As a note all passengers are referred to by their Cruise Critic monikers in order to make an effort at protecting the innocent or guilty or revelers, or whatever! Crew members are referred to by name so that they can get all the recognition that they are due for the wonderful job that they all did taking care of us. Special thanks to Capt T, Mary, Stephan, Peter, Zoltan, June, Clint, Christophe, and Super Mario!
(Many thanks to Disney Jen for letting me use her material to refresh my memory and save me a lot of time)
It’s time for the journey to begin. FT and I will be off to the airport with the hour. Winging our way to San Juan and meeting with our fellow CCers. Everyone is excited, and I am sure that FT has arranged a lovely lunch for us tomorrow at the Sheraton Old Towne.
We arrived in San Juan around 10:00 p.m and after a quick cab ride to the Sheraton Old Towne San Juan we settled in for the evening. I am a late night person and decided to pay the casino a visit before going to sleep. While it was not an unsuccessful trip, I only stayed about a half an hour, and then it was back to the room to continue with my writing. Luckily I managed to finish all that I had to do before we boarded the ship.
The scheduled itinerary for this voyage is:
So you may wonder what our itinerary finally looked like:
Friday arrived blustery and blowing, but sunny. We woke up to the sight of SDI and SD II docked next to each other at pier 1, in Old San Juan.
FT had arranged for all of the CC people to meet for lunch at 12:00 before we boarded the ship. (Dr. and Mrs. jbcjtc and DisneyJen and DJ’s DH, Ohmiss and her DH, Mr. and Mrs. MarDav, Mr. and Mrs. RaySan11). A group of 12 very excited SeaDreamers (pictured below) gathered and introduced themselves … and there were tiaras for all the women.
Prior to lunch I had a chance to go to the Polo outlet, and found some good buys. I was also able to finish the work that I had to get done. That was a great relief so that when I boarded the ship I had a clean plate.
We had a table on the patio with a nice view of the twins at the dock. SD2 and SD1 berthed next to each other provided a wonderful backdrop for lunch. We also spied Paul Allen's yacht, "Octopus." (Note Octopus in the distance in San Juan it is 70 feet longer and twice as heavy as the yachts.)
Anticipation was growing as we shared SD stories as well as cruising stories over lunch. Many in the group kept checking their watches, wishing that time would move faster so we could board SD! Around 1:45 we had the bellmen at the Sheraton get all the bags and load them into a single cab for the transfer to the ship. After a quick walk over we were on SD II in no time at all. As FT and I approached the ship, Captain T was at the top of the gangway, and warmly greeted us. FT has know him since she has sailed with him on some crossings, but this was my first introduction. What a wonderful man!
We were then introduced to Stephane Carriou, our hotel manager for this voyage, and Mary Murrin, our Club and Activities Director and we were given a cool towel and a perfectly chilled glass of champagne. After a few brief minutes, we were shown to the Main Salon where we waited, per the new procedure, to be shown to the lobby where our photos were taken for our boarding cards. We were then shown to our cabin by our stewardess, Jinky, who is doing a great job taking good care of us.
When we arrived in our suite, we found a copy of this letter from Capt. T to all passengers:
Welcome on board SEADREAM II on this Caribbean voyage. Like all of our guests, I have been looking forward to this voyage for a long time. Regrettably, the weather has been a bit uncooperative with elevated seas and windy conditions.
Due to the present weather conditions and the forecast for the next few days, we have decided to change our itinerary as we would not be able to call on St. Martin, St. Barth and Anguilla on the days scheduled. We will of course monitor the forecasts and, should sea conditions improve, we are flexible and will try to fit in Anegada toward the end of the week.
The above changes have been made with your comfort and safety as top priority. As well, we will only sail from port after all guests have enjoyed their dinner in the Restaurant each night.
The new sailing schedule is as follows:
We look forward to a nice voyage together with you.
“Thank you for your understanding.”
Signed:
Your Captain, Johannes.
Our luggage was on board within 10 minutes and we were unpacked by 3:00 at the latest. We were off to the TOY for what is quickly turning into a daily routine.
