2025 Caribbean Cruise: Observations

 2025 Caribbean Cruise Observations

OVERALL WE HAD A VERY GOOD TIME, AND REALLY ENJOYED CRUISING WITH OUR COMPANIONS MB AND RF

THB AND RF ARE CELEBRATING B'DAY #76 IN FEBRUARY...WE COULDD BE TWINS EXCEPT RF ALREADY HAS A TWIN...TRIPLETS?

THB lost a backup pair of glasses and DB found his missing red trunks

The Caribbean 

1. The water around every island and every beach was this gorgeous  turquoise and very clear. 
2. Snorkeling was site specific, generally rocky coastline was best. Don't expect pretty coral or much fish. THB is going to Maui in June and will report on the snorkeling there. 
3. The islands changed  after 2017 when Hurricane Irma wiped out  much of their infrastructure. There are very few birds, blown elsewhere. A number of houses have been denuded, leaving just concrete walls.
4. The last two years of increases in the water temperature have hastened the loss of hard coral. There aren't many fish  in the best spots, very few species. However the water is very,  very clear, with visibility down to 20+ feet, and thus you can see fish in deep water.
5. THB and DB hardly visited the small towns where the Wind Surf anchored. Small to dinky, monotonous small shops. THB had no interest in touring on land. 
6. The Ocean Bay Beach Resort in St. Maarents was just okay, nothing special. Better than the all-inclusive in Baja where we spent 3 days watching Canadians drink themselves silly.
7. Almost no one smoked...on the ship, off the ship
8. COVID masks were seen, more in airports (5%?) than elsewhere

Wind Surf (the Ship)

1. The suite was very nice, shower terrific, plenty of closet space 
2. One of two thermostats had its wires crossed and warm setting = cold air. We told maintenance not to open the  ceiling to fix the problem until after we departed.
3. Our cruise mates' TV never worked.
4. One of two broken tenders never worked, one was repaired mid-cruise; this helped get excursioners off-loaded once one was operational. 
5. There is on US outlet and one European outlet per room (not enough for the typical cruiser nowadays)
6. Overall the staff was extremely friendly.
7. The sailing was at night and we never got a good look at the sails.
8. The intercom in the cabin was turned off, so the door had t be open if THB or DB needed to hear general announcements. Three should have had been a switch in the cabin so cruisers had the option to turn on or off (most of other ships have this capability)
9. Food in general was very good, though as the week went on basics started disappearing.
10. The Marina (where water equipment could be checked out) was suppose to be open from 10-4: well what does "daily" mean? what does 10am mean?
11. Consensus among other cruisers: Wind Surf service levels have continue to drop over time. 

WindStar (the cruise line)

1. UH OH!!!! CODE RED!!!!! 

COMMUNICATION FAILURES ABOUNDED: Almost too many to itemize

• Not easy to get hold of the Miami customer service center
• Wind Surf excursion staff was left out to sea when Miami excursion information was out to sea (lost data sets?)
• Credits showed up on our AMEX statement before our departure with no explanation
• 5 of 6 excursions listed on Day 1 were unavailable when we got on board and the excursion desk was left out of the loop. After talking to the staff and management, THB felt like the truthiness was of epidemic proportions.
• Dinner reservations were available starting on Day 1 at 4pm aboard ship; nobody told us 
• etc.
• etc.
• Consensus among other cruisers: WindStar service levels may have continued to drop over time and they keep signing up, over and over again (19 times was the highest we heard, 4 or 6 was common)

OVERALL WE HAD A VERY GOOD TIME, AND REALLY ENJOYED CRUISING WITH OUR COMPANIONS MB AND RF

Book Review

The Devil At His Elbow, Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty, Valerie Bauerlein (read by Maggi-Med Reed): How many generations of lawyers does it take for a family tradition to end in disgrace? Not that many given the right set of conditions: strong sense of entitlement, concentration of power, opioid abuse, inbreeding in a small community, and the ability to bully and cow the local citizens into submission. Highly Recommended (THB will watch the Netflixx series soon)

Virgin Gorda to Saint Barthelemy and then back to St. Maarten: Post 1,000

THB's 1,000,000,000 POST

 SAINT BARTHELEMY 

is a French-speaking Caribbean island commonly known as St. Barts, and is an overseas collectivity of France (say what? collectivity????)

Daily Update

• Weather: Sunny and warm
• THB feels like crap this morning: too much fun  in the sun? The beer at lunch yesterday? Too much  time on the travel PC? Good news: THB recovers to  go on a catamaran ride to a great snorkeling spot. HURRAY
• St BART is known as the home of the ultra rich, and we tour Gustavia. THB and DB enter exactly one shop...HAH! some of you are mind readers, yep it is La Boulangerie Choisy
• Time to pack up, the crew picks up the bags tomorrow at 6:30am for an excision prior to our flight to Dulles (fingers crossed)

Big ships in the St Bart harbor

The catamaran taking the snorkelers for a ride. THB thought the cat very dangerous: slippery when wet and not much flat walking space 

another excellent snorkeling spot. One person in the group was late to the pre-meeting, late to getting on the tender,  late to getting on the catamaran, and it took two different boat guys to tow here aboard....she almost ended up lost at sea. 

the equivalent of a spotter on a safari truck?

three pastries, two loaves, ice coffee, and THB and KB did not visit this boulangerie when we were in Paris last summer. Total somewhere around $20-25

Gustavia harbor at sunset

SAINT MAATEN 

(back to where we started the cruise)

Daily Update: 

• Weather: Same as it ever was
• Up early to put the bags outside our cabin at 6:30am
• Take a very short ride to another part of the marina to be shuttled to either one of  two 1987 America's cup yachts for a short race between Canada and USA
• THB ends up a mid-boat  grinder and DB is timekeeper and bartender. The ride is thrilling (about 45 minutes long), and THB ends up with lower back pain

RF is one of two team captains, picking their crew...schoolyard stuff!

