This is a record of an Eastern Caribbean cruise shot entirely on 35mm starting in St. Thomas and working south through Tortola, St. Kitts, Antigua, and Barbados, before ending with a full day in Old San Juan that almost didn't happen.

Our flight out of Chicago got canceled the night before we were supposed to leave. We scrambled, spent about $1,000 on last-minute United tickets, flew to Newark, spent eight hours overnight in the terminal, then caught a morning flight to San Juan just in time to make our ship.

St Thomas

For our first stop, we boarded a catamaran to Brewer's Bay in the morning. It is a protected area where we snorkeled and swam with sea turtles in clear water. After spending the morning in the boat and enjoying a taco bar for lunch, we took a shuttle to downtown Charlotte Amalie. We walked the 99 steps, which lead you to colonial buildings and walked all the way up to Blackbeard's Castle. Entry included a free drink at their bar, so we sat up there and enjoyed the view for awhile. Although it was overcast, the weather felt perfect and the scenery looked great in the photos.

British Virgin Islands

Our second stop was in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We had planned an excursion to Virgin Gorda baths where we were supposed to swim there, but were given a red flag for the day so took a ferry followed by a bus instead. Once we were there, we took a short hike that lead to a beautiful beach. After some swimming and pictures there, we climbed through the rocks and shallow pools of water until we reached a second beach, where we enjoyed a painkiller (rum drink originating in BVI) and some beach bar food.

Our day in St. Kitts started with boarding a catamaran sailing to Nevis. We enjoyed drinks, sailing, and went to the beach in Nevis, where we had lunch. After sailing back, we asked Andy’s Taxi to take us to Shipwreck, a beachfront restaurant known for monkeys that come right up to you. He pleasantly surprised us by stopping at an overlook of mountains where the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean split from each other. He also let us know that Shipwreck would be shut down soon due to a development by Hilton Hotels, and that protests are going on but most likely will not save the restaurant. We were glad we got to go when we did, spotting monkeys and cats and experiencing a rainstorm while dining outdoors.

St Kitts

Antigua was a full boat day! That is, after we attempted to go to a breakfast restaurant that had closed down. We boarded the 2 story a catamaran on the top level and started our six-hour journey around the entire island. We had a few pickups from resorts, and then sailed over ten foot waves, where we had to hold our things tight and stay in our seats—we were flying out of them! We stopped at a remote beach halfway around the island, enjoyed swimming in the clear water, and had lunch and drinks. After the beach, we stayed on the lower level of the boat and got to know a family from Colorado, taking pictures of each other and enjoying drinks and dancing.

Antigua

Barbados was different than our other days with no boat booked. We started the morning with a distillery tour and rum tasting at Mount Gay, one of the most famous in the Caribbean. We walked around the property, watched a short video, and finished by tasting four rums, which got gradually darker. Afterwards, we took a taxi to Champers, a gorgeous waterfront restaurant where we enjoyed tacos, salmon, and delicious chocolate hazelnut cake. We looked at the view and took pictures before heading to the George Washington house and coffee shop. We saw monkeys in the parking lot, ordered coffee, and walked around the house and gardens. Finally, we asked our taxi driver to take us somewhere to shop, but were led to an area that we were not fans off, so quickly left before being overcharged by the taxi driver.

Barbados

We were supposed to have our first night and next day in Puerto Rico, but the flight cancellation hindered our plans. Our hotel was extremely hospitable, and allowed us to move our reservation to the day after the cruise, so we got an extra day and the opportunity to explore San Juan as intended. We started the day with a few photo booth pictures in our hotel lobby, and then mallorca sandwiches and coffee at Cafe Luna. We walked towards Castillo San Felipe del Morro, stopping to play with lots of street cats on the way. We explored the castle, a six-story 16th century fortress built to defend the harbor. Afterwards, we got a full pineapple full of pineapple juice and sat in the park watching children fly kites and tourists walking through a local street market. We continued our day walking through several art galleries, local shops, and plazas. We stopped for lunch in a hotel for (another) Mallorca sandwich. We took a brief stop in our hotel to grab some treats for the cats for our return to the cat park. Save a gato is a nonprofit organization in San Juan that does Trap Neuter Release to save the street cats and stop overpopulation, so many of the cats stay near their facility where they have access to food, water, and resources. After a long time visiting with the cats, we stopped at the iconic Puerto Rican flag garage door and Bad Bunny mural before heading to dinner. We took an uber to levant, a pearl shaped restaurant on Contado beach. We sat at the bar and ate appetizers while admiring the design of the restaurant. Afterwards, we snuck onto the beach to take pictures of the outside. We ended our night waiting in a very long line for drunken cookie, a cookie shop where you are served a shot of liquor with every cookie. It was delicious.