Disney Jen and her husband DJs DH are across the hall from us, and the jbcjtc are next door, all on deck 2 midships. RaySan and MarDav are also on board but on different decks.
Muster drill was at 5:00 pm. The six of us were assigned to the same lifeboat along with other folks from Deck 2. It went without a hitch.
After muster drill, our group of ten from CC, along with quite a few other passengers, was at the Top of the Yacht enjoying cocktails, At the TOY we met two Cruise Critic lurkers who hail from California. They kept us laughing all week. We dubbed them “The Sistahs.” Also at the TOY Bar was a card board stand up Kenny Chesney, center stage, FT and Disney Jen just love Kenny! DJ’s DH and FT told DisneyJen that they had asked the REAL Kenny to join us but this stand in would have to do. One of Kenny Chesney’s CD was playing, the sun was shining and the champagne was flowing. Disney Jen had no idea what was about to happen but the rest of us did.
(As an aside there were wedding vow renewals and birthdays celebrated on this voyage. DJ’s DH and myself were privy to all aspects of the planning, but the . . . ah . . victims . . . FT and DisneyJen, . . .only knew parts of what was going on. There was a lot of communication between the ship and shore as all of this was planned.)
Suddenly, DJsDH dropped to one knee and recited a lovely poem that he had written and proposed all over again to his wife of 25 years. Appropriate music was played by the wonderful staff, and drinks were liberally poured by Clint one of the wonderful SD bartenders.
Prior to dinner Mary, the CD, and Capt. T gave the usual speeches, but warned us that getting from San Juan to our first port St. John was going to be like riding Arrowsmith’s Rockin Roller Coaster at Walt Disney World. Everyone was cautioned to take “the pills” which are freely available at the Concierge desk, or to use the patch, which may be purchased for $10 at the desk.
Then we were heading off to a lovely dinner at a special table for the six of us (ZQVOL, FT, DJ, DJ’s DH, and the CBTCJTs) . We were waited on by June and Maître’d Peter. Both of these fine gentlemen, along with the tag team of Frank Kis, the sommelier and Chief Bartender Zoltan took excellent care of us at dinner every night. Dinner, in the usual SD fashion was wonderful. The Filet was perfect and service was exquisite. The standard wines were very nice and fit in perfectly. I did not pay a bit of attention to the labels, but trusted Frank, our sommelier to make good selections, which he did. On SD for the most part there is never a reason to need any wine other than the standard pour.
Due to the weather conditions we stayed late in San Juan and sailed at 11:40 p.m. Before retiring for the night we found our SD pajamas sans our names. Seems the embroidery machine was broken so no personalized pajamas this trip. The captain was right it was a rocking night, with 8 to 10 foot seas coming off the port quarter since they were from the northeast. I’m not sure when we got to calmer waters but when we awoke Saturday morning we were anchored off Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI.
Looking off our starboard side we saw Sea Dream I anchored beside us. The captain established a tender service first thing. I went into town in the morning and wandered around a bit. St. John is not the shopping or tourist mecca that a lot of other island are, but is quaint in its own way.
At 5:30Disney Jen and DJsDH renewed their wedding vows in a lovely ceremony, officiated by the captain, on the back of deck 4. Stephan the Hotel Manager and Mary, the cruise director went out of their way to make the ceremony meaningful. There was even an appearance by DJs favorite person, Kenny, though he caused quite a scene falling down and knocking over a wine bucket that had champagne bottles in it. (Guests included RaySan, MarDav as well as FT, ZQVOL and the jbcjtc’ers, Cardboard Kenny, who was once again standing in for the real cowboy, along with Mary and Stephane)
Capt. T then presented gifts to the lovely couple on behalf of SD (this was part of the vow renewal package that was gift from FT and zqvol). Capt. T excused himself after wishing us well so he could reposition us to Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas for dinner and a calm night of sleep. Everything was wonderful, until the Cardboard Cowboy decided to crash the party … literally … and knock over the champagne bucket! Stephane saved the day and the champagne.
