St. Thomas, USVI

 

 

After two sea days, we arrived at the port in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI.  We’ve been to St. Thomas on many of our previous cruises and usually leave the ship and head to St. John, one of our favorite USVI.  But, the ferry schedules didn’t work too well with our ship’s time in port so we decided to stay in Charlotte Amalie and take the sky ride (gondolas) up to the top of the “mountain” overlooking the bay. 

Six ships in the harbor

 

We stayed on top for quite awhile just enjoying the view and watching rain squalls move through the area.  There are a total of 6 cruise ships in port today, with a total cruise passenger count over 24,000 people.  We docked next to the Disney ship, Fantasy.  First time we have been up close to one of those ships.  This one has Dumbo riding on its aft. One can see many kids scampering across her decks.  Sightings of children on our ship so far numbers TWO.   LOL!  Across the bay at the Crown Bay dock, sits the biggest ship of all, the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas.  Next to it a Carnival ship, which looks so small in comparison.

Oasis of the Seas next to a Carnival ship

Christopher Columbus visited and named these isles in 1493. Curiously, except for a rare shipwreck victim or pirates, for more than 200 years, they remain uninhabited.  The swashbuckling privateer Sir Francis Drake, enroute to defeat Puerto Rico and a bout of fatal dysentery, used the calm waters of Magens Bay to lie in wait for Spanish treasure ships.  And buccaneers, Blackbeard, Bluebeard, Captain Kidd and other colorful marine marauders called St. Thomas if not home, then a pirate safe harbor.  Creating one of the world’s largest slave enterprises, the Danes colonized the islands in 1666.  Hundreds of thousands of slaves were brought from Africa to be shipped to America and other parts of the world.  While the Danes were the first European nation to abolish slavery in 1802, the practice was in effect until 1849.

We are enjoying our time on the ship.  Have met many Aussies.  I hear the ship is 30% Australian passengers.  They are the friendliest bunch of people and we have enjoyed sitting and chatting with several of them.  This afternoon we met our stateroom neighbors—just kind of all met at the same time outside the cabin doors in the hallway.  Four are from Australia and two are from Canada.  I’m sure we’ll be seeing and visiting with them often.