U.S. Virgin Islands

On Wednesday, May 15th we were at the U.S. Virgin Islands.  We did a similar thing as we did at the BVI, in that we took a shuttle over to a beach, on our own instead of through the cruise line.  This time we went over to Magen's Bay.  We read there were supposed to be 5 ships coming into the island the same day, so we figured we'd better get to the beach first.  We were really glad we did.  Again we were one of the first people there, and got the spot we wanted on the beach.  

Such a beautiful beach!

Again the sand was soft and the water was warm and clear, just like you'd expect for the Caribbean.

Surprisingly Hudson wanted to swim most of the time vs play in the sand.  He did the same thing the day before.  Yet last year, he mostly wanted to play in the sand and not swim much.  I'm thankful we brought his puddle jumper life jacket so he could swim essentially on his own.  He was loving the water the whole trip!

Steve and the boys enjoying the water.  Hudson getting a snack.  Steve and I went snorkeling as well.  We saw 2 sea turtles and lots of cool tropical fish.  It was awesome!

More fun swimming in the beautiful ocean.

So pretty.  Sure enough though, the beach started to get busy around lunch time, so we figured it was time to head out.  We also heard the biggest cruise ship in the world was coming into port around 1pm, so we wanted to leave before all the people came in.

We then took the shuttle back to the cruise port.  The roads weren't as windy and steep as they were on the BVI (a guy told us the US has regulations to make sure the roads are well kept and not too steep).  We still had some pretty views of the ship coming back.

We then had them drop us off at the Skyride to Paradise Point.  I read it was a fun ride up to the top of the hill where you can get great views of the islands.  We hardly had to wait, got our tickets, and were on our way to the top.

Up a the top of Paradise Point.  Such beautiful views of the islands.

You can see the Disney ship in between 2 other ships, and 1 other ship in the background.

Family picture at the top.

So pretty.

Interesting facts.  We did a little shopping up there, then rode the skyride back down.

After we got down, we walked the short distance back to the cruise ship.  The line to go up on the skyride was super long and went into the streets.  As we were walking back, the streets were PACKED with people and it was SUPER BUSY!  The other cruise ship was definitely in!  We were so thankful to enjoy the beach in the morning and the ride, both before they got super busy.

We then did like the day before.  We got a late lunch, then went swimming again.  

Of course the boys got ice cream as well.

Hudson hit up Mickey's slide again all by himself!

Hudson going up the steps to go down the water slide.  We then started to pull out from in between the 2 other cruise ships and head towards Castaway Cay.

Hudson going down the water slides.

Disney Fantasy horns as we pull out of USVI.

Beautiful views as we leave the island.

So pretty.

Hudson going up the stairs and down the slide.  Then over to the splash pads.

Fun at the splash pads.

More swimming and splash pad fun.

We went and showered and changed for dinner, then checked out the teens club.  We were at Animator's Palate for dinner.  Nyles tried Salmon and he said he liked it.  We also drew a character, which they had come to life.  It was soooo cool!

Animator's Palate drawings.

Silly shirt in the gift shops.  Hudson pretending to be a unicorn.  Carter and Hudson pretending they have a booger.  Nyles decided to buy a model cruise ship w/ his money.

Then after dinner we saw a show.  Hudson, like all the boys, loves getting popcorn.  Hudson didn't last long though.  He fell asleep shortly after it started.  Cool towel animal.

It was another long, yet wonderful day.  It was perfect.  We got to play in the ocean at a beautiful location, take the Skyride up to Paradise Point, do some swimming, awesome dinner, then a show.  After 2 action packed days, we were looking forward to another day at sea to relax the next day.