Our scheduled stop for Sunday is St. Martin, however due to the swells and high seas Captain T has decided to spend Sunday at St. Thomas. Promptly after the ceremony we weighed anchor and made the journey to St. Thomas harbor, where we anchored with a view of the West India Company Dock, known as Havensight, and downtown Charlotte Amalie
After cocktails the usual six of us were escorted to DJ’s DH’s and DJ’s favorite table, in celebration of the vow renewal, we had dinner outside on deck 4 aft. June and Peter were dressed in as Caribbean Cowboys in keeping with the theme of the day. We were then joined by Capt. T who had expertly maneuvered us into the sheltered waters of Charlotte Amalie. With the lights of St. Thomas twinkling in an almost perfectly inky black sky and an almost full moon rising we dined on a special menu selected just for the bride and groom, by FT and DJ’s DH and perfectly executed by the galley
As a special treat, The menu consisted of DJs favorite Osco Bucco. Peter, and Zoltan (what a wonderful sense of humor) took great care of us as we enjoyed our meal. We awoke Sunday morning to beautiful Caribbean skies. A tender service was established into Yacht Harbor Grande on St. Thomas. We learned from the captain that he prefers to anchor instead of dock. On SD this is not an issue like on the mass market lines because the tender service is very efficient and frankly the passenger loads are so low that there is never a line for a tender.
I would love to tell you a lot more about St. Thomas but except for a quick run into Havensight to Royal Caribbean, a shop where I always seem to have good luck with electronics, we spent the day lounging in the sun on the aft pool deck. While on shore I grabbed some liquor price brochures for DJ’s DH as he had to make an obligatory run to the store for Grand Marnier. We remained anchored in the main harbor until around 3:00 p.m.
Around 3:00 p.m. the captain repositioned the ship to Water Island (above right). This took about 30 minutes. For those of you familiar with St. Thomas harbor, this is one of the islands that protects the harbor. We anchored off Honeymoon beach. The reason for the move was to allow the water sports platform to be lowered. The water toys were brought out and swimming was allowed off the back of the yacht. A Zodiac service was established into the beach. FT and I were on the first trip in and when we landed were greeted to the sounds of Kenny Chesney. It seems the locals like his music as much as FT does. The beach was dirty and dogs were running loose so we quickly returned to the ship.
Dinner was again lovely and we remained anchored almost all night since our next stop was Tortola only a few miles away. After dinner a trip was made to the TOY for libations. The highlight was either the captain appearing in his dress uniform or . . . the playing of “It’s Raining Men” by the Weathergirls! All of the women in our group were on our feet singing and dancing while our DHs stood along the railing shaking their head at such craziness just like we were in high school and college. Then a man from California hopped up on the Office table and did his own spotlight dance while we all sang the chorus. Suddenly dollars appeared and this man’s partner was stuffing them into the dancer’s waistband … and then others who were traveling with them as well as other passengers joined in. It was such fun! After 30 minutes or so our happy band of six travelers headed to the Piano Bar around 11 p.m. to join Edgardo at the piano and of course Zoltan, master mix-master from Hungary.
Morning broke as we made our way up a very smooth Sir Francis Drake Channel to Roadtown, Tortola. After anchoring in a corner of the harbor we headed to breakfast in the Office for our usual fare. FT and I then grabbed a cab to the beach. The beach was beautiful, with a wonderful beach bar with clean restrooms. The only problem was that the beach was on the north shore and the swells prevented snorkeling and it rained. But we got off the ship!
I had purchased lots of streamers, gag gifts and flamingoes to decorate our cabin. Poor DJ’s DH knew both sets of surprises and somehow was able to keep it all straight. Independently each party gave DJ’s DH items which he then packaged into one box for shipment to the port agent in SJU. DJ’s DH and FT had made arrangements to have the items transferred to the ship and stored for us until our arrival.
I have learned that while FT and I were ashore CAD Mary joined DJ on the Bali Bed to review plans for the surprises we had planned for FT starting with some decorations (think streamers and such) in her room which would be added to each day. Plans were made to place the flamingoes on the beach the day of Champagne and Caviar Splash and for FT to be one of the first ones to wet land on the beach.
