Princess Cays

Again the seas remained a bit rough but fortunately not too rough for us to anchor and take the tenders over to Princess Cays. I had read cruise reports where people didn't get to make this stop and after missing Antigua it was a relief to know we would get to go. We had been to the island on our previous cruise, but since it was 10 years ago, we knew Princess had changed it around a bit. To avoid lines going across from ship to island you were instructed to sit in the Princess Theater when you were ready to leave and they loaded the tenders - which held about 90 people each - from there. It worked out well and we didn't have too long of a wait.

Before passengers arrive Princess brings over all kinds of fruits, beverages, and of course bar drinks! A big American style picnic lunch with grilled hamburgers and chicken, salads and sides, cookies and brownies is served from about 11 - 2.

Tender

Once we got off the tender we had arranged to meet up with Chuck & Alicia and it didn't take long to find them camped out under a nice overhang with plenty of lounge chairs for all of us.

Right behind us came Cheryl & Kelley who had a reserved kayak time very shortly.

(David & Helaine having been over many times decided to stay on the ship.)

David enjoys some fruit

These are little cabanas you can rent for the day for an outrageous sum!

After a little relaxing and conversation David wanted to take a walk along the beach and up along where the island wasn't as developed by Princess. After a while it becomes mostly coral and rocks you are walking on and no nice white sand.

There were all kinds of cool creatures in and amongst the coral crevices and dips.

As we walked further and further we came across a number of piles of stones people had constructed. We had no idea what they were for - if anything - but David decided to add a rock he found shaped like a sail to the top of one of the rock arrangements.

Part way through our walk we saw Cheryl and Kelley kayaking in the distance and they paddled over to near where we were.

Finally we turned around to walk back to "civilization". I was wearing a pair of thick flip flops and having trouble maneuvering around the dips on the coral so it's no wonder that as David walked ahead of me I somehow got my foot caught and took a tumble backwards. Fortunately my left arm and elbow took the brunt rather than my head! It hurt like crazy and my fingers felt numb and tingly as David helped me back up. I had blood running down my arm where my elbow was scraped and had broken my flip flop so had to gingerly walk back to where we had seen a First Aid station near where the tender dropped us off on the island. I was really surprised that they didn't have much in the way of helping anyone who was hurt. Not even a band aid type of bandage! The Dr. checked me all out and felt I didn't have anything broken but had probably hit my "funny" bone quite hard and caused the tingling sensation. The nurse cleaned my arm up and they found some gauze to tape on. Since the Dr. didn't want me to move my arm around they got a sling made and sent David to one of the bars for ice. But then they had nothing to put the ice in and ended up filling a plastic glove up, which actually worked pretty well to mold around my elbow. I got loaded up with Ibuprofen and told that if it wasn't getting any better in a few hours to go back on ship and have an x-ray taken. The worst part was I wasn't going to be able to snorkel which I had really been looking forward too. I was glad David did go though!

By 4:00 everyone was back on board and as usual we stood on our balcony as the thrusters pushed us out in the right direction and we watched Princess Cays fade into the distance.

That evening was one of the most beautiful sunsets we had seen!

We had been told to have our packed luggage out in the hallway before we went to dinner so we reluctantly packed what we wouldn't need anymore and put those suitcases out in the hallway.

We used the same duffle bag we had carried on with us for carry off but this time it was a bit heavier as we needed clothes for the next day as well as all our night and morning things. It was a much sadder dinner knowing it would be our last on board. We said sad good byes to our newly made friends and Alicia and I promised to continue to keep in touch thru email.

Through the boards I had heard about Princess Tours in Ft. Lauderdale if you had a late flight out so we signed up for an Everglades tour. At least we had a little more time to stay with Princess!