Windjammer Polynesia Cruise
Oct 20, 1996 to Nov 02, 1996
First Week: Normal Couples/Singles Cruise
Second Week: Singles Cruise
This was my sixth Singles Cruise and my second normal couples/singles cruise since April 1994. I decided to do the normal cruise on the Polynesia to see how it compared to the Singles cruise. I had a big hardback book ready to read the first week and expected to party the second week.
This is how everything went.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1996
I arrived at the airport on St. Maarten at 1:30. It felt good to be on the island again. I waited another hour and a half for my friend Rick to arrive from a plane out of Miami. After Rick arrived we rented a car and headed off to L'Hoste Hotel on Orient Beach which is located on the French side of the island (St. Martin) on the famous Orient Beach. Orient Beach is a clothing optional beach. I always try to spend a few extra days on the island. I have tried the Dutch side (St. Maarten) and the French side (St. Martin) many times. I have come to the conclusion that the French side far exceeds the Dutch side if you are going to spend two or more days on the island. My various friends who have taken my advice whole heartily agree. A hotel in Philipsburg is passable for a day but for two or more days it is best to stay on the French side. This is not only my opinion but the opinion of the many I have had stay at the hotel that I always stay at. If you are staying one night then stay in Philipsburg (Dutch side) at the Horizon or Holland House. Windjammer or your travel agent can set you up at those hotels if you would like. Now back to my story. Rick and I drove to the L'Hoste, arrived at 4:00pm, did a quick check in and walked to the beach. The L'Hoste is right on Orient Beach. We went to the bar/restaurant shack called Bikini Beach. Had a few drinks and some food and enjoyed the view. The view was the beach, ocean and the women. Later we went to a place called Surf Club South which is another bar/restaurant about a mile away from the hotel. Again we had some drinks and I ordered some more food. Us thin guys get hungry easily. After a couple hours we headed back to the hotel, which was rather early since Rick was in the air or at airports for the past 25 hours. He came from Oregon.
The next day we hung out at Bikini Beach. The water, weather and sand was great with the views not bad either. Remember it is a French Beach J. That That night we drove to the Dutch side and had dinner and drinks at Cheri's Café located at the Maho Beach area near the airport. We did some gambling, then went to a place called the Boathouse and had a few more drinks. We waited for a nightclub Called The News to Open up at ten but found that it was rather slow there so we headed back to the hotel.
SUNDAY
We went to a different beach bar on Orient called the Kon Tiki and had a great morning and early afternoon. A lot of pretty ladies (topless of course) surrounded us!! Now when I say a different beach bar I mean that it was on the same beach, Orient Beach. We rented chairs and an umbrella. The beach on Orient is great, the water is nice and warm. One of the best beaches on the island. Matter fact it really is a must see beach. One fourth of the beach is in front of Club Orient which is a naturalist resort. The rest of the beach consists of beach bars/restaurants and at the far end the dreaded Mount Vernon Hotel. They tried to stop nudity on the beach but failed. They are also a very unfriendly hotel with poor service. Most of the nudity on the beach is at Club Orient but on the rest of the beach (except for Mount Vernon Hotel) you will see spots of nude folks, but most of the folks will at the most be topless. You can wear a bathing suit and not feel out of place. That goes for women too. After a great day in the sun we went back to the hotel around three to check out. We drove to the airport and dropped off the rental car. The rental agency took us to Philipsburg where we were to catch the launch to the ship. We were about an hour early and hung out at Ricks Café on Front Street. Around five we went to Captain Hodges Pier to catch the launch to the Polynesia. We met other windjammers and talked a little bit then got on a launch. While on the launch an Australian lady (Stewardess on Quantes) sat next to us. She was single and pretty. What can I say, me and Rick just had to talk to her. So I threw out my personality and he threw out his. J More on that later. We boarded the ship, was greeted by the First Mate (Jim), received our normal free Rum drinks, then went to the dinning room, sat down and went through the normal introduction instructions from the Second Mate (Don) and the Activities Director (Christinee). The Purser (Annie) took