Exploring Nevis, BIrthplace of Hamilton

 Celebrity Cruise Lines holds a special place in our hearts since it was the cruise line we used for our very first cruise on the Horizon in 1993. As I stated in my prvious post, we had been to all of the three ports on this short seven day cruise aboard the Celebrity Beyond. 

After the Dominican Republic with its "built for cruise ships" port at Peurto Plata and our ship excursion to St. John from St. Thomas (actually a very fancy ferry ride), we were ready for something new. We've done all the St. Kitts exploring which is nice if you haven't been there several times so we opted to go over the the neighboring island of Nevis.

This was an independent excursion meaning we had researched the ferry options and prices and what we could see in Nevis. I had found the points of interest within walking distance of the ferry terminal and mapped it out enough that we could find our way.

Often the best laid plans are something you have to adjust when the reality of the situation hits. St. Kitts cruise port is still under construction and it's a long walk from the ship to where you enter the port and of course, the shopping area. The ferry that I had found on my map turned out to only be for cars. So, we asked and found we had a bit of a walk to get to the passenger ferry.

It was at least another ten minute walk that felt like a half hour since the day was heating up along with the rising humidity. We finally found the right place and bought our tickets. When I researched, it had said we needed to pay in cash but when we got there it seemed you could have gone online to purchase. Oh well, cash worked just fine.

We sat in the cool waiting room for the next ferry run which was about a half hour's time. As we sat, I watched lots of boxes of supplies being loaded onto a small boat at the dock. When I noticed the name on the side, I wondered if that was more of a water taxi and when the actual ferry would dock. It wasn't long before we discovered that it was the ferry.

Cargo had to be moved in order to accommodate a full load of passengers and I believe one lady was left behind to wait for the next ferry. With the cargo all piled up behind Bob who sat in the last seat, I hoped it would be a smooth ride. Luckily one of the crew sat with the boxes to be sure they didn't fall.

The ride was about a half hour to forty minutes but we could get a nice view of a finger of St. Kitts that extended toward Nevis before we hit a short span of open water. Once at the dock in Nevis we quickly exited and found our way to the main street. First on the list was to visit the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton, born January 11. 1755 on the island of Nevis.

Slave chains from a ship.

Until I researched the trip, I had no idea he came from Nevis. The walk was short although a little harrowing on a narrow street that suddenly had no sidewalk. We found the house and the museum easily enough and paid the ten dollar fee for each of us. The museum was very small but very interesting with artifacts from the very early days when slavery was a big business. 

Across from the museum was the small white house where the Hamiltons lived. It was filled with more information about Alexander Hamilton and how he got to become one of the founding fathers and the first treasurer of our country. He also founded the Coast Guard among several other important achievements. We learned many facts we either hadn't in our US history class or had forgotten since high school was at least sixty years ago.

Bob found a map of other interesting sites on the island and the town of Charleston. Most of the sites were old churches built by slave labor. We walked by a few (none were open doored) and decided that maybe it was time to return to the ship. In the Caribbean time is not always important and when you're not on a ship's excursion the ship doesn't wait for you. We were taking no chances that the ferry schedule would be crazy and we wouldn't make it back with time to spare. Besides, the temperature had climbed with the humidity and we were both done in.

The ferry ride back was much less crowded and our walk back to the ship a little shorter when we found a parking lot to cut through. Another successful adventure with our return to the ship in plenty of time to shower and relax a bit before dinner. 

It Was BEYOND Me

 

It's been a while since I've posted any travels. Our winter was spent enjoying Florida and our grandkids who are there. It was a cold Florida winter though I'm not complaining. It never really snowed. While there, we got to see our granddaughter receive several awards for scholarship in anticiation of her graduation from high school. Graduation was in May and we made our plans to fly down for it. "Well, if we're going to spend money to fly to Florida, we ought to take advantage and book a cruise," my sweet husband said. No need to ask me twice!

Our facorite lounge, Eden, with a view off the 
back of the ship. No lounge we could access with
view off front of ship.

