Port 33 Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, USVI

Today, Mar 10th, 2022, we are in St Thomas, one of the US Virgin Islands, and the island on which we were married in December, 1995!

On our way in we saw this beautiful sunrise, with the US Virgin Islands island of St John in the distant shadows.

We passed Buck Island and its cute lighthouse standing watch just outside of the harbor. This is one of the favored snorkeling sites for the tour boats.

Many fortifications and abandoned military structures still guard the harbor’s entry. I love this shot and I’m happy I caught a sailboat on the horizon!

We glided past Frenchman’s Reef and into Charlotte Amalie’s harbor, heading for the dock at Havensight. We were pleasantly surprised to learn we were coming in to the Havensight dock instead of the Crown Bay dock where the smaller ships usually get routed. We are in the very last slot on the dock.  That is Marriott’s Frenchman’s Reef hotel on the point in the background. It’s a lovely hotel in case you need any ideas!

Once we’re docked we find we have a decent view of the town and harbor of Charlotte Amalie!

We’re behind the Caribbean Princess – she flew past us last night to get into port ahead of us! If we were doing our usual 18 knots she was probably doing 23 knots!

As I mentioned earlier, Joy and I got married on St Thomas. Every time we visit we go to Emerald Beach, where it all happened, and have a drink at the hotel bar to celebrate our wedding! Our first point of business is to grab a taxi to the west  side of the island. This one takes longer than usual because two of the fares (there were 8 people on this taxi) were paying for an “island tour.” But that works well because it gave us the opportunity for this photo which we would not have had coming up the main road direct to the hotel! This is Emerald Bay and the St Thomas airport is in the background. The hotel is on the far right.

I never think about taking a photo of the front of the hotel! But we always get pictures as we walk through. The first thing we notice is this zen relaxation area is new! This used to be a landscaped courtyard!

The pool area remains the same. The fence and the gazebo were installed well after our wedding. The gazebo stands about where our steel drum musician was playing.

This is not how the bar looked when we got married, but we’ve been having drinks at this bar for about the last 12 years!

This is the beach of our wedding. We were standing barefoot with the waves washing over our feet during the ceremony, just about at the center of this photo.

This is the rest of the beach on the other side of the bar. Beautiful!  The bouncy toys in the water in the distance are a new addition by another hotel down the way.

We had some noisy visitors today! The chicks were peep-peep-peeping.

And here we are, a little over 26 years after that beautirful day!

Mission accomplished, we head back to Charlotte Amalie to do some more walking, shopping and exploring!

Near Crown Harbor we both notice this nondescript McDonalds!

Back in town the taxi lets us out near Emancipation Gardern. We haven’t looked at this in a while so we take a moment. I’m glad we did!

The Garden’s centerpiece is the Emancipation Pillar. The purple ribbon is a nice addition!

In one corner is this reproduction copy of the US’s Liberty Bell, one of fifty three cast in 1950 to the same dimensions and tone as the original bell.

I’d like to bring your attention to a statement from plate on the other side of the bell in the photo above – “In standing before this symbol, you have the opportunity to dedicate yourself, as did our founding fathers, to the principles of the individual freedom for which our nation stands.”

The east end of the park is filled with the David Monsanto Bandstand Gazebo! Lovely structure!

Finally, this sculpture was erected in 1996 for the 150th anniversary of St Thomas’ emancipation!

We walked into town on what refer to as the “back street” but is named Norre Gade, Dronningens Gade, Curacao Gade, or Kranprindsens Gade depending on where in town you are. We typically do more shopping back here than on the “front street” which is now called Veteran’s Drive.

We love that the police now have Smart cars for their patrol cars!

After a successful shopping trip we return to the ship.

A short while later Insignia pulls away from the dock and spins around. The Carribean Princess left before us! There is a long gap between us and the Azamara ship.

Frenchman’s Reef and a few other hotels new to us are nicely illuminated by the late afternoon sun! (Frenchmen’s Reef has made a lot of changes since we last saw it!)

This pretty 3-masted schooner appeared in the harbor behind us.

And this massive hotel wasa very visible on the hill! It looks like this took over or wraps around the old Bluebeard’s Castle! I believe that’s what I’m seeing at the top center of the photo!

We make the turn and head out of the harbor. You get a feel for how long the dock is!

And St Thomas fades into the distance…

We bid our favorite island bye-bye! Next stop – oh, didn’t I tell you? We were informed we aren’t going to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Whirled! The ship was told the swells are too high for tender operations. Instead we are going to Catalina Island which is supposed to be more protected from the swells. Not the Catalina Island in California – the one in the Dominican Republic. The Destinations staff was scrambling to get tours set us for us.

Next stop – Catalina Island!