our credit card numbers so we could charge our doubloons (for drinks), tours and Annie's Chest which is the ship store where you buy windjammer stuff like tee shirts, shorts, suntan lotion and all sorts of other windjammer merchandise. For first timers a doubloon is worth ten dollars. The bartender punches holes in it when you buy drinks at the bar. This way you never have to carry cash while on the ship. A beer is about $1.50, also normal bar drinks are about the same. When you get the fancy Foo Foo drinks you will pay more but not all that much more. The prices for drinks on Windjammer is great, far cheaper then the big cruise ships and resorts. After we were assigned our cabin, me and Rick checked it out. We got a standard cabin. Two bunks (bunk beds), four shelves, a clothes hanger and the famous windjammer bathroom/shower combination. Right then and there I felt like I was windjamming again!! Rick gave me the bottom bunk since he liked the top. Of course I on slept in the bunk twice that week, but that is another story for later. Rick and me started talking about Susy the Australian lady we met on the launch to the ship. Being normal human males how could we not!! Rick and I both liked her, but Rick reminded me that he has been in the woods for the past six months and almost forgot what a normal good-looking women was like. He mentioned that he really felt something when he looked at her. Being the nice guy I am I agreed that he would get the first shot at her. I am pleased to say that he did a very good job!! But that story is for later. Once we had that settled we went up on the top deck to check things out. Once again we made sure to get our free Rum Punches. Walking around the top deck was great. I have been on the Poly five times before in the last two years.. Walking on the deck brought back some fond memories. There is are a couple of area's on the deck that I will always remember. I made sure to walk by those spots, close my eyes and remember some of the wonderful times I have had on them. Sometimes remembering past history is rather bittersweet but never sad. After I said hello and goodbye to my past I started talking to the other windjammers. As I talked and said hello I was wondering what this week's cruise would bring. This was a mixed couples/singles cruise with mostly couples. I brought a big book to read just in case it would be a rather laid back quiet week. After all the second week would be the singles cruise and I was looking forward to that a lot. I have been on one other normal cruise which was on the Flying Cloud. I had a great week that time but felt I was really lucky since my friend Dave who came with me did not have such a good time. Matter of fact he read all week. But the Flying Cloud is known to be a rather laid back ship that sails out of the BVI's. I was wondering if I would end up like Dave on this cruise or would I be lucky again and have a great vacation. So far I have been very lucky and have always had great vacations while windjamming, but most of those have been on the singles only cruises. Me and Rick met up and saw Susy. We started talking to her. I almost forgot my promise to Rick and started to kid around with her. Rick gave me a rather rude look. I smiled and let him do the talking. He sure must of done something right because those two were really hitting it off. I walked around the deck and said hi to some other people. We had a buffet dinner later. It was good. Turkey, excellent dressing, salads, potato salad and other odds and ends. The food on the Polynesia has improved since my last visit in April. During the whole week I noticed that. After dinner they had this Scottish Folk singer playing songs down on the second deck by the bar. I stayed on the top deck since I was able to here him from there. He was not bad and some of the songs brought back memories. Still I wished they had a band playing instead. I hung up on the top deck pretty much alone just leaning back and enjoying my memories of my last cruise. A little later a lady did the Limbo dance with flames and all. I have seen her before so I passed going down to see her act. She is very good. She does a Limbo under a bar that is on fire. Well worth watching. I pretty much stayed on the top deck till much later that night. I went down stairs to catch the last few songs the singer was singing. The couples seemed to enjoy his playing. After he was done Marty the bartender played some more modern music from CD's. I watched this one tall Amazon looking type girl dance. She was good. Sexy as hell. For some reason I decided that I did not want to meet that girl. Later I would learn that one does change their mind at times. After watching her dance to a dozen songs I called it a night.
MONDAY.
