HERE COMES THE SUN: THE SAINTS OF THE CARIBBEAN

“You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” ― Christopher Columbus

Carol writes:

In 1492, Christopher Columbus was the first European to reach the Lesser Antilles, a group of islands which are located at the imaginary extreme eastern dividing line where the Caribbean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. Because Columbus had sailed westward, he believed he had arrived near India. Thus, he called the islands the “West Indies,” and that reference persists to this day. The name Lesser Antilles refers to a semi-mythical land called Antilia that was believed to be across the Atlantic Ocean somewhere west of Europe. Regardless which name is used to refer to this region of the Caribbean, all of them conjure up a tropical paradise of unimaginable blue waters, incredibly colorful birds, unusual trees and flowers, and glorious sunny days with warm year-round breezes.

… In other words, waters just perfect for cruising outside of hurricane season. And so we chose an 11-day Caribbean Wayfarer cruise on Holland America Line.

The Catholic religion is the dominant faith in the Caribbean region. Not surprisingly, many of the islands have names of saints, and on this cruise we had ports-of-call at “5 saints,” with Martinique thrown in for good measure.

Our departure from Port Everglades was delayed by a couple of hours, but we had plenty of entertainment watching from our balcony as over half a dozen giant cruise ships slowly took turns departing for their adventures at sea.

Then it was our turn. We said a silent fond farewell to Fort Lauderdale as we exited the Fort Everglades ship channel and entered the multi-colored waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

SINT MAARTEN/SAINT MARTIN

This is an island with a dual identity. It is split in half horizontally into the northern Dutch half known as Sint Maarten, a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Saint Martin in the south, a so-called “semiautonomous overseas collectivity” of France.

On the Dutch side in the port of Phillipsburg, we docked next to the Harmony of the Seas, the longest cruise ship in the world. And it was a monster! Its size completely dwarfed our Rotterdam, the newest among Holland America’s largest class of ships, the Pinnacle Class.

We wanted to experience both regions of the island and so we made it our first priority to obtain public transportation with the locals via their small minibus system. Our destination was the Marigot waterfront on the French side, where where we did some successful souvenir shopping in the colorful Marigot market.

A brief walk around Phillipsburg on the Dutch side rounded out our Sint Maarten experience.

ST LUCIA

Out of all the islands in the Lesser Antilles, I was anticipating our visit to St Lucia the most. I had recently read a mystery book that took place on St Lucia. The plot centered around the island’s iconic landform known as the Pitons, and I was hooked. However, I would have to contain my curiosity until the end of the day when we got our first view of the Pitons.

The entrance to the St Lucia harbor in Castries was very narrow. Alongside the port, the airport runway ended just at the edge of the sea, and so we had to obtain clearance from the airport before we entered the harbor.

I had great respect for the ship-handling ability of Captain Timmers, who was always able to dock our Rotterdam with little apparent effort.

In short, our self-guided walking tour of Castries, St Lucia, revolved around

—a tree,

—a church,

—and a market.

The tree was a purported 400-year-old Saman tree located in the green area of the town square in Castries.

The church was the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, which was stunningly beauty on the inside, featuring a soaring Gothic style with a distinct Caribbean touch.

A local citizen advised us not to miss a haunting blue-eyed portrait of Christ painted on the ceiling of a side chapel. Indeed, the blue eyes invited much contemplation…

Back in the secular world, the Castries Market

was among the most colorful and interesting we had visited. I was especially happy with my souvenirs of baby clothes.

Finally, our day in St Lucia ended with the Rotterdam doing a slow 5-knot sunset sail southward along the coast to the base of the eye-catching dormant volcanic plugs known as Gros Piton and Petite Piton. Fittingly, the Pitons have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES

Our 11-day wayfarer cruise had originally been scheduled to stop next in Barbados. However, for unspecified administrative reasons, the stop in Barbados was cancelled and instead we set out for Kingstown, capital of St Vincent and the Grenadines. Many fellow cruisers complained that they did not feel this was a fair substitution, but since we didn’t know any better, we went with the flow and accepted a visit to another Caribbean “saint.”

I never tired of taking pictures of the Rotterdam at each port-of-call, this one in Kingstown with Al as the tiny figure in the foreground.

Kingstown was much smaller than the Bridgetown, Barbados, port-of-call that had been cancelled. Here, points of interest were minimal and easy to manage, so we decided to undertake another city walking tour all on our own. Our destination was the chief point of interest in Kingstown—the Botanical Gardens—which was about a mile and a half walk from the ship terminal.

On the way, we soaked up local architecture,

and an old church with an interesting cemetery. Inside, the church was occupied by young teenage school children who were getting a lecture on how to conduct their lives—some of them listening and others sleeping.

The Botanical Gardens was a welcome refuge from a somewhat hot, arduous hike uphill. Having been established in 1765, this garden is notable as the oldest botanical gardens in the western hemisphere.

It is also an important conservation site for the St Vincent parrot. The parrots were shy and photography was challenging.

On the way back to the ship, we passed a local pharmacy, which illustrated quite clearly the precariousness of healthcare in this part of the world.

MARTINIQUE

The port in Martinique was among the most scenic we have seen.

The French European flavor of the streets and buildings particularly appealed to us.

Once again, we had manageable goals for our walk to explore the city of Fort-de-France. Limited hours in each port-of-call requires careful research and planning if you intend to see the most when you serve as your own tour guide. In Fort-de-France that included:

—the fort, of course

—a library which was originally built in 1889 back in France, then dismantled and shipped piece by piece to Martinique where it was reassembled

—St Louis Cathedral, the religious centerpiece of Martinique

The fort was an imposing structure in which the walls seemed to rise right out of the sea.

The view back to the Rotterdam in the distance looked like a postcard…

The Schoelcher Library (Bibliothèque Schoelcher) was proving hard to find. I felt like a real pro when I was able to resurrect some rudimentary French out of my brain and could ask directions of a non-English-speaking man. When I inquired politely, “Où est la bibliothèque?”—he pointed us in the right direction.

The Gothic Revival style of St Louis Cathedral, the seventh church constructed on the same site, showcased a beautifully restored exterior notable for a soaring steeple. Inside, ornate walls and beautiful stained-glass windows accentuated the ambience.

ST KITTS

The port of Basseterre in St Kitts was the jumping off place for our very first ship excursion. We could not pass up the chance for a trip out of town to a World Heritage Site called Brimstone Hill Fortress. On the way, we made a short stop at Caribelle Batik in Romney Gardens.

The batik fabrics were more beautiful than any I had ever seen, but also very, very pricey. I was satisfied just to look and admire…

The gardens were lovely but small, and served merely as a backdrop for the Caribelle Boutique business.

Historic Brimstone Hill Fortress was well worth the price of an excursion. It was a fine example of well-preserved 17th and 18th century military engineering in the Caribbean. The first cannons were mounted by the British in 1690. The Hill was subsequently fortified by African slaves. The Fort sits atop a hill 800 ft above sea level. The views were mesmerizing!

Finally, an “I-was-there” picture of Brimstone Hill Fortress with just the two of us, along with the tiny island of St Eustatius in the distance.

ST THOMAS, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS

Unfortunately, by the time we pulled into the iconic harbor at the port terminal of Charlotte Amalie in St Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands,

Al was feeling under the weather with a head cold, so I was forced to participate without him in our snorkeling excursion. I felt fine and told myself I could do it. After all, I had over 100 other passengers in various states of fitness less than my own right alongside me.

This excursion was a catamaran sail to Buck Island,

where we got off the boat in two different snorkel spots. I did fine once I adjusted to the slight wave action of the ocean that was so very different than my lap pool experience back home.

Leaving St Thomas was hard—it was so beautiful—

but we had two days ahead of us to get back to Ft Lauderdale with a short stop the next day at Half Moon Cay, a private island owned by the cruise line.

The next two days at sea were relaxing in their own way but somewhat challenging for us health-wise. By now, I had joined Al with upper respiratory symptoms. We could hear frequent coughing throughout the ship. We were among the very few who wore masks. We noticed many room service trays out in the halls. Suddenly, the ship’s crew was stationing people at the hand washing station outside the buffet on Lido Deck, urging hand washing before entering. You can figure out the rest…

I will close with mention of just a few of the many activities onboard that gave us many hours of enjoyment on this seventh iteration of the Rotterdam.