Don't Worry, Be Happy

I just can’t seem to be on a cruise without thinking about Bobby Ferrin’s hit from the 80s, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” The brilliant shades of aqua, blue and turquoise waters that we experienced are simply breathtaking! We returned Wednesday evening from an 8 day Southern Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Miracle.

It was a wonderful cruise other than a few itinerary changes as we dodged Hurricane Tomas. And the cherry on top was our beloved San Francisco Giants winning the World Series Championship! See my previous post for all the baseball details. Click on any photo to see a larger version.

We flew into Fort Lauderdale a day early to avoid overnight flights and spent the night at the Comfort Inn before shuttling to the cruise port. Gorgeous beaches seemed to be a recurring theme of this vacation and Fort Lauderdale started us off right. I told Lou I'd like to live on a tropical island for six months or a year sometime to see if I'd really enjoy it full time. I'm thinking "yeah".



Fort Lauderdale beach as we sailed away



The Miracle is the largest ship that we’ve sailed on – capable of carrying almost 2600 passengers when completely full. They did an excellent job of getting us on and off the ship with no hassle and almost no lines. Our cabin was roomy by cruise ship standards and quite comfortable. The location was great – around the corner from the elevator, on the same deck as the smaller theater and one deck below the main showroom. It was literally about 50 feet and one flight of stairs (or less) to get to the lounges.



One of the three pools where we spent many sea days



The jogging track and putt-putt golf course (where I won by one stroke!)

The first night of the cruise we attended the welcome aboard show. We were seated in about the third row. Lou was next to a drunk girl that the cruise director, Malcolm, started interacting with – Malcolm came down into the audience and talked with her for a bit, then asked Lou a few questions and moved on to me. He asked what I planned to do on the cruise. I replied, “Relax and do nothing – and drink pina coladas!” Malcolm bought me a pina colada!  

After two days at sea we arrived in Saint Maarten, the Dutch side of the island. We took a taxi to the French side of the island, Sint Martin, where we spent a couple of hours at Orient Beach. Being from northern California it always amazes me when you can just walk into the ocean and it’s warm. Plus there aren't big waves to knock you down.

Orient Beach on St. Martin, the French Side



Some of that incredible turquoise water

We finished the day back on the Dutch side in Saint Maarten before heading back to the ship. Caribbean islands are extremely colorful and everyone is so laid back – guess the song is right, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”.

Old Street in St. Maarten, the Dutch Side

Our itinerary was two days at sea, then St. Maarten, St. Lucia and St. Kitts on consecutive days followed by two more sea days on the return to Fort Lauderdale. But our best laid plans were no match for Hurricane Tomas. The weather on St. Maarten was gorgeous so we were quite surprised that evening when the captain announced that we would be skipping St. Lucia (the southern most island on our route) and going straight to St. Kitts due to the developing hurricane. We were a bit disappointed but more than happy to avoid a Category Two storm.

They were substituting Nassau in the Bahamas on our last day. Lou and I had both been there about 30 years ago but neither of us remembered many details. We were out on deck for our arrival into St. Kitts the next morning when it became obvious that something was wrong. Normally, they just sail right in and dock these huge ships like they’re parking a Volkswagon.

After several attempts, our captain came on the loudspeaker with another announcement – due to winds and high seas, we wouldn’t be able to stop in St. Kitts either. BUT, they made some more phone calls and we were adding Grand Turk Island in the Turks & Caicos. Neither of us had been there and I’d heard it has incredible beaches – cool!

Our formal portrait - they make you look better than you really do!

We had two more sea days heading north before stopping at Grand Turk and Nassau our last two days. The crew scrambled to plan activities and put together some makeshift entertainment. Our comedians left at St. Maarten and we were supposed to pick up two more in St. Lucia but that didn't happen. Fortunately, our Giant’s games kept us more than entertained!

They had several late night “R” rated comedy shows and I have to share one joke from a woman comedian who was quite funny. What did one tampon say to the other tampon? Nothing – they were stuck up bitches. J

We arrived in Grand Turk at 7:00 AM to a beautiful sunrise. There is a great beach right next to the cruise ship dock where hundreds of lounge chairs are spread among the palm trees – and they are free of charge! We grabbed a couple and relaxed. Cruising is hard work, you know. Lou took one of the snorkeling and stingray petting tours. I passed since I can’t see anything if I snorkel anyway due to my terrible eyesight. Instead I headed to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville right next to the beach for a – yep, you guessed it – margarita!

Arriving at Grand Turk just as the sun was rising

I'm not sure why, but I love this picture

The "Weather Station" - pretty much says it all

The view from our lounge chairs on the beach - yeah, this is the life

Both Grand Turk and Nassau had some of the most pristine and awe-inspiring scenery I’ve ever laid eyes upon. I’ve always been drawn to ocean seascapes and must have taken a hundred photos of various shoreline and beach scenes.

We walked around Nassau but there were five ships in port and it was really crowded, not to mention hot and humid. The Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island across from Nassau dominates the skyline. We headed there to explore some of the grounds and aquariums – and to have a cold beer before heading back to our ship for our last night onboard.

A lighthouse and incredible colors with the Atlantis Resort in the background

The Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island

Here's my house - can you imagine living here?

Some colorful condos in Nassau

At the Atlantis, Lou took a picture of me taking a picture of some fish. It looked like they were all curiously looking at me like we were looking at them.

The fish checking out the people aquarium

Several species of interesting sea life

I haven’t seen St. Lucia or St. Kitts yet, but I wasn’t the least bit disappointed after enjoying the spectacular scenery of Grand Turk and Nassau. It was a wonderful vacation that met all of our expectations and then some. The islands were gorgeous, the beaches incredible, our Giants are World Series Champions and we out ran Hurricane Tomas – all part of the adventure!!