While we were ashore Capt T had made a Zodiac trip to find us a place to anchor and use the water sports platform. He found a calm anchorage off Peter for water sports (no jet skis because of the BVI regulations) and dinner. After the last tender returned from Roadtown around 2:30 p.m., we picked up the anchors and had a lovely motor sail over to Peter. After the anchors were securely dug in, the Marina Platform was lowered and people had a chance to participate in water sports from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Folks were allowed to swim off the Marina Platform from 5 to 5:30 p.m. just enough time for a refreshing dip before heading to dress for cocktails poolside.
Each day on the itinerary there is a sentence that states “DRESS CODE FOR THIS EVENING IS ‘YACHT CASUAL’ AFTER 18:30.”
There was a rather large group traveling together (about 28) while we were a core group of six (who would expand to 10 or more on any given night).
Now I like to have a good time just as much as the next person. I must say that I was somewhat disappointed that there was a subset of that group (probably 15 to 20), who totally disregarded the published dress code on the three nights when cocktails were served poolside.
This was the first time in our four SD cruises that I saw blatant disregard for the dress code.
Now some may think that this is a petty issue but when this group blocked access to the bar for other guests and the waiters and as well as access to the hors d’oeuvres well then we have a bit of an issue.
It was somewhat annoying to me and others with whom I spoke to see these folks splashing in the hot tub in their bathing suits while the rest of us were dressed for dinner and trying to enjoy the ambiance that the staff was trying create by serving cocktails poolside. Not to mention the bottleneck that occurred.
The staff did all that they could to work around and diffuse any potential conflict, however, they too were also greatly inconvenienced. As a matter of fact, the HM and CAD both advised that they each approached the group about the situation.
SD’s dress code is very casual but I really think that these folks were disrespectful to their fellow passengers as well as the crew and staff. I later learned that we weren’t the only people who mentioned the situation to the HM and CAD. There really wasn’t anything the staff or crew could do in this situation except smile and provide excellent service.
The only reason I mention this is that there is always a huge debate on Cruise Critic in general about dress code.
Did this ruin our evenings… heck no… but listening to our good friend FT complain about how irritating it was to get dripped and splashed on as you were trying to get a cocktail wasn’t much fun either.
I do encourage future cruisers, regardless of whatever line you sail, to be courteous to your fellow passengers and the ship’s staff and follow the dress code just as you would at a fine restaurant or resort on land.
With that out of my system I will continue with the review…
We then headed to dinner only to discover orange safety cones doing on our table... and what do they say? Caution ... something about a certain age??Two members of our group who met the criteria donned them as party hats. After dinner it to the Piano Bar until we got under way to St. Barths The 100 plus mile run to St. Barth was bumpy, rocky and rolling . In fact IMO it was worse than the first night!
Morning dawned finding us anchored at the mouth of Gustavia harbor after our amusement park run south. The captain visited as is his custom and we learned that we would probably spend two nights anchored where we are and then run over to St. Martin early Thursday morning. I made a trip to shore just to walk around town once again. Since I was alone I had a chance to explore some new areas. While I was gone FT was spending time in her usual spot on the aft pool deck. Unbeknownst to her the crew was busy at work in our cabin with more decorations. The water sports platform was lowered again and playing in the ocean was the game of the day.
The water toys, including the all important jet skis, were brought out at 2 p.m. for two hours of fun. Around 3:30 we watched as SD1 our twin, arrived and spent a few minutes jockeying for position behind us where she dropped anchor to overnight with us.
Tonight was the member’s party, but since over 50% of the passengers were members the captain opened it up to the entire manifest. Caviar was enjoyed by many while Capt. T recognized the top three guests with the most night on SD. FT came in third, with about 60 nights. I unfortunately only have 24 because I can’t do the crossings with her, which is really not fair. Dinner was originally scheduled to be held at the Topside Restaurant on Deck 5 but HM Stephane decided to move it indoor since the skies looked a bit threatening. This was not a problem because we dined in our usual spot.
