“Can you smell the money?” Dr Milt, our sharp-witted ship’s physician, asks me. We’re on the tender from the MV Explorer making our way through the yacht studded harbor of St Bart’s. And yes, I’m beginning to see what he means. These sailboats are some toys and as we near the island the motor yachts lining the quay seem to grow to enormous dimensions.

                                              Big Boys and their land and sea toys on St. Bart's

At first glance it looks like your generic Caribbean port but on closer inspection you notice there is no Senor Frogs or Margaritaville or even a Diamonds International for that matter! What kind of island is this? That’s when I started noticing familiar names like Hermes, Chopard and Louis Vuitton and realized it was 5th Avenue or more appropriately, the Champs Elysee, on vacation. Like their well-heeled clientele, these vendors have come to St Bart’s to shed their formal marble and brass storefronts and have donned their colorful tropical looks both inside and out. I just can’t picture orange ostrich skin purses anywhere else but in the Caribbean. And not on every island at that.

                                       The old fort on the hill stands guard over Gustavia, St. Barts

 Our guests are enjoying numerous field programs on the water and throughout the island. I get reports from some about the charming neighborhoods near the old fort that watches over Gustavia from the hilltop on one side of the yacht haven. We gasp as we watch a seaplane descending sharply to land at an unseen strip behind the red and white lighthouse that tops the opposite cliff. This is a picture perfect day.

It’s Sunday and when we return from port there is an interdenominational service with many guests participating by reading from their favorite scriptures and singing hymns.

The next activity is one that really illustrates how much more you get from an Enrichment Voyage compared to the everyday cruise experience. Our port briefing for Barbados is not about shopping for duty-free jewelry and rums it is an historical and cultural overview and a prep session for the field programs. Our speakers are Dr Bernard Strenecky who was at one time a leader in the travel industry and is now Honorary Consul for Barbados and Philip St Hill, the Deputy Consul General for Barbados. Their information would help us get so much more from our excursions. What better sources of information could you ask for?

My favorite happening of the day was yet another example of how unique an Enrichment Voyage is. Our resident geologist, Richard Lozinsky, mentioned that we would be passing a volcano on our way to Barbados. Located on the island of Montserrat the volcano has been active for many years but of late has been showing increased signs of life. [Editor's Note: The then-dormant Montserrat volcano was the inspiration for the hit Jimmy Buffet song "Volcano" written when he was recording the album of the same name in in Montserrat in 1979.] How do you like this, the Captain modified our course to get us within view of Montserrat. Based on the day’s geological data we were hoping to see the glow from a new lava flow. So at 7pm we met Richard who gave us a quick briefing and we headed out onto the deck to see what we could see……..which ended up being nothing. But despite not seeing anything the guests were so pleased with the efforts our staff took to give us this spur of the moment opportunity and they giggled as they braced themselves against the stiff winds out on deck. On what other ship would you see that kind of consideration?

                                   Passengers "Volcano Spotting" from Deck 7 of the MV Explorer

We’re off to the land of sugar cane and sugary sand beaches. See you there!