I was up bright and early that morning. I looked at the board and saw that we were sailing to Columbia Bay in St. Barts. About three hours later Capt. Neil changed his mind and decided to go to Nevis instead. That was the same thing Capt. Max (My favorite active Capt.) did last April. Before we set sail we had story time. Story Time is always on the top deck. The first day the Captain introduces the crew to the passengers. That first day and the rest of the week at story time the captain tells jokes and lets you know about the island we are visiting. After the captain talks then the Activities Director lets you know about the tours and other odds and ends the captain forgets to mention about the island. That first day there was a sailing regatta you could go on for $40. It was the same sailing ships that were in the America Cup races. The famous Stars and Stripes that Dennis Conner sailed in the America's Cup in 1987 was one of them and a couple of sailing ships from Canada was also available. It is something that is almost a must. You really should try it. It is fun and you work like hell but you really get an idea what the folks who sail in the America Cup races go through. It is a great feeling. Try it and you will like it. They take your picture while you are sailing. You can buy a copy for $25 plus they also sell some neat tee shirts. I did not try it this time because I did it last April. Those who were not sailing could go into town till 12:30pm. I went into town to look around. It is rare that I spend any time in Philipsburg since I mostly hang out on the French side of the Island or another area of the Dutch side. Great place to buy watches, gold, cigars, emeralds and of course tee shirts and other touristy type stuff. Around noon I went back to the ship. We set sail around 1:30PM. For those of you who have experienced the raising of the sails I do not have to tell you how great it feels but for you first timers you will be surprised by the feelings you get when the sails are raised. As the sails were raised Judy Collins version of Amazing Grace was playing, then the Scottish bagpipes, then some guy singing it, then another song (forgot the name but it was good), then back to amazing grace again. The music was loud, much louder then last April. It should be loud and I was pleased with that change. We sailed all that day and night. During the afternoon everyone was laying on deck soaking in the sun. I was talking to Rick and Susy plus some other people. This girl named Jennifer (known as Jenny) Laid up on the deck topless. Nobody seemed to mind either way. Jenny was the lady dancing the night before who I said to myself I did not really want to meet. Of course not being a complete fool I changed my mind and we ended up very good friends for the next two weeks. The passengers were a rather relaxed group. Captain Neil mentioned this the next week. I know that he likes a much more active group that fits his personality. Not much more happened that afternoon except soaking in the sun and making small talk to various people. That night we had the crab races scheduled but they were canceled because the sea's were suppose to be rough. In the end the sea's were fairly mild. That night was pretty quiet. Not bad, just nothing exciting happening. At least for me. I slept on deck under the stars by myself that night. I always love sleeping under the stars when I windjamm. Not many other passengers were sleeping on deck. Let me point out that I was very relaxed and was very happy just saying hi to people. I was not bored. I spent a lot of time thinking about last Aprils cruise. I had met someone and kind of wished she was there.
TUESDAY.
We sailed into Nevis. Before we anchored I saw Rick with Susy and walked up to say hi. Geez, was I in for a surprise. The first thing I noticed was Rick using the word "WE" a lot when he was talking. The "WE" was him and Susy. Then I noticed that Susy was using the same word when she was talking. Something happened last night that I did not notice. They flat out fell for each other. They were doing the hand touching stuff. A lot of it. I realized that I lost a friend for that week. I was all alone and had not really went out of my way to make any new friends yet. I was in trouble. I had to change that. Being relaxed is fine and dandy but being relaxed and alone the whole week on a couples cruise was not what I wanted. We set anchor in the main town of Nevis (forgot the name of the town). The captain had story time and Christine told us about the tours. The choice was a five hour rain forest hike (which I had already done once before) with the buggy eyed guy who loved his plants. He really should be a plant in his next life time. That is a great tour and if you want to go to the rain forest that is the one you should do. Also there were taxi tours of the different plantations on the island and snorkeling tours. Once again I have done all of them and did not feel like doing them this trip. The captain said the ship was going to raise anchor