Wednesday morning dawned bright and beautiful. After enjoying breakfast FT and I went to town so that we could go to Shell beach, one of our favorite spots to snorkel. The water was its usual brisk March temperature, but after getting in was very nice. There were not a lot of people at the beach today but we had a chance to observe what I assume is an island custom. A group of people came walked down the beach carrying flowers and the ashes of a friend. We watched from a distance and gave them their privacy but it was a moving time as they scattered the remains and then threw the flowers in the ocean.
At lunch DisneyJen asked the HM Stephane if it would be possible to invite a couple of CC friends who were traveling on SD1 for cocktails and dinner on SD2 this evening. It seemed that SD1 was following us all around the Caribbean and we really wanted to catch up with ohmiss and her DH (who had joined us in San Juan) to see how they were enjoying their cruise. Stephane handled all the arrangements with Executive HM Christophe who was on SD1 as well as with Capt. T and security. Seems that Capt. T was having lunch on SD1 and was able to stop by and personally invite ohmiss and her DH to join the six of us for dinner.
Water sports were available again in the afternoon, but FT and I just enjoyed the deck and pool. Mid-afternoon Mario (who is always smiling) came around the pool deck with today’s afternoon pass around which was homemade ice cream sandwiches made from fresh cookies and homemade ice cream. FT has a number of food allergies and was not able to eat the cookies so had to pass, or so we thought. A few minutes later Super Mario reappeared with two sandwiches for us made from cookies that did not contain any forbidden items! Once again the SD staff doesn’t know how to say no!
As we were enjoying cocktails on the pool deck again, still in the midst of the rude pool party run by the people who can’t tell time, and waiting on our guests from SDI we watched as the kitchen staff unloaded a tender full of fresh fruits and vegetables. DJ’s DH is a logistics guru and he was quite impressed with the process. Around 6:45 p.m., a tender from SD1 pulled alongside. Capt. T and the Security Officer Beer graciously welcomed our guests on board. Cocktails were served poolside as a full moon rose overhead which made for some incredible views through the puffy clouds. Maybe we can blame the full moon for the hot tub party crew’s lack of manners. It was soon time for dinner and we were shown a wonderful table for 8 on Deck 4 aft. As always, June, Peter, Zoltan and Frank made sure that were wanted for nothing.
Before dessert was served, Capt. T stopped by to chat with us and to check on how our guests enjoyed their dinner on SD2. Ohmiss and her DH said they were having a wonderful time and thanked Capt. T for his hospitality. Our CC friends needed to head back to SD1 since they were scheduled to leave St. Barth around midnight. We waved goodbye to them from Deck 3 as their tender sped them back to SD1. Once again, a special thanks to the hotel managers, Stephane on SD2 and Christophe on SD1, as well as the security folks for making this happen.
We awoke to slight movement as we were headed to St. Martin, with the goal being to anchor in Marigot. Surprisingly the seas were pretty calm. We were allowed on the bridge to check out the ships operations. It is really impressive and I am sorry that I did not take any picture of the various radars. We were accompanied by DisneyJen and her DH. DJ was most impressed with all of the weather radars.
As we arrived we noticed SD1 tied up to the industrial dock An Azmara ship was anchored further out than we were and had established a tender service. Our anchorage was a bit rocky, but not unbearable, at least until late in the day. After breakfast FT and I headed into Marigot, a port we had missed twice before. I was thoroughly unimpressed. I kept hearing of quaint French villages, but found it to be very run down. We went to what are supposed to be all of the good areas, and while there were some upscale shop around, most of the town is very unpleasant. I prefer Phillipsburg.
The days swimming off the water sports platform was canceled due to rough seas. Our happy little group found way to amuse ourselves. One of our favorite pastimes was gathering in the Office and on the Bali Beds. We finally got FT to join us and we watch the rails rock up and down as we rolled with the swells.