We heard a lot about the new Celebrity class of ships called Edge. They feature a new concept of balcony, the Infinite Veranda. It is a floor to ceiling window that encloses a small area like a balcony with two chairs and a little table. The window is divided horizontally and the upper half will opon for you to enjoy the fresh sea air as you would on an open balcony. Add to that a restaurant/bar that is called the Magic Carpet that slides up and down along one side of the ship. Sounded like a different kind of adventure for us in the Caribbean. We booked.

The Grand Plaza with a martini 
bar on the bottom.

The graduation celebration was amazingly planned by our daughter-in-law and eleven of us enjoyed several days of sunny (but hot) weather boating, exploring and eating and just thoroughly enjoying being together. On Sunday we drove from the Gulf Coast of Florida to Miami where we turned in our rental car and took an Uber to the Port of Miami to board the Beyond.

Embarkation was a breeze as most of it was done through the Celebrity app online. Considering there are over 3200 passengers to board we were amazed at how everyone had already settled into ship life by the time we arrived around one o'clock. We eagerly located our room to see what this Infinity Veranda looked like. I expected the room to look larger than it was but it didn't seem to. The window did allow for a fantastic view as long as you didn't want to look side to side much. It felt a bit enclosed, for me, almost claustrophobic. We opened the window and immediately the hot humid Florida air flowed in. 

The huge led screen in the theater measures
20' high by 110' wide. A giant TV.

Normally on a balcony, you could enjoy the fresh air for a bit and then go back into a cool stateroom. The complication with opening the window is that the AC automatically cuts out in the room. We closed it quickly before the room would heat up too much and decided to find lunch. Unfortunately neither of us took a picture of our room for me to show you.

The buffet was buzzing as it usually does on the first day with people trying to find their way around. The buffet is arranged in stations and to find everything that's available you have to wander around, usually with a plate in hand. As on all other ships' buffets, I call it "bumper plates" like the bumper car rides at an amusement park. I really don't like the buffets. Bob wanders off to find what he needs before we have a chance to find a seat and then I have to search for him. I try not to get hot food that will get cold before we sit down together.

Theater tour showed us the back of 
the huge led screen.

Our usual routine for day one on a cruise, especially on a ship we haven't sailed before, is to start at the top and work our way down on each deck to explore the ship and get our bearings. The Beyond was seemed bigger than our last cruise ship but was actually about the same size. Maybe it was because of all the public areas, a rooftop garden, a strange jogging track that spanned two levels, a large retreat area that was for those with an upgraded room, the spa/salon area (it included a barber!), boutiques, several cafes and specialty restaurants and of course, bars. And what seemed like thousands of lounge chairs everywhere.

Instead of one huge main dining room there were four themed dining areas. Each had the same basic menu but included several dishes that complimented the theme, Italian, French, Mediterranean, Contemporary. We had booked the Asian restaurant and the steakhouse for two of our nights. One night we ate at the buffet because we got back to the ship late. It was surprisingly very satisfying and full of young kids to enjoy since a lot of parents probably didn't want to make them sit through a more formal dinner.

The Magic Carpet.

There were only three ports (for us, a really short cruise of seven days). We'd been to all of them before but managed to find a couple of new things to do at each. St. John's turned out to be not the quaint little town we remembered but I'm sure the beaches are still wonderful. We did have a nice drink and snack at one of the nicer restaurants. Nevis was a new place for us to visit (next post) and the manufactured cruise port at Puerto Plata in Domican Republic was very nice with a lazy river and large pool area with lots of shops. Thankfully we did the river early as not long after we were done, it began to pour rain. It is the rainy season in the south.

All in all, we had a nice week long cruise with great food, terrific entertainment and some quality time together. As for all the excitement about the room, well, why people like it is beyond me. Give me a balcony with the sound of the waves and the ocean breeze and the option to go back into a room that hasn't warmed from an open window.

This was the pool area. Why an
elephant is beyond me as well.

And before I end, the Magic Carpet that the advertising implied you could ride up or down as you enjoyed a drink...It moved without people aboard. One day it would be on Deck 14 and another day on Deck 5. It was so windy it would have been difficult to enjoy a drink or a meal out there. It was another feature that was just beyond me.