Cruise 4 – Star Princess - Redemption

 

Redemption – Cruise Four – M/S Star Princess to the Caribbean

Princess Cruise Lines 7 Day Cruise - Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 

Nov 28 to Dec 5, 2004

San Juan

St. Thomas

Tortola

The world changed drastically between our third and fourth cruises. The al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, forever altered our concept of security and our attitudes about protecting ourselves from future terror attacks. The cruising industry suffered a massive financial drop in tourism in the aftermath of the attacks and several weaker, smaller cruise lines failed. Almost all cruise lines suffered severe financial troubles.

The cruise industry survived and came through the crisis with newer, bigger ships, most planned or built before the terror attacks. The cruise lines added new itineraries. The cruise ports themselves recognized the financial benefits of attracting cruise ships to their ports and began massive upgrading of facilities. Even quaint St. John, the island destination we slept through on our S/S Norway cruise, expanded its modest facilities to accommodate four massive cruise ships simultaneously.

By 2004, the cruise ship industry was changing rapidly, steaming ahead with new ships and new customers. By then we were living on Florida’s west coast, and cruising had long faded from our list of things we wanted to do. We remembered the “sugar cruise” and the orange life boats hanging by our cabin window. We had fond memories of the Norway, but we knew that beautiful cruise could not be repeated. As far as we were concerned, most of the ports we visited were just typical tourist stops.

We enjoyed the open sea cruising, but not the crowds that dominated the ports of call.

But then the magic once again popped up in front of us while we were walking along the waterfront at Mallory Square in Key West. We were with Ron and Joan, friends who had never been cruising, and stopped in front of the Royal Caribbean “Majesty of the Seas.” The moment couldn’t have been better. With one of Key West’s famous sunsets behind the huge ship, Joan swooned over the thought of cruising. Ilse and I succumbed as well, we were once again anxious to hit the high seas.

Ron and Joan were members of the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. When their local chapter offered a group cruise on the Star Princess, Joan called us and asked if we would like to join them on the cruise.

“Yes, we’d love to, Thank You!” We began planning and packing for our fourth cruise.

We had only sailed with Norwegian Caribbean Lines and looked forward to cruising with Princess Cruises as they had a very good reputation among experienced cruisers we talked to. Princess Cruises had once been a part of the P&O before becoming the high end cruise lines owned by Carnival Cruises. Yes, the one started by Ted Arison in Miami way back in the last century. The Star Princess sailed from Ft. Lauderdale’s Port Everglades, another first for us.

Our biggest change was how far we were from the port. We no longer lived in Miami, but we didn’t even have to consider driving the 200 miles or so to Ft. Lauderdale as our package included bus transportation to and from the ship. All we had to do was show up in the lodge parking lot on time to board the bus.

We boarded the chartered, air conditioned bus and were soon rolling across Alligator Alley headed toward Port Everglades. It was a pleasure to sit back and let someone else drive. The two hour trip was actually fun. It was a party atmosphere – plus my 62nd birthday – as we got our first glimpse of the Star Princess.

After a quick, painless boarding process, we found ourselves on the top deck looking over the port. We didn’t even have to worry about our pre-ticketed luggage. All we did was get off the bus and process through the ticket counter inside the terminal. Our timing was perfect as we went through the check-in process as soon as we arrived in the terminal.

Our first balcony

It didn’t take long to find a table and kick back, with a beer this time as there were no hostesses with fancy drinks to welcome us. The weather was perfect and we stayed on deck as the huge ship silently, almost mystically, cast off and headed for the main channel. We slowly sailed out the channel past condominiums where people sitting on their balconies waved at us as we sailed past. Time for dinner.

When Ilse and I got to the room, not only did we find our suitcases were waiting for us outside our cabin doors, but we also found the room filled with multi-colored balloons. “Happy Birthday!” and “Just Married!” were gaily blazoned across the helium balloons. Our table was covered with envelopes and silver trays with different cards. The first one was a plate of chocolate dipped strawberries with the with a card with the Princess logo that said, “A Special Gift for You, from Monica and Troy – Happy Anniversary, We Love You.” It was indeed our 40th Anniversary. It was so very sweet and thoughtful of our daughter and her husband to arrange for the very special, unexpected and very much appreciated gifts.

