Well I need to get this down on paper before the clarity of the weeks events
disappears. This is a Flying Cloud trip report by Jennifer Lee with guest
appearances by Cameron Lee, Annie Roberts, and Louis Schussman. Our departure
date was April 28. Annie and I are identical twins. This causes quite a bit of
commotion being that we are very close. I'm sure that there was more than one
eye brow raised when we were dancing or rather waltzing together. Oh well, we
like to cause a stir every once and a while.

To start off, it was the most wonderful, relaxing vacation I have ever been
on. It will surely not be my last Windjammer cruise. We started our vacation a
day early and stayed a day late as to not rush on and off the ship.

Saturday
We arrived at 8:00 p.m. after beginning our trip at 3:00 p.m. on Friday. It
was a very, incredibly long trip. Of course from Spokane, Washington,
everything is a long ways away. We planted ourselves at the bar at Prospect
Reef. The food was great (not gourmet by any means, but the hamburgers were
perfect). Prospect has these wonderful swim pools, which are pools of sea
water enclosed by big rocks. The rooms are clean, the beds are squeaky and
very, very firm (almost like a stone). But, coming from a full motion
waterbed, any bed would have been hard as a rock. It is much cheaper to book
through Windjammer. They were about $50 more expensive the other way. If I had
more time, I would check out other hotels, but this one is very adequate and
the people are nice.

Sunday
Check-out time was 11:00 a.m. Being on island time, we checked out at 12:00
noon. Not a problem, although it does take about 20-30 minutes. Best to never
be in a hurry; you'll get yourself in a snit if you expect people to snap to
attention. We anticipated this and adjusted accordingly (it really makes a
difference in your attitude). We proceeded back to the swim pools for a day in
the sun and water before heading to Pusser's to await the arrival of the
launch to the ship. We were in a group of four and some in the group were a
little apprehensive to go back into the hotel and use the swim pools after we
checked out. But, we did it anyway and of course, no one came to kick us out.
Although we were quite loud and chased some people away to the other pools
with our bawdy talk. Oh well, we won't see them again anyway. We headed to
Pussers around 3:00 p.m. for lunch. Lunch was great. The store has very nice
and expensive clothes to buy. I'd save my money for the ship, where the prices
and quality of merchandise is very good. We hit the first launch to the Flying
Cloud at 5:00 and were greeted with the famous rum swizzles. I not being a big
hard alcohol drinker thought it tasted like turpentine. I think they use 3/4
rum and 1/4 mix, which the boys thought was a perfect combination. We headed
for the honeymoon cabin, which we booked in February of 96. No, we weren't on
our honeymoon, but we wanted the big bed. Yes it was worth it (big smile). It
was by far the most comfortable cabin on board, as far as room, bed (queen),
bathroom (handles on the shower), refrigerator (champagne and water cooler),
stereo, couch, and TV/VCR. We had a buffet dinner on the top deck. The food is
very good and there's lots of it. We all gained at least 5 pounds this week.
If you go hungry, you must have been too drunk to eat. They serve 3 meals a
day and 3 snacks. That evening we had a steel drum band and a limbo contest.
We were very tired and headed for our cabins early. We heard everyone, who
managed to stay up, had a fun time. I was disappointed in my lack of party
skills and intended to do better the remainder of the trip.

Monday
There were pastries and bloody mary's for those who rise at 6:00 a.m. We were
not those people and rose just before breakfast at 7:30. Today was a low key
day as we awaited the arrival of all the passengers. Story time was a hoot.
Captain Adrian was totally hysterical. I looked forward to the daily ritual of
the history of the islands, activities, meals for the day, do's and don'ts.
Capt. has a very dry sense of humor and would say things so incredibly
outrageous that we would just howl. Today, we sailed to Great Harbor and
anchored and the passengers were allowed to swim off the boat. They even have
mattresses to float on. That evening was the famous crab races. It was good
fun and we even won some money. The trick is to bet on a crab from each race
(the smallest crabs were the fastest on this trip). It was quite entertaining.
After that we sat and watched the fish from the side of the boat. It was
amazing; we saw a school of about 20 manta rays swimming around the boat for
about 2 hours. They were leaping or rather flying out of the water. It was
hard to leave just in case they took another leap. It was the most spectacular
thing I saw all week. Wendy, the activities mate, and Zelda, the purser, said
they had never seen it. Kid, the bartender, kept jumping over the bar to check
it out. He finally saw one and was quite pleased. This was the only night that
he behaved himself. I had read a previous report from a gal who found him
annoying. I was holding off on an opinion and thought he was delightful.
Although probably true to his form, the remainder of the trip he was generally
rude and self-serving. Being a focal point of the cruise (the bar), I would
be remedying that situation soon. I heard similar reports from many other
passengers. He, of course, was the only downfall. The rest of the crew made up
for his bad behavior tenfold. Andre, the head steward, and Sten were fabulous.
Customer service was their only agenda. Any requests were greeted with genuine
smiles. Another cool thing, which I became accustomed to quickly, was the
ringing of the bell for meals. Now if I hear a bell, my stomach growls.

