We went to Carrefour today to pickup some supplies, mainly for breakfast and snacks and they are in the Christmas spirit but I don't think we could afford to decorate our house if we lived here. The poinsettias go for $50.00 and the price for a tree are out of this world as per the sign as you go into the store.

We're on our way home, connecting through Miami. We have Global Entry, and our boarding passes indicated TSA Precheck. There are no dedicated Precheck lines in Miami, which we knew, having connected here in the past. Once you finally get to the front of the line and show your boarding pass, you're given a card that says "expedited screening ". You would assume that means your screening is what you would get with Precheck. Nope. You still have to remove all electronics from your bag and place them in a bin. Of course, you don't realize this until they scan your bag and see the electronics. You're then told that the card you're given explains that; you should have read it. It makes no sense at all that screening is different here than at other US airports. And it wasn't that way last year. Annoying.

How is the sand at the 2 Cupecoy beaches today. We’re thinking of going there tomorrow.

A few questions for people who have been to Caliente Resort. Did you like the resort? Are the pools heated in the winter months? We are looking into going in mid January. Do they have more than one restaurant? Is the food good? Can you take your own drinks to the pools? Is there any restaurants close outside of the resort?
Any comments or advice from anyone who has been there would be greatly appreciated.

Hey TTOL fam - here's a link to a recent trip report in the SVIs and USVI with lots of pictures. Short summary below as well.

- Great charter with Waypoints out of Frenchtown. Smooth experience and the Lagoon 46 was in great shape. Thanks again to Nancy, Jay, and team
- Didn't make it down to St. Croix as planned due to the disturbance that passed over. Went straight to Culebra and spent some extra time on St. John instead
- Fishing was so-so, think we were dragging sargassum a lot of the time. Did land a Cero Mackerel that was great eating. Not a single bite on the south drop, just the shelf areas.
- Rode out the disturbance at Flamenco Beach, have always wanted to anchor here. Had great protection from southerly winds and we left before the north swell picked up
- Live streamed the World Series on the projector, go 'Stros!
- Magens Bay was beautiful, didn't have any issues with loud music or jet skis
- I underestimated the St. John bays/beaches and Cruz Bay. We will be back again someday!
- Least favorite anchorage was Christmas Cove, crowded and not much to do there. Would pick a different last night anchorage next time.

I took a few pictures to show the amount of sand that has come back in the last 4 days on Maho Beach. Quite a change from the last few weeks. Cruise passengers can use a lounge beside Sunset Beach Bar. First shot is from Sunset Beach Bar and you can see their webcam in the foreground of the picture. The other two are taken at Driftwood boat bar. One photo taken East and the other West.

Drphilsxm

We arrived yesterday from Toronto and the flight was really smooth. We left 10 minutes late but arrived 35 minutes early, the pilot said that we had a really good tail wind. The important thing I was concerned with was that we landed before KLM which we did. By the time we got to the baggage area the last of the baggage from the AA flight from Miami was on the carousel then came ours from West Jet which didn't take to long. But I have to say PJIA is an international airport and they only have ONE baggage carousel more than 5 years after Irma Come On!! I would hate to arrive in the middle of a busy Saturday. We were in and out of the terminal in less than an hour which is much better than YYZ with numerous carousels. We were greeted by Lesley outside the terminal and spent more time chatting than it did to do the paperwork. Great service again from Kenny’s. Then we were off to check in at Royal Palm. Our room was ready and we had booked a 1 bedroom but were upgraded to a 2 bedroom.
Not really necessary but now my wife has options if I'm snoring. Lol. Still haven't had time to explore the resort, other than happy hour at the pool bar but I'll get around to it. I can say the staff is very friendly and attentive.
Today started out with our official start of our vacation with breakfast at SMYC with Bloody Mary's, not something we do at home but hey we're on vacation. While having breakfast a huge yacht entered the lagoon so I googled the name and found out the owner is Bono (U2) and can be rented for only 175,000 Euros per week. Then off to Maho for our walk to Karakters with a stop at our favorite jewelry store J.N. Jewelers just to let them know that we're on island. While we were on our walk we had a chance to meet Gomer36 at BSV, always nice to meet fellow TTOL'ers. No plans for tomorrow, just the way I like it.

Besides cctbvi has a location on VG, what other company has a store that I can buy a physical SIM card for 7 days? My flight arrives at EIS, then I am taking the ferry to VG. Can I find SIM card in EIS airport?

Thank you very much!

Order from Cruising Guide Publications

Got a notification last evening that our flights for June have changed. AA has for a while had two flights from Miami per day, leaving about 10 AM and 12:30 PM, and of course two flights on the return, 2:30 PM and about 4:15. We have a 3.5 hour drive to Miami, so we prefer the later flight from Miami. Would have preferred the earlier flight home, but they were charging close to $100 PP more for the earlier flight, so we booked the later one. Who knows why airlines do what they do, but they have cancelled the later flights so the only flight from Miami for next June is the one leaving at 10 AM. That seems like it would be too early for most people who are connecting. I will be happy to get back home earlier, but going to be cussing AA when we are getting up at 2:30 AM. to leave.

Check your flights!