Regal Princess

November 23rd-30th

This is Princess's newest ship. She is the sister ship of the Royal Princess that we sailed on last Christmas. She is beautiful and we enjoyed our time on her. The food was excellent and Anytime dining worked fine. We did do the Wine Maker's dinner and it was good but not as good as on the Royal. We were going to go to the Crown Grill but the food was so good in the main dining room that we cancelled the Crown Grill. Our cabin steward was very good. The entertainment was OK...the shows were not new.


Sunset from our balcony


Early morning arrival in St. Maarten


Atrium


Champagne Waterfall


Charlie in his favorite position!











Sunset on the way back to Fort Lauderdale.


Allure of the Seas following us home.


Last night......good cruise.....

St. Maarten

Thursday, November 27th.....HAPPY THANKSGIVING

This morning we booked an island tour with Bernard's Tour, really just for something to do. We have been to this island so many times that there isn't anything we haven't seen. This used to be one of my favorite islands but it has gotten so crowded and dirty that I'm not crazy about it anymore.

We had a nice day but nothing special.








Orient Beach......not the nude side!


Looks like I didn't take many pictures. We had a nice dinner but I would have liked a home Thanksgiving dinner better.

St. Thomas

Wednesday, November 26th

This morning we took a ship's excursion to St. John. We have been to St. Thomas many times but we have never been to St. John.


Morning arrival in St. Thomas


Boarding boat to St. John

In 1917, the United States purchased the U.S. Virgin Islands for $25 million from the Danish government in order to establish a naval base whose purpose was to prevent German expansion in the Western Hemisphere. They also agreed to recognize Denmark's claim to Greenland, which they had previously disputed.

In 1956, Laurance Rockefeller donated most of the land he had acquired on the island to the United States' National Park Service, under the condition that it must be protected from future development. The remaining portion, the Caneel Bay Resort, continues to operate on a lease arrangement while the park owns the actual land. The Virgin Islands National Park borders encompass 75% of the island, but various in-holdings within the park boundary (e.g., Peter Bay, Maho Bay) reduce the actual land the park owns to 60%. However, much of the island's waters, coral reefs and shoreline are protected via their inclusion in the park. This protection was expanded in 2001, when the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument was created.



Cancel Bay...Turtle Bay Beach


Trunk Bay


Annaburg Sugar Mill


We had a very nice day and St. John was a beautiful island.

Boarding the Regal Princess

Sunday, November 23rd

Embarkation was very easy. Things are going too good! The Regal is the sister ship of the Royal Princess and is the newest ship in the fleet. It really is beautiful but still has the quirks of the Royal.....mainly, no center staircase which can make waiting for elevators a real pain and the MINISCULE balconies!


Goodbye to Fort Lauderdale.......





Beautiful sunset....

Here we go again!

Friday, November 21st

Goodbye Itsy......



Our plan, initially had been to leave home on the 29th and drive to Ponce Inlet to arrive at the condo we had rented for the month of December. Then I realized that we would be traveling on Thanksgiving weekend and that did not sound like a good idea. In my daily surfing of the Internet, I came across ads for discounted cruises for Thanksgiving week! Gee....what a coincidence! So here we are, on our way out of town to board the Regal Princess for Thanksgiving week. We plan to drive slowly and stop in Lake City Fl. At the Cabot Lodge and then get to Fort Lauderdale on Saturday. We will stay at Hyatt Place and leave our car there while we cruise. All of the plans fell in to place very quickly and easily so I guess it was meant to be.