After an eventful fall with my visit to India including the stunning Kashmir, and our 3-day trip to Mexico City without the kids, we were ready for another family adventure including my parents. Anjali and I had been on a few sporadic vacations to the Caribbean before (Jamaica, Cancun, Antigua, Bahamas), but were really looking forward to exploring the many different islands and cultures on this 2 week trip.

Our first week was aboard the Rhapsody of the Seas cruise that we embarked on at San Juan, Puerto Rico. The kids loved their cruise to Alaska last year, and they were very excited for this one. we opted for this cruise because of its itinerary that spanned bucket-list islands of St Lucia, St. Maarten and Barbados. Although it was an older and smaller ship, there was more than enough entertainment, an engaging kids club, and great food to keep us busy. The weather was perfect in the 80s with mostly clear blue skies and no sign of hurricanes. One of the surprises for us was that almost 70% of the cruisers were Puerto Rican that made the entire cruise a cultural experience and an all day Spanish dance party! Some of the highlights were the Argentinian acrobatics show, silent disco parties and the Explosion show. Arianas highlight was the kids club, while Ayaan enjoyed ping pong, and Big Dada was obsessed with the casino.

Each port day was different and generally very relaxing. On the second day and first port day, we stopped at St. Croix, part of the USVI, where we spent a few hours at the beach and warm, wavy waters of Paradise beach, which was a convenient 5 min walk from the ship. The highlight was seeing a couple of swimming turtles right as we got off the ship! Our second port of St. Thomas provided another relaxing half day outing as we ventured in an open van to the stunning Magens Bay beach, while driving through the quaint town of Charlotte Amelie and stopping at the beautiful Drakes View point.

Our third port was the much awaited St. Maarten where we rented a car and spent the day driving around the Dutch and French side of the island. We first stopped at the cute boardwalk in the town of Philipsburg (Dutch) for a morning cocktail, before heading out to the world famous Maho beach with its white sand, huge waves and planes landing at runway right off the beach! Lunch was on the French side at the Anthony Bourdain recommended Rosemary’s serving delicious island food. We ended our tour of the island at the Orient beach on the east side where the kids spent an hour jumping over the waves.

St Lucia was the jewel of the ports and the one island we hope of come back to. Once we rented the car and drove out of the insane traffic in the town of Castries, we embarked on a 1.5 incredible drive towards the town of Soufriere surrounded by the two Peton towering mountainous spires and by the blue waters. It’s one of the most amazing sights we’ve seen in a long time and we were lucky to have lunch adoring the view. The main excursion in the area was visiting the drive-in volcano which was a great experience since none of us had ever been inside a volcano rim before! Ayaan was so proud that St Lucia was the 50th country he has visited!

Our final port of the cruise was Barbados where we rented a taxi for half a day. To our surprise, the first stop was Rihanna’s house (she’s a Barbadian) followed by the famous cricket ground Kensington Oval. We drank some local rum and visited the famous Harrison’s Cave in a tram and traveled 700ft underground to see unique stalagmites and stalactites. After a quick tour of Bridgetown, we had an amazing lunch at Lobster Alive and finished the day swimming at the Carlisle Bay beach, one of the best beaches we’ve ever been to with is soft white sand and crystal clear blue waters! Barbados was my 70th country.

After a wonderful week on the cruise, we were ready to explore San Juan and Puerto Rico. The old town is so cultural and historic with its forts, colorful buildings, cobblestone streets and live music everywhere. We spent all afternoon and next morning exploring the squares, streets, forts and bars across town with our best meal at the famous Raices serving traditional Puerto Rican food. We ventured out one evening to the Fajardo bioluminescence bay to kayak in the dark and although we didn’t catch the bright blue light, we did see sparkles in the water. On our last day in PR, we dropped my parents off to the airport and drove 45 mins to the El Yonque rainforest to see waterfalls and some fantastic views. For lunch we visited the St Regis Bahia beach for a relaxing beachside lunch, before heading to the airport to catch a flight to our final destination of this trip. We loved Puerto Rico and will definitely we back!

Our 30 mins flight to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic was 2 hours late and we arrived at the all-inclusive Royalton Splash just in time to grab dinner. The next day was Ariana’s highlight of the trip as we spent all day at the water park in the hotel with its 7 slides that the kids went on a dozen times each, while Anjali spent the latter part of the day at the pool enjoying cocktails and live music. For the last three days of our trip we relaxed at the pool and beach at the sleepy Westin Punta Cana with absolutely no agenda. A perfect way to end a two week trip to the Caribbean!