Canadian boat

USS Greenland boat (or is Iceland) is now a USA Collectivity

half of the primary grinders

other half

Morgan is our skipper

the rear grinder (one grind on left and one on right), with MB on right winding rope as needed

Off to D.C., and the Dulles airport Marriott...DB and HB and 15 others are frozen solid after waiting over 15 minutes for the hotel van to show up HOW COLD WAS IT: 20 degrees Fahrenheit. One part of our room is over bright

Book Review - The Road, Cormac McCarthy (read by Tom Stechschute, pub’d 2006): Another of THB’s favorite authors tells an apocalyptic tale of a father and son (nameless) trying to outrun the death (cause unnamed) of the planet. Only a few things are left alive. Highly Recommended (for adults only)

Jost Van Dyke to Virgin Gorda

 Virgin Gorda 

is the third-largest island (after Tortola and Anega) and second-most populous of the British Virgin Islands

Daily Update

• Weather: Same as it ever was
• Awesome snorkel with a truly professional snorkel / dive boat...top of the line 
• Almost everybody aboard ship went to the lunch BBQ, meaning we saw a lot of people for the first time
• The medivac emergency  of a few days ago was from a woman experiencing a seizure (something her husband said was "normal" and the ship doc recommend she be offloaded.
• It is possible that DB and THB will receive a credit for the unprofessional jetboat snorkel excursion per one of the onboard excursion coordinators (who was on today's snorkel)
• Very nice dinner at the French bistro

Two more days to go, 3 to be back in the Loft.

a model of the Legend, another WindStar ship, that DB, THB, DA, and SA will be boarding in early April. No sails...if we all agree it is a go

RF educates THB: radar signaler, not wind turbines

SS advises this is a flag flown to indicate the ship is at anchor,  something the Wind Surf does every day instead of tying  up to a dock

For you homeowners with leaky roofs, it is hard to find the source of the water entry. THB thinks ships are similar as there are now 5 or 6 buckets catching leaks in the lounge

not exactly the pic THBB wanted to take, it does show a few scuba tanks aboard our snorkel boat. After checking with the staff assistant, this is mainly a dive boat. Steve the cap'n, gets in the water without a snorkel and frequently free divess to 20 feet to point something  out on the ocean floor. A font of knowledge, he also adjusts THB's snorkel in about 3 seconds and his goop method for cleaning masks is the best yet. A+++ rating . 

Snorkel spot #1: clear water, not a lot of fish, perfectly calm, super easy to get in the water and back on  the  boat...THB thinks  this must be because it is designed for top heave divers with tanks and us snorkelers are lightweights in comparison

Cap'n Steve has been plying these waters for 18 years and the drop-off in that time has been immense and severe the last two years. Warming  water, acidification, pollution, poaching, overfishing...you name it, we humans have changed everything  below the surface.

No pic of spot #2. Very similar as the rocks go down about twenty feet and the ocean flattens our. 

At the beach BBQ, THB does his best baseball basic food groups: dawgs and brewski's...pretty god!

DB's appetizer: fig tart

THB's appetizer: sort of a tomato jam with toppings; he needs a spoon to eat it

Three of us have rack of lamb: THB finished up DB's bones 

Book Review

Charles Dickens, a Life, by Claire Tomalin (read by Alex Jennings, pub'd 2012): THB has read many of Tomalin's books, she is very good, and this one is no different.  Maybe best listened to by those of you who read one or more of Dickens's books, even if  you didn't like them. He was a cultural genius of his times and his private life is fascinating if a bit  challenging to keep track of all the many real individuals let alone all the main / notable characters from his many bestsellers. Recommended (may be reco plus if you fondly remember your Dickens readings). THB's fave: A Tale Of Two Cities, he believes was written by someone  else.

From Tortola to Jost Van Dyke

JOST VAN DYKE

is the smallest of the four main islands of the British Virgin Islands, and a short sail from Tortola (a good thing because their was a medical emergency in room 208 necessitating a delay in departure)

Daily Update

• Weather: mid 80s, very hot in early afternoon in direct sun
• The ship needs a lot of daily maintenance. Fortunately our room, #330, is not subsumed by the smell of paint. 
• Dinner: BBQ served outdoors...very good, lots of variety

there are only two  outlets in each  half of the room; one with European adapter requiem, one of the US standard. Both over the desk, none near the bed. This is DB's CPAP occupying a desk extension cord and taped to the floor

short trip to Jost Van Dyke

early tender ride to a snorkel and beach excursion necessitated using room service: waffles, berries, yogurt for two. Here one of the crew is identifying the band members. On the wheel is Cheeky

.

DB consulting the stage manager

local hillside upscale architecture 

RF on horns, MB on bass, DB on drums

Mick, the lead singer, joins his bandmates 

The Flying  Nun, Groupie

Approach to the best snorkel spot of the trip

weighing anchor

Almost a secret: Pirates Bite on Norman Island: X marks the pot lots of different species of tropical fish, some very large fish, one THB had never seen before, some new growth coral and a few caves to explore. AWESOME, DUDE!!

due east of Puerto Rico

main spot for the rest of the morning: for the price of a shared drink you got chairs, umbrellas, clean restrooms, white sands, beautiful clear turquoise water 

DB and THB share a Pain Killer today (partially seen on right)

ship is now leaking between floors 3 and 4; you can hear the chant: pump you swabees, pump out the bilge as fast as you can, pump, damn you! (sounds of whips slashing through the air)