We changed clothes and met Ron and Joan, both dressed for our first dinner. We asked for a table for four, so Joan and Ron and Ilse and I had the same location and the same wait staff for every meal. To us, that is one of the pleasures of cruising. The meals were outstanding not just in taste but selection as well. Executive chef Mario Rotti showed how to dine at sea. The memories of the sugar cruise began to fade away.

Our first day is at sea, headed toward San Juan, Puerto Rico. Once again I’m mesmerized by the deep blue color of the open ocean. We spend the day doing what cruising is all about: relaxing and enjoying life. It will be our first time in San Juan and we are looking forward to seeing the city. We start with a laid back breakfast and then tour the ship.

The main, striking difference between the new Star Princess and the old ships is the huge atrium in the center of the ship. Balconies surround the huge, stunning, open center of the ship for three stories. Shopping areas and small cafes dot area and of course the magnificent staircases that wind up both sides.

Every area of the atrium and the center entertainment area is filled with art work. Not hanging on the walls as on the S/S Norway, but on easels and display stands, stacked against walls and leaning on chairs. A new product has been added to the sales barrage cruisers are usually exposed to: Art! Every piece is for sale and there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of them, from smaller prints sold in sets to massive, numbered, oil paintings, already framed.

You pick the piece you want, buy it from the agent at hand and it will be delivered to your front door. You don’t take it with you off the ship. We spend most of the afternoon wandering around looking at some really nice art, but decide against buying anything even though the prices are very tempting for some very good artwork.

The photo gallery, always located so you have to pass it to get to any dining room, is open and the two thousand or so “Welcome Aboard” photos are spread from end to end of the gallery, ready to be snapped up as soon as the crowd realizes the photos are available. Ours is missing, of course. It won’t be long until the area is jammed with the throng of passengers stooping, bending over, pulling photos out of the massive display racks that amazingly fold away and disappear into the side of the passageway just like the doors at your local auditorium. Now, however, they expand across most of the passageway. They will have magically disappeared before dinner.

We can’t escape the photographers at the first dinner though, as they have their intense hunt down to a science. No one escapes unphotographed. We smile, scoot around the table to accommodate the rather patronizing photographer’s requests take the photo, say thank you and order dinner.

There are impressive entrances to many of the world’s ports, and I know I have seen only a few, but the entrance to San Juan has to rank among the best. We arrive just after four o’clock in the afternoon with the sun behind us as we slowly sail past the Castillo San Felipe Del Morro, the iconic Morro Castle that guards the harbor. The castle is perfectly highlighted by the afternoon sun. We are accompanied by a circling Coast Guard patrol boat as the security added since 9/11 becomes more evident.

Ron and Joan signed up for a guided tour of San Juan, while Ilse and I decided to strike off on our own. We say goodbye at the dock, and agree to meet at the ship for dinner. We walk the bustling section of San Juan known as Old Town, stopping and gawking like all the other tourists as we wander through the unique city. 

A butterfly boutique catches our eye and we decide to wander through the small but beautiful shop. We are fascinated by the fantastic display boards and panoramas of the most beautiful butterflies.

“No photography, Please!” Read signs posted everywhere.

Kitty "potties" are scattered throughout old town San Juan

Ilse stops at several shops and boutiques in the old town area, and remarks how unobtrusive a familiar red and yellow McDonald’s sign is discreetly mounted on the side of a building. We stop at a Walgreens tucked away on a street corner and buy two large bottles of ginger ale. We end up happy and tired at the city park that faces the harbor and watch a demonstration of cigar rolling, just as the sun sets, before we once again board our ship. Another huge cruise ship has joined us, docked alongside the Star Princess.

After yet another great meal, the four of us end up on the highest deck as we cast off at midnight. The city of San Juan glows romantically in front of us as we slowly and very quietly push off. A Carnival Cruise Line ship that docked beside us while we were ashore rather obnoxiously blares loud party music as we sneak out of the harbor. Our ship is comatose by comparison. We decide to call this cruise the Geritol cruise. We are among the very few passengers on deck as we sail out past the beautifully lit Morro Castle into the darkness of the open ocean. Marvelous. Just marvelous.

We awake when we realize everything has gone absolutely silent. While we try to remember where we are, we hear an unexpected car horn. We open the curtains and find we are already docked at the Havensight mall in St. Thomas. Time for breakfast.

