The Caribbean Circle

I didn't realize until the cruise was almost over that the itinerary had a name - The Caribbean Circle Cruise. So named because it starts at Fort Lauderdale and heads southeast toward St. Thomas and progresses down toward the southernmost Caribbean island of Trinidad. From there it heads northwest toward Curacao and ultimately back to Fort Lauderdale - a big circle.

We stopped in St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Martinique, Barbados, Trinidad, Curacao and Aruba. Some places we'd been to before but most were new to us. Of course we didn't do much in most of the ports other than walk around the town a bit. We only had "activities" planned in a few ports - a Range Rover tour in St. Kitts, a beach day in Barbados, and a sunset sail in Aruba. And there were days when one or both of us didn't feel up to moving so it was good not to have too many obligations.

So I asked myself if we had a favorite island. I thought St. Kitts was more ruggedly beautiful but it could be because we got out of town and went up into the hills. We also talked about going to Aruba for a vacation (not just a cruise port visit) - but we've done that before. (We liked it but never went back because it was challenging to get there from Texas. It will be easier from Florida.) I also liked Curacao. It seemed a lot like Aruba - very clean. But I've determined that you can't tell much about a place by walking around for a few hours. If/when we go back, I'd like to see a bit more of the countryside.

Here are a few pictures of the islands.

St. Thomas

St. Maarten

St. Kitts

Martinique

Barbados

Curacao

Aruba