Rum Journey's 2014 Rum Cruise, Part 1- by Paul Senft

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Rum Journey's 2014 Rum Cruise, Part 1

written by Paul Senft

November 1st 2014, a group of 15 explorers gathered to embark on a unique island hopping adventure across the Caribbean. The idea began in January when my wife discovered that Carnival Cruise line had announced a unique repositioning itinerary that visited several islands we had not been to together. This idea blossomed into the concept of the Rum Journey Cruise, a non-prof it venture for people interested in learning more about rum and the islands they come from. Our idea was to of fer excursion opportunities and experiences with no pressure to participate. That way everyone could make the most of their vacation experience. In the following months the group formed with people from all over the United States and Europe.

Our port of departure was San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico comprises an area 5,320 square miles with Puerto Rico being the largest island with five smaller island- Vieques, Culebra, Mona, Desecheo, and Caja de Muertos. The main island is 110 miles long, and 40 miles wide comprised of mountain terrain with coastal areas in the North and South of the island. It’s Capital, San Juan has a population of over 400,000 people and is the tourist and industrial hub of the island. The culture of the island is heavily influenced by its Spanish roots which can be seen in the architecture, language, and music. Puerto Rico has two major rum operations: the Bacardi distillery in Cataño and Seralles Distillery (Don Q) in Ponce. We arrived on October 31st, checked in to the lovely Condado Plaza Hotel and departed to visit Casa Bacardi. We met up with fellow early birds at the Cataño Ferry in Old San Juan and were at our destination in 20 minutes.

Visiting the “Cathedral of Rum” is to step back in time and explore the history and founding of the brand and its Cuban roots. Our guide took us through the interactive tour where we enjoyed the sights, smells, and sounds associated with the Bacardi brand. At the end of the regular tour we were met by Bacardi Brand Maestro, David Cid, who provided us a rare VIP experience that provided a peek at the operations side of the facility. This was a special treat as I consider David one of the most knowledgeable people in the world of rum and enjoy the opportunity to learn from him any chance I can. After the tour we did a quick spin through the tasting bar and gift shop before returning to our hotel for a relaxing evening.

The area around the Condado Plaza Hotel is full of shops and restaurants and creates a gateway between the modern city of San Juan to the old world loveliness of cobblestones

and Castillos of Old San Juan. The hotel provided several pools, beach access, a casino,

and several restaurants offering something for every palate. The morning view of San Juan

was breathtaking as we watched the sun rise while drinking coffee on our balcony. We

spent the morning walking the grounds and spending time on the beach. Then it was time

to head over to Old San Juan and board our ship.

Old San Juan is a favorite location of ours filled with enough history, museums, restaurants , and bars to sate the appetites of both the mind and body. It is easy to navigate and has a lot to of fer anyone visiting the island. Our ship, the Carnival Splendor, was docked at Cruise Terminal One. It did not take us very long to navigate check-in and we were on board the ship

and dropping our bags in our cabin. After a quick lunch, we took time to play in Old San Juan. We were disappointed to see that Casa Don Q was gone and the Rums of Puerto Rico bar was closed; these had been highlights of previous visits. We ran some quick er rands and returned to the ship to explore its layout.

The Splendor, one of the largest ships in Carnival’s, fleet can accommodate over 4,000 passengers and crew. The spaciousness of the ship was quite comfortable and once the layout was learned, easy to navigate. We had an ice-breaker event in our cabin before dinner, where our group got to meet each other for the first time. This also provided us the opportunity to share with them the gift bags we had put together for them. The contents were generously

provided by rum companies Bacardi, Blue Chair Bay, Brugal, Cruzan, Papa’s Pilar, Rhum Clément, and Wicked Dolphin.

After dinner we relaxed and watched San Juan disappear in the distance as our ship set course for our first island destination: St. Croix.

St. Croix is the largest of the three U.S. Virgin Islands. It is 28 miles long and 7 miles wide. The island has a rich history of sugar production and holds the ruins of more than 100 sugar mills spread across the island. It is also home of Captain Morgan and Cruzan Rum distilleries. Our ship docked early in Frederiksted and our group gathered on the dock to explore the island. Our first stop was the St. Croix Botanical Garden. The garden was founded in 1972 on a sugarcane plantation and holds over 1,500 species in its botanical collection. Our guide took us through the estate and shared with us details about the island’s history and everything that

grows on it. We saw lots of birds and animals in their natural habitat in what I found to be a gorgeous environment.

From the garden, we traveled over to the Captain Morgan Rum Distillery. This tour detailed the history of rum in the Caribbean, the Captain Morgan brand, and featured a movie that demonstrated the marketing machine behind the brand, but shared very little about the rum itself. We then took a tram tour through the distillery where we were given a closer look at the continuous column stills and the barrel room. In front of the barrel room we were allowed to smell the distillate. We learned that after the rum is put in the barrel, it is aged for around one year, transported to the U.S. where the spices are blended and bottled for worldwide distribution.

When we completed the tram tour we were taken to the tasting room where we sampled the core Captain Morgan line, as well as, a diverse selection of cocktails. It was during this par t of our experience that I learned that the tram portion of the tour had not been exp

ected by our driver and that we were running longer than expected. Calculating our remaining time on the island before we had to be back on the ship I had to make the difficult decision to save the Cruzan distillery tour for another visit. After we completed our time in the tasting room we visited the gift shop and boarded our van to return to the cruise port. Once back, we discovered Cruzan rum had set up a tasting tent at the port entrance so visitors had the chance to sample their line. We took our time and sampled a few expressions and a lovely rum punch. From the Cruzan tent, we explored Frederiksted and visited the local shops and artists’ market before finding our way back to the ship. It was not long after when our ship raised anchor and set course for our next island: Martinique.