In the evening Disney Jen and her DH hosted a cocktail party in their suite for our merry group. Written invitations, courtesy of SD arrived and we were escorted by Jinky to their suite. It was a long trip for us, one step across the passageway. So we joined the usual group for cocktails and then dinner al fresco on Deck 4 aft along with two new couple we met on board and who are CC lurkers. One couple had been invited to dine with at the Captain’s Table on Thursday but opted to join us instead.
Around 6:00 p.m. the captain raised anchors, which was not like him at all, as we usually ate in a calm location. He had decided that it was too rough so found us a clam anchorage to enjoy dinner and drinks. Unfortunately this prevented him from join us on time for cocktails. Peter brought some wonderful canapés as Zoltan checked in on our bar needs.
The invitations to the cocktail party said that we should wait for an escort to event. Remember that we were directly across the hall from DisneyJen and her DH and the jbcjtc’ers were diagonally across the hall from them. The Sistahs and the Professah were just a few doors away on deck 2. FT was visiting DJ and had to return home to be escorted back to the gala event. We all, including Jinky our wonderful stewardess, laughed about the process!
Surprisingly as we were gathering and enjoying the moment the phone rang. It was Capt. T calling to say that he was sorry he was late and that he would join us shortly. As DJ’s DH commented to our group … “Only on SD does one receive such personal attention.” CAD Mary stopped by to give us a personal overview of the activities for the next day. Earlier in the day we had invited her to join us for dinner and she accepted, and we dined al fresco on deck 4 aft.
After a lovely dinner we made the usual evening stops at the Top of the Yacht and the piano bar, and then retired for what we expected to be a rolling ride back to the BVI. In fact the ride was much smoother than I expected.
We awoke on Freaky Friday (March 13) to find that we were anchored of Jost Van Dyke between White Bay and Great Harbor, the perfect place for all the fun activities we had planned for FT’s birthday on one of our favorite beaches … White Bay. Home to the Soggy Dollar and Seddy’s One Love Beach bars, White Bay is home to one of the prettiest beaches in the Caribbean. FT and I awoke early as usual and were in the Office, our usual spot for breakfast when we were joined by DJ and DH’sDH. FT was not a happy camper because we were not going to be having the Champagne and Caviar Splash on Jost van Dyke due to the uncooperative ocean.
We waited for the purser to return to the ship from Jost where she was clearing customs for the ship and it passengers and crew, and then set sail for Peter Island our alternative location for the C&C splash. We went through the cut between Tortola and the Thatch islands on our way to the Sir Francis Drake Channel, when we passed Sea Dream I anchored at Soper’s Hole, Tortola. As we made our passage we heard the ship’s horn sound warning one of the many sailing vessels in the channel of our approach. The funny thing was that the horn went on and on and on and on. We later found out that it had been stuck.
Unbeknownst to me on our sail, CAD Mary, HM Stephane and DJ had a quick meeting to revise plans for one of FT’s last surprises. (Part of the decorations I had shipped to the captain ahead of our sailing were four pink flamingos, a bird that FT really enjoys. The plan had been for them to be arranged around a beach chair when we arrived at Jost.) They decided to have the birds great us on the dock as we landed at the Oceans 7 Beach Club on Peter Island. They also arranged for a champagne toast on the beach. After a quick tender ride we were greeted on the pier by the flamingos. FT thought that they were indigenous to the pier but we explained to her that they were for her birthday. She was really amused and loved the birds. We picked up the flamingos and used them to stake our loungers along the very short and rocky beach. The plan had been to return home with them, but costs were such that two of them are spending their life in San Juan, courtesy of a nice young man at the airport. We were soon approached by the wonderful wait staff offering Painkillers or Rum Punch. They were quickly followed by HM Stephane who appeared with six plastic champagne glasses and a bottle of champagne which we used to toast FT’s and jbcjtc’s milestone birthdays.
