Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 07:38:56 -0400
From: "Sue Mikol" <SusanJMikol-OTR@twmi.rr.com>
Subject: Review

Our ports were San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Nausau. The tours we were interested in had already been book, so on St. Maarten and St.Thomas we took taxis to the beaches. In the other ports we stayed close to the ship.

On St. Maarten we went to Orient Beach on the French side of the island because it is billed as one of the 10 most beautiful. It is a beautiful beach. Unfortunately, it is an open beach so there are solicitors trying to sell their goods every 5 minutes. There are some homes and motels nearby, otherwise it is a very poor island. We rented lounge chairs and umbrellas for $16/daily rate for the 3 hours we were there because the sun was so hot. There are small restaurants at the water's edge and taxis come on a semi-regular basis to pick up. I waded into the water and floated a bit, the water was warm with a good amount of floating seaweed, and in the process lost my Rx sunglasses when a wave caught me. Suggest you wear an eyeglass retainer! The other thing we didn't expect is that part of the beach has nude sunbathing. Even though the cab driver took us to the part he said was not nude, the nude sunbathers (a half dozen couples and men) strolled the entire beach. There were people with jet skis, and gliders, and windsurfers. We didn't partake, but it was fun to watch them.

At Megan's Bay Beach in U.S. St. Thomas (another one of the 10 most beautiful), it is very different. The beach is fenced and a $3 admission is charged. It was well worth it not to have all the solicitors. It was more peaceful, there were some children, and the facilities provided were like a small U.S. park. There was a shower/changing building, a small restaurant, a swimwear shop, and a lifeguard. They rent chairs and water floats, there are some wooden picnic tables and I believe there were some barbeque grills. There were a few small boats anchored offshore, otherwise no water traffic. The surf was tamer but we hadn't prepared to go into the water that day so we just waded in up to our knees. Others were enjoying the water and the beach itself was beautiful and clean. We would go back to Megan's Bay again. It was very relaxing. The residents were friendlier and very proud of being U.S. citizens. We talked to a Rhode Island native in the taxi who previously live d on Nassau for 2 years and had just moved to St. Thomas. He told us that he much prefers St. Thomas and that it is very important when you converse with the residents that you engage in pleasantries and not just ask for directions, etc. He told us that the pace is very slow, so rushing doesn't happen. Interesting fellow. My husband engaged in conversation with the taxi driver while waiting for other passengers. He was from the island of Dominica ?? It seemed as though many of the residents were from other places than St. Thomas.

Re the Radiance, compared with the Voyageur cruise we took a year ago, the entertainment and the food did not seem to be quite as good (with the exception of the Chops specialty restaurant), but it was nice. The ship is smaller, but very comfortable and beautifully decorated. The service was exceptional. The two negative experiences were the late night Gala Buffet - we waited 20 minutes, it wasn't yet in sight, and gave up. It would have taken another 45 minutes to get to the buffet according to our dinner table mates. The line was ridiculous. The other was a new requirement - I believe it was before we left the ship for St. Thomas -that everyone on the ship is required to report to a U.S. customs/immigration officer on the ship from 7AM through 9AM. We waited about 25 minutes while the line of people snaked around the ship. Hopefully, they will find a better system for that. I imagine the earlier you report the smaller the line. Otherwise, we had beautiful weather (80s and sunny) for the majority of the cruise. Although, we were told that it had been been rainy the week before we arrived. We would take this cruise again.

Sue Mikol

United We Stand