It didn’t take long to
convince my 23 year old daughter and her boyfriend to join me on a 14 day
Carnival Cruise to the Southern Caribbean. Both were reluctant to use all of
their vacation time for one celebration; my 60th birthday. But with some adjusting we found a way to make
it work. Leaving from Baltimore, we
wouldn’t need to deal with the hassles of flying nor arrive exhausted to get
started on a trip of a lifetime.
And that it was. From the moment
we left, we were silly with joy at our good fortune. Our cabin was quite roomy for 3 of us. We
found a place for everything we brought along.
The first day at sea, we all took 2-hour naps. Amazing how tired one can
be and not know it until you have time without stress. Which is exactly what
this cruise was. This cruise was planned
way ahead of time, a month before my breast cancer diagnosis. At chemotherapy,
I became known as the “cruise lady”. I needed to get the chemo done ASAP and
recovered so I could travel with full strength.
Four treatments of dose dense chemo were successfully completed. After the cruise, radiation would be waiting
for me.
Our excursions were settled
before we left. I had done tons of research on the Internet to find the best
tours for our Caribbean adventures. Our only
mishap occurred on our first island, Grand Turk. We rented scooters to explore this tiny
island. I fell off once or twice while riding in the sand, but we still enjoyed
swimming in the crystal clear water immensely. Upon returning to the ship, we
spotted a sign warning passengers that scooters are dangerous, can cause
serious injury and even death. Whoa- No need to do that ever again.
Every single day at all 8
islands was sunny, warm, light breeze and no humidity. By the 6th island, we were afraid
to say anything out loud because it might have jinxed us. But our luck continued until the end.
Our busiest days came back to
back. First we went out with naturalist Levi Baron in Dominica and then toured
with Spencer Ambrose in St. Lucia. Each island offered spectacular views and
experiences beyond our expectations. Our trip to St. Lucia had become memorable
for another reason. On his website, Spencer had mentioned that he collects
school supplies for St. Lucia’s children. I decided to do it up right and got
my friends and family involved. We brought 6 boxes of school supplies along.
Our cabin steward Kurt was surprised at first, but Carnival was so cooperative
with the whole idea, storied them at Guest Services and helped me with Customs
the day of arrival. So not only we did
we receive a vacation of a lifetime to celebrate my birthday, we gave a piece
of ourselves in creating a friendship with Spencer and the children of St.
Lucia.
The mineral mud baths were originally built in 1784
for the French troops of King Louis XVI so they could benefit from the healing therapeutic
waters. La Soufriere Drive-In Volcano
and Sulphur Springs Mud bath.
