Southern Caribbean Cruise 2024: Lovango

Happy happy Tuesday, friends!

You guys…

…it’s my favorite person’s BIRTHDAY!!!!! 

Oh my gosh, I love this man.

Andrew Shull, I do not know what I would do without you.  I am so very grateful that I get to do this one and only life with YOU!

Happy happy happy birthday to my sweet hubby!

Okay, it’s the fourth and final recap post from our Southern Caribbean Spring Break Cruise 🙂 .

If you missed PART ONE, PART TWO or PART THREE, you should go back and catch those days and details as we cover everything from Puerto Rico to Tortola, Saint Maarten, Antigua, Barbados, Saint Lucia and of course, the brand new Norwegian Viva cruise ship.

This last post covers an extra, extra special day as our ship stopped in St. Thomas for the final port of call in our seven-night sailing.

Why was this day so special?  Well…because some dear friends really and truly spoiled us rotten from beginning to end.

Just take a look…

Good morning, St. Thomas!  It’s always so bittersweet to stop at your last port on a cruise vacation.  You’re so excited to arrive and yet so sad knowing it’s your last stop before disembarking.

We arrived in St. Thomas that morning, and we were immediately picked up by our dear friend Rick in a van to check out the island.

First stop…

…Magens Bay Beach which was GOREGOUS (and yet, I didn’t take any great pics, agh!)!

After checking out this spot, we headed off…

…to grab a snack at his favorite restaurant on the water.

You guys, this is Rick, and we LOVE him!  We met Rick years and years ago at The Nantucket Hotel and Resort (where he works) and became super fast friends.  Over the years, he has truly become one of our dearest friends on the island and certainly Andrew’s Nantucket bestie.  Rick lives and works on Nantucket during their season and then transitions to the Caribbean where he works during their season.  When we told him this summer we were stopping in St. Thomas, he and our other friends insisted on making this day special for our family…and boy did they deliver!

So, we arrived at his favorite restaurant by the beach…

…see it over there? So cute, right?!

We waded through a little water and walked along a sandy path to reach our destination 🙂 .

And then we arrived!  Do you see the fish down there?!  They were huge!

Snacks with my peeps is a great way to start any day!

After some snacks and relaxing ocean side, it was time for him to take us to a small ferry boat because we were heading to…

…Lovango!

We were SO PUMPED!!

After years of saying “we need to go check out Lovango”, we were finally able to do it in person.

This private island is located off of St. John and owned by the same family who owns…

…our beloved The Nantucket Hotel & Resort and…

…Winnetu, a beach-side resort on Martha’s Vineyard.  (You can read about our time at Winnetu HERE , HERE and HERE!)

I know that I’ve shared this story before, but I’m going to share it again.  Mark and Gwenn Snider own all of these properties, and Andrew knew him for many years before someone mentioned to him that he owned The Nantucket Hotel.  Seriously, for like three years, we would stay there and Andrew would say “my buddy Mark was down in the gym again today” and then once, Andrew even said something to the effect of “It’s so weird how Mark is always here the same time of year when we visit”. Finally, we were at their Lobster Boil one night and an employee of the hotel pointed him out to us and said “He owns this hotel”…we were floored because we had no idea!  That’s the kind of guy Mark is…down to earth, friendly and humble.

I say all of that to say, not only is he super friendly and humble, but he must clone himself because he is ALWAYS where we happen to be.  We walked into Winnetu one day and Mark was there behind the desk working.  I have been inside The Nantucket Hotel a gazillion times and…Mark is always there.  When we pulled up here on his private island to see Lovango, his newest resort, guess who met us at the boat?  Mark!

I really don’t know how the man does it, but he was there to greet us and then he and Rick (and Mark’s son Matt who we also love) spoiled us rotten the rest of the day.

Rick got my kids all set up in a cabana by the pool while Mark showed Andrew and I around.  This resort island is so unique because there is not one big hotel structure.  Instead, there are bungalows and glamping tents set up all over the island so that you have privacy and nature but all of the bells and whistles of a very nice resort.

See how this glamping tent is tucked in there?

Not your average tent, no?  It was just like a really nice hotel room…but way more special and fun.

Every detail at every stop was spectacular.

Views for days.

After our tour, we headed back…

…to our cabana and spent a fabulous day by the pool and beach.

We are BIG fans of Lovango!  I took a gazillion videos of the delicious food we ordered and will post them in Stories later today.  You guys, the food was off the chart!

Clearly, we had to hit up the merch shop!

From beginning to end, we were made to feel so welcome and loved…just like when we visit The Nantucket Hotel and Winnetu 😉 .  If you’re an Elin Hildebrand fan then you might remember this little nugget…

…she clearly feels the same way as she dedicated her novel The Hotel Nantucket to the Sniders and their amazing staff as well 🙂 .

So, that wraps up our SPRING BREAK!  We ended on a high and headed home the next day after disembarking back in Puerto Rico.

Don’t forget, of course Mix and Match Travel Agency would love to help you with your next vacation!  We would love to get you on board a cruise, send you to Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, Australia…maybe down to Mexico or Hawaii too!  And course, we love Disney and Universal vacations as well!  Please reach out to us today for more information.  It would be an honor to help your family make memories too this summer, this fall or hey, maybe you’re ready to talk about next spring break.  No matter when you want to go, we’re happy to help!

That’s it for this Tuesday!  I hope you all have a wonderful day!  I’ll see you back here tomorrow! xx