Caribbean

Montego Bay, Jamaica

9/14/2005
Janet Pope
Montego Bay, Jamaica: Where I under booked, over packed and was overexposed.

My husband and I planned a quick getaway to Jamaica, but soon discovered that the three days that we booked for the trip were definitely not enough time to enjoy all there was to enjoy, both at our hotel and in the surrounding area. It felt like a definite tease. Usually it takes us at least a day to unwind and start to relax on any vacation, but in Jamaica, we both felt relaxed as soon as the driver at the airport said, "No problem, Mon." Unfortunately, the whole time we were there, I kept counting down the hours until we had to leave. Three days is not enough.

Aruba

6/26/2004
Dominick A. Miserandino
Flat, casinos and nude beaches. Perfect for some, odd for others.

When we looked out from our private balcony, we saw what looked like a rather flat island. In the middle of this flatness was the main town of Oranjestad, Aruba, which has a number of shops and seems to be a rather lively place.

We left the cruise terminal and immediately were accosted by a few locals who seemed rather excited about an island tour that they were promoting.

Curacao

6/26/2004
Dominick A. Miserandino
A European city mistakenly crashed right in the middle of the Caribbean.

We woke up and went for breakfast. I was enjoying chocolate croissants and heard from Margherita how it wasn't "in the zone". I ordered some Eggs Benedict which I explained might put the meal "in the zone".

Across from the deck was Willemstad, Curacao.

Besides having a difficult name to pronounce, Willemstad, Curacao is also confusing because it really looks Dutch. I mean, we've been to Copenhagen, which we're told looks like Holland, so to summarize, Curacao reminded us of Copenhagen which in turn reminded people of Amsterdam... okay, forget it, that example didn't work.

Bonaire

6/26/2004
Dominick A. Miserandino
Searching for fish with the Chef.

Today was a stop in Bonaire, but we weren't here to see Bonaire. Yes, that's not a good tourism plug, I should say how Bonaire has wonderful salt mines, and surfing and snorkeling. I should mention how even though the ABC Islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao are called the ABC Islands, they look nothing alike. Bonaire is flat and barren, Aruba is flat with casinos and beaches and Curacao is Dutch.

I won't mention those things, because the highlight of Bonaire was fish shopping.

Allow me to explain.

Today, the Chef would call.

Now rewind a step.

St. Georges, Grenada

6/26/2004
Dominick A. Miserandino
One of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean

The only thing I knew about Grenada was that for some reason the U.S. fought a war there. In reading about the war I found that a lot of people have claimed it was simply a distraction by Reagan away from other issues. That said, when I looked out from the ship, into the bay, I was nearly convinced that it was a distraction as I really couldn't envision there being a war in a place so pretty.

Of all of the islands that we visited, this was by far the most beautiful. It wasn't flat like Bonaire; it wasn't overly ritzy like Aruba. It had rolling mountain hills and vegetation everywhere.

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