Tuesday
Cooper Island was our destination today (cool island). The captain told us
that it wasn't the most friendly island toward Flying Cloud passengers and
told us about a couple who were not treated so well. We did not have any run
ins and stayed far away from the mean people at resorts bar. It is a great
beach with lots of shade or sun, which ever you prefer. Annie and I chose to
go snorkeling from the beach while Louis and Cameron took the resort course
for scuba diving. Cameron was thrilled that he would be able to dive with the
certified divers all week. Of course this depends on how well you adapt and
how comfortable you are. He has always wanted to dive and had an absolute
ball. Louis found breathing compressed air suffocating and chose to join us
girls on the beach. Snorkeling was fair. Annie got bit on the behind by a huge
black bug (bee?). She put on quite a show, jumping around, using unladylike
language and yelping (I wasn't offended because some of those words are
particular favorites of mine, as well). Unfortunately everyone else happened
to be swimming or not on the particular stretch of the beach. She said it
stung like 5 bee stings. She worked the sympathy for all it was worth (smile).
Another passenger suggested she put wet tobacco from one of her smokes on it,
which she did. She would have left it on longer but it started to put a big
brown stain on her swimming suit (very attractive). Anyway, she survived.
Lunch was served on the beach, of course, it was good chow. Tonight was the
BLT party. It didn't matter what you came as, some came as pirates. It was
allot of fun. I participated and wore a toga. I believe I was ripped off by a
pirate but they shared their champagne so it was not a total loss (I can be
easily bought off).

Wednesday
Virgin Gorda was the destination today. It was one of my favorites. The baths
were spectacular. While the boys were at the bar (big surprise), Annie and I
went down to explore the caverns. We climbed over rocks looking for great
photo opportunities. We had a ball. They really missed out on a good time,
although they think they had a better time. People said it was crowed in the
caverns, this was not the case for us. We had the whole place to ourselves for
the most part. If you haven't seen it, it is a definite must. I would place it
high on my priority list for the next trip. We had dinner in town at Chae
Bamboo. It was good (not great), but very expensive and slow. We do not linger
over dinner ever so it was difficult to sit for two hours. The menu is sparse.
Capt. said they had prime rib; they do not.

Thursday
Jost Van Dyke is the destination for today. Each day I look forward to story
time with the captain. Today he was giving a question and answer time. I chose
to take a nap instead, but from all the laughter going on, it was difficult to
get any shut-eye. This is a way, way cool island. The beach is mostly sunny
with a few areas of shade. We snagged one of those areas. Annie, Louis and I
spent the better part of the day lounging in the water on mattresses. Cameron
chose to go diving. Annie and Louis went snorkeling and Annie adopted a small
fish about the size of a silver dollar. He was really cute and swam with her
for about an hour. She had a hard time getting out of the water without her
baby but they rang the bell for lunch and she was moving. Lunch was sub
sandwiches served on the beach. I chose the tuna (perfect) and crab salad. Boy
was that a super meal. The bread is all freshly made on the ship every day. I
am not a bread person, but this was fabulous (well worth those extra 5-10
pounds). Annie and I went parasailing today. Keep in mind that we are
terrified of heights and we did it anyway. WJ deals with an extremely
professional outfit. They are first rate in their whole operation. It cost $50
per person and was well worth the money. I will always remember it as a
highlight of the trip. They dip your feet in the water without getting your
shorts wet, which would not have been bad because it was so hot out that day.
That evening we went to Rudy's for the lobster dinner. I chose the catch of
the day (hoping it wasn't eel). It wasn't (thank goodness), it was king fish.
He puts on quite a spread and it is well worth the money. The lobster was $20
per plate and the fish was $10 per plate. You could also have the three legged
chicken, which was $12 per plate. We were told by the Captain that Foxy's was
not up and running for dancing (apparently they had a falling out with the
band), so we didn't check it out. We found out later that it was a hopping
place and well worth the effort.

Friday
Norman Island was on our itinerary. This is the island that the book "Treasure
Island" is based upon. There is no beach on the part of the island that we
visited. We snorkeled off the ship today. It was by far the best snorkeling
that we had all week. We (Annie, Louis and Me), at times, were surrounded by
fish of all kinds. There was even a barracuda swimming around the boat. This
of course scared the bejeebers out of me and I was done after several hours of
playing. Cameron chose to dive today. He went to the wreck of the Rhone. He
did two dives. They even made a video of them, which could be purchased for
$50 (which we did). He saw sea turtles and tons of fish, as well as the ship
itself. He was on cloud nine most of the day. They edited and delivered the
tape for our viewing about 11:00 p.m. that night. We were very pleased with
the results. This was a very hot day with temperatures soaring to about 95
degrees with not much wind. Perfect for taking a nap in the honeymoon suite. I
have to say that by the end of the cruise, nearly everyone had been in our
cabin at one time or another. I should have charged a small stipend to the
privilege to offset my Treasure Chest purchases. I do believe that I did the
most damage to the credit that any other passenger that week. It got to be
almost embarrassing. Annie and I were in attendance every day for the opening
and closing of the store. I must say that the quality of the merchandise was
pretty good; mostly 100% cotton. And the prices were very reasonable; in fact,
better that souvenir shops on the islands. The only bad part is that they
didn't have the sizes that I needed for the items I wanted. I'm sure Cameron
arranged this ahead of time. Well, this is our last night on the ship and we
were served prime rib or chicken for dinner, with Caesar salad, clam chowder,
and fruit flamboyeau for desert. It was quite a production.

Saturday
Well it is time to disembark. We had the most wonderful time. It is definitely
on our agenda for future vacations. We finished up our souvenir shopping at
the flee market and had lunch at Pussser's. Then we headed back to Prospect
Reef for one last day of sun and swim pools. We purchased some food items at
the store a block away and had lunch in our room. We have a tendency to run up
a huge bill when we eat at the restaurant. I believe this is more of a drink
issue than food. This was debated on several occasions. Annie could not leave
the boys alone for too long without adult supervision.

Sunday
Time to go home. We left Tortola at 10:00 a.m. and made it back to Spokane
around 6:00 a.m. Monday morning. We are exhausted but very rejuvenated.
Cameron and I have been married for 10 years and it felt like a second
honeymoon for us. We have two children (ages 4 and 19 months). This was a very
nice and very much deserved vacation for us. I would recommend Windjammer to
anyone, any age. It was perfect. I would be happy to answer any questions
anyone might have. Just e-mail me at: