June 7, 2022 Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

Today we arrived at Crown Bay across the harbour from Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. It was only 89 nautical miles from San Juan. At breakfast time in the Silhouette dining room it was 28°C outside with a breeze and thin cloud. Crown Bay location is 18°19.86N and 64°57.11W. The Equinox was the only ship in port today.

We both ordered a mushroom, spinach and feta omelet to go with our sliced fruit plate. Then we walked on decks 5, 12 and 14 to do some walking in the morning since our excursion later today was a bus ride to a botanical garden and a mountain top for its view. The ship was cleared for passengers to leave before 9 a.m., our scheduled arrival time. As the ship is docked I took the opportunity to measure the deck areas that we walk – Portside deck 5 = 193 meters, Starboard side deck 5 = 208 meters, around the pool area on deck 12 = 151 meters, around the jogging track deck 14 = 212 meters and around the Lawn Club grassy area on deck 15 = 114 meters. Measuring accomplished we went down to Deck 5’s Café al Bacio for an Americano and a cappuccino.

We left the ship to find a Wi-Fi hotspot to upload photos and it was right next to the Crown Bay Center windmill. After numerous tries, it was down to the last possible network that finally worked and it took about 12 minutes to upload 50 photos. We browsed some of the shops and pop-up kiosks. Larry found a new golf shirt. There was Caribbean music playing outside the dock gates and two sparkly costumed women dancing to the music allowing photos to be taken with them. When Larry was taking a picture of me by the Virgin Islands sign the woman on stilts came over to be in the photo. On the way back to the ship we saw half a dozen Iguana basking in the sun. There was an ambulance leaving the pier and it could have a passenger or crew member in it but that sight wasn’t uncommon to us as we have seen it many times before on cruises. The cost of regular gas is US$5.44 per gallon. Drivers drive on the left side of the road.

At 11:15 a.m. we met our tour group for “Amazing Mountain Views and Villa Botanica” on the pier and the tour members were each given a bright orange wrist band. We walked about 200 meters to the mini bus which had a roof, but was open air, just right for warm breezes since the temperature was now 32°C and the sun was shining. Our driver told us some history of the Virgin Islands. On Christopher Columbus’ second voyage westward he passed the islands of St. Thomas, St. John and Tortola and called them “Las Virgenes”. They remained unclaimed by seafaring countries for 150 years, but became pirates’ liars. In the mid 1600s St. Thomas was claimed by Denmark, St. Croix was claimed by France and Tortola was claimed by Britain. Denmark later claimed St. John. The Danish West Indies were known for its sugar plantations and trade, including slaves. Denmark abolished slavery in 1848, but during World War I with fears of German expansion, the Danish West Indies were bought for $25 million in gold by the United States and became known at the U.S. Virgin Islands on March 31, 1917. That equaled about $300US per acre! There has been local government, since 1852, but after the American purchase the Governor was appointed by the American President until 1970 when islanders could vote for their Governor. The local Senate has 15 members from the three islands, St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John. The islanders are American citizens, but cannot vote in national elections. The one United States senator from U.S. Virgin Islands does not have a vote in the American Senate. From March 2020 to October 2021 there were no cruise ships visiting St. Thomas.

As the mini bus drove up the 1,500 foot mountain, there was a good view of the 7,500 foot long airplane landing strip. The first stop was the Botanical Garden. It was originally a 200 acre sugar cane and cotton plantation that included a Danish botanical garden. Today the botanical garden covers just five and a half acres. Our tour first browsed the gift shop and got a drink at the bar. The house signature drink was called Botanical Blast. It contained half of a ripe banana, a bit of lime juice, some mango and passion fruit juice and St. Croix rum and lots of ice cubes which were all mixed in a blender to create a delicious and refreshing slushy. Our hostess gave us a brief history of the garden, then a sample of Anise, lemon grass and spearmint tea then showed us where to begin the self-guided walk along the paths though the gardens. We wandered for about 35 minutes stopping to take pictures of the many varieties of plants. Looking at the GPS route, the circuit was meandering. We found a good view of the harbour over to the town of Charlotte Amalie from Pirates Lookout where there was a cooling breeze blowing. The visit was 90 minutes which was just right.

Next, we continued along the road going still higher on the narrow two lane road to Mountain Top where we had a half hour stop for views from the islands highest point looking at Magens Bay and toward the islands of St. Croix, St. John, Tortola and other nearby islands. There was an extensive gift shop through which we walked to reach the viewing verandah to see the islands. Then it was back into the 25 seat minibus for a visit to Charlotte Amalie, the capital of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Landmarks were pointed out, but we did not stop. One was a centuries old tower, known as Black Beard’s Tower. We also saw the Governor’s Mansion, the two storey Capitol Building where the islands’ senate gathers and St. Christian’s Fort. We saw the pier that can hold three cruise ships which can dock at Charlotte Amalie and travelled along Waterfront highway back to the ship. There was no rain in sight today.

Although we are told to take government ID, driver’s license is fine, a copy of our vaccine status and our Seapass card, neither here nor in San Juan, was anything required except the Seapass card to pass through the dockside gates. When we returned to the ship the daily step count was 12,234.

We joined Sue & Arnie and Ann & John at table 212 for dinner. Deana & Adam were going to the early show and dining later. Like the first dinner, our group was one of the last to leave enjoying each other’s company for more than two hours.

The theatre show was another production performance with the dancers, singer and acrobats called Elysium.

In the stateroom, along with the program for tomorrow’s events, was a request to use a QR code to link to a questionnaire about debarking the ship at the end of the cruise. An Internet connection is required, not the Celebrity app’s Intranet. It is impossible to connect to the link. Tomorrow I can visit the iLounge for technical assistance. Not everyone even has an Internet package.

Total steps 13,518