Carnival Breeze A friend of mine from Colorado loves to take Carnival cruise vacations and he talked us into one a couple years ago and we went again this year with him and his family. We took an 8 day cruise through the windward islands of the Caribbean. Our first stop was in Grand Turk where we had 8 hours to check out the island. Lisa bought us some snorkel gear for Valentine’s Day and we opened it up a little early so we could check out the sea life near the beaches of Grand Turk. We could have had better sights if we took an excursion but even just around the beach we saw a lot of small fish and the shallow water had hundreds of conch shells on the sea floor. The next day we cruised into San Juan, Puerto Rico. With our snorkeling completed in Grand Turk we decided to take a walk through the town and up to Castillo San Felipe del Morro. El Morro is still an imposing structure that guards the entrance to San Juan. Original construction began in 1539 and el Morro has been nearly continuously upgraded over the years and comprises over 70 acres.
Our next stop was St. Kitts. Neither one of us has been zip lining but we were able to check that off our bucket list in St. Kitts. We booked an afternoon with Sky Safari Zip Lining. Their tour encompasses 5 total zip lines. A trainer line to get everyone familiar with their system and the zip line as well as preparing you for the stop at the end of each zip. There are 4 other zip lines that range from 10’-250’ off the ground. The lines allow speeds up to 80 km/hr. The tour started with a block of instruction and a ride on the training zip line. Then our group jumped in the back of a pickup truck for the ride to the top of the mountain. Our guides “Cheesecake” and “Gorgeous” were fantastic and made the trip easy and entertaining.
The last port of call was St. Maarten. Here we did what we love doing, we went sailing. We booked an excursion with the America’s Cup Regatta. We sailed the 12 meter 1987 Stars and Stripes US-55. Lisa was tasked as one of the 4 Primary Grinders and I was the Backstay Grinder. The ship’s Captain was CPT Morgan, yes really, CPT Morgan. And yes, he’s heard it before. He and his 2 man crew were incredible during the sail making sure everyone was doing the correct things at the right time to ensure we were getting all the speed out of the boat we could. The race consisted of 4 laps around the course and lasted about an hour including our training time. We ended up losing to Canada II, but I was offered the chance to take the helm on the way back to the drop off point and gladly accepted. Sailing an America’s cup boat off the coast of St. Maarten is something I’m not likely to forget anytime soon.
While sailing an America’s Cup racing boat is pretty awesome, I found out about another great event to make your Caribbean cruise fantastic if you own a motorcycle. ETA Motorcycle Cruises LLC will arrange for you to take your own bike on the cruise with you. They arrange for storage on the boat, gas, customs fees, and escorts around the islands you explore during your cruise. Ever want to drive your bike over the gangplank from a cruise ship then tour beautiful Caribbean islands? Now you can. If I wasn’t going to be selling everything and sailing away, this would be at the top of my vacation list.
Cruising on a Carnival Cruise ship with 3000 of my closest friends is nice, but I can’t wait to see the same islands again from our boat and enjoy the tranquility of Caribbean.
Our next stop was St. Kitts. Neither one of us has been zip lining but we were able to check that off our bucket list in St. Kitts. We booked an afternoon with Sky Safari Zip Lining. Their tour encompasses 5 total zip lines. A trainer line to get everyone familiar with their system and the zip line as well as preparing you for the stop at the end of each zip. There are 4 other zip lines that range from 10’-250’ off the ground. The lines allow speeds up to 80 km/hr. The tour started with a block of instruction and a ride on the training zip line. Then our group jumped in the back of a pickup truck for the ride to the top of the mountain. Our guides “Cheesecake” and “Gorgeous” were fantastic and made the trip easy and entertaining.
The last port of call was St. Maarten. Here we did what we love doing, we went sailing. We booked an excursion with the America’s Cup Regatta. We sailed the 12 meter 1987 Stars and Stripes US-55. Lisa was tasked as one of the 4 Primary Grinders and I was the Backstay Grinder. The ship’s Captain was CPT Morgan, yes really, CPT Morgan. And yes, he’s heard it before. He and his 2 man crew were incredible during the sail making sure everyone was doing the correct things at the right time to ensure we were getting all the speed out of the boat we could. The race consisted of 4 laps around the course and lasted about an hour including our training time. We ended up losing to Canada II, but I was offered the chance to take the helm on the way back to the drop off point and gladly accepted. Sailing an America’s cup boat off the coast of St. Maarten is something I’m not likely to forget anytime soon.
While sailing an America’s Cup racing boat is pretty awesome, I found out about another great event to make your Caribbean cruise fantastic if you own a motorcycle. ETA Motorcycle Cruises LLC will arrange for you to take your own bike on the cruise with you. They arrange for storage on the boat, gas, customs fees, and escorts around the islands you explore during your cruise. Ever want to drive your bike over the gangplank from a cruise ship then tour beautiful Caribbean islands? Now you can. If I wasn’t going to be selling everything and sailing away, this would be at the top of my vacation list.
Cruising on a Carnival Cruise ship with 3000 of my closest friends is nice, but I can’t wait to see the same islands again from our boat and enjoy the tranquility of Caribbean.
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