We meet Joan and Ron in the dining room for breakfast and eventually end up standing on the dock after the most of the throngs have already departed for destinations unknown. We looked back at the towering ship and try to figure out which cabins are ours. They are a long way up.

While we are trying to decipher their local jitney or bus schedules, Joan gets frustrated and says, “Let’s just get on one, We’ll find out where we are when we get there!”

We are on the other side of the harbor from where Ilse and I landed with the tender from the S/S Norway some twelve years earlier and we aren’t about to walk to town. We aren’t about to head up in the hills on foot, either. The port had changed considerably, but we knew where we wanted to start our adventure, so we waited and finally boarded an open bus and ended up at a city park in town just up from the old docks. 

We were directly across from a jewelry store that had passed out coupons at the beginning of the cruise to be redeemed for free trinkets. Joan and Ilse redeemed their coupons and I can tell by Ilse’s smile as she heads back the trinket wasn’t worth the walk across the street.

We are bombarded with tour guides, dressed for every taste. Some are laid back islanders acting like they are already stoned, ready to be taken advantage of, and others are dressed professionally with corporate golf shirts and matching logos on their caps to alleviate customer’s fears of driving off a cliff. We watch as many of our cruising compatriots leave in a cloud of dust as they speed away in custom, chop-top pickup trucks decorated with conch shells.

Joan and Ron negotiated a guided tour with a local vendor while Ilse and I once again declined. We picked a restaurant to meet at before we boarded the ship and said adios. Their interests and ours are different, plus Joan has difficulty with extended walking due to a knee injury. Their view of this cruise would likely be very different from ours.

We walked through town once again, seeing it with different eyes than the first time we visited on the S/S Norway cruise. We visited the roof-top loft of the artist Camille Pissaro, and poked our heads into nooks and crannies we missed the first time. I think we walked every side street in town, even taking in a local funeral procession, complete with crowing roosters and all. We tiredly walked into the pre-selected bar just as Ron and Joan got there. We had laughs and drinks, then wandered through the massive flea market before heading back to the ship and another great meal.

A funeral procession in downtown Charlotte Amalie

The approach to Tortola is quite beautiful in a different way from sailing into San Juan. The nearby lush mountainous islands and peninsulas form a distinct tropical setting as you coast silently by into Road Town. While Tortola is in the British West Indies, we have only traveled less than fifty miles since leaving St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. It’s actually quite a bit shorter if you take the ferry – less than twenty five miles – but our cruise ship went around the outside, taking the long, scenic way, so to speak. In fact, it took all night. It is a world apart from St. Thomas.

We have a leisurely breakfast before we head to the gangplank, and lo and behold, we are hassled at the end of the ramp by the ship’s photographers! We can’t exit the ship until we have our photos taken!

“We don’t want a photo, thank you!”

“Yes, You need a photograph!”

“No, We don’t!”

“Yes, You do!”

We finally relent and pose stupidly for the unhappy, pain-in-the butt Britons who seem to make up the entire photography team onboard the Star Princess. I wondered if this was really a security issue simply camouflaged by pirate costumes. By the time Ilse and I get to the end of the dock, Ron and Joan are long gone, having already met their prearranged tour guide. Ilse and I walk toward nearby Road Town and the first grocery store we can find.

We enjoy walking around Road Town and the people we meet. When it comes to interacting with locals, we are not shy. Most of the local residents are really nice, while perhaps apprehensive of tourists off the cruise ships. We specifically want to visit Tortola’s famous Botanic Garden, and after touring the center of town and watching the roosters, we find it is only a few blocks away.

We spend most of the afternoon in the beautiful garden, but we are surprised to find the orchid house is in reality a small wooden, fenced-in gazebo, and locked with a padlock. We wind up our tour by sitting on a conformable bench reading a local newspaper where Ilse is fascinated by a rather large, flamboyant rooster who wanders up to watch us.

The entire time we are in Road Town, we are circled by unseen police cars with sirens blaring. It went on the entire time we were there. Around us, beside us, behind us, they were inescapable. We finally asked someone on the street what in the world was going on and they informed us it was “National Police Day!” If you visit Tortola, do yourself a favor and skip this day of celebration if you can. Your visit will be a lot quieter.

Roadtown, Tortola

Our final day is at sea, headed back to reality and Ft Lauderdale. This is the first cruise we haven’t had a mandatory stop at a “private island” and that is just fine with us.

Next: Our 5th Cruise - Changing World