San Juan Day #8 Saturday September 27 2014

Really?  It is over already?  I do not like 7 day cruises.  They are just too short....LOL

We have arrived in San Juan by 6 a.m. and the day has begun and it is time to get ready and head off the ship.

We go to breakfast in Lumiere's at 8:15 a.m.  I run up to Shutters to pick up a free photo (8 x 10) I won in the raffle drawing at Bingo yesterday (my big winnings this cruise) LOL.

Have a nice breakfast and take our time because alot of us are not flying out until later in the day.  My flight is at 5:30 p.m. so I have plenty of time.

Disembarkation is taking awhile.  Definitely not as fast as Port Canaveral.

While we are waiting, Pete, Faith and I roam the ship where they are putting up Halloween decorations.  There are some pumpkin and spiderweb vinyls going up on deck three down the main hallway from the atrium.  They have lots of shoreside cast members on board to get the ship set up.  The Halloween tree has not been brought out yet to be assembled so we didn't get to see it.

Like I said, disembarking is slowly happening.  Final call to get off the ship is 10:15 a.m. (about 1 hour later than Port Canaveral) and there are still lots of guests waiting to get off.  We get off the ship to see there is a line to get in the terminal.  We have our luggage and we are through customs in about 20-25 minutes.

Pete, Faith and I then head to the taxi line.  They have vans to the airport.  They will put 6 people in each van.  So you will share a ride.  We got together with another family of 3.  So there were 6 of us.  There is a flat rate of $21 to go to the airport.  Plus you will pay $1 per bag.  For the 6th person in the van you pay an extra $2 (so I guess you can go with 5 people).  Our total cost was $34 (they had 7 bags, we had 5).  By the time we split up the cost.  Quite economical and the ride to the airport was short.  Only about 15 minutes.  Freeway was not congested at all like when we arrived last week.

Once we got to the airport, Pete and Faith headed to Jet Blue and I wandered over to Southwest and am now hanging out using internet.  They charge for internet here.  $6.99 for 8 hours is the package I chose because I am here until 6 p.m.  So I figured for 11:15 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. that was 6 hours and the 4 hour package was $4.99 I think.  So just got the 8 hours instead.  The internet connection is great.  If you read my last two days of my trip reports, you will see that I posted lots of pictures.  Downloaded them here at the airport.

It is now 3 p.m., so I am going to go head through security and work my way towards the departure gate!

Sat at the departure gate with many families who were on the ship.  Lots of young kids who did NOT like spending that much time at the airport. 

Our flight finally left one hour late at 6:50 p.m. and we had an uneventful flight back to Orlando arriving at 9:45 p.m.

However, I am not a fan of Southwest and do not fly them very often.  And every time I fly, it reminds me of why I fly on Delta......

Arrived home and everything was safe and sound.  Thanks to Ken and Shari for picking me up at the airport and thanks to Ken for power washing the concrete in the backyard while I was going.  The patio looks fabulous!

Now just to unpack and figure out where to put all the fabulous fish extender gifts and gifts from DCL.

All in all a great cruise.  Loved the itinerary for the most part and 7 nights on the Magic was not long enough.  Need to get back on the ship sooner rather than later! HA

Well that does it for this trip for Olaf and Linda.  Goodnight one last time!

St. Kitts- Friday September 26th Day 7

Today we are visiting the Island of St. Kitts.  We are scheduled for all ashore at 11 a.m.  (it was originally 12 noon, but Captain John said we are arriving early!)

There is a princess gathering in the atrium as well as a meet and greet with Anna and Elsa in Animator's Palate.  You pick up your tickets on the day you get on the ship at Guest Services.  We did that, but saw them on the first sea day earlier in the week.

Basseterre, St. Kitts is one of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles.  It is 1,300 miles southeast of Miami.  The land area of St. Kitts is about 65 square miles.  It is 18 miles long and averages about .5 miles across.

The island has lush tropical rainforests that surround the dormant volcano, Mountain Liamuiga, which makes it famous for eco-tourism.

The history of St. Kitts is rooted in the numerous battles that were waged for its control.  In 100 BC the Saladoid people settled the region, followed by the Igneri in 800 AD.  Around 1300 AD, the Kalinago tribe named the place "Liamuiga" or "fertile island".

Christopher Columbus arrived in 1493 and it was the beginning of nearly a 300 year power struggle between England, France and Spain for control of the West Indies.  Tobacco and sugar were the main exports of St. Kitts.

We start our day with brunch in Palo.  Chef Silvio takes care of our group and fixes us the best dishes!  Brunch of course is awesome.

Our port adventure meeting time for the "Scenes of St. Kitts" is 12:45 p.m.  It has been kinda lightly raining all morning and there are lots of clouds in the sky.  While we are in Fathom's waiting for our tour to begin, the snorkle adventure that was scheduled to leave at the same time just gets cancelled.  Guess there was lightning in the area, so at the last minute they had to cancel.

There is quite a large group going on the excursion, but only 12 people can get on each van so each group is small.   However our driver is very hard to understand and drives very slow (quite different speed than our previous excursions.)

