The Reflection was docked in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands today. We had an early excursion booked so we ordered breakfast from the room service menu the night before. It's nice to be able to place your order before you go to bed and have breakfast delivered when you want it the next morning.
We ordered some scrambled eggs (not very good) and bacon (good).
We also ordered some pastries (not as good as Café al Bacio) along with some of the ubiquitous cantaloupe. Breakfast wasn't especially delicious, but it was convenient.
After missing the bus in San Juan, Grandma Trudy was ready to leave bright and early for our St. Thomas excursion to the beach today. We arrived at the theater about 5 minutes prior to the time listed on our tickets,but there was only one Celebrity employee there. She told us to just go on down Deck 2 to find our group. We took the elevator to Deck 2, where we saw many people were exiting the ship. There were no excursion groups to be found. We asked another employee where the excursions groups were and she told us to just go out on the dock, so we did. There were several large groups of passengers gathered for various excursions, some of them from other cruise ships that were also in port. Grandma Trudy doesn't move very fast so I jogged ahead to find our group. I eventually found someone holding a sign for our excursion and Ross, Grandma Trudy and Sweet Pea were able to catch up. It was one of the more disorganized excursion meeting experiences we've ever had.
We boarded an open air bus that was quite rustic and rode for about 30 minutes to the beach along some steep and winding roads. Hang on tight! :)
Family Selfie (and an inadvertent photobomb by one of our fellow trivia players)!
When we arrived at the beach, we were greeted by a friendly excursion guide who gathered us around for a brief lecture. He told us that there was a drop-off in the ocean and stinging fire coral beyond the buoys. He stressed that we could snorkel, but should not swim over the fire coral because even a slight touch could cause severe and lingering pain.
The warnings out of the way, he showed us to beach chairs and let us know that he had some snorkel gear available and toys for the kids. He offered everyone drinks, including rum punch (which we didn't try), from his cooler. He told everyone to enjoy themselves and not worry about the time, that he would come around and gather everyone up in a couple of hours. He also firmly stressed that he worked only for tips and it would be nice if we were feeling generous towards him today. :)
I parked myself in a chair to read a bit and enjoy the beautiful weather. It was a lovely day and a gorgeous beach.
Ross took Sweet Pea out for a little snorkeling. He said that they saw a few fish, but not nearly as many as when we were in Cozumel. They returned to the beach so Sweet Pea could play in the sand.
I was reading when Grandma Trudy walked by me and said, "I think I'm going to swim out beyond the buoys to look at that fire coral."
Realizing that I couldn't dissuade her, I just called after her, "Have fun!"
We saw several scary signs warning us away from certain dangerous trees. These are Manchineel trees, the manzanilla de la muerte (little apple of death) and are generally regarded as the most dangerous trees in the world. Just brushing up against one of them can cause serious skin irritation, which isn't nearly as bad as what happens if you decide to eat the fruit of the tree. The fruit apparently has a pleasantly sweet taste at first.... before an unbearable burning feeling sets in and eventually death.
A quote for the literature lovers among you - The following is a line in Flaubert's Madame Bovary: "Nor had I reflected upon this at first, and I rested in the shade of that ideal happiness as beneath that of the manchineel tree, without foreseeing the consequences."
Obviously, we gave these trees a wide berth!
The bathrooms are quite a walk from the beach, but they were nice and clean.
Far too soon it was time to pack up and get back on the bus. We did leave the tour guide with a well deserved tip before boarding our open air taxi bus.
If I had only one complaint about this excursion, it was that our time on the beach was too short. As we were leaving, another set of busses was arriving to drop of the next set of guests and I was envious.
Our bus trundled up narrow roads until we were at one of the highest points in St. Thomas, where we were allowed to unload for some quick photos. There was a large curb right beside us and Grandma Trudy fell over it as she was getting off. Luckily, she was not seriously injured, but she did have a pretty hard fall.
Wow, St. Thomas is beautiful!
On the trip back to the ship, the bus driver stopped to allow any passengers who wanted to get off at a shopping area. Grandma Trudy wanted to go so Ross got off the bus with her, while Sweet Pea and I returned to the ship.
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