We had a great day touring Sint Maarten/Saint Martin by boat with Capt. Bob’s Soualiga Destinations. We’d taken their tour on our previous visit here in 2016 and enjoyed it so much we did it again today.

We got to snorkel twice (the conditions weren’t great, but we did see some fish), swam to Pinal Island for a quick shopping trip, and enjoyed the scenery and the company.

But the high point of the day came near the end, when Captain Brett stopped the boat near the Princess Juliana International Airport.

We’ve spent all day today on our way to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, so we treated ourselves to a relaxing day at sea, beginning with a late-ish breakfast and some quiet time on our balcony enjoying the view.

We joined our friends to explore the Xcel; one of the new features of this ship is a large area called “the Bazaar”, which is decorated and stocked according to the region the ship is traversing. They say they’ll be changing the decor (and the featured food and drink) every day for a new theme; today’s theme was Carnival.

There was an “Officer’s Soirée” in the Retreat lounge this afternoon, and we had a chance to chat with a few of the officers, including the ship’s captain, Captain Kirk (well, that’s his first name). We sent the photo at the top of the page to our son and told him to zoom in on the captain’s nametag – his reply: “No red shirts, so you’re safe.”

Tonight was the “Elegant Chic” night for this voyage; Diane dressed accordingly.

After dinner, we saw the first of the ship’s big shows, “Between Takes”. It was an hour full of sound and fury, with lots of acrobatics and light shows. Diane said that the cast transcended the material, and I agree. I wish I’d saved the earplugs I got for our airboat ride, too.