

Rain in the morning but it cleared off in the afternoon. We did the touristy things here, checked out the beach and Philipsburg and enjoyed a water taxi ride. 

Knowing my interest in Airplanes and Airlines, Teena's card had to be a jet crossing Maho Bay , landing at Queen Juliana Airport. 

 

The stamps on this card are from 2012 and are 2 of 4 issued for Carnival that year. 

And The Sapphire Princess sailed away from St.Maarten just after 6 pm.  

Our next port of call was St. John's, Antigua, arriving there at 8 am on Friday Nov 8th.  It was quite sunny and hot that day and we had our choice of beaches - Jolly Beach, Dickenson Bay or Half Moon Bay. There's also Nelson's Dockyard, Fort James and Devil's Bridge to explore.  

I have two cards of Antigua to highlight. First is a nice 3D card of Nelson's Dockyard National Park. 

The stamps -- A set of 4  issued for Year of the Monkey, 2004.

Here's one more card from Antigua. It's a view of Dickenson Bay and Beach. A phone booth on the beach. That's a new one on me. 

 The stamp -- An Elvis Aaron Presley stamp from 2002. I guess you can say " Elvis has left the beach . "

Now it's on to St. Kitts. We slipped away from the dock in St. John's around 6 pm and sailed for Bassetterre, St. Kitts , arriving at 8 am on Sat Nov 9th. We did some shopping, saw a few of the sights. We checked out Independence Square, the heart of the city, and the Victoria Clock Tower at the National Museum. Then we located the General Post office. 

And here it is. 

 

i have two cards from Bassetterre. The first one shows the National Museum. The actual building was built in 1984, but the museum only opened in 2002. 

Hey it's Elvis again. He does get around. This stamp was issued in 2007.

Hers's another card from St. Kitts. Here we see a group of locals walking on stilts  during a parade. 

You know, I remember walking on stilts as a young boy. I thought it was cool back then and it still looks cool. 

Teena used a 2004 Tiger stamp from a set of 4 Wildcats.

Once again The Sapphire Princess pulled away Bassetterre at 6 pm and headed fro Toola, British Virgin Islands , arriving there at 7 am on Sun Nov 10th. Tortola was our final port of call on this cruise. Our ship tied up in Road Town,  located on Tortola, is the capital and largest town of the British Virgin Islands. It is situated on the horseshoe-shaped Road Harbour in the centre of the island's south coast. The population was about 15,000 in 2018. 

Tortola is best known for its white sand beaches, turquoise water, coral reefs, mountainous landscape, and laid-back vibe. Travelers visit this island to relax rather than do non-stop activities. Of course one of the big attractions here is the Baths of Virgin Gorda, as my next card shows. The Baths are a natural wonder of massive granite boulders, creating unique tidal pools, tunnels, and grottoes offering an exceptional beach experience.

That was the final card for this time, now here's the final stamp. It was issued 45 years ago in 1980. It is 1 of 6 in a set of Island Profiles. This one shows the island of Tortola. 

 We had an early departure from Tortola, at 4 pm. Next stop was Ft. Lauderdale. We had 2 sea days, Now 11 and 12th. We arrived in Florida at 7 am on Wed Now 13th. Sea days mean crowds at the pool, crowds all around the ship and at dining. So two days to try and touch up or finish  any tan we have. 

We disembarked The Sapphire Princess at 8 am and headed straight to the airport. We caught a flight to Toronto and then a connecting flight to Calgary. Home  at around 1030 pm. Then it was Goodnight .

So ends Cruise # 18. Thanks to My Lovely Teena for most of these cards and for her great company and understanding when I have to locate a post office here and there.