St. Maarten

Russ corrected me yesterday.  We didn't have two days at sea until after our next port.  My mind has been awful about retaining all this information.  Ha!  Could it have something to do with the chaos of our December?

"Good mornin' y'all!"

Anyway, Millie Janalee woke up with her normal cheerful "Heeeeyyy!" as she popped her little head over the pack 'n play.  She was ready to begin her day at our new destination!  St. Maarten!  I think we all agreed that this was our favorite stop.  The crew warned us at dinner the night before that there would be EIGHT cruise ships docked on this day.  Making for A LOT of people!  I think the Carnival Dream had the same itinerary as we did, because I remember seeing it everywhere we went.  I tried to get a picture of the two ships together to show how huge the Oasis is, but I couldn't get them both in the shot.  The Dream is the largest ship Carnival has so far.

Me, Millie Janalee, and Russ in front the Oasis and the Dream

The girls in front of the back of the ship

I finally got far enough away to capture them both.

Kristin and I decided that we didn't want to finish the cruise without spending some time on a beach.  Since we didn't plan or purchase any excursions during this trip, we had some research to do.  After talking with our servers, some of the crew at guest services, and consulting our maps...we decided to visit Orient Bay Beach.  This is the largest and one of the most popular beaches on the island.  We decided since there were so many passengers on the island this day (from the eight cruise ships), we wanted to be at a large beach with room to spread out.

If you thought the water at St. Thomas was blue, wait til you see this!  Amazing!  Crystal clear and beautiful blue!  I couldn't get over it.  And neither could Millie Janalee.  As soon as I lathered her in sunscreen and changed her into a swim diaper, she was ready to run into the ocean.  Literally.  Pulling us behind her.

You know by now that I only go a certain distance into the ocean water.  Millie Janalee wanted to go further than I was willing to walk, so Russ took over from this point.  She squealed and screamed with every wave and splash that came their way.  They spent a lot of time out in that beautiful blue water while I enjoyed some relaxing sun.

When they finally came back onto the sand, Millie Janalee sat with me to enjoy a little snack before the inevitable nap.  Remember how I said water was the best way to plan a nap?  Ha!  I hate we didn't get a better picture of what the beach actually looked like.  There were beach shops and restaurants lining the sand with beach chairs for days. 

Local artists walked (or paced) the beach displaying their jewelry, dresses, t-shirts, and more.  I love this man who insisted Russ listen to his CD.  Russ didn't purchase the CD, but he admitted that it definitely got him even more in the "island mood." Ha!  It was a classic island moment.

Millie Janalee went down for a good beach nap while the rest of us sorta did the same.  As best we could while so many interesting things were going on around us.  Several different languages, all kinds of people, questionable swimsuits, artists, etc.  I'm pretty sure Daddy slept the entire time we were at the beach.  He woke up right before we left I think.

Millie Janalee napping with Susu

I broke down and obliged one of the local women to a foot massage.  Poor me!  Ha!  I bargained with her for a price we could both agree on, and I offered her a spot on my chair to sit.  She pulled out a GIANT aloe plant leaf.  She massaged my feet and legs with aloe, and it was lovely!  When she finished, she said with a smile "mademoiselle."  Orient Bay is on the French side of the island. 

While we finished up our time at the beach and gathered our belongings, Pawpaw took Millie Janalee for one last walk along the beach.  She loved her feet in the wet sand and the waves rushing up on her feet.  My little beach baby!  And can we take a moment to talk about how cute she is in her Beaufort Bonnet?!  Oh my!

We allowed plenty of time to arrive back to the port so that we wouldn't worry about getting left.  We loaded 11-12 deep in a taxi van for an eventful 30 minute ride back to the ship.  Lee was feeling a little carsick, so he and Kristin went ahead to the ship while the rest of us took time to peek into the local shops at the port.  We also found some fun music and even a Christmas tree in the middle of this tropical atmosphere!

Our time at St. Maarten was coming to an end, so we took a stroll back toward the gangway.

Once on board, we found a great spot on the top deck to watch all the cruise ships sail away to their next or last destinations.  It was so neat watching the ships of various sizes sailing off into the night sky.

 

After dinner we enjoyed a headliner show.  A one man act.  It was very entertaining, and once again Millie Janalee loved it!

Now, THIS is when we prepared for two days at sea.