Ready to Set Sail!

It looks like the time is upon us to set sail on the Emerald Princess for our 10-Night cruise to the Bahamas, Antigua, Barbados, St. Kitts, St. Lucia and St. Thomas.  Agnes has spent the week packing and preparing and my parents are always ready about a month in advance, so there should be no problem there!  I tend to focus more on the paperwork and triple-checking everything to make sure we can board the plane and the ship while also booking the shore excursions we want to do.

In this case, we already have a couple such excursions already lined up.  To begin with, Mom really wanted to see the sea turtles and coral preserve in St. Thomas.  This is a very popular excursion that we had to spend a few days to get confirmation on and I really don't know too much what to expect.  I did it through Shore Excursions Group, though, and I have a lot of confidence in them since they are much more selective in what they offer and focus on smaller groups than what the cruise lines usually offer.  (see picture of Coral World in St. Thomas below)


A more critical issue was setting up to go scuba diving.  To begin with, not all of these islands we are going to be visiting were created equal from a diving perspective.  While visibility is generally pretty clear in the Caribbean, some places don't have as much variety, have topographical features which limit coral formations and/or currents that make diving difficult.  Added to this is the fact that only two of the the four of us are experienced divers, so I needed to find a respectable dive instructor for Agnes (they are NOT all created equal) as well as something for my mom to do while we were in the water.

Ultimately, I settled on Scuba St.Lucia with the Anse Chastanet Resort near the Piton mountains in St. Lucia.  This has been a favorite spot for divers since everything underwater is a protected marine reserve and it sits in a bay that protects you from some of the stronger currents at sea.  I liked this operator not only because they are a 5 Star PADI certified operation, but also because they offered the best total package for the four of us.  Without getting too detailed, they offered one dive for my dad and I plus a Discover Scuba / Resort Course training and dive for Agnes plus my mother will be able to go to the resort's spa, use their beach and facilities, etc.  They even pick you up at the harbor where the Emerald Princess docks and throw in lunch as well, so what the heck!  Very responsive management at this resort that gave some very precise answers to questions I had posed since I don't like messing around with diving too much; cattle call diving with a million scuba enthusiasts all hitting the same spot is no fun, to say nothing of increasing the danger level.  (see picture of Piton mountains in St. Lucia below with snorkelers in the foreground)


In any event, with the ship setting sail in a few days, I hope to post some more about our experiences onboard as well as a more detailed review of the scuba diving next week before we finish in St. Thomas and the Princess Cays.  Watch this space!