Get Cruisin'

We didn't get a big list of birds this week. When we asked, everyone says the mongoose imported to "control" the snakes/rats also eat the birds and their eggs, so numbers are small. Except for chickens. There are lots of chickens. There are also lots of cruise ships, and you can spend hours with binoculars and a camera watching the ships come into the harbor at Charlotte Amalie. Given my camera situation this week, some of the earlier photos were taken with my iPhone, and are surprisingly good. Others are taken with the new Canon Sure Shot, and its terrific zoom.

Many ships now have gigantic television screens on the top deck, where they show movies or anything else, I guess. The Regal Princess had some nature show going with penguins. Zoom with Canon from the top of Paradise Point.

On Tuesday, three big ships were docked nose to tail, and the passengers walked into town to do their shopping. The ships usually arrive in the morning so passengers can take day trips around the island, or ride a sailboat out for snorkeling. They just have to be back at the harbor before the ship leaves. Taxi drivers have a thriving business on ship days.

On Wednesday, six of these monsters hit town at once. Three lined up at the dock and another dropped anchor in the middle of the harbor. The other two had to go to the next harbor over, which I didn't even know they had.

But as the sun sank into the ocean, the ships all started off for their next destinations. Now, I have enough trouble backing and turning a car around. Can you imagine what it takes to maneuver these behemoths? A harbor pilot comes on board, but I don't know who actually steers the ship. Most of the have side thrusters allowing them to move sideways from the dock for more room. Then they swing around to go forward.

The cruise lines all use a large, easily recognized logo on their ships, so you know who makes the most trips. Disney, of course, has prominent mouse ears. This ship in the British VI had big eyes lips!

But it is beautiful to watch the big ship sail into the sunset with all their lights on. Some day we'll have to try a Caribbean cruise ourselves!