ST. THOMAS

Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands was our first stop on the cruise. We took a $7 (each) windy bus ride across the island to spend the day at Magen's Bay- like my name! The cruise line offers activities you can sign up for on the boat, but we found them expensive. Instead, at each stop we walked passed the annoying touristy traps and searched for something cheaper and simple to do. Usually we ended up exploring the island by foot and finding a beach somewhere to spend the day.

Magen's Bay costs about $4 each to visit. The water was warm and clear, the weather was perfect, and the sand was white! As you can see, it was a very crowded beach. We walked further down the beach and almost to the end we found it much quieter and open. We laid out our towels and fell asleep under the sun. Every hour or so we would be woken up by the pitter patter of rain that quickly turned into a downpour. Some found shelter in the jungle, but I just jumped in the ocean where it was warm.

After a long winter eager for sun we all ended up boarding the ship with a nice sunburn. Stupidly enough, nobody remembered sunscreen that day. Needless to say that never happened again. My husband's business partner got burnt the worse, and for the rest of the trip you could only find him under a palm tree or in the shade.

Aside from the obvious sunscreen and sunblock, what do you do to avoid sunburn on a trip? Does tanning before help? Skin cancer is all too common these days, and after a bad burn myself in Hawaii I am never rubbing tanning lotion on my skin again. I want to have fun but also be safe from the sun. Any suggestions or tips are welcome. Nobody wants to ruin their vacation with a bad sunburn!