and motor to a spot off of Pinneys beach which is where the Four Seasons Hotel is but more importantly the infamous Sunshine's!! Sunshine's is a shack that is famous for its "Killer Bees" and Lobster. The Lobster was $12 and well worth the money. The Killer Bee's are $2 and more then well worth the money. I just love those killer bees!!. I stayed ship till she motored over there. The town really has nothing. It is not a good shopping or touring town at all. So I figured I would stay aboard till we motored to Sunshine's and Pinneys beach. It seems that I was just about the only one who did that. When we were anchored off of Pinneys beach I went ashore and no one was there. They were touring or walking to the beach from town. I laid out and got some sun. had a couple of killer Bees and waited for others to arrive. Finally some people came. I looked for a Killer Bee partner and found none. So I soaked up the sun again. After awhile more and more of the windjammer folks came and I was talking and visiting. Still it took awhile to find a Killer Bee Partner. Finally I found one. Her name was Kim. Kim and me had a blast that afternoon. Kim had eight Killer Bee's while I only had seven. Of course I might have had more and forgot about it. Rick and Susy came back from the tours and joined us. We all (mostly me and Kim) killer bee'd the rest of the afternoon away. Sunshine (the owner) gave us a shot (free) 0f Antigua Rum and it was strong!!!. When we got back aboard the last launch to the ship me and Kim were feeling no pain. We laughed a lot and kidded around a lot. They were just starting the crab races. The crab races is a about twelve crabs put into the middle of a circle and the first one to cross the last line is the winner. There is more to it then that. The first have heats of four crabs racing to see who is in the final race. You can bet $1 or more on your favorite crab. Jokes are told, outrageous names are given to the crabs and it is a blast. I have yet to win in eight cruises. Back to my story. Me and Kim could not resist helping out Capt. Neil and the activities director Christine. We kept making suggestions. People were laughing so we were doing something right. The captain does joke stuff during this time and he gave us a look that was not pleasant. Seems we were stealing his show. We decided that maybe it was time to go down to the bar for a drink or two. We did this when the captains back was to us. Right after we got our drinks someone came running down saying that the captain was asking for Kim. He seemed to think we were still up on the top deck and he put Kim into his story line. Well Kim was not there and he was stuck. He is rather slow minded at times.
WEDNESDAY
I got up early enough to see the sunrise. After looking at it I figured it was not as good as watching the sunsets, so I went back to sleep. After a little bit I did get up and got some coffee and Danish. Watched the ship pulled into St. Kitts. We Pulled along the dock. After breakfast we had story time again. The captain told his stock jokes and some history of the island. Christine told us about the tours that were offered. One was a five hour rain forest tour which was way to long for my liking since it really did not show any cool waterfalls and part of the time was spent in stores buying stuff. So I did not go on that one. Also the normal rent a mini-bus (called cab) for the day to see the balkik ( always mess up the spelling there) factory which makes these neat garments, dresses, tee shirts and wall hangers from wax designs. It is great to see. Also you could go to this really cool fort called Brimstone Hill which was well worth the look. On a crystal clear day you can see seven Caribbean Island nations from the fort. The views are great. If you go be sure to bring a Panoramic camera (disposable), you get some real good pictures from there. They also offered Scuba (also on Nevis they offered Scuba too) dives and parasailing. I decided to parasail. Jenny joined me and we went parasailing Price $40 for ten minutes in the air. It was great. This is the second time I went parasailing in St. Kitts and the view is well worth the money. After parasailing Jenny went on an island tour while Kim, me and her friend Natalie went to Turtle Beach. Turtle Beach has a bar and restaurant with a slightly weeded beach. The sea weed was not that bad and the water was nice. We had lunch there, the prices are good and so is the food. The trip to Turtle Beach is worth the ride just for the views that you get. Some of the best panorama pictures I have are from the highway that winds up into the hills on the way to Turtle Beach. After spending the afternoon on Turtle Beach we headed back to the ship for dinner and the band that was playing that night. The band was a 15 man steel band called the Coronets. I have heard them many times before. They are always very good. I did a lot of dancing again. The songs are real long, something like 30-45 minutes per dance, but it is in the open air so you so not sweat too much.