We pass Independence Square where St. Kitts and Nevis achieved political independence on September 19th, 1983. The Government first acquired the Square in 1750 and it rapidly became the administrative, commercial and social center of Basseterre. As slave ships arrived in Bassterre, they were quartered in the basement of the building before being sold at in the middle of The Square.  (I got this picture from the internet because it was raining and we couldn't get a good picture from the van)

Next we went headed to the plantation of Samuel Crooke, a planter-politician who served as a member of the Island’s Council, who built this Great House in the Eighteenth Century. Crooke left the plantation to his son Samuel Crooke ‘the Little’, who also served on the Council before the end of the eighteenth century. The Crooke connection is still preserved in the cane field nearest to the Great House being called ‘Crooke’s Garden’. The property was purchased by a group of English investors for restoration and conversion to a Heritage Tourism Attraction.  It is a very nice plantation with a great view of the Caribbean Ocean.  The grounds are kept up and well maintained.  It is called the Fairview Great House.

Master bedroom

Looking down from the master bedroom to the separate building out back which is where the kitchen is

The bathroom!  Nice wooden toilet.  No electricity or drains....

The bathtub!

The kitchen and cooking stove.  It has the original stove and brick oven. 

This is the Soursop Tree.  It is often consumed in its natural state.  Used to make juice, ice cream and sherbet.  Also used in tea to induce sleep.  It is claimed that its' leaves have been known to reduce fever when used as a bed liner.

The dining room area of the great house

Gorgeous flowers out on the grounds

Next we are back on the road for our next stop.  We have lovely views of the ocean on our way.
 

We drive by the Bloody River. The river is named in memory of the massacre of the indigenous Amerindian inhabitants by British Settlers in 1626.  It is said the river flowed red for days after the massacre of hundreds. 

Now we are arriving at the Historic Romney Manor and home of Caribelle Batik.  It is owned and managed by successive Earls of Romney over the centuries.  The home was originally owned by Sam Jefferson II, the great great great grandfather of Thomas Jefferson (3rd President of U.S.A.)  The first pictures are the remains of the sugar mill where the slaves worked each day.

Romney Manor house

The Bell Tower at Romney Manor was used to control the daily lives of the slaves.  The sound of the bell was heard throughout the day.  It was used to signal key moments each day:  start of day, end of day, time to go to sleep, and so on.  Because of their symbolism, most bell towers were destroyed at the time of emancipation.

At the time however, the Earl of Romney was regarded as a more benevolent owner.  This consideration was, as a result of his efforts, at the time of emancipation, to release his slaves immediately.  Other owners chose to prolong the status quo by implementing a further four years of "apprenticeship".

As a result the Bell Tower of Romney Manor is the only perfectly preserved bell tower left standing on St. Kitts.

Fountain on the grounds of Romney Manor.

We get to see the process of Caribelle Batik demonstrated.  Here is a real pretty fabric that was made.  No two are alike.  I ended up purchasing a small placemat for the center of the table.

Romney Manor has a 400-year-old Saman tree. It is approximately 24 feet in diameter and covers over 1/2 acre on the estate.

Then we headed out by Frigate Bay and headed to the top to lookout point.  On the left is the Atlantic Ocean.  On the right is the Caribbean Sea.

Local offering pictures with his donkey and monkeys

After that it was time to head back to the ship.  We were only in port from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. today, so the time went fast.  On the way, we stopped to see some locals selling fresh lobster.  Our tour driver said it is about $5 per pound US.

Got back to the ship only to see a Carnival Ship parked with us (actually they were docked when we arrived, but I didn't have time to take a picture).

Head off to Final Bingo with Olaf and Michael before sailing away.  I was just 2 numbers away.  I think Michael was a couple of numbers away also.

 

Sailaway at 5 p.m.  About the time we were leaving, the sky finally decided to clear up and it quit raining.

Next it is off to the Walt Disney Theater for the final show, Disney Dreams, An Enchanted Classic.  One of my favorites, and of course the performance was incredible.  I could watch that show over and over again.

At 8 p.m. we had a quick drink with Captain John and his lovely wife, Emma.  It is always a pleasure sailing with them.  They are just so down to earth and friendly.  I really enjoy the time we spent together.  Hopefully next year we will be able to have dinner in Palo one evening.

We arrive to dinner (late) and after we finish, it is off to "Til We Meet Again" in the Lobby Atrium.  I have time to visit and get pictures with some of the cast I know.

Franco and me!  Love this guy!

Peter Pan and Anne Marie.  Love these two.  Anne Marie and I had a great conversation and got caught up on what's happening and had a great talk with Peter about a new princess, Rapunzel, coming to the ship.  He wasn't so sure about that guy (Flynn Rider) with the big nose though! LOL

And this is my friend Emma.  She is a great gal.  This is her second contract on DCL and she is crossing her fingers that she will be on the Magic next summer.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed too!

Sadly, it is now time to hurry and go finish packing and get my luggage out.  Inkka, our stateroom hostess, said that 10:45 was a good time for me to have it out by.  So, I did the deed and finished packing.  It is so sad to be at the end of another cruise especially when I spent a month on the Magic in Europe this summer and this time I only spent 7 nights.

I will miss all my Disney friends and family on the Magic until I sail again.

Goodnight from the Disney Magic!