The physical facilities at Ocean 7 Beach Club were wonderful. There were enough tables and chairs under cover for all to be seated at lunch, which was a good thing as the skies opened up poured rain just before noon. The surfboard laden with caviar and the accoutrements was moved under cover as well. While we did not have the usual service in the surf guests still had a wonderful time and rapidly consumed the caviar. The beach barbeque menu was fantastic as always with prime rib, grilled shrimp, barbecued ribs, many different salads and wonderful desserts. Of course the champagne was flowing as well.
After a wonderful lunch, we reboarded the yacht and rested at the pool until we weighed anchor and headed back to Jost where CAD Mary had made arrangements for the shop at Foxy’s in Great Harbor to stay open until 6:30 p.m. so those of us who wanted to could shop. FT made her first visit in three trips to the islands, but was still disappointed that we missed White Bay and the Soggy Dollar. Even DJ went ashore with us. We made the short walk along the sandy road to Foxy’s and visited the shop, and bar, before returning to the ship to prepare for dinner and the usual cocktail party.
For a change, DJ’s DH and DJ arrived at the cocktail party before us. We learned that CAD Mary had announced that in honor of FT’s birthday “The Eagles Farewell Concert from Australia” would be shown in the Main Salon after dinner. Since FT and I missed the first announcement it was repeated for her benefit upon our arrival. (FT is an Eagle’s junkie, having traveled all over the US last year to their concerts. This year’s musician of choice is Keith Urban.)
DJ and her DH ordered a bottle of Pommery Champagne from Frank to celebrate FT’s birthday. We then learned that the four of us had consumed ALL of the Pommery that were on board that week. Much to her chagrin FT was serenaded with “Happy Birthday” and presented her with a chocolate cake which DJ had arranged from the pastry chef, at my request. It was delicious and the perfect ending to a surprise filled day. After a short visit to the TOY and the piano bar we turned in anticipation of our last full day tomorrow aboard the wonderful Sea Dream II.
Saturday morning we sailed up a very windy up the Sir Francis Drake Channel from Jost van Dyke to North Sound of Virgin Gorda. Unfortunately our stop at Spanish Town and the Baths was canceled due to the swells that we had been fighting all week long. The small sailing craft that were out were having a time, but looked like they were enjoying the day.
We had breakfast with DJ and DJsDH in the office and enjoyed champagne for breakfast. The captain pointed out the sights as we sailed up the sound including Necker Island, Sir Richard Branson’s private island. We anchored off the Bitter End Yacht Club around 10:00 with a great view of Saba Rock Resort, Bitter End Resort and Biras Creek Resort, and the Seabourne Pride that had been following us for a couple of days.
We enjoyed the day on board spending our time between Deck 6 and Deck 3. We joined DJ and DJ’sDH in the Office for a nice lunch and then I went ashore for a nice walk. Others enjoyed the marina that was out again as it was many days of this trip. I honestly think that Capt. T went out of his way to make sure that we could enjoy as many of the pleasures of the yacht as possible.
FT and I were the first of our group to reach the Main Salon for a last night of cocktails, and were soon joined by the group. Capt. T give his farewell remarks followed by CAD Mary’s information on disembarkation. We left the Main Salon and headed to dinner. The six of us were shown to our favorite table one final time by Peter. During dessert Rey and his guitar made an appearance. As he played and sang “Leaving on A Jet Plane” we sang along.
Around 11:00 we began our final night of sailing as we headed the 104 miles back to San Juan. We had a relatively smooth ride, especially when compared to our journey out of San Juan. Capt. T took his time and we arrived outside San Juan as FT and I finished our last breakfast in the Office. The captain had us tied up alongside the pier right around the scheduled time of 8:30 a.m. Disembarking was painless, but also painful as no one had any desire to leave the yacht. We grabbed a cab along with 6 of our fellow passengers and were at the airport by 10:00 a.m. or so, accompanied by Kenny and the flamingos.
Unfortunately the cost of returning Kenny and two of the flamingos home with us was prohibitive so we gave them to a receptive employee at the airport. Clearing security in San Juan is slow. FT and I soon boarded our Delta flight home and were back at the house only about an hour later than scheduled. Which we have since learned was much earlier than our traveling companions.
The issue now is how soon can we be back on the yacht!