By Barb and Chris
After much deliberation, we have finally decided where we will go on our travels next spring.
For something different, (180 degrees from normal*) we have decided to go to the Caribbean: cue the curly hair of humidity! Since we started travelling together in 2016, our trips have been to a variety of European countries with our focus on culture, history, and of course the incredible food. For those of you who have followed our wanderings, you are well acquainted with our love for France and Italy as we have been drawn back to both on several of our trips. For our 10th year of travelling, we have decided to go somewhere very different.
The Caribbean history is one based on colonialism and slavery, and unfortunately, much of the history of the indigenous people has been lost to us. The Caribbean has developed an interesting culture which is unique to each set of islands based on the countries that colonized them. There are a few colonial forts to visit and the pirate legacy is also interesting to learn about. It is a beautiful paradise and the sea and the islands of the Caribbean have a special magic that we are excited to explore.
Rabbit Hole
There is an interesting 2 part Time Team show from 2013 based on the sugar plantations of Nevis, which just happens to be an island we will be visiting. They did another 2 part follow up about Nevis in 2020 so we can learn a bit more about the history from watching Tony Robinson talk about the sugar plantations and slavery.
End Rabbit Hole
On our most recent trip to Italy and Sicily this past spring, we discovered the world of Windstar Cruising and loved the relaxed atmosphere and the small ports we visited. For our trip in 2026, we have decided to cruise from Cozumel to St. Maarten on the Wind Surf, which is the same ship as our last voyage. Previously, we were on the lowest deck with a lovely view of the water line. However, we have chosen a cabin on deck 2 with fewer stairs and better views in ports. This will be an 18-day cruise that will go to the Caymans, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, and islands of the Greater Antilles. It was our third choice, as the first cruise we looked at was sold out, and our second choice was three cruises put together but the first part was also sold out. We have discovered people book these cruises well in advance. We were also able to take advantage of a deal where the Wi-Fi, crew gratuities, drinks package, and laundry are all included. We took advantage of the laundry on the last cruise and loved it! It was collected by our cabin steward and back in one to two days. Having a laundry package allows us the opportunity to pack light on this trip. We won’t, but we could.
Getting to Cozumel was a bit of an eye-opener. If a person books a package deal, flights, and a resort for a week, it’s actually fairly inexpensive, but booking just a one-way fare was incredibly expensive. We decided to use our Aeroplan points and got a deal so we only had to use half the points and $237 in cash. Flying out of Saint Maarten was about 60% less expensive, so that was good. We are flying in a couple of days early and flying out a couple of days after the cruise and overnighting in Toronto both ways, which hopefully will give us a chance to have dinner with Andrew and Katelyn, if he hasn’t been transferred to Vancouver by then.
We’ve arranged our house sitters and now comes the hard work: going on a diet, and getting back into some semblance of shape that doesn’t mimic a fruit. Being bathing suit ready can be really stressful. At least we know our masks and fins will still fit.
A lot of the stops on the cruise have nature related excursions and Barb has already singled out a couple of riding horses on the beach days. She’ll be riding, I’ll be hanging on for dear life and happy that if I fall off the water will break my fall. Barb is a natural rider while I’m more a “work in progress. A lot of work, not so much progress.” It helps to have a good sense of balance when riding. I should really get one of those. I wonder if Amazon sells them?
I did see an excursion on Jamaica that might be interesting, The Bob Marley Reggae Tour. I had tickets to see Bob Marley when I was an undergrad at UBC, but the concert was cancelled when Marley’s health deteriorated and sadly he passed away just a little while later.
Another exciting thing for me is that there will be some spicy food at a few of the stops. Barb doesn’t eat spicy and I don’t eat as spicy as I used to (nowadays I eat “medium” rather than “blow the top of my head off and make me cry for days”) but spicy food and lamb are two things I order when we travel, if I can.
There are lots of snorkeling excursions, lots of beach and drinking experiences, lots of visit the water falls excursions, and one excursion in the Dominican Republic includes a semi submersible ship that allows us to sit below sea level. So we’ll be working out which ones we want to do with the ship and which we can do by ourselves.
That’s the plan. Something different for us to try. We’re already thinking in a general way of our next trip after that and I think it’ll be a land trip, leasing a car and exploring inland. We are sort of thinking we may even put ourselves on a house sitting list and see if we can do a couple of weeks house sitting and just exploring an area around the house sit and then getting the car and going to another area. We’ll see.
Over the next few months we will be doing research on each of the islands we are going to and what we want to see and do. I’m looking forward to reading about pirates while doing my research. I will be taking my Kindle as we have three sea days and a couple of beach days and I intend to get a bunch of books on my ‘To Be Read’ list done and dusted.
Rabbit Hole
Done and dusted is a phrase used mainly in the UK and its origins are unknown though it is thought to have originated in the late 19th or early 20th century. The first mention of it in print that I could find was in the New York Times in 1934. I find it interesting that a relatively new idiom has an unknown original. It’s almost like an alien in a blue call box dropped in for a while, said the phrase, and left. :-)
*Easter egg: 100 degrees from normal is the Windstar motto
End Rabbit Hole
Til next time.