Voyager of the Seas Part 5 St. Kitts

November 05, 2024

Voyager of the Seas Part 5 St. Kitts

Our last stop on our Royal Caribbean Cruise on Voyager of the Seas was the island of St. Kitts. We had already done so many excursions during our cruise that we decided to just walk into town and possibly find a taxi tour or just make St. Kitts our chill day. That's exactly what happened but maybe not in the way we anticipated. Come along to St. Kitts with me!

St. Kitts is officially The Federation of St. Christopher and Nevis. It's an island country that actually consists of two islands - St. Kitts and Nevis. The western side of St. Kitts borders the Caribbean Sea and the eastern side, the Atlantic. (There were excursions that went to a high point on the island so you could see both bodies of water) They received their independence from Great Britain in 1983, so they are a relatively young nation. Population is 40,000 and unique fact - they are the smallest nation to ever host a World Cup - the 2007 Cricket World Cup was held here.

We pulled into the capital city of Basseterre. Our thought was to take a taxi ride as a tour of the island and then head back to the ship to view the Ohio State Michigan game. There's an official taxi stand as the taxis are regulated but unfortunately they were slammed with all the cruise ship passengers that had the same idea as us. We waited around for a bit while the taxi stand manager tried to fit as many people into the cars as they could but eventually gave up and decided to walk into the city.

National Carnival Museum

St. Kitt's Carnival, also known as Sugar Mas, is held in December every year. It's a vibrant, Trinidad-style festival that kicks off the holiday festivities and is the most important event on the island. There is six weeks of non stop partying concluding with a 2 day parade to ring in the New Year. It's been held since 1957 and includes calypso, pageants, street jamming, and parades. So it's only natural that there is a museum dedicated to this event.

It was a short walk to the museum from the port and included only a small fee to enter. Inside there were exhibits that detailed the history of the event, some of the important people of past and current carnival - including pageant queens and grand marshals - with plenty of photos and video of Carnival.

View of downtown Basseterre from the museum

The museum is small but shows the pride that the island has for this very important event. (If you'd like to visit for Carnival in 2025 it is held from December 23 to January 3)

Now it was time to head back to the ship to watch The Game but not before a stop for a Carib beer outside in the sunshine. We stopped at Mrs. Moore's Snackette and enjoyed a Carib on the outdoor patio while locals were picking up their lunch orders. So relaxing!

All too soon our cruise was coming to an end. But not before a sunset sail out of St. Kitts while watching the lights come on on the island. And then an incredible sail away sunset.