MAR 05: St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands

We awoke alongside the pier. SIRENA was the first ship here, followed by two much larger ones. SIRENA carries about 650 passengers, while the other two average 4,000 each. 

Add the passenger manifest of the two even larger ships at the other end of the harbor (circled in red in the upper left-hand quadrant of the picture), and about 16,000 visitors arrived on cruise ships. This island is such a tourist machine that this invasion was both normal and manageable.

Last night, we received word that our tour to St. John had been canceled due to an equipment issue. Thus, we have our own agenda for today.

There were periods of rain in the forecast, so we attempted to time our time ashore accordingly. We failed.

While the weather looked good, we headed for a cable car ride to a view overlooking the harbor.

The ride to the top was crowded, but quick.

We arrived at the top in time to get a great view to the south, even seeing the tip of St. Croix in the distance. Looking southwest, visibility dropped sharply due to rain.

It did not take the rain long to find us.

We were hit by several waves of downpours. I found a seat on a covered balcony to wait it out. Pam supported the local economy. 

Having enjoyed our confinement, when the rain passed, and the visibility returned, we took one more look around before heading for the cable car to return to the harbor.

We wandered around for a while but found the local shops uninteresting. 

SIRENA pulled away from the pier at 1700, passing nearby NORWEGIAN DREAM. 

Once outside the harbor, the ship set course for Antigua, no doubt with the straightest course tweaked to get SIRENA into international waters as quickly as possible so that the onboard casino and shops could re-open.

Another exhausting day drew to a close.

Not a great selfie, but compared to the others I took today, it is a Picasso.