THURSDAY
That morning we entered St. Barts. We rented a couple of jeeps (they were out of Mokies since a cruise ship was in port). We spent a few hours in town (Gustovia) shopping. Kim bought this outrageous French style dress that left very little to the imagination. I bought some Cuban cigars, Rick and Susy bought some stuff too. We had a cheeseburger at LeSelect, the place that is famous for Jimmy Buffett's song Cheeseburger In Paradise. Of course there is a place in the BVI's that claims that he wrote the song there but that is the English and you know how they are!! After shopping and walking around that beautiful town we took off to the supermarket to buy some cheese, drinks, bread and such for Grande Saline Beach. The beach really got hit by the hurricane that brushed past it in July. A lot of beach erosion, but the beach was still as fun as ever. A real French beach. We spent the day there and then headed back to the ship for the five o'clock wine and cheese get together. At story time the Captain asked that we each buy a bottle of French wine (which is dirt cheap in St. Barts) and bring it aboard that night. The ship would provide the cheese and we provide the wine. There was a lot of wine that night. After our wine and cheese we ate and went back into town. Had a few beers at the LeSelect but it closed early. Me, Don (Don is a guy who became our friend for the next two weeks. Nice guy. He also had the hots for Kim
FRIDAY
We sailed to Anguilla. At least we were almost there but some lady fell in the launch and the Captain decided that we could not land there. The ship tried another island but is too was rough, so we ended up heading back to St. Maarten. The captain opened the bar for free drinks that afternoon and we took advantage of it. Had a grand old time!! Around two thirty we pulled into Philipsburg. The Captain offered free cab rides to Orient beach if anyone wanted to go there. Well the whole ship went there and it cost windjammer around eight hundred dollars in cab fare.
SATURDAY
Spent the morning saying goodbye to the many friendly people I met that week. I still had another week to go and was going to spend Saturday and Sunday day on Orient beach at the L'Hoste. Conclusion of the first week on the Polynesia and things I left out……………….. The week was a surprise. It ended up being one of my best windjammer vacations ever. I met a lot of nice people and only hoped that the next week (singles cruise) would be half as good. I did a lot of dancing, laughing, a bit of drinking (but not too much) and having an all around great time. Excellent week. I will be doing more of the normal Windjammer cruises in the future. One thing that really surprised me was that they did not have a costume night. I asked about it but was told that the weeks passengers did not seem the type who would enjoy it. I beg to differ. This was the first time that there was not a costume night on any of the Windjammer cruises I had sailed before. I sometimes do not really care for costume night but a lot of people do. The first time cruisers get a kick out of it and it is a windjammer thing. I hope that this never happens again. (hint windjammer company folks) There ended up being some last minute cancellation's on the singles cruise. Susy and Jenny decided to extend their stay another week. Rick was happy about Susy staying another week and I was happy that Jenny was staying too. Changing air schedules was another matter. Like last April when the sisters extended their stay there were hassles. In the end things did work out, but anyone ever has the opportunity to extend another week expect hassles with air out of St. Maarten. If you booked your air from Windjammer you in for a tough time since there office is closed on weekends. The best thing to do is to call the USA 800 number of your airline. St. Barts and Nevis offers horse rides. The following islands have snorkeling tours available. St. Barts, Saba, St. Kitts and Anguilla. Scuba: St. Kitts, Nevis, Saba, and St. Barts.
BACK TO SATURDAY…
Rick and me had scheduled a night at the L'Hoste. Since he met Susy they ended up getting another room. I checked in the hotel with Kim, Jenny and Natalie. I did the same thing last April with three other ladies. The hotel folks must think I run a harem!! We all beached it that afternoon. We hung out at Club Orient. That night we went to the Dutch side and had dinner at a place called Cheri's. Natalie went back to the hotel her and Kim were checked into. Later back at the L'Hoste hotel Me, Don, Jenny and Kim walked along the beach from one end to the other around two in the morning. It was fun.
Part Two. The Second Week. The Singles Cruise.