Ship Marella Explorer
08/03/2026 to 15/03/2026 – Taste of the Tropics
15/03/2026 – 22/03/2026 – Paradise Islands
16/03/2026 – Sea Day
The start of the second week and the second sea day. Taking a long time to do very little
The day had an amazing sunrise
And the sunset wasn’t bad either
17/03/2026 – British Virgin Island
Another nice sunrise
Tina decided to go on a snorkeling trip, it was not for me.
So I was left to my own devices for a few hours. I started the day by having a coffee watching the shadows of clouds pass over the bay.
Then it was a walk into Roadtown. This had a lot of new building after a hurricane passed through. Yet again the Chinese were helping out building a new hospital.
I went over to the Botanic Gardens and it was pleasant but more a town park than the other gardens we saw.
But town parks don’t usually have sanctuaries for endangered tortoises
After lunch we had a walk round town then went back in the early afternoon to see if we could get a two hour tour, but there were only taxis doing one hour tours available.
Then the only time I felt the trip was not worth it – a tour of the island which basically was just a drive up to the roof of an abandoned restaurant in the hills with great views.
We were docked next to a Disney cruise ship, it was bigger than Explorer, and it was probably the best looking cruise ship we saw the whole cruise
The obligatory walk between ships
It was also a good sunset
18/03/2026 – Saint Martin
This is probably the most commercialised island we were going to. Half the island is a Dutch Colony and the other half is a French. And I found out the hardway half had free roaming the other was premium. There is absolutely horrendous traffic.
We had a little mooch round the shops at the port. We had no real plans and we were behind the crowds. We were approached by a taxi driver offering a tour. It was a decent price and was due to go to most of the best known places on the island. His wife Donna was the driver.
Donna was an absolute star. We got talking quickly and it was a lovely chat comparing lives and families
Bells Lookout – One of the best known viewpoints. Shows how built up the coastline is.
Mahu Beach – A very crowded little strip of beach, with planes passing low overhead.
Marigot – The capital of the French side of the island. We had a little walk round, and had lunch from a French patisserie – Caribbean style.
Orient Beach – One of the most popular beaches. The sunbeds and the sea were separated by a two foot sheer drop, and a lot of sea weed.
Grand Case – We had a drive through – there were some amazing looking eateries.
Iguana Sanctuary – This was a little roadside gem. The lady cared for “wild” iguanas, and upto 250 visited her. With a small donation a feeding stick appeared. The iguanas were oblivious to us, and carried on doing whatever iguanas do.
Moses Walk – Donna produced two pairs of water shoes and asked if we wanted to walk out to a small island on a causeway. This was probably my favourite part of the day.
The water got to around thigh height and the view down the coast, which was not sheltered by an island was wonderful
Even looking back to the coast looked interesting
On the other pier, Symphony of the Seas dwarfed Britannia.
19/03/2026 – St Kitts
I saw more sunrises on this cruise than probably any other holiday. As the sun rose around 6:30 each day it was getting up at a reasonable time. And we saw around half the sunrises from the balcony.
We did get a good view of the volcanic island of Nevis
St Kitts was one of the most developed islands we visited. The port area was a new development. There were four ships in port, with plans to build another pier so they can handle six at a time.
We booked a tour from TripAdvisor, as it was the only one that included the fort and the Black Rocks we could find. The tour started with a drive around the town, which had a lot of well-preserved buildings.
A couple of random images – a petroglyph
And an old railway bridge.
The island is dominated by a central volcano, with agriculture close to the coast, and lush forest on the volcanic slopes
At the side of the road, we had the wonderful sight of Cattle Egrets (?) roosting.
Wingfield
With a rum distillery and traces of an industrial heritage.
Some great scenic views into the river bed.
There was a wonderfulshort drive through the forest to Romney Manor
Romney Manor.
The chimney at Wingfield was clearly visible.
There were lovely manicured gardens surrounding the buildings
I am not certain if this was included for the history the gardens or the Batik workshop and shop.
Brimstone Hill Fortress
This was impressive in both size and location.
A real highlight was a young kestrel landing close to us.
Black Rocks
The Black Rocks, volcanic rock formations caused by a lava flow that are now being battered by the Atlantic Ocean.
Timothy Hill
Timothy Hill, with a spectacular view of the coastline at both sides of the island, one on the Caribbean Sea and the other the Atlantic. In the background is Nevis.
The west of the island was mainly agricultural, but the east near Timothy Hill was highly developed with new hotel complexes. The island felt more cared for, with verges cleared and no scrap vehicles.
We had a walk around Basseterre that was a nice town.
We were next to Celebrity Beyond – probably the most unusual (ugly) ship we saw.
And of course there was a sunset
