St. Kitts and Nevis

Friday we spent in St. Kitts. It was a really cool island with lots of scenic views. I ran on the track on the top of the ship that morning and saw the sunrise and watched as we came into port.

We rented a scooter to share. This time is was more durable, more power, better tires and more comfortable. They drove on the opposite side of the street and that was scary at times when tour vans would pass each other. There was one close call when one passed in our lane and we barely missed them. I know our prayer of safety was answered that day.
We had a hard time finding the scooter rental business. We opted to walk there since it was only a mile away but we couldn't find it after walking around the area for awhile. We asked some guys for directions who were selling sodas on the side of the road. They pointed us in the right direction so we started walking again. After about five minutes a nice lady pulled over and said she was friends with the guys and they told her we needed help finding the scooter rental. She said she worked next to it and would give us a ride. We felt good about getting in her car no matter how dangerous or crazy it may sound. She was kind and got us there and we realized there is no way we would have found that place on our own. So it was a little tender mercy for the day. 

We drove around the whole island. We stopped to see different views. This was called Blackrocks because of the....black rocks! There were little shops on the way to the overlook.

 At this look out you can see the Atlantic ocean and the Caribbean ocean.

We ended the afternoon at Cockleshell beach. We snorkeled and saw lots and lots of conch shells/cockleshells. We know why it is named cockleshell beach now. The water wasn't as clear but it felt a little warmer.

Second formal night....

This is Bob and Karen from Ohio. We ate dinner with them each night. They were so kind and easy to talk to.

We aren't the type to pay for professional pictures so we took our own.

That night we went shopping at the promenade and I got this hat. I don't normally wear hats but now I think will.  

Aruba and Second Day at Sea

Wednesday we did a snorkel cruise in Aruba.

We went to two different locations. The first location was right off the shore and we saw lots of corral, fish and even a lobster. The water was clear but cold like in Curacao.  The second location was the site of a shipwreck. It was so cool!

Our snorkel cruise finished at lunch time. We had lunch on the ship and then I spent a few hours getting some work done. My seasonal job started back up at the beginning of the month and it was tricky to find time to work each day. Marshall did the rock wall and flow rider.
 

We missed dinner at the dining room and instead we walked around the shops that night and bought some souvenirs.

Thursday was our second day at sea. Marshall had another meeting in the morning. We went to the ice skating rink after lunch. Can you believe it?! An ice rink on the ship also! It wasn't huge but big enough to skate around. Wednesday night we went to an ice show and were really impressed with the skaters. The ice rink isn't huge but they still did some really cool tricks and stunts!

After dinner we went to the theater for a concert by Journey: A Tribute Band. They sounded so similar to Journey. It was awesome!

Day at Sea and Curacao

Monday was our first day at sea. We had all day to explore the ship. I slept in and Marshall had a welcome meeting with Martin Garage Doors. I slept in and didn't get up until lunch time. It was so nice!

We went to our first art auction. We didn't purchase anything but we had a good experience seeing how an art auction worked.
That night was the first formal night. Marshall wore his tux from high school choir :) It was fun and we felt fancy. We loved having a table by the window and saw some beautiful sunsets at dinnertime.

Tuesday we spent the day in Curacao. It was an interesting island. Not at all what I pictured in the Caribbean. It is a desert! More cactus than Utah. We knew we wanted to get around the island and see some beaches but also none of the excursions really fit what we wanted to do. Marshall was all for renting a scooter but I was a little hesitant. I am a wuss and have no experience with scooters. We found a scooter rental but they didn't recommend two people per scooter. They were more of a moped and didn't have much capacity. I definitely wasn't up for driving my own scooter and the car rental was so pricey that I decided we could risk riding a scooter together. We said a prayer before starting off. It ended up all being just fine. I was nervous and worried about other cars but Marshall was a good driver and we were safe.

First we drove to a beach to the east of port. It was on the north side of the island.

 We were pretty entertained by this "Weather Station."

It was a man made beach but still so beautiful. The water was cold but clear. We snorkeled for about an hour and relaxed in the sun. We put sunscreen on a few times but we still had some bad sunburns after being in the sun all day. 

There were so many iguanas at the beach.

We passed this Flamingo area.

It's different seeing the graves above ground.

I thought this church was pretty. I didn't want to have to stop a bunch to take pictures while on the scooter so I got the hang of just holding Marshall's phone the whole time and snapping pictures while Marshall drove.

Willywood....???

Panorama magic....I'm in the picture twice :)

Curacao did not have many hills which was perfect for my first day on a scooter. It did have this huge bridge though. The picture doesn't quite show how steep it was going up and down the bridge. Plus there were tons of cars and the scooter didn't go as fast. We chanced it anyway and went over the bridge to the shops. My adrenaline was pumping and it was scary. Funny thing is that most of the islands after had lots of hills that were so much more steep that this bridge was nothing. Little did I know....

Heart for Lynnlee. It is covered in locks.

View from a higher point of Curacao. Such a huge ship!

 I was too scared to ride back over the big bridge so we walked the scooter over the pedestrian bridge. The shops are the buildings in the back ground. It was a cute place and we had fun getting some souvenirs.

Our waitress or whatever they are called on a cruise ship took our picture every night with us holding our hands to show which day it was. I'm sure this is common to cruising just like the towel animals in the room each day. We had a very kind and friendly state room attendant who took good care of us on the cruise. I can't imagine being a cruise ship employee. They get two months off each year but otherwise they work cruise to cruise without breaks.