St. Thomas - Saturday, 12 February 2005

We liked St. Thomas much better than St. Maarten.  As part of the US Virgin Islands, St. Thomas is surrounded by many small islands, so the view is magnificent whichever way you turn!  In the morning we did the "best of" tour in an open-sided “taxi”…mini-bus.  These were all painted in different, bright colors, and ours was beautiful.  The first stop was a gift shop with a nice view and a banana tree in the yard.  There was a large iguana in one of the trees; so interesting to see it up close.
           

The best stop on this tour was St. Peter Greathouse Estate & Gardens. Surrounded by acres of gardens with over 200 variety of plants, the house is a new facility that was built to look like an old great house complete with the best in architecture and classy artwork. The large deck has stunning views of 20 offshore islands from 1,000 ft. above sea level.
             

In the afternoon, we enjoyed our absolute FAVORITE activity of the whole cruise; the BOB Underwater Adventure!!!  "BOB" stands for "Breathing Observation Bubble," which their website claims is "a blend of George Jetson and James Bond!"  It is like riding a small scooter underwater.  Divers hold them steady just under the surface as you jump into the water, duck your head into the helmet (which is fed oxygen).  They gradually descend until your head is 8'-10' underwater. All passengers (about a dozen at one time) held hands in a line until all were present, then we peeled off one at a time and followed the divers in a line.  We saw lots of fish, sea anemones, starfish, and even a turtle that swam right above our heads!  This was the highlight of our trip!!!  Before and after riding the BOB, we also finally “mastered” snorkeling and enjoyed this immensely.  The water was warm and amazingly beautiful.  We saw tons of fish and even got to explore a shipwreck.
       

Even the ride back to port was pretty on this day.
       

Tonight's show featured a singer and another comedian. We bought a few cruise pictures as the ship headed back to San Juan. The sea was rough again on this approach, just as it was on leaving San Juan a week earlier.  Of course, the ship is so large that you don't feel it too much.  In the morning, we enjoyed one last breakfast on deck and disembarked for the last time.  Flying all day, we returned to Alaska late Sunday night.